It seems that most habits these days aren’t good for you. Once upon a moonbeam, cigars and opium and casual racism were perfectly acceptable staples of Western society. Not any more. They have joined a long list of human behaviour that is at best frowned upon and at worst downright dangerous. Perhaps sunscreen, breathing indoors and smiling will one day join that list too.

As well as being tasty, fish is supposed to be great for the brain.

It’s also full of poison. Exactly which poison depends entirely on the fish. While most fish aren’t actually toxic, they are all capable of carrying the toxins in their environment. Fish caught in oceans often come complete with tasty traces of mercury — the ocean happens to be full of the stuff.

Of course, if you want to avoid the horrible hazards of mercury, you could always eat some non-ocean based fishes. But these are often full of pesticides – farmed fish, for instance, are often given pesticides to stave off sea lice. Eating certain fish is also linked to the Big C. Rates of cancer-causing toxin PCB are 16 times higher in farm-raised salmon than in wild salmon. Basically – fish eating habits can kill you.

PFOS and PFOA are pretty nasty chemicals, known to damage the immune systems of mice. They can also cause liver cancer in rodents and induce testicular and pancreatic cancer, screwed up hormone levels and, most worryingly, neonatal death. If the foetus does live, it is more likely to be obese later in life.

Shockingly, the chemicals can be found in everything from food packaging to carpets and electronics – and, most unavoidably, in tap water.
Regulation differs from place to place and state to state, but there is no federal regulation on the chemicals in the US and water companies are not required to test for the toxic chemicals. PFOS have been banned in the EU while Canada seems set to follow suit.

For years, hot water bottles were made from polycarbonate plastic which contain bisphenol A (BPA), a toxic chemical linked to breast and prostate cancer, brain damage, and disruptions to the endocrine system. In 2008, some companies stopped selling the bottles containing the chemical – though they still vouched for its safety. But studies had shown that chromosomal mutations in mice jumped from 1-2 percent to 40 percent when they were kept in cages made of the stuff.

BPA has also been found in baby bottles. Canada, France, and Germany have already banned the substance from appearing in any of their bottles, and the EU is soon to follow suit. BPA can also be found in CDs, DVDs and laptops.

Perflourinated compounds, or PFCs, are a family of fluorine-containing chemicals that make properties stain and stick-resistant. They are incredibly difficult to break down, and can be found in almost everyone in the world. They are also pretty toxic. These chemicals are used in many cleaning and personal products, such as dental floss and shampoo. They’ve been linked to kidney and liver damage, and they’re especially toxic to newborn babies and fetuses. US citizens have the highest amount of PFC levels in the world.

So watching TV was never going to be the healthiest of activities… unless you do star jumps while watching “Dexter”. The University of Queensland recently revealed just how deadly TV can be.

It turns out that for every hour of TV we watch, we lose 22 minutes of our life. In the study, Australians aged over 25 watched TV for over 9.8 billion hours with the loss of some 286,000 years of their combined existence. Or to put it another way: if you watch six hours of TV every day you risk dying five years earlier. This is much like smoking two cigarettes for every hour of TV you watch. So for those of you who like to smoke a couple of ciggies while watching “Modern Family” marathons – you’re actually doubling the total time shaved off the end of your life.

Forget car exhaust and industrial smoke: the air inside your house is apparently four times more polluted than the air outside. This pollution comes from what are called “volatile organic compounds” (or VOCs): things like plants, paint and cleaning products. New buildings are especially polluted, since they have so many new materials inside.

The health effects of VOCs include a range of horrifying things, such as damage to the liver, kidneys and central nervous system – as well as less horrifying things, like eye and nose irritation and dizziness. It almost goes without saying that VOCs have also been linked to cancer.

Ah, but what if you do eat healthily, work hard, and let yourself be mildly grumpy? Surely you’d be guaranteed a long (though possibly miserable) existence?

Sulphur dioxide is found in things like dried fruit, fruit juices and even in the doctor’s choice: muesli. It’s used as a preservative, and as the glue which helps to hold the food together. Unfortunately it’s not made for the human body – and “when introduced it inhibits specific nerve signals, restricts lung performance, and is a direct allergen.” It’s also been linked to miscarriages, and is one of the top two most common air pollutants.

