What's the Coolest Thing You've Ever Seen in Nature? Go to related article  Extreme weather? A cute baby animal? A meteor? Glaciers? An ugly or bizarre mammal, sea creature, plant or insect? Giant trees? The northern lights? An amazing rock formation? A frog failing to catch a dragonfly? What's the coolest thing you've ever seen in nature, and where and under what circumstances did you see it? In an article in this week's Science Times, "Nature's Drone, Pretty and Deadly," Natalie Angier writes about something we've all seen, but probably misunderstood: African lions roar and strut and act the apex carnivore, but they're lucky to catch 25 percent of the prey they pursue. Great white sharks have 300 slashing teeth and that ominous soundtrack, and still nearly half their hunts fail. Dragonflies, by contrast, look dainty, glittery and fun, like a bubble bath or costume jewelry, and they're often grouped with butterflies and ladybugs on the very short list of Insects People Like. Yet they are also voracious aerial predators, and new research suggests they may well be the most brutally effective hunters in the animal kingdom. When setting off to feed on other flying insects, dragonflies manage to snatch their targets in midair more than 95 percent of the time, often wolfishly consuming the fresh meat on the spur without bothering to alight. "They'll tear up the prey and mash it into a glob, munch, munch, munch," said Michael L. May, an emeritus professor of entomology at Rutgers. It almost looks like a wad of snuff in the mouth before they swallow it. Students: Tell us... What was the first thing that came to your mind when you read the question, "What's the coolest thing you've ever seen in nature?" After you clicked on some of the photographs and read the excerpt from Ms. Angier's article on dragonflies, did you think of other things - perhaps some aspect of nature that, like the dragonfly, you didn't initially realize was as interesting as it is? Where have you seen especially interesting natural vistas, creatures or phenomena? In your travels? In your own backyard? At zoos or aquariums? In general, how much do you pay attention to the natural world? What effect does it have on you?