The Creepiest Science and Nature Stories of 2014

In June, Facebook announced that they'd been conducting research on their users. They discovered that they could manipulate a user's moods by changing whether the majority of posts on their Newsfeed were positive or negative. And of course, everybody was, thrilled. Getty

In June, Facebook announced that they'd been conducting research on their users. They discovered that they could manipulate a user's moods by changing whether the majority of posts on their Newsfeed were positive or negative. And of course, everybody was, thrilled.

Getty

Researchers in the Dunn Lab at North Carolina State University study the ecosystem of the human body (Their flagship investigation is the Belly Button Biodiversity project). This year, they blessed us with the unfortunately not-forgettable knowledge that every one of us has mites living on our faces. Thanks guys! Your Wild Life, NCSU

Researchers in the Dunn Lab at North Carolina State University study the ecosystem of the human body (Their flagship investigation is the Belly Button Biodiversity project). This year, they blessed us with the unfortunately not-forgettable knowledge that every one of us has mites living on our faces. Thanks guys!

Your Wild Life, NCSU

Instead of horns, male Kashmir musk deer grow fangs to challenge each other for the right to mate. Thought to be extinct for over half a century, this year researchers catalogued at least three individual deer in the mountains of Afghanistan. They weren't able to snap any pictures, so Count Buckula above is actually a closely related Siberian musk deer. Николай Усик/Wikipedia

Instead of horns, male Kashmir musk deer grow fangs to challenge each other for the right to mate. Thought to be extinct for over half a century, this year researchers catalogued at least three individual deer in the mountains of Afghanistan. They weren't able to snap any pictures, so Count Buckula above is actually a closely related Siberian musk deer.

Николай Усик/Wikipedia

This year's creepiest arachnid fact: Spiders catch and eat fish on every continent except Antarctica. Why is this so creepy? I dunno, maybe look at the picture. Last year the same researcher published the awful info that spiders also eat bats. Ed Germain

This year's creepiest arachnid fact: Spiders catch and eat fish on every continent except Antarctica. Why is this so creepy? I dunno, maybe look at the picture. Last year the same researcher published the awful info that spiders also eat bats.

Ed Germain

Right now, I want cake...or at least something inside me does. This year, researchers found evidence that our gut microbes---the beneficial bacteria that help us break down food---could be controlling our cravings by sending chemical cues to our brains. Y Tambe/Wikipedia

Right now, I want cake...or at least something inside me does. This year, researchers found evidence that our gut microbes---the beneficial bacteria that help us break down food---could be controlling our cravings by sending chemical cues to our brains.

Y Tambe/Wikipedia

As part of a TV program about parasites, this year British broadcaster Dr. Michael Mosley swallowed a bunch of tape worms---plus a pill-sized camera. While tape worms are thought by some to be a folk cure for obesity, Mosley actually gained weight during his experiment. No shortcuts, people! CDC

As part of a TV program about parasites, this year British broadcaster Dr. Michael Mosley swallowed a bunch of tape worms---plus a pill-sized camera. While tape worms are thought by some to be a folk cure for obesity, Mosley actually gained weight during his experiment. No shortcuts, people!

CDC

Any new species is welcome news in the midst of the sixth extinction. However, the black-tailed antechinus, a mouse-like marsupial found in Australia, is a little creepy. During mating season, competition is so high that males keep doing the deed until they die from exhaustion. Benjamint444/Wikipedia.org

Any new species is welcome news in the midst of the sixth extinction. However, the black-tailed antechinus, a mouse-like marsupial found in Australia, is a little creepy. During mating season, competition is so high that males keep doing the deed until they die from exhaustion.

Benjamint444/Wikipedia.org

"World's Prettiest" isn't usually followed by the word "Tarantula," but in 2014, the British Tarantula Society crowned a Socotra Island Blue Baboon best in show at its 29th annual contest. The news left the rest of us wondering why it took 28 years to learn that there was such thing as a spider beauty pageant. Peter Kirk

"World's Prettiest" isn't usually followed by the word "Tarantula," but in 2014, the British Tarantula Society crowned a Socotra Island Blue Baboon best in show at its 29th annual contest. The news left the rest of us wondering why it took 28 years to learn that there was such thing as a spider beauty pageant.

Peter Kirk

"Tree-climbing alligators" sounds like a prank Floridians use to trick tourists into staying in Miami. But, new research shows that alligators, crocodiles, and gar have all been observed climbing trees. Not just in Florida, either. The authors also noted that it also happens in Africa and Australia. MartinRe/Wikipedia.org

"Tree-climbing alligators" sounds like a prank Floridians use to trick tourists into staying in Miami. But, new research shows that alligators, crocodiles, and gar have all been observed climbing trees. Not just in Florida, either. The authors also noted that it also happens in Africa and Australia.

MartinRe/Wikipedia.org

Somebody else could be controlling your words, and nobody around you would notice. In a variety of experiments, researchers turned a participant a mouthpiece by feeding them conversational dialogue. People on the other side of the conversation were mostly oblivious to even obvious discrepancies---like a 12-year-old boy being controlled by a 37 year-old university professor. Getty

Somebody else could be controlling your words, and nobody around you would notice. In a variety of experiments, researchers turned a participant a mouthpiece by feeding them conversational dialogue. People on the other side of the conversation were mostly oblivious to even obvious discrepancies---like a 12-year-old boy being controlled by a 37 year-old university professor.

Getty

Robots that look almost, but not quite, human are so creepy there's even a term for it: The Uncanny Valley. The latest attempt to bridge this unsettling divide comes from Japan. Roboticists there created a trio of lifelike droids: a child newscaster, a adult conversation buddy, and a smaller, seal-shaped bot for cuddling. Ew. Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation

Robots that look almost, but not quite, human are so creepy there's even a term for it: The Uncanny Valley. The latest attempt to bridge this unsettling divide comes from Japan. Roboticists there created a trio of lifelike droids: a child newscaster, a adult conversation buddy, and a smaller, seal-shaped bot for cuddling. Ew.

Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation

One of the biggest selling points for GMO crops has been the promise that they'll let us cut back on the use of pesticides. The counter argument---that GMOs will just breed badder bugs---came true this year, when scientists discovered that mismanagement of GMO corn had caused super-resistant rootworms to evolve. Sarah Zuckoff/Flickr

One of the biggest selling points for GMO crops has been the promise that they'll let us cut back on the use of pesticides. The counter argument---that GMOs will just breed badder bugs---came true this year, when scientists discovered that mismanagement of GMO corn had caused super-resistant rootworms to evolve.

Sarah Zuckoff/Flickr