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Prickly crab
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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. ...
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9138 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Who knew chili peppers were good for you
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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.
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6889 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
How a tree protects itself from the rain
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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.
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5523 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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7754 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Sea otters hold each others paws when they sleep
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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.
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3835 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A dancing spider
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Meet the peacock spider, it has the best dance moves you've ever seen.
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3880 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
How to withstand a piranha attack
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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.
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5035 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
It's raining diamonds!
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It’s raining diamonds in Jupiter and Saturn. Dr. Kevin Bates from the University of Wisconsin-Madison said that lightning storms in these two planets turn methane into soot. As it falls, soot hardens into chunks of graphite and then diamonds. Bates speculates that about 1,000 tonnes of diamonds are produced on Saturn every year.
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4918 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Oreo cookies are more addictive than cocaine
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Researchers have found that Oreos are as addictive as cocaine, at least for lab rats. According to the new study, eating the black and white cookies activated more neurons in the rat brain’s pleasure centre than drugs such as cocaine.
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3381 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
World's deadliest toxin
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The deadliest substance known to man is a recently discovered type of botulinum toxin ( botox). The scientists who discovered it haven’t found an antitoxin yet, so they have decided not to publish the gene sequence due to security concerns. The toxin comes from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and blocks the chemical signals that makes nerves work, causing botulism and death by paralysis. The image shown above is the protein structure of botulinum toxin.
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3095 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Two-headed snake
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This two headed albino milk snake was born two years ago in Florida. The condition is known as Polycephaly and occurs when monozygotic twins fail to separate completely. Most organisms with this condition will not live for long, but occasionally you will get cases like this one, where the snake(s?) seem healthy enough and can live for years. The heads act independently of one another, and will fight over food given the opportunity. ...
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4281 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Imagine building the tallest tower
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Engineers led by sci-fi writer Neal Stephenson have unveiled plans for the tallest building in the world. Tall Tower would be 24 times the height of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, considered the tallest building in the world, and would double the maximum heights for commercial airspace, as the designers believe the tower could also be used to launch rockets into space. A building this high poses many structural issues, and we don’t know if it will ever be built.
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3028 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A new species of giant fish as been discovered
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The new species is member of the arapaima genus, which contains some of the world’s biggest freshwater fish that breathe air and weigh up to 200kg. Found in the central Amazon of Brazil, the new fish has been named Arapaima leptosoma and is the first new species of arapaima described since 1847.
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3941 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Someone is selling air on Ebay
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Could someone talk some sense into the five people that have bid on this item, please? According to the description, this is one litre of bottled air from the area affected by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
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5148 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
A fascinating looking whale
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This is Migaloo, the albino white humpback whale. His name is derived from an Aboriginal word that means “white fella.” Migaloo is a favorite for whale watching enthusiasts. He is believed to be the only documented white humpback whale in the world. He was discovered in 1991 and quickly became popular with tourists and locals alike. Since then, sightings have been rare. He migrates from Antarctica to Australia on a yearly basis, and some years he slips by undetected. Most of these photos were taken in 2012 on Migaloo’s return to Antarctica. ...
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5090 |
duddy |
10 years ago |