Sometimes they bite...
Let’s just call it quits, people. Over the last couple of weeks, Mother Nature has decided to remind all of us who’s really in charge. Here’s the rundown of recently terrifying yet gentle reminders from her: Deadly Spiders vs Homeowners: Af
Florida rides a double-edged sword. On one side people proclaim it’s a great place to vacation. On the other side are the people who live there who are completely aware of the fact that it’s just wet sand covering a giant Hellmouth. Serious
Anomalocaridids. That’s the name for a bucket of strange insect-like creatures with terrifying pincers that crawled around on the ground billions of years ago and ate other, not-as-scary insect-like creatures with only semi-terrifying pince
Any time you mention the word ‘reindeer’ most people conjure up a fond memories of Rankin/Bass Christmas specials from their childhood, sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or just freak out because you just reminded them they’re only three
There’s going to come a point when we’ve just run about used every animal to give human beings massages and facials. That day’s not here yet but by the time we get news that an irate army of fire ants is being used to relax people in a spa
Everyone dreams about traversing the globe and visiting all of those places that are on most of our bucket lists. Unagi Travel is a company that will help your plush animals reach that goal while you live vicariously through video and photo
Seagulls are about the very last animal you’d think of when someone ask you to name something that might kill a full-size whale. But that would just mean that weren’t keeping up on the events taking place out in the waters off the coast of
Buttercup is an adorable little duck who was born with one of his feet turned backwards. Born at a high school as part of a biology program, Buttercup was given to a sanctuary specializing in dealing with ducks. Software engineer for the sa
Watch as this door opens up and something spills straight out of this closet and into your nightmares. This is Julius and yes…this thing DID learn to open even round doorknobs. So you’re really not safe anywhere. Julius passed away in 2012
Pigeon racing is quickly becoming a hot place for a new generation of wealthy people in China to drop some cash. In fact it’s attracting drops of cash worth millions. One race can net the winning team’s owner upwards of $80,000. There’s eve
It wasn’t too long ago that North America’s Hellmouth of a state was calling for people to go out into the wild and bag/kill as many giant pythons as they possibly could. Now that that’s yesterday’s Nature versus Humankind battle is over, e
Sometimes towns and even countries have to stretch to lure potential tourist dollars. Occasionally the only thing are some strange promises of something unique about a particular area. We’ve all seen photos of the Giant Ball of (insert some
We’ve all heard the expression ‘something old is new again’. Well that, and the fact that Florida was apparently created on top of an ancient Hell Mouth of some sort, brings this creepy discovery coming out of Miami. Residents of a fancy-sh
Christmas has come and gone. Statuses everywhere are lit up with the swag given by friends and family. Someone’s aunt got them this. Someone’s brother got them that. Big flippin’ deal. Why? Because a group of scientists have been given gift
Spiders are a little creepy to most people, right? Well that other percent that didn’t think they were creepy? You can come join the rest of us now. You’re walking through the woods and notice an interesting looking spider in the middle of
Every year at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, the annual meeting of the Explorers’ Club takes place. One of the highlights of the event is the gala dinner and its infamous cocktail party which is like the more sophisticated and classy vers
Russia has become a hotbed of Yeti activity over the last couple of weeks. And what’s more awesome than seeing a Yeti? Seeing a group of Yeti. In those last couple of weeks the sightings of Bigfoot’s Siberian cousin, two have included multi
It was totally bound to happen. People have been enjoying the sweet nectar of pork we all afftectionately refer to as bacon on a overly indulgent basis for a long, long time. Forget the dead rising up to walk amongst us and gnaw on our fles
Who knew? Corn’s a valuable commodity among beef producers. Problem is that because of drought there’s just not enough of it to feed all those cows which has caused the price to skyrocket. Beef producers are now looking to alternatives to c
Paul Clerkin, a shark ecology graduate student at California’s Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, has been spending the last couple of months on a deep-sea trawling vessel in the Indian Ocean to see if the ship’s nets might pull up anything
Wombats are like the koala’s derpy ground-dwelling brother. They’re harmless, adorable and just keep their noses to the ground without being a bother to anyone. They’re about the size of a small, fat, over-inflated dog/gopher hybrid that li
Could this be an alien invasion in the beginning stages? Millions of little, purple, crab-like creatures have washed up on the coast of O’ahu in Hawaii! The animals are about the size of a large pea and seem to be some kind of crab in its l
In the movie, Jurassic Park, sound designer Ben Burtt tried to create what he thought prehistoric beasts might’ve sounded like when they walked the Earth. Using currently existing animals and a little exaggeration, no one will ever forget t
It’s like Ridley Scott had a hand in designing worms. Those dainty little flower-like objects in the picture above are anything but dainty little flower-like objects. Those things are worms of the Osedax (Latin for “bone devourer”) family o
Let’s imagine Mother Nature wanted to create a wasp to remind us that she’s still very much in charge of things. Let’s say she’s been looking at a lot of HR Giger’s work for inspiration. Now let’s say that she’s already finished it and rele
Virologists and epidemiologists sure can be a fun bunch. Put enough money behind one of their projects and who knows what you’ll end up with. In this case we may end up with the end of the human race. Remember the bird flu scare? Total Year
New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research recently led an exploration of the Kermadec Ridge. Reaching depths of up to 4,100 feet and spanning 3,800 square miles that included everything from continental slopes and c
