Poison

Tourists Kill Bahamas’ Swimming Pigs Because We Can’t Have Anything Nice

Some days, humans just generally suck. And then there are days when you realize why this planet is trying so hard to just wipe us out. Today is one of the days that we recognize humanity’s total worthlessness because seven of the swimming pigs who live in the Bahamas are now dead thanks to some…

Tech News Rhett Jones Feb 27

Guy Drinks Cyanide, Lives to Tell the Tale

Soluble cyanide salts are some of the deadliest poisons known to man. Potassium cyanide is better known as the stuff in World War II-era suicide pills. Hydrogen cyanide was the major component in Zyklon B, a pesticide that the Nazis used to gas millions of innocents. And all the soluble cyanide salts do roughly the…

Sploid Avery Ellis Oct 19

A Common Artificial Sweetener Is Poisoning Dogs

Xylitol is an artificial sweetener found in everything from toothpaste to peanut butter to sugar-free gum. And, it turns out, it’s poison for dogs. The FDA just dropped a new warning that, while it’s just fine for people, the sweetener has proven fatal for dogs. Not giving your dog sugar-free gum may already seem like…

Tech News Ria Misra May 13

Watch a Chef Make a Dish with a Poisonous Pufferfish

In order to serve fugu (pufferfish) in Japan, a chef needs to have a special license. That’s because fugu is poisonous and toxic and lethal. So why would someone eat something that could kill you? Because when prepared properly, it’s safe to eat and delicious. Watch chef Sasaki, a fugu specialist for over 45 years,…

Sploid Casey Chan Apr 21

Ancient Poisonous Flower Preserved in Amber Looks Dangerously Delicious

Amber delivers a slice of ancient life, showing us everything from early predation to the earliest preserved erect penis. Now, in a 30-year-old amber collection, scientists have found the earliest ancestor of those famous drawing-room mystery poisons, strychnine and curare. In 1986, Oregon State University entomologist George Poinar went down a mine. It was an…

Tech News Esther Inglis-Arkell Feb 15

Here Is Yet Another Reason to Fear Geese

We all know that geese are loud, obnoxious devil-birds which attack in packs. Here’s another nasty trick. One kind of goose deliberately doses itself with poison, so it will kill anyone who eats it. The spur-winged goose already has two bad features. First, it’s a goose. Geese are big, mean, and territorial. They regularly attack…

Biology Esther Inglis-Arkell Nov 13

The “Giggling Granny” Serial Killer Who Smiled All the Way to Prison

Hey, y’all! Meet Nannie Doss. Over a period of nearly 30 years, this cheery serial killer chopped multiple limbs off her own family tree, with body count that’s alleged to include four husbands, her mother, one of her mother-in-laws, her two sisters, two of her children, a grandson, and a nephew. Her weapon of choice:…

Tech News Cheryl Eddy Jul 15

How Much [X] Could You Eat Before It Would Kill You?

Toxicologists have a saying that “the dose makes the poison,” meaning that anything and everything can kill you in large enough quantities. So here we take five incredibly common (and usually benign) foods and household items to their illogical conclusion. Ever contemplated eating 480 bananas? Don’t do it. While we’re on that note, this isn’t…

Health Sarah Zhang Feb 10

An Autopsy On A 700-Year-Old Mummy Confirms He Was Murdered

Using modern forensic techniques, a team of archaeologists have conducted an autopsy on the naturally preserved mummy of Cangrande della Scala. As suspected, the researchers have confirmed that the medieval Italian warlord was in fact assassinated. Cangrande died suddenly in 1329 at the age of 38. He was a big deal at the time, the…

io9 George Dvorsky Jan 12

Why Twisted Fairy Tales Are The Kind We Deserve

Fairy tales are more popular ever, inspiring hit movies, huge TV shows, and a flood of books. But aren’t fairy tales also kind of… regressive? They always feature princesses in trouble, and the dashing princess who rescue them, right? Wrong. Poison author Sarah Pinborough argues that fairy tales should be subversive. Top image: Annie Leibovitz…

io9 Sarah Pinborough Sep 26

The US Once Poisoned Alcohol Supplies to Scare People Away From Drinking

Today I found out that in an effort to scare people away from drinking alcohol, the American government once poisoned certain alcohol supplies; this resulted in the death of over 10,000 American Citizens. This, of course, was during Prohibition. The government became frustrated with the fact that despite the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol…

Tech News Daven Hiskey - Today I Found Out Aug 15

“Venomous” vs “Poisonous,” Explained With Adorable Talking Animals

Science and nature cartoonist Rosemary Mosco’s latest webcomic explains the difference between venomous and poisonous in just half a dozen panels (fewer, if you count the intro and the kicker), which makes it as pithily informative as it is charming. Here’s a little more information for those interested. See more of Mosco’s work here and…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jul 18