So you don’t exercise as much as you should, and maybe you don’t eat all that much fruit. And yes, perhaps you drink your own body weight in alcohol. Perhaps hourly. But at least you have one thing going for you: you’re happy, and them health freaks can’t take that one away from you, can they?

Well it turns out that they can. Happiness is a health risk.

The Longevity Project is a study that began in 1921; over the decades since then, it has followed 1,500 participants. One of the project’s many discoveries is that happy people are likely to die younger than people who are a bit miserable. Or more precisely – in the words of Dr Leslie Martin of La Sierra University – “Participants who were the most cheerful and had the best sense of humour as kids lived shorter lives, on average, than those who were less cheerful and joking.”

People who are happy are more likely to take risks, gamble with their health, eat more unhealthily and generally burn out as young, alcoholic, presumably still-happy junkies. If you do fall into the optimist category, don’t worry about it (and let’s face it, you won’t); death himself couldn’t wipe that smile off your face.

Eating popcorn, or some deliciously greasy French fries, is not going to help you win a marathon any time soon. Everyone knows that fast food is full of killer crap – but it’s not just the food that’ll clog your arteries.

The bag it comes in pretty much means that you’re eating death-in-a-bag. Scientists in Toronto discovered that the chemicals used in junk food wrappers to make them grease proof, are migrating from the bag to the food – and thereby to our bodies. These chemicals are, according to the FDA, “likely carcinogens”, which can cause cancer.

Diacetyl, an FDA-approved chemical found in the fake butter flavoring on popcorn, is also apparently responsible for a respiratory illness which can cause something called “popcorn workers lung“. Workers in popcorn-making factories are at high risk of picking up the illness – and it has already turned up in one American who merely ate a load of popcorn each day.

For years, everyone from skin specialists and doctors to Australian film directors have advised us to wear more sunscreen. Considering its skin cancer prevention powers, this seemed like good advice.

But it turns out that sunscreen is not as super as it seems. In addition to stopping you getting sunburn, sunscreen also blocks out the vital vitamin D. This truly terrific vitamin helps maintain healthy bones, promotes a balanced immune system, and fights HIV. It also eats cancer cells. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that people deficient in the vitamin are more likely to get sick. In fact, in Europe it’s estimated that a quarter of women who died from breast cancer might have lived if they had maintained adequate vitamin D levels and just saw more sunshine. Or, perhaps, just wore less sunscreen.

The problems with sunscreen have been known for some time now. Numerous chemical toxins have been found in certain sunscreen products down through the years. These poisonous and unpronounceable toxins include benzophenones, cinnamates and menthyl anthranilate which are banned in the EU, Canada and Australia. All are still sold in a number of sunscreen products in the US. Even worse is the fact that many of these chemicals have estrogen-like side-effects, which can lower sperm counts and cause birth defects in children. It also affects penis size.

The free radical causing agents found within sunscreen are absorbed into the bloodstream in at least 35 percent of cases, which damages the fats, proteins, and DNA of certain cells. This can age the skin prematurely, and eventually lead to cancer. So as well as defending you from skin cancer, some sunscreen products can CAUSE CANCER. And penis envy.

You can read more from Kevin Forde on his website.

As much of a national pastime as baseball, television has become ingrained in US society. However, there are a number of detrimental effects which researchers have uncovered. Here are ten ways that watching TV is killing you.

10 Gives You High Cholesterol

A 1990 study at the University of California, Irvine, studied the cholesterol levels in children, investigating whether or not watching TV or playing video games had an effect. What they found was shocking: Children who watched more TV had elevated cholesterol levels; those who sat in front of the television for four hours a day were nearly four times as likely to suffer from heart disease later in life.

The reasons for the elevated levels were that the children who watched television were more likely to eat an unhealthy diet and rarely exercised. (The study mostly followed white middle-class children.)

9 Makes You Violent

In 1960, Professor Rowel Huesmann began a study, trying to document the effect of media violence on children. Ten years later, Huesmann and his team found an indisputable link between media violence and actual violence. Children who were exposed to it were more likely to behave aggressively than those who weren’t.

While people may disagree as to whether or not media violence is a “public threat,” the correlation is said to be similar to that of smoking and lung cancer. Not everyone who smokes gets cancer, just like not everyone who watches violent media becomes violent, but it is a contributing factor.

