These are “Orb Weaver” spiders. They are large (about 1/2” to 3/4” body length), and they usually appear in late summer and early fall. Right about now, in other words. This is their time of year to build webs and find mates.

They are 99% HARMLESS TO HUMANS. THEIR VENOM IS NON-TOXIC TO US. THEY ARE DOCILE AND NON-AGGRESSIVE. THEY ALMOST NEVER, EVER EVEN BITE!!!!

I know they’re scary looking, but they are our allies, not enemies. They devour insect pests that plague us. Also, they're mostly active at night - they rest in their webs during the day.

 

So long as they continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern. Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult.

~George Orwell, 1984.

 

Voyager 1 is out there living the ultimate road trip dream — it’s been on the move for nearly 48 years since it launched way back on September 5, 1977. Right now, it’s chilling about 22.3 light-hours from Earth, which translates to a jaw-dropping 24 billion kilometers (15 billion miles) away. And get this: it’s still zipping through space at a mind-blowing speed of around 61,000 km/h (38,000 mph). Talk about never hitting traffic!

If all stays on track, Voyager 1 will reach a wild new milestone around November 15, 2026, when it’ll be one full light-day away from Earth — roughly 25.9 billion kilometers (16 billion miles) out. That means even a beam of light, the Usain Bolt of the universe, would need a whole 24 hours just to catch up with it.

Pretty cool to think that this little spacecraft, which was built with ‘70s tech and has less computing power than a modern smartwatch, is still out there, rocketing into interstellar space and carrying that golden record mixtape for any curious aliens it might meet. Not bad for something older than the first Star Wars movie!

 

 

 

In the secluded karst lakes of the Dinaric Alps, a rare encounter took place in spring 2025 when a diver captured a strikingly clear image of a Proteus anguinus, commonly known as the olm or "baby dragon." This cave-dwelling amphibian, native to the underground waters of Slovenia and parts of the western Balkans, has fascinated biologists for centuries due to its strange, timeless appearance and extreme adaptation to darkness.

With its elongated, eel-like body, underdeveloped eyes, and delicate, frond-like limbs used for sensing vibrations and chemicals in the water, the olm is perfectly evolved for life in lightless subterranean environments. Its translucent skin hints at a vestigial pigmentation, while its slowed metabolism allows it to live over 100 years—and survive for years without food.

A living relic of Earth’s primeval past, the olm appears almost mythical as it glides silently through the mineral-rich depths. How does such a gentle and ghostly creature thrive in such silence—and what other ancient secrets might the caves still hide?

 

Voyager 1, the farthest human-made object from Earth, just got a second wind thanks to some clever work from NASA engineers. Launched in 1977, the spacecraft is now over 15 billion miles away. After 47 years in space, its aging thrusters—vital for keeping the craft pointed toward Earth—had nearly failed. Without a working system to stay properly oriented, Voyager 1 would eventually lose communication, especially with a planned upgrade to the Earth-based antenna that sends and receives commands. But in a surprising turn, NASA managed to bring its dormant backup thrusters back to life after more than two decades of silence.

The backup thrusters had been in use since 2004, when the main ones became unusable due to broken heater circuits needed to warm the fuel. Over time, even the backups started clogging with residue. This threatened the spacecraft’s ability to stay aligned with a reference star it uses to maintain communication with Earth. Just when things looked grim, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory performed a near-miraculous fix, reviving the long-inactive thrusters and extending Voyager 1’s lifespan through at least next year.

This rescue buys time to continue gathering valuable data from interstellar space, where Voyager 1 has been traveling since leaving the Sun’s protective bubble in 2012. With this fix, a little piece of Earth keeps pushing further into the cosmos.