Lacking claws, armor, or stabbing teeth, humans are easy targets for predation. But thanks to our big, beautiful brains, we figured out early on how to co-opt the killing tools of nature’s top hunters for our own defense—and offense. Here are some of the best examples of technology mimicking nature. Or just straight up stealing from it. More »
BBC Earth Productions is back with another mesmerizing bit of high-speed footage that captures hawks as they’re swooping in to attack their prey. Seeing all of the bird’s complex feather mechanics in action as it slows mid-air to snatch its target is utterly fascinating, and seeing it extend those terrifying claws will make you happy you’re not a tiny rodent caught in its crosshairs. [YouTube via Laughing Squid] More »
Guy Tries to Buy Toy Poodles, Gets Fluffy, Steroid-Pumped Giant Ferrets Instead
Posted in: Today's Chili Man’s best friend doesn’t come cheap these days, so you can imagine how excited a retired Argentinian man was to find double the companionship at a fraction of the cost: two adorable toy poodles—just itching to snuggle, crawl, and slobber all over you—for a mere $150. And by toy poodles, of course, we’re referring to preened, fluffed, and steroid-pumped “rats.” More »
Animal Planet critter livestreams arrive on Samsung Smart TVs, coming to Roku and Xbox Live
Posted in: Today's ChiliSay goodbye to the passé virtual aquarium. Animal Planet has launched a collection of 11 HD 24/7 Ustream-powered live streams under the banner Animal Planet L!VE, which feature animals ranging from beluga whales to cockroaches. The free critter footage is already being piped to APL.tv and Samsung Smart TVs Viewers can choose between watching ants, calves, chicks, cockroaches, beluga whales, fish swimming about in a pacific coral reef, kittens, penguins, puppies, sea nettles and wild birds. In case catching them on your smart TV or browser weren’t enough, the cable channel’s creature casts are coming to Roku and Xbox Live “in the coming months.”
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Samsung
Via: Ubergizmo
Source: Bites @ Animal Planet
In a display of blatant disregard for Nancy Reagan and her pleas to the contrary, Russia’s bears, no longer able to resist the sweet temptation of gasoline, have found themselves suffering from a good, ol’ fashioned jet fuel addiction. More »
Slow motion was invented to capture every single thing in slow motion. Explosions, cheetahs, robots, people and of course, hummingbirds. The detail you see in slow motion is always better than real life. What’s amazing though is that even when you slow down a hummingbird, those damn birds still seem fast. But ticking down those wings for just a little bit brings out something new in them. They look so graceful! More »
Here’s everything you need to know about the Internet’s favorite animal: cats. All the things you ever wondered about your furry friend? Right here. ASAP Science explains why they like catnip, how they can always fall on their feet, why they purr and how their eyes work. Did you know they spend 85% of the day doing nothing and that drinking, eating and mating only takes up 4% of the day. The question: what kind of catty things are they doing the other 11%? [ASAP Science] More »
Last week at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok authorities arrested a Thai man after discovering 54 Ploughshare Tortoises in a suitcase he retrieved from a luggage carousel. That’s a lot of tortoises, particularly when you consider that the Ploughshare is one of the rarest species on the planet, numbering just 400 around the world. More »
Slo-mo footage of wet dogs shaking themselves dry are a dime a dozen online. But wet dogs and wet hedgehogs and rats? Now that’s something new, and we can thank BBC Earth Productions for this mesmerizing footage. More »