When we think of the wonders our universe has to offer, our minds instantly drift to the heavy hitters: the Grand Canyon, the Northern Lights, or ancient cathedrals. These spectacles easily leave us speechless, and that’s the profound power of nature and architecture.
But true wonder also includes the goosebump-inducing awe we feel when we witness human ingenuity — like the Wright brothers defying gravity, or an ancient cave painting of a handprint.
To remind you that we are part of a massive, living ecosystem, we’ve shortlisted the most mind-blowing posts from r/DiscoverEarth, a community tracking the spectacles of space, nature, and history.
Prepare to see the world, and your place in it, in a completely new light.
#1 Trimeresurus Insularis, A Venomous Viper Native To Indonesia
#2 There Are Only About 1,500 Andean Cats Left In The Wild
Ever stood at the edge of an active volcano, or watched a massive pod of orcas cut through the dark surface of an icy ocean? Or simply spent the night under a vast canopy of stars, waiting for a meteor shower to light up the sky?
You must’ve felt your chest tighten, and your jaw drop — this mental pause is called awe.
For centuries, science ignored it. If you couldn’t weigh it or put it in a test tube, it belonged to poets and philosophers.
But about twenty years ago, UC Berkeley psychologist Dacher Keltner decided to actually measure what happens when reality blows our minds.
His research led him to discover that awe physically rewires our brain on the spot.
#3 Pink-Necked Green Pigeons Are Common In Southeast Asia
#4 Lithops Are South African Plants That Have Evolved To Look Like Stones
#5 A Bush Pig Cooling Off In A Mud Puddle
When you experience something so vast it breaks your mental scale, your brain’s Default Mode Network (DMN) — the chatter center responsible for your ego, anxieties, and internal monologue — instantly shuts up.
Experts call this the “small self” phenomenon. Your brain stops obsessing over text messages and bills because it realizes it’s part of a massive and interconnected system.
“That was this big surprise in this research, is how ordinary awe can be. It’s everywhere, right? So it’s the flowers blooming and the moral beauty of people, and some pattern of light on the sidewalk,” said Keltner, who carried out the research.
“I think one of the broader lessons that awe provides for us is, you know, these ideas of separate self. Like, ‘oh, I’m different from other people.’ Which is true, but we’re also synced up with other people. ‘I’m different from nature.’ That’s true. But we’re also part of an ecosystem,” he added.
#6 The Glasswing Butterfly. One Of The Most Delicately Beautiful Creatures To Exist
#7 The Great Eared Nightjar, Looks Like A Little Dragon
#8 🔥close Up Of A Dragonfly🔥
The physical perks of being amazed are just as real.
Research shows that awe actively calms your nervous system. It dramatically lowers interleukin-6 (IL-6), a biomarker of inflammation. High levels of IL-6 are linked to depression and heart disease, meaning a heavy dose of wonder is quite literally medicine for your body.
Your heart rate slows, breathing deepens, and the body enters a state of deep repair when you experience awe. At the same time, you might feel chills run down your spine or arms, but in a good way.
Experts tracked this down to a specific nerve pathway. Awe triggers a massive spike in vagal tone, which is the activity of your vagus nerve. This nerve acts as the body’s primary brake button for stress.
#9 Nice To Meet You, I’m Octopus
#10 Lace Bugs Looks Like Their Wings Are Made Of Stained Glass
#11 The Water Beading Off The Waterproof Feathers On A Loon
A brief look at stunning nature photography or a short walk through a park alters your nervous system for the rest of the day.
“Even small moments of awe and calm accumulate and can be comparable to longer periods of sustained relaxation,” neuroscientist Virginia Sturm at the University of California told National Geographic.
In 2021, her study tracking older adults found that those who took weekly “awe walks” reported a massive boost in daily happiness. Compared to regular walkers, their stress and anxiety levels came down dramatically.
#12 Endangered Mexican Alligator Lizard. They’re Arboreal 🌳, And Look A Bit Like A Baby Dragon 🐉
#13 The Sweet Track Is A 5830-Year-Old Neolithic Timber Walkway, Located In The Somerset Levels In England And Discovered In 1970. It Was Originally Part Of A Network Of Tracks Built To Provide A Dry Path Across The Marshy Ground
#14 The Golden Chrysalises Of The Tithorea Tarricina Butterfly
A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that experiencing awe can actually turn you into a better human.
In the experiments, researchers showed participants different kinds of videos. Some watched intense footage of active volcanoes and natural disasters. Others watched beautiful and slow-motion close-ups of colored water drops bouncing and splashing.
Even though the videos were totally different, the result was the exact same. After watching them, people became measurably kinder, more empathetic, and much more willing to help out a complete stranger.
#15 The First Flower Ever Grown Entirely In Space
Never miss a story that brings joy to the world. Follow on Google News
#16 🔥 Mandarin Fish
#17 This Interesting Plant Is Native To Australia
Scientists believe you don’t need to hike Patagonia to unlock these feelings.
While some people are just naturally wired to feel wonder more deeply, anyone can train themselves to find it. It is entirely possible to build daily micro-habits that trigger awe right where you are.
