Monthly Archives: June 2009
An overheating hippo was so desperate to cool down that he climbed over the side of a 3m (10ft) water tower for a nice long soak. However, after happily splashing around for a while, the mammal found it could not get out of the pool and was well and truly stuck. Luckily, a farm worker noticed water spilling over the side of the concrete container and spotted two enormous nostrils poking out of the tank. [...]
Caught during a steamy moment in a lava tunnel in 2006, these two apparently mating bats – members of a new species – are each no bigger than a human thumb! Weighing just 0.2 ounce (5 grams), Aellen’s long-fingered bat was discovered on a volcanic island in Africa’s Comoros chain. DNA analysis later confirmed the bat as a unique species. Subsequent genetic tests also revealed the bat is also found on the west coast of [...]
Good old YouTube, this is a rather weird video of a remote controlled sewer-cam, used to search for blockages and to inspect the overall condition of sewer. Unfortunately there is no reference to size or scale, but I’m guessing the pipes aren’t that big – possible too small to walk or even crawl through? So what is it? Most YouTube comments are suggesting it’s a form of bryozoan, a tiny colonial animal that generally builds [...]
A History Channel/Monster Quest mashup that appears to debunk the whole Skyfish or Flying Rods phenomena. Filing at night opens up all sorts of questions and I’m wondering if they should have also shot some high-speed footage in daylight to use as a comparison? I’m not a huge fan of Monster Quest, it’s entertaining, but I find it tends to jump to conclusions to quickly for my liking – but it is entertaining – so [...]
A mysterious cylindrical object has been spotted in the skies above the Black Country. Retired teacher Mike Tunnicliffe was left scratching his head after seeing the UFO from his Walsall garden yesterday afternoon (28th June 2009). Mr Tunnicliffe, who works part time at County Bridge Primary School, ran to get his camera and snapped the strange shaped object. The 63-year-old of Sutton Road said: “It was a long shiny black cylinder shape, pointed at one [...]
The discovery of a rare blood-sucking fish in the River Wear is proof of high water quality, conservationists said. Seven adult sea lampreys, which have toothed, funnel-like sucking mouths, have been found in the river near Chester-le-Street, County Durham. Only three species of lampreys remain in Britain, and they are protected under European law. The Environment Agency said the creatures only breed in water which is very clean. So far the agency has identified twelve [...]
A UFO has been caught on camera in broad daylight flying over Edgware. Mark Lawes snapped the mysterious odject on Tuesday 23rd June 2009 just after 7pm, and has upload the pictures to his Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/marklawes Mark writes: Time was 19:11 23/06/2009 Edgware London UK looking NNE. The Sun was 90 degrees west. No clouds clear sky. A glint in the sky caught my eye, this object was so far away I had trouble [...]
New evidence suggest some, if not all European Cave Paintings were made by females, and not males as previously thought. For about as long as humans have created works of art, they’ve also left behind handprints. People began stenciling, painting, or chipping imprints of their hands onto rock walls at least 30,000 years ago. But until recently, most scientists assumed these prehistoric handprints were male. But “even a superficial examination of published photos suggested to [...]
How did piranhas — the legendary freshwater fish with the razor bite — get their telltale teeth? Researchers from Argentina, the United States and Venezuela have uncovered the jawbone of a striking transitional fossil that sheds light on this question. Named Megapiranha paranensis, this previously unknown fossil fish bridges the evolutionary gap between flesh-eating piranhas and their plant-eating cousins. Present-day piranhas have a single row of triangular teeth, like the blade on a saw, explained [...]
