Anderson Cooper Dives with Nile Crocodiles: VIDEO

Hundreds of people each year in Africa are killed by Nile crocodiles, which can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh as much as a car. So, naturally, Anderson Cooper got into the water with them.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Wild Animal Invades Football Match: VIDEO

A wild weasel-like creature called a marten invaded the football pitch during a Swiss Super League match between Thun and Zurich over the weekend, twice, causing chaos, and biting the first player who caught it.

After being captured for the second time it was taken from the stadium (and hopefully returned to its natural environment).

Watch the incident unfold, AFTER THE JUMP...

Bee Venom Kills HIV: VIDEO

A toxin found in bee venom has been found to be successful in killing HIV, raising hopes for a gel that could deliver it to infected cels via nanoparticles.

Science Daily:

"Our hope is that in places where HIV is running rampant, people could use this gel as a preventive measure to stop the initial infection," says Joshua L. Hood, MD, PhD, a research instructor in medicine. The study appears in the current issue of Antiviral Therapy.

Bee venom contains a potent toxin called melittin that can poke holes in the protective envelope that surrounds HIV, and other viruses. Large amounts of free melittin can cause a lot of damage. Indeed, in addition to anti-viral therapy, the paper's senior author, Samuel A. Wickline, MD, the J. Russell Hornsby Professor of Biomedical Sciences, has shown melittin-loaded nanoparticles to be effective in killing tumor cells.

The new study shows that melittin loaded onto these nanoparticles does not harm normal cells. That's because Hood added protective bumpers to the nanoparticle surface. When the nanoparticles come into contact with normal cells, which are much larger in size, the particles simply bounce off. HIV, on the other hand, is even smaller than the nanoparticle, so HIV fits between the bumpers and makes contact with the surface of the nanoparticle, where the bee toxin awaits.

"Melittin on the nanoparticles fuses with the viral envelope," Hood says. "The melittin forms little pore-like attack complexes and ruptures the envelope, stripping it off the virus."

How does one collect bee venom?

A helpful video, AFTER THE JUMP...

Goats Screaming Like Humans, the Sequel: VIDEO

For those of you who can't get enough of last month's caprine madness.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Animals Give You Tough Love: VIDEO

Okay, feeling really guilty about now. Gonna go get stuff done.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

(via buzzfeed)

Where is This Seven-Mile Long Mega-Pod of More Than 100,000 Dolphins Going?

On last night's Downton Abbey, the Dowager Countess of Grantham Violet Crawley so wisely observed: "That's the thing about nature; there's so much of it."

And that would certainly be the case late last week off the coast of San Diego, where this seven mile-long mega-pod of more than 100,000 dolphins was spotted following a boat.

NBC San Diego wrote:

Dutra said the boat tour followed the pod for more than an hour and said he’s never seen anything like it.
“When you see something that is honestly truly beyond belief,” the captain said.

Guests aboard the boat started screaming and pointing when they first saw the school of adult and juvenile common dolphins. Dutra estimated there were about 100,000 dolphins swimming in the area.

“They were coming from all directions, you could see them from as far as the eye can see,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of stuff out here… but this is the biggest I’ve ever seen, ever.”

Watch the video shot by someone on board, AFTER THE JUMP...