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Designer crab
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This is Trapezia rufopunctata, a small and brightly coloured species of crab native to the lagoons and coastal reefs of the Maldives, Polynesia and the Indo-Pacific region. Also known as a guard crab, it lives symbiotically with corals, feeding on their discarded tissue and mucus while defending them from predators. ...
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4693 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Pointing is a sign that is understood by many animals
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Elephants really do get the point. New research has revealed that African elephants can spontaneously understand the intent of human pointing, and can use it as a cue to find food. While humans understand pointing from a very early age, only a few animals, such as dogs and horses, have the same ability, and it's thought that an elephant's understanding of pointing relates to the way they use their trunks to make gestures to each other in the wild.
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4744 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Using millipedes to repel mosquitoes
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Researchers studying a group of wedge-capped capuchin monkeys that live in tropical forests of central Venezuela have discovered that the monkeys protect themselves against the annual merciless onslaught of mosquitoes exactly as humans do: by rubbing themselves with mosquito repellent. But while humans may reach desperately for spritzers or bottles or laughably overhyped ''protective'' skin-so-softeners, the capuchins have learned to poke around in tree bark or termite mounds to extract a wriggling specimen of Orthoporus dorsovittatus, a millipede rich with powerful defensive chemicals called benzoquinones. The capuchin monkey will then proceed to anoint itself head to foot with the repellent secretions by massaging the four-inch-long millipe ...
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4904 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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3340 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
The happiest spider alive
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This is the happy face spider, a spider in the family Theridiidae. Their "smile" keeps predators away.
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3286 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Massive flying squirrel
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Named Biswamoyopterus laoensis, with a suggested common name of the Laotian giant flying squirrel. It weighs around 1.8 kg and measures about 42 inches (1.08 m) in total length – the body is about 18 inches (0.46 m) long and the tail is 24 inches (0.62 m) long.
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2508 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Imagine staying in flight for six months straight
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New data shows alpine swift can spend up to 200 days in the air. It is a mystery how the birds are able to physiologically accomplish this feat. While their diet is relatively straightforward, they feed on airborne insects, how they rest in midair is not known.
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3600 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Baby kiwi
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This gorgeous Kiwi chick was born a few days ago in Auckland Zoo and a zookeeper filmed how it broke its egg and entered the world. Kiwi birds are shy, flightless birds endemic to New Zealand. The Kiwi bird population has dwindled in the past few decades, but different zoos and wildlife sanctuaries have developed conservations programs that will help save the species.
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5829 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Ever seen white bats before?
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Introducing the Honduran white bat, a tiny bat (reaches up to 4.7 cm in length) found in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama that has superb construction skills. These bats build tents from waxy leaves, creating a waterproof shelter that also helps them camouflage from predators.
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5896 |
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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6468 |
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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6460 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
It's no wonder this species was so hard to find
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Biologists from James Cook University have discovered a new species of leaf-tailed gecko in Australia. The lizard is highly camouflaged against the granite boulders it lives on and grows to around 12 cm. It's been named the Cape Melville leaf-tailed gecko ( Saltaurius eximius) after the region in northern Queensland where it was found.
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6457 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Aurora borealis
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This picture of a green and red aurora was taken on September 26, 2013, from the International Space Station. The colours of the aurora borealis depend on which atoms the solar storm excites. Green auroras appear when charged particles from the solar wind crash with oxygen atoms in Earth’s atmosphere and produce green photons; red auroras occur when the particles collide with nitrogen atoms or when there are lower-energy oxygen collisions, producing red photons.
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2596 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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2623 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
This moth is a work of art
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This is the Giant Leopard Moth, a strictly nocturnal species native to parts of North America and Mexico. These moths start life as an incredibly black and bristly caterpillar, and once they grow into adulthood, they never eat, and instead focus on mating and passing their genes onto several clutches of eggs. ...
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3540 |
duddy |
10 years ago |