Mammals that lay eggs and suckle their young

The duck-billed platypus and the echidna or spiny anteater, indigenous to Australia, Tasmania, and New Guinea, are the only two species of mammals that lay eggs (a non-mammalian feature) but suckle their young (a mammalian feature). These mammals resemble reptiles in that they lay rubbery shell-covered eggs that are incubated and hatched outside the mother's body. In addition they resemble reptiles in their digestive, reproductive, and excretory systems, and in a number of anatomical details (eye structure, presence of certain skull bones, pectoral [shoulder] girdle, and rib and vertebral structures). However they are classed as mammals because they have fur and a four-chambered heart, nurse their young from gland milk, are warm-blooded, and have some mammalian skeletal features. 

(Adapted from 'The Handy Science Answer Book', compiled by the Science and Technology department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh)

“…every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures…”

Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the nature of the celestial spheres. To comprehend their nature, it would be necessary to inquire into the meaning of the allusions that have been made in the Books of old to the celestial spheres and the heavens, and to discover the character of their relationship to this physical world, and the influence which they exert upon it. Every heart is filled with wonder at so bewildering a theme, and every mind is perplexed by its mystery. God, alone, can fathom its import. The learned men, that have fixed at several thousand years the life of this earth, have failed, throughout the long period of their observation, to consider either the number or the age of the other planets. Consider, moreover, the manifold divergencies that have resulted from the theories propounded by these men. Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute. 

- Baha'u'llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah’)

Solar Planets

(National Geographic)

Bioluminescent Jellyfish

Bioluminescence is emission of light from living organisms, without appreciable heat. The light results from a chemical reaction mediated by enzymes (see Enzyme) and involving specialized phosphorus-containing molecules in the organisms. Bioluminescence is found in species of bacteria, algae, fungi, and invertebrate animals. Some deep-sea fish are equipped with organs that produce luminescence to which prey is attracted. The flashes emitted by male and female fireflies are used as species-specific signals for mating. 

(Encarta encyclopedia)

Hurricane

A name given to violent storms that originate over the tropical or subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, or North Pacific Ocean east of the International Date Line. Such storms over the North Pacific west of the International Date Line are called typhoons; those elsewhere are known as tropical cyclones, which is the general name for all such storms including hurricanes and typhoons. These storms can cause great damage to property and loss of human life due to high winds, flooding, and large waves crashing against shorelines.

The word "hurricane" comes from the Spanish "huracán," which in turn probably derived from the Native American Taino language of the Carib people. In Taino, Hurican is variously the god of evil or the god of the storm, and was imported himself from the Mayan god Hurakan.

There are 5 categories of hurricanes based on their sustained wind speeds:

Category 1          74-95 mph          

Category 2          96-110 mph

Category 3          111-129 mph

Category 4          130-156 mph

Category 5          157 mph or higher

(Encarta encyclopedia and Internet resources)

Baha’i Principle of: Harmony of Science and Religion

It has become customary in the West to think of science and religion as occupying two distinct -- and even opposed -- areas of human thought and activity. This dichotomy can be characterized in the pairs of antitheses: faith and reason; value and fact. It is a dichotomy which is foreign to Bahá'í thought…. The principle of the harmony of science and religion means not only that religious teachings should be studied with the light of reason and evidence as well as of faith and inspiration, but also that everything in this creation, all aspects of human life and knowledge, should be studied in the light of revelation as well as in that of purely rational investigation. In other words… when studying a subject, [one] should not lock out of his mind any aspect of truth that is known to him. 

(Memorandum from the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, accompanied by a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice dated 3 January 1979; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

The “perfections of the spirit…appear in this world”

…it is necessary that the signs of the perfection of the spirit should be apparent in this world, so that the world of creation may bring forth endless results, and this body may receive life and manifest the divine bounties. So, for example, the rays of the sun must shine upon the earth, and the solar heat develop the earthly beings; if the rays and heat of the sun did not shine upon the earth, the earth would be uninhabited, without meaning, and its development would be retarded. In the same way, if the perfections of the spirit did not appear in this world, this world would be unenlightened and absolutely brutal. By the appearance of the spirit in the physical form, this world is enlightened. As the spirit of man is the cause of the life of the body, so the world is in the condition of the body, and man is in the condition of the spirit. If there were no man, the perfections of the spirit would not appear, and the light of the mind would not be resplendent in this world. This world would be like a body without a soul. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Compilation: ‘The Baha’i Faith’)

Central Asia: Tian Shan - "Sky-Mountain"

As the largest system of mountain ranges in Central Asia, Tian Shan—which translates to “sky-mountain” in Chinese—has one of the best collections of natural landscapes in the world and is considered a paradise for outdoor adventures. Thanks to the richness of the land’s sediments, compounded by the power of erosion caused by rivers flowing down the mountains, the north face of Tian Shan is carved into stunning plateaus and colorful canyons hundreds of meters deep, resulting in this surrealist painting in nature. 
(The National Geographic)

God’s creation has no beginning … and no end

God’s “creation… hath had no beginning, and will have no end. All that is created, however, is preceded by a cause. 

