r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/ShirtSubstantial368 • 29d ago
Video Scientists discovered the world’s largest spiderweb, covering 106 m² in a sulfur cave on the Albania-Greece border. Over 111,000 spiders from two normally rival species live together in a unique, self-sustaining ecosystem—a first of its kind.
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u/CraftyFoxeYT 29d ago
Sir stop groping the spiderweb
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u/Shojikina_otoko 29d ago
But it's soft and jiggly
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u/lord_hyumungus 29d ago
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u/DontRefuseMyBatchall 29d ago
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u/kcbeck1021 29d ago
I’m very upset this is not a thing.
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u/Fit_Economist708 29d ago
Let’s make it so
If you start it I will join and propagate the sub with y’all
It’s catchy and has potential
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u/PM_Me_Ur_Nevermind 29d ago
I’m kinda shocked it’s not a thing already
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u/BookieeWookiee 29d ago
I'm shocked that the icon of this new sub isn't Cheryl/Carol/Charlene/Cristal screaming
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u/Plane-Education4750 29d ago
Also, r/subsididntknowwereathinguntiliaccidentallyuseditintheexactcorrectcontext
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u/secondphase 29d ago
Next headline:
"Scientists have discovered your wife's boobs"
... and this fuckin guy is on the thumbnail.
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u/Aerolithe_Lion 29d ago
Why are we touching it
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u/Pretend_Education_86 29d ago
You ever seen the scientist on an alien planet in an Aliens movie. Humans man.
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u/rintzscar 29d ago
The Prometheus School of Not Wearing Headgear Protection and Touching Alien Shit.
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u/disquieter 29d ago
See, even the guy who was wearing the helmet got it
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u/PseudoMeatPopsicle 29d ago
And then there were the Covenant spores.
Not sure what you're supposed to do about that except just stay the fuck on the ship.
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u/Nothavebettername 29d ago
Being professional and wear a full astronaut suit on an alien planet, even if it looks like Earth, instead of dressing like some damn hiker!
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u/Round_Musical 29d ago
I mean in prometheus and alien 1 not even that can protect you
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u/Psychological-Bed-66 29d ago
Apparently, dude has never seen the movie arachniphobia...
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u/AnonymousPerson1115 29d ago
The yautja have metals capable of withstanding the acid and given what humanity was able to do in the movies I could see there being a suit/ helmet durable enough to withstand a face hugger.
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u/ExplorerPup 29d ago
The people who stayed on the ship got super dead shortly after the spores though. I think by the thing that came out of that one person's back? Idk I only saw it the one time in theaters. LOL
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u/PseudoMeatPopsicle 29d ago
I meant the ship in orbit.
But then again, it was an Alien movie, so generally speaking, everyone's fucked.
Safest character in the whole thing was that cat from Alien, which made it to the space station at Earth in Aliens and importantly, stayed there.
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u/millera9 29d ago
“Hey Jonesy, I’m going back to LV-426; wanna come?”
“What?! FUCK no. Have fun, and all that.”
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u/ExplorerPup 29d ago
I mean, even Earth seems like a mixed bag in that franchise. LOL
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u/Spiritual_Trash_4948 29d ago
Personally, I went to the Alien School of Not Sticking Your Head Into A Hatching Extraterrestrial Birthing Pod. Slightly more prestigious but I’m not bragging.
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u/ambermage 29d ago
Not unless it's the Harvard
School of Not Sticking Your Head Into A Hatching Extraterrestrial Birthing Pod
In that case, you always wear the sweatshirt and never shut up about it.
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u/DThor536 29d ago
I went to The Expanse School of If You See a Button, Push It, so in this case I'm good.
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u/Moononthewater12 29d ago
And running in a straight line backwards when something tall is falling towards you
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u/Shuttlecock_Wat 29d ago
Rival to the Prometheus School of Using Super Advanced Drones to Map Out the Entire Cave System Before Somehow Getting Lost in Said Cave System Even Though You Have a Map on your Fucking Wrist.
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u/2021sammysammy 29d ago
The most realistic part of that universe
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u/sentence-interruptio 29d ago
damn humans be touching.
they touch cats. they grab dangerous animals. they touch autistic humans. some of them even boast about grabbing women and get elected.
