Eighteen Species of Tweezer-Faced, Spider-Slaying Pelican Spiders Discovered in Madagascar

Quick: what has eight legs and a face like a pair of hairy salad tongs? If you’re a spider, you know exactly what I’m describing—a beast, which, at least to smaller spiders, is an otherworldly, eldritch terror: the pelican spider. Now, new research published today in the journal ZooKeys details the discovery of a whopping 18 new species of pelican spider from Madagascar.

An Enigmatic Whale That Seems to Live on Nothing

Well after its discovery a decade ago, the sleek swimmer called the Omura’s whale remained an enigma. Reports of live animals were vague and unconvincing, leaving the whale’s habits and even its markings a mystery.

12 African Countries With the Most Diverse Natural Resources

Tanzania

Natural resources: coffee, tea, cotton, maize, tin, phosphates, iron ore, cassava, diamonds and gold. Its richness produces a gross domestic product valued at $33.23 billion. Ten percent of Africa’s gold is there.

Yuna – Castaway ft. Tyler, The Creator

Action Bronson – Mongolia ft. Hologram, Meyhem Lauren

KAYTRANADA – The Worst In Me ft. Tinashe

Future & Lil Uzi Vert – That’s It

H.E.R. – Damage

TOBE NWIGWE – EAT

A little bit of soul

This image of the Soul Nebula (IC 1848) combines 21.1 hours of exposures through Hydrogen-alpha, Oxygen-III, and Sulfur-II filters. This object resides in the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen.

Jellyfish in the ocean of space

Supernova remnant IC 443 has the common name the Jellyfish Nebula, and it lies at the top right of this image. The other, larger, nebula is IC 444. Both objects are in the constellation Gemini the Twins. Terry Hancock from Grand Mesa, Colorado

Seven sisters

The Pleiades (M45) is the most famous star cluster in the sky. It lies 444 light-years away in the constellation Taurus the Bull. The clouds of gas seen in this image are not connected to the stars, but are a dust cloud through which the cluster is passing. Dave Doctor from Las Cruces, New Mexico

Old friend

The Orion Nebula (M42) may be the most photographed deep-sky object of all. It’s a huge emission nebula and star-forming complex. In addition to the glowing hydrogen, however, the object also has regions of both reflection and dark nebulae. James Esch from Lovettsville, Virginia

Boom goes the star

The Cygnus Loop is a huge supernova remnant some 2,500 light-years away. It has many components, and this image shows two of them well. At the top is the Witch’s Broom (NGC 6960), and Pickering’s Triangle (which doesn’t have its own designation) lies down and to the lower left of the Broom. Naresh Singh from Saint Petersburg, Florida

Natural satellite