- Baha'u'llah  (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah’)

Life on Top of the World

Several kinds of animals live or travel high on the mountains, where only shrubs and grasses grow. They include the snow leopard, which hunts wild goats, and the yak. A yak is a large, long-haired ox native to the high plateaus and mountains of Central Asia, where the climate is cold and dry. Some Himalayan people keep yaks as pack animals and for their milk and meat.

The wild yak, considered to be an endangered species, is a massive animal, blanketed with a thick coat of long, blackish-brown hair. The males, which are larger than the females, may be more than 2 m (more than 6.6 ft) high at the shoulder and weigh up to 1000 kg (up to 2200 lb). The back of the yak is humped at the shoulders. The horns are long and spread outward and upward, and the tail is long-haired and bushy.

The domestic yak is of various colors, including red, brown, black, and white, and of smaller size than the wild animal as a result of crossbreeding with cattle. Yaks are valuable as beasts of burden. Their milk is rich and yields excellent butter and curd, and the flesh, eaten roasted or dried, is of high quality. The hair is spun into rope and woven into cloth, and the hide is used for leather. Instead of lowing like an ox, the yak utters a low, guttural sound; hence it is called the grunting cow, or grunting ox. 

(Adapted from Encarta Encyclopedia) 

Orangutan

Orangutan in Bali, Indonesia, protecting himself from the rain! 

(National geographic)

The world’s highest peak on land

The world's highest peak on land is Mount Everest in the Himalayas. It is 8,850 meters (29,036 ft) tall – almost 5.5 miles.  The top 14 highest mountains in the world are also found in the Himalayas. 

(Internet sources)

Worldwide Distribution of Brown Bear

('Brown Bears', by Melissa Gish)

Ant's eyes and antennae

Most ants have two compound eyes, which are made up of light-sensitive compartments called ommatidia. These compartments work together to generate an image in the ant’s brain. Some types of ants have three simple eyes, called ocelli, at the top of their heads. Ocelli can detect light, but they do not form images. Different species of ants vary in their ability to see: Some have well-developed sight, but others are entirely blind. Sight is of little importance to those ants that spend all or much of their lives underground.

Attached to the front of the head is a pair of flexible, segmented appendages called antennae, which contain organs of taste, smell, and touch. Each antenna is shaped like a human arm that is bent at the elbow. This antennae shape is an identifying feature of ants. Antennae are an ant’s main source of information about the world. When an ant is active, its antennae are in nearly constant motion—tapping the ground or vegetation, other ants, and food sources, or sampling odors from.

(Encarta Encyclopedia)

Bees

It’s a warm summer afternoon in a park or garden bees are buzzing around the flowers. You might be sitting in the sun and feeling kind of lazy. But the bees are very busy doing work that is important to you.

The bees are going from flower to flower. They are collecting a liquid called nectar and yellow grains called pollen. The bees use nectar and pollen as food. They also do something wonderful as they go about collecting. The bees take pollen from one plant to another. Some pollen sticks to a bee’s legs and body. It rubs off when the bee visits another plant. In this way bees pollinate, or fertilize, plants.

Plants need pollen in order to reproduce. We would not have many kinds of flowers, fruits, or vegetables if bees did not carry pollen to plants.

Kinds of Bees

There are about 20,000 species, or kinds, of bees. Bees live everywhere in the world except on high mountains, in the Arctic and Antarctic, and on some small islands in the ocean.

Earth is born…

More than 4.5 billion years ago, an ancient star exploded in a supernova. The heavy elements it created were spread around the blast zone in their pure form, as well as in cohesive little groups of atoms called molecules. At first, this debris existed only as a vast cloud of gas and dust called a nebula. Over time, though, gravity and the random motion of particles produced clumping, which led to the formation of a new solar system. At the center of the cloud, a new star began to coalesce. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the nebula, other clumps of matter came together, condensing under their own weight and combining with other clumps in their vicinity to form planets in orbit around the new star. This is how our solar system began.