8 Makes You Dumber

A Johns Hopkins University study led by Dina Borzekowski found that children who watched more than two hours of television a day, especially those with a TV in their own rooms, scored significantly lower on standardized tests than their counterparts. (The study also found that having a computer with Internet access actually increased the scores.)

Also, a New Zealand study discovered that children and adolescents who watched the most television attained the least amount of educational success. Around 1,000 babies were chosen at random and were followed until they were 26 years old. Those who watched less television were more likely to graduate both high school and college.

7 Lowers Your Sperm Count

Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, a study by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health concluded that men with a sedentary lifestyle, especially one with prolonged television watching, had sperm counts 44 percent lower than men who spent little time in front of the TV. The threshold for the lower sperm count levels was 20 hours per week. (That may seem like a lot, but it’s less than three hours a day.)

Conversely, men who exercised at least 14 hours a week had the highest sperm count. Note that the quality of the sperm itself (i.e. motility and shape) remained unaffected. When asked why television was singled out, Jorge Chavarro, the senior author of the study, said the following: “One of the important mechanisms appears to be TV watchers are exposed to commercials for food. That makes you hungry and eat more.”

6 Turns You Into A Criminal

A research study conducted by a group of British researchers looked at a sample of more than 11,000 children born between 2000 and 2002 and found that those who watched at least three hours of television per day were more likely to engage in antisocial activities such as bullying or stealing. However, when looking at children who played three or more hours of video games per week, no statistical link was found.

One of the reasons put forth for why television could be responsible for the increased risk of criminal activity later in life is that violence plays a prominent role in much of what is aired, which is what a New Zealand study of over 1,000 people concluded. The study stated that the average rate of violent incidents per hour is eight, with children’s programming (cartoons or otherwise) containing even more violence.

5 Lowers Your Odds Of Surviving Colon Cancer

A study of more than 1,500 people who underwent treatment for colorectal cancer concluded that those who watched more television before their diagnosis were much more likely to die within five years than those who watched a moderate to nonexistent amount of television. However, there was no appreciable link between patient mortality and their post-diagnosis television habits.

A separate study, conducted by the US National Cancer Institute, examined over 566,000 people and showed a relatively strong link between television, exercise, and patient survivability but couldn’t prove a causal relationship. According to Hannah Arem, the author of the study: “The risk of dying from colorectal cancer was higher among the individuals who watched more TV [ . . . ] but the associations were not statistically significant.” However, they did conclude what most of these studies do: Some physical activity is better than no physical activity.

4 Inhibits Sleep

In a joint study between MassGeneral Hospital for Children and the Harvard School of Public Health, researchers wanted to examine the effects of a number of different factors during pregnancy and early childhood. The following criteria were examined—how much time an infant was in a room with a running television, how much time older children spent watching television, and whether or not children slept in a room with a television in it.

What they discovered was that each hour of television watching contributed to seven fewer minutes of sleep, and having a television in the bedroom contributed to 30 fewer minutes of sleep. (It also seemed to have a stronger effect on boys than girls.) A similar study in Spain showed that a nine-year-old who watched a minimum of five hours of television per day got one hour less of sleep than an equivalent nine-year-old who watched a maximum of one and a half hours.

3 Decreases Language Development

While it’s not a risk the readers of this list have to worry about for themselves personally, two different studies have shown that the more time babies spend in front of a television, the more slowly they learn to talk.

One study, conducted by the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, followed more than 300 children. They were fitted with audio recorders, which were worn continuously for 12 to 16 hours. It was observed that each hour of television contributed to a significant decrease in the amount of words the babies heard (a decrease of 770 words per recording session). This in turn decreased the amount of vocalization done by the babies, stunting their growth.

A similar study concluded that babies learn better from a live conversation. When nine-month-old US babies were introduced to a Mandarin speaker, they showed an ability to tell the difference between certain speech sounds after only 12 sessions. However, when they were placed in front of a television and shown a recording of Mandarin speaker, they were unable to show any enhanced ability.

2 Makes You Drink More

A joint group of scientists from the Netherlands and Canada collected 80 young males, aged 18–29, and put them in a number of different groups and had them watch television with varying degrees of alcohol consumption on screen. The study found that people drank an average of 1.5 more bottles of beer or wine when watching movies or commercials which heavily featured alcohol than those who watched ones which did not.

