“Old Faithful” first earned its name in 1870, when a group of explorers noted that it erupted roughly once every 60 minutes. After decades of earthquakes, it can now take up to 90 minutes between eruptions. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: 10 Things You May Not Know About Yellowstone National Park – HISTORY
A study found tobacco and tomato plants emit ultrasonic “squeals” when stressed. Microphones 4″ away picked up the sounds when plants had their stems cut or were under-watered. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Plants May ‘Scream’ When Stressed | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine
The Kepler 11145123 star, discovered in 2016, is the roundest natural object ever measured. Using asteroseismology, scientists were able to measure the oblateness of the star and found it’s even more perfectly spherical than the sun. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Kepler 11145123 is Most Spherical Natural Object Ever Seen, Astronomers Say | Astronomy | Sci-News.com (sci-news.com)
Image credit: Mark A. Garlick
The average consumer typically uses a single use plastic bag for twelve minutes. After those twelve minutes, it can take up to 1,000 years for a plastic bag to decompose. – WTF Fun Facts
This rare phenomenon is called “Baikal Zen”. Rocks that have fallen on the ice of Lake Baikal are heated by sunlight and melt the ice below. Once the sun is gone, the ice becomes solid again, creating a small support for the rock above. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Incredible natural phenomena on Lake Baikal (getaway.co.za)
“Singing sand” produces a deep hum that can be heard for miles. The sound can be heard as a sand avalanche is triggered by the wind or even by people walking on the sand. There are ~30 sand dunes in the world with the right grain size and dry conditions needed to “sing.” – WTF Fun Facts
In 2016, the Australian city of Wangaratta dealt with a hairy tumbleweed invasion. Nicknamed “hairy panic”, the weed Panicum effusum flourished under the dry conditions and a local farmer’s field that was left unmanaged. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: What is the ‘hairy panic’ tumbleweed that has buried a small Australian city? (theconversation.com)
Italian designers Raoul Bretzel and Anna Citelli created the Capsula Mundi (“world’s capsule” in Latin), an egg-shaped, organic casket that’s suitable for ashes. Its biodegradable plastic shell breaks down and the remains provide nutrients to a tree planted above it. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/03/world/eco-solutions-capsula-mundi/index.html
In 2002, scientists found a fossil believed to be the world’s oldest flower. Now dubbed “the mother of all flowers,” the Archaefructus sinensis is thought to have bloomed more than 125 million years ago in China. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/4768447/The-mother-of-all-flowers.html