homehome Home chatchat Notifications


The ghost trees in Pakistan

The unfortunate floods in Pakistan haven’t affected only humans, they also had a truly fascinating “side effect”: millions and millions of spiders have climbed the trees in a desperate attempt to escape the flooding water. Because of the scale of the event and the fact that the water has taken so long to recede, they […]

Mihai Andrei
April 1, 2011 @ 4:36 pm

share Share

The unfortunate floods in Pakistan haven’t affected only humans, they also had a truly fascinating “side effect”: millions and millions of spiders have climbed the trees in a desperate attempt to escape the flooding water. Because of the scale of the event and the fact that the water has taken so long to recede, they have made cocoons out of the trees, in an absolutely unique phenomenon.

The tiny insects are trying to make a living too, and the only way to go now for them is up, creating intricate and beautiful patterns throuth the leaves. The has also been another interesting aspect to the story: the numbers of mosquitoes have suddenly dropped following this surge of tree spiders, which is extremely important for the locals, because mosquitoes carry around one of the most dangerous diseases on the face of the Earth, malaria.

So all in all, this fascinating eerie spectacle was little short than a blessing for locals, which have already had to suffer greatly from the flood. About one fifth of the area in Pakistan was covered with water, which destroyed infrastructure, homes and fields, affecting the life of over 20 million people.

Picture sources: 1 2 3

share Share

Meet the Indian Teen Who Can Add 100 Numbers in 30 Second and Broke 6 Guinness World Records for Mental Math

The Indian teenager is officially the world's fastest "human calculator".

AI Is Changing Education — But Are We Keeping Up?

Ever since tools like ChatGPT and DeepSeek hit the mainstream, they’ve shaken up everything from office tasks to art generation. Unsurprisingly, students quickly saw the potential — and began using AI to cheat on essays and exams. At first, it felt like a shortcut. But if AI can ace your test, what does that say […]

Trump science director says American tech can 'manipulate time and space'

Uhm, did we all jump to Star Trek or something?

Miyazaki Hates Your Ghibli-fied Photos and They're Probably a Copyright Breach Too

“I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself,” he said.

The Roundest (and Most Rectangular) Countries, According to Math

Apparently, Sierra Leone is both very round and quite rectangular.

A Cartoonish Crash Test Raises Real Questions About Tesla’s Autopilot

Mark Rober pits Tesla against lidar in a real-life Wile E. Coyote experiment.

Speedrunners Just Discovered a Strange Problem With Old SNES Consoles: They're Sounding Faster

An old hardware choice means that the music is speeding up with the passing years.

The Return of the Bookstore: Brick and Mortar Shops Making Stunning Comeback

Young readers are fueling a surprising bookstore renaissance.

The smallest handmade sculpture in the world is no bigger than a blood cell

An artist has created the world’s smallest LEGO sculpture — so tiny it’s barely larger than a white blood cell.

From Fika to Friluftsliv: Four Scandinavian Concepts that Will Make Your Life Happier and Healthier (and a Bonus)

Sweden’s “Lagom,” and Denmark’s “Hygge,” aren’t just trendy words — they’re philosophies that promote well-being and balance.