Though the study’s authors admitted they didn’t find proof of any long-term change brought on by the television watching, the short-term effects were undeniable. Rutger Engels, one of the researchers, said that “it might work as a cue that affects craving and subsequent drinking in people who are drinkers.”

1 Kills You Early

A study of the television habits of Australians concluded that watching television can dramatically reduce lifespan. The researchers behind the work showed that watching six hours a day can take 4.8 years off your life. Also, every hour of television watched after age 25 decreases life expectancy by 22 minutes.

In a related study performed by the Harvard School of Public Health, scientists concluded that more than three hours per day of television, or similar sedentary activities, increases the chances of premature death by 13 percent (usually via things like diabetes or cardiovascular disease).

Most people don’t remember much from the movie Wild, Wild West starring Will Smith except for the fact there was a giant steam-powered tarantula in it. That’s the kind of thing that makes an impression. When villains choose to express their villainy with some technological know how, it makes an impression. Not just in movies, either. Any machine that seems like they designed it for over the top, comic book level mayhem is pretty impressive.

10. Car Flamethrower

Protecting yourself and your property can take many forms. Sadly, we live in a world where sometimes this is necessary people will take what you paid money for or otherwise damage or harm you sometimes. So what can you do?

When it comes to cars and houses, most people opt for security systems. They’re usually easy to use and affordable and offer a level of protection that will keep most would-be thieves and ruffians at bay. But what happens if that’s not enough?

In the late 1990s, the Blaster was the answer to your car protection needs. A flamethrower that would cook anyone on either side of your vehicle to a cinder. 

In 1998, Charl Fourie made the BMW Blaster, a non-factory-standard security device for drivers in South Africa who wanted an added lethal level of security suitable for Dr. Doom. Fuel lines fed a pair of nozzles on either side of the car from the trunk. A foot button combined with a switch set them off, burning any would-be carjackers alive.

The device cost $650 and fired liquified petroleum gas for up to five meters, directed at the face level of anyone on the sides of the car. The device was not illegal in South Africa and in fact they sold a few hundred units. The high price tag was what kept most buyers away and the fact that various safety groups recommended against it not because they thought it was dangerously insane but because they felt it would just incite carjackers to murder people with gunfire from a safe distance. 

9. Killdozer

If a device is known by the name Killdozer, there’s no way it doesn’t have an interesting backstory. Marvin Heeymeyer’s Killdozer is one such vehicle and his story, well known enough that it had a movie made about it, is the stuff of pushed-to-the-edge legends.

Heemeyer’s story took place in Granby, Colorado, and started with a property dispute. He had sold some of his property to a concrete company. The city rezoned the land, and a factory was built, but it cut off Heemeyer’s access to his own property from his business. 

Fed up with how things were progressing, Heemeyer snapped. Using his skills as a welder, he began to manufacture an armor-plated bulldozer in his shop. The armor was homemade and incredibly effective. This was demonstrated later when he ran amok in the machine. Police gunfire proved useless against the Killdozer, and even small explosives seemed to be as effective as shooting a duck with a squirt gun.

Inside the bulldozer Heemeyer would be protected behind 3-inch bulletproof plastic and all the armor. Air conditioning kept him cool and TV monitors let him view the outside without exposing himself to danger. Several guns, including a .50 caliber rifle, were mounted outside. Police later said he had designed the Killdozer and the path of destruction he went on as a one-way ticket. Heemeyer never intended to survive.

Heemeyer literally plowed through the town, exacting revenge on everyone he felt had wronged him. The concrete factor, a judge, city hall, and numerous other homes and businesses. None could stand up to the brute force of his creation. He drove through them as though they were made of paper. 

In total he destroyed 13 buildings before getting himself stuck in a basement by accident. The governor had already authorized National Guard intervention at this point. Rather than let anything more play out, Heemeyer took his own life.

8. Euthanasia Machine

Once upon a time Dr. Jack Kevorkian was called Dr. Death in the press, and they said he had a killing machine he would bring to patients’ homes. This was actually just a portable set up to allow home euthanasia as the doctor crusaded on the belief that terminal patients deserved the right to choose when and how they would die. When it comes to an actual suicide machine, he has nothing on Philip Nitschke.

