Sea snakes have long captivated, and terrified, ocean enthusiasts and beachgoers alike. With their sleek bodies and potent venom, they've surely earned their spot in the marine hall of fame.But just how dangerous are sea snakes? In this article, we’ll take a deep dive.Are Sea Snakes Poisonous?Firstly, it's important to note the distinction between "poisonous" and "venomous." A creature is poisonous when it releases toxins when touched or consumed. Venomous creatures, on the other hand, activel ...read more
When you think of great survivors in the animal kingdom, your mind might not immediately go to the humble pig, but maybe it should. In the wild, pigs are extremely durable — they can thrive in almost any environment — and they’re well-known for being able and willing to eat just about anything.These two traits alone should earn them some respect as highly adaptable creatures. The problem is, those same characteristics make them a nuisance, certainly in the U.S., where feral hogs are now co ...read more
Anybody who has played tic-tac-toe has probably worked out that the game can always be drawn, provided neither player makes a mistake. Indeed, it is straightforward to create an algorithm that guarantees a win or draw regardless of the moves made by the opponent.This is a trivial example of a game that has been “solved” – one in which the outcome is determined from the start. There are many others that have also been solved but plenty that have not. For game theorists and computer scientis ...read more
Nothing calls to mind nonsensical treatments and bizarre religious healing rituals as easily as the notion of Dark Age medicine. “The Saturday Night Live” sketch Medieval Barber Theodoric of York says it all with its portrayal of a quack doctor who insists on extracting pints of his patients’ blood in a dirty little shop.Though the skit relies on dubious stereotypes, it’s true that many cures from the Middle Ages sound utterly ridiculous – consider a list written around 800 C.E. of ...read more
A shoe, a coconut, a tennis ball, a dead frog, a turtle, a mango, a ruler, a gecko, and a lump of yack dung — these are just some of the odd things frogs have been recorded trying to have sex with. Frog sex, in most species, involves the male gripping onto the female from behind for long periods of time — from hours to days — until they’ve succeeded in fertilizing their eggs. But mating can be very competitive for these web-footed amphibians, resulting in some individual mistakenly tryin ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine