Spider Rain?!!

TL;DR

Spiders in Brazil create a giant communal web, a new virus is spreading but not yet a major concern, and evidence of a massive asteroid impact is found in Australia.

Transcript

hello this is Hank green welcome back to scishow news it's record-setting straight time again and you and I've got a lot to discuss from the rain of spiders in Brazil that you may have heard about - a new virus that's got the Internet all atwitter - another asteroid that was recently found to have hit the earth and I'm not talking about the one in ... Read More

Key Insights

• 🕷️ Spiders in Brazil create giant communal webs to save energy and catch larger insects.
• ❓ The novel coronavirus is spreading slowly and not highly transmissible among humans.
• 🍻 Geologists have discovered evidence of a massive asteroid impact in Australia that may be linked to a major extinction event.
• 🙈 Viral videos may not always depict reality, as seen in the case of the "rain of spiders" in Brazil.
• 👻 Cooperative living among spiders has allowed certain species to thrive.
• ❓ The novel coronavirus is related to SARS but is not yet a major cause for concern.
• 💀 The asteroid impact in Australia highlights the dangers of space rocks colliding with Earth.

Questions & Answers

Q: What is the phenomenon shown in the viral video of spiders in Brazil?

The video shows a giant communal spider web called a sheet web, where thousands of spiders live together and catch larger insects.

Q: How many cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported so far?

Since its discovery last April, there have been 12 reported cases, mostly contracted in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan, and resulted in five deaths.

Q: Is the novel coronavirus highly transmissible among humans?

There is not much evidence of human-to-human transmission, as no family members or healthcare workers connected to the first nine reported cases have fallen ill.

Q: What evidence of a massive asteroid impact has been found in Australia?

Geologists have discovered a 300-kilometer-wide impact crater, the third largest on Earth, that was created by an asteroid 280 to 360 million years ago during the late devonian extinction event.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• The viral video of a "rain of spiders" in Brazil is actually a giant communal spider web called a sheet web, where thousands of spiders live and catch large insects together.

• A new virus called the novel coronavirus or nCov is spreading, but so far there have been only 12 reported cases with five deaths. It is not highly transmissible among humans.

• Geologists have discovered evidence of a massive asteroid impact in Australia, which occurred 280 to 360 million years ago and may be linked to the late devonian extinction event.