Nitschke is a doctor from the Netherlands, where euthanasia has been legal for some years. A major proponent of the practice, he was the first doctor in the country to administer a lethal dose to a patient who had requested it. And since then he has developed an honest to goodness suicide machine that is 3D printed and ready to end lives.

The device, called the Sarco, is essentially your own coffin. Hop inside and seal it so only you have control, no one could murder you with it. Liquid nitrogen, a substance readily available and legal, is pumped inside to replace oxygen. After getting a little woozy you would pass out and in several minutes death would occur. The idea is for it to be quick, painless, and easy. 

7. AI Machine Gun

In November 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was shot dead. A senior official in Iran’s nuclear program, he was also a physicist and a brigadier-general in their armed forces. He was assassinated during a roadside ambush. But how the assassination was conducted raised some eyebrows.

It was machine gun fire that brought Fakhrizadeh down, but officials have said that his wife, seated next to him in a car, was amazingly unharmed. The accuracy of the gunman proved to be troubling until it was revealed there was no gunman at all.

Iran contends that the weapon was a machine gun mounted on a truck. It was fired autonomously, controlled by satellite-linked artificial intelligence. No human intervention required. 

Thirteen bullets were fired, all from the AI-controlled weapon. Four were directed at the victim’s head and his wife, less than a foot away, was not harmed at all. Initial reports said there was a gunfight with human assailants, but this was later changed.  

6. The DMZ Machine Gun Robot

The DMZ between North and South Korea is a 160 mile long stretch of land that no one is permitted to enter. The heavily guarded border has become something of a nature refuge in recent years, with many previously rare species taking up residence. But not everything there is natural.

Samsung has made the SGR-1 robots as part of DMZ security systems. These machine-gun wielding robots are autonomous security sentinels meant to keep the region empty of humans. One of the central DMZ outposts installed them in 2010 on a trial basis to see how reliable they’d be.

Using a variety of sensors like motion sensors, thermal sensors, and radar, the robots are able to detect anyone entering the zone who doesn’t belong there. Audio and video interface allow them to see who and what may be there, and deliver a warning or accept a security clearance through voice recognition. If it’s deemed necessary, the robots can then unload with 5.5mm machine guns and an automatic grenade launcher. They also make use of non-lethal deterrents like rubber bullets. 

The units are deployed now though their numbers are hard to come by. The 2010 trial run must have proved convincing, however. 

5. Lightning Gun

Some weapons just seem like they were designed to appeal to genre fans, and the lightning gun made at the Picatinny Arsenal fits the bill. Lightning, guided by a laser, traveled from the source of the laser to whatever it was targeting. Or, in layman’s terms, they made a lightning gun. 

The science was actually remarkably complex and involved the physics of light traveling through air, how plasma is produced, and how electrons can be stripped away. The big takeaway is that an enemy target, like a Jeep or a plane, is a much better conductor of electricity than the surrounding air. So you could direct lightning from the weapon to a target fairly easily. 

4.Sun Gun

At a certain point in most children’s lives, they gain access to a magnifying glass and discover what happens when you concentrate sunlight. Not only is this a simple way to burn dead leaves, it’s even been adapted to barbecue cooking with solar-powered grills. Leave it to the Nazis to have wanted to take this to a preposterous and villainous level.

Hermann Oberth, an honest to goodness rocket scientist, had a plan to assemble a giant mirror in space. This mirror would focus the rays of the sun onto the earth at whatever point the Nazis desired. Like a child killing ants, this beam would scorch the earth and any army beneath it. That was the plan, anyway. 

The plan was supposed to cost millions and take upwards of 15 years to complete. There was to be an accompanying space station with hydroponic gardens and solar generators. The plans were said to be quite detailed, though obviously nothing came of it. 

3. Bob Semple Tank

Imagine you’re tasked with trying to create a way to protect yourself from potential invaders. If some armed force were coming for you, your town and your family, what could you do? This is assuming the armed forces are either non-existent or tied up elsewhere and not able to help? If you’re New Zealand Minister of Works Bob Semple, you make a homemade tank. 

In the Second World War, New Zealand was feeling incredibly vulnerable. Japan was proving to be a force to be reckoned with and had expressed that New Zealand was a potential target. The country’s army was extremely small and with allies tied up all over the world with the war, no help would be coming if Japan invaded.  Semple set to work to find a way to defend his people.

