1 Minute Earth, 520 Rockhill Ave, Melbourne (2026)

03/01/2026

This photograph, which won first place in the Royal Society Publishing photography competition, provides a unique perspective on the life of tadpoles. The image captures a group of common toad (Bufo bufo) tadpoles from below, as seen through the eyes of a tadpole. Tadpoles of many anuran species are born in large numbers, but only a few survive to adulthood. The photograph was taken by Bert Willaert of Belgium using a Canon G12 camera in a Recsea underwater housing and a Dyron dome port. - Earth Unreal
Image credit: Bert Willaert Nature Photography

03/01/2026

At first glance, it looks impossible.
A mammoth’s head, complete with skin, muscle, hair, and facial features, staring back across time.

This is the Yukagir Mammoth, a male woolly mammoth discovered in Arctic Siberia in 2002. Unlike most mammoth finds, which are limited to bones and tusks, this specimen preserved soft tissue in extraordinary detail. The reason is simple and ruthless, permafrost.

Soon after death, the animal was rapidly buried and frozen, sealing it in a natural deep freeze that halted decay. For thousands of years, the ground never thawed enough for bacteria to do their work. What remained was not a skeleton, but a body part that still looked recognizably alive.

The head alone revealed critical information. Scientists could study muscle structure, fat layers, skin thickness, hair distribution, and even trauma. The Yukagir Mammoth showed evidence of injury, possibly from combat with another male, offering rare insight into mammoth behavior, not just anatomy.

The research was led in part by Dick Mol, widely known in scientific circles as “Sir Mammoth” for his decades of work on Ice Age megafauna. His hands-on study of the specimen helped bridge the gap between fossil bones and living biology. The photograph taken by Francis Latreille captures a moment few scientists ever experience, face to face with an extinct giant preserved almost as if asleep.

Finds like this remind us that extinction is not always distant and abstract. Sometimes it has eyelashes. Sometimes it has scars. Sometimes it still has hair moving in the Arctic wind.

The Yukagir Mammoth is not just a fossil. It is a frozen moment of life, preserved long enough for us to finally meet it.

Follow Know Your Planet for real discoveries that make deep time feel uncomfortably close.

02/01/2026

It took three thousand years, and one violent storm, for this blade to see daylight again.

After heavy weather tore into a coastal cliff in Poland, two metal detectorists noticed something unusual glinting from freshly exposed soil. Not gold. Not silver. A muted green, the unmistakable color of ancient bronze.

What they uncovered was a Hallstatt period dagger, dating to around 800 BCE, preserved with astonishing clarity. Even among Iron Age weapons, Hallstatt blades are rare. This one is exceptional.

Its surface is decorated with finely engraved solar and lunar motifs, circles, crescents, and geometric patterns linked to early European cosmology. These symbols were not decoration alone. In the Hallstatt world, the sun governed seasons, harvests, and power itself. The moon regulated time, cycles, and ritual order. To carry both on a blade was to carry authority.

Archaeologists believe this dagger was likely not a simple battlefield weapon. Its craftsmanship, symbolic markings, and condition suggest a ceremonial role. It may have belonged to a high status warrior, a chieftain, or someone with ritual authority in a society where power, warfare, and belief were tightly intertwined.

The Hallstatt culture marked a turning point in Europe. Iron technology spread. Long distance trade flourished. Elites displayed status through weapons, ornaments, and burial goods that blurred the line between tool and symbol. This dagger fits squarely into that world.

What makes the discovery haunting is its randomness. No planned excavation. No survey grid. Just erosion, chance, and a brief flash of green against wet earth.

One storm erased part of a landscape, and in doing so, revealed how ancient people understood the sky above them and power on the ground beneath their feet.

History does not always announce itself in museums. Sometimes it waits quietly in the cliff face, until nature decides it is time.

31/12/2025

Lake Michigan doesn’t just hit back… it freezes the moment in time. 🌊❄️

St. Joseph Lighthouse on Lake Michigan showing the raw power of a winter storm above, then the aftermath below, where wind, spray, and freezing temperatures transformed the structure into a frozen monument of ice.

