This week’s image roundup has a pink black hole, a monkey drinking from a straw, a catfish that detects earthquakes, and a curious item that washed all the way across the Pacific during the Japanese tsunami. It is a good one! Read it and look at it!
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Giant Crab
This massive Tasmanian giant crab weighs 15 pounds and has a 15-inch carapace, yet is still a juvenile. When it’s fully grown, it could be twice that size. Read more here.
Shore Bike
This Harley-Davidson bike washed up on the shores of British Columbia last week, with some confusing details. The bike seemed to be in pretty decent condition, for flotsam, and it had Japanese plates. CBC ran the story, and it turned out the bike belonged to Ikuo Yokoyama, a resident of Miyagi Prefecture in Japan. His bike had washed out to sea during the tsunami. The two have now been reunited.
Earthquake Fish
This here is Professor Naoyuki Yada with his catfish, which he uses to predict seismic activity. Yeah, you read that right.
Flavoring Smoke
David Edwards demonstrates Le Whaf, a flavored smoke bottle created by designer Philippe Starck.
Pink Black Hole
In this pretty pink spacepic, a black hole’s explosion of energy has actually provided evidence of a population of stellar black holes. Read more over at NASA.
MonkeyDrink
In this adorable picture, a monkey is given vitamins as part of research against the scourge of malaria on April 25th, the World Day for the fight against the disease.
Jetman, Meet Jesus
Our favorite Jetman, Yves Rossy, took to the skies over Rio de Janeiro, flying past the statue of Christ the Redeemer on his travels. Read more here.
Dinosaurs Had Giant Fleas to Bite ‘Em
This flea, some 10 times the size of today’s fleas, used to climb up dinosaurs’ feathery bellies and suck their delicious prehistoric blood. It has been found in fossil form in Inner Mongolia. Read about it here
Welcome Home
Astronaut Dan Burbank smiles shortly after landing in his Soyuz rocket in Kazakhstan. He had been aboard the International Space Station for over five months.
Climate Change Believers Are Evil
According to this billboard and others posted in Chicago by the Heartland Institute, if you believe that humankind has influenced the global climate, you are in the company of the Unabomber, Charles Manson, and Fidel Castro. This form of logical fallacy is common enough to have earned a Latin name, the _reductio ad hitlerum._ Read more.
Successful Rocket Test at Canaveral
On Monday, SpaceX conducted a static fire-test of their rocket at Cape Canaveral. The engine fired very nicely, while those of us watching the live webcast cheered. The rocket is going to launch into Space on May 19th, unless that date is moved again.
Functional MRI of a Good Doggie
A group of researchers at Emory University trained two dogs to lie patiently inside an MRI tube and keep their furry heads perfectly still while their brains were scanned to see how they reacted to hand signals promising a yummy treat. The full paper can be read here.