OnAugust21,1986,LakeNyosinCameroonsilentlyreleasedamassivecloudofCO2thatrolleddownsurroundingvalleys,suffocating1,746peopleand3,500livestockovernight.Theydidn'tevenwakeup.Itcanhappenagain—thelakeisstillthere.
A mysterious organism in the Paris Zoo has 720 sexes, no brain, no stomach, no eyes, yet it can learn, solve mazes, and teach other blobs what it learned. Cut it in half and it heals in two minutes. It's not a plant, animal, or fungus. It's been alive for a billion years.
In 1932, the Australian military deployed soldiers with machine guns against 20,000 emus. The emus won.
On August 21, 1986, Lake Nyos in Cameroon silently released a massive cloud of CO2 that rolled down surrounding valleys, suffocating 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock overnight. They didn't even wake up. It can happen again — the lake is still there.
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