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!

Twice a year, locals in central Nepal scale the Himalayan foothills to harvest honey produced by the world's largest honeybee (Apis dorsata laboriosa). Single adult bees of this species can measure up to 3.0 cm (1.2 in) in length, and are highly adapted to its highland habitat.

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Meet this 18-day-old embryo of an African night adder. These snakes might be venomous, but they're surprisingly friendly - in captivity they've been known to crawl on people, trying to tuck themselves into their clothes.

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.

Researchers have uncovered the mechanism that allows spiders to build such strong webs. According to the study, both ends of the spider's silk grand have different pH levels, which helps these proteins become a solid fibre that can be spun into a solid web. The researchers also found that the pH level has different effects on the stability of the two regions at each end of the spidroin proteins.

“While one of the ends tended to pair up with other molecules at the beginning of the duct (N-terminal) and became increasingly stable as the acidity increased along the duct, the other end (C-terminal) destabilised as the acidity increased, and gradually unfolded until it formed the structure characteristic of silk at the acidic pH of 5.5”, ex ...

Ever seen 'memory metal' in action? Watch this paperclip - made from an incredible shape-shifting metal called Nitinol - be bent completely out of shape and then restored instantly as it touches a simple bowl of warm water.

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Human trials are now planned. If successful, the simple, cheap HIV vaccine could be taken as a probiotic-like drink.

The new vaccine works in the opposite way to most vaccines - by suppressing, rather than triggering, an immune response. This is because HIV and SIV actually require immune cells known as CD4 T-cells in order to proliferate and establish an infection in the body.

Source: http://www.aidsmap.com/Novel-immune-suppressant-vaccine-completely-blocks-HIV-infection-in-monkeys-human-trials-planned/page/2902377 ...

Doctors bow in reverence to cancer victim, Liang Yaoyi, in China. Nine-year-old Liang died from a brain tumour and donated his organs because, "There are many people doing great things in the world. I want to be a great kid too." What an incredible person.