Brain Implants Boost Memory for First Time Ever

Are we living in the Matrix or in a futuristic RoboCop world with cybernetic people?

Neurologists and high-tech engineers have joined forces to create what we thought was only science fiction: the BRAIN-BOOSTING IMPLANT. Specifically, this chip works on memory and can boost short-term memory by 15% and working memory by 25%.

Now students around the world can study less and spend more time on Facebook... Actually, scientists intend to use this technology to help people with memory problems like Alzheimer's and other degenerative brain diseases. 

The University of Southern California (USC) seems to believe this is a step towards a bright cybernetic future. Professor Dong Song presented this “memory prosthesis” at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington D.C. as the first of its kind to improve human memory.

20 volunteers allowed Song's team to implant electrodes into their brains to treat epilepsy and he collected their brain activity data during memory exercises. The research team found the pattern for best memory function and stimulated the electrodes with it during future tests. These showed 15% and 25% memory improvements over no stimulation and even more so over random stimulation. 

Song said “We are writing the neural code to enhance memory function. This has never been done before.”

 

Worth It?

The cost to deal with memory disabilities in the US cost $236 billion in 2016, plus the emotional stress of family members helping their loved ones. Financially, it seems totally worth implanting a small device to prevent or reduce the debilitating effects of memory loss. 

However, what about the slippery slope of cybernetic enhancements and technological control over our lives? Would it be wise to implant something in your brain that can monitor and even control your thoughts? Can such devices really stay offline for privacy? 

Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are talking about cybernetic brain enhancements and mind reading A.I. but the potential dangers are quite obvious to those with even the same level of imagination as those that dreamt up these technologies in the first place. So why be tempted to stray away from natural solutions rather than towards new shiny double-edged artificial swords? Do you really want to live under an artificially intelligent supercomputer than governs your daily life and that can punish you wirelessly instantly? 

It's ironic that in trying to improve our memory rushing towards technology, we may have actually forgotten who we are and what we are truly capable of. 

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Sources:

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/brain-implant-boosts-memory-first-time-ever-ncna821016

Ancient 'Hell Ant' Impaled Victims with Metal Spike and Drank Their Blood

P. BARDEN, H.W. HERHOLD, D.A. GRIMALDI

Sealed away in an amber prison for all time, this evil "Hell Ant" looks like it can't wait to break free and devour its next victim.

This 99-million-year-old piece of amber from Myanmar contains a specimen of Linguamyrmex vladi and is kept safe in the American Museum of Natural History. They found several with dates ranging from 99 to 78 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period, meaning these devilish creatures walked the earth for 20 million years.

New Jersey Institute of Technology's evolutionary biologist Philip Barden and his team found this in Myanmar. They noticed that instead of the usual ant mouth, this one has tusk-like blades pointing upwards and a large metal horn! Reminiscent of Vlad the Impaler, this ancient Hell Ant would use these tusks to lift its prey onto its horn to impale them. What's even more gruesome is it would use the groove in its jaws to channeling other insects' blood into its mouth while wriggling on the hellish spike. 

Besides these viscous offensive weapons, the Hell Ant also has armor. Its head is equipped with a plate naturally reinforced with metal that stops its own or an enemy's blades from piercing through. 

“This reinforcement occurs primarily along the center of the paddle and, as the specimen is preserved with the mandibles largely ‘closed’ and positioned near this spot, suggests that the reinforcement is intended to accommodate mandibular impact,” explain Barden's team.

Talk about a monster! If this is what a prehistoric ant was like, I'm dreading what creatures may be hidden in other amber tombs. What a relief that none of them are around today. Scientists agree that their specialized predatory behavior and attack strategy are not found among today's ant species. 

Sources:

http://csglobe.com/ancient-hell-ant-metal-horns-trap-jaw-found-inside-amber/

http://all-that-is-interesting.com/hell-ant-found-amber

250 Million Year Old Microchip Found in Stone

Russian researchers found a tiny microchip inside ancient stone.

