SOME OF THE RAREST THINGS ON EARTH or THERE AREN'T VERY MANY OF THESE

Not that kind of rare.

The kind of things not seen very often; like I found in these photos from historyfanatic.com & emlii.com.  I found them fascinating.  I hope you will, too!!

The Fukang Meteorite, which was found in Fukang, China in 2000. It is estimated to be 4.5 billion years old.

On the outside meteorites look like volcanic rocks, but astronomy photographer Jeff Barton cracked them open to reveal the glittering geodes inside. To capture the stunning shots of meteorite guts, Barton cut the rocks open with a rock saw with a diamond-coated blade. He then ground down a stamp-sized piece so thin light can pass through it, like sun through the windows of a cathedral. Photos are subsequently taken with polarizing filters and a DSLR attached to a petrographic microscope. 

The Koroit opal field is an opal mining area in Paroo Shire in South West Queensland, Australia. It is known for the very distinctive type of boulder opal that is found in its mines. In Queensland boulder opal is found within a 300 km wide belt of sedimentary rocks in the Winton Formation. Here opal is found as a kernel in small concretions.

Bismuth is a chemical element which is 86% as dense as lead. It is a brittle metal with a silvery white color when freshly produced, but is often seen in air with a pink tinge owing to surface oxidation. This marvel of nature is found in a series of geometrical lines and figures that
resemble something of a sci-fi movie.

FLOWERS

The Rafflesia Arnoldi is the largest flower in the world. It is found in the rainforests of Indonesia. It can grow to be 3 feet across and weigh up to 15 pounds! It is a parasitic plant, with no visible leaves, roots, or stem. When in bloom, the Rafflesia emits a repulsive odor, similar to that of rotting meat. This odor attracts insects that pollinate the plant.

At 2.27 meters (7ft 5in) high, the Amorphophallus titanum is considered the longest flower in
the world.  It smells terrible.

This weird little plant is called a Snapdragon or Dragon flower or, if you want to sound even smarter, The Antirrhinum. Once the flower has died, the seed pod begins to look like the skulls you see here. Apart from being creepy as hell and alleged protectors of the garden, if you wore this about your body you would appear to be more “fascinating and gracious”. Though I imagine if anyone actually did find this on you, fascinating and gracious are not the only things they will think about you.

COLORFUL EDIBLES

A variety of Zea mays, is a corn grown in the Andes region of South America. It is common in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru. The kernels of Purple Corn have long been used by the people of the Andes to color foods and beverages, a practice just beginning to become popularized in the industrialized world. Besides its use as food and dye, purple corn is thought to have many health benefits.

The purple color of these carrots is actually due to anthocyanin pigments. The history of these carrots can be traced back to Rome and Central Asia, where they were grown as early as the 10th century. Purple carrots, still orange on the inside, were sold in British stores starting in
2002.

Red bananas, also known as Red Dacca bananas in Australia, are a variety of banana with reddish-purple skin. They are smaller and plumper than the common Cavendish banana. When ripe, raw red bananas have a flesh that is cream to light pink in color.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Sometimes referred to as a 'living rock'. Pyura chilensis is a tunicate that resembles a mass of organs inside a rock. It is often found in dense aggregations in the intertidal and subtidal coast
of Chile and Peru. It is the closest anyone can get to finding blood in a stone.

This unusual squid, despite its delicate, decorated appearance, was found 1,650 lung-crushing feet (500 meters) beneath the surface of the North Atlantic. Scientists on a recent deep-sea expedition found the squid, called Histioteuthis hoylei, along with an abundance of other species thought to be very rare, if not unknown, elsewhere. Jewel squid are known for their mismatched eyes, one of which is larger than the other to scope for prey in the deep’s darkness.

The black swallower lives up to its name by being able to consume prey 10 times its own mass and twice its length. It grows to only about 10 inches, but can chow down on species much
larger than its main body by storing them in its massive distended stomach.

The Tasmanian Giant Crab AKA “Giant Deepwater Crab” is one of the largest crabs in the world. It weighs a mighty 29lb with a 15-inch shell.  It has a white shell with claws that are splashed in red.

These majestically beautiful creatures are a rare species of the peacock. White peacocks are not albinos; they have a genetic mutation that is known as Leucism, which causes the lack of pigments in the plumage.

And lastly, a picture of everyone on Earth except for one:

When astronaut Michael Collins shot this picture from the lunar orbiter during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, he was literally the only member of humanity not in the photo.

 

----fishducky