Most dangerous spiders

Apparently the most venomous spider is the Brazilian wandering spider (Phoneutria spp.). Phoneutria nigriventer's extreme toxicity in a table showing that the amount necessary to kill a 20gm mouse was only .006mg (intravenously) and .0134 subcutaneously as compared to Latrodectus mactans (Black Widow) at 0.110 and 0.2 respectively. Recent studies suggest that these spiders only inject venom in approximately one-third of their bites and may only inject a small amount in another third. The evidence, so far, clearly shows that both P. nigriventer and P. fera (on the photo) are extremely dangerous.

The funnel web spiders are another very venomous genus. Atrax robustus (on the photo) and Atrax formidabilis arguably are the most venomous and dangerous spiders in the world according with AFPMB.

The widow spiders are very dangerous too. The venom is not as potent as in the case of the two genuses above, but the evidence shows that there is comparable amount of deaths and health problems caused by these spiders. Relatively to the most of the spiders their venom is still very potent, (15 times more potent than that of the rattlesnakes; it is also reported to be much more potent than the venom of cobras and coral snakes). For Latrodectus mactans the amount of venom necessary to kill a 20 gm mouse was 0.110 mg (intravenously) and 0.2 mg subcutaneously. 63 deaths were reported in the United States between 1950 and 1989. Prior to the development of antivenom, 5% of reported bites resulted in fatalities. On the photo black widow (possibly Latrodectus mactans) - one of the most dangerous in the genus.

Source: Washington.edu, Wikipedia, AFPMB

Some paintings I like

Aleksander Nevsky is one of my favourite paintings from Nicholas Roerich.

Centipede beast

                   Photo cortesy from: Mark M. LucasThe world's largest centipede is Scolopendra gigantea. They can exceed 30 cm length and they are very fierce arthropods, which are also venomous, aggressive and fast. They will attack and eat even mice and small birds. On this video (YouTube) we can see a smaller specimen, only 23 cm.

Source: Ugly Overload

Kendo vs Fencing

I found this in youtube. To be honest I used to wonder who will beat in fight between musketeer and samurai, or at least what will look like such fight. So, now I have finally found some kind of an answer.

Lucky Luck is back

This guy is definitely one of the fastest shooters not only in the west, but in the world. Imagine bar in the 18 century wild west and there are five villains inside. The distance will be approximate the same, the targets (human heads) actually bigger. That guy reacts and strikes all five of them for 0.88 sec, which is faster than what most people will need to pull out the gun from the holster alone. He really can defend himself.

Red Square Nebula

The Red Square Nebula is a very unusual celestial object. Also it is one of the most symmetrical celestial objects ever discovered. It is amazing how can exist similar thing in the space.

Source: Wikipedia

Dino wasp

In search for the biggest wasp in the world, I stumbled across the Tarantula Hawks (Pepsis heros), which often are considered to be the world's largest wasps with body length of up to 7 cm and wingspan of 11 cm. There are some more species in the same genus Pepsis (for example Pepsis apicata) with similar dimensions and nearly indistinguishable shape and colour. Also the sting is among the most painful of any insect. Actually on the picture is suggested to be the smaller Pepsis toppini, but is very difficult to be sure even for a specialist.

Source: Paul Nylander, Bugman (Collection of pictures, curious facts and topics of personal interest)

Youngest mother

Generally it is accepted that the lowest possible age for a human female to be able to give birth to be around 12 years, which is not big exception in certain places and countries, but there are very strange cases of births at 5, 8 or 9 years. Lina Medina who gave birth at the age of 5 years, 7 months and 21 days is the youngest confirmed mother in medical history.

See more: Wikipedia (List of youngest birth mothers)

Very, very big jellyfish

Lion's Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), Courtesy Foto: E. Svensen

The Lion's Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) is considered to be the world's largest species of jellyfish. Also often is cited Cyanea arctica, but is most likely to be subspecies or variety. The biggest recorded specimen had a bell with a diameter of 2.3 m (7 feet 6 inches) and the tentacles reached 36.5 m (120 feet).


Nomura's jellyfish (Nemopilema nomurai ) is one of the largest species of jellyfish. It lives near to Japan and is known in Japanese as echizen kurage. They are growing up to 2m (6 ft 7 inches) in diameter and weighting up to 200kg (440 lb).