Across North America various species of adorable little salamanders get ‘oohs’ and ‘awwws’ get talked to like babies. In Japan, home of fun little critters like Godzilla, things are a little different. For a while the giant salamander popul
It’s a revolution best served with pickles and onions on a sesame seed bun. The first test-tube grown hamburger will be produced this fall. Although still in the laboratory phase as of now, the experiment will eventually produces thousands
That was the challenge for one biologist who discovered that this plant, Philcoxia, was indeed consuming worms. Yet it doesn’t seem to have any orifices to trap the organisms, or lures to bring the creepy crawlies out of the dirt to their d
This awesome wildlife rescue happened back in October, 2010 in Taku Inlet near Juneau, Alaska. Alaska Quest Charters was crossing the inlet when four deer approached the boat about a mile offshore. The struggling animals were brought aboard
Glowing cats – I want one. [Mirror]
Uruguayan navy ships on patrol found a whole bunch of dead penguins and alerted environmental agencies. They do not know the cause of death yet, but they do suspect something called Ferox, which does not sound friendly. “According to a stat
That bad mother above is the DEVIL WORM. CUE MUSIC It was once thought that life could not live more than a few dozen feet below the ground. Those non-believers are now proven to the be foolish mortals the DEVIL WORM always knew them to be.
Reindeer have developed the ability to see the world in ultraviolet light since migrating to the Arctic 10,000 years-ago. Most mammals, aside from rodents and some species of bats, can only see the visible spectrum and the shorter wavelengt
Henry Wu: You’re implying that a group composed entirely of female animals will… breed? Dr. Ian Malcolm: No, I’m simply saying that life, uh… finds a way. Scientists looking to create a species of all-female lizards have finally succeeded.
GPS tagged coyotes are roaming the streets of Chicago as part of an urban coyote research project. The coyotes are allowed to roam the streets as part of the program in order to eliminate nuisance rodents. The Chicago Commission on Animal C
Awesome. VIENNA (AFP) – Two young ring-tailed lemurs which had escaped from Salzburg zoo five days ago have been recaptured by their keepers in a hotel bar in a nearby village, according to local media reports Friday. The two-year-old males
So you’re a cute little monkey, scampering about the Amazon. For the sake of this discussion, your name is Joe. All of a sudden you hear someone yell, “Hey Joe! Nice haircut!” You look around, but don’t see anyone. What anonymous stranger i
Peruvian researchers have pieced together the remains of what could have been the ultimate whale killing machine. Introducing Leviathan melvillei… A team of researchers recovered 75% of the animal’s skull, complete with large fragments of b
After a careful reintroduction program, Bald Eagles are flourishing in the Channel Islands of California. The only problem is there are now so many of them that food resources have become an issue and researchers are worried they might star
When the cuddly little bugger is not actually a hybrid between the two animals but rather an (adorably) hairy version of a regular ol’ hog. That hasn’t stopped some media outlets from referring to the beast as a half-breed between the two d
Here on Weird Things, we’ve talked quite a bit about the strange history of animal (and human) experimentation for the benefit of medical science. But it would be silly to suggest that there aren’t strange trails that persist to this day. F
What with all the earthquake news recently, it might be time to start stocking up on toads. This from The BBC. Common toads appear to be able to sense an impending earthquake and will flee their colony days before the seismic activity strik
What’s more awesome than a giant ancient crocodile? A really giant snake that ate it for lunch. A 60-million-year-old relative of crocodiles described recently by University of Florida researchers in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology w
Florida is under attack from giant snakes. If that’s not bad enough, in a turn fit for the SyFy channel, authorities now worry that different breeds of python may be merging together into some new kind of “super snake”. From the Sun-Sentine
In the Michael Crichton book Congo and movie by the same name, he describes a race of super-apes almost on par with man in intelligence. Like much of Crichton’s work, he based this on science speculation. For thousands of years there have b
The story of a faraway island still inhabited by legendary creatures has been a captivating idea since before Homer wrote down the Odyssey. Recent incarnations include the works of Jules Verne and stories like King Kong, Jurassic Park and r
Sea Monsters are awesome. What’s even more awesome than that? Live blogging your investigation of said sea monster in 1855! How is that even possible? In 1855 the New York Times was on the cutting edge of tech journalism utilizing telegraph
Apparently it’s snake week here at Weird Things, previously we reported on researchers discovering the stomping grounds of the largest snake ever, Titanboa. Now comes some fun news from the U.S. Geological Survey: We’re being invaded by gia
Science Daily reports that a Smithsonian research team has uncovered the first megafossils of a neotropical rainforest. Titanoboa, the world’s biggest snake, lived in this forest 58 million years ago at temperatures 3-5 C warmer than in rai
Mark your calendars. August 31st, 2009 may have been the day the insects got the upper hand in their war against mankind. Reportedly, a truck driver for the Minot Air Force Base 91st Missile Wing lost control of his vehicle when a “large in
Previously, this week, on Weird Things. • A few tips for the novice Bigfoot hunter. • Could the Son of Sam, a UFO investigating Air Force base and the birth of popular science fiction have helped create the Dover Demon? • Mic
Above is a stabilized version of the latest purported video of Champ the Monster of Lake Champlain. Compare that to the video of a common fresh water otter below, and the mystery of Lake Champlain starts to unravel. Check out the updated in
The Ishikawa region of central Japan has been receiving downpours of baby frogs this month. A number of cities, including Nanao and Hakusan have experienced hundreds of tadpoles falling from the sky.