Even better, you don’t have to go at it alone — awe actually peaks when we share it.
#18 A Short-Eared Owl Battles A Northern Harrier. Photo By Kathy Mcculloch Wade In Skagit County, Washington
#19 Baby Sloth!!
A 2019 study at the University of Amsterdam put people through fMRI brain scanners and had them watch simple videos of awe-inspiring nature.
Even on a flat digital screen, watching footage of the vast cosmos or deep oceans caused the brain’s ego-driven Default Mode Network to instantly drop its activity.
“When people experience awe, they really want to share that experience with other people, suggesting that it has this particularly viral component to it,” said Paul Piff, an assistant professor of psychology and social behavior at UC Irvine.
#20 🔥 Blue Jay Feathers Close Up
#21 If Our Eyes Were Able To See Magnetic Fields, This Is More Or Less How Jupiter’s Magnetosphere Would Appear In The Night Sky
#22 Sometimes Nature Is So Cool It Takes Your Breath Away. I Feel That Way About Octopus. This Really Is Such An Amazing Animal
We need this perspective now more than ever. In this highly digitized, fast-paced world, leaning into things that feel beautifully overwhelming can instantly ground you.
So, consider this your sign to step away from the noise. Go outside, look up, capture the most awe-inspiring thing you can find today, and share it with the world. Your brain will thank you.
#23 Hummingbirds Are So Tiny That This One Built A Nest And Laid Its Eggs On Top Of A Peach
#24 Bioluminescent Ghost Mushrooms In Australia
#25 Whale Sharks Look Like Submerged Galaxies
#26 Meet The “Bagworm Caterpillar”. It Collects And Saws Little Sticks To Construct Elaborate Spiral Log Cabins To Live In. They Build Their Homes Out Of Silk, Sand, Soil, And Plant Materials
#27 There’s A Moth Bigger Than Your Hand, With A Wingspan Of 1 Foot. A Few Have Been Sighted In The UK
#28 This Beautiful Creature Is A Wooly Monkey, And There Only About 1000 Of Them
#29 This Is Mission Golden-Eyed Tree Frog Or Amazon Milk Frog. It Was First Discovered Along The Maracanã River In Brazil
#30 Diamond Squid Rarely Disappoint When Encountered. Blackwater Off Kona, Hawaii. Size About 1.5+ Inches
#31 This Is A Tree That Got Hit By Lightning And It Exposed It’s Vascular System. Nature Is So Complex
#32 This Incredible Variety Of Sea Slugs Found Around Misaki, Japan
#33 Ercolania Caerulea, A Nudibranch Who Carries Galaxies On Its Back
#34 A Coconut Octopus Peeking Out From His Shell Home
#35 The Comet Moth (Madagascar Moon Moth)
#36 An Incredible Shot Of A Sharpear Enope Squid 🦑
#37 Newly Discovered Species Found In Madagascar In 2021! Nano Chameleon (Brookesia Nana)
#38 The Common Seadragon. This Guy Was Found In Waikiki, Hawaii
#39 Sleeping Squirrels In Their Nest On Someone’s Window Ledge
#40 🦭
#41 Ribbon Eel
#42 A Spectacular Wide Shot Of Saturn Captured By NASA’s Groundbreaking Cassini Spacecraft!
#43 Have You Ever Seen A Dragon Moray Eel
#44 This Ascidian Is Not From Avatar Or Outer Space. This Is A Real-Life Creature From The Ocean Floor In Tulamben, Bali
#45 The Spotted Eagle Ray Looks Like Some Kind Of Ancient Ocean Spirit
#46 Orchid Mantis
#47 A Wildlife Photographer Captured A Super Rare White Risso’s Dolphin Off The Coast Of California
#48 A Jellyfish Called The ‘Psychedelic Medusa’
#49 An Otherworldly Photo Of A Bush
#50 Very Cool Pic Of Myxomycetes Slime Mould In A Water Droplet
#51 Last Pic Of Earth Taken By NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft Before It Went On A Death Dive Into Saturn
#52 🔥 The Blue Dragon River In Portugal 🐉
#53 Found A Bunch Of Tiny Grasshoppers While I Was Surveying A Corn Field. They’re So Cute!
