Nature

WTF Fun Fact 12752 – The Loudest Animal

What would be your guess for the loudest animal on earth? A lion? An elephant? What about a shrimp?

Ok, but what about a specific type of pistol shrimp named after the bank Pink Floyd? That sounds a bit more believable,

The loudest animal

You’ve probably never heard a pistol shrimp make a noise unless you spend time near reefs with your head underwater. But the way they catch their prey is pretty interesting. They use bubbles.

By snapping their claws super hard and fast, a pistol shrimp can create a bubble that travels out from their bodies at around 60 mph. That’s enough to stun their prey so they can attack.

But when the bubble pops, it really makes the ocean rock.

Noisy eaters

One specific type of pistol shrimp is known for being a particularly noisy eater (or at least bubble-maker). Synalpheus pinkfloydi is pistol shrimp named after Pink Floyd. Because, hey, why not? We’re pretty sure one of the coolest things about being a scientist is getting to name stuff to your liking.

Anyway, this little shrimp can snap so hard that when it’s bubbles burst the noise can reach up to 210 decibels, according to the Ocean Conservancy (cited below). That’s louder than an actual pistol. Gunshots can reach around 175 decibels.

Clawing their way up the chain of command

The Ocean Conservancy also notes that “The pistol shrimp’s mighty snap comes in handy for more than just lunch. Its powerful claw can deter predators or other competitors looking to take over the shrimp’s burrow. It also makes males more attractive to the ladies—larger claws suggest they are better mates.”

It turns out a good claw is better than a pistol any day!

But it turns out pistol shrimp are also lovers, not just fighters. They work together – even with other species – to help find food and keep their hunting mates safe. So next time you’re hunting in a reef, find a friend with a big claw!

– WTF fun facts

Source: “The Real Power of the Pistol Shrimp” — Ocean Conservancy

WTF Fun Fact 12746 – Owls Don’t Have Eyeballs

Owls have eyes, of course. But owls don’t have eyeballs.

Instead, owls have eyes shaped like cylinders (with three eyelids!). Because of this shape, owls can’t roll their eyes around while keeping their heads still. That’s why they have to move their heads around too much to look around.

How do owls see without eyeballs?

According to the Office of Science & Society at McGill University: “Since moving their torsos would likely make noise that would alert their prey to their presence, owls have evolved to have necks that can spin up to 270° essentially silently.”

But why would an owl evolve to have eye rods instead of eyeballs? Wouldn’t it just be easier not to have to move your head at all in order to see to the side?

Well, perhaps, but the benefit of having eyes shaped like rods instead of balls is that not only does it allow them to see better in the dark but it’s the optimal shape for an animal with such a small skull.

The benefit of eye rods

As you may have noticed, nocturnal animals tend to have large corneas. That’s so any light can be collected more efficiently, allowing them to see in the dark.

As it turns out, these elongated eye tubes make it even easier for them to see the way they need to, even if they do have to make more movement in order to get a larger field of vision (also called binocular vision). Without moving their heads, their visual field is about 110 degrees (a human’s is 180 degrees, for comparison).

Binocular vision

Binocular vision also lets owls see objects in three dimensions (height, width, and depth). So, it turns out an owl’s eyes are pretty perfectly suited to its lifestyle.

While some believe all of this means that owls can’t see during the day because they’re blinded by too much light, that’s simply not true. Some owls can see even better than humans in the daylight as well, despite the lack of eyeballs.

At least you never have to worry about an owl giving you the side-eye. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Owls Don’t Have Eyeballs” — Office of Science & Society, McGill University

WTF Fun Fact 12730 – Male Kangaroos Flex Their Biceps

Male kangaroos and male humans have something in common – they flex their biceps to impress females. Researchers showed that male western grey kangaroos use their biceps both for combat and to compete for the ladies.

The Conversation interviewed kangaroo expert Rod Wells, who said that bigger biceps might mean an “additional advantage from either females finding big forelimbs sexy or alternatively the males which win the right to access the females are then strong enough to overpower any unwilling female.”

We’re not impressed by that last part.