photo credit: phoenixlily Portobello Aquarium, New Zealand: Sid the Octopus is finally set free after several successful escape attempts from his tank. An article in The Independent reports on his daring escape attempts: Matthew Crane, Port
You can run Penguins, you can hide, but we will always know where you are, because you are swimming birds that poop a lot. We think we can count this as another unconsidered negative effect of being a flightless bird.
photo credit: nicely85 Glowing Monkeys: The gift that all of us have always wanted but never dared admit it. Now our collective dream has become a reality. We are Weirdthings are pleased to announce that Japanese scientists have created tra
Neanderthals were one of our closest genetic relatives. The debate over whether they were a sub species of humans or a different species all together still rages. Knowing our shared genetic heritage, archaeologists like to speculate about i
Local fisherman around Vietnam’s Lake Rung suspected changing weather patterns were the culprit when fish started dying off in large numbers last year. When they headed out last month to collect fish they caught around two tons of a strange
We all remember the Montauk Monster that washed up along the shores of Long Island last year. The above video was taken in Southold, NY of Montauk Monster 2. The people over at Montauk-monster.com think the two are the same beast, what do y
The crocodile hood ornament these Papua New Guinea men are sporting on the front of their car was not a gift from Pimp-My-Polynesian Ride. It’s a killer 13 foot female crocodile that has been terrorizing their village in Madang Province. Th
Image Credit: Visual Culture and BioScience Penn Bullock reports: In March 2008, a veterinarian identified a mysterious pig pathogen at two “swine production facilities” (the official euphemism for slaughterhouses) in Illinois. It contained
Queensland, Australia: Massive spiders have been invading the outback town of Bowen in recent days. Heavy, unseasonal rain has driven hordes of usually shy, behemoth Eastern Tarantulas (barking spider/bird eating spider) out of their hiding
We were perusing Weird Asia News when we stumbled across this freaky video of two female carp that look all too human. The eerily humanoid eyes are made up of dots on the front of the fish’s heads. The two carps are female hybrids of the ca
photo credit: mctheriot Chillicothe, Ohio is known for many things, it has a cool name, it was the first state capital, but Chillicotheans never expected they’d be known for their wild emu population. For those of you not in the emu know, e
Psychics are no good at finding missing people, but what about missing pets? The almost tragic tale of Tinker Bell the chihuahua begins at a flea market her owners were attending. Tinker Bell was standing on the roof of her owner’s trailer
Image Credit: CRI Online We now know which side the dolphins have chosen in the international political game. When suspected Somali pirates attempted to approach a Chinese merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, thousands of dolphins leaped out
A new species of freshwater fish has been discovered in the streams of Myanmar, and it’s kind of freaky looking. What makes the fishy counterpart of Nosferatu so unusual is that the characteristic fangs are not actually fangs at all, but fa
photo credit: tamra hays Turritopsis Nutricula, a species of jellyfish native to the Caribbean, has now spread to all corners of the ocean. Why? Because they don’t die: Turritopsis Nutricula is technically known as a hydrozoan and is the on
The World’s first and only pink bottle nosed dolphin was discovered in an inland saltwater lake in Louisiana earlier this month. Dolphins have never seemed so cuddly.
Strangest Sea Creatures – For more amazing video clips, click here For those of you who enjoy gawking at some of the more bizarre denizens of the deep. Is that a lobster or an alien?
Astronomers have identified two massive balls of ice, orbiting a dwarf planet on the fringe of our solar system. According to sciencenews.org: You’d need a mighty tall glass to hold two space objects that researchers have now identified as
photo credit: flamesworddragon Imagine this: You’re in the car, sipping on your morning coffee, jamming along to the radio…then whack…vulture to the face! Disney’s Junglebook has lead us all to believe that vultures are the inane hippies of