The Bob Semple tank, as it came to be known, was a tank that he essentially slapped together Macgyver style from parts readily available. The base was a tractor, and the armor was corrugated manganese. There was no functional gun turret, and it was difficult to maneuver over uneven land. Firing on the move was all but impossible, and top speed was under 10 miles per hour.

Although history has been unkind to the tank and it was the subject of ridicule at the time, it showed what some ingenuity could come up with in a pinch. The armor was apparently quite effective, and outfitted with several machine guns they were certainly not machines anyone would have wanted to go toe to toe with. 

2. The Infernal Machine

You may not have heard of Giuseppe Marco Fieschi, but the man who attempted to assassinate King Louis-Phillipe of France back in 1835 greatly contributed to the history of utterly baffling weaponry.

Along with some co-conspirators, Fieischi, a man known to be a thief and in a relationship with his own stepdaughter, became a political radical and plotted the death of the king. To do this, Fieschi designed what he called the Infernal Machine, a gun with 25 barrels. 

They set the gun up in an apartment overlooking a street where the King was expected to make an appearance. Each barrel was loaded with numerous projectiles and primed for the assassination. When the king arrived, they deployed the weapon.

It didn’t work exactly as planned, and not every barrel fired. That said, it still proved to be nightmarishly effective. Though the king was relatively unharmed, over 400 projectiles exploded from the weapon and it killed 18 men. The king’s horse was also fatally wounded. 

1. Robot Soldiers

The Terminator has proven to be one of the most iconic sci-fi films and characters in movie history. A relentless killing machine from the future that, because it is not human, has no emotions, no reason, no fear. It can’t be stopped. The idea that robots will rise up and destroy us is a staple of the genre with examples that range from the Matrix to I, Robot and beyond. This pop culture influence has led many of us, rightly or wrongly, to cast any robot we see with a suspicious eye. And that’s why Atlas, from Boston Dynamics, is considered by many to be a creepy look at what’s to come. 

Most people know Boston Dynamics from their many videos featuring what look like robot dogs. These creations can be seen towing cars, opening doors and carrying gear for soldiers in the field. Every year it seems like the company has something slightly more advanced to offer. Something that looks smarter.

With Atlas, the company graduated to humanoid robots and that’s just an unsettling idea for many people. Whether it’s because of the uncanny valley and our brain simply not liking things that look human but obviously aren’t, or something more, the future bodes poorly for our ability to adjust to machines that can move like people but arguably can’t be killed.

While the smallest organisms capable of killing a human fall on the bacteria and virus branches of the tree of life, they aren’t what many would call a “creature.” There are plenty of proper animals that have been killing folks for hundreds of thousands of years.

Granted, most of the deadliest animals in the world are relatively large. While they are certainly interesting, the smallest killer critters can be far more fascinating. These ten animals are two fundamental things: they’re small and horrifically deadly.

Since they could all kill a person, they are arranged from the largest to the smallest deadly critter. Also, no vectors here, so don’t expect to see mosquitoes or fleas — only animals that can kill a person through direct contact.

10 Australian Animals That Aren’t As Deadly As You Think

10 Australian Box Jellyfish

Most jellyfish are more of an annoying nuisance than anything else. They tend to swarm and get in the way when you’re diving, and outside the occasional painful sting, they aren’t much of a bother.

Some jellyfish stings are excruciating, but they don’t result in death. That’s not true of the Australian Box Jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri), which is often cited as the most venomous marine animal.

C. fleckeri is the largest of the 51 known species of box jellyfish. In terms of size, they average around 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter. Its tentacles can extend for 10 feet (3 meters), so it’s not the smallest thing in the ocean.

Regardless, it’s something that should be avoided at all costs, which can be difficult. They don’t float about with the current and can swim up to 20 ft/second (6 m/sec.) or four knots. Their tentacles can deliver microscopic darts carrying intensely painful venom.

If stung and left untreated, death can come within two to five minutes. A single C. fleckeri has enough venom to kill around 60 adult humans. Nearly 80 fatalities have been recorded in Australia since the 19th century.

9 Amazonian Giant Centipede

The Amazonian Giant Centipede (Scolopendra gigantea) is one of the largest centipedes on the planet, reaching 12 inches (30 cm) in length. They can be found throughout South America and the Caribbean, where it enjoys eating other large arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and small mammals.