Kangaroos have long been a symbol of strength. According to Smithsonian Magazine: “The Royal Australian Air Force used a boxing kangaroo starting in 1891. For a while, kangaroos would fight men in boxing rings. And, in fact, a male kangaroo biceps are a lot more impressive than you might think.”

Fighting and flexing kangaroos are a new concept to some of us. For example, in 2017, an Australian snapped a photo of a particularly jacked kangaroo he came across while taking his dog for a walk. While its musculature is not super common, it brought attention to the fact that kangaroos can get ripped.

According to Men’s Health: “Jackson Vincent, a 27-year-old gardener in Australia, was walking his dog Dharma on his grandmother’s property near Boodjidup Creek when he spotted the massive ‘roo. He said he’s seen kangaroos on the land since he was a kid, but few that have been that large, according to the Sun. The ‘roo was standing in the creek nearly fully submerged, and as Vincent started to take photos, it started to come at him.”

While we’re smart enough not to approach a wild animal we don’t know much about, we plan to be extra careful with kangaroos from now on. If you’re not convinced, you may want to check out the video below and watch them kick each other’s butts – it’s quite a sight!

– WTF fun facts

Source: “It’s Not Just Men Who Flex Their Biceps at Women—Kangaroos Do, Too” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Facts 12719 – When Weather Kills

Heat waves (typically regarded as 3 or more days in a row with a temperature above 90 degrees) are a time to take special care and to check in on the elderly and those with young children who may need help. While the heat makes many of us miserable, it’s also a killer. And because it gets misdiagnosed and is considered a fact of life in the summer by many, we easily forget what a calamity it can be for some (even for those with A/C who experience increasingly frequent power outages!).

Technically, all heat-related deaths are preventable. That’s why it’s so sad that around 658 Americans are killed by extreme heat each year. And the numbers are likely much higher since heat-related deaths aren’t mandatory to report to public health agencies.

Heat deaths as well as deaths in which heat was a contributing factor are easy to misdiagnose or mislabel. Looking back at deadly heat waves in Chicago and Paris, for example, show that far more deaths were related to heat than were recorded at the time.

Here are some sobering facts from the Environmental Protection Agency:

  • Between 1979 and 2018, the death rate as a direct result of exposure to heat (the underlying cause of death) generally hovered between 0.5 and 2 deaths per million people…
  • A total of more than 11,000 Americans have died from heat-related causes since 1979, according to death certificates.
  • In some years, recording has included heat as a contributing factor, and in other years it has not – but in the years where only direct heat deaths “counted,” the estimates may be twice as high as the records show.
  • There was a peak in heat-related deaths in 2006, one of the hottest years on record in the contiguous 48 states.

And while many kids do get special attention during traumatic weather events, it’s the elderly who are often forgotten. However:

  • Since 1999, people aged 65+ have been several times more likely to die from heat-related cardiovascular disease than the general population, while non-Hispanic Blacks generally have had higher-than-average rates.
  • The interaction of heat and cardiovascular disease caused about one-fourth of the heat-related deaths recorded since 1999.

According to the CDC, those most likely to suffer from heat-related illness and death include:

  • infants and children up to 4 years old
  • People 65 years of age and older
  • People who are overweight
  • People who have existing medical conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease
  • People who are socially isolated
  • Those who take medications that impair the body’s ability to regulate its temperature or that inhibit perspiration
  • People who are poor

Behaviors that put people are at risk for serious illness or death during heat waves include:

  • Those who engage in strenuous exercise during high heat
  • People who drink alcoholic beverages during high heat

Heat is also worse in urban areas where buildings, parking lots, sidewalks, and roads absorb heat and create even hotter “heat islands” that aren’t recorded in the local weather estimates.

From 1999 to 2010, 8,081 heat-related deaths were reported in the United States. In 72% of these cases, excessive heat was actually the underlying cause of death (often in those who already had a cardiovascular condition). Only in 28% of cases was it a contributing factor.

So, what can you do to make sure everyone handles the heat?

