Showing posts with label Facts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facts. Show all posts

Friday, February 25, 2011

10 Most Eccentric Millionaires

Here is the list of Most Eccentric Millionaires in the world.The millionaire who was accused of defecating on the sidewalk in front of cafes
The millionaire who was accused of defecating on the sidewalk in front of cafes
For years they wondered who was behind the unique calling card .To unmask the shopping strip's midnight-to-dawn caller, a North Ryde restaurateur who had borne the brunt of the deposits took the matter into his own hands. Someone was leaving behind human faeces on his pavement.

The restaurateur installed a surveillance camera and the footage led police to charge 71-year-old millionaire property owner Salvatore ''Sam'' Cerreto with willful and obscene exposure and offensive behaviour. Mr Cerreto, from Marsfield, is alleged to have personally dropped off the package. He was allegedly captured on camera walking to the tenant's restaurant with a ream of toilet paper, pulling his pants down, squatting and defecating. Mr Cerreto's property portfolio includes a building that is home to 13 street-front businesses.

For four years food outlets complained to police of similar discoveries. The affected tenants - who were relieved at the arrest - include operators of restaurants, cafes, delis, a hairdressing salon and a pathology centre. Police said officers had received complaints from cafe owners and restaurateurs in the commercial centre about someone defecating intermittently on their doorsteps, or on the pavement outside their premises. The deposits included excrement wrapped in paper, which was left on door handles or in flower beds near outdoor seating.
 
The millionaire who opened a Nobel Prize sperm bank to create a master race
The millionaire who opened a Nobel Prize sperm bank to create a master race
In 1980, millionaire optometrist Robert Clark Graham opened a sperm bank stocked with "donations" from the world's smartest men. The Repository for Germinal Choice, located in an underground bunker in San Diego, aimed to collect sperms from Nobel Laureates, which earned it the nickname "Nobel Prize Sperm Bank". But the scarcity of donors and the low viability of their sperm (because of age) forced Graham to develop a looser set of criteria. These criteria were numerous and exacting: for example, sperm recipients were required to be married, and male donors were required to have extremely high IQs, though the bank later softened this policy so it could recruit athletes for donors as well as scholars.

By 1983, Graham's sperm bank was reputed to have 19 repeat genius donors, including William Bradford Shockley (1956 Nobel Prize in Physics and proponent of eugenics) and two anonymous Nobel Prize winners in science.

When the Repository for Germinal Choice closed after Graham's death 1999, there were 229 babies none of which was fathered by Nobel Prize winners. So far, none of these kids had grown up to win the Nobel Prize either.
 
The first Second Life (virtual) millionaire
The first Second Life (virtual) millionaire
Millionaires usually make their money in banking, playing the stock market or in big business. Ailin Graef has changed all that. The former Chinese language teacher has just joined the millionaire's club – but is the first person to do so thanks to profits from a virtual world. Ms Graef has built up a massive property empire in Second Life, an online 3D world where users live and socialise as they would in reality.

Her online equivalent (known as an avatar), Anshe Chung, buys large blocks of lands, improves them by adding housing and then sells them to other users for a handsome profit.

Since joining the game in 2004 she has amassed a fortune of almost 300 million Linden dollars (the game's currency). Uniquely, these dollars can be exchanged into real US dollars at online currency exchanges. With the rate at around L$275 to US$1, she has become a millionaire. Although she lives near Frankfurt in Germany, Ms Graef has set up an office in Wuhan, China, employing ten programmers to help 'develop' the online land she later sells to other users.
(Link | Via)
 
The millionaire who decided to give away his entire fortune because he was unhappy
The millionaire who decided to give away his entire fortune because he was unhappy
Karl Rabeder grew up poor and thought that life would be wonderful if he had money. But when he got rich, Karl discovered that he was unhappy, so he decided to give away every penny of his £3 million fortune: "My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he said. "Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come."