These centipedes are true carnivores. It has no problem overpowering other relatively large insects, spiders, scorpions, lizards, frogs, bats, mice, and birds. While they may look interesting, they should never be handled. They possess a particularly nasty venom they don’t mind sharing with the world.

The venom of S. gigantea contains a potent neurotoxin, making it possible for them to take down animals significantly larger than themselves. The venom targets the cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular, and nervous systems, incapacitating their victims.

Envenomation in humans is incredibly painful and can cause severe issues if not treated. There is only one documented case of death from a bite. In 2014, a four-year-old child in Venezuela found one in an open soda can. The subsequent bite resulted in the child’s death despite a great deal of effort medical professionals made trying to save his life.

8 Geography Cone

Cone snails are common worldwide, and because of their brightly colored shells, they are highly prized by shell collectors. It’s always best to collect the shells long after the snail has died because many of the 600+ species are extremely venomous.

The most dangerous of them all is the Geography Cone (Conus geographus), found in the coral reefs of the tropical Indo-Pacific. Despite being a small snail that grows to between 4 and 6 inches (10—15 cm), C. geographus actively hunts fish. It does this by firing off a harpoon-like tooth that delivers a powerful venom.

These little guys’ venom packs a wallop, and there is no antivenom to treat people once they are hit with it. The only thing medical professionals can do is try to keep a person alive long enough for the toxins to wear off.

If an adult is struck with the venom of the Geography cone, they will die within one to five hours without medical treatment. They are often called “cigarette snails” due to an old bit of gallows humor. It’s said that after a sting, a person has enough time to smoke a single cigarette before they die.

7 Deathstalker Scorpion

Scorpions are always somewhat dangerous to humans, as their sting tends to come with a lot of pain. Still, they aren’t ordinarily deadly, but that’s not to say there aren’t a few capable of killing a person. The deadliest known is the Deathstalker scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus), which measures around 3 to 4 inches (80 to 110 mm).

They are found throughout North Africa and the Middle East, where they are well known for the danger they present. Their venom is a nasty mix of neurotoxins that carry a low lethal dose. It includes chlorotoxin, charybdotoxin, scyllatoxin, and three types of agitoxins, all of which block specific channels of the nervous system.

While the envenomation of an adult doesn’t typically result in death, the young, infirmed, and elderly are all at risk. Most stings result in anaphylaxis, which can be followed by pancreatitis. An antivenom exists, but it is often needed in large doses to counter the deathstalker’s venom’s effects.

When death does occur, it’s most often the result of respiratory failure. Interestingly, while their venom can be fatal, it contains components that may help treat brain tumors and diabetes.

6 Blue-Ringed Octopus

Most people don’t think of an octopus as a venomous creature since the main focus is usually on its eight legs. There are several venomous octopi, and the deadliest is, by far, the Blue-ringed octopus. There are four species, and every one of them can be deadly to humans.

Blue-ringed octopi are small compared to other species, as most measure between 2.5 and 4 inches (6 to 10 cm). They get their name thanks to the brilliant blue rings found all over their bodies, and they can be found in tide pools and coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

A Blue-ringed octopus is typically docile around humans, which can be a problem. This leads unsuspecting people to pick them up to admire their unique coloration, but this is a mistake. The little octopi are some of the world’s most venomous marine animals, and their venom is no joke.

They carry a powerful neurotoxin tetrodotoxin. A single octopus has enough to kill 25 adult humans in a matter of minutes. Their bite is often painless because of their small size, so most people who are bitten only realize it when they stop breathing and become paralyzed.

5 Golden Poison Dart Frog

The Golden Poison Dart frog (Phyllobates terribilis) is the most poisonous animal in the world. The key word here is “poisonous,” as it has no venom of its own. Still, a single frog has enough poison secreted from its skin to kill 22,000 mice. Their name is derived from the Choco Emberá, who used the frogs to poison their darts used for hunting.

These tiny frogs grow to a maximum of 2 inches (55 mm), making them particularly small. They are prized for their coloration, which is arguably quite beautiful. Still, handling one is a terrible idea should you find them in their native habitat of Colombia’s Pacific coast forests.