Another massive species is Black sea nettle (Chrysaora achlyos).

Source: Marinbi, Jellieszone, National Geographic

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - The Ecstasy of Gold

Another great scene and music from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

See more: Wikipedia

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - The Triple Duel

I like a good cinema. Here is a scene of one of my favourite movies.

See more: Wikipedia

Glowing fishes

GloFish is the name of genetically modified fluorescent zebrafishes. Basically they can be red, orange, yellow or green, but there are a few more developments with other types of fluorescent protein expressions. They are healthy and normal in all other aspects. The price of one piece is about 5 dollars.

Source: GloFish

Girl versus Tief

Here I found another very funny video, amazing suplex. I'd like it to be true, which is highly probable if I can judge from the general aspect of the record. The thief assaulted the wrong girl :).

The Starchild skull

The Starchild skull is a real existing object and target of scientific studies. It is very unusual and abnormal human-like skull which was found in Mexico. Its origin and nature are contested by scientists and paranormal enthusiasts. The volume of the interior, where the brain lies is about 1600 cubic centimetres, which is 400 cc more than the brain's volume of an adult human with comparable size. There is an overload of collagen in it, much more than it is usual for the human bones and also there are no frontal sinuses. The carbon 14 tests gave a result of 900 years ± 40 years since death. Also it have other features unknown in others humans or animal species. There are not known diseases or causes that can cause similar shape and structure of a human cranium.

Sources: Wikipedia, Starchild project,

Mind the frog

The Golden Poison Frog (Phyllobates terribilis) found in the South America's jungles has poison which contains the most potent toxin produced by an animal, called Batrachotoxin, with LD₅₀ 1 to 2 µg/kg. The lethal dose for human in the blood stream is approximately 100 micrograms or weight, which is the equivalent of two grains of fine table salt. A wild adult specimen has up to 2 milligrams of the toxin, or 50 times the lethal dose for the humans. Currently there is no effective antidote and treatment for batrachotoxin poisoning doesn't exist. Shot with poison darts made from batrachotoxin provoke nerve paralysis almost instantaneous. The poison preserve quality even dried up for nearly 2 years. However in captivity this frog will lose the poison and will become harmless.

Source: Wikipedia

The Hexagon on Saturn

It is an old news, but it still impresses me. This hexagon (or rather hexagonal formation) lies on the north pole of the planet Saturn and its about 25,000 kilometres (15,000 miles) across. Nearly four Earths could fit inside it.

"This is a very strange feature, lying in a precise geometric fashion with six nearly equally straight sides," said Kevin Baines, atmospheric expert and member of Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

There are some explanations involving possible standing wave but I think it doesn't look convincing enough. Here is an example.

Sources: NASA, Physorg

Glowing mice

As an result of gene engineering experiment were to created fluorescent green mice. The gene which produces the glowing protein is from a species of jellyfish. These mice are really neat looking creatures and I'd like to buy couple of them.

Also in other case create in China scientists managed to expressed red fluorescent protein.

As well it is possible to make only the eyes glow. I bet here are a lot of people that will want to do the same with themselves :). If only it was possible to do that with humans ...

Sources: Forbes, Discovery Magazine

Klerksdorp Spheres

The Klerksdorp Spheres are strange objects found and collected in South Africa's 2.7-3.0 billion years mineral deposits by miners. They are between 5 and 100 mm in diameter and have variable spherical or disc shape. They can have also grooves on the equator. They are often claimed to be evidence of technology of very prehistoric non-human civilizations, remainder of extraterrestrials or similar believes. Below I am listing some sources with pictures and different explanations.

Sources: Virtuescience, OOPArt, The TalkOrigins (skeptical point of view).

Most venomous snake

The Inland Taipan from Australia is considered to be the world's most venomous land snake. It has LD50 of 0.025 mg/kg. The venom contained in a single bite is enough to kill 100 humans. Compare this with some other snakes here.

Source: Wikipedia, Vency's Site

The most poisonous mushroom

The Death Cap is considered to be the most poisonous mushroom in the world. It is estimated that half a cap (30 grams) is enough to kill a human. Cooking, boiling, freezing, drying or any other process don't reduce the toxicity. It is widely distributed on all continents except of Antarctica.

Source: Wikipedia