  • Check on people at risk, such as the elderly, disabled, or homebound.
  • Never leave any living creature locked in a car. (Sometimes we don’t even know how bad the heat is getting to us until it’s too late.)
  • Limit sun exposure during midday hours, even at places like beaches.
  • Avoid sunburn and treat it right away if it happens by applying aloe vera and hot compresses – never pop blisters.
  • Drink plenty of nonalcoholic fluids (and avoid caffeine).
  • Replace the body’s salts and minerals by eating fruits and vegetables (NOT salty snacks – because while your body needs salt, they have too much for your kidneys to handle).
  • Dress in cool, loose clothing (this also helps avoid heat rash).
  • Shade your (and especially children’s) heads and faces from the sun – use an umbrella if that’s all you have.
  • Provide plenty of fresh water for pets and put it in the shade.
  • Create circulation with fans if you don’t have a/c – and make there’s a fan pointing outward to push hot air out of the room.
  • Put a bowl of cold water (with ice, if possible) in front of a fan for an extra cooling effect.
  • Try closing all doors, windows, and curtains right before the sun comes up to keep cooler evening air inside longer.
  • Cover your feet and shoulders with wet towels and washcloths.
  • Create a space in the basement, if you have one, since it’s often cooler down there.
  • Turn off electronics that give off heat when plugged in (such as computers and lamps with incandescent light bulbs).
  • Try not to use the stove or oven.
  • If there’s no relief in your home, visit public buildings (such as shopping malls or libraries) with air conditioning.
  • Avoid large, protein-rich meals to keep the body from creating its own metabolic heat.
  • Lay down in a shaded area and sip water if you get clammy, pale, lightheaded, nauseous, or develop a headache – this can turn into an emergency quickly, so don’t hide away in a hot room.
  • Keep some Gatorade or Pedialyte (or any oral hydration with essential minerals and potassium) to stave off dehydration.
  • Call 911 if you experience: cramps, swelling, fainting, a temperature over 100 degrees and rising, confusion, a rapid pulse, severe nausea, a severe headache, and skin that’s warm and dry – it could be heat stroke, which can lead to coma and death.

— WTF fun facts

Sources: “Heat-Related Illness” — CDC
“Climate Change indicators” — EPA
“11 Facts About Heat Waves” — DoSomething.org

WTF Fun Fact 12718 – Crickets Can Tell You The Temperature

Let’s get one thing out of the way up front. While we call the method of measuring temperature using cricket chirps “Dolbear’s law,” the idea was first laid out in 1881 by Margarette W. Brooks. Her report “Influence of temperature on the chirp of the cricket” was published in Popular Science Monthly, it just wasn’t noticed until after Amos Dolbear published an 1897 article called “The Cricket as a Thermometer” 16 years later.

Regardless, it’s known as Dolber’s law, and it states that there is a connection between the air temperature and the rate at which crickets chirp. And it’s accurate for the field cricket within about 1 degree Fahrenheit.

It’s kind of like counting the seconds between lightning strikes and thunder, except way more inconvenient.

However, it is true that crickets chirp more speedily as the weather warms up. Dolbear realized this because crickets chirp consistently – that makes it possible to use the numbers in an equation.

In the original paper, Dolbear said you can get the approximate temperature in degrees Fahrenheit based on the times a cricket chirps in 1 minute – but you have to do some more math.

T_{F}=50+\left({\frac {N_{{60}}-40}{4}}\right).
In other words, T = 50+[(N-40)/4]
T = temperature
N = number of chirps per minute

If you want a shortcut for Celcius, you can use the number of chirps in 8 seconds and add 5.

Of course, there are many types of crickets, and Dolbear realized they each had a different rate of chirping. So he created new equations for other species. The problem for us is that we have to know which type of cricket we’re dealing with.

In fact, the common field cricket really isn’t the best cricket to use since its age, and whether it’s mating season can also affect the speed at which they chirp (so they’re not entirely consistent). But they’re probably good enough for a quick experiment. –WTF fun facts

Source: “How to Use Crickets to Calculate Temperature” — Thought Co.

