The Massive Spider Webs Created an Ideal Home

On the banks of a creek near Jerusalem Israel, stands a captivated forest, where its trees shrouded by huge cobwebs woven by long-jawed spiders. The Soreq creek covers treated sewage that is full of nutrients that help the proliferation of mosquitoes. These serve as a source of food for improbable web-spinning spiders which then replicate in multitudes, weaving captivating and eerie webs above the water.

It's an exceptional case, as millions of long-jawed spiders shaped the webbing that envelops the forest, a marvel rarely seen in the Middle East. But while spider egg sacs and spider lings are everywhere along the banks of the creek, the future is bleak. Moreover, the colder temperatures will soon cause a radical drop in the mosquito population that sustains the web-weavers. So when the summers end, the spiders mate and the female will lay eggs before dying. The long-jawed spiders are found in clammy or swamp habitats all over the world. They usually have long slim bodies with shiny abdomens; sit in their web or on a close plant and wait for prey to fly into their trap. They feed on flying insects, including moths and leaf-hoppers. Their scientific name is “Tetragnatha”, which literally means four jaws.

Therefore, when the male mates the female he has to lock his jaws onto her to stop her from eating him. Like most spiders, they shed their skin as they grow and usually live for less than a year. In 2009, long-jawed spiders made a giant web in a Baltimore Wastewater Treatment Plant.  According to the researchers, the webbing was so heavy it even damaged light fixtures and clumps of web were, in few places, as thick as a fire hose. Source: Charismaticplanet.com

The Plants You Need in Your Bedroom to Beat Tight Chests, Insomnia and Colds

NASA scientists say, that you need to keep plants in your bedroom to beat different diseases, i.e. colds, tight chests, insomnia. Although plants look very beautiful in gardens but scientists maintain that we can reap plenty of health benefits of plants by bringing them in indoors. The researchers have long preached the benefits of house plants, that popping some greenery on your bedside table can boost your sleep and health. The plants may decrease your anxiety, depression, stress and helps with the removal of airborne pollutants. Elle Decor and The Joy of Plants delved into research from NASA and the American College to determine which houseplants are best suited to your bedroom - and the benefits they provide. Indoor plants can also elicit a number of physical health benefits, including the removal of airborne pollutants, both particulate and gaseous, which lead to better indoor air quality and associated improvements in physical health.

A review of the scientific evidence suggests that workers are more productive when their office is filled with greenery - and hospital patients are even thought to tolerate pain better if there is a plant on the ward. Perhaps most importantly, plants also trap and filter pollutants that are linked to thousands of deaths a year. The experts from the Royal Horticultural Society say that ‘bringing the outdoors inside’ can recreate some of the natural benefits lost in the process. Plants reduce stress levels, improve mood and filter polluted air, they say.  

Here’re top 10 lists of plants which helps to improve your health.

1. Areca Palm: Madagascan areca palm leads the way in efficiency at “mopping up” pollutants. Researchers say that the palm is excellent for anyone prone to colds and sinus problems because it releases moisture into the air. This, in turn, makes it much easier to breathe so will support you nod off quicker.

 2. Aloe Vera: This plant is very easy to keep and aesthetically pleasing in any home, the aloe vera plant has been named as one of the best plants for air purification by NASA. It releases oxygen incessantly throughout the night, making it an ideal bedroom addition. It also fights benzene which is found in detergents and plastics and formaldehyde (in varnishes and floor finishes) so helps keep the air super pure.

3. English Ivy: It is commonly grows up your house is actually perfect for your bedroom. Certainly, researchers at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology found that English ivy in particular removes 78 per cent of airborne mould in just 12 hours.

4. Dwarf date palm: This plant is hardy, drought-tolerant and long-lived and it's excellent at removing indoor air pollutants - particularly xylene.  

5. Boston Fern: This nice-looking plant has graced indoor landscapes since Victorian times - and for good reason. However, this plant ranks 9th in NASA’s list of 50 air-purifying plants, being particularly adept at removing formaldehyde.

6. Chinese evergreen: This has been dubbed the easiest houseplant because it grows well in low light and areas of the home where other plants won't grow like a dark bedroom. The best part about it is that it removes more toxins as time and exposure continues.

7. Peace lily: This beautiful plant can cleanse air and improve it by 60%. It also absorbs mould spores through its leaves and circulates them its roots to use as food.

8. Spider plant: This houseplant grows super quickly and can remove up to 90 per cent of the toxins from the air in your bedroom in just two days. It's especially great for people with dust allergies.

9. Lady palm: This houseplant is one of the most effective plants at cleansing the air of formaldehyde, ammonia, xylene and toluene.

10. Weeping fig: This houseplant is the best at beating pollutants that are emitted from carpeting and furniture such as formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene.

The Mysterious 400 Stone Structure of Saudi Arabia

The mysterious ancient gates 400 stone structures found on the edge of volcanoes are spotted on Google Earth, but archaeologists are unsure, why they were built, could be thousands of years old in a remote desert area in Saudi Arabia. The stone structure seems like field gate from above. The stone walls purpose remains unknown, the strange cluster 'appear to be the oldest man-made structures in the landscape' and some are up to 1,700 feet long and built across old lava domes.

