As if you needed a new reason to love elephants, they may soon be saving human lives. Scientists have replicated a protein found in the blood of elephants that may have cancer-curing properties. At the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah, oncologist Doctor Joshua Schiffman has been working with the protein for years. “Elephants almost never […] More
A warning for arachnophobes: there are very, very big spiders in this post. The Goliath birdeater tarantula is found in the South American rainforest and is the largest spider in the world. The size of a Goliath birdeater According to biologists, despite the name, it only rarely preys on adult birds. That makes sense, though. You need […] More
These creatures may be living on borrowed time: they’re some of the rarest animals on earth. It may not be long before these species are just a memory. How many have you ever heard of? Sumatran Rhinoceros The smallest living rhino has more in common with extinct wooly rhinoceroses than our modern rhino species. Poached […] More
Almost unbelievable facts from the animal kingdom. How many of these do you know? A Serious Plague A swarm of desert locusts can stretch up to 460 square miles in size, and the hungry critters can eat through 423 million pounds of plants in a single day. Blood in the Water A great white shark […] More
You’d think the “Jurassic Park” movies were cautionary tales, because, you know, tons of people died. But paleontologist Jack Horner, who served as a consultant on the film series, thinks it’s only a matter of time before science brings dinosaurs back for real — and he can’t wait. “It’s a terrific concept, right? I don’t care […] More
5,000 to 7,500 pangolins must have been killed to produce the amount of scales seized this month in Shanghai. https://t.co/T98XCqnEnP — NPR (@NPR) December 28, 2016 Chinese customs just discovered a colossal illegal shipment of pangolin scales. Three people were caught in the bust, which consisted of 101 bags of scales weighing in at an […] More
A recent report just revealed that there are only 7,100 cheetahs left on the planet. The study, which was published in PNAS, states that world’s fastest mammal is headed towards in extinction mainly due to human conflict and the fact that their range extends well outside protected areas. In fact, 77% of the cheetah’s habitat falls […] More
Skull fragment. Image: Oceana/Twitter ; Credit Timothy Myers A paleontologist just released a statement that he discovered the remains of a sea turtle that was previously unknown to science. About 65.5 million years ago, an asteroid struck Earth’s surface, leading to a mass extinction that wiped out around three-quarters of all species. However, an unlikely animal survived — […] More
Whale vomit (also known as ambergris) Three men hit the jackpot when they found 176 pounds of floating whale vomit worth an estimated $2.8 million. The fishermen were reported to have discovered one giant chunk off the coast of Qurayat in the northeastern part of Oman. One of the men said in the report, “We used a […] More
Arachnophobics, beware: Spiders can hear you from across the room. While it’s already well known that spiders can “hear” sounds through their leg hairs in response to vibrations, scientists had previously thought that they could only do so within several inches of those vibrations. It has now been determined, however, that spiders can detect vibrations […] More
The rusty patched bumble bee was just listed as endangered — and its the first bee to acquire such a listing in the continental United States. This will bring new hope to not only this species, but systems as a whole. A senior conservation biologist for the Xerxes society said in a press release, “Addressing the […] More
Image: Jamie Hiscocks/FB What a fossil hunter nearly passed over a decade ago turned out to be a fossilized dinosaur brain. The fossil was tiny and resembled just one of many small pebbles along the British coastline, according to English amatuer fossil hunter Jamie Hiscocks. According to experts, the tissue was essentially “pickled” when the […] More
