There’s nothing I love more than a good, creepy spider story.  Well, love is a strong word; more like nothing I find more perversely frigthening than a good creepy spider, and with the discovery of Cerbalus aravensis by the University of Haifa-Oranim in Israel, well, I have a good creepy spider.  This is more than just your standard arachnid; this spider is nearly 6 inches long (one of the largest spiders in the Middle East) and it lives in underground bunkers, hiding beneath a door made of glued-together sand before springing out and capturing its prey, whatever it may eat.

This giant beast lives in the Sands of Samar, Israel’s only remaining sand dune area.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you hate spiders), its habitat is under assault from urban sprawl and some mining projects the Israel Land Administration has in the area.  Researchers are hoping the spider’s habitit in southern Arava can be preserved so the species can be studied before it gets wiped out by the forces of progress.

Spiders creep me out.

Tags: giant spiders, new species, spiders discovered in Israel, Sands of Samar, Arava, Israel, Cerbalus aravensis, creepy spiders, endangered species, University of Haifa-Oranim, half-foot spider

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]