Their skin is densely coated in an alkaloid toxin, which causes a victim’s nerves to stop transmitting impulses. This leads to heart failure, and a single frog contains enough toxins to kill between 10 to 20 people.

Fortunately, lethal poisoning is rare, but it can happen. If the frogs are removed from their native habitat, they stop producing toxins, rendering them harmless. Their toxin builds from their consumption of ants that result in the buildup of batrachotoxins, so without the ants, they become innocuous.

4 Giant Silkworm Moth Caterpillar

The Giant Silkworm Moth Caterpillar (Lonomia obliqua) is a saturniid moth species found in South America. They are relatively small, measuring only about 2 inches (5.5 cm) long. According to the Guinness World Records, they make up for their size by being the most venomous caterpillar in the world.

Most people don’t see caterpillars as a threat, but if you should ever find yourself standing on a path with one of these, don’t go anywhere near it! They have a toxic venom capable of causing disseminated intravascular coagulation and consumptive coagulopathy. That’s a fancy way of saying it causes your blood to clot throughout your body.

When that happens, hemorrhagic syndrome and death aren’t far behind. These little guys don’t bite their victims to inject venom. Instead, their hollow bristles, which are found all over its body, contain and inject the venom into the poor fool who touches them.

Their spines may look like hairs, but they can easily penetrate the skin to deliver their venom. Fatalities are common with these caterpillars, but death isn’t certain. It can take several painful and miserable days to kick in, so immediate medical treatment is required.

3 Sydney Funnel-Web Spider

Several species of spiders are capable of killing folks, which is one reason arachnophobia is so prevalent. Still, the vast majority could only hurt a fly — after all, a spider’s venom is wasted on a human since we aren’t their usual prey.

Still, some spiders can kill, and the Sydney Funnel-Web Spider is one of the deadliest. They can only be found within a 63 mile (100 km) radius of Sydney, Australia, and they are the “most venomous” spiders in the world, regarding their toxicity to humans.

They aren’t the largest spiders in the world, with most examples’ body length ranging from 0.4 to 2 inches (1 to 5 cm). They have large, nasty-looking fangs, which they use to inject their entire venom reserve into their victims.

The venom contains a compound called atracotoxin, which inhibits the nervous system in primates. This can lead to death in as little as 15 minutes if untreated with antivenom. A full envenomated bite can kill an adult human, but they are more dangerous to the young and elderly.

2 Blue Sea Dragon

Blue Sea Dragons (Glaucus atlanticus) are a species of sea slug known for their beautiful and unique shape, which resembles a dragon. They measure only about 1.2 inches (3 cm) and can be found throughout the world’s oceans, but if you ever see one, avoid it at all costs!

These critters may be beautiful to look at, but they are incredibly dangerous and more than willing to sting someone who picks them up. Their diet consists of other venomous animals, specifically the parts of animals that contain venom. One of their favorite meals is the nematocysts from the Portuguese man o’ war.

When an animal eats nothing but venom, they tend to incorporate what they eat into their own nasty sting. When they do sting someone, it can be excruciating. It will cause all kinds of problems, including pain, vomiting, and acute allergic contact dermatitis.

Typically, handling one of these animals won’t kill a person. That said, there is a risk of a severe allergic reaction, resulting in death if left untreated. It’s always best to operate under a ‘look but don’t touch’ policy where the Blue Sea Dragon is concerned.

1 Common Kingslayer

The Common Kingslayer (Malo Kingi) is a species of Irukandji jellyfish that is minuscule compared to larger animals such as the Australian Box Jellyfish. M. Kingi measures a comparatively tiny 1 inch (3 cm) and is entirely transparent, making them difficult to spot.

They make up for their small size by carrying a particularly nasty venom, which can lead to Irukandji syndrome. If afflicted with the syndrome, most adults can expect to experience severe pain, rapid blood pressure, and vomiting. While death is rare, it can occur.

The name “Common Kingslayer” was given to the jellyfish following Robert King’s death, an American tourist who died after being stung. King is the only person who is known to have been killed by their sting, but he’s not the only person who’s been hit by them.

Stings are relatively common due to the difficulty swimmers have in seeing and avoiding them. It’s believed that their venom becomes more potent as they mature. Since King’s death in 2002, more attention has been given to M. Kingi, which was first described only five years following King’s death.