Cool Thing of the Day

Though seemingly inconspicuous, Cerbera odollam - also known as the Suicide Tree - hides a deadly secret within its seeds. Being a relative of the Oleander, its toxins act in a somewhat similar way. The Suicide Tree draws its name from the fact that people use it to poison themselves. It is estimated that around 50 people meet this self-inflicted end each year in the state of Kerala, India, alone. But if something’s good for suicide, it’s also good for murder. The seed’s what contains all the poison, and if someone was to crush it into a fine powder and mix it in with all the spicy Indian food and give it to someone else, who’s to know, right?

In fact cerberin, the toxin found in these seeds, is undetectable by most toxicology reports, and someone has to specifically look for cerberin to actually find it. Looking for the toxin requires the use of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry in order to be detected, a process which is quite costly, especially in India. Because of this, most cases of cerberin poisoning go unnoticed, but even so, at least one person dies of it per week in Kerala. In Madagascar up until the mid-19th century people suspected of witchcraft were subject to the “trial by Tagena” where they were forced to eat one such seed. Those few who survived were considered innocent; the others, well… died.

Things gotten so out of hand that by the time King Radama II banned the practice in 1861, it was estimated to have killed around 2 percent of the island’s entire population per year; roughly 3,000 people. This trial is still believed to take place even to this day in some remote parts of Madagascar.

An Elven Dagger from Skyrim. 

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The Wadi Rum valley, a 720 km squared expanse of sandstone, granite and red sand in the south of Jordan, has a landscape so alien that it is known as the “Valley of the Moon”.

But in the center of this alien landscape exists a juxtaposition - a lush, organic, 2,000-hectare farm that grows most of Jordan’s fruits and vegetables, including eggplants, cabbage, figs and pomegranates, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, grapes, and other vegetables. Although the Wadi Rum desert receives only 5 mm of rain per month in average, beneath the red sands stretches an enormous aquifer, which not only provides water to most Jordinians, but also doubles as a water source for their crops. 

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Spread across a vertical limestone cliff that reaches almost 300 feet (91 meters) into the sky, and one mile (1.6 km) across, Cal Orcko is an important paleontological site located near Sucra, Bolivia that contains the footprints of over 293 known species of dinosaur. 

(Artist | Source)

 The Moeraki boulders present a curious spectacle for inhabitants and tourists alike. Stretched across the sands of Koekohe Beach on the New Zealand coast, they stand isolated and sometimes scattered in clusters. It is believed that they are formed by wave erosion on local mudstone, honing them into a spherical shape. 

Local Māori legend posits that stones are the remnants of eel baskets, water gourds, and kumara that washed ashore when Āraiteuru - the canoe that originally bore the Māori ancestors to New Zealand - was overturned.

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As part of a solution to make China more efficient, streamlined, and combat the country’s overpopulation, a company has designed - and is now testing the prototype for - a futuristic suspended bus that can drive over top of traffic and pedestrians. It straddles the cars below, allowing them to pass through as it drives or stops to pick people up. The vehicle runs on a railway and is expected to be able to reach speeds up to 60 km (37 miles) per hour. 

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An aerial view of the eruption of Mount Anatahan, 2008.

ThinkGeek has created a Twinkling Stars skirt that’s adorned with over 250 LED lights that transform the wearer into a semblance of the night sky. 

You can buy it here: [x]

Despite having the appearance of being perfectly cut down the middle as by a man-made instrument, the Al Naslaa Rock Formation in Tayma, Saudi Arabia is actually completely natural. 

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Duct tape magnified to 40x beneath a microscope.

Victorian wax anatomical models by artist Clemente Susini, circa 1700.

Iguaza Falls, on the border of Argentina and Brazil, is one of the widest waterfalls on Earth.

Amsterdam's Volkshotel commissioned nine designers to creatively customize nine new rooms at the 172-room hotel. The nine architects and designers were allowed to let their imaginations run free in order to create these unique, eclectic spaces. 

Which one would you stay in?

Patina is a thin layer of tarnish that forms on the surface of certain metals, such as copper and bronze, over time. (It can also be used to describe the finishing on wooden furniture, or any artistic process that purposely changes the surface of a piece through age or exposure.) 

Pictured above is a statue of Joseph I of Portugal. The left photograph shows the statue with patina; the photograph on the right shows the natural bronze of the statue after being stripped of its patina. 

Earth’s South Pole.