10 Endangered Animals That May Soon Be Extinct

There are currently around 30 million different species within the animal kingdom. Scientists estimate that 99.9 percent of the species that once existed on our planet are now completely extinct. That is a massive number when you think about how many are actually left over. There were species 10 million years ago that would have shocked us. Sadly, ruthless human expansion and hunting have culled a lot of the animal population today, and some of the creatures we know of won’t be around when our children are learning about the animal kingdom. Here are ten endangered animals that probably won’t exist for much longer.

Giant Pangasius

Known to some as the Paroon Shark, the Giant Pangasius is a type of freshwater fish found in Chao Praya and Mekong Basins in Indochina. These fish can reach up to 9.8 feet in length, and usually weigh around 660 pounds. There are only several hundred left, though.

Siamese Crocodile

Located within Southeast Asian countries, the Siamese Crocodile is an endangered species that will be wiped out within the next few years. 99 percent of the original number have been eradicated already, and the only ones left are being bred in captivity.

Hirola

The Hirola is an antelope species found in the plains between Kenya and Somalia. Over 80 percent of the population have been destroyed due to disease, predators, competition, habitat loss, and poaching from the local human population. There are now only 500 to 1,000 left in the entire world.

Amur Leopard

The Amur Leopard is found throughout parts of South Eastern Russia and North Eastern China. Males tend to measure around 54-inches in length and weigh about 106 pounds. Back in 2007, there were only 20 Leopards left within the world. Thanks to the Russian government, there are now a little over 50.

Nautilus

Found in the deep slopes of the coral reef within the Indian Ocean, the Nautilus is a pelagic marine mollusk. The population has dropped drastically, but not quite as low as other animals listed here. The creature has been alive for the past 500 million years, which means it has survived plenty, but the species is losing this battle.

Mountain Gorilla

The Mountain Gorilla, found in the mountains of Central Africa and three national parks in Uganda, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the most hunted creatures on the planet. Their population has drastically dropped since the 1980’s, though they currently sit at around 880 individuals.

Chinese Bahaba

The Chinese Bahaba can be found within shallow seas, aquatic beds, rocky shores, and estuarine waters along the Chinese coast. The Bahaba is a type of large fish measuring up to 6-feet 7-inches, though it has been threatened by over-fishing in the area. One specimen sold for $300,000 in 2012.

Metallic Tarantula

The Metallic Tarantula is one of the most beautiful spiders located in the forests of central southern India. Few people have seen these massive creatures, but the images of a bright blue colored spider cannot be forgotten. Massive deforestation and specimen collection have ensured their numbers are dwindling, though.

Javan Rhinoceros

Hunted for their skin and horns, the Javan Rhinoceros has only one horn, and is the smallest and rarest of the entire species. Unfortunately, there are only around 40 living specimens throughout Southeast Asia, India, and China at the moment, due to poaching.

Sawfish

The common Sawfish is a type of long fish found in tropical and sub-tropical parts of the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Eastern Pacific, and even in Northern Australia. Their population has declined thanks to exploitation and over-fishing, however. More than 95% have been eradicated.

10 Of The Most Radioactive Places On Earth

Every single individual on the face of the planet is exposed to some form of radiation every single day. This radiation comes in various forms, shapes, and substances, and is generally not harmful to us in the small doses we receive regularly. However, there are places on the planet where the radiation is so bad that people can easily get sick or die from being exposed to this environment for extended periods of time. If you decide to visit any of these places, wearing a radioactive suit and extra protection is definitely vital, otherwise you may grow a third arm or a second nose.

Hanford Nuclear Reservation Site: Hanford, Washington

Hanford, a large area known for its work on the US atomic bomb project, manufactured the plutonium used in the nuclear bomb that had been dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Plutonium supplies have been decommissioned, but two-thirds were left in Hanford, causing contamination in the local groundwater.

In The Middle Of The Mediterranean Sea

A syndicate that is said to be controlled by the Italian Mafia is believed to use portions of the Mediterranean Sea as a dumping ground for various hazardous radioactive wastes. It is believed that around 40 ships full of toxic and radioactive waste sail through the Mediterranean, leaving large amounts behind in their wake.