WTF Fun Fact 12712 – Pine Cone Hygrometers

While we knew plants responded to changes in weather, we must have missed the day our teacher showed the class that we could use a pinecone to gauge humidity.

Now, technically, we feel like walking out into a humid day is enough to make us say, “wow, it’s humid out here.” End of story. But let’s say you’re having a disagreement with a friend about whether it’s humid or just simply hot. THAT’S when it might come in handy to ask a pine cone.

Pine cones open up their scales when the weather is dry (presumably, the evolutionary logic is so their seeds won’t get bogged down too close by and compete with one another when they grow). When the weather is humid, they close back up.

When pine cones are wet in general, their scales swell shut. The outer parts shrink when they’re dry, causing them to pull away from the cone. (This is also why crafters will heat pine cones in the oven before using them. And if you rinse an open pine cone, it will close again.)

Of course, nature is finicky and can take a minute to get the hint, so don’t ask too early in the morning since it may take them some time to get the hint and respond appropriately. But next time you need a science fair project, that seems like a cheap way to do it!

If this is confusing, or you’d simply like to see how it works, check out this oddly mesmerizing video:

– WTF fun facts

Source: “Pinecones close when it rains. Here’s how they do it!” — Discover

WTF Fun Fact 12707 – The Role Of Goats In Argan Oil

Maybe you’ve heard of argan oil. It’s very trendy in skin and hair products and the oil is quite expensive. It comes from the nuts of Argania trees, which are found in Morocco.

But argan oil isn’t so easily harvested from these nuts. In order to make the oil easier to harvest, you generally have to wait for the nut to pass through the digestive tract of a local mountain goat first. So, yes, what we mean here is that the nuts are eaten by goats, softened by their digestive tracts, pooped out, and THEN gathered by people for creating argan oil.

Of course, there are other ways of harvesting (humans doing the hard work of peeling them) and you’ll find many companies insisting that their argan oil comes from goat-free nuts. In those cases, the goats end up being a nuisance (and all because people are squeamish).

But frankly, it’s hard to know for sure how the nuts get into human hands. And it doesn’t really matter since the oil has no traces of goat poop in it by the time it gets to you.

The other fascinating thing about the mountain goats that helped launch the argan oil industry is that they became talented tree climbers precisely because the Argania trees bear fruit. There’s not much fruit on the ground in Morocco for goats, especially in summer. Once the goats eat all the low-hanging fruit, they have no other choice than to head upward.

While there are other goats around the world that climb trees, many of the pictures we see of multiple goats in trees are probably Moroccan mountain goats getting their fruity dinners.

And because they’re goats, they end up eating the nuts as well. Since they can’t digest those, the nuts end up on the ground later on (via poop mostly, but some goats will spit them out after trying to chew them). – WTF fun facts

Source: “Tree goats” — CBS News

WTF Fun Facts 12706 – Oxygen From The Ocean

It’s easy to think all our oxygen comes from trees on land – and a LOT of it does (especially rainforests, which there are lots of, and which need protection). But, in fact, most of it comes from the oceans.

That’s a bit harder to believe, but that doesn’t make it less true.

Plankton, specifically phytoplankton, produce most of the Earth’s oxygen. It also serves as food for sea creatures, but they don’t do much else that makes them interesting to most people. They just float around, completely at the mercy of the currents. They’re green and cruddy and you might even look at them and think “eww.”

And that’s fine since they also can’t be offended.

Here’s the deal: even though oceanic phytoplankton isn’t nearly as pretty as trees, it does similar work for us. These little organisms mostly float along the surface of the water or the upper part of the ocean where light still penetrates. They require sunlight to live and grow and produce food for other ocean creatures. They contain chlorophyll to capture the sunlight. If you remember back to grade school science, you probably see where this is going – photosynthesis.

Our oceanic phytoplankton turns the energy from sunlight, as well as carbon dioxide, and mineral salts partly into oxygen. There’s a lot of other stuff going on there too (other byproducts of photosynthesis, like the sugar they feed on), but oxygen is the byproduct we care about at the moment since we need it to breathe.

