It's big, it's hairy and it's venomous.
The newest spider to give arachnophobes the willies, a tarantula named Poecilotheria rajaei has been discovered on the island nation of Sri Lanka.
With a leg span of 8 inches (20 centimeters) and enough venom to kill mice, lizards, small birds and snakes, according to Sky News, the crawler is covered in subtle markings of gray, pink and daffodil yellow.
"It can be quite attractive, unless spiders freak you out," Peter Kirk, editor of the British Tarantula Society journal, told the New York Daily News.
Even the scientists studying the spiders admit to being a little freaked out by its size: "It was slightly smaller than the size of the plate we have dinner on," Ranil Nanayakkara, co-founder of Sri Lanka’s Biodiversity Education and Research, told the Daily News.
Tarantulas have been the subject of considerable study lately: Researchers are still trying to determine how or if tarantulas use silk from the spigots on their feet. And in 2012, a scientist reported discovering nine species of colorful Amazonian tarantulas in Brazil.
The newest tarantula, as part of the Poecilotheria genus of arachnids (sometimes called "Pokies" or tiger spiders), is a tree-dwelling spider. All the Pokies, known for being colorful, fast and venomous, are found only in India and Sri Lanka, Wired reports. [Photos: The World's Creepiest Spiders]
"They are quite rare," Nanayakkara told Wired. "They prefer well-established old trees, but due to deforestation the number have dwindled, and due to lack of suitable habitat they enter old buildings."
The spider was first seen in 2009 after the discovery of a dead male specimen, on which scientists noticed a unique pink abdominal band.
"In order to establish if this really was a new species to Sri Lanka and to the world, the authors carried out intensive and extensive surveys in the northern part of Sri Lanka to establish the distribution and ecology of this new species," the scientists write in the British Tarantula Society journal.
"But what was lacking was a female or any other specimen of the same type. Days of extensive searching in every tree hole and bark peel were rewarded with a female and to our satisfaction several juveniles too."
It's not yet known exactly how rare the newly discovered tarantula is, but there's some concern that habitat destruction is causing their number to dwindle. Additionally, northern Sri Lanka, where the spider was found, has been wracked by political violence in recent years.
"It demonstrates that wildlife continues to survive whilst we are in the throes of conflict and that they can adapt to its changing environment," Kirk told Sky News, "but … we risk destroying the habitats of species new to science and condemning them to extinction before they are even discovered."
BEIJING -- During China’s annual Qingming Festival, also known as “Tomb Sweeping Day,” people repair and clean the graves of dead relatives as part of an ancient custom to ensure a peaceful afterlife.
They also leave offerings of food, fake money, liquor and now, in a sign of the times, cardboard representations of popular Apple products – despite scathing criticism of the technology giant recently by China’s state-run media for its "arrogance" for having just a one-year warranty for Chinese consumers.
The onslaught on CCTV to the People's Daily newspaper grew to such a fever pitch that Apple CEO Tim Cook offered an apology Monday and announced that the company would change its policy.
But the hubbub hasn’t dampened interest n offering mock Apple products to relatives for them to enjoy in the afterlife.
Lots of gifts
Under Mao, the practice of leaving offerings to the dead was suppressed, but it was quickly reinstated once he was no longer in power. In 2008, Tomb Sweeping Festival was made a national holiday, and last year 520 million Chinese visited cemeteries – almost all bearing some kind of gift.
Traditional gifts include fake money and paper bags of clothing. But in recent years, as China has become more upscale, so has the giving – at least symbolically.
People now give paper representations of TV sets, washing machines, houses, luxury cars – and even mistresses. With the popularity of Apple products in China, they have gone to the top of the gift list.
Jia Bo, 27, designs various cardboard imitations of high-end products and sells them online. He has everything that a Chinese person would dream to have in this life or the next: Lamborghinis, ocean view mansions, professional cameras and pets for companionship.
“Compared to luxury ‘cars,’” which can cost from $10-$150, imitation Apple products “are much more affordable,” said Jia.
This season’s hot seller is an entire set of “Apple” products. For only $7 you can send a Mac computer, iPhone and iPad to your relatives in heaven. For an extra 50 cents, you can upgrade to an iPhone 5.
Jia thinks these new gifts show changes in Chinese attitudes. “In the past, people only focused on basic needs. But now, particular young people, care more about the quality of life.”
“That’s why Pomeranian dogs are also very popular,” said Jia, though he noted that he believed the breed was originally Japanese.
New materialism
Bao Wenying, a customer at Jia’s online store, was pleased with her purchase, writing on the website: "They look very real. I think my grandparents will be thrilled after they receive these Apple products. Did I buy too much? I guess old [Steve] Jobs will take care of them.”
Wang Weibin, a resident from Jinhua, Zhejiang province, chose a “Mercedes-Benz” for his uncle. It was a chance to give him a new experience. “When he was alive, everyone was riding bicycles,” said Wang.
Not everyone likes the trend. Some grumble that these “luxury” goods merely reflect materialism in Chinese society.
“These are just commodities,” said Bao Xingdan, a 43-year-old housewife from Zhejiang. She prefers the traditional offering of burning fake money.
She pointed to the spiritualism of it. “This kind of paper can be used as money – only if people are chanting scriptures as they fold the paper into the shape of money.”
