Grumpy Looking Blobfish Named World’s Ugliest Animal

Despite the tricks Mother Nature might be playing on us, it’s actually September, and both the fashion and tech worlds appear to be in full steam ahead mode. New York Fashion Week ended, but not before making some plus size strides. Apple released another flashy iPhone model. Then there’s Twitter, which is preparing itself for an initial public offering. The season isn’t the only thing about to change!

Sweater weather is just around the corner, so settle in with a freshly brewed Pumpkin Spice Latte to chase this brand spankin’ new edition of “The Week In WHAT?!“

And The Ugly Winner Is…

Ugly animals need love too, and no one appreciates them more than the Ugly Animal Preservation Society. They held a vote for the world’s ugliest, and after tallying the results, Australia’s blobfish took the top honor. The blobfish, which looks like a cross between Mr. Grumpy, Abe Simpson, and Jabba the Hutt, bobs around the sea floor making it highly unlikely that you’ll ever see one in person if not at an aquarium. In fact, scientists have yet to witness a blobfish feeding! So, if a blobfish eats and no one sees it, did it actually happen? That could explain its everyday resting face.

Froggy to Mission Control: Beam Me Up

This could be a pitch for a Disney movie. A frog spends his nights stargazing, yearning for adventure, and wondering what else exists in the universe. Against all odds, he makes his way into NASA and hops (literally) aboard a rocket heading for space. He journeys to a place where no frog has ever gone before and lives out his dream. Sadly, the real life frog that this fictional tale would be based on didn’t get his happy ending — or did he? A photo snapped during NASA’s LADEE spacecraft launch revealed that ignition of a rocket caused one lonesome frog to catch some serious air. The high flying amphibian had likely been relaxing in a cool, damp spot near the action before catapulting to what was likely his demise. At least he wasn’t crushed to death like many a Frogger.

Not Exactly Butterfly Kisses

Amazonian butterflies may be stunning to look at, but if you were a turtle, you’d issue a stage 5 clinger alert whenever you spotted one from afar. That’s because the former caterpillars turned winged beauties are crazy — crazy for the taste of salty turtle tears. Scientists believe that the butterflies flock to turtle tear ducts since there aren’t many other sources of sodium in the Amazon for herbivores. However, yellow-spotted river turtles eat meat, which contains salt. Sounds like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should lay off all that pepperoni pizza, otherwise Shredder may have found their kryptonite.

Do Hamsters Actually Sell Cars?

Could other car makers be a tad jealous of Kia’s insanely popular hamster ad campaign? If imitation equals flattery, then Kia should be proud of competitor Volvo’s latest stunt. In an attempt to show off it’s dynamic steering system, the Swedish car company attached a hamster wheel to the steering wheel of a 16.5 ton truck. Then, Volvo placed one hungry fur-ball inside while a human driver dangled a carrot above the rodent to entice him into making the wheel move. Naturally, they filmed the entire scene and launched it into the wild (aka YouTube). Sadly, the resulting footage isn’t quite as fun as animated hamsters doing their thing to Lady Gaga’s Applause, but you be the judge:

And there you have this week in “WHAT?!” Can’t wait to see what’s in store for humanity next!

Image via NOAA.gov