Oldest-known spider killed by wasp at age of 43

A team of Australian scientists said they were “really miserable” to discover the world’s oldest-known spider was killed by a wasp sting at the age of 43.

Leanda Mason, lead author of the Curtin University study published in the Pacific Conservation Biology Journal, said the female trapdoor spider, known as Number 16, was 43 years old when it was killed by a wasp sting at its burrow in the wild.

The previous record-holder for oldest spider was a 28-year-old Mexican tarantula documented by researchers. Female trapdoor spiders tend to remain in the areas around their burrows for their entire lives, allowing Number 16 to be studied in the wild.

Barbara York Main, 88, who was Mason’s teacher, began studying Number 16 shortly after the spider’s birth in 1974.

“Through Barbara’s detailed research,” Mason said, “we were able to determine that the extensive lifespan of the trapdoor spider is due to their life-history traits, including how they live in uncleared, native bush land, their sedentary nature and low metabolisms.”

A completely black, weird planet spotted

Scientists may have found a planet so dark and evil-looking that it might be among the most heavy metal places in the known universe.

The planet is believed to be one of the darkest ever found; so completely black that it absorbs up to 99 percent of the light that hits it. Researchers have compared it to charcoal, and it’s a pretty horrendous place, no matter how ‘metal’ you are.

The planet is named Wasp-104b, and is a ‘hot Jupiter’, a gas giant as big as Jupiter in our Solar System, but much, much closer to the star, ScienceAlert reports. Most hot Jupiters are dark (and extremely, extremely hot) — but this one is far, far darker than expected.

The lead researcher Teo Mocnik, at Keele University, said, “From all the dark planets I could find in the literature, this is top five-ish. I think top three.”

The reason it’s so dark is probably down to how close it is to its sun, a yellow dwarf in the constellation Leo. It takes just 1.75 days to do a full orbit, being just 2.6 million miles from the star — and its thick hazy atmosphere may contain atomic sodium and potassium, which absorb light.

Largest fish in world spotted in Pacific

The awe-inspiring moment a whale shark rose from the deep and swam alongside humans has been captured in stunning aerial footage.

The gentle giant — the largest fish in the world — dwarfs the tiny figures in the amazing rare video. It was filmed off the coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico, which from early winter to late spring is a haven for the beautiful beasts.

They return every season to the bay waters close to the city of La Paz.

Aerial cinematographer Tarsicio Sañudo Suarez, said it was a ‘special’ moment when he realised what was happening.

“Whale sharks are gentle and they cannot harm humans, that day I also swam with them and captured them with a gopro underwater.”

Despite their name, whale sharks are fish — the largest known in the world.

They can grow to 12.5 metres in length and weigh as much as 79,000 pounds and can live for 70 years. The endangered species, which is under protection by international and Mexican law, originated around 60 million years ago.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 12th, 2018