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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

The Top 10 Cities In Asia To Visit

1 | BANGKOK

Bangkok, Thailand, Asia 
It's one of the world's most exciting cities, and should be the city you visit in Asia if you can only see one. It's composed of different vibrant (and some chaotic) neighborhoods, tempting shopping at some of the world's biggest markets, and modern buildings next to some of the world's most impressive temples. The best experience is to see it on a boat, passing by floating markets, the modern skyline, and the old temples. End your visit at the Grand Palace, home to the Emerald Buddha, and don't miss the world's largest golden statue, the Golden Buddha, and the Reclining Buddha at the Wat Pho temple, the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. 

2 | TOKYO
Tokyo, Japan, Asia 
One of the world's top food cities and also a fashion capital, Tokyo is a city more to experience than to sightsee. It's a huge world city, but anywhere you want to go is within walking distance from a train. It has a very efficient transport service, and you will never be bored if you enjoy big fast-paced cities with big crowds -- you'll see what we mean as you step off Shibuya Station and walk around the Shibuya district. For a trip back in time, visit the Sensoji Temple. 

3 | BEIJING

Beijing, China, Asia 
The Chinese capital has the country's most stunning imperial palaces (at the Forbidden City), and although getting around may not be easy (locals do not speak English or any other language), it's a city no one should miss (go on guided tours). It's home to one of the world's greatest man-made wonders (the Great Wall), as well as to several cultural sites, including a number of magnificent temples. 

4 | SHANGHAI

Shanghai, China, Asia 
They've called it the "Paris of the East," and this waterfront city has gone from seaside fishing village to one of the world's most industrialized and multicultural metropolises. It's also a major shopping destination, and that Parisien feel is reflected in old palatial buildings and tree-lined avenues. For tourists, one of the most memorable experiences is a scenic boat tour to admire the modern skyline (to photograph the landmark Oriental Pearl Tower), and dining at some of the finest international restaurants in Asia. 

5 | HONG KONG

Hong Kong, China, Asia 
This former British colony is a dynamic city that's as East as it is West. It offers the exotic and the familiar, the cutting-edge and the traditional. It's a big, vibrant place, something of an Asian New York, and it's not exactly cheap. It between its towering buildings are sophisticated restaurants and shops, meant for those looking to spend some big bucks, but also stalls of Chinese food and lively street markets. It's surprisingly easy to get around, with streets marked in English, good public transportation, pedestrianized streets, and organized tours

6 | KYOTO

Kyoto, Japan, Asia 
You won't find the best and most traditional Japanese culture in the country's capital. You'll have to leave Tokyo and head to Kyoto, home to imperial palaces and monumental temples. This is a city of cultural treasures, with over a dozen World Heritage Sites. It's a trip back to ancient Japan, a destination for history and culture, to see elegant geishas performing the tea ceremony, and gardens of cherry blossoms. But it's also a modern city, although you'll likely want to spend more time walking through the cobbled lanes and wooden townhouses of the Higashiyama district, with its large concentration of sights

7 | MUMBAI

Mumbai, India, Asia 
For many travelers, visiting India is stepping into another world, and this city is the best introduction. Also still known as Bombay, it has been ruled by the Portuguese and the British throughout the centuries, but maintains a very strong Indian identity. Yes, it's chaotic, home to the very rich and the incredibly poor, to modern skyscrapers and to slums, and to the Bollywood film industry. It's a frantic place that may not be for everyone, but that no one ever forgets. After the initial shock, there's an alluring city with markets, colonial buildings, and some of the finest restaurants in this part of the world. 

8 | MACAU

Macau, China, Asia 
This is the second "Special Administrative Region" of China (the other is neighboring Hong Kong), a territory that was a Portuguese colony until 1999. Usually visited together with Hong Kong (just a ferry ride away), this is the "Las Vegas of the East" that is making Las Vegas become the "Macau of the West." It's now the world's gambling capital in terms of profits, but there is much more than casinos at this slice of Europe in Asia. There's European-style architecture, Mediterranean-style cuisine left behind by the former colonial masters, and an increasing number of skyscrapers and luxury accommodation.

