Biotech company ISCA Technologies is developing a human-scented cologne for cows so that mosquitoes bite them instead of humans. The cows are not at risk from Malaria and can even be treated with insecticide to kill the mosquitoes that do bite them. – WTF Fun Facts
Science
WTF Fun Fact – Helper’s High
There is a psychological state called “helper’s high” whereby giving produces endorphins in the brain that provide a mild version of a morphine high. Research has shown that helping others lights up the same part of the brain as receiving rewards or experiencing pleasure. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Bioengineered Mosquitoes
In April 2021, researchers from biotech company Oxitec released bioengineered male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which don’t bite, to mate with the wild female population in the Florida keys. The genetically engineered males will pass a modified gene on that will kill their female offspring as larva. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: First genetically modified mosquitoes released in the United States (nature.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Goat Milk Spider Silk
Scientists managed to successfully mix goats with spider genes and now they can produce an extra protein in their milk, which is extracted and spun into spider silk thread. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: The goats with spider genes and silk in their milk – BBC News
WTF Fun Fact – Enclothed cognition
A study found people scored higher in a mental agility test while wearing a lab coat that they believed was a doctor’s coat. The effect was not there when they believed the same white coat was a painter’s coat. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Holding Hands Helps
A study found that when an empathetic partner holds the hand of a woman in pain, their heart and respiratory rates sync and her pain eases. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: When lovers touch, their breathing, heartbeat syncs, pain wanes, study shows — ScienceDaily
WTF Fun Fact – The Hogben Pregnancy Test
In the 1940s, one of the first female pregnancy tests (the “Hogben test”) involved injecting a woman’s urine into a female frog’s skin. If the woman was pregnant, then within 5-12 hours, the female frog would lay eggs. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: How a Frog Became the First Mainstream Pregnancy Test – The Atlantic
WTF Fun Fact -Theoretical Maximum Tree Height
Trees have a theoretical maximum height of between 400 and 426 ft. and cannot grow taller due to the opposing force of gravity. They are unable to get water higher up the tree and the leaves at the top are effectively under drought conditions. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Accidental Invention Of Saccharin
The first artificial sweetener Saccharin was discovered on accident when chemist Dr. Constantine Fahlberg forgot to wash his hands after work and tasted something “unspeakably sweet” during dinner. He stopped eating and returned to taste every beaker in his lab, which luckily for him contained nothing poisonous. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Constantin Fahlberg – Discovery of Saccharin (todayinsci.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Elements For Life Vs. Iphone
Human life is comprised of about 30 of the 118 elements on the periodic table with nearly 99% of the mass of your human body consisting of just 6 chemical elements. However, your iPhone is made up of about 75 elements. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Gel To Regrow Tooth Enamel
Scientists in China have successfully grown tooth enamel which could eventually replace the need for fillings & crowns. A chemical mixture applied to the tooth created an enamel layer 2.7 micrometers thick within 48 hours. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: End of fillings in sight as scientists grow tooth enamel and repair damage (telegraph.co.uk)
WTF Fun Fact – Sweaty T-shirt Test
Researchers conducted sweaty t-shirt tests to see if smell impacted the choice of a mate. Men wore t-shirts for two days and then women were tested on which smell they liked. Women preferred the smell of men who were genetically similar but had different immune systems. Inheriting different immune systems would give offspring a survival advantage. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Evolution: Library: Sweaty T-Shirts and Human Mate Choice (pbs.org)
WTF Fun Fact – Artificial Strawberry Flavor Chemicals
The “artificial strawberry flavor” in a McDonald’s milkshake is made up of ~45 chemicals including: amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, and more. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: The 59 ingredients in a fast-food strawberry milkshake | Food | The Guardian
WTF Fun Fact – Next-In-Line Effect
The next-in-line effect is the phenomenon of people being unable to recall information concerning events immediately preceding their turn to perform. It may explain why people often forget names of people right after being introduced. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next-in-line_effect
WTF Fun Fact – Psychogenic Death
Psychogenic death is a condition where a person develops extreme apathy, gives up hope, relinquishes the will to live and dies, despite the lack of an obvious physical cause.–WTF Fun Facts
Source:Psychogenic death: 5 signs of giving up the will to live (ideapod.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Friction Ridge Skin
A fingerprint consists of one or more connected ridge units of friction ridge skin. There are three basic patterns of fingerprints: whorl, loop, and arch. Some people have one pattern, others two, and others all three patterns. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Say What?! Fingerprints, A Crazy Concept – Allbodies
WTF Fun Fact – Night Vision From Nanoparticles
Scientists have developed a nanoparticle injection for the eye which converts infrared into visible light allowing night vision for up to 10 weeks. The injection has worked on mice in research trials. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Military Night Vision Goggles | How Do Night Vision Goggles Work? (popularmechanics.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Cryonics
In Scottsdale, Arizona at Alcor’s facility rests at least 168 “patients” and 90 pets, all frozen in tanks of liquid nitrogen with the hope of being revived one day. It costs $200k for a whole body or just $80k for a head only. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: This Company Will Freeze Your Dead Body for $200,000 (nbcnews.com)