Centurions found one lost world

This sunfish (Mola mola) in Magadalena Bay, Baja California, Mexico show how captivating and unusual these huge fish are. Rodrigo Friscione/Getty Images What has a disc-like body, thick lips, boatloads of parasites and probably weighs more than your car? We'll give you a hint: It's a type of fish. But this isn't some oddball shark. Hammerheads, great whites and their kin are considered cartilaginous fish. That means their skeletons are primarily made of cartilage as opposed to bone. The animal in question belongs to a more modern group: the so-called "bony fishes." (Although, interestingly enough, its skeleton does mostly consist of cartilage. Scientists classify the thing as a 'bony fish' because it evolved from bonier ancestors, but we're getting off-track.) Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the ocean sunfish, a creature that's better known by its full scientific name: Mola mola. Compressed laterally (i.e. from side to side) and lacking a traditional tail, adult Mola mola seem … [Read more...] about Dive Inside the Weird World of the Ocean Sunfish

Hot-Jupiters, like the one named CoRoT-2b pictured here orbiting close to its host star, aren't uncommon. What's very unusual about NGTS-1b is the tiny size of its host star. NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech Just in time for Halloween, astronomers announced the discovery of an exoplanetary "monster" lurking around a tiny star. Called NGTS-1b, the alien world orbits a star around 600 light-years from Earth and has been measured to be approximately the same size as Jupiter but 20 percent less massive. Its orbit is extreme. Known as a "hot-Jupiter," this exoplanet whips around its star once every 2.6 days and has a surface temperature of 530 degrees Celsius (nearly 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit). So far, this might not sound very remarkable. Many hot-Jupiters have been discovered with extremely compact orbits in our galaxy. But NGTS-1b's star is a puny "class M" star — otherwise known as a red dwarf — and, according to planetary formation models, it shouldn't be possible for such a tiny … [Read more...] about Monstrous Alien World Orbits Puny Red Dwarf Star

Nothing Says 'America' Like Downing 70 Hot Dogs In One Sitting Newsy; Eric Thayer/Getty Images Now that our post-cookout stomachs have settled and  our post-fireworks ears recovered, it's time to look at one of the strangest traditions to take place on Independence Day: the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. The annual competitive eating contest held at New York City amusement park Coney Island pits gut against gut as competitors try to eat the most hot dogs, buns and all, in 10 minutes. This July 4, the competition celebrated its centennial, with a full 100 years (kind of — more on that later) of chowing down on tubemeat. This past Monday 32-year-old California native Joey "Jaws" Chestnut reclaimed the title, wolfing down an astonishing 70 hot dogs in 10 minutes. That's one hot dog every 8.6 seconds. Chestnut unseated reigning champ Matt Stoney, who this year managed to down only 53 franks in the allotted time. This is Chestnut's ninth win, and this year he broke his … [Read more...] about One Man, 10 Minutes, 70 Hot Dogs — One New World Record

A pair of women proudly display their "finds" from the Unclaimed Baggage Center, in Scottsboro, Alabama, a huge warehouse for stuff that passengers have lost while flying. Jeff Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images Maybe you've lost a pair of sunglasses. Maybe you've found someone else's earring. Maybe those items turn up in a lost-and-found area somewhere — a hotel, an amusement park, a school. That's great and all, but it's likely that your experience pales in comparison to these cool, unique and weird artifacts that have turned up in lost-and-founds around the world. 1. An Actual Human Skull The Bureau of Found Objects in the southern end of Paris is a massive repository of the city's lost items. The centralized collection was formed in the 1800s during the time of Napoleon and now receives up to 700 items a day that have been found on the metro, in restaurants, museums, airports, streets and other locations. Although some of the items eventually are claimed, many are not, … [Read more...] about 9 of the Weirdest Lost-and-found Items in the World