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Zonkey?
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This is Ippo, a three-month-old Italian zonkey. She is the result of a union between a male zebra and a female Amiata donkey, which is an endangered breed of donkey native to southern Tuscany. Genetic differences between the zebra and the donkey - donkeys have 62 chromosomes and zebras have between 32 and 46 - mean that hybrids like this are most often the result of a male zebra pairing with a female donkey. So far there have only been three recorded cases of a male donkey siring a zebra hybrid. ...
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4482 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
World's rarest bird
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The Bali myna ( Leucopsar rothschildi) is one of the rarest birds in the world. Thanks to poaching, their wild population hit an all-time low of just six individuals in 2001, but their numbers have since increased to around 50 wild mature birds. And just this month, the Bali Starling Conservation Project, which is home to 100 Bali mynas, has celebrated the birth of four healthy chicks to add to their breeding program. ...
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3980 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
World's cleanest bacteria
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A bacterium previously unknown to science was found in two spacecraft clean rooms, one in Florida and the other in Guiana. Space agencies use these rooms to prepare spacecraft for launch and are considered two of the most sterile places on Earth.
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5740 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Wombats have cube-shaped poop
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Wombat droppings are cube-shaped. This prevents them from rolling away when marking their territory. These cube-shaped poop looks like, but doesn't taste like chocolate brownies.
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12071 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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2911 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Why do tigers swim?
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Often dealing with hot, sweaty climates, tigers have learned to enjoy water, using it as a way to cool off, capture prey and relax.
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1 |
7919 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Why do men have bigger noses than women?
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Men’s noses are 10% larger than female's. Males generally have leaner muscles and need more oxygen for muscle growth and maintenance—and larger noses mean more oxygen can be breathed. A new study found that the difference in nose size between males and females of European descent starts showing in early puberty, when 95% of body weight gain in males comes from fat-free mass, compared to 85% in females.
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6491 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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3814 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
When spiders and trees collide
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An unexpected side-effect of the 2010 flooding in parts of Sindh, Pakistan, was that millions of spiders climbed up into the trees to escape the rising flood waters; because of the scale of the flooding and the fact that the water took so long to recede, many trees became cocooned in spiders webs. People in the area had never seen this phenomenon before, but they also reported that there were less mosquitos than they would have expected, given the amount of standing water that was left. Not being bitten by mosquitoes was one small blessing for people that had lost everything in the floods. ...
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6682 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Volcanic rings
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Mount Etna is blowing smoke rings! The volcano on the coast of Sicily, Italy, is emitting steam rings around 100 metres in diameter.
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3940 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Tree shaping and living furniture
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Artist Peter Cook sculpted this chair by controlling how the tree grew through a process he invented called "pooktre." Can you imagine the patience that must be needed to complete a project like this?
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5449 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Tree climbing goats
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Found in Morocco, they climb these Argan tree in search of food. It's hard to imagine that animals with hooves could be so adept at climbing but these images are 100% real. Food is fairly sparse in this area, so they have to grab it when they can - even if it's high up in a tree! The secret to their ability to climb lies in the shape of their hooves. The keratin reinforced hoof wall adds strength, while the soft textured sole provides traction and grip. It's also capable of deforming inwards to counter irregularities in the terrain. Their toes are capable of operating independently giving them more of a "grip". These hooves evolved to allow the goats to climb rocky, mountainous areas - but they've shifted ecosystems to the trees! ...
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3890 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
This is the way scientists doodle
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A glimpse into the mind of a Nobel Prize winner - this doodle was made by physicist T.D. Lee during talks with Chen Ning Yang, while both were visiting scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US in 1956. Their discussions led to radical questioning of one of physics' basic principles and resulted in the duo being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1957 for discovering that the supposedly absolute law of parity conservation had been violated. ...
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4241 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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5349 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
See-through animal!
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The transparent glass frog is found in Venezuela. It is made up of many specialized cells that have different functions. They form different parts of this organism, which are easy to see through its “glass” skin.
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5907 |
duddy |
10 years ago |