I love the way that this vintage science video about The Black Widow Spider looks. It's likely from the early 60s, but the exact date of the video is unknown. At 2:50 in the video, you can see an up-close shot of the black widow making an egg sac. I was pretty surprised at how huge this bubble-like sac was in comparison to the black widow's body — I had no idea this is what the egg sac creation process looked like. I also didn't know that the baby spiders have a phase where they're translucent and ghostly-looking.
This vintage video is the best Black Widow spider explainer in the entirety of the Internet
Watch this great close-up of a spider that stands on a human finger before kiting away
Lisa Van Kula Donovan, the "wannabe entomologist" from Australia who sometimes allows venomous spiders to crawl across her face, volunteers her finger for a spider's launch pad. Standing on the tip her finger, the spider first shoots some thread (which you can see if you look closely), then angles itself in take-off position before catching… READ THE REST
Large pet tarantula stranded on California roof was… not that
In San Mateo, California, the Peninsula Humane Society dispatched an animal control officer in response to reports of a large pet tarantula stranded on a residential rooftop. The dogged officer climbed to the top of the roof only to discover that the spider was an old Halloween decoration. From UPI: [Peninsula Humane Society's communications manager… READ THE REST
New spiders named after Neil Gaiman, Peter Gabriel, and others
A recent study from the scientific journal ZooKeys has re-examined and reclassified 33 different kinds of trapdoor spiders of the Ummidia species. As the paper's authors explain: Taxonomic work on New World Ummidia has been sparse aside from these original descriptions, the most recent of which are over half a century old. Despite these shortcomings the genus… READ THE REST
Charge 3 devices at the same time with this gorgeous desk tray
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Since coming back to the office, things have looked a bit stale. We're glad you finally cleaned out those snacks from pre-quarantine, but the deco on your desk is so 2020… READ THE REST
Keep your back straight as an arrow for only $65
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Good posture is something we could all benefit from. It keeps our spine aligned and our muscles and bones stronger for longer. Too often though, we tend to curve our back… READ THE REST
This $75 drone is the perfect way to see the world from a bird's eye view
We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Okay, now that everyone is back to work in full force instead of feigning work from home (admit it, those Zoom meetings were almost exclusively an opportunity to show off your… READ THE REST