Researchers are excited about this discovery as it opens the possibility of ancient advanced civilizations hundred of millions of years ago with technologies perhaps even greater than ours. However, only the organic material around the "microchip" was dated to between 225 and 250 million years ago, not the rock or chip itself. 

It was found in the Krasnodar, Russia by a local fisherman named Viktor Morozov. He donated his finding the University of Southern Polytechnic Nowoczerkaskiej where scholars ran tests and concluded there to be some kind of strange "device" embedded in the rock that looks like a modern microchip. They dare not try to cut it out fearing it may break, so they've left it there for the world to see. 

This has people around the world speculating what it actually is. There are many such mysterious artifacts found in Russia that also go unexplained. Some researchers say it may be a natural part of a stem plant like lilies, while skeptics dismiss it as nothing special.

Maybe we should ask that Russian boy from Mars if he recognizes it.

What do you think? Is this a real ancient artifact of advanced technology or just some modern day junk?

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Sources:

http://csglobe.com/250-million-year-old-stone-with-microchip-discovered/

Nearly Half of US Cancer Deaths Blamed on Unhealthy Behavior

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — A new look at cancer in the U.S. finds that nearly half of cancer deaths are caused by smoking, poor diet and other unhealthy behaviors.

That's less than commonly-cited estimates from more than 35 years ago, a result of new research methods and changes in American society. Smoking rates have plummeted, for example, while obesity rates have risen dramatically.

The study found that 45 percent of cancer deaths and 42 percent of diagnosed cancer cases could be attributed to what the authors call "modifiable" risk factors. These are risks that are not inherited, and mostly the result of behavior that can be changed, like exposure to sun, not eating enough fruits and vegetables, drinking alcohol and, most importantly, smoking.

A British study conducted in 1981 attributed more than two-thirds of cancer deaths to these factors.

The study used 2014 data and was conducted by the American Cancer Society. It was published online Tuesday in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

"We thought it was time to redo those estimates," said Dr. Otis Brawley, the cancer society's chief medical officer and one of the study's authors.

Smoking was the leading risk by far, accounting for 29 percent of deaths. Excess body weight was next at 6.5 percent, and alcohol consumption was third at 4 percent.

The authors ran separate calculations for different types of cancer by age group and gender to try to account for how risk factors affect different groups of people, then added them together to understand the national picture.

Among the findings:

— Smoking accounted for 82 percent of lung cancers.
— Excess body weight was associated with 60 percent of uterine cancers and about one-third of liver cancers.
— Alcohol intake was associated with 25 percent of liver cancers in men and 12 percent in women; 17 percent of colorectal cancers in men and 8 percent in women; and 16 percent of breast cancers in women.
— Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight or tanning beds was associated with 96 percent of skin cancers in men and 94 percent in women.

Richard Clapp, a professor emeritus of environmental health at Boston University expects the new numbers to be will widely cited and used to make decisions about how to spend money on cancer prevention, just as the influential British study from 1981 by researchers Richard Doll and Richard Peto has been.

Clapp said there is still room for improvement, however. He said the study doesn't address how two or more risk factors, like smoking and drinking, might work together in some cancer cases and deaths.

Also, aside from secondhand cigarette smoke, the researchers did not to include outdoor or indoor air pollution because the data on the cancer risk from pollution is not detailed enough to understand the national impact, said the study's lead author, Dr. Farhad Islami.

New Company is 3D Printing Rhino Horns to Defeat Poachers

Seattle biotech startup beating rhino poachers by 3D printing horns.

Pembient corporation developed a "bio-fabricated" rhino horn made out of keratin, the same substance of our fingernails.

The CEO and co-founder, Matthew Markus, says these are "absolutely identical to real rhino horns on a macroscopic, microscopic, and molecular level." Collectors supposedly cannot distinguish real horns from Pembient's fabricated ones. 

