WTF Fun Fact 13064 – Australia’s Pink Lake Hillier

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Australia’s pink Lake Hillier is located in Western Australia. It lies near the Pacific Ocean, so when viewed from above the fact that the lake is bright pink is even more striking.

Australia’s pink lake

It’s less than a half mile across (600 meters x 250 meters, more specifically), but Australia’s pink Lake Hillier is truly a sight to behold. Unfortunately, you can no longer access it from land.

The good news is that while it’s Australia’s most famous pink lake, it’s not the only one. And there are others in the world as well. Senegal, Mexico, Spain, and Azerbaijan all have pink lakes too.

According to Lake Hillier’s website (cited below):

“The reason of its unique colour is still a topic that is not fully understood by scientists, although most suspect it has to do with the presence of the Dunaliella salina microalgae. The Dunaliella produces carotenoids, a pigment found in carrots as well. But the presence of halophilic bacteria in the salt crusts could be another explanation. A reaction between the salt and the sodium bicarbonate that is found in the water may cause it as well.”

More facts about Lake Hillier

Discovered in 1802 by cartographer Matthew Flinders, the lake is located on Australia’s Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago. It’s most pink when viewed from above. And, unlike other pink lakes, its water samples appear pink in a glass as well.

While it’s safe to swim in, you can’t actually get near its surface.

“There are Scenic Flight Services departing Esperance Airport several times a day but you cannot land on Middle Island…There are no regular services to set foot on any of the Islands in the Recherche Archipelago with the exception of Woody Island.”

If you try to get to the lake, don’t be fooled by the nearby Pink Lake (aka Lake Spencer) in the town of Esperance. That lake used to be pink but has lost all its color and is now a milky white.

You’ll just have to enjoy Australia’s pink Lake Hillier from above, which is the best way to see its color anyway. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Lake Hillier” — Lake Hillier Official Website

WTF Fun Fact 13063 – MIT Pirate Certificate

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It’s hard to get into MIT. But if you do, you not only have a chance to earn a great education and get plugged into an enviable alumni network, you also have the chance to earn the MIT Pirate Certificate.

What’s the MIT Pirate Certificate?

According to the MIT Alumni webpage (cited below), the school made a piece of underground culture a formal certification program in 2011.

“…in 2011 the Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER) began issuingMIT pirate certificatesto students who completed specific requirements. Six students earned the inaugural certificates and, today, 354 MIT students and alumni have received certificates at a spring ritual—Pirate Induction Day.”

Studying swashbuckling

While actor Matt Damon received an honorary pirate certificate from the university, “Only MIT students and alumni can earn the genuine article.”

The biggest part of the pirate challenge is getting into the appropriate courses. They fill up in minutes. That means MIT gives the “distinction” to only around 50 students a year.

The courses you need to pass as an MIT student to get a pirate certificate are: pistol (or rifle), archery, sailing, and fencing.

“Since sailing requirespassing the swim test, successful pirates have wrapped up their PE requirements with a hearty arrr, arrr, arrr,” jokes the website.

Of course, life as an MIT pirate doesn’t mean sailing the high seas in search of booty. The certificate is for entertainment purposes only.

According to the website:

“The certificates, authorized by the ‘swashbuckling’ Institute, are printed on faux parchment and affirm that the named “’salty dog’’ is entitled to a pirate certificate ‘with all its privileges and obligations thereof.'”

So not only can you get a great education at MIT, but you can also put “pirate” on your resume. —WTF fun facts

Source: “Arrrr! MIT Pirates—and Matt Damon—Certified” — MIT Alumni Association

WTF Fun Fact 13062 – Catnip Better Than DEET

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Could catnip be better than DEET at repelling insects? If so, that’s great news for those of us who would like to avoid spraying synthetic compounds all over our bodies.

Research on repelling insects with catnip and DEET

Researchers from Northwestern University and Lund University have been investigating catnip as an insect repellent, particularly for mosquitos. Since mosquitos carry potentially deadly diseases, it’s crucial to find a way to protect vulnerable people during warm weather.

Catnip is part of the mint family and, when dried, is exactly the same substance that you’ll find inside cat toys. However, catnip extract – a more concentrated form – is what you’d need to scare away mosquitos and other insects.

An ancient insect repellent

“Catnip and its active ingredient, Nepetalactone, have been used for millennia to ward off insect pests, at least since the time of Pliny the Elder,” said Marcus C. Stensmyr, associate professor at Lund University. “But why Catnip is so potent on such a broad range of insect species has remained unknown.”

According to Northwestern University’s website on the research “Traditional approaches to mosquito control involved insecticides, but those eliminate other insect species as collateral damage. Modern formulations of insect repellents such as DEET target mosquito odor and taste receptors, rendering the insect incapable of recognizing the chemical cues that signal a human prey.”