On the block, or already sold, is his luxury villa with a lake in the Alps, his 42-acre estate in France, his six gliders, and the interior furnishings and accessories business that got him rich in the first place. Instead, he will move out of his luxury Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck. His entire proceeds are going to charities he set up in Central and Latin America, but he will not even take a salary from these.
(Link | Via)
 
The millionaire dog who was a trust fund of over $300 millions
The millionaire dog who was a trust fund of over $300 millions
Sure, there will always be people who have more money than you, but did you realize that some pets do, too? Meet Gunther IV, the German Shepherd, world's richest dog. This dog actually received his inheritance from his father, Gunther III, a German Shepherd who received an inheritance from Karlotta Liebenstein, a German countess. Gunther IV has bought a Miami villa from Madonna and won a rare white truffle in an auction. He's worth about $372 million right now, thanks to his growing trust fund.
(Link | Via)
 
The British millionaire who changed his mansion for mud after being adopted by tribe in Kenya
The British millionaire who changed his mansion for mud after being adopted by tribe in Kenya
Most people return from Kenya with photos of giraffes and lions, and tales of their time on safari. But one millionaire has come back with the title of elder of a Masai tribe. Graham Pendrill is the first white person to gain such an honour from the group after solving a potentially violent inter-tribal dispute while on a month-long trip to the East African country last year.

During the official ceremony, Mr Pendrill had to drink bull's urine and had a cow sacrificed in his honour. Since returning, he has worn his Masai clothes while going about his business in his home town of Almondsbury, near Bristol, UK. The 57-year-old bachelor, who was given the tribal name Siparo meaning 'brave one', often wanders down his local High Street wearing nothing but a robe and sandals. 'People can call me eccentric - it doesn't bother me,' he said. 'When I got home my ordinary clothes just felt odd. 'I've had some sideways looks and a difficult moment in a Bristol pub, but most people are polite,' he added. Mr Pendrill, an antiques dealer, has given his suits to Oxfam and plans to sell his £1.2million mansion so he can move to Kenya to live in a mud hut with the Masai later this year. 'I've developed a huge respect and affection for the people there. It's a real honour to be an elder,' he said.
(Link)
 
The millionaire who decided to buy his own town
The millionaire who decided to buy his own town
Fast cars and flash jewellery are the usual perks of the millionaire. But Scott Alexander has just splashed out on the ultimate status symbol – his own town. The 31-year-old lifestyle and property tycoon is turning a Bulgarian coastal town into a holiday hotspot for British tourists – and naming it after himself. 'The name is really hard to pronounce. I've decided to call it Alexander, which I suppose is quite cheeky.' Mr Alexander – who is single and lives in a penthouse apartment in Manchester – bought the town from a Bulgarian entrepreneur for £3 million. The identity of the place is being kept a secret until the deal is completed.

Mr Alexander's company, Ultimate Lifestyle Group Incorporated, has a staff of 60, offers personal training and arranges cosmetic surgery, property and cars for celebrities. Past clients include Tom Cruise, who Mr Alexander helped train for his role in Mission Impossible III. He was featured in Britain's TV Show ‘Biggest Spenders' and often quoted as being "the most vain man in Britain".

The nurse who became a millionaire but decided not to quit her job
The nurse who became a millionaire but decided not to quit her job
A nurse who won £1 million live on TV said she would not give up her £25,000 job. The money will change my lifestyle but it won't change me. Coronary care nurse Karen Shand, 40, will carry on working at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, Fife, despite winning the jackpot on ITV1's The Vault. Ms Shand won the cash after ringing the show 'on the spur of the moment' and answering six questions correctly. It was the largest amount ever won on live TV at that time.
 
The homeless billionaire
The homeless billionaire
Meet Nicholas Berggruen, a homeless billionaire. You read that right. Nicholas is worth billions but doesn't even own a home (he stays in hotels) because he's lost all interest in acquiring things. After making his billions, Mr. Berggruen, 46, lost interest in acquiring things: They didn't satisfy him, and in fact had become something of a burden. So he started paring down his material life, selling off his condo in New York, his mansion in Florida and his only car. He hatched plans to leave his fortune to charity and his art collection to a new museum in Berlin.

For him, wealth is about lasting impact, not stuff. Forbes magazine estimated Berggruen's net worth at $2.2 billion as of 2010.