30/12/2025

Imagine standing by the river and seeing a shadow the size of a small boat moving beneath the surface. That is exactly what happened recently in the Kennebec River in Maine, where an enormous sturgeon measuring 4 meters (13 feet) was spotted. It was a breathtaking reminder of the incredible giants that still roam our waters today. These fish are often called "living fossils" because they have existed for over 200 million years, surviving the age of dinosaurs and continuing to swim in our rivers. While this recent sighting was spectacular, history holds even bigger records. The largest sturgeon ever recorded was a Beluga sturgeon caught way back in 1827 in the Volga estuary. It was a staggering 7.2 meters (24 feet) long and weighed over 1.5 tons, which is more than a small car. With their armored bodies and ancient history, these magnificent fish are a true testament to nature’s resilience and mystery.

30/12/2025

As the world accelerates toward renewable energy, where we install solar panels is just as important as adopting them. Converting productive farmland into solar fields may generate power—but it also risks reducing food production and increasing pressure on global agriculture.

There’s a far smarter alternative already woven into our cities: parking lots.

Parking lots are massive, sun-exposed spaces that sit unused for most of the day. By installing solar canopies above them, we can generate clean energy without sacrificing fertile land. At the same time, these canopies provide shade, lower surface temperatures, protect vehicles from harsh weather, and create the perfect foundation for EV charging stations.

This solution strengthens sustainability, food security, and climate action all at once. Cities benefit. Businesses save energy costs. Communities gain cleaner power—while farmland continues to feed millions.

We don’t need to choose between solar energy and agriculture. With smarter planning, both can thrive side by side.

30/12/2025

It sounds like a dare that went too far.
Or the start of a science-fiction fable.

For six months, Swedish YouTuber Mattias Krantz worked on what he half-jokingly called “probably the worst thing I’ve ever done and maybe the coolest.” After rescuing an octopus from a Portugal fishery, he named him Takoyaki, Tako for short and set himself a strange goal: teach an octopus to play piano.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

Krantz designed a custom underwater keyboard, with levers sized for te****les instead of fingers. Each key, when pressed, triggered a sound above water. To motivate learning, he built a “crab elevator”—a reward system that lowered Tako’s favorite treat a little closer every time the right note was played.

It wasn’t smooth. Most days were trial, error, and resetting expectations. Octopuses are famously intelligent but also independent. They don’t obey. They negotiate. Sometimes they ignore you completely.

Then something clicked.

Over time, Tako learned a six-note progression, reliably pulling the correct levers in sequence. Krantz began accompanying him on guitar. What started as enrichment turned into something like a jam session. “I can’t believe I sit here and play with an octopus,” Krantz later told The Washington Post.

Scientists have long known that octopuses possess remarkable cognition: problem-solving, memory, curiosity, and even play. What this experiment shows isn’t that Tako understands music the way humans do but that he can learn structured tasks, associate actions with outcomes, and engage with novel tools.

And that matters.

Because octopuses are often reduced to food or curiosities behind glass. Seeing one interact, learn, and participate forces a reconsideration of how we relate to intelligence that doesn’t look like ours.

This wasn’t about turning an animal into entertainment.
It was about asking a question few people think to ask:

What happens when curiosity meets patience,
and intelligence answers back with a te****le?

29/12/2025

Nosikitok was a strong and fierce lioness, always ready to protect her pride. One morning while she was walking through her territory, she heard a small, weak cry. When she went to look, she didn’t find another lion cub. Instead, she found a tiny, trembling leopard cub that had been left all alone. In the wild, lions and leopards are usually enemies, but Nosikitok did something that shocked the world. Instead of seeing a rival, she saw a baby in need. She chose to care for the little leopard, grooming it and even letting it nurse alongside her own cubs.

For many days, she stood her ground against other lions to keep the cub safe. The two became inseparable, proving that compassion can be found even in the most unexpected places. Eventually, as the leopard grew older, its natural instincts led it back to the forest to live on its own, but the bond they shared left a mark on everyone who saw it. Nosikitok’s story is a beautiful reminder that love has no limits and kindness can bloom anywhere, even in the heart of the wild.

28/12/2025

Scientists once found a bowhead whale with a 19th-century harpoon still embedded in its body—clear evidence it had lived for more than 100 years.