The Somali Coast: Mogadishu, Somalia

The Somali Coast has been thought to be used by the mafia as a burial ground for nuclear and toxic metals, which may include over 600 barrels of radioactive materials. When a tsunami hit in 2004, several rusting barrels were recovered.

Mayak Production Association: Mayak, Russia

Mayak has been the home of a huge nuclear plant in Russia for decades. In 1957, approximately 100 tons of radioactive waste was released in a fatal accident. The explosion was not made public until 1980, though. Over 400,000 people were exposed to the contamination.

Sellafield Power Plant: Sellafield, UK

Before being turned into a commercial area, Sellafield, UK, was used as a plutonium production facility for the country’s nuclear bombs. Today, about two-thirds of the buildings in the area are highly contaminated with radioactive material.

Siberian Chemical Combine: Siberia, Russia

Siberia is home to one of the largest chemical facilities in the entire world. The Siberian Chemical Combine produces around 125,000 tons of solid waste, which contaminates the ground water within the area. Wind and rain carry this contamination into the wildlife, causing high mortality amongst the animal populations within the area.

The Polygon: Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan

The Polygon is a famous zone for an atomic bomb project within Kazakhstan. The uninhabited facility was converted to a spot where the Soviet Union could detonate their first nuclear bomb, and currently holds the record for the largest concentrated nuclear explosion in the world. 200,000 people are suffering from the radiation of the blast.

Zapadnyi Mining and Chemical Combine: Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgzstan

Mailuu-Suu is known as one of the most polluted places in the entire world. The radiation here does not come from nuclear bombs or a power plant, but comes from uranium mining and the processing facility. Two million cubic meters of waste is produced in the area every year.

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant: Chernobyl, Ukraine

Obviously Chernobyl needs to be mentioned, as it is the home of the worst nuclear disaster in the entire world. The radiation has affected six million people within the area, and is projected to cause anywhere between 4,000 to 93,000 deaths.

Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant: Fukushima, Japan

The effects of the Fukushima earthquake in Japan are though to be the longest lasting nuclear threat in the entire world. Considered worse than the Chernobyl accident, the Daini Nuclear Power Plant leaked severe radiation, which was detected over 200 miles away from the origin site.

10 Odd Prehistoric Animals Still Alive Today

Millions of years ago there were tens of millions of creatures, or perhaps even more, and the great majority of them were positively terrifying. These creatures, big or small, would eat whatever they could get their hands on. Millions of years later, to today’s date, some of these creatures are still living, and are even thriving in their current environments. These prehistoric creatures, despite all of the evolution, human expansion, hunting, and more, continue to survive. Here are ten unbelievable prehistoric animals alive today.

Tadpole Shrimp

Tadpole Shrimp are freshwater crustaceans that resemble a tiny horseshoe crab. They are considered to be living fossils because of their morphology, which has changed very little in the past 70 million years.

Lamprey

Lamprey are a jawless fish known for having a funnel-like mouth lined with razor-sharp teeth. These terrible beasts bore their way into flesh, sucking the blood from victims. The oldest lamprey fossil discovered was found in South Africa from 360 million years ago.

Sandhill Crane

Native to North America and North Eastern Siberia, the Sandhill Crane is a massive, 10 pound bird. A 10-million-year-old fossil was found in Nebraska, and is thought to be from a Sandhill Crane. Another crane fossil dates back 2.5 million years, and absolutely belongs to the crane.

Sturgeon

The Sturgeon is found in subtropical, temperate, and sub-Arctic rivers, lakes, and coastlines, but is known as a “primitive fish.” The morphology of the fish has remained nearly the same since a 200 million-year-old fossil was discovered.

Chinese Giant Salamander

The Chinese Giant Salamander is the largest salamander and amphibian in the entire world, reaching lengths up to 5.9 feet in total. These come from the Cryptobranchidae lineage, which dates back 170 million years. They are currently endangered, unfortunately.

Solenodon

The Solenodon is a venomous, nocturnal mammal that is known for burrowing into the dirt. Only found within a few Caribbean countries, this little creature is known as a living fossil due to being virtually unchanged for the past 76 million years.

