Venoms That Can Kill Can Also Cure
Even as a boy plucking cone-snail shells from tide pools near his home beside Manila Bay, in the Philippines, Baldo mero Olivera knew that grabbing a living one could mean death. The magician’s cone, whose sting can cause extreme swelling, is the shape of a pointed hat; a tulip cone can trigger blurred vision and uncontrollable drooling, but it has ornate petal-like swirls. Mishandling a live geographer cone could stop his heart within minutes. But it looks like a Persian rug! Snagged.
“We knew even as kids,” Olivera says, “that this snail was capable of killing humans and that it has a 70 percent fatality rate.” It’s a foggy morning in Salt Lake City, and Olivera is near a bank of fish tanks in his lab at the University of Utah. Inside one aquarium, a white-and-brown snail is burrowed in the sand beside a small goldfish. The invertebrate extends its thick snorkel-like siphon and lightly sniffs the fish’s underbelly.
Denne historien er fra Winter 2018-utgaven av Popular Science.
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Denne historien er fra Winter 2018-utgaven av Popular Science.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
They Might Be Giants
A photographer-and-ecologist team are on a mission to document the forests’ mightiest members.
Droplet Stoppers
Covid-19 made face masks a crucial part of every outfit, and we’re likely to don them in the future when we feel ill. Fortunately, there’s a style for every need.
Landing a Lifeline
For those whose livelihood depends on the ocean, a covid-spurred interruption in the seafood market might speed progress toward a more sustainable future—for them and for fish.
Headtrip – Your brain on video chat
Dating, Catching up with family, and going to happy hour are best in person.
Behind The Cover
Butterflies may seem delicate, but they are surprisingly tough.
Tales From the Field – A cold one on mars
Kellie Gerardi, bioastronautics researcher at the International Institute for Austronautical Science
The Needs Of The Few
Designing with the marginalized in mind can improve all of out lives.
Life On The Line
On the Western edge of Borneo, a novel conservation-minded health-care model could provide the world with a blueprint to stop next pandemic before it starts.
waste watchers
YOU CAN TURN FOOD SCRAPS INTO FERTILIZER IN ALMOST ANY CONTAINER. THESE BINS USE THEIR OWN METHODS TO ENCOURAGE THE PROCESS, BUT BOTH KEEP BUGS AND STINK AT BAY.
why can't i forget how to ride a bike?
LEARNING TO PEDAL IS NO EASY FEAT.