9 | SINGAPORE
Singapore, Asia 
Some find it too sanitized and soulless, others think it should serve as a model for all world cities. Singapore is one of the world's major modern cities and is also an independent state. It's known as a great food destination and as a cosmopolitan city with a population from all over the world. It's a prosperous place with modern architecture, countless malls and great hotels, not to mention the world's greatest rooftop pool

10 | KUALA LUMPUR

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Asia 
This city was placed on many travel lists thanks to the Petronas Twin Towers which were the world's tallest buildings for several years. But this is also a city of great restaurants due to a mix of cultures, of historic temples, and markets, and even several parks outside the bustling center. 

The 10 Most Beautiful Cities In The World

1 | VENICE

Venice 
Among those who've seen it in person, the conclusion is unanimous: Venice is the most beautiful city in the world, and the only one that can truly be described as unique. Each building is a work of art, with their beauty enhanced when reflected on the canals that cross the city. Its magical scenery is fascinating and breathtaking at first sight, evoking the feeling of entering the setting of a real-life fairy tale. It's perhaps even unfair to all other cities to call Venice a city, as it is a place unlike any other, that no other can compare to, or ever be like. 
-SEE THE VENICE CITY GUIDE» 

2 | PARIS
Paris 
The Seine and the bridges that cross it, the grand boulevards, the monumental squares, the magnificent monuments, the charming streets of Montmartre -- these images of Paris confirm that it is indeed the most elegant and sophisticated of all cities. It has inspired practically every major world capital, with every city claiming its own Champs-Elysèes, and Place des Vosges becoming the prototype of residential squares throughout Europe. Sit at an outdoor café table or go on a boat tour of the Seine and see it all romantically flash before your eyes. 
-SEE THE PARIS CITY GUIDE» 

3 | PRAGUE

Prague 
It is known as the city of the thousand spires because of its profusion of grand, beautifully-preserved historical monuments dating from practically every period in history. Those spires are best admired from the bridges that cross the Vltava River, especially from the magnificent Charles Bridge, or standing in the stunningly beautiful Old Town Square. Add the atmospheric alleyways and cobbled streets that lead to it, and you know that few other cities delight the senses as much as Prague. 
-SEE THE PRAGUE CITY GUIDE» 

4 | LISBON

Lisbon 
Magnificently sited on a series of hills running down to the grand Tagus River, Lisbon is one of the world's most scenic cities. Beautiful unexpected views are found at every turn down its colorful, picturesque streets, and especially from strategically-placed viewpoints or terraces at the top of each hill. The city has an unpolished, seductive appearance; an effortless beauty with captivating details such as cobbled designs, tiled façades, and pastel-colored buildings blending together to give it a singular atmosphere now lost in so many other cities. In such a stunning place, it's no wonder that many of the world's great explorers questioned what other beauties lied beyond the horizon when they departed from here in the 15th century. 
-SEE THE LISBON CITY GUIDE» 

5 | RIO DE JANEIRO
Rio de Janeiro 
There are those who say God created the world in six days and devoted a seventh to Rio. The city is indeed blessed with one of the most stunning settings in the world, making it the most naturally beautiful city in the world. Even if it was deserted of buildings and population, anyone standing at the top of the famous Sugarloaf Mountain or by the Corcovado statue would see one of the world's most beautiful landscapes. Green, tropical luxuriance mixes with the blue of the ocean and the brightness of the sand at the beaches, proving that this is indeed "the marvelous city" as locals call it. 
-SEE THE RIO DE JANEIRO CITY GUIDE» 

6 | AMSTERDAM

Amsterdam 
Each of the thousands of buildings that line Amsterdam's main canals can be classified as a monument, beautifully kept as apartments, offices, cafés, restaurants, and even brothels. All together they form an aesthetic uniformity that make the city one of the most charming in the world, a stunning place of bridges and bikes crossing canals, picturesque cobbled streets, and strikingly elegant architecture. 
-SEE THE AMSTERDAM CITY GUIDE» 