So, instead of killing rhinos for their horns, you can now 3D print them. 

Save the Rhino non-profit group calculates that about 1,054 rhinos were poached in 2016 in South Africa, up from only 13 in 2007. Although, poaching has decreased recently. They know the largest horn market is in China where people consider them as collectible investments. 

Some may argue that the price for real organic rhino horns may rise as they become rarer in a synthetic market.

“More than 90% of ‘rhino horns’ in circulation are fake (mostly carved from buffalo horn or wood), but poaching rates continue to rise annually." - The International Rhino Foundation and Save The Rhino International

But since telling them apart is basically impossible and with so many manmade ones flooding the market, the price should drop. Pembient will prioritize selling their horns to Asian horn-carving jewelry makers as the place to inject their 3D printed ones into the black market. 

“If you cordon rhino horn off, you create this prohibition mindset,” Pembient CEO Matthew Markus said. “And that engenders crime, corruption, and everything else that comes with a black market.”

Hopefully such technologies can reduce the harm to animals and natural resources. Perhaps this may encourage artistic creativity and craftsmanship instead. 

$80,800 rhino head is stolen from British auctioneer for 'black-market' trade

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Sources:

https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/11/20/startup-company-plans-to-3d-print-rhino-horns-to-undercut-poachers/&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjixuPx2NLXAhWnQd8KHXv2Dx0QFggIMAE&client=internal-uds-cse&cx=partner-pub-9229289037503472:6795176714&usg=AOvVaw0f04U8a1yOlbqF6M4kQ9fr

Amish DNA Holds Key to Immortality

Amish people live longer thanks to mutated DNA.

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine conducted a study examining the Amish people in Indiana and found a gene called "SERPINE1" that is “one of the first clear-cut genetic mutations in human beings that act upon aging and aging-related disease.”

It works by eliminating the Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 (PAI1) protein from building up in our bodies and thereby preventing aging. Lead researcher Dr. Douglas Vaughan, says there are “a number of factors that drive PAI-1 production in the body, including glucose and insulin and inflammation and oxidative stress. All of those factors, in a roundabout way, contribute to aging, and they all sort of converge on PAI-1.” His 40-person team was surprised how cooperative this Amish community was, allowing them to test ~200 people. 

Other schools are studying how to block this age-inducing protein. In Japan's Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Dr. Toshio Miyata started drugs trials attempting to replicate SERPINE1's affects to reduce the PAI1 protein. If successful, they may have one of the most valuable drugs ever created and that people, even emperors, have been seeking for thousands of years: the ELIXIR OF IMMORTALITY!

Well, it may not be that effective, but would still be a great breakthrough in medicine and bio-engineering. At least it could slow aging and help elderly people regain some more youthful state towards the end of their life. 

Yet, while looking for a way to live longer, let's not forget to realize our purpose for living in the first place. Many traditional and ancient cultures have long taught to live in alignment with nature and universal principles such as being compassionate to others, seeking higher and higher levels of truth and wisdom, and even giving up worldly temptations. They say our immortal life lives on beyond the physical realm that science can measure. 

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Sources:

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2017/11/20/genetic-key-to-longevity-discovered-in-indianas-amish-community/

Magnitude 3.7, 2.9 Quakes Rattle Oklahoma Town Early Sunday

EDMOND, Okla. (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded two earthquakes that struck near a central Oklahoma town.

Both temblors hit just east of the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond early Sunday. The first quake had a preliminary magnitude of 3.7 and struck at 2:12 a.m. The second quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 2.9, followed soon after, hitting at 2:20 a.m.

There were no immediate reports of injury or severe damage.

Thousands of quakes have struck Oklahoma in recent years, many linked to the underground injection of wastewater from oil and natural gas production. Researchers have also linked earthquakes in Kansas, Texas and other states to wastewater injection.

Several oil and gas producers have been directed to close wells and reduce injection volumes in others, including two near the recent temblors.