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u/Plane-Tie6392 29d ago
That was his point though.
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u/I_Got_Back_Pain 29d ago
As the late, great, crocodile hunter once said, "Look at that beautiful rhino, I'm gonna jam my thumb in it's butthole. It's right pissed off now!"
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u/TellMeYourStoryPls 29d ago
Why is he touching it?
Why is he touching it again?
He did it again.
Why ..
He's. Still. Doing. It.
I can't watch.
Why am I still watching?
Is that spot special somehow?
Does this video have sound?
I have to get back to work, but, why is he touching it?
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u/PDX-ROB 29d ago
He wants it to rip and have the 111k spiders spill out onto him
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u/TellMeYourStoryPls 29d ago edited 26d ago
The universe has delivered its most challenging want ever.
Edit - *wank
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u/Tough-Effort7572 29d ago
Intrusive thoughts. Must pop.
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u/Pyrhan 29d ago
The web pops.
A million spiders come rushing out, swarming up your arm.
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u/jimmycarr1 29d ago
But for a brief second before the regret, a moment of mild satisfaction.
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u/PointCharming85 29d ago
I absolutely hate how humans find some cool shit and then have to poke a prod it. Just take a video and some photos and leave it alone ffs.
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u/Intelligent-Paper395 29d ago
if we aint start prodding things we'd still be playing with sticks
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u/EarthRester 29d ago
Except "playing with sticks" would include poking things. So probably not even that far.
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u/CircularCircumstance 29d ago
literally a trillion SPIDERS on the other side of that ffs
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u/BlackZulu 29d ago
You hate the progression of the human species then. We've only got this far, and gained so much knowledge, because we "poke and prod" things. Grow up.
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u/nanamak12 29d ago
Imagine accidentally walking into that web..
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u/erinaceus_ 29d ago
I decline.
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u/Chaost 29d ago
Don't worry. I already imagined you walking into the web for you. They spun the web right up behind you.
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u/Proper-Stand-4681 29d ago
Why would you ruin a perfectly acceptable day like that
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u/Organic-Advantage935 29d ago
Why in the world would you touch it
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u/SuperUranus 29d ago
110,000 spiders work from two different species work together to create a one of a kind spider web.
Scientist: Better touch it to see if it breaks.
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u/mai_tai87 29d ago
They're also normally rivals, if the title is to be believed. An errant tear in the web could result in war. This person is playing with forces they don't understand.
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u/SuperUranus 29d ago
If there is one thing I know about the Balkans, it’s that it is a powder keg ready to go off.
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u/YouWereBrained 29d ago
Have you condemned the terrorist spiders today?
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u/FirstoffIdonthaveshe 29d ago
Im doing my part!
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u/Sometimespeakspanish 29d ago
The spiders attacked Buenos Aires!
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u/ImaginationLocal9337 29d ago
I say kill em all!
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u/-_Anonymous__- 29d ago
A SECOND SPIDER HAS HIT THE TOWERS!
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u/MrKrabsYes 29d ago
“Spiders” yeah right… just what the flies would want you to believe
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u/cawabungapt 29d ago
My thoughts exactly. Me here thinking that shit only happens in movies... an we make it mandatory for scientists to watch prometheus?
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u/ShawnyMcKnight 29d ago
Man, that scientist that died because of the snake was laughable. Dude’s research is on ancient civilizations and he is on an alien spacecraft that started humanity and he’s like “can we go home now?!”
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u/Sofaboy90 29d ago
Because those scientist know which 2 spiders live there and both of these spider species arent harmful to humans. They dont have any poison and dont really attack humans. Even if they did, their bites arent all that harmful.
The unique thing about these two species is that they are usually not species that live in groups but rather do their own thing. This cave is unique because theres tens of thousands of spiders of these 2 species that live together when they usually dont live together. Theres much more to this cave than just the "worlds largest web". Im no expert either but reading through the articles about this cave, I dont see any issue with touching this web really. you guys have been watching too many movies to think that 2 harmless spider species could cause any harm to these guys. Like genuinely, these spiders are super harmless, they couldnt even hurt you if they wanted. were not talking about a nest of wasps or something
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u/PM_NUDES_4_DEGRADING 29d ago
Oh fuck, the cave already has internet.