The millionaire whose daughter works at McDonald's to learn the value of money
The millionaire whose daughter works at McDonald's to learn the value of money
The Thai prime minister sent his daughter to work at McDonald's. The billionaire even turned up to buy burgers from his 17-year-old daughter Paethongtan, the youngest of his three children, on her first day as a part-time employee after taking her university entrance examinations.

Her first task was to learn how to operate the cash register, but she will also learn to flip burgers. 'In developed countries, children usually work while they study to gain experience and to appreciate the value of money and how to spend it,' Thaksin said.' Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra himself worked at KFC fastfood outlet while studying in the US.

Dej Bulsuk, president of McThai who operates the McDonald's fastfood outlets in Thailand, said: "The prime minister came to me to personally ask if I could give his daughter a part-time job during the school holidays, the Premier asked me specifically to treat his daughter just like any other employee" Thaksin even said to me: "And let her sweep the floor like the others."
 

Monday, February 14, 2011

Top 10 Most Stupid Talents

here is the list of craziest and talented people in the world

The man who can get kicked in the crotch without injuring himself


The man who can get kicked in the crotch without injuring himself
Yong Hsueh, a Shaolin monk, appeared on the Chinese version of Britain's Got Talent to demonstrate his ability to get kicked in the crotch without suffering injury. He told the audience: “Steel crotch Kongfu is an ancient art, with roots stretching back to ancient China. “It's a practice to strengthen and protect the male genital organs so there is less chance they are injured or incapacitated in battle.”


Cross legged male members of the audience watched in shock as various members of the panel were invited to boot the monk – who simply bowed and smiled after each blow – between the legs. The monk said this skill could only be learned by a student that started in childhood – and it involves pushing the testicles into the body where they could not be hurt.
(Link | Via)

 The man who can stretch his skin for over 6 in


The man who can stretch his skin for over 6 in
Garry Turner (UK), better known as the Stretchy Skin Man, is able to stretch the skin of his stomach to a distended length of 15.8 cm (6.25 in) due to a rare medical condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a disorder of the connective tissues affecting the skin, ligaments and internal organs.

(Link)

 The man who can burp at 110 decibels


The man who can burp at 110 decibels
Everyone has their own particular talent. For Paul Hunn, it's the ability to belch at 110 decibels. He achieved the Guinness World record for the loudest burp on the set of The New Paul O'Grady Show, London, UK, on 24 September 2008.

(Link)

The contortionist who can squeeze through the head of a tennis racquet


The contortionist who can squeeze through the head of a tennis racquet
Captain Frodo is a very disconcerting figure. It could be his semi-naked and very white body, bulging eyes, tattooed back, or perhaps the 2in black pegs skewered through his nipples that do it. Or maybe it is the small fact that he is currently squeezing his body through a 10in diameter tennis racquet - strings removed. Oh yes, and to speed things along a bit, he's now dislocating one joint after another, leaving spaces where shoulders should be and white limbs flopping and flapping in all the wrong places like a rag doll gone wrong. He's a contortionist in La Clique, a circus that also features juggling, sword-swallowing, strong men acts, acrobatics - indeed, pretty much everything but the bearded lady. (Link)

 The man who can pull a minivan using his eyelids


The man who can pull a minivan using his eyelids
Next time your car needs a tow but it turns out you haven't got the right equipment, talk to this man. Stuntman Xie Zhongcai in Hefei, China's eastern Anhui Province, has another idea that fits the job. Just tie the car to your ear and head off. And if that seems like it might sting just a little, how about his next trick.

If the locals in Heping Square were left with their mouths open after his first stunt, they couldn't believe their eyes the second time – since the stuntman hooked up the minivan to his eye sockets!

(Link)

 The man who can throw up anything


The man who can throw up anything
Liang Yuxin trumps even the very worst hangovers to become world throwing-up record holder. The Chinese man, 25, from Xia Mei has stunned doctors with his ability to regurgitate anything from a live fish to a 50-inch chain. While the process of dispensing with ten or more mojitos in the morning may feel unnatural, Liang Yuxin's ability to throw up jewellery puts even the bitterest katzenjammer to shame. The champion chunderer said: ‘I found out I could do it when I was a boy and I accidentally swallowed a ball and found I could bring it back up at will. 'Now I seem to be able to swallow pretty much anything.'

