Ancient manuscripts from Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, Sudan and Nigeria line storage cases at Abdel Kader Haidara’s home, the director of Bibliotheque Mama Haidara De Manuscripts, Timbuktu. These manuscripts are waiting their turn to be cataloged and added to the library collection. Inside them is a history of Africa from the 11th century onwards, with dialogue on Islam, trade, history, the law and so on. Image by Brent Stirton, National Geographic, September 2009.
Article from pulitzercenter.org
David Doubilet photographed these incredibly awesome toxic nudibranchs, soft, seagoing slugs whose colourful bodies warn potential predators that they are not without considerable defenses:
“The 3,000-plus known nudibranch species, it turns out, are well equipped to defend themselves. Not only can they be tough-skinned, bumpy, and abrasive, but they’ve also traded the family shell for less burdensome weaponry: toxic secretions and stinging cells. A few make their own poisons, but most pilfer from the foods they eat. Species that dine on toxic sponges, for example, alter and store the irritating compounds in their bodies and secrete them from skin cells or glands when disturbed. Other nudibranchs hoard capsules of tightly coiled stingers, called nematocysts, ingested from fire corals, anemones, and hydroids. Immune to the sting, the slugs deploy the stolen artillery along their own extremities.”
From National Geographic - Living Color
[via jtotheizzoe via abluegirl
(via thatnatureblog)
Nujood Ali, Yemen
Photograph by Stephanie Sinclair, National Geographic
Nujood Ali was ten when she fled her abusive, much older husband and took a taxi to the courthouse in Sanaa, Yemen. The girl’s courageous act—and the landmark legal battle that ensued—turned her into an international heroine for women’s rights. Now divorced, she is back home with her family and attending school again.
