From the blue-ringed octopus’s perspective, your breathless screaming and vomiting aren’t her fault. This little lady—barely the length of a pencil, from tentacle tip to tentacle tip—was just lurking in a nice rock crevice on an Australian beach. With her mellow nature and yellowish-brown skin that matched the rocks, she was patiently waiting for a delicious crab to scuttle by. … [Read more...] about What It’s Like to Be Nearly Killed by a Blue-Ringed Octopus’ Venom
Two-Headed Sharks Are Sighted More and More and No One Knows Why
Animals with two heads? Yes, they appear in mythology and films, and we've heard a strange thing or two after nuclear disasters like Chernobyl, but isn't that it? No, it does not. Scientists are only guessing as to why two-headed sharks are becoming more common around the world. Longline fisherman Christopher Johnston was fishing in the Indian Ocean roughly 200 to 900 … [Read more...] about Two-Headed Sharks Are Sighted More and More and No One Knows Why
Fish Feel Pain Very Similarly To How We Do
People who fish for fun often like to tell concerned animal welfare advocates that in fact, fish can’t feel pain or have no nerves in their mouths. However, in a new review published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Lynne Sneddon of Liverpool University dispels this myth, pointing out that our oceans' scaly inhabitants feel pain similarly to how we … [Read more...] about Fish Feel Pain Very Similarly To How We Do
Brilliant Polished Meteorite Provides an Intriguing Look into Earth’s Creation
When picturing a meteorite, we generally think of it as something that's jagged with a rough texture. Reddit user Isai76, however, recently shared something unexpected – a polished meteorite! It was posted in the subreddit called Damnthatsinteresting, a place that welcomes the rare and unusual. The shiny rock hardly looks like a meteorite at all, and it features brilliant … [Read more...] about Brilliant Polished Meteorite Provides an Intriguing Look into Earth’s Creation
Arctic Foxes Reunite In a Snowstorm
A male arctic fox searches for his mate but a harsh winter storm makes it hard to see. Arctic foxes can identify each other by scent, but her scent is masked by the snow, too. Is that fox in the distance the one he’s looking for? In the BBC’s Stormborn, two arctic foxes find each other in the snow on the northwest coast of Iceland. Via this Smithsonian Channel … [Read more...] about Arctic Foxes Reunite In a Snowstorm