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7758 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Getting paid to sleep
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These are the ‘pillownauts,’ and they just got out of bed for the first time in 21 days. The paid volunteers for the European Space Agency laid with their feet up in a medical facility while scientists poked and prodded them to try to understand the effects of spaceflight on astronauts’ bodies. One of the subjects who took part in this investigation said: “The first days of each session were the worst. The body needs to adapt and I had migraines and backaches."
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7871 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Ever wonder why buttered popcorn smells so good?
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The binturong, or bearcat, is a rare species found in Southeast Asia. The females are usually 20% larger than the males, and they communicate amongst themselves using scent glands located on either side of the anus. These scent glands emit an odour that smells exactly like buttered popcorn.
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8187 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
What happens when all the oil (petroleum) is used up?
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Peter Diamandis makes a case for optimism -- that we'll invent, innovate and create ways to solve the challenges that loom over us. "I'm not saying we don't have our set of problems; we surely do. But ultimately, we knock them down."
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5660 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Massive drain plug
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The Monticello Dam holds back Lake Berryessa in Napa County, California, USA. The morning glory spillway associated with the dam is the largest in the world; it is a funnel-shaped outlet that allows water to bypass the Monticello Dam when it reaches capacity (1370 m³/s). The Glory Hole is located about 61m from the dam; the distance from the funnel to the exit point - which is situated in the south side of the canyon - is about 213m. The outside diameter is 22m, slowly narrowing to 8.5m at the exit. Water spills over the lip of the Glory Hole when the lake reaches 1,976,037,908 cubic metres (1,602,000 acre-feet). The spillway is designed to handle a maximum of 1,370,319 litres of water per second (362,000 gallons of water per second); this ha ...
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6456 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A new species of giant fish as been discovered
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The new species is member of the arapaima genus, which contains some of the world’s biggest freshwater fish that breathe air and weigh up to 200kg. Found in the central Amazon of Brazil, the new fish has been named Arapaima leptosoma and is the first new species of arapaima described since 1847.
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2 |
3941 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
World's largest seed
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The coco-de-mer palm tree ( Lodoicea maldivica) is endemic to the Seychelles. Its seeds are the largest and heaviest of any plant in the world, and have been highly prized over the centuries, which has almost driven the palm tree to extinction.
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5678 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
One extremely intelligent beak -- I mean bird
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This is the emerald toucanet, and it can be found camouflaging very nicely in the mountainous forests of Mexico, Central America, Venezuela and along the Andes. These beautiful birds are extremely intelligent - when reared by hand in captivity, they can learn tricks as fast as cockatoos.
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3467 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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2615 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
The gateway to hell
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Otherwise known as the Door to Hell and the Darvaza gas crater, the crater is found in Turkmenistan and is 60 metres wide and 20 metres deep. The hole was created when a Soviet drilling rig accidentally tapped into a massive underground natural gas cavern, causing the ground to collapse and the drilling rig to fall in. To prevent poisonous fumes from escaping into the atmosphere, the Soviet geologists decided to set the pit on fire, hoping the fire would use up its fuel in a few days.
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6446 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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3327 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A fascinating looking whale
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This is Migaloo, the albino white humpback whale. His name is derived from an Aboriginal word that means “white fella.” Migaloo is a favorite for whale watching enthusiasts. He is believed to be the only documented white humpback whale in the world. He was discovered in 1991 and quickly became popular with tourists and locals alike. Since then, sightings have been rare. He migrates from Antarctica to Australia on a yearly basis, and some years he slips by undetected. Most of these photos were taken in 2012 on Migaloo’s return to Antarctica. ...
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5096 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Someone is selling air on Ebay
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Could someone talk some sense into the five people that have bid on this item, please? According to the description, this is one litre of bottled air from the area affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
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5151 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Two-headed snake
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This two headed albino milk snake was born two years ago in Florida. The condition is known as Polycephaly and occurs when monozygotic twins fail to separate completely. Most organisms with this condition will not live for long, but occasionally you will get cases like this one, where the snake(s?) seem healthy enough and can live for years. The heads act independently of one another, and will fight over food given the opportunity. ...
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4287 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
World's deadliest toxin
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The deadliest substance known to man is a recently discovered type of botulinum toxin ( botox). The scientists who discovered it haven’t found an antitoxin yet, so they have decided not to publish the gene sequence due to security concerns. The toxin comes from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and blocks the chemical signals that makes nerves work, causing botulism and death by paralysis. The image shown above is the protein structure of botulinum toxin.
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3097 |
duddy |
10 years ago |