7 Dangerous Plants

When it comes to life on earth, plants are generally overshadowed by their animal cousins. However plants make up a huge part of biological life on earth, and while most are harmless and can even contain medicinal properties others can be quite dangerous. Some can administer poison with only a slight touch while others can devour anything caught in their snare. Realistically few of these plants can harm a cautious human, but not all creatures are so lucky. Below are 7 of the most dangerous plants I could find. Enjoy.

7. Darlingtonia californica

The Venus flytrap maybe get all the hype, but there are actually many types of carnivorous plants. The above plant is also known as the pitcher plant and is also carnivorous. The way it catches its prey is by luring it into a small opening at the top of its bell. The prey is then confused and gets caught in the bells were it eventually dies and is broken down for nutrients. The plants are found in marshy areas and can be detected by their foul odor. While not dangerous to humans, these plants are a death sentence for any insect unlucky enough to be caught inside. In fact, scientists are bewildered as to how the plant is pollenized since it kills any insects that come near it.

9 of Earth’s Most Extreme Places

I know i said I was going to cover Expeditions today, but I found something a little better. Instead of covering important expeditions, I’ve decided to cover some of the most extreme places on earth. These are the highest, deepest, coldest, lowest, farthest and most insane places the human race has ever discovered, been to or lived in. I’ve tried to veer clear of things everyone has heard of and will add some cool and relevant links if I find them. Below are 9 of the most extreme places on the planet today. Enjoy.

9. Human Settlement with Highest Elevation:

La Rinconada, Peru

This city rests 16,732.28 feet above sea level high in the mountains of Peru. This little town is supported entirely by the mining of gold. Unfortunately, the company that owns the mine is running one of the shadiest operations I’ve ever heard of. Miners are required to work thirty days without pay and on the thirty first day are granted a small amount of ore to take home from the mine. The idea is that there may be gold in the ore to pay said miner. However, if your ore is just ore then you’re shit out of luck and back in the mines. On top of these poor wages, the town had no sanitation or sewage system and most of the water contains high levels of mercury from the bad mining practices. When I checked the population I was shocked to find that 50,000 people live in these terrible conditions. It is fitting that this is the highest city on earth, because you’d have to be high off your ass to go there.

7 Lesser-known Explorers

I wasn’t sure whether to put this in science or history, but since it is more about the people doing the exploring I went with history. On Wednesday I’ll cover expeditions themselves. For today though, my focus is on lesser-known explorers. By lesser-known I basically mean anybody but Cortez, Columbus and Magellan. These three are heavily covered in most high school and college history courses, but for less academic reasons than you might think. Below are 9 explorers who seem to left out of most of the textbooks or have been relegated to footnote status. Hopefully this will inspire some of you to do a little reading of your own on this topic. Expedition journals can be great reads if they are edited well. Enjoy.

7. Himilco the Navigator

The age of discovery may have begun in the 1400’s, but exploration has been around since the second man arrived on the planet. Ancient history is full of explorers, but many of them are left out of the history books. One such man was Himilco. Everyone has heard of the Roman Republic, but some people may have slept through the bit about Carthage. Carthage was Rome’s rival in North Africa and until their destruction in the Punic Wars, they accomplished many great feats. Himilco was a Carthaginian navigator who lived in Carthage during the fifth century BC. He was the first to record his exploration of the Mediterranean and supposedly made it all the way to Northwestern Europe. A pretty impressive feat, but unfortunately he was playing for the wrong team and his accomplishments were swept away in a tide of Roman conquest. You’ve heard it a thousand times, but history really is written by the victors.

8 Tremendous Natural Disasters

Most of us will hopefully never experience a major natural disaster. The idea that suddenly the planet could turn on us and wreak havoc on a biblical scale is an idea we associate with movies or far off places that pop up in the news once in awhile. Hurricanes, Tornados, Earthquakes and Tsunami’s grabs our attention every year not just because of the destruction they cause, but because of the tremendous power and ferocity of these events. Below are some of the lesser known natural disaster that occur around the world with videos if available.

8. Avalanches

Avalanches are terrifying. Every time I see one of those insane videos on youtube I realize that the only way you survive that shit is luck. Avalanches are actually routine occurrences on any mountain and happen when the snowpack takes on too much snow. Avalanche deaths are not uncommon and statistics show that generally the avalanches are caused by the people killed in them. Death by avalanche is not a good way to go either. If the impact doesn’t get you then you are just trapped under a ton of snow. I’m assuming you have no idea which way is up and will either suffocate or freeze. Count me out. Mountaineering is still an incredibly badass hobby, but I think avalanches have deterred me from trying it out.

Countdown! History’s 8 Largest Empires

Now I know there are a lot of different ways you can address which of history’s empires is the largest. I’ve chosen to go with largest percentage of the earth’s surface they covered. This method seems the most easily digestible and offers up some pretty amazing statistics. Some of these empires will be familiar to you, while others have remained out of the average high school and college textbooks for one reason or another. Below are the 8 largest empires history has ever seen from smallest to most expansive. Enjoy.

8. The French Colonial Empire

Clocking with 8.73% of the earth’s surface under it’s belt at the height of its power, the French Colonial Empire lasted from the 1530’s until 1980. Yes, you heard right. Back when your mom and Dad were in college, France was just ending their colonial influence in Africa (and by ending I mean they nominally left, but in reality kept doing whatever they wanted). The real heyday for the Empire was the late nineteen thirties. Before Hitler embarrassed France in World War 2, France had productive colonies in both Africa and South East Asia. However, fallout from France’s disastrous defeat led them to loose control of colonies like Vietnam and Algeria. Never one of the truly giant empires, France’s legacy is far more dubious than it is statistically impressive.

8 Bloodthirsty Vikings You Should Know

Does it get any cooler than Vikings? Sure they didn’t have horns on their helmet, but they were some of the fiercest raiders and most skilled seafarers to emerge from medieval Europe. A surprising number of Vikings became influential political leaders and you may know a couple without realizing that they were Vikings. Below are a collection of 8 of the craziest, most blood thirsty Vikings I could find. Enjoy.

8. Erik the Red

Father of Leif Ericson, Erik is known among the Vikings as the founder of Greenland’s first Viking settlement. What is interesting is why Erik needed to go to Greenland in the first place. His father had been banished from Norway after committing murder and the family was forced to go live in Iceland. Following in his father’s footsteps, Erik was then banished from Iceland for a hand full of murders himself. He found a new land and decided to call it Greenland to make it sound more appealing than it was. He managed to set up two successful settlements that lasted almost until the time of Columbus. From murderer to colonizer; the Viking rags to riches story.

13 Extraordinary Arctic & Antarctic Animals

With recent winter weather here in Nashville, I decided to cover some arctic animals in this weeks science article. The arctic is one of the harshest environments on earth, which makes the creatures that live there some of the most coolest and most unique around. I tried to keep the list short, but there were just too many that caught my eye. So settle in and relax; here are 13 extraordinary arctic (& antarctic) animals. Enjoy.

13. Arctic Stoat

A stoat is a weasel-like creature that can be found all over the world. The arctic variety are known for their dense silky winter coats like the one seen above. However, in the summer they shed these dense winter coats for a much cooler and short summer coat that is generally brown. The stoat is a voracious hunter and can bring down prey close to twice it’s size. They are such good hunters, that after being introduced into New Zealand to control the rabbit population, they wreaked havoc on the local birds as well, driving some species to near extinction. It’s no wonder that such a capable species has been able to not only survive, but thrive in the arctic. Below is a video of a stoat taking out a rabbit much larger than itself.