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The new SARS-like virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus infection (MERS), is spreading across the planet, and the World Health Organisation has labelled it a "threat to the entire world."

The virus, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) originally said would never pose a threat outside the Middle East, has now reached 18 countries across the world. Cases have now been confirmed in Jordan, Lebanon, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Great Britain.
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Unprecedented plagues and diseases are threatening crops across the globe, and the results could be disastrous according to scientists.

Bananas are one such crop that has fallen victim to a variety of bugs and fungal infections, which are spreading so rapidly that the government in Costa Rica, one of the biggest suppliers of the fruit, has already declared a “national emergency”, amidst serious concerns that the country would not be able to meet its export obligations.

Plagues of mealybugs and scale insects have decimated over 20% of the crop yield; the insects weaken plants and cause blemishes on fruit, rendering them useless for the retailer and consequently causing huge batches to be written off.
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A month ago, the discovery of an extremely strange virus was found in Chile. Now a strange and magnificent web has been discovered in the Amazon basin, possibly the most intricate and beautifully engineered web ever found. Norman Platnick, an arachnologist and Peter J. Solomon Family Curator of the invertebrate zoology department of the American Museum of Natural History, told Live Science "I have no idea what animal made that."

The structure is centered on a graceful tower that is held up by delicate web ‘ropes,’ elegantly cantilevered. It is surrounded by stakes made of thickened web and further protected by web fencing. The central structure appears to be an egg casing.
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A pair of startlingly unique viruses twice the size of the largest known viruses have been discovered by a group of French scientists. They have a shape similar to a container, and a completely novel set of genes inside, which made their discoverers associate them with a Pandora’s Box. Most of their genes are novel, and contain code that does unknown things. There is some scientific speculation that these viruses are so unusual that they should be thought of as a new life form entirely.
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