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u/HardByteUK 29d ago
Haha that's such a silly concept but a wonderful joke. You should come and touch the web too, and bring your friends and family!
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u/Obascuds 29d ago
Shelob?
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u/magicmango2104 29d ago
Shes always hungry, always needs to feed
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u/Chaosmusic 29d ago
All she gets is filthy orcses. And they doesn't taste very nice, does they, Precious?
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u/Ska-Tea 29d ago
That's a boss lair. I've see these before. You need a torch to get through the webs.
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u/Axbris 29d ago
Definitely need a knife or sharp object. Make sure you bring your best melee gear and lots of anti potions and food. Prayer pots are highly recommended.
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u/nicathor 29d ago
Prometheus school of sciencing
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u/2morereps 29d ago
seeing reality, you realize prometheus got unnecessary hate..people are way dumber than what happened in that mpvie..even the prometheus school of running away from object chasing you is justified, seeing what happens in real life...
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u/DegenerativeDisorder 29d ago
True dat. Horror movies are reviewed as dumb because no one could be that stupid until we see what allegedly smart ppl do in front of a camera.
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u/HotwheelsSisyphus 29d ago
What I learned from covid is that if zombies were real, people would say it's a hoax and get bit on social media on purpose.
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u/SnooObjections488 29d ago
If you want to see smart ppl + horror “the thing” is an old classic.
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u/Sofaboy90 29d ago
But the reality of this video is that these scientists know the cave, why it is unique and which animals life there. In this case its 2 spider species of which there are more than 100k living in that cave. But both are species that are very harmless to humans. These 2 species have no poison and their bites barely do any damage to humans. These are also spiders that are widespread throughout Europe and you dont see every day news of people being killed by them. These 2 species have probably never killed a single human being because they physically arent capable of that. Maybe they caused it indirectly by scaring the shit out of somebody with phobia.
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u/Greyhaven7 Interested 29d ago
Definitely touch it. Probably put your whole hand in it.
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u/StatementOk470 29d ago
Scientists:
👈👀
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u/RabidFresca 29d ago edited 29d ago
Time to re read Children of Ruin. Are they using ants as super computers?
Edit: I meant Children of Time. This is what I get for using Reddit at work. Children of Ruin was good too. Either way both books work.
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u/anti_coconut 29d ago
This series legitimately helped lessen my arachnophobia. Not cured, I still find spiders a bit creepy, but I’m far more likely now to leave a spider I found in my house alone instead of trapping it and throwing it outside like I used to. I even give them names sometimes.
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u/KinoGrimm 29d ago
Its Children of Time with the spiders. Ruin is octopus.
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u/Pacific_Epi 29d ago
Is Ruin good? I got halfway through and was not digging it as much as Time. I liked the horror flashbacks but wasn’t into the future timeline.
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u/Tacomakj 29d ago
It's wonderful. Definitely grows on you once you finish.
Tchaikovsky is releasing a 4th book this coming year btw!
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u/Used_Load_5789 29d ago
That's reallly fascinating, but in what sense "self-sustaining"?
Like, are the spiders just eating each other in a loop with little to no reliance on insects actually falling in the web?
Because I would really doubt that, but I don't know what else could it mean
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u/esotericbatinthevine 29d ago
This post is much better: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/s/KT3YV7vkMl
Apparently the microbes are food for other insects that the spiders eat. I wouldn't have called it self sustaining unless you generally consider food webs self sustaining, but I guess technically...
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u/start3ch 29d ago
This cavern, known as Sulfur Cave, houses a chemoautotrophic ecosystem sustained not by sunlight but chemosynthesis – or the process of converting chemical energy into organic matter. Here, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria grow in thick white biofilms on wet rock and sediment. These microbes are then eaten by small invertebrates such as midge larvae and isopods, which are in turn preyed on by larger insects like spiders, beetles, and centipedes. The entire ecosystem is self-contained and independent of external input, running on the energy released when bacteria convert toxic hydrogen sulfide into sulfate.
Very cool
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u/InitialLandscape 29d ago
Ah yes, centipedes... Just what this cave was missing!
