scorpion

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3 Dead, 500 Hurt in Scorpion Attacks

Heavy storms in Egypt washed them into streets, homes

(Newser) - Heavy storms in Egypt last week washed scorpions into streets and homes, and the resulting attacks from the dangerous arachnids left three dead and more than 500 others injured, 9 News reports. Egypt's fat-tailed scorpions are among the world's deadliest; after a sting from one's tail, the...

Woman Stung by Scorpion on United Air Flight

Passenger taken to hospital after being stung aboard flight out of San Francisco

(Newser) - You can't always get a free checked bag on a domestic flight, but increasingly you can get a complimentary scorpion sting : A woman on a San Francisco to Atlanta flight went to the plane's bathroom after feeling a "stinging sensation" on her leg, when out dropped a...

'Gum Wrapper' Blamed for Flier's Pain Was Not a Gum Wrapper

Canadian student was stung by scorpion on Air Transat flight from Toronto to Calgary

(Newser) - If you're seated next to Quin Maltais on a future flight, forgive her if she's a little jumpy. That's because the Canadian student recently had another seatmate—an unwelcome one—on a recent Air Transat flight from Toronto to Calgary. On that Feb. 26 flight, Maltais initially...

Mystery Bug Bite Lands Man in Hospital

Arizona's Thomas Jay describes it as a cross between a spider and a scorpion

(Newser) - It was just another night taking the trash to the curb in Chandler, Arizona, until Thomas Jay suddenly felt a pinch followed by the "most excruciating pain" of his life. He swatted off what looked like "a cross between a scorpion and a spider," per Fox 10...

Scorpion Ensures United's Terrible Week Continues

A scorpion fell onto a United passenger and stung him Sunday

(Newser) - United Airlines stockholder: "Man, this week couldn't get any worse." Scorpion: "Hold my beer." CNBC reports a scorpion fell out of an overhead bin and stung a passenger during a United flight between Houston and Calgary on Sunday. Richard Bell was on his way home...

First Big Predator Was 'Angry' Water Bug

You wouldn't want to swim with 'Pentecopterus decorahensis'

(Newser) - Earth's first big predatory monster was a weird water bug as big as Tom Cruise, newly found fossils show. Almost half a billion years ago, way before the dinosaurs roamed, Earth's dominant large predator was a sea scorpion that grew to 5 feet 7 inches, with a dozen...

Scorpion on a Plane: Flight Delayed as Woman Stung

Critter had apparently sneaked on board in Mexico

(Newser) - Right up there with snakes on planes are scorpions, and the presence of one on an Alaska Airlines flight yesterday caused a bit of a stir: As the Oregonian reports, Flight 567 was taxiing on the runway at LAX when a scorpion—apparently having hitched a ride from Mexico in...

Toddler With 'Scorpion Sting' Actually Took Meth

This mistake has apparently been made before

(Newser) - A toddler was treated in the hospital for a scorpion sting, but her tremors just wouldn't go away—until doctors realized that the trouble had actually been caused by the girl's ingestion of methamphetamine. The 17-month-old was then treated and discharged from the hospital, but her case doesn'...

Future Painkiller: Scorpion Venom?

Study sees potential applications as it can locate human pain receptors

(Newser) - Scorpion venom could someday turn from threat to therapy. Researchers in Australia are investigating the chemical properties of the stuff after collecting 1,500 of the poisonous critters and extracting their venom. "Because they have been isolated in Australia for so long, their venom is very different to the...

Hospital Bill for Scorpion Sting: $83K

Arizona hospital apologizes, says it will adjust price

(Newser) - Never mind the physical symptoms: For one Arizona woman, it was the medical bills that hurt the most after she was stung by a scorpion. A hospital in Chandler gave Marcie Edmonds two doses of antivenom—and charged her about $40,000 for each. Tack on ER bills, and her...

United Nations Probes Benefits of Insect Diet

 Insects: Our 
 Next Food Craze?   
 
'Guardian' blog

Insects: Our Next Food Craze?

UN agency considers benefits of a critter diet

(Newser) - Cambodian deep-fried tarantula, anyone? A chocolate ant wafer or curried cockchafer? Such meals are already popular in many nations, but now the UN is investigating whether we should all munch on the critters. In his Guardian blog, Fraser Lewry says stats favor an insect diet: After all, the world population...

Stung by a Scorpion? Mexico Will Save You

Despite 250 stings a year, US drug companies won't make anti-venom

(Newser) - With the United States having run out of scorpion anti-venom nearly 10 years ago, the FDA has just approved a Mexican-made treatment for scorpion stings, reports NPR . Although there are about 250 severe scorpion stings a year in the United States—mainly in the "Venom Belt" in the southwest—...

Scorpion Stings Flier on Alaska Air

Jeff Ellis survives encounter with creepy creature

(Newser) - An Oregon man flying to Alaska got a nasty sting on his arm during lunch, and was shocked to find a scorpion crawling on his skin. "In the movies, scorpions kill people," said Jeff Ellis, 55. "I was nervous, on edge, making sure that my heart was...

Arachnophobia! 8-Foot Fossil Scorpion Is Biggest Bug

Creepy swam sea with other giant crawlies

(Newser) - Scientists digging in Germany have found the fossilized claw of what is thought to be the largest bug ever to roam the earth—or, in the case of this 400-million-year-old scorpion, to navigate the seas. The eight-foot-long arachnid is an "amazing discovery" that highlights the remarkable sizes of ancient...

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