a group of porcupines is called a prickle
Source: “Porcupine – Erethizon Dorsaum” — AZ Animals
WTF • Fun • Fact ( /dʌb(ə)lˌju/ /ti/ /ef/ • /fʌn/ • /fækt/ )
1. noun A random, interesting, and overall fun fact that makes you scratch your head and think what the...
WTF Fun Fact 13091 – Scent Makes Dogs Feel Safe
You probably already know your dog is happy to be around you. They’re pretty good at showing it. Your behavior towards your dog is what matters most. But once they feel secure in your presence, your scent makes dogs feel safe.
The research on scent making dogs feel safe
Have you ever smelled a scent that reminded you of someone (perfume, for example) and had it stir your emotions?
Gregory Berns, a neuroeconomist at Emory University, performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) on dogs (don’t worry, he taught them to sit still).
“We started the dog project about three years ago to get around this problem that we really don’t know what dogs are thinking or what they’re experiencing,” Berns said, according to National Geographic (cited below).
The goal was to see the activity of the brain’s nerve cells in order to get a hint of what they might be thinking. Of course, there’s a lot of interpretation to do to turn those images into ideas about doggy feelings. But they studied the part of the brain that is associated with reward.
According to NatGeo: “In the new study, Berns and his team performed fMRI on 12 dogs, including 5 service or therapy dogs and his own dog, Callie, to test their response to biological odors. The experiment dogs were presented with five scents on gauze pads: a familiar human, an unfamiliar human, a dog that lived in their household, an unfamiliar dog, and their own scent. The researchers found that the dogs’ caudate nucleus, an area of the brain associated with positive expectations, was most activated by the scent of the familiar person.”
The scent of a dog owner
The results suggested that dogs can pick out their owner’s familiar scent, AND it tends to produce a positive reaction that shows up in the reward center of the brain.
The dogs didn’t react to the other scents in any way that would indicate they had an emotional reaction to them.
While this is sweet and all, the research will be beneficial for service animals.
“What’s more, scanning potential service dogs for enhanced brain responses may pinpoint canines that are most up to the task. Training service dogs is very expensive, he said, and only 30 to 40 percent of those trained are placed with a person. Overall, Berns believes the dogs experience something akin to pleasure when they smell their owners.” — WTF fun facts
Source: “Dog Brains Link Pleasure With Owner’s Scent” — National Geographic
WTF Fun Fact 13089 – The Benefits of Looking at Old Photos
From physical photo albums to scrolling far back in your social media history, there’s something about looking at old photos that tends to make us happy. In fact, research has shown it can be downright relaxing. For those not skilled at meditation, looking at old photos can be even more relaxing than meditating!
Make yourself happy by looking at old photos
Make fun of photo-takers all you’d like (and we’ll join you for the ridiculous Instagram posers), but there’s some serious value in documenting happy moments.
In an article posted about the research on Digital Camera World (cited below), UK behavioral psychologist Jo Hemmings noted that “Taking the time to look back on our treasured memories can be truly beneficial for our wellbeing as it can help to evoke feelings of positivity and happiness. Because of this, and especially at times like this, we should take more time to appreciate and look back on them.”
Reminiscing for stress relief
If you want to crush your stress and boost your well-being, try a few tips that have made people happy during research studies:
- Check out old photos of your friends, family, and pets on your phone. It can trigger feelings of happiness and strengthen these relationships.
- Look at photos when you need a reminder that you’re loved. Reminiscing about happy moments with a photo helps recreate those feelings in our minds and transports us back to a happier place.
- Make an album of funny photos. Silly old photos can cause your body to release endorphins, a natural stress reliever.
- Look back at other people’s happy occasions. When we see our friends and family at significant points in their lives (weddings, graduations, etc.), it can help reduce cortisol and take our anxiety down a notch.
- Hang happy photos in your home. People tend to find the places in their homes that contain photos are the most relaxing. Having copies of real, physical photos around your room, office, or house helps enhance feelings of social bonds.