Liang has taken to regularly swallowing fish and whatever else will fit down his oesophagus for kicks, and is now talking about going for the Guinness World Record in coin-swallowing. ‘The record is ten by a man in Britain and I can do 11,' he said. (Link | Via)

The man who can squirt milk with his eye


The man who can squirt milk with his eye
Ilker Yilmaz might just hold one of the world's most bizarre world records. The Turkish construction worker poured milk into his hand, loudly snorted it up his nose and squirted it 9.2 feet out of his left eye in what he hopes will be recognized as a new world record.

(Link)

The man who can fit an entire Coke can in his mouth


The man who can fit an entire Coke can in his mouth
Meet the man who won a place in the Guinness World Records for having a mouth so rubbery he can fit an entire Coke can in it… sideways. Francisco Domingo Joaquim's mouth stretches to a massive 6.69-inch-long, which adjudicators from the famous record book say is the world's widest. The 20-year-old record breaker from Sambizanga, Angola, is said to have shot to fame after showing off his ‘talent' at local markets and football games. (Link | Via)

The woman who plays two recorders with her nose


The woman who plays two recorders with her nose
Performer Claire Hawes left Britain's Got Talent judges speechless after showing off her extraordinary abilities with the recorder. Not content with playing just one instrument, she took to the stage with two - which she promptly proceeded to blow with her nose, instead of the more conventional method of using her mouth. Claire was just one of a clutch of performers who hoped to make it through to the finals of the hit TV show. (Link)


The professor who can draw a perfect freehand circle


The professor who can draw a perfect freehand circle
Alexander Overwijk draws a perfect freehand circle 1m in diameter in less than a second.

(Link)

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Top 10 World’s Biggest Animals

Growth is the law of nature and every living being evolves physically to a certain extant, but sometimes the natural growth process is hampered by genetic abnormalities, resulting in hyper or under growth. Today I have brought to you 10 such living beings who faced this abnormality and grew beyond normal limits. You will be surprised to see these different creatures with their huge built and entering in Guinness Book of Records.
The World’s Biggest Catfish
 This Mekong Giant Catfish is the largest freshwater fish in the world. Being nearly nine feet long (2.7 meters) and as big as a grizzly bear, this huge catfish caught in northern Thailand is the largest freshwater fish ever recorded. In the eyes of scientist’s the Mekong Giant Catfish has taken upper position with the recorded capture of this huge 646LB specimen by local fishermen in 2005.

World’s Tallest Horse

Noddy the Shire horse is a robust lad having might body. He weighs in at 1.3 tonnes. Noddy has just turned five and is no doubt the world’s tallest horse, standing 20.1 hands at the wither. His height is 81 inches, or 2.057m – puts him a full inch (2.5cm) taller than Tina, a Shire horse who officially listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s tallest.

The World’s Largest Tortoise

 Though unusual, but real that among the remaining giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands, there lives an old-timer which was a hatchling at the time of Charles Darwin’s famous visit in 1835. Giant tortoises are the long-lived of all vertebrates, averaging over 100 years. Records shows that the oldest ever lived was of 152 years.

The World’s Tallest Cat/Tiger

Jungle Island in Miami is home to a liger (a hybrid cross between a male lion and a female tiger) named Hercules, which is the largest non-obese liger. The liger is acknowledged by the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest cat on Earth, weighing in at 900 lbs.

The World’s Biggest Cow


The name of this gentle giant is Chilli. This black and white spotted Friesian bullock weighs over a ton and can challenge a small elephant being of 6ft 6ins. Even being so giant Chilli grazes only on grass and enjoys the occasional swede treat. Chilli dwarfs most of the horses at the stable.

The World’s Biggest Pig

 The Liaoning Provincial Agricultural Museum is appealing to the Guinness Book of Records to recognise a 900 kg (1984 pounds) pig which died on February 5 as the biggest pig ever. At its death the pig was 2.5 metres long and had a waistline of 2.23 metres and a tusk of 14.4 centimetres long. According to a farmer of Wafangdian city, the pig was only 5 years old. The pig received quality food all its life.

