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Things That Can Kill You

Snakes, jellyfish, plants, lakes, weather — nature's silent assassins.

13 discoveries ~52 min

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01
The Snail That Paralyzes Fish and Replaces Morphine
A slow-moving snail creates a chemical cocktail that can shut down the nervous system and replace hospital painkillers.
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02
A Sloth Can Starve to Death on a Full Stomach
It takes thirty days for a sloth to process a single meal, making it the slowest digestive system on the planet.
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03
The Animal That Eats Anthrax For Breakfast
Vultures possess stomach acid so corrosive that it dissolves metal and kills the world's deadliest bacteria instantly.
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04
The desert rocks that walk by themselves
For decades, heavy boulders in Death Valley moved across the desert floor leaving long tracks behind them without a single witness.
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05
The largest living thing is a silent killer
Deep in an Oregon forest lives a single organism that covers nearly four square miles and has been growing for 8,000 years.
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06
A spider bite that acts like toxic Viagra
The venom of the Brazilian Wandering Spider can trigger a painful, four-hour erection that has led scientists to study it as a cure for impotence.
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07
The Insect Sting That Mimics a Gunshot
The bullet ant delivers a neurotoxin that causes 24 hours of waves of pure, paralyzing agony.
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08
The fungus that turns ants into zombies
A parasitic fungus hijacks an ant's body, kills it, and grows out of its head.
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09
A jellyfish the size of a basketball can stop your heart in three minutes
Its venom can stop a human heart in three minutes.
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10
The Snake That Can Kill An Elephant
A king cobra can drop an Asian elephant in under three hours.
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11
The Russian Lake That Kills With A Glance
Standing on the shore of Lake Karachay for just one hour provides a lethal dose of radiation, turning an alpine landscape into the world's most dangerous vista.
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12
The Brazilian Island Where Snakes Own The Canopy
On Ilha da Queimada Grande, the density of venomous snakes is so high that the Brazilian Navy has officially banned all human visitors.
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13
A Toxic Rainbow At The Bottom Of The World
The Danakil Depression is a tectonic scar where the Earth’s crust is pulling apart, bringing acid pools and chlorine gas to the surface.
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Things That Can Kill You

All discoveries

The Snail That Paralyzes Fish and Replaces Morphine

A Sloth Can Starve to Death on a Full Stomach

The Animal That Eats Anthrax For Breakfast

The desert rocks that walk by themselves

The largest living thing is a silent killer

A spider bite that acts like toxic Viagra

The Insect Sting That Mimics a Gunshot

The fungus that turns ants into zombies

A jellyfish the size of a basketball can stop your heart in three minutes

The Snake That Can Kill An Elephant

The Russian Lake That Kills With A Glance

The Brazilian Island Where Snakes Own The Canopy

A Toxic Rainbow At The Bottom Of The World