#54 An Emperor Angelfish, With No Filter
#55 Longhorn Cowfish
#56 I Hope To See A Swimming Feather Star In Person One Day
#57 I’m Not Sure What I Expected A Puffer Fish Skeleton To Look Like But I Don’t Think This Was It
#58 ‘Nudibranch’ Means ‘Naked Gills’ And Refers To The Branchial Plumes On Their Backs
#59 Sea Of Japan Where Snow And Beach And Sea Meet
#60 New Crab Species Recently Discovered Off The Coast Of Australia Called “Lamarckdromia Beagle”, The Ylook Like Little Underwater Fuzzballs
#61 A Photo Of Pluto – 24 Years Apart (1994-2018)
#62 Art In Nature
#63 🔥 A Rare Pink Manta Ray
#64 The Fractal Growth Pattern Of An Ammonite Septum
#65 A Hermit Crab With A Glass Shell
#66 These Are Neurons Trying To Connect. Your Memories, Your Dreams, Everything You Know About The Universe Is Thanks To These Little Guys And How They Interact
#67 A New Species Of Bioluminescent Earthworm Has Been Discovered In Japan
#68 Look At This Moth From The Genus Phalera
#69 You Share A Planet With This Alien Creature! The Hammerhead Flatworm
#70 A High Resolution Composite Image Of Solar Eclipse
#71 That’s Not A Bad Pixel. That’s Mercury
#72 Closeup Of A Wolf Spider’s Face
#73 Curves Of A Giant Clam #coralmorphologic
#74 A Tunnel In Brazil Dug By The Extinct Giant Sloth
#75 Ancient Kraken – Weighing Over A Tonne With A Shell Up To 3.5m In Diameter, Parapuzosia Seppenradensis Is The Largest Invertebrate To Have Ever Lived
#76 The Veiled Virgin By Giovanni Strazza (Created In 1850s). The Veil Gives The Appearance Of Being Translucent, But In Fact, It Is Carved Of Marble
#77 Blue Sea Dragons Are Basically Real-Life Pokémon
#78 Imam Mosque, Isfahan, Iran
#79 Lime Cross-Section
#80 An Incredible Shot Showing The Raw Power Of Lightning Striking A Tree At The Exact Moment The Picture Is Taken
#81 Vinicunca (Rainbow Mountain) In Peru
#82 Meet The Skeleton Panda Sea Squirts, Also Known As Ascidians 💀🐼
#83 Fossil Trees As Tall As Modern-Day Redwoods Have Been Found In Northern Thailand
#84 A Comparison Showing The Jaws Of An Ancient Megalodon Shark (That Lived Approximately 23 To 3.6 Million Years Ago), Compared To A Modern Day Reef Shark
#85 Muscle Tissue Through An Electron Microscope
#86 Earth At Night Viewed From Space
#87 The Ultimate Blackwater Find. Deep Water Cusk Eel Species. Palm Beach, Florida
#88 Saturn’s Rings And One Of Its Moons, Dione (Cassini)
#89 The Zebra Shark (Stegostoma Tigrinum) Is The Closest Living Relative To The Whale Shark (Rhincodon Typus)
#90 Beautiful Colours Of Galathea Pilosa, A Species Of Squat Lobster
#91 A Long Arm Octopus, Photographed In Hawaii
#92 Tapir Frog (Synapturanus Danta). A New Species Of Tapir Frog Found In The Putumayo Basin In Peru. They’ve Become Known As The Real Life Chocolate Frog From Harry Potter!
#93 Spectators At The Fagradalsfjall Eruption, Getting As Close As They Can To Lava Without Getting Singed 🔥
#94 Starfish Walk Using Hundreds Of Tiny Tube Feet On The Underside Of Their Arms, As Seen In This Fascinating Timelapse By Juliette Horn At The Frost Museum Of Science
#95 Beautiful Markings On This White Sturgeon (Acipenser Transmontanus)
#96 Elm Scribblings: Carved By Creatures Who Live Beneath The Bark, Revealed Only When Storm Eunice Brought Their World Crashing Down. 🌳😊
#97 A Never Before Seen Species Of Cusk Eel
#98 This Gigantic Deep Sea Sponge Is The Size Of A Small Bus
#99 The Brilliantly Colored Purple Firefish. Bali, Indonesia
#100 Glowing Blue Spider Is Among The Dozens Of New Discoveries Uncovered During An Expedition To Angola’s Lisma Plateau
#101 The Biggest Volcano In Our Solar System, Olympus Mons On Mars (H27km, W648km)
#102 You’ve Seen A Hammerhead Shark Before. But Have You Seen A Winghead Shark?
#103 Curiosity Has Send A Breathtakingly Beautiful Panorama Back To Earth
#104 Comparison Between Hubble And James Webb’s Look At The Cartwheel Galaxy
#105 Cuttlefish
#106 A Magnificent Moment Captured Between A Freediver And A Southern Right Whale And Calf, In Skeleton Bay, Tasmania
#107 Under The Plant
#108 Sample From A Small Forrest Pond
#109 Never Seen A Red Velvet Mite? Well Now You Have
#110 On May 18, 1980, Richard Lasher Shot This Epic Photo Of The Eruption Of Mount St. Helens. Lasher Was Forced To Abandon His Pinto And Flee The Giant Plume Of Ash On His Motorcycle. Lasher Survived, His Pinto Did Not
#111 One Of The Most Oddball Animals In History. Diplocaulus, An Amphibian From The Carboniferous-Permian
#112 At 661 Pounds, This Giant Freshwater Stingray (Urogymnus Polyepis) Just Dethroned The Mekong Giant Catfish To Become The World’s Largest Freshwater Fish!
#113 Sailfish Have Been Clocked At Speeds In Excess Of 68mph/112km, Some Experts Consider The Sailfish The Fastest Fish In The World’s Oceans
#114 Parasitic Fungus (Akanthomyces Sp) Which Has Infected A Moth
#115 If The Earth Was Roughly The Size Of Pluto
