The southern black racer (Coluber constrictor priapus) is a non-venomous American snake that is very active during the day. This may explain why it was spotted winding its way through a wire fence.

This hefty guy is the giant horned caterpillar of the royal walnut moth (Citheronia regalis) from North America. These caterpillars can grow to a whopping 15 cm (6 inches) long!

No pun intended, but nut allergies are getting more and more common. Now, new research suggests that by changing the protein structure of nuts, we may be able to create hypoallergenic nuts that even the severely allergic can eat. Which begs the question, would you risk eating these chemically modified nuts?

Source: http://news.sciencemag.org/chemistry/2014/08/chemical-modification-could-make-nuts-safe-eat ...

I know we've shown this one before, but every spring when the snow melts, Green Lake in Tragöss, Austria overflows and floods the park next to it. For a few weeks, its trees, hiking trails, benches and bridges are submerged in over nine metres of water.

Dallol in Ethiopia is not only the hottest inhabited place on Earth, it's also one of the weirdest. Between 1960 and 1966, the average annual temperature was a toasty 35°C (96°F), but the temperature can regularly creep to over 46°C (115°f).

At 48 metres below sea level, Dallol is Earth's lowest land volcano, and its last recorded eruption was in 1926. Its craters contains hot springs that boast a whole range of otherworldly colours - including neon yellow - thanks to the hot magma bubbling below the surface. This magma heats the groundwater that flows into the area from the nearby highlands, and as the heated groundwater moves up towards the surface, it dissolves salt, sulphur, potash and other minerals and deposits them in the Dallol crat ...

It's official: a deep-sea octopus has broken the world record for time spent defending her eggs. After 4.5 years, they've finally hatched, so someone pass Octomum eight glasses of wine - she's earned them!

Although it may look perfectly round from Earth, the Moon isn’t a sphere. New research suggests that because of the way it was formed it’s more like a lemon, with a bulge in the middle.