China's Former Internet Regulator Under Investigation for Corruption

BEIJING (AP) — China's former top internet regulator and censor is being investigated by the ruling Communist Party's anti-corruption arm, the agency said Tuesday.

The party's anti-graft watchdog agency said in a brief statement on its website that Lu Wei is suspected of "serious violations of discipline." Until Tuesday's announcement, Lu had been deputy head of the party's propaganda department.

Lu was known as a hard-liner responsible for leading the government's efforts to tighten control over domestic cyberspace and championing the party's position that governments have a right to filter and censor their countries' internet.

He wielded enormous power over what 700 million Chinese internet users could view online and acted as the gatekeeper for technology companies wishing to do business in China.

No details were given in Tuesday's announcement, which comes after a party congress at which President Xi Jinping was given a second five-year term as party chief. Lu is the most senior Chinese official to be investigated since the party congress closed late last month.

Lu was suddenly replaced as cyberspace chief in June last year by his deputy, Xu Lin. Lu held on to his concurrent position of deputy head of propaganda but kept what observers thought was an uncharacteristically low profile.

Appointed in 2014 as China's top internet regulator, Lu held high-profile meetings with top executives from foreign technology and internet companies, including Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Microsoft's Satya Nadella, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Lu took a hard line in demanding tough security checks on imported foreign tech products and keeping out foreign internet companies and social networks like Facebook in the name of preserving social stability.

Lu's departure from the position has not led to any changes or easing of such demands and restrictions on information.

In recent years China has pushed cybersecurity regulations aimed at limiting technology imported from the West, which Beijing officials say is necessary given Edward Snowden's allegations of U.S. spying via "backdoors" inserted in exported U.S.-made hardware.

Lu worked his way up the ranks of China's official Xinhua News Agency from a reporting job in the city of Guilin in southern Guangxi province in the early 1990s to becoming the agency's vice president from 2004 to 2011. He was vice mayor of Beijing from 2011 to 2013.

Super Powers Your Body is Hiding From You

We all want superpowers, I actually think it would be awesome if somehow we are all evolving into mutants and eventually our own unique superpowers would come out. I actually think if that happens, there would be a whole lot less crime in the world because you don’t know what powers other people possess. Imagine if a mugger tries to mug a little old grandma, but then the grandma shoots lasers out of her eyes and goes all Cyclops on the mugger.

But what if we all do have powers and we just don’t know it. Here are some superpowers you probably didn’t you had.

1. Super Strength

Super strength or hysterical strength, is a display of crazy abnormal strength when people are in life and death situations.  Although many of these cases were documented, super strength is not recognized by medical science mainly due to the fact that it’s kinda hard to gather evidence on this stuff because they happen without warning and researchers can’t just point the gun at someone and tell them to go lift a car.

Like I said there are many documented cases of super strength. For example In 2006 in Tucson, Ariz., Tim Boyle watched as a Chevrolet Camaro hit 18-year-old Kyle Holtrust. The car pinned Holtrust, still alive, underneath. Boyle ran to the scene of the accident and lifted the Camaro off the teenager, while the driver of the car pulled him to safety.

And if you’re thinking maybe Time Boyle was just that strong, well In 1982, in Lawrenceville, Ga., Angela Cavallo lifted a 1964 Chevrolet Impala from her son, Tony, after it fell off the jacks that had held it up while he worked underneath the car. Mrs. Cavallo lifted the car high enough and long enough for two neighbors to replace the jacks and pull Tony from beneath the car. and a 1964 Chevrolet Impala is at least 3,500 pounds.

And finally, Marie "Bootsy" Payton was cutting her lawn in High Island, Texas when her riding mower got away from her. Payton's young granddaughter, Evie, tried to stop the mower but was knocked underneath the still-running machine. Payton reached the mower and easily tossed it off her granddaughter, limiting Evie's injuries to four severed toes. Curious, Payton later tried to lift the mower again and found she couldn't move it.

scientists believe The extra strength comes from the adrenaline that is pumped into the body when the region of the brain called the hypothalamus is stimulated. But of course are not sure that is the cause of this phenomenon.

