tragnark.com/blog

subscribe to blog


Category: animal kingdom

kitty kungfu

17 November, 2008 (00:23) | animal kingdom, humor |

Who can get enough of cat headed bipeds performing in a dance of death?
I am pleased in how disproportionally large, yet functional the cat heads are on the bodies they operate. One can only hold in baited breath for the further adventures of this lone warrior against the armies of the corrupt feline.
On an [...]

ancient art of falconry

5 November, 2008 (23:56) | animal kingdom, culture |

I was rummaging through old work in storage and found some entertaining drawings from 4th grade: warriors with mechanical birds perched on their shoulders to aid in battle.  I wasn’t sure where the idea came from then, but now know that its origins started in Falconry. There are even places allow you to [...]

barking squirrel

23 October, 2008 (23:43) | animal kingdom, personal |

One Saturday morning I woke up to an odd barking noise outside. A lot of our neighbors have dogs and take them for walks in the morning, so naturally I thought Sparky was the source of the commotion. Scanning the ground yielded no visual confirmation. Instead, my eyes were directed up to [...]

super animal friends to the rescue

14 October, 2008 (23:33) | animal kingdom, games |

Besides Street Fighter 4 and Tatsunoko vs Capcom, there is one other sparring game that is blowing my mind: Ultimate Ninja Storm. The style, timing, and cinematic quality has been translated in a way which I’ve never seen in a 3-d fighter.  The frame rate seems to hold stable during game play, even at [...]

mouse battles snake and wins

9 October, 2008 (08:55) | animal kingdom |

A surprising story that demonstrates how the tables can turn at any point and time…..Advantage, mouse.
A mouse bit a venomous viper to death after it was thrown into the snake’s cage as a lunchtime snack. The tiny rodent killed the snake after a fierce 30-minute battle, emerging with “barely a scratch on him”, according [...]

yoda the cat, born with four ears

22 August, 2008 (08:55) | animal kingdom, paranormal |

Strange mammal alert.  Don’t you wish you had a pet like this?  I think if the X-men had a cat, it would be similar, except it would have some type of sonic sound ability.  I like how this feline poses for photos:  WITH AUTHORITY.

They say cats have nine lives, but this one has four ears.
A [...]

monkey-faced piglet born in china

1 August, 2008 (08:58) | animal kingdom, paranormal |

How weird this creature is. After closer inspection, its face seems to have proportions closer to a gorilla than a monkey, but I guess “monkey-faced piglet” has a catchier sound to it. Either way, the fact that it jumps because its back legs are long make for an even stranger appearance.

Villagers were shocked [...]

talking dogs

24 July, 2008 (08:55) | animal kingdom, humor |

Did you know that some dogs can learn to talk? We have a neighbor with a couple of dogs, and I heard one whining yesterday. It started to make noises sort of like these creatures in the video. It sure surprised me. I thought maybe the dog had captured someone and [...]

using toucan beaks to design cars and airplanes

17 July, 2008 (08:56) | animal kingdom, science / tech |

It seems a wonder that toucans don’t fall on their faces, so enormous are the beaks of these South American birds. One large species, the toco toucan, has an orange-yellow bill six to nine inches long, about a third of the bird’s length. But the toucan’s beak is ingeniously designed to be both strong and [...]

what is this bizarre primate? it’s the aye-aye

14 July, 2008 (08:57) | animal kingdom |

Aye-ayes can be found only on the island of Madagascar. These rare animals may not look like primates at first glance, but they are related to chimpanzees, apes, and humans.
Aye-ayes are dark brown or black and are distinguished by a bushy tail that is larger than their body. They also feature big eyes, slender fingers, [...]

the kitten who thinks it’s a budgie bird

6 July, 2008 (22:05) | animal kingdom, humor |

My mom sent these to me in an email. I wish I knew who took the pictures originally so I could give them credit. It is a kitten with a budgerigar parakeet, also known as a “Budgie”.

human clinical trials using cancer ‘cure’ in mice

1 July, 2008 (12:25) | animal kingdom, science / tech |

A clinical trial will examine whether a new cancer treatment is as effective in humans as it’s proven to be in mice, say researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The treatment involves transfusing white blood cells called granulocytes from healthy young donors - whose immune systems produce cells with high levels [...]

unicorn deer found in italy

12 June, 2008 (00:15) | animal kingdom |

ROME (AP) — A deer with a single horn in the center of its head — much like the fabled, mythical unicorn — has been spotted in a nature preserve in Italy, park officials said Wednesday.
“This is fantasy becoming reality,” Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Center of Natural Sciences in Prato, told The Associated Press. [...]

thank you oarfish, you’re my hero

8 June, 2008 (00:58) | animal kingdom, creative projects |

For the past couple days I’ve been working on a new painting “underlava transport”. This account details how I was fortunate enough to meet Randy and his large-foreheaded kind.
Ask yourself with the discernment of Santa Claus, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if there were something that moved terrestrial animals from volcano to volcano?” Of course this [...]

monkey’s brain signals control robot arm

5 June, 2008 (08:53) | animal kingdom, science / tech |

Monkeys can control a robot arm as naturally as their own limbs using only brain signals, a pioneering experiment has shown. The macaque monkeys could reach and grasp with the same precision as their own hand.
“It’s just as if they have a representation of a third arm,” says project leader Miguel Nicolelis, at Duke University [...]

« Older entries