The cool thing is that even if you don’t live anywhere near an ocean, you still get the benefits because of the way the planet works. Oxygen is great because it just fills the atmosphere and doesn’t need to be shipped via trucks and planes to far-off destinations.

Scientists estimate that 50-80% of the oxygen production that takes place on Earth comes from the ocean. That’s a big range, but even if you go with the more conservative number, it’s clear that we can’t live without them. However, a lot of that oxygen also goes back into the ocean for other ocean life that needs it.

Don’t get us wrong, we love rainforests and regular trees too. But phytoplankton is doing more work than other flora when it comes to keeping breathing creatures alive.

We can do things like track plankton and get some readings off them, but it’s hard to know exact numbers of what they’re producing at any given time. The amount of oxygen they give off can change with the time of day or the time of year. It can also change depending on how healthy the oceans are.

One problem is that things like dead and decaying plants and animals in the ocean also consume oxygen when they decompose. That’s just one reason why killing off aquatic life (such as coral reefs) can be bad for us.

But if you remember one thing, it should be that these tiny, single-celled creatures do a lot of work for us by not only producing oxygen but by absorbing some of the CO2 we emit.

Some people call them “the lungs of the sea.” – WTF fun facts

Source: “How much oxygen comes from the ocean?” — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

WTF Fun Fact 12705 – Invasive “Jumping Worms”

In a not-so-fun turn of events, people in the U.S. are concerned about an invasive species of worm that can reproduce on its own, destroy soil, and spread quickly.

Usually, worms are a vital part of ecosystems and help the soil provide nutrients to crops. But not the Amynthas agrestis, or Asian jumping worm. They’ve been troubling people since 2013 in the U.S., but they’ve been spotted far and wide now and farmers are concerned. They are native to east Asia, and Japan and the Korean peninsula in particular.

There are lots of ways worms can move around the world, but we’ve never seen them pose this kind of threat. More recently, they’ve been seen as far west as California’s Napa county (although to be fair, that’s actually closer to Japan).

We import a lot of beautiful plants from overseas for our gardens, so it’s no surprise the U.S. is now home to new kinds of worms. But these ones can cause long-term damage (and startle gardeners quite a bit!). They’re called “jumping worms for a reason.

According to The Guardian, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) warned in a report:

“These earthworms are extremely active, aggressive, and have voracious appetites. True to their name, they jump and thrash immediately when handled, behaving more like a threatened snake than a worm, sometimes even breaking and shedding their tail when caught.”

Yikes. Good thing they’re still small.

Normally, we’d say let nature be, but it turns out that they may cost a lot of money (and even livelihoods) down the line since this isn’t the soil they’re supposed to be in. The Guardian warned: “Jumping worms can destroy a forest ecosystem by chewing through fallen leaves, in turn destroying the top layer of forest soil upon which many plants and organisms depend.”

The CDFA report continued the dire warning: “They are destructive and cause severe damage to hardwood forests, especially those consisting of maple, basswood, red oak, poplar or birch species that rely on thick layers of leaf litter that serve as rooting medium.”

Sometimes we don’t realize how important soil is to our lives, and these are capable of completely changing the nature of soil (and therefore the crops that can be grown in it).

The Guardian also provided some advice (since, as you likely know, even chopping a worm into pieces with your garden shovel isn’t going to do the job – in fact, it can just create more worms):

“Experts have recommended several strategies to detect and eliminate the worms, including using a mustard pour – a mixture consisting of water and yellow mustard seeds – over soil to drive out any worms to the surface, and covering moistened soil with a sheet of transparent polyethylene for two to three weeks until soil temperature exceeds 104F for at least three days, destroying the worm’s cocoons.”

You can also bag the worms and bake them in the sun – anything that keeps them from thriving and spreading. And you may want to double-check your potting mixes and mulches before you spread them around your yard. Even the wind can blow around their egg sacs, spreading them easily.

It may even be the case that over the last few years, leaf pick-ups that turn our autumn leaves into compost have helped spread the worms.

Want to see a jumping worm in action? Check it out:

– WTF fun facts

Source: “‘Extremely active’ jumping worms that can leap a foot raise alarm in California” — The Guardian