2. Echolocation

When a bat flies through the air, it rapidly emits a series of high-pitched clicks, as many as 200 per second. The clicks are far higher in pitch than the human ear can hear but The bats hear them easily. By analyzing the way the sounds bounce off objects in their surroundings and following cues in the volume, direction, and speed at which these sounds return, bats can effectively see in the pitch-black dark.

But did you know that humans—both sighted and vision-impaired—are capable of something similar and sometimes they event taught themselves this ability naturally?

For example, Daniel Kish was Blind from infancy due to retinal cancer. He learned as a young boy to judge his height while climbing trees by making rapid clicking noises and listening for their echoes off the ground. No one taught him the technique He just started using it. He’s gotten so good at it, one of his favorite things to do is mountain biking.

Contrary to popular beliefs, you don’t have to be visually impaired to be able to use Echolocation. even an hour or so of practice can provide immediate results. But of course if you want to become an expert, it would take years of practice but the good news is, Yes you can actually learn to become Daredevil.

3. Body Temperature Control

Imagine the ability to control your own body temperature, and I'm not just talking about maybe going out on a chilly autumn day and not needing a jacket I’m talking about having the ability to raise your body temperature so much you can actually dry sheets soaked in freezing water in a fridged room.

In a monastery in northern India, Tibetan monks entered into a state of deep meditation in a cold 40  degrees Fahrenheit room while 3x6 foot sheets soaked in cold water was wrapped around them. Soon steam began rising from the sheets. and the sheets dried in about an hour.

Herbert Benson an associate professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School firmly believes that studying advanced forms of meditation "can uncover capacities that will help us to better treat stress-related illnesses."

During visits to remote monasteries in the 1980s, Benson and his team studied monks living in the Himalayan Mountains who could, by through meditation, raise the temperatures of their fingers and toes by as much as 17 degrees. and lower their metabolism by 64 percent.

To put that decrease in perspective, metabolism, or oxygen consumption, drops only 10-15 percent in sleep.

They also documented monks spending the night outside, 15,000 feet high in the Himalayas in February when temperatures reached zero degrees F. Wearing only woolen or cotton shawls, the monks fell asleep immediately and then walked back to the monastery in the morning like they just spent the night at Ritz Carlton. If I could do this, I would just go walk around Antarctica, no reason, just walk around in a Superman T-shirt and if anyone asks, not that I expect to run into a buncha people, I’ll just tell them I got locked out of the fortress of solitude.

4. Immunity to Pain

This power is very useful! Especially when you give yourself a papercut, fall off your bike, getting tortured for information by the mob. I mean wouldn’t it be great to just be able to not feel pain whenever you want. Well, that may be possible because as they say pain is just a state of mind. First of all the already contain morphine-like substances called endorphins which is released into the body during exercise, excitement and when you hurt yourself, and it has the power to dull or completely eliminate pain by coating the receiving end of the synapses in the brain that would otherwise receive pain signals from the rest of your body.

There are also many cases where people are able to control the amount of pain they feel on command. Professional hypnotherapist and psychotherapist Alex Lenkei hypnotized himself before his hand surgery so he could skip the anesthetic says he was fully awake and pain-free during the 83-minute procedure. Lenkei says anesthetic has gotten him nauseous before, and he just feels avoiding it is healthier than using it, in part because it takes awhile to get it out of your system.

he told Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez that Doctors "were using a chisel, hammer to basically break a sort of walnut-sized bone in the hand to take it out. They also used small medical saw to attach tendon to the thumb."

