Via SciShow
scary
By Unknown
Here's another reason never to go swimming:
This rare form of parasitic meningitis—primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM)—is caused by an amoeba called Naegleria fowleri. That microscopic amoeba—part of the class of life called protozoans—is a naturally occurring organism that normally feeds on bacteria and tends to live in the sedimentary layer of warm lakes and ponds.
There's a lot in a name. Some stuff that should be taken more seriously like deep vein thrombosis or hurricane evacuation areas gets bogged down under a name more pleasant than it should be. Other things like particular food and games would sound less dangerous if the name was more accurate. Other stuff, particularly urinal cakes, could just use a much more fun update.
Via MNN
Ilha de Queimada Grande has everything, if your definition of everything is deadly snakes.
This is one island you wouldn't want to find yourself shipwrecked on. Ilha de Queimada Grande, a small 110-acre island off the coast of São Paulo, Brazil, is home to more than 4,000 deadly snakes, earning it the nickname of 'Snake Island.' Some reports suggest you can find one snake per square meter here. It might just be the deadliest island on Earth, according to the Huffington Post.
Even more terrifying, the island is the only known home of the golden lancehead (Bothrops insularis), one of the most venomous vipers in the world. The snake's venom is three to five times more potent than the venom of any snake found on the mainland, and it is apparently capable of "melting human flesh." Ophidiophobe or not, you'll want to stay away from this serpent.
Via The Guardian
"if it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces," said daniel baker, of the laboratory for atmospheric and space physics at the university of Colorado. "i have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did. if the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire."
with colleagues from nasa and other universities, baker has been studying the disaster that wasn't. if the coronal mass ejection (cme) had hit the Earth, it would have disabled "everything that plugs into a wall socket".
there would have been major disruption to all satellite communications and electrical fluctuations that could have blown out transformers in power grids. most people wouldn't have been able to turn on a tap or flush a toilet because urban water supplies largely rely on electricity.
