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A jellyfish wannabe
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The Portuguese man o' war is not a jellyfish! Despite its outward appearance, they are a colony of specialized minute individuals called zooids. These zooids are attached to one another and physiologically integrated to the extent that they are incapable of independent survival.
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2430 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Lichtenberg figures
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Lichtenberg figures are fractal patterns from electric discharges and can be found on a variety of materials.
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2409 |
savio |
10 years ago |
Wolf-like, fox-like, dog-like mammal
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The maned wolf ( Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the largest canid found in the grasslands of southern Brazil. Its markings resemble those of foxes and wolves, yet it's neither related to wolves nor foxes despite its appearance and name, but is actually closer to dogs. And, unlike other large canids, the maned wolf does not form packs. It hunts alone, usually between sundown and midnight, and kills its prey by biting on the neck or back. Interestingly, a large fraction of its diet (over 50%, according to some studies) consists of vegetable matter, including sugarcane, tubers, and fruit; this is unusual for canids. The maned wolf is generally shy and flees when alarmed by humans, and it poses little direct threat to humans. Luckily, the animal is w ...
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2405 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
World's most dangerous spider
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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 ...
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2384 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Eyeless fish
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The Mexican tetra ( Astyanax mexicanus) is a blind, freshwater cave fish native to central and eastern parts of Mexico. Growing to a maximum total length of 12 cm (4.7 in), this species is notable for having no eyes or pigment; it has a pinkish-white color to its body (resembling an albino). The Mexican tetra spends most of its time in midlevel water above the rocky and sandy bottoms of pools and backwaters of creeks and rivers of its native environment. Coming from a subtropical climate, it prefers water with 6.5–8 pH and a temperature range of 20 to 25 °C (68 to 77 °F). In the winter, some populations migrates to warmer waters. Its natural diet consists of crustaceans, insects, and annelids. Given their peaceful nature, this species is popu ...
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2367 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
Sense of smell over eyesight
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The most impressive nose in the animal kingdom belongs to the star-nosed mole. The weird-looking animal has 22 fleshy pink tiny tentacles surrounding its nose. These containing a total of 100,000 nerve fibers, that's six times as many touch receptors as on a human hand.
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2305 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Beer companies are trying to get scientists drunk
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| After winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922, Carlsberg gave Niels Bohr a perpetual supply of beer. The brewing company had a pipeline running from the brewery to Bohr’s house, so that he could have fresh beer on tap all the time. |
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2246 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
One of the oldest living organisms in the world
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This is one of the oldest living organisms in the world. This very dense, flowering shrub is related to parsley and lives in the extremely high elevations of the Atacama Desert in Chile. It is at least 2,000 years old.
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2199 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
World's largest bat
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Not sure how real the photo is, but there are really huge bats in Australia. Check out the video below:
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3 |
2181 |
savio |
10 years ago |
A sense of control can aid recovery
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If emotions can make you sick, if a belief that you will die can kill you (as in voodoo deaths), and if a sugar pill that you believe is a powerful drug can take away your pain, can a belief that you can bring about your own recovery help you to recover?Even with acceptance of the role of emotional factors in both illness and recovery, the assumption has persisted that emotional factors work on an unconscious level, and because of this they are not subject to voluntary control. Most of us still see illness as something that happens to us. Dr. Carl Simonton, chief of radiation at Travis Air Force Base, questioned this assumption. He was impressed by demonstrations that people could learn to control autonomic processes through biofeedback and ...
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2164 |
bio_man |
A year ago |
This isn't a fancy dessert
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We know they kind of look and sound like a fancy dessert, but you won't find Little Egg Cowries on a dinner plate any time soon. In fact, you'll have a hard time finding them anywhere, because these spotty little sea creatures are masters of disguise. Through a process known as 'alimentary homochromy', they can change the colour, patterns, and shape of their flesh to perfectly mimic that of the coral and sea sponges around them.
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2148 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
What two drifting continental plates look like
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This is what it looks like to swim between two continental plates. The Silfra fissure in Iceland separates the North American and Eurasian plates, which drift two cm away from each other every year, causing earthquakes about once per decade.
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2148 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
This bird refuses to land
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Scientists have recorded an Alpine swift bird ( Tachymarptis melba) that has stayed in flight for more than six months without landing. These awesome birds are known to turn-off half of their brains alternatively to sleep semi-consciously, drink by gliding across surfaces of lakes or rivers, and eat flying insects.
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2142 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
A scary looking bat
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The wrinkle-faced bat is found in some regions of Central and South America. If you’re worried about this coming after you in the night, don’t be. It feeds only on fruit, preferring juicier, overripe mangos and bananas. Actually, it’s quite helpful to humans because it pollinates crops.
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1 |
2107 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
One giant hornet
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The Japanese giant hornet kills about 40 people each year, and being stung by one feels “like a hot nail” going through the flesh.
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2076 |
duddy |
10 years ago |