The World’s Largest Dog

The biggest dog in the world might be Hercules, but according to the book of Guinness World Records Gibson is the tallest one. Gibson has even co-authored his very own book, entitled “Gibson Speaks.” The book gives insight in to the life and journey of the world’s tallest dog.

The World’s Tallest Frog


The goliath frog, Conraua goliath is the largest living anuran on Earth. Generally, it is found in fast-flowing rivers with sandy bottoms. This frog can grow up to 13 inches (33 cm) in length from nose to vent, and weighs up to 8 lb (3 kg). But, this creature has a comparatively small habitat range, mainly in West Africa (near Gabon). The number is decreasing because of habitat destruction and collection for the pet trade.

 Worlds Largest Crocodile


 21.33 feet long

The World’s Biggest Bunny


A Continental Giant rabbit, Amy, was four feet long and weighed a whopping three stone before her death in May 2009 and Ralph, one of Amys 32 babies and barely a year old, is already longer and heavier compared to his monstrous mum and weighs more than the average three-year-old child.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Top 10 Hackers

The more we rely on technology, the more power hackers potentially have over us. Whether their intention is to help or to harm, hackers have the power (like it or not) to change the world. They may inspire fear, but over the years, we've learned a lot from their snooping and stealing.


No. 10 - The Deceptive Duo
 In 2002, the Deceptive Duo (really 20-year-old Benjamin Stark and 18-year-old Robert Lyttle) were responsible for a series of high-profile break-ins to government networks, including the U.S. Navy, NASA, FAA and Department of Defense. Like so many other hackers, California-based Lyttle and Florida-based claimed they were merely trying to expose security failures and protect Americans in a post-911 world. The two hackers posted messages, left email addresses and defaced Web sites in an attempt to get the government's attention...and get the government's attention, they did. Lyttle and Stark pleaded guilty in 2005. Stark was sentenced to two years probation, Lyttle served four months in prison with three years probation, and both were ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars in restitution for the damage they caused.
  
No. 9 - Jonathan James (aka c0mrade)
 
On the list of computer systems you'd want to be really, really, really secure, the Department of Defense surely shows up, which makes Jonathan James' (aka c0mrade) break-in to the DoD's Defense Threat Reduction Agency server all the more impressive. James' 1999 spree included not only the DoD, but NASA as well. The then 16-year-old used his purveyed access to steal software, not defense secrets, but James still got into some dangerous territory, including software used to control the International Space Station's living environment. For his crimes, he served an abbreviated minor's sentence of six months and also had to pledge to give up computer use.
No. 8 - Dmitri Galushkevich
When pretty much the whole country of Estonia was suddenly caught up in Internet gridlock in May 2007, the very-small-but-very-tech-savvy former Soviet Republic thought they knew who to blame: the Russian government.At the time, the two countries were caught up in a series of riots over the removal of Soviet-era statues, but now it had gotten serious. The weapon of choice? A botnet.The hackers responsible for the cyberterror hijacked computers and used them, en masse, to overload servers across the country. ATM machines didn't work, Web pages didn't load, government systems were shut down.It took weeks for Estonian officials to untangle the mess and even longer for them to find the culprit: Dmitri Galushkevich, a 20-year-old ethnic Russian living in Estonia. Was he working alone? Unclear, but for wreaking this havoc, Galushkevich was fined 17,500 kroons. Or about $1,620.
 No. 7 - Kevin Poulsen (aka Dark Dante)
Today, Kevin Poulsen is an editor at tech-savvy Wired magazine, but back in the 1980s, he was just your average phone-phreaking, Porsche-driving hack.Poulsen gained some notoriety for a clever prank he played on Los Angeles radio station KIIS, in which he rigged the phones to allow only him to get through and win a trip to Hawaii and the aforementioned Porsche.Known as Dark Dante, Poulsen also took on more serious targets. His break-in to the FBI's database eventually led to his 1991 arrest and five years prison time. Since then, he's gone respectable, retiring to the editor's chair and using his cybersleuth powers for good deeds, like tracking sex offenders on MySpace.
No. 6 - John Draper
Draper is pretty much the granddaddy of hackers.Back in the early 1970s, he was the king of "phone phreaking," meaning he was playing the phone company. Back in the pre-Internet, pre-personal computer days, the phone system was the big computer to beat and Draper did it well.Draper's breakthrough came when he and a friend realized that a toy whistle, a giveaway in a breakfast cereal box, emitted the same frequency as the tones used by AT&T switches to route phone calls.Building off that, Draper made homemade devices, "blue boxes" that could get you all the long distance calls you wanted...for free. What did all this get him? Some time in prison, as well as the attention of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who wanted to get in on phone phreaking himself. Draper went on to write one of the first word-processing programs, EasyWriter, but now specializes in, go figure, security.
No. 5 - Raphael Gray (aka Curador)
Raphael Gray called himself a saint, insisting he was only trying to help e-commerce sites when he broke into their databases to steal credit card numbers and personal information from 26,000 or so American, British and Canadian customers in 2000. The then-18-year-old Welsh teenager insisted he was merely trying to draw attention to lax online security systems. So, if he was really just trying to help, then why did he post the card numbers online? Well, that's another question.Gray was sentenced in 2001 to three years of psychiatric treatment.

