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Even-More-Gigantic Giant Orb Spider Discovered

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Scientists have found the world’s largest species of golden orb-weaver spider in the tropics of Africa and Madagascar. The discovery marks the first identification of a new Nephila spider since 1879.

Females of the new species, Nephila komaci, measure a whopping 4 to 5 inches in diameter, while the male spiders stay petite at less than a quarter of their mate’s size. So far, only a handful of these enormous arachnids have been found in the world.

“We fear the species might be endangered, as its only definite habitat is a sand forest in Tembe Elephant Park in KwaZulu-Natal,” ecologist Jonathan Coddington of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History said in a press release. “Our data suggest that the species is not abundant, its range is restricted, and all known localities lie within two endangered biodiversity hotspots: Maputaland and Madagascar.”

The first potential specimen of the new species was uncovered by Coddington and his colleague Matjaz Kuntner of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2000. They found a huge female orb-weaver among a museum collection of spiders in Pretoria, South Africa, and she didn’t match the description of any known spider. Although they hoped the unusual-looking giant represented a new species, several dedicated expeditions to South Africa failed to find any live spiders of a similar description.

Then, in 2003, a second specimen from Madagascar was found at a museum in Austria, suggesting that the first spider hadn’t been a fluke. But despite a comprehensive search through more than 2,500 samples from 37 museums, no additional specimens turned up, and the researchers assumed the biggest of all orb-weavers was probably extinct.

Finally, three live spiders have been found to prove the scientists wrong: A South African researcher found two giant females and one male in Tembe Elephant Park, proving that the new species was not extinct, just incredibly rare.

“Only three have been found in the past decade,” Kuntner wrote in an e-mail to Wired.com. “None by our team, despite focused searches. Only an additional two exist in old museum collections. Compared to thousands of exemplars of other Nephila species in museums, that is disproportionately rare.”

The two biologists named the new species after Andrej Komac, a scientist friend of Kuntner’s who died in an accident near the time of the discoveries.

Like all Nephila spiders, females of the new species spin huge webs of golden silk, often more than 3 feet in diameter. In the report of the discovery of this rare spider, published Tuesday in PLoS One, the researchers also addressed the evolution of the dramatic size difference between male and female orb-weavers.

By mapping out the evolutionary tree of all known orb-weaver species, the scientists discovered that as the spiders evolved, females got bigger and bigger, while males stayed roughly the same size.

“It is good for females to be big, because they can lay so many more eggs,” Coddington wrote in an e-mail. In addition, large size probably helps females avoid being eaten by predators.

“Relatively few groups can safely pluck an orb-weaving spider from its web,” he wrote, “because you have to be able to hover to do so (hummingbirds, wasps, damselflies come to mind). None of these are large enough to tackle an adult Nephila, or even a large juvenile.”

Males, on the other hand, are better off staying small and reaching sexual maturity at a young age. Because males spend most of their time underground, hunting for a mate is one of the most dangerous activities they undertake.

“So males risk everything to find, probably, just one, huge female, inseminate her, and probably do not willingly leave her web to search for another,” Coddington wrote. “Nothing about sex says males must be big.”

Image 1: Tiny male Nephila spiders are dwarfed by their female counterparts. Matjaz Kuntner and Jonathan Coddington/PLoS ONE.
Image 2: A giant golden orb-web exceeding 1 meter in diameter, spun by a Nephila inaurata spider. M Kuntner.

Source: Wired

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Takanakuy Festival at risk? – Strange Events

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250px-Location_of_the_province_Chumbivilcas_in_Cusco.svgDid you ever heard about “Takanakuy”? Did you have wanted the opportunity to straight up your differences with somebody you knew in a fight, enjoin a good food, special dress, dance and booze? Well a lot people call that Saturday night.

Chumbivilcas is a province in the Andes, South Peru, and according to the Peru 2005 Census 77,721 inhabitants, rural communities families with eight and more children are not unusual, one of the poorest regions of the country.

The people in the province are mainly indigenous citizens of Quechua descent.

Takanakuy Festival for beginners

Each December 25th part of the population from Chumbivilcas Province reunite to the Takanakuy “festival”, where participants practice of fighting fellow community members.

Takanakuy Festival at risk - 02The practice started in Santo Tomás, the capital of Chumbivilcas, and has now spread to other villages and cities, the prominent ones being Cuzco and Lima.

The festival consists of dancing and of individuals fighting each other to settle old conflicts or simply to display their manhood.

Those holding the grudges call out their opponents by their first and last name.

Kicking and punching are allowed in the middle of the circle. Biting, hitting those on the ground, or pulling hair is not allowed during the fight, this is a civilized community!

Takanakuy Festival at risk - 01Although the government of Lima has tried to eradicate Takanakuy Festival, the celebration has diffused into urban areas such as Cuzco and Lima.

People of non-indigenous descent are now taking part in this originally indigenous cultural custom, yeah, why not?

Then everybody goes drinking to numb the pain and move on to a new year.

Now serious, tells us, don’t you have a co-worker, neighbor, a church member you have a beef with?

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Polish company to brew beer from a Czech model’s vagina bacteria

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Polish company to brew beer from a Czech models vagina bacteriaPolish brewery company launched a crowdfunding for its attempt to brew beer from a Czech model’s vagina bacteria.

There are large number of bizarre ingredients used in the manufacture of craft beers, but use a formula from a vaginal bacteria stands out in the crowd.

Warsaw-based The Order of Yoni — “Yoni” being a Sanskrit word for “vagina” — is seeking to raise about U$170,000 (£118,000 or 150,000 Euros) with an IndieGoGo campaign for Bottled Instinct, a beer brewed using lactic acid bacteria collected from the vagina of Alexandra Brendlova.

The Order of Yoni says the initial run of beers would include sour ales, lambics, flanders ales and sour stouts. Each bottle of beer will be stamped with Brendlova’s name as well as “the date of the collection of her vaginal swab.” Also it will brew six batches of 16,600 beers each, with funds going towards the ‘brewing process, ingredients and bottles’ decorations’.

The money will also cover the ‘model’s reward’ and a budget for the ‘perks’ offered to investors. However, there is no detail provided as to the breakdown of the costs.

The beers do not, however, feature the taste or odor of a vagina, the brewers say.

The company says their future plans include brewing other types of beers using bacteria harvested from other woman, as well as other products incorporating said bacteria including kefirs and yogurts.

Not as strange as vagina bacteria beer

In 2012 an Oregon brewery, developed a drink that led, among the ingredients, beard strands of his brewmaster. The drink was sold, including in other countries.

More informations on “The Order of Yoni” oficial website

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Here’s your sign: Woman claims watching 3D film made her pregnant

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A white American couple had a black baby. The woman claimed she became pregnant while watching a 3D porno film.

The child’s father Erik Johnson, a soldier had been away for a year serving in a military base in Iraq when he returned he found the black baby at home.

Jennifer Stewart 38 years old, told him that the baby had been conceived while she and her friends had been watching a 3D porno film.

“I see no reason not to believe her as these 3D films are very lifelike. With the technology of today everything is possible” said Erik, who has registered the baby as his.

This is the kind of people we have protecting our country??????

Jennifer said she only went to the cinema with her girlfriends to see how a porno would look with 3D effects.

The child, she claimed, looked exactly like the Black male lead in the film.

“A month after watching the film I found out I was pregnant. I am going to sue the cinema and the producers. Luckily my husband believes me. It could have wrecked my marriage, but he knows I am faithful to him.”

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