7 | FLORENCE

Florence 
Florence is synonymous with the Italian Renaissance, known for the artistic heritage in its palaces and museum collections. Yet with all the beauty both inside and outside its palazzi's walls, it is the city as a whole that impresses the most. See it from Piazzale Michelangelo, a 19th century terrace overlooking the entire city, and you'll be looking at one of the most storybook-perfect cityscapes. You'll see its unspoiled skyline, the towers and domes of the heart of the city, its bridges, the hills in the distance, and the magnificent Duomo standing in the middle of it all. Few other places in the world will leave you as awestruck. 
-SEE THE FLORENCE CITY GUIDE» 

8 | ROME

Rome 
The city standing on seven hills by the Tiber River is a treasure-trove of monuments among some of the most beautiful squares and classical architecture in the world. Because everyone visits Rome for its landmarks, its picturesque streets are often overlooked, such as those of the Trastevere district, filled with charming lanes, faded palazzi, and lovely homes decorated with flower boxes. It is on streets like those that Rome proves itself to really be eternal. 
-SEE THE ROME CITY GUIDE» 

9 | BUDAPEST

Budapest 
Split in two by the Danube River, Budapest is the result of the merging of three cities. Buda is the hill with the royal palace and an old town filled with baroque and gothic monuments looking over the mostly-19th century Pest, crossed by broad avenues lined with elegant neo-renaissance buildings. Admire its setting and remarkable architecture (including the stunning Parliament Building) from the monumental Chain Bridge, and step into the old town for some of the most romantic lanes you'll ever stroll through. 
-SEE THE BUDAPEST CITY GUIDE» 

10 | BRUGES

Bruges 
It's a small city, in a small country, hardly a metropolis, but huge on beauty. It's one of the world's best preserved medieval cities, filled with gothic and baroque monuments surrounded by an oval canal and extraordinarily romantic cobbled lanes. It's no wonder that it is one of Europe's most visited cities, helped by its location in the very center of the continent. It's an unmissable destination when in Brussels, and easily accessible from anywhere in central Europe. Its combination of gorgeous architecture and pretty, peaceful spots crisscrossed by canals make it one of the most magical sites to be experienced in the world. 
-SEE TOURS OF BRUGES»

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

10 MOST BIZARRE FLYING MACHINES IN AVIATION HISTORY

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10 Most Bizarre Flying Machines in Aviation History 
By Christopher Stephens, 
Toptenz, 23 June 2014.

The invention of elaborately constructed flying machines to travel through the Earth’s atmosphere ranks among mankind’s greatest innovations. The field of aviation is defined by challenging the limits and coming up with bold new ideas, but these aircraft simply defy all concepts of normalcy.

10. Convair V2 Sea Dart

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To supplement standard aircraft, a variety of interesting combination machines are available to pilots. However, a jet fighter designed to land right in the ocean adds an entirely new definition to the job description, turning pilots into jet ski operators. The Convair Sea Dart was an experimental American Jet Fighter built in 1951 as a prototype supersonic seaplane, complete with a waterproof hull and two hydrofoils. The Sea Dart concept was retired after a fatal crash, but not before it became the first - and so far only - seaplane to break the sound barrier, with E.D. “Sam” Shannon at the controls.

9. Goodyear Inflatoplane

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When a tire company attempts to enter the aircraft market, you can expect bizarre results. In 1959, Goodyear Tire responded to market demands for a convenient airplane in a spectacular manner. The open cockpit Inflatoplane was built entirely out of rubber except for the engine and control cables. The plane fit into a meter long box, and could be fully inflated with a bicycle pump in just 15 minutes. The machine was an aerodynamic success, as it took to the skies with ease. However, Goodyear encountered some challenges in convincing the military to buy the aircraft when they pointed out that the plane could be downed with by a single bullet, or even a well-aimed slingshot.

