The Most Outstanding Creations of Man and Nature (Part 9)

This type of bamboo can be cut just 2 hours after the seeds sprout. At this age, the plant has very soft stems, which are considered a delicacy and used in food. Dishes with bamboo are used in Chinese medicine: they are beneficial for bones, teeth, eyes, and other organs.

If the bamboo is not cut and left to grow, it will reach its maximum height of 30 meters within a few months, with a diameter exceeding 0.5 meters. However, this plant is usually not allowed to grow to its full size when cultivated. If the bamboo is not cut immediately, it is allowed to grow until the stems can be used as building material.

Moso bamboo is naturally found in southern China and Taiwan. It has also been naturalized in other places, including Japan.

Due to the rapid growth of this type of bamboo and its high frost resistance, it is now cultivated in many countries. Bamboo logs are considered inexpensive. Among modern trends are bamboo cases for gadgets.

Moso bamboo is used as finishing and building material, in paper and textile production (viscose fiber is made from it), for weaving baskets and mats, making furniture, and even boats.

This is one of the deepest lakes on the planet — second only to Baikal, and just as ancient in origin. By volume, Tanganyika ranks third — after the Caspian Sea and Baikal. The shores of the lake belong to four countries: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Zambia, and Burundi.

The lake stretches 676 kilometers in length and averages 50 kilometers in width. The lake's area is 32,900 km², and the length of the shoreline is 1,828 kilometers. The average depth is 570 meters, and the maximum is 1,470 meters. The volume is 18,900 km³.

Tanganyika serves as a vital base for the surrounding countries. The lake is a source of drinking water, food, and serves as a transportation route. This area has great potential for ecotourism, as there are many clean beaches and beautiful rocky areas, islands, and bays along the lake's coast.

Dubai Miracle Garden has more than 50 million flowers and 250 million plants.

Thanks to continuous innovations, Dubai Miracle Garden has been breaking all floral records for many years. For example, it has set 3 Guinness World Records.

1. In 2016, the Airbus A380 floral installation in the garden was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest floral installation in the world. This floral installation consists of 5 million flowers, and the color of the flowers exactly matched the entire design and logo of Emirates. This record floral theme remains in Dubai Miracle Garden and is expected to stay there for the coming years due to its popularity.
2. In 2018, another world record was set: the tallest topiary in the shape of Mickey Mouse, 18 meters high and weighing almost 35 tons, was exhibited in the garden.
3. In 2019, Dubai Miracle Garden set another Guinness World Record by creating the world's largest topiary. Disney Avenue was created in the garden, consisting of 9 Disney characters, all made of flowers and shrubs. Each of these characters was as huge as the previously created Mickey Mouse character, and some were even larger. Among the Disney characters were Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto, and the triplets (Huey, Dewey, and Louie). Goofy was the largest of all. This avenue was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest topiary.

More interesting facts about Dubai Miracle Garden can be found in our article ☛

These birds are considered to have the longest wings. The wings of these birds are long and narrow. The record belongs to an old male caught in 1965 off the coast of Australia — his wingspan was 3 meters 63 centimeters.

The Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) is also one of the largest flying birds. The body of the bird reaches a length of 120 cm, the weight of an adult male is 11 kg, and a female — 7–9 kg.

Wandering albatrosses nest on subantarctic islands: South Georgia, the Crozet Islands, Kerguelen, the Antipodes Islands, and Macquarie.

This species is listed in the IUCN Red List as a “vulnerable species”.

Wandering albatrosses are also record holders in their family for the extent of their routes. An albatross can fly up to 1,000 km in a day and is capable of flying against the wind.

For soaring flight, the bird uses wave boundary layers. Strong airflow generated by the interaction of sea waves and the atmosphere is used by albatrosses for soaring, so they stay on the edges of cyclones and prefer to avoid calm weather. On windless days or in low air temperatures, the bird does not fly high; usually, it flies at a height of no more than 15 meters.

The length of the frog is only 2–5 cm, weight — 1 gram. However, the frog's skin contains the neurotoxin batrachotoxin. This extremely lethal toxin is very rare; its lethal dose for humans is only 2 micrograms (one frog can contain up to 1 mg of poison). A simple touch to the frog's skin is enough to get a lethal poisoning.

