Boo. Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes look pretty creepy when they’re dressed up in fluorescent dyes — marking the muscle cells (red) and sensory neurons (green). #Parasites #Halloween

Small worm, major problem. 🪱💔 Canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) spreads via mosquito bites and lives in the arteries and hearts of dogs and other animals, where each worm can grow to a foot long and cause lasting harm even after treatment. #Parasites #Halloween

This tiny parasitic arachnid is known as a tick. Once it flips itself over, you can expect that it will be looking to feed on the blood of almost anything it can sink its teeth into. This includes mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians...and you. 😉 #Parasites #Halloween #creepy

Nematodes! These creepy creatures are everywhere, literally. They have successfully adapted to nearly every ecosystem on Earth and make up 90% of all animals on the ocean floor. Sure, some varieties parasitise humans, but we're still pretty impressed! 🤩🪱 #parasites #Halloween #MicroscopicMonday

Look, but don't touch 🚫 The puss moth caterpillar is regarded as a dangerous insect because of its venomous spines. Exposure to the caterpillar's fur-like spines leads to an immediate skin irritation characterized by a "grid-like hemorrhagic papular eruption with severe radiating pain." Victims describe the pain as similar to a broken bone or blunt-force trauma. 🥴 #insects #science

Yum...? 🤔 Amorphophallus paeoniifolius. or elephant foot yam, is a tropical tuber crop grown primarily in Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the tropical Pacific islands. #botany

#DidYouKnow the Empire State Building is actually a slender step-pyramid...and was designed as a docking station for airships? #Unearthed #NYC

Today is the #FallEquinox, the first day of #fall! 🍁🌎 On the fall equinox (the point in the Earth's orbit closest to the viewer in this animation), Earth's axis is angled neither toward nor away from the sun. As a result, everyone on earth sees about 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. After the equinox, days shorten in the northern hemisphere as the angle of Earth's axis tilts the North Pole away from the sun...until the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the yearin the northern hemisphere, when days begin to lengthen again! #howseasonswork #science

Colored sagittal #MRI scans of a normal healthy head and neck. The scans start at the left of the body and move right through it. The eyes are seen as red circles, while the anatomy of the brain and spinal cord is best seen between them. The vertebrae of the neck and back are seen as blue blocks. The brain comprises paired hemispheres overlying the central limbic system. The cerebellum lies below the back of the hemispheres, behind the brainstem, which connects the brain to the spinal cord. #science #medicine #anatomy

Without the use of a breathing apparatus, expert free divers must be able to control their most subtle bodily functions to endure extreme conditions. Immersion in water and exposure to high ambient pressure can also have physiological effects that limit the depths and duration possible in freediving. #Freediving is dangerous - do not attempt unless you are a trained professional.

These are Kelvin-Helmholtz wave clouds. This distinct corkscrew pattern is formed by layers of air moving across each other in opposite directions, creating a series of circular air movements in between them. This type of cloud generally forms at high altitude and dissipates rapidly. #science #meteorology

This creature from the abyss is rarely seen by humans. The gorgon's head is a deep-sea relative of the sea-star. It can grow up to three feet long, has no blood, no eyes, and grows back severed limbs, which it uses to drag prey towards its five-jawed mouth. #StrangeEvidence