Most dangerous sea creatures

Great barracuda

Covering 70% of the world’s surface the sea is home to some of the most unusual, mysterious and deadly animals on the planet. As humans are not native to the oceans this makes us easy pickings for many of these creatures, although thankfully we are largely off the menu.. As someone who has spent plenty … Read more

Australia’s Most Dangerous Animals

Saltwater crocodile

It seems to be pretty widely accepted that as soon as you step of the plane Down Under your life expectancy plummets due Australia’s wealth of deadly animals. Inland are some of the most venomous creatures to be found anywhere, whilst the coasts are stalked by some of the biggest predators on the planet. If that … Read more

10 Most Dangerous Spiders in the World

Brazilian wandering spider

Arachnophobia (the fear of spiders) affects around 5% of the population including celebrities as diverse as Justin Timberlake and JK Rowling. Whilst both statistically and factually there is very little to fear from most spiders these little eight-legged critters do seem to have reserved a special place in the human psyche. It is true that all … Read more

10 Most Dangerous Chemical Elements

fluorine

There are somewhere in the region of 118 elements that are known of. The reason for being vague is that some are thought to exist but have never been observed. Of these 98 occur naturally. Very few of these elements are completely harmless and most present some risk in sufficient doses. There are no hard,fast … Read more

10 Deadliest Man Eating Animals

Piranha

Back in prehistoric times being eaten alive by some sort of ravenous beast was an everyday risk. Thankfully, since then things have improved somewhat for most of us – getting hit by a bus is probably the modern equivalent of being torn apart by wolves. However, there are still far flung places and environments beyond … Read more

Most Dangerous Animals in Asia

Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis)

For those of you who’ve seen the Jungle Book then you’re halfway there on this one. We’ve got snakes, bears and even tigers, but there’s also a few even nastier deadly animals to be found across the vast continent of Asia. Stretching from the deserts of the Middle East to the steamy jungles of South … Read more

10 Most Poisonous Plants in the World

Suicide tree (Cerbera odollam)

As plants aren’t, by their nature, very mobile they have developed a variety of ways of protecting themselves from all things herbivorous. Many have evolved spikes, stings and even just an unpleasant taste. However, many went down the route of the ultimate deterrent – being so poisonous that anything eating them was unlikely to ever … Read more

Most Dangerous Animal in North America

Grizzly Bear

On the deadly scale, the continent of North America is somewhere in the middle. Probably even on the safe side. But don’t let that lul you into a false sense of security. There are quite a few dangerous animals both big and small roaming the wilds of the USA and Canada. To cram in the … Read more

Medieval Torture Devices

The rack

Of all the times to live in throughout history the Medieval period was probably one to avoid.  Roughly speaking Medieval times (or the Middle Ages) started at the end of the Roman Empire, around 500 AD, and continued until around the 1500s. Whilst I’m sure plenty of lovely things happened during this time none of them … Read more

Most Poisonous Mushrooms

Fly agaric - Amanita muscaria

Everybody knows that for most of us going into the woods to pick and eat a random selection of toadstools and mushrooms is pretty much like playing Russian roulette – it’s been drummed into us since we were reading fairy tales. The point is unless you are an absolute expert on gathering mushrooms you should … Read more