Nepetalactone, the active compound in catnip activates a pain receptor found in some insects. It’s still unclear how cats are so attracted to it.

So-author Marco Gallio noted that plant-derived repellants like catnip are also cheaper and more readily available than something like DEET.

In 2001, a paper presented at the American Chemical Society suggested that nepetalactone could be up to 10x more effective than DEET in repelling insects. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Could catnip become the new DEET?” — Northwestern Now

WTF Fun Fact 13061 – The Black Panther Isn’t a Species

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It’s not entirely correct to say that there’s no such thing as a black panther. It’s just that they’re not a specific species.

Instead, Panthera is a genus within the family Felidae (aka cats) that includes tigers, lions, jaguars, and leopards. Panthera refers specifically to a cat’s cranial features.

So, what is a black panther?

A black panther refers to the melanistic (darkly pigmented) version of two different animals – the leopard and the jaguar. So while it doesn’t refer to a separate species, “black panther” is a colloquial term for these dark-colored cats.

While occasionally people may use the term panther to refer to mountain lions, they belong to the Puma genus. An integral part of the Panthera genus is the ability to roar – which mountain lions don’t do. Instead, they emit a higher-pitched scream.

The epihyal bone is integral to the ability to roar. The only species of Panthera that cannot roar is the snow leopard.

Why do we hear so much about black panthers?

If you feel like you’re hearing a lot about black panthers these days, it’s no doubt because of the incredibly popular Marvel movie franchise of the same name. The original Black Panther film made over $1 billion worldwide, and fans were shocked when it’s star – Chadwick Boseman – died of cancer in August of 2020. He had not revealed his diagnosis of stage III colon cancer to anyone but immediate family.

In 2022, the Black Panther sequel Wakanda Forever will be released. Even in the days before it’s release, fans are interested to see how the exceptionally successful movie franchise will survive without its star who played T’Challa, the kind of a fictional African country named Wakanda.

Marvel’s film studio chose not to recast or digitally recreate the character in order to honor Boseman. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Are There Really Black Panthers?” — National Wildlife Federation blog

WTF Fun Fact 13060 – Swimming With Pigs In The Bahamas

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Swimming with pigs in the Bahamas might sound like a great tourist activity. And thousands of people have enjoyed it. But like so many other “animal attractions,” it’s turning out to be great for marketing but not great for the animals themselves.

In 2017, seven pigs were found dead. Originally, wildlife specialists thought they may have been intentionally poisoned by tourists. But it turns out that while tourists are at fault, it was an accident.

The swimming pigs of the Bahamas

Big Major Cay in the Exumas is an uninhabited island. Except for the 20-30 feral pigs who live there. No one knows how the pigs got there, but they were likely left by sailors or escaped a ship and swam to shore.

The pigs love swimming and are generally pretty cute, so they make a great tourist attraction. For a couple of hundred dollars, you can go to the island and swim with the pigs, bringing them all sorts of snacks.

But if you really love wildlife, you’d probably do best to let them be.

It’s not the snacks themselves that harm the pigs. It’s the fact that humans have lured them down to the shores of the beach to get food. Why would they hunt for it themselves if it’s being handed out on the beach?

The death of the swimming pigs

In February of 2017, people were shocked to learn about the death of 1/3 of the beloved pigs. There were fears that tourists had given them alcohol and killed them.

But once they had autopsies, wildlife experts determined that sand played a huge role in their demise. Sand can’t be digested, so when the pigs snarf up a tasty snack off the beach or forage through the sand themselves when tourists aren’t around, they end up getting sand in their stomachs.

The dead pigs were full of sand.

A little over a dozen pigs remained after the tragedy. And you can still go see and swim with them. However, the Bahamas passed legislation to protect them and insisted tourists don’t leave behind any food. The beach is for lounging and swimming only.

A warden is now stationed at Pig Beach to keep tourists from breaking the rules. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Bahamas ‘swimming pigs’ killed by ingesting sand” – Scuba Diver Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 13059 – The Minionese “Language”

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Have you seen “Minions,” “Despicable Me,” or “Despicable Me 2”? If so, you may have heard the Minion characters speaking their own language. All Minions are voiced by Pierre Coffin, who also created the language called Minionese.

Minionese and other made-up languages

From Klingon to Elvish, storytellers have been making up their own languages for years. And some fans have ever learned how to speak them.

According to the Motion Picture Association, Minionese is “the lexical version of a hearty stew, made up of words from multiple languages, expressed not only vocally, but through the Minions’ physical comedy. While the creation of Minionese makes narrative sense now that the Minions have a rich backstory…Coffin’s goal was for the audience to understand Minionese without actually knowing the exact verbiage through the Minions huge range of vocal melodies and inflections, as well as their physical actions.”

