Terrariums

The terrarium has long been a popular tool for naturalists. It allows you a great degree of control over a created environment, which is an ideal way to study an ecosystem. Monitoring changes in humidity, temperature and species interaction make it possible for a naturalist to gain insights into how these forces affect animals and plants in the wild.
But what if you get a new terrarium and you're so impatient to see it green that you forego the research and footwork of transplanting part of your area's natural plants? Well, the terrariums pictured above are just a mishmash of semi-tropical plants chosen for similar light and water needs. The high-minded ideals of the gentleman naturalist have been forgotten for a while; I just wanted a healthy, awesome looking terrarium.
Sure, I think that some scientists would frown on miniaturizing a bear with a Shrink-O-Scope just to put him in a terrarium. But their stupid scientific ethics are preventing them from having some really cool terrariums.

Tree Fungus

This fungus can be found anywhere there is sufficient moisture and shade to encourage rot in deciduous trees. It goes by a number of names including Artist's Bracket, Artist's Conk, and this is surely my favourite; Flacher Lackporling.
Apparently there are artists that enjoy using the Flacher Lackporling and related fungi as their drawing medium. They mark the bracket fungus with something sharp, establishing lines and shading on the surface. This strikes me as being presumptuous. Is this another example of artists refusing to let beauty exist for itself?
What could their scratchings present to the world that this fungus hasn't already unobtrusively shown? It has graceful lines, careful tones and beautiful textures. It has a perfect visual harmony with the context in which it exists. This fungus is a masterpiece. It requires no intervention to make its beauty known.

FLACHER LACHPORLING- 1 GODDAMNED ARTISTS- 0

Wasp Nest

Wasps create these nests by chewing bark, mixing it with saliva and excreting the resulting paste. What I would really like to do is harness all of this wasp-power into making nests of my own design. Will wasps chew up any bark provided for them? If all the bark available to them was soaked in various colours of paint, would they still chew it? And if so, would the resulting paste retain any of the colour? Most importantly:
COULD I MAKE A TECHNICOLOUR NEST TO DECORATE MY HOME?
These are very important Scientific Questions. And the only way to really satisfy the legions of people that have been asking them is to trap a bunch of wasps and bend them to my will. OK. So the plan is to trap a newly emerged queen in the spring. I will attend to her needs. I will be nice. I'll let her build a nest in my apartment. Hell, I won't even be fussy about the placement of the nest. If it is God's Will that a wasp nest be built inside of my pillow, so be it. I will endure the frequent stings.
But if the TECHNICOLOUR WASP NEST ends up being a GREY HOUSE OF HURT, I will throw those yellow-jacketed motherfuckers to the curb.