Crocodiles

Crocodiles are the one creature you think when you consider prehistoric animals still alive today. The first group appeared almost 250 million years ago, and today’s descendants still share morphological features with their ancestors.

Pygmy Right Whale

Thought to be completely extinct until 2012, the Pygmy Right Whale is the smallest of all baleen whales. The earliest whale in this species was thought to have existed between 1 and 28 million years ago. Little is known about their population or social habits.

Hula Painted Frog

The Hula Painted Frog was also thought to be extinct until 2011, when it was rediscovered. The frog was originally known to have existed for the past 15,000 years, but scientists discovered the species was actually around approximately 32 million years ago.

Platypus

The Platypus, a duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal is considered one of the weirdest creatures in the entire world. The oldest discover platypus fossil dates back about 100,000 years, but their ancestors were around in Gondwana nearly 170 million years ago.

10 Incredible Futuristic Weapons That Actually Exist

Weapons have played a huge role in human development and history, used in various wars to help settle disputes and show superiority. While they have always proved to be controversial, their influence on the world is undeniable and it is clear that they aren’t going anywhere soon. However, weapons are now evolving into the stuff of science fiction films. Many new designs no longer simply fire bullets or launch bombs, they use sophisticated emerging technology to incapacitate soldiers and impose order in new and innovative ways.

Active Denial System

Military forces across the world are always looking for new ways to combat enemy troops without killing or seriously injuring them. One solution that the United States has come up with is the Active Denial System, a sophisticated radar weapon that fires incredibly powerful radio waves. These waves are absorbed into the skin by anyone in range, where they then cause intense pain and a severe burning sensation without doing any lasting damage.

Vomit Gun

After being inspired by a former United States military research project that had intended to try to produce a functioning vomit gun that could cause people to be sick almost instantly, two men made their very own version. The DIY device cost just $250 to construct and uses pulsing LED lights to induce nausea and cause violent vomiting.

Armatix Digital Revolver

The problem with generic guns is that they can be operated by anyone and fired without any training whatsoever. To combat this issue, Amratix has developed a Digital Revolver that has a built-in safety device that only allows a person wearing a specific wristwatch to fire it after authorizing their fingerprints on the device. They hope that this will stop unauthorized people from discharging the weapon and prevent them from being stolen.

Auto Assault 12 Shotgun

The Auto Assault 12 is unlike any shotgun in the world. You might think that it would be more suited to a video game due to the fact that it can fire up to 300 rounds per minute, something that makes it distinctive. Most shotguns can only fire relatively slowly or a few rounds at a time, while the Auto Assault can lay down continuous fire over a sustained period of time.

Thunder Generator

The Thunder Generator is another weapon that has been designed as a non-lethal alternative to traditional guns. Originally created to scare away birds and animals that might eat crops in Israel, the government then funded research into its use against humans. The end result was the Thunder Generator, a large gun that fires powerful shock waves that make the victim feel as if they are being shot without causing them any damage.

Long Range Acoustic Device

The Long Range Acoustic Device is able to send out high-powered sound waves in narrow beams. This allows the noise to be heard up to 300 meters away at incredibly loud levels, forcing those in range to have to flee the area due to the unbearable sound. The weapons have been used by police to break up protests, while navy ships use them to deter pirates from attacking shipping lanes.

Russian Zombie Gun

Russia set off alarm bells around the world when President Putin announced that his military was developing a number of weapons that would attack the central nervous system and brain of targets using high-powered waves and direct energy. According to defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov, this included a so called Zombie Gun that can attack the mind and cause the victim to lose normal brain functions.

Taser Shockwave

The Taser Shockwave combines the effect of a Taser with a claymore mine so that it can incapacitate large groups of attackers in one instant. Once fired, it send out 24 individual probes in an arcing direction, electrocuting anyone within range. It is expected to be used by riot police to break up crowds and outside of embassies to stop them being put under siege.

