Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Top 27 unbelievable facts that people don't know...

27. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

26. The average chocolate bar has 8 insect legs in it.

25. Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than
left-handed people do.

24. Its impossible to smoke oneself to death with weed. You won't be
able to retain enough motor control and consciousness to do so after
such a large amount. (Common Sense)

23. Uncle Phil, from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, did the voice of
Shredder in the TMNT cartoon.

22. Every drop of seawater contains approximately 1 billion gold atoms.

21. The US national anthem actually has three verses, but everyone
just knows the first one.

20. During World War II, IBM built the computers the Nazis used to
manage their death/concentration camps.

19. The total combined weight of the worlds ant population is heavier
than the weight of the human population.

18. The deadliest war in history excluding World War II was a civil
war in China in the 1850s in which the rebels were led by a man who
thought he was the brother of Jesus Christ.

17. Just about 3 people are born every second, and about 1.3333 people
die every second. The result is about a 2 and 2/3 net increase of
people every second. Almost 10 people more live on this Earth now,
than before you finished reading this.

16. Happy Birthday (the song) is copyrighted.

15. The number of people alive on earth right now is higher than the
number of all the people that have died. Ever.

14. The average American consumes 1.2 pounds of spider eggs a year and
eat 2.5 pounds of insect parts a year.

13. The Kamp Krusty episode of the Simpson's was originally meant to
be made as the Simpsons movie.

12. Men can breastfeed babies.

11. There is a rare condition called Exploding Head Syndrome which
you've probably never heard of.

10. Scientists have determined that fungi are more closely related to
human beings and animals than to other plants.

9. In some (maybe all) Asian countries, the family name is written
first and the individual name written second (opposite of the America
method). That's why Asian athletes like Yao Ming and Ichiro Suzuki
have Yao and Ichiro written on their jerseys. Those are their family
names and in America their names are written Ming Yao and Suzuki
Ichiro.

8. Abe Lincoln bought 50 cents worth of cocaine in 1860

7. A German World War II submarine was sunk due to malfunction of the toilet.

6. Washington State has the longest single beach in the United States.
Long Beach, WA.

5. The largest living thing on the face of the Earth is a mushroom
underground in Oregon, it measures three and a half miles in diameter.

4. The town of Los Angeles, California, was originally named El Pueblo
la Nuestra Senora de Reina de los Angeles de la Porciuncula.

3. 9 out of 10 people believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.
This isn't true; Joseph Swan did.

2. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the
tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found
edible.

1. The Population of the world can live within the state boundaries of Texas

Saturday, April 4, 2009

10 Most Disturbing Animals on Earth

Gumprecht's Green Pit Viper

This striking bright green snake, commonly known as Gumprecht's green pit viper, is found in the Southeast Asian region of Greater Mekong.

The serpent, which has the formal name Trimeresurus gumprechti, was first described by scientists in 2002, although he doesn't look like he appreciates having been discovered.
Gumprecht's green pit viper (Trimeresurus gumprechti)



Snakefish

Snakefish
In 2002, the snakefish (or Channidae) was described as “something from a bad horror movie” by US Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Some describe snakefish as having ”a voracious appetite, often consuming all other fish in a lake or pond and even eating its young. It can slither across land, staying out of water for up to three days, to find new sources of food.” Norton also warns that once on land ”snakeheads can eat almost any small animal in its path…. They have even attacked people in China who got too close to snakeheads’ egg nesting areas.” According to Wikipedia, snakefish can be up to over a metre in length and over 6 kilograms in weight. Most snakefish are 2-3 feet long. They’re also fast reproducers with no natural enemies outside of their native environments. Within their native environments, small snakefish are preyed upon by bigger fish, while full-grown snakefish are consumed by crocodiles and alligators. Because of their ability to move into new habitats and wipe out local ecosystems (and to then hop out of the water and mosey on over to another body of water and repeat the process) snakefish have been prohibited in 13 American states and other countries (e.g., Australia).





Giant Isopod

Giant Isopod
This Predator look-alike is a Giant Isopod (Bathynomus giganteus), a carnivorous crustacean that spends its time scavenging the deep ocean floor, up to 6,000ft down on the seabed where there is no light. In the pitch black and cold, they survive by feasting on dead and decaying fish and other marine animals.


Aye-aye

Aye-aye
Considered by locals as a harbinger of misfortune, the Aye-aye is one of the world’s most rare and bizarre looking primates. To the Malagasy people, the aye-aye is magical, and believed to bring death to the village it appears in; therefore they’re often killed on sight. The aye-aye is the world’s largest nocturnal primate with an average head and body length of 16 inches (40 centimeters), a long bushy tail of 2 feet (61 centimeters) long, and weighs about 4 pounds (2 kilos). The Aye-aye has large beady eyes, black hair, and large spoon-shaped ears. It has 5-fingered hands with flat nails, with a middle finger up to 3 times the length of the others.


Star-nosed Mole

Star-nosed Mole
One of the most intriguing stars in the universe is right here on Earth: the eleven pairs of pink fleshy appendages ringing the snout of the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata). From its appearance and location, one would think this star might be a supersensitive olfactory organ, helping the nearly blind mole negotiate its subterranean environment, or an extra hand for grasping prey or manipulating objects. Some researchers have hypothesized that the star detects electric fields, thus acting as a kind of antenna. But in reality, the star is an extraordinary touch organ with more than 25,000 minute sensory receptors, called Eimer’s organs, with which this hamster-sized mole feels its way around.


Frilled Lizard

Frilled Lizard
The frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingi) is a yellowish-brown australian lizard has got a large frill of skin to the sides of the neck and throat. It is about 90 cm/35 in long, and when is angry or alarmed, it erects its frill, which may be as much as 25cm/10 in in diameter, thus giving itself the appearance of being larger than it really is. Frilled lizards are generally tree-living but may spend some time on the ground, where they run with their forelimbs in the air.


Giant leaf-tailed Gecko

Giant leaf-tailed Gecko
The Giant leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus) is endemic to Madagascar and the islands Nosy Bohara and Nosy Mangabe. These geckos live in tropical rain forests and reach a total length of 330 mm. A large nocturnal gecko, by day it plasters it self to a small tree trunk and rests head down. If disturbed it will raise it tail and head, open its mouth and scream... and call his mom.


Kerivoula Kachinensis

Kerivoula kachinensis
Another of the species found in one of the world's last scientifically unexplored regions, Asia's Greater Mekong, the Kerivoula Kachinensis is one of the most disturbing bats ever found.


Desert Mole Rat

Desert Mole Rat
The Desert Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa notable for its eusocial lifestyle, nearly unique among mammals, and for a highly unusual set of physical traits that enables it to thrive in a harsh, underground environment, including a lack of pain sensation in its skin, and a nearly cold-blooded metabolism. Plus, it is horrible.


Puss Caterpillar

The puss caterpillar is the most poisonous caterpillar in the United States. Its poison is hidden in hollow spines among its hairs. This hairy caterpillar is found in the southern states, ranging west through most of Texas and north to Maryland and Missouri. It feeds on shade trees such as elm, oak, and sycamore. Puss caterpillars vary in size from 1.2 in.(32 mm) to 1.4 in.(36 mm). Its video below it's a must-see.

Photography is Serious Business