8. NASA A1 Pivot-Wing

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NASA’s AD-1 brought the standard for strange aircraft to an entirely new level. Designed in the early 1980s to test the concept of a pivoting wing, the jet’s long, thin wing rotated on an angle, up to the point where the right wing tip could be brought parallel with the cockpit. The idea behind this unorthodox and completely new arrangement was to offset airflow disturbance patterns and increase streamlining. The strange aircraft flew a number of missions, and performed surprisingly well, but the results were not convincing enough to justify service production. However, modern drones based on this aircraft design are now under development.

7. Vought V-173

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The Vought V-173 was developed in 1942 as a prototype vertical take-off and landing aircraft capable of intercepting enemy fighters from an aircraft carrier. The bizarre design of the aircraft nicknamed “the flying pancake” by its test pilots consisted of an almost perfectly circular fuselage that also doubled as the machine’s wing. The two engines supported immense propellers which could only clear the ground through the use of exaggerated landing gear struts, while the power system was located in the wingtips, unlike any other aircraft ever made. Limited demand and a crash helped seal the fate of the project, but it began the lineage that led to the famous Harrier Jump Jet.

6. Bell P -39 Aircobra

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Sometimes it’s best for experts to stick to what they’re good at. During the Second World War, Bell Helicopters produced a powerful, highly manoeuvrable fighter craft with superior strike and air to aircombat skills. Most airplanes have their engines at the front, but Bell, being a helicopter company, created an airframe with the engine centred behind the cockpit. A long shaft spun the propeller at the front, but while the design offered amazing power, building an airframe around a helicopter style power source resulted in an unusual centre of gravity. More enemy planes were shot down by this “sky serpent” than any other U.S. dog-fighter design used by the Soviet Air Force, but some Aircobrasplummeted to their demise without so much as a shot from the enemy.

5. SR 71 Blackbird

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Before the age of universal satellite technology, design specifications for a first class spy plane with unprecedented speed, endurance and the ability to reach the edge of space birthed the SR 71 Blackbird. A fearsome, almost alien ship, the SR 71 had devilish performance capabilities. But in a bizarre twist, the SR 71’s special permeable tanks would leak explosive jet fuel until the 900 plus degree Fahrenheit frictional heat caused them to seal. As it soared to altitudes of over six miles it exceeded speeds of 3,000 miles per hourcausing the surface of the aircraft to glow bright red. The hellish scene outside was no comfort to the pilot cocooned in the asbestos insulated cockpit, who would have to wait up to half an hour upon landing to avoid melted feet upon exit. Even the canopy would reach 572 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Convair Pogo

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The Grumman X23, or “Pogo,” represents a radical departure from the norm of aviation design, taking it past eccentricity and into full blown absurdity. The body of the Pogo was shaped somewhat like a regular airplane, except for the rotor attached to the nose cone that lifted it vertically into the air. Unlike most “VTOL” aircraft, the Pogo took off nose first like a rocket with the wheels attached to its tailfins. The canopy pointed 90 degrees outward, causing the pilot to lie at right angles with the ground as the machine rose. The “Pogo” was supposed to then fly forward though the air once it had stabilized. Several successful test flights were made, but like many aerial misfits, the project never got far off the ground.

3. McDonnell Douglas X-15

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The X-15 is an older design, but it was such a significant and anomalous leap forward it remains unsurpassed in the arena of aircraft performance. First tested in 1959, the X-15 Rocket Plane measured 51 feet in length, with two tiny, 9 foot wing stubs on each side. A series of tests saw the plane reach altitudes of 100,000 feet, with two missions qualifying as space flights. During the aircraft’s passage through the atmosphere, the small, rocket like jet reached speeds of over six times the speed of sound. The X-15 was coated with a special nickel alloy similar to that found in natural meteorites, which prevented Planet Earth’s fastest ever machine from burning up in the atmosphere. The X-15 defined the niche of extreme specifications with its high weight, high power and low lift.

