Awesome Nature

A group of villagers in Terskol, Russia watch as they intentionally induce an avalanche by firing artillery. The scenery quickly transforms from postcard-worthy into nothing but snow and dust.

(NSFW for language) The hilarious narration here only adds to the intrigue of the Honey Badger – fearless, nasty and unstoppable about its eating. Sounds like some people we know. (Thanks Tyler!)

It’s hard for us normal folks to wrap our heads around stats that are too high or too low. Take temperature for instance. -30ºC is obviously cold, but how cold exactly? Watch the video to find out.

A bystander in Toowomba, Queensland shot this video showing just how quickly the flash flood erupted from a creek, sweeping cars away within minutes. You can donate to the flood relief here.

Get swept away in the adrenaline-charged Tornado Alley, which documents Storm Chasers host Sean Casey’s thrilling quest to experience a tornado’s destructive power at point blank range.

Darek Sepiolo’s astounding video of life in the Galapagos islands had us convinced we were looking at another world. When we realized this is right here on Earth, our minds exploded.

These glass catfish (the rainbows are light reflections) are naturally transparent with the exception of their spines, which helps them hide from prey in the wild. We could use this power too.

The Southern White-faced Owl has a couple of creepy transformations, but it’s got nothing on the Mimic Octopus. This strange cephalopod can copy the look of 15 species, from snakes to shrimps.

A BBC Earth crew was shooting footage when a grizzly bear got within just feet of their shoot. Luckily, they knew exactly what to do while the menacing beast went about its business. Nothing.

A few examples of incredible paintings, engravings, carvings, and even sculptures made of leaves. The carvings in particular are jaw-dropping. More here, here and here.

Did you know that when ants get separated from their colony, they start following each other in a circle until they drop dead? The phenomenon looks like an insect hurricane. Nature sure is weird.

Next time you find yourself face-to-face with a tiger, lion, leopard or jaguar, don’t run. Just drop a big bag of catnip at their feet, and watch ’em get just as stoned as your house cat does.

During the this week’s really nasty weather, photographer Craig Shimala captured this amazing video of lightning simultaneously striking the three tallest buildings in downtown Chicago.

A short train ride north from Amsterdam will bring you quickly to the Oostvaardersplassen, one of Europe’s most important nature preserves, filled with abundant grazing herds (and no predators).

“I’ve never seen anything like this” is a bit of an understatement from the people who watched the pool take a beating from Mother Nature as they shot this hail storm footage in Oklahoma City.

Victor Huang was scuba diving the waters in Wellington, NZ, when an octopus decided he didn’t like that he was being filmed. The entire ordeal was caught on video, and set to a catchy tune.