 No. 4 - Gary McKinnon (aka Solo) 
Scottish-born, London-based hacker McKinnon wasn't just in it for fun; he had a political axe to grind.Conspiracy-theorist McKinnon broke into computers at the U.S. Department of Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force and NASA sometime in 2001 and 2002. What exactly was he looking for? Evidence of really fuel-efficient alien spacecraft, for one.No joke.McKinnon believes the U.S. government was hiding alien technology that could solve the global energy crisis. Now, in the process of snooping around for this stuff, the self-taught hacker concedes he may have deleted a whole bunch of other files and maybe some hard drives as he attempted to cover up his tracks. Nothing significant, he insists.The U.S. government begs to differ, claiming McKinnon's hack job cost them $700,000 to fix. They also kind of doubt the whole UFO story and wonder if his snooping had more earthly intentions. Back in the U.K., Gary's lawyers insist that their client, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, deserves special mental health considerations.Gary himself has become a cause celebre, with his pending extradition being protested by celebrities like Sting.
No. 3 - Adrian Lamo
It's true that companies sometimes hire hackers to test their systems for weaknesses, but no one ever hired Adrian Lamo.In 2002 and 2003, Lamo broke into several high-profile targets, just for kicks. He then told the targets what he had been able to do and how he did it. How kind of him. Lamo's targets included Microsoft, Yahoo and the New York Times, where he inserted his contact info into their database of experts.Known as "the homeless hacker," Lamo slept in abandoned buildings and hacked via laptop from Internet cafes and public libraries. His network-busting technique of choice involved going in through the out door, entering sites through proxy access, a setup that corporations often use to let their computers connect out to the Internet. That led to his arrest in 2003.Lamo served two years probation and now works as a tech journalist.
No. 2 - Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick started out just wanting a free ride on the bus.He came a long way from his hacks into the Los Angeles metropolitan bus system and early dabbling in phone fraud. Mitnick went on to become the most wanted computer hacker in the country, known (and wanted) primarily for his hack into Digital Equipment Corporation's network to steal their software.It may have been his first notable break-in, but Mitnick went on to other big targets, including cell phone giants Nokia and Motorola.Even his eventual arrest was notable: After hacking into fellow hacker Tsutomu Shimomura's computer, Mitnick was tracked down by Shimomura and the FBI in 1995.Today, Mitnick has served a five-year sentence and come clean, but he continues to profit off his former title, authoring books and working as a security consultant.
No. 1 - Robert Tappan Morris
Even if you know next to nothing about computer viruses, you've probably heard of "worms." That's because news stories about this particularly contagious (and therefore destructive) breed of virus abound.Blame Robert Tappan Morris for it all.Back in 1988, while a graduate student at Cornell University, Morris created the first worm and released it on the Internet. He claimed it was all an experiment gone awry, a test to see how big the then-new Internet was. The worm turned out to be more than a test: it replicated quickly, slowing computers to the point of non-functionality and virtually crippling the Internet. He was eventually fined and sentenced to three years probation.Since then, he's earned his Ph.D. from Harvard and made millions designing software. Today, he's a computer science professor at MIT. Not bad.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Top 10 Amazing Animal Weapons

