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The Amazing Fig Wasp Makes You Ponder Life

By seamus -
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Hey there! Whenever you've had a tasty fig or two, have you ever paused to ponder on big issues like mortality, the cycle of life and - what the heck are those crunchy  bits inside the fig? The tiny hole at teh bottom of the fruit is  called an ostiole - remember that. What is the connection between figs, wasps and the more philosophical questions about life, death and purpose? It's all in the very peculiar and amazing symbiotic relationship between the fig tree and the fig wasp. When you think of wasps, you're thinking of the black and yellow striped nuisance and pesky cousin of the more benign and lovable bee. In fact, if you were to take a look at the fig wasp, you'd have a hard time telling them apart from a mosquito with the naked eye - not to mention that the males of the species have an odd, wingless worm like appearance. But the destinies of this fascinating insect and the fig tree are intertwined: fig wasps ensure that new fig plants...
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World's Fattest Woman Plans To Get Fatter

By seamus -
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I’ve always thought that humanity as a species has reached its apex in the food chain of the planet due to evolution. Objectie natural selection and the challenges our species faced along the eons has shaped its body and pshychology. Evolution gave us our brains, and it was our most succesful tool. We have our civilization now, as our darwinian reward. Yet in may ways, we’ve broken free from the chains of natural selection and are now a sufficiently powerful element on our plan to dictate our own evolution. Now – why the introduction? Well, it’s people like Susanne Eman  that make me realize just how badly evolution (more importantly, natural selection) can be mocked and toppled by our civilization. You see, morbid obesity isn’t a survival trait. Yet we have Susanne here, an 32 yeard old American woman that weighs in at 340 kilos and is proud of it. „ . Deep down I had always known I wanted to be fat, but I thought I was alone in this feeling. ” Says Susanne on her offici...
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Little Big Questions - Why Is The Earth Round?

By seamus -
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We're smart people. We live in a world where information is literally at our fingertips, and pretty much any answer can be found online, yet how much do we educated people know about facts and phenomenons we take for granted? Source: Wikipedia Sure, nobody's asking you to know everything - with Google, after all, you don't have to. Yet there are some things we do take for granted. Imagine you were alone in the middle of a green field - no internet, no help - and a curious child asks you a simple question: why is the Earth round ? What would you say? These little questions in life that have big implications - this is what this series is about. I've asked a few friends to answer a simple question: Why is the Earth Round? Here are some of their answers: And here are some of their (and other) answers, quoted: Andrei said: "The Earth is round because it's on an elliptical path around the Sun. Moreover, it is not completely round, it...
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