Source: “It’s official! Looking at old photos is more relaxing than meditating” — Digital Camera World
WTF Fun Fact 13088 – Sir Nils Olav
Have you ever met a fancier penguin than Sir Nils Olav III? If you’re not impressed by his knighthood, then you may be impressed by the military title he received on Sugust 22, 2016 that made him Brigadier Sir Nils Olav.
The story of Nils Olav
Nils Olav is a king penguin – the second smallest type of penguin after an emperor penguin.
The name comes from a lieutenant (Nils Egelien) in the Norwegian King’s Guard who became interested in a penguin colony during a military exercise in the 1960s. When the Guard returned to Edinburgh in 1972, Egelien arranged for the regiment to adopt a penguin as its mascot. The penguin was named Nils Olav, after both the soldier and King Olav V of Norway.
Since 1972, there have been three penguins bearing the name. They have all been given a increasing rank of military honor over the years as well. The ranks pass down to the next penguin when one dies. We are now on Nils Olav III.
In 2016, after moving up the ranks and being knighted with permission of the king of Norway, the penguin became Brigadier Sir Nils Olav.
Honoring Sir Nils Olaf
According to the Edinburgh Zoo (cited below), where the penguin resides, “The prestigious title was awarded during a special ceremony which was attended by over 50 uniformed soldiers of His Majesty the King of Norway’s Guard, who are taking part in The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo this year. Sir Nils paraded his way up Penguin Walk, whilst inspecting the soldiers of the Guard.”
Barbara Smith, Acting Chief Executive Officer for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said: “We are honoured to host His Majesty the King of Norway’s Guard as they bestow a prestigious new title upon our king penguin, Sir Nils Olav. It is a very proud moment and represents the close collaboration between our two countries, Scotland and Norway.”
WTF Fun Fact 13087 – The WLCoWSVoWLT
The WLCoWSVoWLT stands for the World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things. It was created by a woman named Erika Nelson who travels the country looking for roadside marvels that have set a record for “world’s largest.” Then she photographs them and builds her own miniature version.
The marvels of the WLCoWSVoWLT
It’s unclear if creating the world’s smallest version of any world’s largest thing is a full-time job, but her collection has become a museum that she runs. You can visit it in Lucas, Kansas. What you’ll find on the walls are photos of Nelson’s replicas next to their giant inspirations. Often, she’ll have the miniatures displayed as well.
According to Atlas Obscura, “Nelson is an artist, educator, and one of America’s foremost experts and speakers on the World’s Largest Things. In addition to visiting communities with her own unique traveling museum, which acquired a permanent base in 2017, Nelson is a consultant to cities seeking to create their own ‘World’s Largest Thing’ or roadside attraction to increase tourism, marketing, and economic development for their community.”
This is just another testament to how incomplete Career Day at school really is. Just think of the jobs people create for themselves that no one ever dreamed of!
Making the world’s smallest versions of the largest things
Nelson makes the World’s Smallest Versions of The World’s Largest Things from a medley of materials. For example, when replicating the world’s largest ball of rubber bands, she used the miniature rubber bands you’d find at an orthodontist’s office.
Nelson spends most of her time on the road. The museum itself is stationary since it’s found a new building in Lucas, Kansas. It used to be housed in a van. — WTF fun facts
Source: “World’s Largest Collection of Smallest Versions of Largest Things” — Atlas Obscura
WTF Fun Fact 13086 – Newborn Panda Size
Newborns are tiny. That certainly doesn’t come as a surprise. But the relative tininess of some creatures is truly stunning. For example, newborn panda size really made us think about the logistics of things like feeding. These teeny creatures are about the size of a mouse – between three and five OUNCES.
Newborn panda size
For further information on this fun fact and other questions we had about baby pandas, we turned to National Geographic, a trusted source for all things nature (and cited down below).
In 2020, NatGeo wrote about newborn panda size after the birth of a new cub at the zoo in Washington DC. The reason? People wanted to know its sex. But panda cubs are so small that only a genetic test can determine their sex. (It was a boy.)
