"Nature is God's Will and is its expression in and through the contingent world" - Baha'u'llah, the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith

January 22, 2017

Orangutans stay with mother for up to 10 years

An 11-month-old baby copies mom at mealtime. The juvenile will stay with its mother for up to 10 years as she passes on essential survival skills. Among them: how to find the most nutritious rain forest fruits. 
(National Geographic magazine)

January 15, 2017

Purpose of Man’s Creation

The purpose of the creation of man is the attainment of the supreme virtues of humanity through descent of the heavenly bestowals. The purpose of man's creation is, therefore, unity and harmony, not discord and separateness. If the atoms which compose the kingdom of the minerals were without affinity for each other, the earth would never have been formed, the universe could not have been created. Because they have affinity for each other, the power of life is able to manifest itself, and the organisms of the phenomenal world become possible. When this attraction or atomic affinity is destroyed, the power of life ceases to manifest; death and nonexistence result. 
-‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk on 12 April 1912 at Home of Mr. and Mrs. Howard MacNutt; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

January 13, 2017

Comforting a young Rhino

Lulah’s mother was killed by poachers in Kruger National Park. She now lives at Care for Wild Africa, a sanctuary specializing in rhinos. Staff member Dorota Ladosz lives with her full-time and comforts her after surgery to repair wounds inflicted by hyenas before her rescue. 
(National Geographic magazine)

January 10, 2017

Befriending a deer

A Buddhist monk cares for a spotted deer he rescued when he found it alone in the forest near the ruins of Ritigala Monastery in Sri Lanka. 
(National Geographic magazine)

January 5, 2017

Global & Regional Winds

Winds blow on both a regional scale and a global scale. Global-scale belts of moving air spiral around the Earth, driven by the Sun's energy. As the Earth turns, the circular wind cells become spiral belts, such that air moving toward the equator blows to the west, and air moving toward the poles blows to the east. Regional winds may augment or diminish global winds. 
(Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia of Science Year Book)