Did you know the most dangerous animal in the world is the human? With an arsenal of weapons and high-tech gear, we have mastered the ability to defend ourselves against most threats.
But you might be surprised to learn many animals also are capable of defending themselves without delivering a single bite. From a beetle that sprays boiling hot acid at its enemies, to a fish with shooting skills that make a rifle seem mundane, many animals are naturally equipped with impressive -- and somewhat strange -- weaponry. These creatures don't just point and shoot, but often put their whole bodies into defending their territory or family. Armor up! It's time to learn about animal warfare.

10. Humpback Whale

When one of the largest mammals of the sea is looking for a really large meal, just one or two fish won't do. The humpback whale often will gather a few of his fellow humpbacks, and employ a rather ingenious method to catch a fish buffet. The whales begin by circling a group of fish, and then they exhale a stream of air to trap the fish in a kind of net made of bubbles. This net is surprisingly strong and capable of catching fish just like a real net. Once the fish are trapped, the humpback whales take turns diving to the bottom of the net, and then quickly swim right through it with their mouths wide open, taking in a very large feast in one fell swoop. The humpbacks repeat this process until their whale-sized appetites are satisfied, making the buffet lines most people go to seem pretty benign.  
 

 Spitting Spider

Spiderman uses his web-slinging powers to jump and swing from building to building, but these fantastic abilities might meet their match in those of the spitting spider. At first glance, this eight-legged crawler, with its slow gait and poor eyesight, doesn't seem like much of a threat. But looks are deceiving, as this spider has something no other arachnid has: the ability to spit a glue-like substance at his prey. The spitting spider has two stomachs, one that holds silk for web building and another that holds the sticky spit. When this predator discovers a tasty snack, it will first spit on its prey at lightening fast speeds of 1/600th of a second, which holds the victim in place while the spider delivers a killer bite. 

 Whip Scorpion

The whip scorpion, named for its thin tail that resembles a leather whip, grows only to about 3 inches (18 centimeters) long and isn't nearly as dangerous as more common scorpion species. In fact, this scorpion doesn't have pinschers or venom, and its tail doesn't sting. But the whip scorpion does have something other scorpion species don't have: acid. If the whip scorpion senses danger, it will whip its tail around and deliver a stream of pungent fluid from its anal glands. While the fluid isn't poisonous, it is caustic enough to make most predators back off -- or at least hesitate -- giving the whip scorpion time to get out of Dodge.
 Whip Scorpion

 
Malaysian Ant
Most people are familiar with the fire ant and its painful sting, but that red insect might seem tame when you consider its cousin, the Malaysian ant. Also known as the exploding ant, this little insect really takes its job as a soldier to the extreme. The Malaysian ant is as tiny as any ordinary ant, but built to serve and protect the rest of the colony. Considered a soldier ant, its insides are packed with poisonous sacks from its head all the way down its back. When a predator appears, the ant will contract its muscles to build up the poison. Then, similar to a pressure cooker, it explodes, spraying the toxins on the threat. The predator can die from the poison, or if it's large enough to survive, it will think twice before approaching another ant in the area. But the Malaysian ant dies as well, giving its life and limbs for the greater good of the ant colony.

Skunk

These black mammals with a white stripe have earned the title of world's smelliest animal, perhaps in part due to the legendary Pepé le Pew, from the long-running cartoon series, "Looney Tunes." Pepé was always portrayed with a trail of eau de reek following behind him while he chased after Penelope Pussycat, but as with most things on television, this isn't an entirely accurate depiction. According to the Humane Society of the United States, these misunderstood creatures don't naturally smell bad and only drop a stink bomb when threatened. Even then, they will give a few warning signals -- like hissing, stamping their feet, or lifting their tails in the air -- before letting their musk loose. Skunks' noxious spray can travel as far as 10 feet (3 meters), but they only have enough spray for five to six uses before they need to replenish the supply, which can take up to 10 days. While its spray isn't lethal, a skunk's stench is enough to make any predator evacuate the area, and the smell lingers for days, which can make the unfortunate recipient of the spray very uncomfortable.
 
