WTF Fun Fact 13091 – Scent Makes Dogs Feel Safe

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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

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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.

— WTF fun facts

Source: “It’s official! Looking at old photos is more relaxing than meditating” — Digital Camera World

WTF Fun Fact 13088 – Sir Nils Olav

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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 facts

Source: “Nils Olav the most famous king penguin in the world, parades his way to a new honour” — Edinburgh Zoo

WTF Fun Fact 13087 – The WLCoWSVoWLT

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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

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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

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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

WTF Fun Fact 13084 – Moby Duck

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You’ve no doubt heard of the book Moby Dick. But have you heard of the incident referred to as Moby Duck? Let’s just say that while it involves an ocean, whales aren’t the main character in this story.

What was Moby Duck?

In 1992, a shipment of children’s bath toys fell into the North Pacific Ocean on its way from China to the U.S. The accident dumped 28,000 rubber ducks into the water, where they were carried far and wide by the currents. They’ve been found on the shores of Alaska and even in Maine (which means they make it all the way to the Atlantic).

More than a decade after the incident, a journalist named Donovan Hohn decided to see if he could track the ducks, enlisting the help of citizen beach-goers and oceanographers alike.

“I figured I’d interview a few oceanographers, talk to a few beachcombers, read up on ocean currents and Arctic geography and then write an account of the incredible journey of the bath toys lost at sea,” he told NPR’s Dave Davies on Fresh Air in 2011 (cited below). “And all this I would do, I hoped, without leaving my desk.”

He detailed the journey in a book called Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them.

An environmental angle

While the idea of tracking the toys sounds cute on some level, Hohn also found out just how much plastic is on our oceans and the effects it has on the environment. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade, so those ducks will be around for centuries. Or at least pieces of them will.

While the ducks may photodegrade (due to sunlight), they simply fall apart into smaller pieces of plastic we can’t see. But that plastic still ends up inside wildlife and ocean garbage patches.

“We know that in the marine food web, there is an alarmingly elevated contaminant burden in species at the top of the food web,” Hohn said. “What role plastic plays in that is an ongoing area of study.” — WTF fun facts

Source: “‘Moby-Duck’: When 28,800 Bath Toys Are Lost At Sea” — NPR

WTF Fun Fact 13083 – A Group of Butterflies

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A group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope. We love that! We’ve never actually seen more than one or two butterflies at a time, but now we know what to call them if we do.

You probably know that butterflies don’t start out life as beautiful flying creatures but rather as caterpillars. A group of caterpillars is called an army. It’s quite a biological and linguistic evolution to go through in one lifetime!

A kaleidoscope of butterflies

Of course, one may also call them a “swarm,” but that’s a lot less fun and it’s not really the official name. And no one really likes swarms of things.

Now, unless you go to a butterfly sanctuary, you may not have a great chance of running into a kaleidoscope of butterflies. They’re fairly solitary creatures. They even tend to migrate alone. If you’re near a source of food, that’s your best chance of seeing a kaleidoscope in the wild. Even though butterflies must come together to reproduce, they still don’t do this in groups. But they do use pheramones to attract one another as well as the colorful (dare we say, keleidiscopic) displays on their wings.

However, as far as monarch butterflies go, they do have a habit of clustering in trees at night. And those clusters are called a “roost.”

You may spot a roost in trees during migration if the weather gets cold or if predators are around.

Other butterfly facts

According to the experts at A – Z Animals (cited below), “There are around 17,500 species of butterfly in the world, scattered across all continents except Antarctica. In the United States, there are around 750 species of butterflies.”

As you may know, sadly, the migratory monarch butterfly (which is one of the most recognizable butterflies in the U.S.) is now endangered. — WTF fun facts

Source: “What’s a group of butterflies called?” — A – Z Animals