This incredible discovery confirmed that bowhead whales are among the longest-living mammals on Earth, quietly surviving for centuries and bearing witness to human history deep beneath the ocean’s surface. 🐋🌊

26/12/2025

It’s strange how one quiet, sleepy animal can change the mood of an entire town.
In Scarborough, England, New Year’s Eve was supposed to be loud. Fireworks. Cracking booms. Skies lit up to mark the moment everyone crossed into a new year together.
Then a walrus appeared.
He pulled himself up near the harbour and settled there, huge and calm, like he’d finally found a place to stop. Rescuers and locals started calling him Thor. And as people gathered to watch, something became clear: he wasn’t here for entertainment. He was exhausted.
Experts warned that fireworks could frighten or stress him. So the town paused—and made a decision that still feels remarkable.
They cancelled the fireworks.
No uproar. No complaints about ruined plans. Just a simple choice to let a tired animal rest.
And it wasn’t just about that one night. Thor was believed to be stopping during a long journey north. Later, reports said he made it all the way to Iceland.
Let that sink in.
A weary traveler arrives. People notice. And instead of getting louder or pushing closer, an entire town grows quiet and gives him space.
There’s something about that that sticks with me.
Maybe we don’t always need noise to mark an important moment.
Maybe sometimes the best way to welcome a new year is by protecting a living being that’s just trying to make it home.

25/12/2025

Along the windswept shore of Oregon’s central coast, a rare and solemn moment unfolded—one that bridged modern conservation law and ancient tradition.

When a young humpback whale stranded itself on the beach, responders did everything possible. Rescue teams tried to refloat the animal. Veterinarians monitored its condition. But the whale’s health deteriorated, and ultimately, officials made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize it to prevent further suffering.

What followed was unprecedented.

For the first time in generations, members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians were granted special federal permission to salvage the whale’s remains. The decision was not about hunting, it was about cultural continuity.

For coastal Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, whales are not merely animals. They are relatives, providers, and spiritual beings woven into stories, laws, and responsibilities that stretch back thousands of years. While commercial and subsistence whaling has long been restricted, this moment allowed the Siletz to practice traditions that had been largely silent since the 19th century.

The whale was treated with ceremony and care.

Tribal members salvaged meat and bone according to cultural protocols, ensuring that nothing was wasted and that the animal was honored. Elders described the event not as a return to the past, but as a reminder that traditions survive, even when interrupted—waiting for the right moment to be remembered.

The species involved, the humpback whale, is itself a symbol of resilience. Once pushed to the brink by industrial whaling, humpbacks have slowly recovered under international protection. This recovery made the moment possible: respect for both conservation science and Indigenous sovereignty.

Standing on that beach, time folded in on itself.

A modern tragedy became a cultural passage.
A lost tradition found voice again, not through conquest, but through care.

It was not a hunt.
It was a homecoming.

23/12/2025

On land, the cheetah is shown as the fastest animal in the world. It can reach speeds of around 70 mph (112 km/h), making it unmatched among terrestrial animals. However, this incredible speed can only be maintained for very short bursts, usually lasting 20 to 30 seconds. Cheetahs rely on explosive acceleration rather than endurance, as running at top speed quickly leads to overheating and exhaustion.

In the air, the peregrine falcon is identified as the fastest animal overall. Its astonishing top speed of 242 mph (389 km/h) is achieved during a high-speed hunting dive, known as a stoop, when the bird folds its wings and uses gravity to accelerate. This speed does not reflect normal flight. During level flight, peregrine falcons typically fly at much lower speeds, usually between 55 and 60 mph.

In water, the sailfish is often labeled the fastest fish, but its claimed top speed of 68 mph (110 km/h) is controversial. These figures come from older estimates rather than precise measurements. More recent studies suggest sailfish generally swim at speeds closer to 35–45 mph.

Note: All speeds mentioned are approximate and can vary depending on measurement methods, conditions, and individual animals.

1 Minute Earth

03/01/2026

03/01/2026

02/01/2026

31/12/2025

30/12/2025

30/12/2025

30/12/2025

29/12/2025

28/12/2025

26/12/2025

25/12/2025

23/12/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category