It takes an interesting mind to create such a dynamic method of communication!

Creating language

Coffin’s first task was creating a backstory for Minions Kevin, Stuart, and Bob. The characters are part of a nomadic tribe in search of a master. In the course of their journey, they’ve taken on bits of different languages they’ve come across. In fact, there are elements of Egyptian, French, and even Transylvanian.

But each character’s intonation means a lot to the language as well. All three Minions have different ways of vocalizing.

According to Coffin:

“You don’t understand their words, you don’t understand their grammar, but you do understand when they’re in a position of conflict, if they’re sad or if they’re happy.”

He actually started building the language while watching silent films. That helped him understand how visual communication would play an integral role in having characters speak something no one had ever heard (but needed to understand if they were going to follow the plot).

When Coffin gets stuck on a line of Minion dialog, he just turns to other languages:

“Every time I got stuck in a sequence or in a shot where I need to express something, I have my Indian or Chinese menu handy. I also know a little bit of Spanish, Italian, Indonesian and Japanese. So I have all these sources of inspiration for their words. I just pick one that doesn’t express something by the meaning, but rather the melody of the words.” — WTF fun facts

Source: “Here’s How They Created Minionese, the Language of the Minions” — Motion Picture Association

WTF Fun Fact 13058 – The History of November’s Birthstone

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Today, gemstones have been officially defined by their chemical properties, and jewelers for over a century have tried to standardize birthstones based on the gems most readily available for customers to buy. But the history of November’s birthstone – the topaz – is a curious one.

What’s a topaz?

Today, you can choose from topaz or citrine (which is more affordable) for your November birthstone. That’s likely because traditional yellow topaz is harder to come by (and it’s a very hard gem, just behind diamonds on the Mohs scale). But did you know that natural topaz doesn’t have any color at all?

It’s the impurities found in the soil around gems that lends them their color. However, gemstone sellers will also use additives to give them a specific glow as well.

According to The Farmer’s Almanac, “…it’s impurities that cause this normally colorless stone to come in a dizzying array of hues. Red and pink shades come from chromium while the classic blue color is an unnatural shade that comes from exposing mined topaz to high-energy radiation. There are also highly prized sherry-colored stones in shades of orange and pink, which are referred to as “imperial topaz” after the 19th-century czars of Russia.”

The history of November’s birthstone

Topaz is so strong and resistant to heat that it’s used in industry as well as in jewelry. The most prolific topaz mines are in Australia, Italy, Norway, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and Utah.

Topaz has been associated with November birthdays since the 15th century at the very least. But it wasn’t until 1912 that the National Association of Jewelers made it an official birthstone.

Farmer’s Almanac also notes that “The name comes from Topazios, the Greek name for what is now known as St. John’s Island, an Egyptian island in the Red Sea. Interestingly, during that era, this was the name given to any yellow stone. In fact, the original ‘topaz’ from which the modern gem gets its name was most likely chrysolite.”

Defining topaz

In 1737, the first modern piece of topaz that would set the definition from there on out was found in Germany. But since these modern pieces tended to be hard and colorless, many miners assumed they were diamonds. The Portuguese crown was filled with topaz assumed to be diamonds in the 18th century.

We often associate gemstones with certain “powers.” For topaz, this tends to be protection from greed and a balanced emotional state.

Over the centuries, people have thought topaz had the power to cool water, cure fevers, direct dreams, grant intelligence, and even cure weak vision. — WTF fun facts

Source: “November Birthstone – All About Topaz” — Farmer’s Almanac

WTF Fun Fact 13057 – The Pope & Doc Martens

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Did you know Pope John Paul II wore Doc Martens boots? Not only that, but he ordered dozens of pairs of the boots in white for himself and his staff!

The Pope gets stylish with Doc Martens

In a now-archived story from 1996 (cited below), the Associated Press (AP) reported that Doc Martens’ military-style kickers had a new fan – Pope JP2.

They noted that “The Pontiff has ordered 100 pairs of the cushion-soled boots for his Vatican staff, including a pair of white brogues in his own size.”

In fact, he wasn’t the only religious leader to own a pair, the AP reported that the Dalai Lama owned a pair as well.

The boots, originally sold as solid and practical work boots, have long been seen on style icons. But with the Pope’s clothing so formal, we never really would have seen that coming. And most of the time, they would have been hidden by his robes.

Still, sometimes you just need solid footwear to get the job done, no matter what that job is.