The 7 Deadliest Fashion Trends Of All Time

Keeping up with fashion trends can sometimes be uncomfortable and expensive. But trying a new style or two is typically not life-threatening — except in the case of these dangerous trends, that maimed (and sometimes killed) anyone brave enough to sport them. Top image: Green dress (dyed with arsenic), Mauve boots (dyed with coal tar),…

io9 Ria Misra Jun 24

All the many horrible ways that animals can kill you with venom

Take a look at these fascinating videos explaining the many horrible ways that animals can use their hollow fangs, grooved teeth, lip glands, claws, spurs, spines, stings, and tentacles to deliver venom for the sole purpose of paralyzing and killing other animals—including humans. It’s all part of the The Power of Poison, an exhibit that…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Jun 10

Inside a Lethal Exhibit Dedicated to the Power of Poison

Poison can be a curse, a killer, and even a medicine—an alchemical substance that appears in everything from myth to literature. You might not think of poison as being this multifaceted, but that’s exactly what the American Museum of Natural History’s new exhibit—The Power of Poison—delightfully urges you to do. What Is It? An exhibit…

Tech News Leslie Horn Nov 15

Poachers use cyanide to massacre over 300 elephants in Zimbabwe

The Telegraph is reporting that poachers in Zimbabwe have killed more than 300 elephants and countless other safari animals by cyanide poisoning, a number that vastly exceeds initial estimates. And disturbingly, new deaths are still be recorded. For the past three months, poachers in southern Africa’s Hwange, Zimbabwe’s largest national park, have resorted to a…

io9 George Dvorsky Oct 21

The New Deadliest Substance Known to Man Is Top Secret (For Now)

Scientists recently discovered a new type of botulinum toxin (a.k.a. botox) that they believe is the deadliest substance known to man. Because they’ve yet to discover an antitoxin, researchers won’t publish the details of gene sequence due to security concerns—a first for the scientific community. Thank God. When scientists say this stuff is deadly, they…

Tech News Adam Clark Estes Oct 14

Meet the Deadliest Venomous Animals in the World

Venom can turn a seemingly weak and tiny creature into a feared killer. But what, exactly, does it mean for an animal to be “venomous”? And which venomous species are the most deadly to humans? Here’s what we know. Poisonous ≠ Venomous Though the two terms are often used interchangeably, “venom” is not the same…

io9 Joseph Bennington-Castro Sep 25

A Medieval poison ring used for political murders

Bulgarian archaeologists have unearthed a medieval bronze ring that might have been used for political murders some 700 years ago. Found at the site of a former medieval fortress in Cape Kaliakra, not far from the Black Sea coastal town of Kavarna in northeast Bulgaria, the finely crafted ring was probably worn by a male…

io9 Rosella Lorenzi — Discovery News Aug 22

This 700-Year-Old Ring Was Used to Poison Kings

Should you have happened to find yourself dining with Bulgarian royalty 700 years ago and the wine tasted a bit off, you would have been smart to put the goblet down. Bulgarian archaeologists have just discovered a medieval bronze ring explicitly designed to poison political foes—in the most discreet way possible. Unearthed in northeast Bulgaria…

Tech News Ashley Feinberg Aug 22

Tourists Kill Bahamas’ Swimming Pigs Because We Can’t Have Anything Nice

Guy Drinks Cyanide, Lives to Tell the Tale

A Common Artificial Sweetener Is Poisoning Dogs

Watch a Chef Make a Dish with a Poisonous Pufferfish

Ancient Poisonous Flower Preserved in Amber Looks Dangerously Delicious

Here Is Yet Another Reason to Fear Geese

The “Giggling Granny” Serial Killer Who Smiled All the Way to Prison

How Much [X] Could You Eat Before It Would Kill You?

An Autopsy On A 700-Year-Old Mummy Confirms He Was Murdered

Why Twisted Fairy Tales Are The Kind We Deserve

The US Once Poisoned Alcohol Supplies to Scare People Away From Drinking

“Venomous” vs “Poisonous,” Explained With Adorable Talking Animals

The 7 Deadliest Fashion Trends Of All Time

All the many horrible ways that animals can kill you with venom

Inside a Lethal Exhibit Dedicated to the Power of Poison

Poachers use cyanide to massacre over 300 elephants in Zimbabwe

The New Deadliest Substance Known to Man Is Top Secret (For Now)

Meet the Deadliest Venomous Animals in the World

A Medieval poison ring used for political murders

This 700-Year-Old Ring Was Used to Poison Kings

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