Category Archives: Blah

Monster leech swallows giant worm

The Giant Red Leech… have grown so big that they no longer simply suck blood but now actively hunt giant blue worms and suck them down like spaghetti. The new footage shows the leech detecting a worm’s trail and following the scent like a sniffer dog. When it encounters its prey it quickly latches on and moves its lips up and down the iridescent blue body. “It was either searching for an end to grab, or was working out whether it was too big to eat” said documentary director Paul Williams. “When it found an end it started to suck. It was incredible.”

I’m not sure what freaks me out the most… the sniffing, the swiftness or the slurping. Witness the horror for yourself:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/emp/embed/smpEmbed.html?playlist=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fiplayer%2Fplaylist%2Fp027f9q0&title=Wonders%20of%20the%20Monsoon%3A%20Strange%20Castaways%3A%20Monster%20leech%20swallows%20giant%20worm&product=iplayer

Living statues

“…the practice of self-mummification, a gruesome process where monks from certain traditions prepare themselves to not decay after death through a combination of diet and consumption of poisonous herbs and embalming fluid.”

Possible origin story of living statues?

https://www.iflscience.com/technology/ct-scans-reveal-mummy-inside-statue/

Giant swimming dinosaur unearthed

“A giant fossil, unearthed in the Sahara desert, has given scientists an unprecedented look at the largest-known carnivorous dinosaur: Spinosaurus. The 95-million-year-old remains confirm a long-held theory: that this is the first-known swimming dinosaur.

The researchers say that Spinosaurus lived in a place they describe as “the river of giants”, a waterway that stretched from Morocco to Egypt. They believe it would have feasted on giant sharks and other car-sized fish called coelacanths and lungfish, competing with enormous crocodile-like creatures for its prey.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29143096