Macrocosmic Minutia

A type of mantis.

Fern.

Longtailed broadbill.

Native gold on quartz.

Sweet pea.

Nerite shell.

Feather star, in the starfish family.

Poison dart frog.

Spiral staircase.

Atlantic royal flycatcher.

Waterbird carved from a gourd.

Barite crystal cluster.

A controversial artifact: said to be the first globe of the New World, carved on an ostrich egg, possibly by Leonardo da Vinci.

Mammatus clouds are formed when cold upper air sinks downward, forming pouches under the cloud layer. They tend to precede severe electrical and hail storms, and are an ominous warning of impending tornadoes.

Reniform (kidney shaped) hematite.

Five centuries of footsteps have deformed the marble of the stairs in the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Stone spiral steps.