He said he didn't feel anything at all, just very deep relaxation. I remember my psychology teacher in college used to do this too, every time he would go to the dentist he would ask him how long the procedure was and just put himself under for that amount of time. So like I mentioned before, if he was ever being tortured by the mob….hey guys, how long you intend to torture me for? Oh, 48 hours...ok thanks for the heads up. but he prob wouldn’t feel very good after he comes out of that state. This is also useful if you ever take your kids to a Justin Beiber concert.
 

5. Time Manipulation

So yea this is what Neo did in Matrix or time stalling, for those of you who have ever seen the show Time Trex. Oh and Max Payne calls this "bullet time." Basically in moments of extreme duress, such as that which police experience during a shooting, human perception alters radically.

Over a period of five years, a researcher named Alexis Artwohl gave hundreds of police officers a written survey to fill out about their shooting experiences. What’s really interesting is that virtually all of the officers reported experiencing at least one major perceptual distortion. For some, time moved in slow motion. For others, it sped up.  one cop wrote that  'During a violent shoot-out I looked over... and was puzzled to see beer cans slowly floating through the air past my face. What was even more puzzling was that they had the word Federal printed on the bottom. They turned out to be the shell casings ejected by the officer who was firing next to me.'

Experts say it's because your brain has two modes of experiencing the world, rational and experiential. The first one is calm and rational. But if someone all of a sudden shows up in front of you with a gun you'll suddenly be in the experiential mode.

Your brain goes into a kind of overdrive, bypassing normal processes in favor of hair-trigger decision-making. Most normal thinking processes are scrapped, and suddenly you're operating on instinct. And because you're processing information faster, the world seems to be moving slower.

I think that ability would be the coolest to have. Then I would literally become the greatest baseball player in history! It'd be like playing softball in the major leagues. Also if had this power you would never be afraid of getting mugged. Every fight would be like you had Spidey Sense.

Let me know.

The World's Most Powerful Dragons

Hey Everyone!

Dragons are generally perceived as being benevolent in the East but as evil destructive creatures in the West. Whether you agree with this or no, I think we can all agree that most if not all dragons are very powerful, which Mathew Mcconaghey learned the hard way. Ooooooh, not smart, never bring an ax to a dragon fight. Anyway here are some other powerful dragons based on mythologies from around the world that you should never try to fight with anything less than the black arrow.

1. Bakunawa

the Bakunawa was a giant dragon/serpent. He has two sets of wings, and a mouth ‘the size of a lake, yeah a lake, try chopping at that Matthew McConaughey. The Bakunawa is also believed to be the god of the underworld and is often considered to be the cause of eclipses.

According to Filipino mythology, the Bakunawa lived in the sea at a time when the world had seven moons and it was so fascinated by the moon’s glow, that it would rise out of the sea and consume the moons. But each time it swallowed a moon, the moon would melt in its stomach, thus it consumed another.

To prevent the world from becoming dark the people would run out of their homes, taking their pots and pans, to make the most noise they could in order to scare the Bakunawa so it would stop eating the moons and give them the moonlight back. Interestingly, the name Bakunawa can be translated as ‘moon eater’ or ‘man-eater,’ because come on, if it can eat the moon it can certainly eat people. The term Bakunawa is also used to descript a greedy person or corrupt government official.

So this dragon was pretty powerful, I mean it could swallow the moon, but also kind of a coward. Pots and pans? come on!

2. The Need-Hawg

The need-hawg which means Malice Striker or Striker in the Dark is a powerful dragon found in Norse Mythology. So there’s this ash tree called Yggdrasill Yi Dra Sil also known as the world tree. This tree is so big, it holds the 9 realms of Norse mythology together and of course one of these realms is Asgard where Thor lives. But this crazy dragon is so powerful it’s trying to topple Yggdrasill and destroy all the realms because the root of the world tree is the only thing trapping him. Oh also there’s apparently an eagle that lives at the top of the world tree and this dragon and eagle are basically saying bad thing to each other, you know just trolling each other, and if you're wondering how they are able to communicate, well there’s this squirrel that basically deliver messages for both of them. So this is like an instant messaging insult match where instead of phones, we have a squirrel. And this squirrel is prob not helping things, he’s prob going up to the dragon,  hey need-hawg the eagle said you ain't nothing.. and uh...he said your mama looks like a T-Rex.

