Sometimes, animals display behaviors that are weirdly human. Most often, this can be a fluke, such as when a photographer manages to capture animals in an unusual pose, with hilarious results. But what happens when a species displays new behaviors time and time again that aren't necessarily cute?
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Astronauts living onboard the International Space Station 250 miles above Earth experience life a bit differently. On the space station, the effects of microgravity mean astronauts are strapped in while they eat, exercise, and use the toilet. Living on the space station can affect height and aging.
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The fish is native to Southeast Asian peat swamp forests and is found in the waters of the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Bintan Island. A mature female Paedocypris progenetica measures only 7.9 millimeters, or just over 0.3 of an inch.
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"Aardwolf" means "Earth wolf," says Britannica. The name might come from the creature's yellowish-tan fur that kind of resembles the dry dirt of its homelands -- that being east and south Africa -- but it's more likely from the animal making its den in previously abandoned burrows.
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According to LiveScience, there have been many studies trying to link how the moon affects people, particularly in regard to sleep patterns. One of the prevailing theories being studied by scientists is that the full moon's light may disrupt sleep cycles.
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Bee hummingbirds are exclusively found in Cuba and are so tiny that they are often mistaken for insects. Male bee hummingbirds measure an average of 57 millimeters (2.24 inches) in length and weigh about 1.6 grams (0.056 ounces), which is less than a dime; female birds are a bit larger.
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An Australian team set out to create a model of what humanity would look like if it had evolved to survive car crashes. The results are a little jarring.
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Folklore and fears aside, though, is there any hard data that demonstrates the potential for the existence of ghosts?
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The Hippopotamus, or "water horse," as the Greeks called it, is the third-largest land mammal in the world. They're kind of cute and kind of funny-looking, and they use that cuteness to hide just how murderous they can be.
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This month, a study led by Maëlle Lefeuvre, a PhD student at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, studied both the different ways elephants could use their trunk to manipulate food and how each elephant displayed a preference for individual tactics.
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The Nile River turns to blood. Boils coat the bodies of the Pharaoh, his servants, and his animals. Hail shatters the landscape and destroys the crops of Egypt ... and a plague of locusts swarms over Egypt, and swallows up every last green thing.
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At the end of February, officials from the Brazilian state of Para's health, sanitation and environment department who were following a large congregation of scavenging birds stumbled upon the carcass of a humpback whale deep in the mangrove swamps of the Amazon.
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The whole to-do wasn't started by the plagues or crusades generally associated with the historical ballpark of the millennium in question. In point of fact, this age of cultural and financial stagnation was brought about by the meekest of all the Earth's forces: the humble gigantic volcano.
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Science has had rivalries like any other field, but sometimes, dueling smart people take things too far. People get hurt, careers are ended, and occasionally, the onward march of science is actually hampered by competition instead of bolstered. The following science rivalries took things too far.
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Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen: Mike Tyson vs. Floyd Mayweather. Who would win?
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Hell ants, for the uninitiated, were a species of insect during the Cretaceous period, and some of the first ant variations believed to have existed.
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Centralia was previously known for its large coal reserves. In the town's height, it reached a population of over 2,000 residents. When the census counted Centralia's residents in 2010, though, it recorded ten inhabitants in the ghost town's borough. What happened?
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The National Hurricane Center started the practice of naming hurricanes in 1950 to easily communicate which storm they were all talking about.
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And so, a weary nation turns its eyes to Joe Davis, the man attempting "to break the wheel of time" by broadcasting a coded warning into the past.
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"Blue holes" is a term that scientists use for sinkholes on the ocean floor. And later this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, alongside the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, will continue their collaborative exploration of these holes, by sending a "benthic lander."
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The tale of Noah, and the great flood, is one of the more well-known biblical stories. For historians, academics, and scholars of comparative religion, however, this tale of Noah and the flood is but one iteration of a much older, cross-cultural story that in fact has over 200 versions worldwide.
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Tornadoes, which grace this great land of ours more frequently every year than anywhere else on the planet. Here's why.
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If you're looking for a boring story, you've come to the right place. But it's not you that will be bored -- it's a mile-long tunnel under Las Vegas, brought to you by the good folks from The Boring Company.
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In general, don't meet bears. They really don't want to meet you, either. They're predators, and they get hungry, and while many bears are omnivores (consuming anything from berries to grubs to you), any port in a storm when you're hangry.
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Apparently there's a relatively wide-spread rumor going around that not only has NASA shifted the calendar, but has added a new sign to the traditional 12-sign lineup of the zodiac (which, to be clear, is astrology).
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You're not dreaming. You can smell the rain...
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From space, Earth resembles a deep blue marble with shots of browns and greens coursing through it. Its distinctive color is due to the sheer amount of water covering it. But even though we know there is a lot of water on the Earth, we do not really ever conceptualize how much water that truly is.
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