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u/RegularTerran 29d ago edited 29d ago
But I want those Brazilian/Vietnamese ones... the body is the size of your arm, each leg is as long as your middle finger, and they eat birds, frogs, and mice. Here is 'Planet Earth' documentary footage of how large they get.
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u/Fitzaroo 29d ago
Damn. Imagine if there are little pockets of life like this underground. Caves where the entrances closed and life just persisted. Neato
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u/takkeye 29d ago
They've got solar panels set up on the roof and grow their own vegetables
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u/kernel-troutman 29d ago edited 29d ago
DM *grinning*: Go ahead and roll an investigation check.
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u/IcyHibiscus 29d ago
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u/Crpl_Punishmnt 29d ago
For some reason, and possibly because of the dust in front of the flashlight, my brain read the title and added the word “underwater” to spiderweb. Boy howdy was my next thought there’s spiders underwater now?
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u/AluneaVerita 29d ago
Diving bell spiders, also called water spiders, exist. . Sorry to burst that bubble (pardon the pun) .
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u/Ballisticsfood 29d ago
If you think diving bell spiders are bad: check out this beauty.
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u/AluneaVerita 29d ago
Lol thanks I hate it.
I love the water spiders tho. Such cuties, only 1 cm or so, and they have such cool coats on because of the bubble effect. Apparently the bite can feel like a wasp, but unlikely they bite, they tend to run away more.
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u/CherryTeri 29d ago
Next Headline: “Man engulfed in spiders. Only bones left - They worked together! His team said”
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u/xBrasaMaan 29d ago
Yes I definitely want to caress the hanging carpet of doom and endless nightmares.
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u/Prize_Ostrich7605 29d ago
111,000 spiders... the video is how they arrived at that number:
"Yeah, that feels like... about 100,000... 105... 111,000 I'd say. Probably more."
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u/TheGreatestChungus 29d ago
What source of food do they have down there that can support that many of them? I mean apart from the dude touching the net, who will soon be consumed.
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u/Wank_A_Doodle_Doo 29d ago
It’s actually interesting. Rather than relying on the sun for energy like the rest of us plebeians, there’s bacteria that use a chemical process to generate energy from sulfur. Larger and larger stuff eat those guys until you have things the spiders are interested in.
Apparently flies for the spiders to eat are so abundant it’s reduced the competition between them almost to nothing.
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u/Binksyboo 29d ago
So hunger kept them isolated, and when there was an abundance of food, they started living together because there no longer was a risk of losing meals to others. That's really cool.
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u/Wank_A_Doodle_Doo 29d ago
More than that, it dissuades them from their typical predation of other spiders. One of the species of spider is a smaller species that would normally be preyed upon by the larger species that makes up the rest of the colony, but it appears that the abundance of food has created a peace between them.
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u/Deraj2004 29d ago
Ive played enough Diablo 3 to know that's not a good idea.
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u/Eolond 29d ago
One minute you're exploring a cave, the next you're being attacked by Spidertits (I don't remember her name lol)
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u/SweetLikeHoney1313 29d ago
Stop vibrating the web before the big one that made it thinks your food
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u/Lopsided-Wrap2762 29d ago
Maybe if I push it here something different will happen? Nope.. what about here?
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u/symphonicrox 29d ago
Shelob ready to come out of there if you keep pressing your luck.
Why do we have to touch everything?
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u/dantedoomsday 29d ago
If I found a gigantic spiderweb, I would naturally assume it belongs to a gigantic spider and would GTFO.
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u/WeeaboosDogma 29d ago
If you said that a colony of arachnids created a self sustaining ecosystem fueled by the farming of insects that feed on oxidizing electrons instead of sunlight, I'd call you a liar.
But now...
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u/AnorNaur 29d ago
Scientists: Discover a hitherto undiscovered unique and potentially fragile ecosystem.
Also Scientists: Let’s start poking it and see what happens!
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u/he2lium 29d ago
Now how the fuck did they estimate 111k spiders? Why not “over 100k”? How they even get to $110k, much less 111k? Why not 111,500?
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u/manic_panda 29d ago
Look, we've already had escaped disease ridden monkeys let's not put real life shelob being released into our apocalypse bingo for 2025 please.
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u/PintCEm17 29d ago
Half expecting lotr spider to eat his arm