D. Peterson asks: Why do deer always seem to freeze in headlights instead of keep running? Less a function of fear than bewilderment, simply put, deer freeze in headlights because they can’t see. Deer Eyes vs. Human Eyes The eyes of deer and people share a number of features, but they also have a few significant differences. Pupil Unlike human […]
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Moths, beetles and flies all get caught in spider webs, but you almost never see a spider unable to extricate herself from one. Here’s why. The Web When a spider makes an orb web, each line is actually comprised of at least two or more threads, and in fact, the supporting threads, radiating spokes and hub are all made from […]
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When you consider their size and how much they have to keep under wraps, African elephants have surprisingly thin skin, relatively speaking. Holding Everything In Across most of their bodies, an African elephant’s skin is only somewhere between 2 and 4 cm or .78 to 1.6 inches thick on average. All of this relatively thin skin holds in a whole […]
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At nearly twice the size of its nearest relatives and holding enough venom to kill a man, the Asian Giant Hornet is a menace to people, bees and wasps alike. Eusocial, like other stinging insects, Vespa mandarinia live in well-organized colonies with a single queen and a host of drones and female workers. Habitat The Asian Giant Hornet is found […]
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Dung beetles have long surprised scientists with their remarkable navigation abilities, despite the relatively small sizes of their brains. Scientists have also known that after dung beetles collect the dung, they do a little dance on top of it before moving it in a straight line to their destination. The dancing was once written off as a “happy dance,” but […]
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Eleven thousand years ago, one saucy canine got busy and, as can happen with unprotected sex, gave its partner a venereal disease, although uniquely, this VD was cancerous. Over the course of the intervening millennia, that second dog, its partners, and its partners’ partners, all did what dogs eventually do, each spreading the disease, which has continued to retain some […]
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Michael asks: Where do insects disappear to in the winter time? As cold-blooded creatures, insects are particularly susceptible to winter’s freezing temperatures. To survive, this class of animals has developed a wide variety of adaptations, including long migrations, creating their own anti-freeze and even purposely freezing portions of their bodies. Migration Perhaps the best-known migratory insect is the Monarch Butterfly. […]
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For centuries, before refrigeration, an old Russian practice was to drop a frog into a bucket of milk to keep the milk from spoiling. In modern times, many believed that this was nothing more than an old wives’ tale. But researchers at Moscow State University, led by organic chemist Dr. Albert Lebedev, have shown that there could be some benefit […]
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Mike A. asks: What is the difference between bees, wasps, and hornets? There are many similarities and differences between our little wing-whipping friends. For starters, all can sting you. That said, you may derive some solace in the fact that when certain of them sting humans, they die- not so when they sting many other animals. The barbed stingers on […]
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Shawn asks: Do cow farts really significantly contribute to global warming? There are currently approximately 1.3 to 1.5 billion cows grazing, sleeping, and chewing their cud at any given time on planet Earth. And these 1,300 pound (average weight for both a beef and dairy cow) animals eat a lot. Much like humans, when they eat, gas builds up inside […]
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The date was April 3, 1919. The location was the South Side Pavilion in sunny Jacksonville, Florida. The occasion was a much-hyped competition of gastronomical strength between Ping Bodie, the five foot eight and 190 pound New York Yankee outfielder, versus the “world’s greatest eater,” an ostrich named Percy. They were to engage in a spaghetti-eating contest to determine, once […]
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Despite what you learned in grammar school, there are way more than four states of matter. One possible new one, disordered hyperuniformity, was recently found in the weirdest place – the eyes of chickens. Classical States of Matter To better understand an exotic state of matter like disordered hyperuniformity, it may be helpful to review the characteristics of the classical […]
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Scott asks: What’s the difference between hares and rabbits? Is it just two names for the same thing? Rabbits and hares are often confused for one another, so much so that to many the two names are interchangeable in casual conversation. When you learn that jackrabbits are actually a type of hare, and that there’s a breed of rabbit called […]
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When you think of World War I, you probably think of the technology that made this war so deadly: tanks, machine guns, gas attacks, and bombs. With so many deadly weapons at their disposal, it seems impossible that soldiers would need the humble horse to fight as well. But over a million horses were used by Great Britain alone during […]
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Today I found out about Sergeant Stubby, the most decorated war dog of WWI. When he was a puppy in 1917, Stubby was wandering around the fields of Yale University. Private Robert J. Conroy was undergoing military training in the area at the time, and found the little dog with a short tail who he decided to name Stubby. Due […]
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Martha was a very lonely bird. She had once been part of a pair, with her male counterpart George, but he had died several years before. So, for the final years of her life, Martha sat in her one-bird cage alone. The Cincinnati Zoo offered a thousand dollar reward (about $23,000 today) to anyone who could track down a mate […]
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Skittering along at about an inch off the ground, one of the most vicious predators on the planet is often smaller than its prey, blind as a bat and utterly freaking creepy. Giant Centipede Basics Typically reaching 10 inches in length (although some overachievers grow to a full foot long), Scolopendra gigantea is the largest species of centipede on the […]
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Myth: Electric “eels” exist. There are, however, electric fish: eight-foot long, 600 volt, mouth breathing, alligator-killing fish. Electrophorus electricus Although there are a number of fish that produce an electric charge, the species that is called “electric eel,” E. electricus, is a member of the fish order, ostariophysian. Mistaken for an eel due to its shape and lack of pelvic, […]
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