2. Blohm und Voss BV 141

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In the natural world, symmetry is the rule in everything from eyes to wings. In the reverse engineering principles nature inspires, that rule holds true for engines, fins and tails. But during World War II, in a marked departure from the norm, German aircraft engineers at Dornier conceived a reconnaissance plane and light bomber with a single wing, a tail boom with an engine on one side, and right beside it, a pod to carry the pilot. Although such an arrangement would appear unbalanced, placing the pod on the right hand side of the propeller boom counteracts the torque and helps the aircraft fly straight. Thus, this freakish flying machine not only made it off the ground, but inspired a modern sport aircraft with a similar design.

1. Caproni Ca.60 Noviplano

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Consider a house boat crossed with an airplane. That was the idea behind Count Caproni’s Ca.60. This 1920 machine set the standard for bizarre multi-wing aircraft so high that even Richtofen’s Red Fokker would look definitively mundane in comparison. Measuring 70 feet in length and weighing a whopping 55 tons, Caproni’s enormous floating flying machine was built to be the first transatlantic airliner in aviation history. Borrowing from the theory that enough wings will make anything fly, the ship-like fuselage bore a stack of three wings at the front, three in the middle, and instead of a tail, a third set of three wings at the back. The unearthly machine could only be described as a triple triplane and nothing similar was ever built. Lifting off was not a problem, but the plane crash landed on its first flight after reaching a height of about 60 feet. Caproni announced that he would repair it, but the wreckage was later burned overnight.

Top image: Caproni Ca.60 Noviplano, via Diseno-art.

[Source: Toptenz. Edited. Top image added.]

6 AMAZING ANIMALS THAT WALK ON WATER


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Amazing Animals That Walk on Water 
By Mary Bates, 
National Geographic, 19 June 2014.

It’s no miracle: More than 1,200 species of animals have evolved the ability to walk on water, from tiny insects and spiders to larger animals such as birdsreptiles, and even mammals.

Ants are not known for their swimming skills, but a new study suggests many are surprisingly adept in the water. Out of 35 species of tropical ant studied, over half could “swim” on the water’s surface, which helps them escape predators and drowning, according to the research, recently published in theJournal of Experimental Biology.

Walking on water isn’t magical, though - it all comes down to physics.

Tiny animals can rest on the water’s surface because their weight is supported by the water’s surface tension, the force created when water molecules cling to each other. (See “How Snails Walk on Water Is a Small Miracle.”)

“Surface tension is a property of the air-water interface that makes it behave, roughly speaking, like a trampoline,” said John Bush, a professor of applied mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies fluid dynamics.

1. Water Striders

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Water striders in Cantabria, Spain.

There are more than 340 species of water striders, insects that are specialized to spend nearly their entire lives at the water’s surface. They belong to a category of water walkers called gliders, which also includes fishing spiders and pygmy geckos.

When the insects press their legs down on the water, they make tiny dents in the surface but don’t break through it. The water’s surface tension pushes the water strider forward.

Their stride also helps: Water striders glide over the water’s surface by sweeping their middle pair of legs backward in a sculling motion, like the oars of a rowboat. This creates swirls beneath the water’s surface that propel them.

Finally, water striders’ legs are coated in a layer of waxy hairs that renders them water repellent. (See “Hairy Legs Help Bugs Walk on Water.”)

2. Fishing Spiders

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A fishing spider, Dolomedes sexpunctatus, can row, gallop, and even sail across the water.

Fishing spiders are relatively large spiders found throughout North America. They tend to live on the edges of streams and ponds, where they feed mostly on insects (although they are capable of catching small frogs, tadpoles, and minnows). They hunt by detecting the vibrations in the water made by their prey.

Like water striders, fishing spiders’ legs are covered with water-repellent hairs that help keep them afloat.

Fishing spiders have several ways of getting around on the water’s surface. When they’re not in a rush,they row in a manner similar to that of water striders. (Also see “Walking Began Underwater, Strolling-Fish Discovery Suggests.”)

To go after prey or get away from predators, fishing spiders can speed up into a gallop.

