What do you do when the girl dissolves?

Once the camera dropped, the lioness mother growled and approached Voster’s group. They withdrew to their vehicle and watched the drama unfold. “The camera fell with the lens looking up,” Voster recalled, “she gently flipped the camera on its side and picked it up by the barrel of the lens.” The lioness then brought it to her cubs who started to playfully pounce on it. “They dragged it through the dirt, chewed on the lens hood and then, fortunately, like most kids, soon grew tired with their new toy.”

Eventually, Voster was able to fetch her abandoned camera. She found that it still functioned fine, but the lioness left her signature. “There are two huge teeth marks on the rubber focus rings of the lens and small teeth marks on the plastic lens hood, both of which I decided not to replace.” She spent roughly £200 getting the camera fixed, but the cost was worth the photos she snapped that day. Calling it a “priceless experience,” she also puts it into perspective: “What photographer can boast that their lens had been in a lion’s mouth?”

Barbara Jensen Vorster: Instagram

Scientists Filmed Plants Communicating

Scientists filmed a plant "communicating" with its neighbor using a sophisticated system of airborne compounds. These imperceptible chemical signals serve plants by repelling herbivores and warning nearby plants about potential threats.

While researchers have been aware of these plant defenses since the 1980s, the mechanism behind how plants receive and respond to these signals remained a mystery. To capture this footage, scientists used a pump to transfer compounds emitted by damaged and insect-infested plants onto healthy ones and used a fluorescence microscope to observe the reactions.

The experiments involved exposing the leaves of various plants to caterpillars and then monitoring the responses of untouched plants to the signals of distress emitted by the damaged ones. Plants communicate with each other as a survival strategy to defend against threats and optimize their growth.

They use a variety of chemical signals to transmit information about environmental conditions, such as herbivore attacks or pathogen presence. When a plant is under stress, it releases these signals into the air, and neighboring plants detect them. This communication enables nearby plants to prepare for potential dangers by triggering defensive responses, such as producing chemicals to deter herbivores or strengthening cell walls. Plants can also communicate through underground networks of fungi called mycorrhizae, sharing nutrients and information about soil conditions. These communication mechanisms help plants adapt and thrive in their ever-changing surroundings.