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Speedy bacteria
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Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is a bacterium that attacks other bacteria. It can charge its prey at speeds of up to 100 micrometers per second, comparable to a human running 600 kilometers per hour. It then bores into its hapless victim by spinning at 100 revolutions per second. Most bacteria aren't quite that fast, but they can move by whipping flagella or by spiraling through their environment. ...
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14258 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Rhino beetles are ginormous bugs
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Rhino beetles and other ginormous bugs are kept as pets, used in gambling fights, and also eaten as food. You've got to see the size of these things!
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23420 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Red-hot nickel ball versus floral foam
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What's happening: The foam used in this experiment is a type of synthetic carbon, which means it's so dense, it doesn't allow for air-flow. Because of this, the heat smoulders through the material, rather than forming a proper flame, sucking the oxygen out as it goes, and leaving behind the dried out remains. This is the same reaction that happens when you turn wood into charcoal. ...
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1175 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Please stop eating my face, sir
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Watch as one of nature's most efficient killing machines slowly chows down on the face of a fly as it writhes helplessly in its arms. It's the sound that really got to us...
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5838 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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17500 |
ehd123 |
9 years ago |
Nine longest words in the English language
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Want to better your vocabulary? Try pronouncing these words on your own, then attempt to use at least one in your next conversation! Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilic ovolcanoconiosis – 45 letters- A lung disease caused by breathing in volcanic dust.
Supercalifragilisticexpialido cious – 34 letters- Meaning "wonderful", from song of this title in the movie Mary Poppins.
Floccinaucinihilipilification – 29 letters- Meaning "the action or habit of estimating as worthless".
Trinitrophenylmethylnitramine – 29 letters- A chemical compound used as a detonator in shells.
Antidisestablishmentarianism – 28 letters- Meaning "opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England".
Electroencephalographically – 27 lettersMicrospectrophotometr ...
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9191 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
Next time you ask a scientist why something happens remember this guy
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This is Richard Feynman's take on a simple question, why do magnets repel each other? A little more on Richard Feynman. He was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics for which he proposed the parton model. As always: A scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, but one who asks the right questions. ...
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2431 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Never trust a mirror
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Can you figure out this optical illusion? Squares are magically turned into circles, then vice versa. But interestingly, it's not strictly the mirror that is fooling you - it's a combination of the shapes used and your fickle perspective. The trick was designed by Kokichi Sugihara from Meiji University in Japan for the "Illusion Of The Year" competition. You can see the other top 10 finalists from the competition right here. ...
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5469 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
Must watch, this ancient Turkish language is whistled
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Turkish communities living in the mountains in the north east of the country use a remarkable whistling language to communicate. Around 10,000 people use the bird-like whistle, which researchers suggest is the first known form of language to use both sides of the brain. Whistlers usually speak Turkish when talking near each other, but switch to whistling when they want to convey a message over longer distances, which can be up to five kilometers. The whistling language has the same vocabulary and grammatical structure as Turkish, it’s just a different format. Scientists have previously assumed that all spoken language, written texts and sign language mainly utilize the left hemisphere, but this doesn't seem to be the case for the whistling l ...
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9432 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Mind-blowing dragon illusion
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This type of optical illusion plays with our brain’s sense of perspective: the dragon’s face looks like it’s sticking out toward us because, after all, we know from a life time of experience that faces stick out instead of cave in. But the exact opposite is actually the case here. Regardless of what you perceive, the entire face of this dragon is inverted making everything backwards: For example, the right eye is actually farther away from us than the left eye, and it’s this inversion that confuses our brains and makes us think the dragon is staring at us. ...
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2648 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Living without a heart
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Stan Larkin (pictured on the right), who's now 25, was diagnosed with familial cardiomyopathy. This form of disease results in the heart having difficulty pumping enough blood through the body. Faced with a lack of compatible heart donors, Stan underwent an operation in 2014 to remove his failing heart and replace it with an external total artificial heart, dubbed the Freedom portable driver. This battery-powered device uses compressed air to pump blood around the body in the same way a heart does, and as the name suggests, it is portable and only weighs 6 kilograms (13 pounds). The device does an incredible job at keeping the patient in a healthy condition while a donor heart becomes available, but it isn’t considered a long-term option. ...
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6103 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
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16346 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
How to paint an island red with crabs
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Christmas Island is a unique natural habitat located in the Indian Ocean with many endemic species. The national park covers two-thirds of the island, which has been referred to as the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean. Many people are aware of the red crabs whose mass migration to the sea has been described as one of the wonders of the natural world. Christmas Island has many other species of crabs, including the impressive robber crabs ( Gecarcoidea natalis). These may be the largest land-dwelling arthropod on Earth. Together these abundant land crabs clear the forests of leaf litter and maintain burrows that prevent soil becoming compacted, creating an open and diverse forest. This thriving natural system, however, was disrupted by an invasive ...
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7989 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
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10984 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Here's why your hair will eventually turn gray
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As soon as we're born, we're destined to age. Some of us age gracefully - we enjoy years of youthfulness - while others experience hair loss, wrinkles, and greying earlier than expected. Found in the core of each hair, a pigment known as melanin gives rise to a person's hair color. This universal pigment is also found in our skin and eyes, giving use our unique physical traits. Dark and light versions of melanin - eumelanin and phaeomelanin, respectively - combine in various combinations to create all natural hair colors. Melanin itself is the product of a specialized cell, the melanocyte, which is found in each hair follicle, from which the hair grows. As hair grows, the melanocyte injects melanin into the hair cells, which contain the s ...
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9488 |
duddy |
8 years ago |