Well for starters spiders have 8 legs whilst insects have just 6. Insects have 3 distinct body parts, a head, thorax and abdomen whilst spiders have just 2, a combined head and thorax known as the cephalothorax and an abdomen.

As well as the above other interesting differences include the eyes. Spiders have simple eyes whilst insects have compound eyes. Spiders have piercing jaws whilst insects have jaws which are more suitable for chewing. All spiders can make silk thread (although not all spiders spin webs) whilst most insects cannot. Spiders can’t fly where as many insects have wings allowing them to do so.

So yes to the untrained eye there is indeed very little visual difference but if you look really hard then they’re actually worlds apart.

Well scientists initially went about this task by trying to estimate the weight of a very large mountain and then simply scaling that figure up. However this method led to some peculiar results and since then the mathematics and calculations involved have changed taking into consideration further factors such as the volume and overall density of the planet.

If you combine the above with weighted samples of various parts of the planet scientists have come up with a more accurate number which they believe to be around 6 quadrillion kilograms. Mind boggling to say the least but if you think that’s a big number don’t forget to check out our article on the number Googol.

As you might imagine the number is rarely used except maybe in theoretical and computational calculations, however the big question is whether a number bigger than a Googol exists ? Well funnily enough there is and it’s called a googolplex which would be a number 1 followed by, wait for it not one thousand zeros, not even one million zeros but a googol zeroes.

Getting confused ? Well you should be because this number is so large that it’s almost impossible to imagine and also impossible to write because doing so would require more space than the known universe provides. Absolutely mind boggling don’t you think!

Lastly for those of you that are interested in where this term actually came from, well it was popularized in the 1940’s by the american mathematician Edward Kasner who created it as a useful number when comparing unimaginably large numbers with infinity. Oh and the actual term “googol” was coined by his then 9 year old nephew Milton Sirotta, not bad for a 9 year old!

The waterfall which despite being known to the local indians for thousands of years was originally called the “Churun Meru” but for some reason they were renamed by an American bush pilot called Jimmy Angel, who noticed them in 1935 whilst flying over the area looking for gold.

Well to begin with they’re large, extremely bad tempered and surprisingly quick on both land and water. If you combine these factors with a strong set of jaws and large tusks you have an animal with an extremely destructive bite.

Most attacks seem to occur at watering holes or near to water where humans either come too close or simply disturb the hippo from a distance. So just remember next time you’re in Africa it’s not only the lions, cheetahs and crocidiles you need to worry about. Beware of the bad tempered hippo!

Relevant Links

• Hippo Mauls Beauty Queen
• Hippo Attacks Bathing Man

Their wide, padded feet grip well on loose sandy soil and stop the camel from sinking into the sand. An insulating wool coat keeps out both the heat of the day and the cold of the night. Hairy eyelashes, ears and slit nostrils keep out the desert dust and sand. If that wasn’t enough camels are also extremely simple about the food they eat, consuming anything from thorny shrubs to desert thistles.

In terms of behaviour and temperament the grizzly bear is a solitary animal sticking to itself except during mating season. Its reputation of being extremely aggresive is a little exaggerated as in most cases it won’t go out of its way to hunt humans or cause trouble. 

So why do people fear the grizzly so much ? Well much of its aggressive reputation stems from the fact that it can’t climb trees very well, which is what most bears do to avert danger. This ultimately means that a threatened grizzly is more likely to stand its ground and attack an oncoming threat rather than running and hiding. 

So despite the stories and the movies, the grizzly in most cases is unlikely to go on aggressive hunting sprees. More so they’re omnivores so will just as happily consume berries, fruits, pine nuts and roots.

This method of reproduction is known as parthenogenesis and will almost always leads to the birth of female offspring.  As an example the New Mexico whiptail lizard is 100% parthenogenic and has been bred in captivity for many generations with no males at all.