|
Subject |
Comments |
Views |
Author |
Date Written |
|
4 |
5144 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Another look at the goblin shark
|
view preview
Another look at the goblin shark ( Mitsukurina owstoni), a deep sea creature that's been sighted less that fifty times since its discovery. They're the only living representative of the family Mitsukurinidae.
|
|
|
2 |
4469 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
1 |
4093 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Dumbo Octopus
|
view preview
The Dumbo Octopus belongs to the genus Grimpoteuthis, and is given its nickname based on its resemblance to the large-eared Disney elephant. They can live up to 7,000 meters below the surface, though many are found between 1,000 and 4,000 meters. It feeds unlike any other octopus, by skimming the surface of the sea floor looking for crustaceans to swallow whole. The largest specimen on record was 1.8 m (6ft) long, weighing 5.9 kg (13 pounds).
|
|
|
1 |
4086 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
The plastisphere
|
view preview
Much of the debris in our oceans consists of small fragments of detritus no larger than a fingernail. These confetti-like plastic pieces act as microbial reefs – their own ecosystems – in the vast open ocean. Scientists are studying them to help better understand the predation and symbiosis in these mini ecosystems themselves and also how they are affecting the ocean and its other communities on a broader scale.
|
|
|
2 |
3330 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Meet the black swallower
|
view preview
This is the aptly-named "black swallower" ( Chiasmodon niger), a fish known for eating bony fish up to 10x its mass and 2x its length. It's found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters at a depth of 700-2,745 meters. Most specimens of this fish have been collected after one attempted to swallow prey too large for it to handle, and the prey could not be digested before decomposition set it. The release of gases forces the black swallower to the surface. This particular specimen was found washed up on the shore in 2007. The black swallower measures 19 cm long. The fish in its stomach is a snake mackerel measuring 86 cm. ...
|
|
|
1 |
2885 |
savio |
10 years ago |
The talented kingfisher
|
view preview
There are a wide variety of kingfisher birds found all over the globe. As the name suggests, some are skilled at diving straight down into the water and finding a fish to eat. Even the fish looks surprised at the kingfisher's talents!
|
|
|
1 |
2798 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
0 |
2731 |
savio |
10 years ago |
A beautiful Egyptian vulture
|
view preview
Egyptian vultures not only feed on dead animals, but are opportunists who will also eat small or injured animals, and will even steal eggs of other birds and crack them open. The vultures are listed as endangered by the IUCN. In Asia, they have lost about a third of their population each year since the turn of the century. Hunting and accidental poisoning (ingesting insects that have been treated with a pesticide) are two of the main causes for their decline.
|
|
|
2 |
2485 |
savio |
10 years ago |
White eyeless leeches
|
view preview
This is Croatobranchus mestrovi, a leech that lives 1.3km below sea level and doesn't want to suck your blood. The leech's milky colour and lack of eyes comes from living exclusively in the freezing groundwater and darkness of one of the deepest caves in the world, located in Croatia. They were found in shallow water attached to rocks, with their extra-wide, tentacle-surrounded mouths facing the current.
|
|
|
3 |
2466 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
The bleeding tooth fungus
|
view preview
The bleeding tooth fungus grows in Europe and North America. While young, the fungus looks like it is oozing blood. The red liquid is actually an anticoagulant. It lives on the roots of conifer trees and exchanges nutrients in a mutually beneficial relationship. And, if you're wondering, they are inedible.
|
|
|
1 |
2418 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Lichtenberg figures
|
view preview
Lichtenberg figures are fractal patterns from electric discharges and can be found on a variety of materials.
|
|
|
1 |
2406 |
savio |
10 years ago |
World's most dangerous spider
|
view preview
Latrodectus mactans, or Southern black widow or simply black widow, is a highly venomous species of spider. They are well known for the distinctive black and red coloring of the female of the species and for the fact that she will occasionally eat her mate after reproduction (hence the name – Black widow). The species is native to North America. The venom might be fatal to humans. Although these spiders are not especially large, their venom is extremely potent. They are capable to inject the venom to a point where it can be harmful. The males, being much smaller, inject far less venom. The actual amount injected, even by a mature female, is very small in physical volume. When this small amount of venom is diffused throughout the body of a he ...
|
|
|
1 |
2384 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
4 |
2382 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Pasteurized milk causes cancer?
|
view preview
A new study out of Harvard University shows that pasteurized milk products from factory farms is linked to causing hormone-dependent cancers. It turns out that the concentrated animal feeding operations model of raising cows on factory farms churns out milk with dangerously high levels of estrone sulfate, an estrogen compound linked to testicular, prostate, and breast cancers. Dr. Ganmaa Davaasambuu, Ph.D., and her colleagues specifically identified "milk from modern dairy farms" as the culprit, referring to large-scale confinement operations where cows are milked 300 days of the year, including while they are pregnant. Compared to raw milk from her native Mongolia, which is extracted only during the first six months after cows have already ...
|
|
|
5 |
2291 |
duddy |
10 years ago |