The stone structures- which were found using Google Earth - have been dubbed the 'gates' built across ancient lava domes, some of these strange features are more than four times the length of a football pitch, and archaeologists be certain of they may be up to 7,000 years old. However, the smallest gates are 43 feet in length while the longest are 1,699 feet long. Archaeologists believe that thousands of years ago this area would have been much more hospitable than it is now.

Hence, there is no certain explanation of why they were built. These gates are discovered almost completely in bleak, inhospitable lava fields with scant water or vegetation, places seemingly amongst the most unfriendly area. The gates are stone-built and the walls unevenly made and low. Moreover, remains of lava flows can be seen on top of some of the gates, suggesting that they are older than some of the lava flows. The odd clusters appear to be the oldest man-made structures in the landscape. Many of the structures have multiple stone walls that form a rectangular design whereas others type gates - have one stone wall with piles of stones at the ends. Hence, most of them were exposed through satellite surveys and no archaeological fieldwork has yet been carried out. Therefore, earlier research has found thousands of stone structures that form geometric patterns in the Middle East.

This includes two wheel-shaped patterns date back some 8,500 years. A number of the designs, found in Jordan's Azraq Oasis, appear to have an astronomical significance, built to align with the sunrise on the winter solstice. Other types of stone structures such as “kites” were used to hunt animals and wheel-shaped objects have also been discovered in the lava fields. They were found on top of the gates - signifying the gates pre-date them. An area mapped that included lava done with gates and other stone structures. It is estimated that some of the gates around the lava domes they looked at were built 7,000 years ago.   

Devil’s Finger Fungus,

Clathrus archeri is commonly known as octopus stinkhorn, or devil's fingers, is a fungus indigenous to Australia and New Zealand, and an introduced species in Europe, North America and Asia. In Britain this amazing fungus is usually known as Devil's Fingers, and in parts of the USA it is referred to as the Octopus Fungus. This crazy organism looks better suited to life on Proteus than Earth the fungal “egg” opens, unleashing four to eight blood-red arms. A large, starfish-like fruit-body whose 4 to 8 arched red arms are coated with a smelly gleba on the upper surface, the mature fruit-body is typically 20cm across with arms arching to 10cm in height. Devils Finger habitually is a saprobic and mainly found in leaf litter under trees and shrubs; also increasingly on bark mulch in parks and gardens.  

The young fungus erupts from a sub-erumpent egg by forming into four to seven elongated slender arms originally erect and attached at the top. After that arms unfold to reveal a pinkish-red interior covered with a dark-olive spore-containing gleba. Therefore, at the time of maturity it smells like putrid flesh. Before rupturing the ball or egg of Clathrus archeri is typically 2 to 3cm in diameter. The bright red color makes this remarkable species very easy to identify; however, it is a relatively rare find in Britain and mainly found in the south of England and in the Channel Islands.

Devil’s Finger is not proven to be toxic, but it is treated as suspect, can tolerate the stench it's a risky snack. In fact the eggs of numerous stinkhorns are edible, but there are no archives of fights having taken place over these delicacies as there surely are over truffles, morels and some kinds of edible boletes.  The arms of Devil's Fingers emerge vertically and spread out, making the gleba accessible to insects; it is by this means that the spores are distributed. In the recent times Devil’s fingers, with white tentacles or arms has been witnessed in the Shola Forests of Western Ghats, Kerala, India.

14 Badass Trees That Refuse To Die

It is estimated that trees have been around us about 370 million years, and as you can have an idea from these unbelievable pictures, there's a good reason why they've survived for so long. Whether they're growing in the middle of gale-force winds, on the tops of rocky platforms, inside concrete tunnels, or even growing out of each other, because trees know very well how to survive in places that few living organisms can, which explains why the earth planet is host to more than 3 trillion adult trees that cover an expected 30% of the earth's land. Moreover considering that plants produce the massive amount of the oxygen that we breathe every day, we should all think ourselves very fortunate that trees are as resilient as they are. We wouldn't even be here if they weren't.

 

Crown Shyness, A Natural Phenomenon Where Trees Avoid Touching

Crown shyness is a naturally occurring phenomenon in some tree species where the upper most branches in a forest canopy avoid touching one another. The visual effect is striking as it creates clearly defined borders akin to cracks or rivers in the sky when viewed from below. This intriguing behavior was first observed in 1920’s, but somehow researchers yet have to reach a consensus on what causes it.

Thus, various hypotheses have been presented since then in an attempt to explain it. It might simply be caused by the trees rubbing against one another, although signs also point to more active causes such as a preventative measure against shading (optimizing light exposure for photosynthesis) or even as a deterrent for the spread of harmful insects. Some believe it occurs to reduce the spread of harmful insects, while some believe that trees are attempting to protect one another's branches from getting cracked and broken in the wind, and it's also been suggested that "crown shyness" happens so that trees can optimize light exposure in order to maximize the process of photosynthesis.

One theory suggests that this empty space around the crown might be caused by breakage of twigs and branches from violent collision that happens during storms and high winds. Experiments show that if trees with crown shyness are artificially prevented from swaying and colliding in the wind, they slowly fill in the empty space in the canopy. Similarly, some research suggests that continuous abrasion at growth nodules disrupts bud tissue such that it is unable to continue with lateral growth. Despite these various theories however, nobody knows for sure why this occurrence occurs, but it serves to remind us of just how breathtaking Mother Nature can be. The next time you're out walking through the forest, take a moment to look above you and you might be pleasantly surprised by what you find.