Bao added that for each piece of paper, people usually have to repeat a scripture at least three times.
Others think all these practices are just superstitions and that the best way to respect elders is to treat them well when they are alive.
Meanwhile, in Beijing there’s been a crackdown on the imitation Apple products—ironically the same week that state newspapers were criticizing the company.
It seems that China’s desire to give Apple products to its ancestors is undeterred by the government’s media or police. On earth Beijing is causing Tim Cook headaches, but Steve Jobs surely has a lot of Chinese friends in heaven.
Facebook revealed "Facebook Home," Thursday, a clever little way to overhaul an Android phone ... and turn it into a Facebook phone. Facebook Home will be supported on a variety of Android devices, but first it'll launch on an HTC device incredibly appropriately named "First."
On first touch, the HTC First feels like an average Android device. It's not as solid as the gorgeous HTC One, but it's not exactly flimsy either. It's sturdy and has a clean look to it. The First feels a tad small in a world of XXXXL Android smartphones, but it won't feel unusual to those who've been toting around any iPhone prior to the elongated iPhone 5.
Of course, the phone's definitely not really the main attraction here. It's the software, more specifically Facebook Home. As soon as you glance at the phone, you'll see that it basically feels as if Facebook took Android over. Photos and posts from your news feed are displayed full-screen, slowly cycling through. You can tap on them once to open up comments or double-tap to like 'em.
"Chat heads," icons representing the people with whom you're exchanging messages, follow you everywhere. From the main screen to the app folders. Tap on 'em and you're right in the messages. The whole experience is pleasantly smooth, with all gestures feeling entirely natural and instinctive.
You're probably getting the idea at this point though: Facebook Home means that Facebook's invading and taking over your phone. Will this be desirable? We'll see. The good thing is that you can turn off Facebook Home at anytime and that its settings are granular enough to let you turn off certain notification types.
Could the recent outbreak of illnesses or death from a new strain of bird flu be the beginning of the next pandemic? Were I a betting man, I'd say the odds are against it. The world is far better prepared and aware than it was even just a few years ago. But because of that greater vigilance, we know there is a potential threat from the H7N9 virus that has now killed five people and infected 14, so far all in China. No responsible scientist would discount it.
As the World Health Organization’s FAQs on H7N9 phrases it, “Any animal influenza virus that develops the ability to infect people is a theoretical risk to cause a pandemic. However, whether the influenza A(H7N9) virus could actually cause a pandemic is unknown.”
All flu viruses pass among many species, especially birds, pigs and humans. They come in many strains, and they mutate frequently. The big danger is a new one that would be both deadly to humans and to which humans have no immunity. The Spanish flu of 1918, for example, which mutated as it jumped between pigs and people, killed an estimated 20 to 40 million people worldwide.
The new strain is different from H5N1 avian influenza, which has killed 371 people out of 622 infected in 15 countries since 2003.
One of the most frightening aspects of this latest outbreak is that it is occurring suddenly over thousands of square miles in China. A Chinese blogger put together this map of the cases up to Thursday morning. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy translated the map and checked out the information.
“It is very alarming to have so many cases appear so suddenly over such a wide area,” the center’s director, Dr. Michael Osterholm, told NBC News.
Another cause for concern: No one knows where the deadly virus is coming from. The guess is chickens. Similar H7N9 viruses occur in birds, including chickens in China, the United States and throughout the world. But with modern genetic technology scientists can identify strains precisely. On Thursday, Chinese officials said they had found the virus in a pigeon near a Shanghai market. If the virus is being spread by chickens or pigeons, it is does not appear to make them sick, so culling sick animals might be a very difficult path to containment.
So far, it appears that the virus doesn't spread easily among people. The WHO has said that more than 400 close contacts of confirmed cases are being closely monitored, with no evidence of person-to-person spread. However, there were reports by the official Chinese news agency Xinhuan late Thursday that one person who'd had contact with a dead victim was showing flu symptoms including
The controversial recent research on “killer flu viruses”has now been vindicated ,
experts say, because it showed just what genes need to change to allow person to person transmission. So far, the new virus lacks the genes it needs to spread among people. But experts warn the more viruses circulate, the greater chances for a mutation that will allow for spread among humans.
The global health community has begun discussions about making a vaccine, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday plans to start preparing a vaccine, just in case. The CDC has also developed a diagnostic test for H7N9 and is submitting it to the Food and Drug Administration for approval, a spokeswoman said. The tests might be available shortly, but a vaccine would likely not be widely available for months. Tests have found that the virus is sensitive to Tamiflu and other anti-influenza medications which many nations have stockpiled. Let’s hope they are not needed.
Georgia authorities are investigating an explosion at power plant 50 miles north of Atlanta.
Four plant employee suffered a minor injuries and all others are accounted for, according a spokesperson for Georgia Power, owner of the plant. Only one of the four injured was sent to the hospital, and has been released.
The explosion occurred as the plant was preparing for a planned maintenance outage at the Plant Bowen Unit 2, a coal-fired power plant near Euharlee, Ga.
Witnesses told NBC Atlanta affiliate WXIA the explosion sounded "louder than a sonic boom."
There have been no injuries reported to residents around the plant.
