A researcher documents how he feels as he slowly dies from a snakebite.

What It Feels Like To Die of a Boomslang Bite
The diary of Karl P. Schmidt is a disturbing account of exactly how it feels to die from the bite of a hemotoxic snake.
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White ‘socks’ on spiders are irresistible to prey.

Prey Can't Resist a Spider in White Socks - Inkfish
Maybe you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, but if you’re trying to catch grasshoppers, the best method is bright white socks. The white patches on the front legs of certain Asian spiders make prey willingly flock to them—and scientists don’t really understand why. Dolomedes raptor ...
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fMRI studies have some challenges to overcome.

Blobs and Pitfalls: Challenges for fMRI Research - Neuroskeptic
Brain scanning is big at the moment. In particular, the technique of functional MRI (fMRI) has become hugely popular within neuroscience. But now a group of big-name neuroimaging researchers, led by Russ Poldrack, have taken a skeptical look at the field, in a new preprint (currently under peer revi...
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Astronomers spy on a black hole as it consumes an entire star.

Astronomers Watched a Black Hole Gobble a Star
Using X-rays, astronomers watch a star get shredded and eaten by a black hole.
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A lot can happen in 20 years.

Americans Expect Drone Pizza Delivery by 2036 - Lovesick Cyborg
Americans expect drone pizza delivery, the end of physical money, virtual reality doctor's visits and swarms of self-driving cars by 2036.
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There hasn't been a single mass shooting since the restrictions went into place.

Gun Deaths Dropped Following Australian Gun Control Laws, Study Says
After tighter gun control laws were put in place, Australia saw fewer gun deaths and no mass shootings, although a link between two has not yet been shown.
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Bringing humans and machines together.

A Sneak Peek at the First Cyborg Olympics
The Cybathlon will challenge assistive device developers to create technologies that thrive in day-to-day activities.
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The venom contracts on Venom Hunters are likely fake.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Venom Hunter Contracts: Reality Bites Part II - Science Sushi
This is Part II of a four-part series on the Discovery Channel's Venom Hunters, showing possible bad behavior of the network, production company, and cast.
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It's 400 times thicker than ours.

Chameleon Spit Is the Key to Their Hunting Prowess
A chameleon is able to hold on to prey it captures with its tongue because of extremely thick saliva — 400 times thicker than ours.
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The perfect skipping stone is not a stone at all-it's a squishy rubber ball.

Scientists Perfect the Skipping Stone
Scientists have created a better version of the skipping stone that's not a stone at all, but an elastic rubber ball
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Venus flytraps can “count” new study shows. Carnivorous plants just got even creepier.

Venus Flytraps 'Count' to 5 Before Dissolving Prey
Venus flytraps can count the number of stimuli they receive to tell what kind of prey they have trapped.
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The first known noise ordinance was passed by the Greek province of Sybaris in the sixth century B.C. Tinsmiths and roosters were required to live outside the town limits.

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Noise
Did you know the Big Bang was noiseless?
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New genetic tests for autism raise some ethical and existential questions.

Genetic Testing for Autism as an Existential Question - Neuroskeptic
A special issue of the journal Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics features perspectives from various people who have experience with genetic testing. Many of the articles look interesting – with titles such as I Had Genetic Testing for Alzheimer’s Disease Without My Consent. But my attention was drawn t...
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Global weather patterns are oddly beautiful.

Global Weather Patterns Materialize in Hypnotic Animation
A mesmerizing new animation from a climate researcher in Norway shows how global weather patterns unfurled across the world.
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The Mariana Trench is filling with pollution, and we may not be able to get it out.

Pollution Reaches Earth's Deepest Trench — And Never Leaves
Pollutants from plastics and flame retardants show up miles beneath the ocean surface, where they are likely collecting in growing amounts.
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Remembering the Alamosaurus, a titanosaur from Texas.

Remember the Alamosaurus - Dead Things
Science is fun — and sometimes a slog. Almost 20 years after the fossils were found, neck vertebrae of the American titanosaur Alamosaurus get their due.
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Male fiddler crabs are jerks.

Study finds that male fiddler crabs are a**holes - Seriously, Science?
The males of many animal species will “coerce” females into mating by force. But according to this study, male fiddler crabs take it a step further. They lure females into their burrows, allow the ladies to enter first…and then block their escape. As the researchers in this study (delicately) put it...
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The more we try to help monarch butterflies, the more we hurt them.

Are We Loving Monarchs to Death?
Amateur breeders and and large-scale monarch farms are doing more harm than good to populations of monarchs.
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Not all trolls are anonymous.

Anonymity Doesn't Always Promote Online Aggression - Neuroskeptic
It’s widely said that anonymity on the internet helps to promote aggressive, low quality or trolling comments. On this view, the anonymous commenter, knowing they cannot be held accountable, is free to do things that they would be ashamed to do under their real name. But now German researchers Katja...
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Venom Hunters' premise — that venom is actually rare — is false.

Venom Hunters Receives Venomous Backlash: Reality Bites Part I - Science Sushi
This is Part I of a four-part series on the Discovery Channel's Venom Hunters, showing possible bad behavior of the network, production company, and cast.
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