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Leaves, driftwood, pine cones, dandelions and moss take the place of paper, paint and other manufactured materials in these incredible works of art. From delicate carvings to three-story towers, these nature-inspired sculptures, prints and installations celebrate the beauty and importance of our natural surroundings.

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Fruits are excellent natural sources of vitamin C, fiber and anti-oxidants so it just stands to reason the more you eat, the healthier you’ll be… and if you only have one fruit to eat, why not make it the largest of its kind? The 10 largest fruits featured here are more than just meals in themselves, they’re literally outstanding in their fields.

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Once, they held grain, missiles or even sewage. But these 14 silos were transformed into incredibly creative adaptive reuse projects, transcending their utilitarian identities to present us with modern high-rise apartment buildings, eco-friendly homes, unusual restaurants and irresistible bed-and-breakfasts.

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Western Australia’s Hutt Lagoon is pink as a blushing bride and saltier than a punch-drunk sailor on shore leave, thanks to an abundance of Beta Carotene-producing algae who consider the lagoon’s extreme salinity to be just peachy.

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This is not your father’s white water rafting… or any other color rafting for that matter, since you wouldn’t want to bring a raft or anyone on it anywhere near these bizarrely colored rivers. Tinted bytoxins, dyed by discharges and flush out of fish, the startling hues of these 10 ravaged rivers are red cards against those who so monumentally mismanage these precious water resources.

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2012 is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac and the Dragon is the only one of the horoscope’s 12 animals to be whollymythical… or is it? These 7 amazing animal dragons may not fit the outsized, leather-winged, fire-breathing draconian stereotype but by chance or by design, by name or by nature, they’re the closest things there are today to actual real-life dragons.

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The latest buzz on urban gardening? Urban beehives, of course! These 7 bee-friendly beehives may be designed for city slickers who think Honeycomb comes in a box, but they’re ideal for anyone who wants to invite a little urban wildlife into their nature-challenged neighborhood.

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Urban chickens have never had it so good. Not only is backyard chicken farming increasing in popularity, but chicken digs are getting cooler and fancier, with coop designs that rival those of the owners’ houses. These 13 poultry palaces range from ultramodern egg-shaped coops for a trio of birds up to larger wind-powered enclosures that could revolutionize the livestock industry.

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While they might not be terrorizing, fire-breathing monsters the size of skyscrapers, gigantic animals in the vein of Godzilla really do exist. So why are some creatures so huge compared to similar species? It’s a phenomenon known as “insular gigantism”, and usually occurs on islands or deep under the sea. These 13 examples have evolved to unusually, sometimes frighteningly large proportions – especially compared to their equally mis-sized dwarf counterparts (more on that next week.)

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The New7Wonders Foundation’s long-running campaign to select (with your help) the world’s seven most outstanding natural wondersofficially ended on November 11th, 2011. The highly-publicized process was hugely successful in raising awareness of our planet’s natural beauty and in that respect, everyone’s a winner.

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The New7Wonders of Nature campaign, organized by the New7Wonders Foundation in 2007, is a global poll whose purpose is to designate the world’s seven most outstanding natural wonders. The field has been narrowed from 440 down to 77 and now just 28 “Official Finalist Candidates” with voting scheduled to end on November 11th, 2011.