Anyway, If need-hawg does chew his way through the root of the World Tree, it then heralds the arrival of Ragnarök Rog Na Rock and the subsequent destruction of the world. the Norse Judgement day. you know In the next Terminator movie, john conner should send a terminator back in time to team up with Thor to destroy this bad mouthing squirrel and prevent nose Judgment Day, they may have to go and kill that dragon too, Terminator 6 Terminator vs Norse Dragon, and squirrel...

3. Typhon

Typhon was considered the mightiest and deadliest monster in Greek mythology. He was the last son of mother earth Gaia and Tartarus, created as a last attempt to repel the Olympian gods from defeating the Titans.

Known as the "father of all monsters", Typhon was a fire-breathing dragon who had one hundred heads that never slept.

Typhon was the largest and most grotesque of all creatures that have ever lived. He was so tall that he towered over the highest mountains, and his head often brushed the stars. He was of human form down to his thighs, but he had huge snake coils instead of legs.

A hundred dragons’ heads sprung from his shoulders and his body was covered with feathers. His also had wings: and fire flashing from his eyes.

After the defeat of the Giants against the Olympian gods, Gaea wanted to punish Zeus for imprisoning her Titan children in Tartarus; thus, Typhon was born.

When Typhon challenged the heavens, the gods were so frightened by that they fled to Egypt and disguised themselves among the wild.

Zeus had to defend Mount Olympus so he threw bolts of lightning at Typhon. Typhon fought back with force and cut off several of Zeus' muscles from his hands and feet, leaving him helpless.

Hermes managed to get the muscles back to Zeus, who eventually trapped Typhon underneath Mount Etna. It is said to this day that the flames and steam that rise from the volcano are from this monster.

4. The Cockatrice

OK, this thing is crazy, the cockatrice is a mythical two-legged dragon with a rooster’s head. the cockatrice was supposed to be born from an egg laid by a chicken and incubated by a toad or snake. But just because this thing is a chicken, doesn’t mean it is Chicken if you know what I mean, this thing is ferocious and it is powerful. It has the ability to kill people by either, breathing on them, touching them or just looking at them.

It was said that the weasel is the only animal that is immune to the glance of a cockatrice. Apparently, the only way to kill it would be to let it hear a rooster crow of getting it to look itself in a mirror.

5. Dragon Kings

In China, as well as in South Asia, the Dragon or Long is commonly the symbol of nobility, solemnness, holiness, and good fortune. 

Chinese dragons are strongly associated with water in popular belief. They are believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, or seas. In traditional Chinese beliefs, there are four major Dragon Kings, representing each of the four seas: the East Sea (corresponding to the East China Sea), the South Sea (corresponding to the South China Sea), the West Sea (sometimes seen as the Indian Ocean and beyond), and the North Sea (sometimes seen as Lake Baikal).

Because of this association, they are seen as "in charge" of water-related weather phenomenon. In premodern times, many Chinese villages (especially those close to rivers and seas) had temples dedicated to their local "dragon king". In times of drought or flooding, it was customary for local officials to lead the community in offering sacrifices and conducting other religious rites to appease the dragon, either to ask for rain or to ask for the rain to stop. These dragon-kings are also known to have a fierce temper and when that happens, crazy weather and floods could occur wiping out entire villages.

You know I wonder what would happen if all these dragons just got together and had dragons only fight club, I wonder who’s gonna win. Maybe the Cockatrice because all it has to do is look at other dragons, but then any of the other dragons could just bring a rooster. The Bakunawa could just try and swallow the other dragons, but then the dragon kings could just floor his stomach full of water. I really don’t know. I’m just gonna go ahead and bet on the squirrel.

Who do you think would win?