26198846
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bazzalunatic writes:
The common golden orb web spider wards of ants from attacking it on its web by spinning an ant repellent (pyrrolidine alkaloid) into its silk.
It could be used to develop a new insect repellent for humans
From the article "This study is among the first to show animals incorporating a chemical defence as a response to the threat of predation," says Professor Mark Elgar of the University of Melbourne.
24298140
submission
bazzalunatic writes:
The hottest chilli in the world was made by Australians earlier this year, but how did they get the chillies so hot? Seems that worm juice is the key to revving up the capsaicin. And milk and yoghurt are best to douse the heat as they have fats that can absorb the capsaicin — which actually hijacks the neurons that detect heat.
24239910
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bazzalunatic writes:
Each wet season in northern Australia dozens of colourful lorikeets have to be rescued because they appear drunk, fall out of trees and even get a hangover-like sickness. No one knows quite what's going on, but the best explanation is they get smashed from fermented fruit.
From the story: "Experts say they are not sure if the lorikeets are actually drunk, but they do have tell-tale symptoms. "They exhibit odd behaviour like falling over or difficulty flying [and] they keep running into things," says Darwin vet Dr Stephen Cutter from The Ark Animal Hospital."
24044636
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bazzalunatic writes:
With all the earthquakes around at the moment, this device couldn't be more timely. It's a breathalizer that detects the breath and sweat of survivors in the rubble. Better for sniffer dogs and safer.
23952732
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bazzalunatic writes:
Be careful what you teach a parrot. Some chatty pet parrots that have escaped back into the wild have taught wild parrots to talk. Seems the phenomenon could be integrated into the flock through generations.
23474086
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bazzalunatic writes:
Astronomers have found an infant red dwarf star 27 light years away from Earth. It's just 40 million years old. "The star has been known about and studied for the past 15 years, but it wasn't realised it was so young and so close, until now," co-author Simon Murphy, a PhD student from the Australian National University said in the story. More accurate measurements from telescopes have aided the rivsed distances of the star dubbed 'AP Colombae'.
21376656
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bazzalunatic writes:
That's right, great white sharks can be lured underwater to cages by playing hits from AC/DC — specifically "Shook me all night long".
Some shark diving tour operators in Australia have found this curious fact. But it's not just music, as the sharks weren't attracted by other tunes.
One wonders if they'll be turned off by Celine Dion music — a new type of shark repellent perhaps?
20227650
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bazzalunatic writes:
The Trinidad Scorpion Butch T chilli, grown and harvested by an Australian company is claimed to be the world's hottest chilli (1,463,700 SU), surpassing the current Naga Viper chilli, at 1,382,118 SU
16678218
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bazzalunatic writes:
Digitally remastered footage of the moon landing, including high-quality and brighter images of Neil Armstrong stepping off the ladder will be shown for the first time ever to general public at an awards ceremony in Sydney, Australia. The magnetic data tapes seem to have all been lost — erased — by NASA, so all that's left if VHS recordings, which have been restored, giving the best-ever film of the whole moon landing. The publicity over this seems to be pushing NASA into releasing the whole 3-hr recording.