“That’s not all they’re missing at birth. Newborn giant pandas are almost completely unrecognizable. Rather than sporting their iconic black-and-white markings, pandas emerge from their mothers as pink, wrinkly, blind, squealing creatures roughly the size of a stick of butter,” noted the magazine.
Conservationists who want to save pandas have always had questions about how their size at birth might work for the species, especially since they’re so fragile:
“Pandas are born fragile and underdeveloped. Weighing between three and five ounces, newborn pandas are 1/900th the weight of their mother. This places them among the smallest newborns compared to their mother of any mammal: Human mothers are only about 20 times heavier than their babies, and killer whales are 50 times heavier. Only marsupials emerge smaller‚ and that’s because their babies get to hole up in their mothers’ pouches to finish developing. Red kangaroos, for example, are born at 1/100,000th the weight of their mothers.”
Why are baby pandas so tiny?
We’re still trying to figure out what makes a newborn panda size any kind of advantage. (Then again, pandas are notorious for not doing much to keep their species going on their own.)
Researchers have found that the bears gestate for just 1 month! They don’t even have fully developed skeletons. Even their bear relatives that are born very tiny emerge with skeletons, whereas pandas are born a bit “undercooked” (that’s the word used by the authors of a study in the Journal of Anatomy).
Our best guess is related to just how poorly suited panda bears are to…well, life.
“The short gestation likely has to do with the bamboo that makes up most of the bear’s diet, says Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas at the National Zoo. Bamboo doesn’t have many nutrients. Rather than expend the enormous amounts of energy needed to grow a fetus, female pandas can focus on developing the high-fat milk that will help their cubs grow outside of the womb.” — WTF fun facts
Source: “Born blind, pink, and entirely helpless, here’s how giant pandas grow up” — National Geographic
WTF Fun Fact 13085 – Horatio Magellan Crunch
You think you know someone. All this time, we assumed that Cap’n Crunch was an uncomplicated cartoon cereal mascot. But there’s more to Horatio Magellan Crunch than meets the eye.
Finding Cap’n Crunch
In 2013, the Wall Street Journal turned the cereal world on its head by revealing that an investigation into the origins of Cap’n Crunch had revealed his real name and rank.
Food & Wine Magazine (cited below) noted that the normally serious newspaper revealed a dark secret. That year, the paper wrote that “the legendary cereal icon’s status as a captain has come under fire… Cap’n Crunch only wears the bars of a Navy commander, not those of a captain. In the U.S. Navy, captains wear four bars on their uniforms, while commanders — one rank below captain – have three bars.”
Way to blow our minds.
You can’t handle the truth about Horatio Magellan Crunch
After the controversy broke, Cap’n Crunch went on Twitter to address the allegations.
“All hearsay and misunderstandings!,” @realcapncrunch wrote.”I captain the S.S. Guppy with my crew – which makes an official Cap’n in any book!”
He also insisted that “It’s the Crunch – not the clothes – that make a man.” The Navy would beg to differ.
In a tongue-in-cheek reply, Lt. Commander Chris Servello, director of the U.S. Navy’s news desk at the Pentagon revealed: “We have no Cap’n Crunch in the personnel records – and we checked. We have notified NCIS and we’re looking into whether or not he’s impersonating a naval officer – and that’s a serious offense.”
Then again, the so-called “Cap’n” wears a Napoleonic-era hat. Could he be French?!
He first debuted as a Quaker Oats Co. character in 1963, so it’s a little late to be fighting that battle. His official biography only tells us he was born on Crunch Island, in the Sea of Milk. We’re not sure which flag they fly there.
We do know that he commanded the S.S. Guppy and spent time near Mt. Crunchmore, but that raises more questions than it answers. — WTF fun facts
Source: “Cap’n Crunch’s Real Name Isn’t Cap’n Crunch and Everything You Know Is a Lie” — Food & Wine