Lighter elements in the outer nebula condensed to form the four gas giants - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. At the same time, heavier elements, upon which the Sun's gravity had a more pronounced effect, remained within the inner solar system. These came together to form the four terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

The attribute of God as the “Creator” necessitates the continuing existence of creation

If we acknowledge that there is a beginning for this world of creation, we acknowledge that the sovereignty of God is accidental -- that is, we admit a time when the reality of Divinity has been without dominion. The names and attributes of Divinity are requirements of this world. The names the Powerful, the Living, the Provider, the Creator require and necessitate the existence of creatures. If there were no creatures, Creator would be meaningless. If there were none to provide for, we could not think of the Provider. If there were no life, the Living would be beyond the power of conception. Therefore, all the names and attributes of God require the existence of objects or creatures upon which they have been bestowed and in which they have become manifest. If there was a time when no creation existed, when there was none to provide for, it would imply a time when there was no existent One, no Trainer, and the attributes and qualities of God would have been meaningless and without significance. Therefore, the requirements of the attributes of God do not admit of cessation or interruption, for the names of God are actually and forever existing and not potential. Because they convey life, they are called Life-giving; because they provide, they are called Bountiful, the Provider; because they create, they are called Creator; because they educate and govern, the name Lord God is applied. That is to say, the divine names emanate from the eternal attributes of Divinity. Therefore, it is proved that the divine names presuppose the existence of objects or beings. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a talk, 5 July 1912, New York; ‘The Promulgation of Universal Peace: Talks Delivered by 'Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912’)

Clouds

Clouds are condensed form of atmospheric moisture consisting of small water droplets or tiny ice crystals. Clouds are the principal visible phenomena of the atmosphere. They represent a transitory but vital step in the water cycle, which includes evaporation of moisture from the surface of the earth, carrying of this moisture into higher levels of the atmosphere, condensation of water vapor into cloud masses, and final return of water to the surface as precipitation.

The formation of clouds caused by cooling of the air results in the condensation of invisible water vapor that produces visible cloud droplets or ice particles. Cloud particles range in size from about 5 to 75 micrometers (0.0005 to 0.008 cm/0.0002 to 0.003 in). The particles are so small that light, vertical currents easily sustain them in the air. The different cloud formations result partly from the temperature at which condensation takes place. When condensation occurs at temperatures below freezing, clouds are usually composed of ice crystals; those that form in warmer air usually consist of water droplets. Occasionally, however, supercooled clouds contain water droplets at subfreezing temperatures. The air motion associated with cloud development also affects formation. Clouds that develop in calm air tend to appear as sheets or stratified formations; those that form under windy conditions or in air with strong vertical currents have a towering appearance.

Where do seeds come from?

Many kinds of plants have male and female parts. These plants reproduce, or make seeds, sexually. In flowering plants, the male and female parts are in the flowers. In pine trees and other conifers, the male and female parts are in the cones. Conifers have male and female cones.

The male part of a flower is called the stamen. It gives off a powdery substance called pollen. The female part is called the pistil. The top of the pistil is called the stigma, and is often sticky. Seeds are made at the base of the pistil, in the ovule through pollination. Pollination leads to the creation of new seeds that grow into new plants. Pollination occurs when some of the pollen gets to the pistil. A pollen grain joins with an egg. When this happens, a seed begins to grow.

In some species, the pollen and egg can come from the same plant. In other species, they must come from different plants. But how does pollen move? Insects, wind, and water can all help move the pollen.

Have you seen bees or butterflies around flowers? Bees and butterflies like to drink nectar from the flowers. As they enjoy their tasty treat, some of the pollen sticks to their bodies. They carry it with them to other flowers, leading to pollination. 

(Encarta Encyclopedia and Internet sources)

Human Cerebrum

Place your hands on top of your head. The part of your brain below your hands is the cerebrum. The cerebrum is the brain's largest part. It makes up 85 percent of your brain's total weight! Scientists often divide the cerebrum into different parts, called lobes. The lobes are the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes. The cerebrum has many functions. It controls your sense of touch, smell, hearing, taste, and sight. It also controls your feelings. When you are happy or angry, this is your cerebrum at work. The cerebrum oversees movement and voluntary actions, or actions you control. The cerebrum is also in charge of thinking and learning. 

- Shannon Caster  (‘Brain’)