 
Archer Fish

The archer fish is the sharp shooter of rivers, and a jet of water is its weapon. With precise aim, this fish is able to take out any insect within a few feet using nothing but water squirted from its mouth. Mostly found in Asia, the archer fish averages only 6 inches (15 centimeters) in length and has a flat body and head. Its mouth is slanted upward, which is advantageous when it jumps up to grab land-based bugs. This fish usually swims just below the water's surface, and when it spots prey that's within range, it adjusts its eyes like a scope, so the insect lines up horizontally. Then, the fish's lips just barely break the water's surface as it shoots a jet of water at the victim. This powerful water stream can reach up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) away. The archer fish almost always hits its targets with one shot, instantly killing grasshoppers, spiders and other insects. If a bug is close enough, the fish will forgo the squirting and simply leap out of the water and grab the insect with its mouth instead.
 
Horned Lizard

The horned lizard is equipped with so many defense tactics, it could be considered the defense secretary of all animal species. Like a chameleon, its skin color can adapt to many of nature's backgrounds, including the desert it calls home. These reptiles can even look like rocks, thanks to their coloration and horned backs. When hiding in plain sight doesn't work, its next defense is to puff up its body to make itself look bigger and less appetizing to a potential predator. If that doesn't stop an enemy in its tracks, then the horned lizard goes for the coup de gras -- squirting blood out of its eyes. In order to do this, a horned lizard restricts blood flow to the rest of its body, increasing blood pressure in the head, which ruptures vessels in its eyelids. It's able to aim the blood gusher with precision from up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) away. While the blood isn't poisonous, it does seem to confuse predators and tastes pretty bad.
Horned Lizard


Bombardier Beetle

Since beetles aren't able to fly away in a split-second like other insects, they require other tools to defend themselves against enemies. The bombardier beetle in particular is outfitted with some serious defense mechanisms, including an armored body that protects it from the elements. But it’s the boiling hot liquid sprayed from its stomach that is most effective against predators. Inside the beetle's abdomen are two chemical-filled chambers that, when combined, create an acid that heats up to 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius) and then sprays out in an explosive manner through the abdominal wall. And if the spray isn't enough to scare off any animal, this beetle also makes a sound like a gunshot once it unleashes an acid bath on its predator.
 

Hagfish

The hagfish, found in most of the world's oceans, makes a really big mess to ward off would-be predators. When this fish is feeling stressed or senses harm, it releases a thick slime that acts as a protective coating. Once the threat is gone, the hagfish ties itself into a knot and then twists its way back out of it, scraping the slime away, or else it could suffocate on its own gunk. These little slimers only grow to be about 15 inches (40 centimeters) long and the width of a thumb, but can release up to a liter (.2 gallons) of slime in about one second, says marine biologist Douglas Fudge. Should a predatory fish decide to take its chances on this gooey creature, it would soon have regrets, since the slime oozes out of a hagfish as soon as it's bitten. The attacking fish would soon have gills full of goo and quickly choke to death. 


Electric Eel

Normally, water and high voltage don't mix. But for one underwater creature, the combination is positively electrifying. Electric eels might share the same name and traits as true eels, but they're considered to be more closely related to catfish. Found throughout South America in muddy-bottomed rivers or basins, electric eels can grow to be more than 8 feet (2.5 meters) long. They are normally dark green or gray, which helps them blend in with their environment, but their most valuable asset is truly shocking. Their organs contain special cells called "electrocytes" that effectively turn them into batteries. The eels use these electric organs to sense foreign objects and smaller fish that might make a good meal. To feed, they will deliver small shocks to fish, rendering their victims paralyzed. While their prey is still alive, but unable to move, the eels will suck them up like spaghetti noodles. When they sense a threat, they can release about 600 volts of power to the predator, which knocks most enemies dead. When you consider that the average U.S. wall outlet only carries about 100 volts, it's clear that -- like many of the other creatures on this countdown -- the electric eel packs quite a punch.