“They sort of bounce along the water’s surface,” said Robert Suter, professor emeritus of biology at Vassar College. “They take their first, second, and third pairs of legs and push down and backwards, and that wafts them into the air. They’re airborne for a few centimetres and then they land and push backwards again with the same legs.”

Fishing spiders can also sail: Taking advantage of the wind and the slipperiness of the water’s surface, the arachnids stand with two or three pairs of legs up in the air and allow the wind to catch them and propel them along the water’s surface.

Suter said this might be a form of cheap locomotion for the spiders: A way to travel a long distance while expending almost no energy.

3. Pygmy Geckos

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Image via YouTube

The Brazilian pygmy gecko, at less than one and a half inches (about 4 centimetres) long, could drown in even the smallest puddle. But it has evolved some tricks to stay safe in its rain forest home.

Because the reptiles are so tiny, they can rest on the surface of water like a water strider or fishing spider. Pygmy geckos also have water-repellent skin that keeps them from breaking the surface tension. (Also see “Watery Gecko Grip Could Lead to Stickier Tape.”)

The BBC natural history series Life captured footage of a pygmy gecko surviving a rainstorm by walking across a puddle without breaking the water’s surface tension.

4. Basilisk Lizards

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A double-crested basilisk, dubbed the Jesus lizard, runs across water in Santa Rita, Costa Rica, in 2008.

Basilisk lizards, a group of tree-dwelling reptiles found in Central America, earned the nickname the Jesus Christ lizard for their ability to run on water (see above picture). When startled, the animals can run on their hind legs for about 15 feet (4.5 meters). (See “How ‘Jesus Lizards’ Walk on Water.”)

The basilisk is considered a “slapper,” or a group of water walkers whose weight is too great to be supported by the water’s surface tension.

“Large animals cannot reside at rest on the water’s surface, but must be in a constant state of motion,” said MIT’s Bush.

As the lizards’ feet push down on, and break through, the water’s surface, the water beneath their feet pushes back. This keeps them up just long enough to take their next step and stops them from sinking.

But to stabilize themselves and stay upright, the reptiles also produce huge sideways forces to catch their weight and keep their bodies upright.

5. Western Grebes

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Western grebes “rush” in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, in 2012.

Western grebes are North American water birds that spend nearly their entire lives in the water. Grebes have short wings and powerful legs that are set far back on their bodies, making them ungainly on land.

These birds are best known for an elaborate and beautiful mating ritual known as “rushing.” The male and female turn to one side, lunge forward synchronously, and rise up on their feet with their wings beating furiously. With their bodies completely out of the water, the birds race across the water’s surface side by side in perfect unison for up to 30 feet (9 meters).

When scientists used high-speed film to analyze western grebe rushing, they found the birds made as many as 22 steps per second.

The researchers also discovered that grebes use their unique feet during rushing. Grebe feet are not webbed like a duck’s, but are lobed, with toes that flatten out like paddles to help them stay afloat.

6. Dolphins

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Photo credit: Amada44/Wikimedia Commons

Even animals as big as dolphins can “walk” on water sometimes.

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society scientist Mike Bossley has studied the bottlenose dolphins in the Port River of Adelaide, Australia, for over 25 years. Recently, he documented a behaviour called tail walking.

By vigorously beating their tail flukes back and forth, dolphins can lift their bodies vertically out of the water and propel themselves along the surface with only their tails submerged. (Watch a video of tail walking here).

Dolphins in captivity can be trained to tail walk, but in the wild, the behaviour is extremely rare. Bossley originally observed two wild female dolphins tail walking. Over time, the behaviour spread throughout the Port River dolphin community, and he has observed four other dolphins practicing the technique. (Also see “Dolphins Have Longest Memories in Animal Kingdom.”)

Walking on water doesn’t always have any obvious benefits: The scientists believe the Port River dolphins are simply doing it for fun.

Follow Mary Bates on Twitter and Facebook.

Top image: Green basilisk lizard. Photograph by Joe McDonald/Animals Animals-Earth Scenes, viaNational Geographic.

[Source: National Geographic. Edited. Top image added.]