Interestingly, the golden poison frog itself does not have poisonous glands, and this most dangerous toxin is extracted from food — various insects. What is useful is digested, and any poison is processed and excreted through the skin.

These tree frogs are found in the tropical forests in a small area of southwest Colombia. They mainly inhabit the lower layers of rainforests.

The Tree of Life at first glance appears to be an unremarkable tree. However, this tree is a local tourist attraction, and it is visited by about 65,000 people annually.

It is unknown how the tree survives. There is virtually no rain in Bahrain throughout the year. Nevertheless, the loneliest tree is abundantly covered with green leaves.

It is believed that the roots go down to a depth of 50 meters, which may be enough to reach water. It is also said that the tree has learned to extract moisture from sand grains. And some people claim that the tree stands in a place that was once the Garden of Eden and therefore has a more mystical source of water.

This 10-meter tree is called Prosopis cineraria, also known as ghaf. These trees are widespread from India to Saudi Arabia, and are also found in Yemen and Indonesia.

The maximum length of this fish is 25 cm. The color is black or black-brownish. There are no scales. The mouth is very large, armed with numerous wedge-shaped teeth.

The Black Swallower can swallow prey larger than itself, with its stomach stretching significantly, and the heart shifting to the side. The jaws, body walls, and stomach of this fish can stretch greatly. The swallower swallows its prey whole. Thanks to the features described above, the fish is capable of swallowing prey twice its length and 10 times its weight.

Due to the peculiarities of the jaw articulation with the skull, these fish can engulf objects larger than their own head. It is assumed that the swallower grabs the prey from behind and swallows it, starting from the tail. It swallows its disproportionate victim using mobile pharyngeal teeth.

In 2007, a black swallower was found on Grand Cayman Island, 19 cm long with a swallowed snake mackerel Gempylus serpens 86 cm long, which is 4.5 times its own length. The fish surfaced because the size of the prey did not allow the swallower to digest it before decomposition began. At some point, this fish was unable to resist the force of buoyancy due to the gases released. This is how most specimens ended up in the hands of ichthyologists.

Black Swallowers are distributed worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters, at depths of 150–3,900 meters.

The beach got its name from the underground hot springs that seep through the sand between tidal flows. For two hours on either side of low tide, you can dig into the sand, allowing hot water to surface, forming a hot water pool. The water temperature here reaches up to +64º C.

These natural springs can be found on the beach opposite the coastal rocks. Visitors often dig large holes, relax, and bathe in the thermal water. Many visitors bring a shovel and bucket.

The beach is a popular spot for both locals and tourists visiting New Zealand. The annual number of visitors to Hot Water Beach is estimated at 700,000 people, making it one of the most popular geothermal attractions in the Waikato region.

The An-225 “Mriya” (Antonov An-225 Mriya) is a super heavy cargo transport jet developed by the State Enterprise “Antonov”. The plane can carry unique loads on its fuselage, the dimensions of which do not allow them to be placed on other ground and air vehicles.

The airplane was designed and built in the USSR in a single copy at the Kiev Mechanical Plant in 1984–1988. The first flight was made on December 21, 1988. Initially, it was planned to build 2 such airplanes. However, only one copy was in flying condition and was operated by the Ukrainian company Antonov Airlines. The second copy was not completed.

The An-225 is the heaviest cargo plane ever to fly. The “Mriya” plane has set a number of world records for takeoff weight and cargo capacity. In total, this plane holds about 250 world records. Here are just a few of them.

• On March 22, 1989, the An-225 made a flight with a load of 156.3 tons.
• In August 2004, a new record was set — “Mriya” transported 250 tons of special equipment ordered by Zeromax GmbH from Prague to Tashkent.
• In August 2009, the plane was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for transporting the largest monolithic cargo in aviation history with a total weight of 187.6 tons. It was a generator weighing 174 tons, which was transported along with a special frame from Frankfurt, Germany, to Yerevan for a new Armenian power plant.
• On June 10, 2010, the longest load in the history of air transportation was transported — 2 wind turbine blades, each 42.1 meters long.
• In November 2016, a record weight for South America was transported — a turbo generator in a special construction with a total weight of 182 tons.
• The An-225 holds the absolute cargo capacity record — 253.8 tons.

In February 2022, the An-225 was destroyed in a hangar during the battles for the Antonov Airport during the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is reported that Ukraine intends to complete the second An-225 to replace the destroyed plane.