|
|
| Subject |
Comments |
Views |
Author |
Date Written  |
|
How to withstand a piranha attack
|
view preview
The arapaima ( Arapaima gigas) is one of the biggest freshwater fish on the planet and has evolved a multi-layer defence against the piranha. Its scales have an ultra-tough outer shell, which promotes tooth fracture at the point of penetration. The scales are also a corrugated shape, which deflect pressure to overlapping layers of collagen underneath.
|
|
|
1 |
5041 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
A dancing spider
|
view preview
Meet the peacock spider, it has the best dance moves you've ever seen.
|
|
|
1 |
3892 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Sea otters hold each others paws when they sleep
|
view preview
Since sea otters sleep at sea, floating around like in the video, holding hands like that keeps the group together, so they don't drift apart in the night. Because of this, the otters feel more comfortable holding hands while asleep than drifting alone. Therefore, it serves both social and practical purpose.
|
|
|
0 |
3844 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
|
3 |
7760 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
How a tree protects itself from the rain
|
view preview
These are hundreds of umbrella mushrooms growing on tree bark. Mushrooms that take over the tree trunk like this are usually spread by wind-blown spores and generally infect older or injured trees.
|
|
|
0 |
5529 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Who knew chili peppers were good for you
|
view preview
Exposure to cold and eating chili peppers both appear to increase the activity of brown fat cells, which burn energy, rather than store it as typical "white" fat cells do, a study has found.
|
|
|
0 |
6896 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Prickly crab
|
view preview
This is the porcupine crab ( Neolithodes grimaldii), found in the deep sea bed along the continental slopes of the Atlantic Ocean. A member of the king crab family, its carapace, or body, can stretch up to 18 cm long, and it can weigh over 2 kg. But that's nothing compared to the blue king crab ( Paralithodes platypus) from Alaska, which weighs a whopping 8 kg. ...
|
|
|
0 |
9143 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Which animal has the densest fur, try to guess
|
view preview
With up to one million hairs per square inch of its body, the sea otter has the densest fur in the animal kingdom. (To put this in perspective, you’ve probably only got 100,000 hairs or less on your whole head!) Together with a huge lung capacity, this makes these water-loving creatures extremely buoyant. The pups are born so buoyant, they're incapable of diving underwater, and are often left bobbing on the surface in a sea kelp bed while their mothers hunt for food nearby.
|
|
|
1 |
10119 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Walking leaves
|
view preview
This stunning creature is the Amazonian leaf-footed bug ( Diactor bilenatus), a species that can be found throughout South American, in parts of Central America and on some Caribbean Islands. Although they look beautiful, when threatened the insect releases a bitter, unpleasant odour to scare of potential predators.
|
|
|
0 |
7435 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Pixelated snake
|
view preview
This is the Green vine snake ( Ahaetulla nasuta), a slender tree snake found in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The snake is mildly venomous, and its bite causes swelling and pain. They feed on frogs and lizards. There is a widespread myth in parts of southern India that the species uses its pointed head to blind its human victims!
|
|
|
0 |
9981 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Proof that money does grow on trees
|
view preview
Well, okay GOLD. Apparently, gold grows on eucalyptus trees. Researchers discovered that the trees are acting as a hydraulic pump, extracting gold from the soil and moving it to their leaves and branches. The ‘nuggets’ are about one-fifth the diameter of human hair, but the leaves may be used in combination with other tools to develop better exploration techniques.
|
|
|
0 |
7624 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Getting paid to sleep
|
view preview
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."
|
|
|
3 |
7879 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Bendable phone?
|
view preview
Imagine dropping your phone and seeing it bounce rather than break. Using microscale plates of oxide materials that slide over each other, like geological plates, Australian researchers are a step closer to creating fully functional flexible electronic devices.
|
|
|
1 |
5123 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Hugging, not just a human thing
|
view preview
Apes manage their emotions much in the same way as humans do. Socially and emotionally competent young bonobos recover quickly from upsetting experiences and are more likely to comfort other young apes, a new study has shown.
|
|
|
1 |
4784 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
|
Are street lamps a thing of the past?
|
view preview
Hamish Scott from the UK has invented the Starpath, which is a special luminescent coating for roads and paths. The multi-layered, organic material collects and stores energy from light during the day and releases it as a blueish glow at night that can last for 16 hours. The technology is now being trialled at Christ's Pieces Park in Cambridge, and if successful, could slash electricity bills, plus it's 100% recyclable.
|
|
|
0 |
5458 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
