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io9Marine Biologists Release Incredible Video Of A Borg-Like Sea Creature
“I can’t believe that’s a living thing!” declares one of the scientists watching this stunning underwater footage of a siphonophore. The creature is not just one organism, but several that collectively serve various functions such as locomotion and even preying for food. The video was captured by the Hercules diving craft, part of the Nautilus … Continued
By Mark Strauss -
io9Here’s The Gruesome Way A Doctor First Proved The Heart Pumps Blood
Strange as it sounds, European medical doctors didn’t know, until the 1600s, that the heart pumps blood around the body. How they proved this seemingly simple fact is one of the most controversial (and gruesome) stories in medicine. It’s a shock, sometimes, to learn how much rudimentary knowledge — things any child would know — … Continued
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io9These Wasps Built Their Colony On A Window – And The View Is Incredible
Here’s something you don’t see every day: A glimpse at the internal structure of a rather large (and rather occupied) wasp nest. Put down the flamethrower and check it out. Trust us on this one, you’ll want to see this. YouTuber Vang Tsal captured the footage when a colony of wasps opted to construct its … Continued
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io9
Why Does Rabies Damage Your Body With Such Scary Speed?
A terrifying feature of the deadly rabies virus is how fast it moves along the body’s nervous system toward the brain, at speeds approaching half a meter per day. Its speed has been a medical mystery – but now researchers have a promising new lead that could explain how rabies spreads. Above: An electron micrograph … Continued
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io9
One Bad Piece of Press Made Black Widow Spiders Legendary
Black widows have figured in everything from real life murder plots to James Bond novels. It’s understood that they mean certain death. They don’t. They just got one spectacularly bad piece of press. Black widows are not a threat to house and home. It’s understandable that most people don’t want to be around them, but … Continued
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Tech News
The Quest to Resurrect an Extinct Animal Without Cloning
Before there was the cow, there was the auroch, a sinewy beast that roamed Eurasia by the millions. And over thousands of years, humans bred the creature into the millions of milk-and-steak-machines we have today. The last auroch, however, died in the 17th century. A group of scientists now want to bring back the auroch … Continued
By Sarah Zhang -
io9Why Is Your Poop Green?
According to Hank Green and the good folks at SciShow, one of the most commonly googled questions on Earth is “why is my poop green?” Why, indeed? The short answer: Your food went through you too fast. That, or you recently ate a bunch of leafy, green vegetables. The slightly longer explanation, which Green delivers … Continued
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io9
Doctors Discover A Woman With No Cerebellum
A 24-year-old woman complaining of dizziness and nausea was admitted to a hospital in Shandong Province recently, where she told doctors she had struggled with balance all her life. When doctors performed a brain scan, they immediately noticed the problem: The woman was missing her cerebellum. Above: An MRI of the woman’s head reveals “no … Continued
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io9
This Is Not A Starscape
Biologists hypothesize that the larvae of New Zealand glowworm Arachnocampa luminosa – which dangle, numerous and luminous, from the ceilings of caves – have evolved to resemble a star-studded night sky. Above: Arachnocampa luminosa do their best impression of a starry night along the ceiling of New Zealand’s Hollow Hill Cave | Photo used by … Continued
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io9“Mucus-Harvesting Drone-Pilot” Sounds Like A Pretty Awesome Job
Much of the work done to study stress in whales may, paradoxically, be stressful to whales. Ocean Alliance – a research and conservation organization devoted to the development of “benign research techniques” – has designed a possible solution to this problem: a mucus-harvesting drone. The stuff whales eject from their blow-holes isn’t water. It’s snot. … Continued
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ScienceBiology
The Science of Dog Training: Is It Okay To Use A Shock Collar?
No matter what you call them – shock collars, e-collars, or the more scientific-sounding “collar mounted electronic training aids” – are designed with the most basic form of learning in mind, operant conditioning. How Do Shock Collars Work? From a psychological perspective, the idea is remarkably simple. An animal has a behavior you’d like to … Continued
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ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
How Long Humans Can Live in Space—and What Happens if We Stay Too Long
How long can humans live in space? We don’t know the answer to that. But every crew that resides on the International Space Station provides us information that we use to adjust our protocols and extends that period of time. The longest contiguous amount of time a human has spent in space is 437 days. … Continued
Robert Frost - Quora -
Tech NewsWhy You Fart
A normal person passes wind between 10 and 20 times a day. Obviously some of us keep that average high, but still, you have to wonder: where does all that flatulence come from? While some of the gas you pass does come from swallowing air, the bulk of it is a result of the bacteria … Continued
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ScienceSpace & SpaceflightHow Long You Can Survive in Space Without a Suit
Getting blown out of an airlock and into space without a suit is not a pleasant experience. But if it were to happen, just how long could you survive? In fact, longer than you probably think. While you’ll be unconscious within 15 seconds, you might be able to cling on for as long as three … Continued
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io9
Two Deer Stop Traffic On The Golden Gate Bridge, Prance Endearingly
Two deer managed to find their way onto the Golden Gate Bridge Friday, around the unfortunate hour of 5:30 pm. The pair held up rush-hour traffic for about thirty minutes as they made their way to safety, trit-trotting across the crowded bridge and into Marin. Above: The deer in question, doing what deer do on … Continued
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Tech NewsHow Big Would a Single Tree Need To Be to Support All Human Life?
Trees are vital for human life: they use up CO2 and pump out oxygen, as well as providing food, fuel and, err, climbing frames, too. But how big would a single tree need to be in order to sustain the human race? A silly question, sure, but a fun one to answer—as this video from … Continued
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io9
Bizarre Sea Creatures Force Scientists To Create New Category Of Life
Marine biologists have identified two new species of sea-dwelling, mushroom-shaped creatures that don’t belong to any known taxonomic classification. Say hello to a completely new genus: Dendrogramma. Back in 1986, the authors of the new study pulled two distinct organisms from depths of 400 and 1,000 meters along the south-east Australian continental slope. The mushroom-like … Continued
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io9
There’s More To Primate Dominance Than Strength And Aggression
A new study suggests that the brains of primates are different depending on their status as leaders or followers. But are these ‘specialized brains’ the result of genetics or an adaptation to the individual’s role in life? Researchers from the University of Oxford were curious to learn if social dominance could be correlated to unique … Continued
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io9Behold Alien Horror as a Spear Mantis Impales a Fish in Slow Motion
Hiding in sandy burrows, mantis shrimp wait patiently—and then, with lightning-fast motion, grab passing prey with long, skinny appendages. “Like Predator and Alien rolled into one,” says Jamie Seymour, a James Cook University biologist who made this new video with Emmy Award-winning cameraman Richard Fitzpatrick.
By Mark Strauss