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io9Black widow spiders avoid cannibalization by sniffing webs
The black widow spider practices sexual cannibalism, in which the female eats the male after mating – indeed, that’s why they’re called black widows in the first place. But males have an unexpected way of avoiding that fate. The secret of male survival is to know just how hungry their potential mate is. That may … Continued
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io9
Alligators use cannibalism as the ultimate population control
If you’re a baby alligator, there’s about a 1 in 16 chance that your elders will eat you. It’s nothing personal…it’s just the simplest way for these gators to deal with a temporary food shortage and keep their population stable. Florida researchers examined the stomachs of 267 adult alligators between 1981 and 1987. Since some … Continued
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Tech News
Someone Answered a Cannibal’s Internet Ad, Was Shocked When Said Cannibal Actually Wanted to Eat Him
Most people know not to respond to an internet personal ad referencing cannibalism, joke or not. One Swiss man responded to such an ad, believing it would be a dark, twisted role play. Oh how wrong he was. Luckily, the guy only spoke to the Slovakian human eater on the phone, who expressed a desire … Continued
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io9
Wolf spiders are the first known species where the male cannibalizes the female
Several kinds of female animals, including spiders, are known to devour their male counterparts, often right after they finish having sex. But every so often, the female isn’t deadlier than the male, as South America’s wolf spider will tell you. The nocturnal arachnid is found all along South America’s Atlantic coast. Researchers from the Clemente … Continued
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io9
At last, proof that the British once drank from human skulls
Click to view If you saw stirring Roman-Briton bromance The Eagle over the past week, you know that in fiction, at least, the Picts were pretty hardcore. But now there’s proof that the early tribes of Britain were bloodthirsty warriors. As you can see in this BBC clip, there is now evidence that they drank … Continued
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io9
Murder scene might reveal why Neanderthals went extinct
49,000 years ago in a cave in northern Spain, twelve Neanderthals were murdered and eaten by another group of Neanderthals. This grisly scene may tell a larger story about the reasons why our humanoid cousins ultimately died out. There are a bunch of competing theories as to why Neanderthals went extinct. One idea is that … Continued
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io9
Tyrannosaurus Rex was a cannibal, say paleontologists
After analyzing marks and gouges on Tyrannosaurus Rex fossils, paleontologists have concluded that T. Rexes ate other T. Rexes. This cannibalism was likely the result of scavenging rather than active hunting, but researchers aren’t 100% positive. The paleontologists note that the T. Rex was the only large, late Cretaceous carnivore in Western North America that … Continued
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io9
In The Future Of Eating, Could We Put Ourselves On The Menu?
Although science fiction generally does a decent job imagining the grand vistas of tomorrow, it’s in more mundane areas where future design often falls down. Blogger John Powers recently tackled this question by imagining the future of kitchens. Powers, author of the futurism blog Star Wars Modern, recently spent two posts examining the arc of … Continued
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io9
The Man-Eating Ladies of Science Fiction
We’re still a week away from watching Megan Fox snack on schoolboys in Jennifer’s Body. In the meantime, we’re serving up a list of the other women in science fiction who hunger for human flesh. Jennifer Check (Jennifer’s Body) Nature of Her Hunger: Demonic Possession — the result of a “virgin” sacrifice gone wrong. Preferred … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
Starving Russian Homeless Turn to Cannibalism
Global homelessness and food shortages have already inspired riots, and now they’re fueling even more desperate acts like cannibalism. A homeless man in the Russian region of Kamchatka was just arrested along with two accomplices for killing a man and frying up choice cuts of his body to eat last year. According to The Moscow … Continued
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io9
The Joy of Cooking Human Flesh
Soylent Green may be made of people, but it’s also delicious. Human meat finds its way onto many a future dinner table and in a vast array of culinary delights. Whether you’re snacking on other folks to survive or just because you like the taste, we’ve found plenty of cannibalistic dishes to appease your appetite … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
io9
The Road’s Weary Travelers Have Terrible Hygiene
Cormac McCarthy’s depressing, post-apocalyptic ash world in The Road isn’t going to be any more cheerful in John Hillcoat’s big screen adaptation. And the little survivalist details promise to be the parts that make the movie truly sick. So far we’ve only been introduced to one wanderer and the two main characters The Boy (Kodi … Continued