SCIENCE CORNER '09: Hey, Space Brother
by Molly Lambert
Paleontologists claim they have unearthed a new type of pterosaur and a previously unknown sauropod dinosaur in the Sahara Desert.
The banana slug, beloved mascot of UC Santa Cruz, has a weird mating habit. First of all, they have an enormous penis. (In fact, their latin name dolichyphallus translates to "giant penis.") The average size of a banana slug penis is 6 to 8 inches. This is incredibly impressive, considering their entire body length is 6 to 8 inches as well! Banana slugs are hermaphrodites, so two slugs will try to fertilize each other.
To mate properly, a slug must choose a mate roughly its own size - if it miscalculates, its penis will get stuck during copulation. This isn’t just an embarrassing faux pas, the other slug will actually bite off the stuck penis, a term scientists euphemistically called "apophallation."
wats ur fave color of am appy neon techno mice powder?
Psychedelic Mice Reveal Clues to Disease Transmission
An extinct phylum that made pearls, Conularids.
Gremlins, thought extinct, found after 82 years.
Giant Marine Life Found In Antarctica, including jellyfish with 12-foot tentacles and 2-foot-wide starfish. Learn more about how Jellyfish are going to take over the world and enslave us all Cthulhu style.
Salt Deposits a good indicator of Ancient Life On Mars
Frozen Semen Works in Rhinoceros Artificial Insemination
Yum, nootropics.
Some of the chemical pathways for physical pain and pain from social exclusion overlap. The physical pain system may have been co-opted to motivate social animals to respond to threats to their inclusion in the group. The physical-social pain overlap helps to explain the paradox that people who are threatened with social exclusion sometimes react with physical violence.
All octopuses are venomous but only a few species pose a significant threat to humans, such as octopuses in the genus Hapalochlaena which have a very poisonous bite.
A few of the larger tropical cone snail species have a very poisonous sting. These bites and stings can sometimes be fatal.
Ouroboros researches aging.
Identical twins tend to die within 3 years of each other, whereas fraternal twins tend to die within 6 years. Aging theories associated with DNA include programmed aging (or programmed aging-resistance) and theories that link aging with DNA damage/mutation or DNA repair capability.
Molly Lambert is the managing editor of This Recording
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A Giant Silvery Cloud Over The City