Pen Gun

Pen Guns might seem like something you would see in a spy film such as James Bond but they really do exist. One such weapon that has been made is the R. J. Braverman Stiner Pen Pistol. They have become a collector’s item thanks to the fact that only 4,000 were ever made and they are more practical than other disguised pen guns as they are officially classed as a gun thanks to the fact that they fold in shape.

PHASR

The PHASR is the ultimate science fiction weapon. It looks as if it belongs in a Star Wars film and actually fires intense light beams to temporarily blind enemies and disorientate them. Officially known as the Personnel Halting and Stimulation Response Rifle, it has special sensors to determine how far away a target is so that it can calibrate the power of the light emitted so that no permanent damage is done.

10 Of The Craziest Things That Government Have Wasted Money On

Governments are notorious for the vast amounts of money they can waste. It is not unusual for taxpayer money to be spent on all kinds of weird and wonderful things as politicians try to research new policies or look at potential solutions to problems that they have to deal with. Although most people would prefer that the funds be used to improve the education or health systems and even add more police to the streets rather than wasted on what can seem likely crazy and silly projects.

Unused Warplanes

Despite the fact that the United States Air Force had made it clear to the government that they did not want to commission any further C-27Js, because of the fact that other aircraft were more effective and cheaper, Congress decided to continue funding their construction for three years. This led to 25 additional C-27Js being built that were never going to be used, costing the taxpayers more than $400 million.

IRS Star Trek Parody

The IRS was rebuked by Congress for wasting taxpayer money in 2013 when it emerged they had spent $60,000 on a training video. The six-minute long tape showed members of staff dressed up as Star Trek characters while standing in a replica of the Enterprise control room. The agency later admitted that the video served no training purpose and was a bad use of government resources.

Mountain Lion Treadmill

The National Science Foundation gave a grant that amounted to $856,000 to a team that was investigating whether it was possible to train a mountain lion to use a treadmill. The exact reasons behind this research were never given, though presumably it was to give the animals being held in captivity the chance of some exercise. It wasn’t a total waste however, as the big cats did eventually learn to use the equipment after eight months.

Welcome To Scotland

When the Scottish government decided that it needed a brand new slogan to welcome visitors and returning Scots to the country, they spent £125,000 on a think tank to come up with the new branding. After several months had passed and all the money had been spent, the researchers developed the unimaginative “Welcome To Scotland” slogan, something that probably didn’t need a team of researchers.

Buying Social Media Fans

The State Department spent an incredible $630,000 in 2013 on trying to grow its audience on social media sites. This included paying people to like the government department on Facebook and follow their account on Twitter, in the hope that this would allow them to reach a larger number of people and improve their reputation to foreign visitors.

Popular Romance Project

The Popular Romance is a United States government funded scheme that intends to look at the very idea of romance. Costing $1 million since it first launched in 2010, it is mainly focused on a website that will take “love and its stories seriously, wherever they may be found, the Popular Romance Project will spark a lively, thoughtful conversation between fans, authors, scholars, and the general public about the writing, production, and consumption of popular romance, including its history and transformation in the digital age.”

Future Coast

Realizing that many people were unaware of the consequences of global warming, the National Science Foundation provided $5 million in funding to Columbia University so that they could create a video game on the subject. Called Future Coast, the game showed the chaos that would be created by rising sea levels and higher temperatures through anarchy breaking out in the United States.

Massages For Rabbits

In an attempt to examine the potential benefits of massage therapy for those who had suffered from a series of illnesses, the National Institute of Health paid $387,000 towards a study that gave massages to rabbits. Using a specially built machine that could perform daily massages in deep strokes, the researchers measured exactly how it affected the rabbit’s health and wellbeing.

Workplace Pension Monster

In a time when the British government is attempting to cut costs across all types of services and slash benefits, one of their leading figures commissioned a £8.5 million advertisement campaign. While this is not unusual by itself, as the government does have to raise awareness of schemes it is running, the fact that a huge proportion of the money was spent on designing and animating the monster featured in the ads was considered both bizarre and wasteful.

Play World of Warcraft

Government officials pledged $3 million to a group of researchers from the University of California so that they could essentially play World of Warcraft. The team was apparently aiming to look at the way people are using different forms of communicating and how online games can be utilized by organizations and businesses.