Vatican fashion

If you look back at photos of Pope John Paul II, you’ll often see him in some practical-yet-colorful blue slip-on (blue suede shoes, if you will). Yet, because part of the Vatican’s Doc Martens order included a special set in the pope’s size (size 9), it seemed clear that he was reserving the right to stomp around in them occasionally as well.

“The holy order includes a pair of the classic eight-eyelet bovver boots (quite frequently worn by skinheads) and three pairs of brogues in black, blue and white,” noted the AP.

The AP reported that “Among the first to try out the new Doc Martens boots in the Vatican will be the Pope’s Swiss guards.” That we’re less surprised about – because have you seen those uniforms? The boots would be the most practical aspect.

The original Doc Martens were manufactured in Northampton, England, though they were sold worldwide. If you’re a Gen X-er, you may remember lacing up a pair while popping in Nirvana’s “Nevermind” CD (or cassette!). They were big with the grunge crowd.

The receipts

This story wasn’t something assumed based on rumor alone. Doc Marten’s spokesperson Louise Hurren told the AP:

“Well the order was placed by the Vatican and they have asked us to supply a number of styles including the most famous eight eyelet boot in black, white and navy leather and also some three eyelet shoes”.

Stylish! —WTF fun facts

Source: “ITALY/UK: POPE JOINS FASHION CONSCIOUS IN CHOICE OF FOOTWEAR” –Associated Press Archive

WTF Fun Fact 13056 – Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin

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Did you know a woman was elected to Congress before women in the U.S. even had the right to vote? Congresswoman Jeannette Rankin was elected to represent the state of Montana in 1916. That was four years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.

Who was Jeannette Rankin?

Born in 1880 near Missoula, Montana (then a territory), Rankin was born to a prosperous rancher who had emigrated from Canada.

Jeannette Rankin was educated at what was then called Montana State University in Missoula (now known as the University of Montana). She graduated in 1902 with a biology degree, became a teacher, and then an apprentice to a seamstress.

After a trip to San Francisco in 1904, Rankin started volunteering and developed an interest in social work. She graduated from the New York School of Philanthropy (now called the Columbia University School of Social Work) in 1909. Then she moved to Spokane, Washington to take a job helping children in need.

Rankin served two nonconsecutive terms in the House during World War I and II but was known for voting against America’s entry into those wars. Her platform largely centered around expanding women’s voting rights, ensuring better working conditions for American laborers, and improving access to healthcare for women and children.

In 1917, when she took office, she said, “I may be the first woman member of Congress. But I won’t be the last.”

Jeannette Rankin’s road to Congress

Rankin then traveled around the country, doing everything from organizing immigrant laborers after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory to supporting nationwide suffrage for women.

She played one of the most significant roles in helping women gain the right to vote in Montana and then decided to run for one of Montana’s at-large House seats in 1916. While there was no national right to suffrage for women at the time, many Western states had passed their own laws.

When Rankin ran for office, she was one of many women who ran that year but the only female winner. In Kansas, over 300 women ran for office. In her own state, Rankin’s campaign was entirely ignored by the local press.

According to her webpage on the U.S. House of Representatives website (cited below), she won the Republic primary by more than 7000 votes. “Her platform supported several prominent issues during the Progressive Era—including nationwide suffrage, child welfare legislation, and the prohibition of alcohol.“

“Because Montana was so sparsely populated, election results trickled in over three days. But in early November 1916, news arrived that Rankin had become the first woman in American history to win a seat in Congress. Although she trailed the frontrunner, Democratic Representative John Morgan Evans, by 7,600 votes, Rankin secured the second At-Large seat by topping the third-place candidate—another Democrat—by 6,000 votes.”

Not surprisingly, as the first female member of Congress, she was held to different standards, often being asked about her clothing more often than her politics.

But when she was sworn into office, she was greeted with loud applause.

Rankin’s political career

As a pacifist, she was criticized often, despite correspondence from her constituents leaning in favor of the U.S. staying out of WWI. But once the U.S. entered the war, she turned her attention to ensuring troops had what they needed while continuing to fight for national suffrage and workers’ rights in factories.

Redistricting eliminated her at-large House seat in 1917, so she ran for Senate in 1918. However, she lost by 2000 votes.

She continued her service work outside of Congress until 1940, when she challenged an anti-Semitic House Representative for Montana’s western district. She won the primary and then the election, returning to the House with 54% of the vote.

When Jeannette Rankin returned to Congress decades after her first stint, she sat alongside six other women.

However, her second stint was less successful since her pacifism was even less popular during WWII. She did not run for re-election in 1942. At the time of her death in 1973, however, she was considering another House campaign to protest the war in Vietnam. — WTF fun facts

Source: “RANKIN, Jeannette” — U.S. House of Representatives