There is a good chance you will have come across, or heard about, a cat meme. Either in picture or video format, they can be rather amusing. Or not. This isn’t an actual cat meme, but rather a lewd take on the phenomenon of cats and the internet.
“Humphrey’s like a son to me, he’s just like a human. There’s a special relationship between me and Humphrey”. These words were uttered by Klerksdorp farmer, Marius Els earlier this year. Pictures were also taken of him happily riding on his 1 200kg pet bull hippo’s back. But on Saturday night, Humphrey the hippo gouged Els to death by repeatedly biting him.
In the most thorough analysis yet of world energy infrastructure and carbon emissions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warns that we are likely to build so many new fossil-fueled power stations in the next five years that it won’t be possible to hold global warming at safe levels.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which compiles The Red List, and which is widely recognised as the most comprehensive method for evaluating the conservation status of animal and plant species around the world, has declared the subspecies, the western black rhino (Diceros bicornis longipes), as extinct.
The Black Rhino Range Expansion Project recently successfully transported 19 black rhinos 1 500 kilometres across South Africa. They did this by airlifting each rhino by its ankles before carrying it upside down! Read exactly why they do it this way, and see some amazing images of this process, after the jump.
If you’ve been following the development of the rhino poaching issue in South Africa recently, you will be pleased to know that two Thai nationals, suspected to be central to an international rhino poaching syndicate, were arrested at OR Tambo International this morning.
Commercial space travel is now literally months away, and it appears that a mission to Mars is not too far off either. Six men that have been locked in large steel piped tubes for 520 days emerged from isolation earlier today after a bid to simulate a mission to Mars. This is taking Survivor to the next level.
Hoo. Santa Cruz surfer Barbara Roettger got way up close and personal with a pod of humpback whales when she unwittingly found herself in the middle of a lunge feeding session; two massive whales popped up right next to the surfer and her kayak friends, seemingly out of nowhere. It’s pretty rad.
Jamie O’Brien is a well-known Hawaiian pro-surfer. He recently decided to create some awareness surrounding fibropapillomatosis – a herpes-type virus that affects sea turtles. His “campaign” involved posting a picture of himself “riding” one of these turtles underwater. But it turns out he may have instead broken laws against harassing turtles, as well as offended fellow Hawaiians who consider these creatures as ancestral guardian spirits.
Despite what we might think, the skies do not belong to us. In fact, we weren’t even the first beings up there. This was proven conclusively when a man paragliding in the Himalayas had a mid-air collision with a vulture.
A Japanese government official has risen to a challenge set by journalists to prove that water collected from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was safe to drink. Albeit with some trepidation. MP Yasuhiro Sonoda downed a glass of water during a televised news conference and seems to have survived, although his shaky hands certainly betrayed his nerves.
A new laser is to be built that is as powerful as “concentrating the rays of the sun for the entire earth onto the tip of a pen”. Scientists claim it could allow them boil the very fabric of space, AKA the vacuum. Because that’s a fantastic idea. It is official, mankind has a death-wish.
Bukelwa Mbulawa, a cleaner at Luhlaza Secondary School in Khayelitsha, is an animal rights hero. On realising a stray dog was being buried alive by two colleagues on the school field, Bukelwa called animal welfare organisation International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to alert them to what was going down. The dog was saved and later called Warrior. IFAW says she’s a hero. But Bukelwa has now been fired.
Samsung Africa has unveiled a unique initiative they are calling the Samsung Internet Schools Programme. The initial programme will span five African countries: South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. In time it will branch out into other African countries too. The school is a mobile, solar-powered, independent classroom housed in a container.
Anxious Bangkok residents are steeling themselves against floods moving down from the northern part of Thailand, which are the worst to hit the country in decades. With Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra keeping everyone on edge with statements such as “I’m fifty percent confident that the inner zone of Bangkok will not be completely flooded,” it must be increasingly difficult to remain buoyant.
Following hot on the heels of a possible malaria vaccine, another group of scientists have bred mosquitoes in Guatemala which have been genetically modified to fight Dengue fever.
When reversing genetics in an attempt to create a real, live, man-eating dinosaur, it pays to know what the consequences may be. In this case, being the paleontologist who advised Steven Spielberg on the making of four Jurassic Park movies and decades of children’s nightmares about killer lizards should just about cover it.
A red-tailed hawk from the San Francisco Botanical Gardens miraculously survived after being shot on purpose by someone with a nail gun. For almost a week after incurring the injury, the nail extended from its cheek through the front of its head. He was rescued over the weekend and is currently being cared for at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley in San Jose.
Conservationists in New Zealand have come up with a novel way to help combat the damage to a penguin colony caused by the stricken cargo vessel, Rena, which ran aground on the East coast of North Island, carrying over 170 oo0 tonnes of crude oil.
The 7,2 magnitude earthquake which struck Eastern Turkey yesterday afternoon has already taken the lives of 200 and injured more than 1 000. But brave rescue teams are hard at work to free the many other people who are believed to be trapped under the rubble and debris from the quake.
A second fatal shark attack, believed to be by a Great White, has occurred off the Australian west coast – the second such attack in 12 days. A 32-year-old US man was mauled to death off Perth’s Rottnest Island on Saturday. By Sunday, Australian authorities were hunting the shark.
Of the 56 wild animals – including six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, 18 tigers, and two wolves – that escaped their private wildlife sanctuary in Zanesville, Ohio, only six were rescued; the rest have been shot by local authorities.
No shark cage, spear guns or knives. Just cameras. That’s how photographer William Winram rolls. His business card reads “Shark Publicist”, and he is on a quest to debunk the bad reputation that sharks have gained. With these incredible images he wants to show that our natural fear has been blown far out of proportion due to a couple of unfortunate accidents.
Pictures of a “cyclops shark” , taken in Mexico, appeared online recently. Too strange to be true, it was quickly written off as a hoax. Until now. Scientists have revealed that it is in fact a 22-inch-long dusky shark fetus. It has a single, functioning eye that’s front and centre on its head.
Sometimes, taking a loved one, or a potential loved one, on a scenic drive and stop-off along either the Table Mountain or Signal Hill roads, is quite a winner. Romantics, be aware, the roads have now been closed to unauthorised vehicles, between 22h00 and 05h00, in an attempt to prevent crimes from occurring around these charming routes.
As many as 48 wild animals, including lions, tigers, bears, wolves and cheetahs could be on the loose in the vicinity of Zanesville, Ohio, after they escaped from a private wildlife sanctuary, police said last night. Officer’s say they have shot 25 of the animals so far, but it’s not clear exactly how many escaped, or where they are now.
Just when you thought Mother Earth was through spanking us all thoroughly with natural disasters, seismologists in Iceland have nervously let us all know that Katla, the bigger, nastier sister of Eyjafjallajökull (the volcano that gave Europe an ash wedgie earlier this year), is getting antsy.
These amazing images were captured in Zambia next to the Luangwa River by Martin Nyfeler. Watch as an elephant mum finds herself in a wild tug of war with a crocodile after it gets hold of her trunk. Scared and unable to help, her baby hides behind its mother as the crocodile attacked. See how this story ends inside.
Virgin Atlantic announced that their planes will soon be able to fly from London to Hong Kong on fuel that produces half the carbon of regular jet fuel – which is sort of huge news, given that flying is one of our most carbon-intensive activities, enough to offset any good otherwise done by unplugging unused appliances or whatever.
Just quietly get a load of this video of mountain biker, Evan van der Spuy of Team Jeep South Africa, getting taken out. It’s COMPLETELY off the charts! The guy’s lucky he was wearing a helmet. Click ‘Continue Reading’ below to see the video.