Dragonfly wings kill bacteria on contact by ripping apart their cell membranes with sharp nanopillars as they move across the surface of the wing. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://newatlas.com/dragonfly-nanostructures-anitbacterial-properties/53331/
Science
WTF Fun Fact – Soundscape Ecology
Bernie Krause, founder of the scientific field called “soundscape ecology,” believes that bird songs, wolf howls, and even insects footsteps have become quieter over the last 50 years. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/10/151006-nature-sounds-science-animals-music/
WTF Fun Fact – Skinkansen 500 & The Kingfisher
The unique nose of the Shinkansen 500 bullet train prevents sonic booms whenever it exits a tunnel. It was designed based on the shape of a kingfisher’s beak, which allows it to hit the water at high speed with very little splash. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/sunni-robertson-on-how-a-kingfisher-inspired-a-bullet-train
WTF Fun Fact – Wax Worm vs. Plastics
Wax worms, which have evolved to live in bee hives, produce an enzyme that allows them to eat and break down one of the most common plastics (polyethylene) into organic compounds. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia
Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia is the scientific term for a “brain freeze,” which occurs when cold hits two arteries in the back of the throat causing them to dilate and contract. This is a sensation that the brain interprets as pain. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522095335.htm
WTF Fun Fact – Old-person Smell
“Old-person smell” was confirmed by scientists as real. In a research study, participants were able to single out old-person smell much better than the odors of other younger age groups. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://healthland.time.com/2012/05/31/old-person-smell-really-exists-scientists-say/
WTF Fun Fact
By the 17th week of pregnancy, a child’s unique fingerprints have already formed and the pattern won’t change. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.livescience.com/30-lasting-impression-fingerprints-created.html
WTF Fun Fact – Phonautograph
The phonautograph was invented by a Frenchman in the 1850’s and was the first device to record sound. Researchers played back these early recordings as sound for the first time in 2008. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89380697
WTF Fun Fact – Artificial Leaves Produce Drugs
Dutch researchers have created artificial leaves that produce drugs using sunlight. In testing, they successfully produced artimensinin, which is a drug to treat malaria, and ascaridole, used against certain parasitic worms. – WTF Fun Facts
Source:
WTF Fun Fact – Lightning Strike Frequency
It is estimated that the Earth as a whole is struck by an average of more than a hundred lightning bolts every second. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/6/flash-facts-about-lightning/
WTF Fun Fact – Agnosia
Oxford University researchers found that when blindfolded, people have a difficult time identifying which toe is being poked, especially the two toes next to the big toe. This misidentification phenomenon is known as agnosia. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150922114946.htm
WTF Fun Fact – Chewing Gum Boost
A 2013 study found that chewing gum boosts visual memory tasks and concentration. This study focused on the potential benefits of chewing gum during an audio memory task. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130308093933.htm
WTF Fun Fact – Trepanation
Thousands of years ago, people were performing a form of surgery called ‘trepanation’ that involves boring holes through a person’s skull. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: http://www.theindependentbd.com/arcprint/details/58114/2016-08-30
WTF Fun Fact – Blood Travels A Lot
The 6 quarts of blood in the human body circulates through the body three times every minute. In one day, the blood travels a total ~12,000 miles – that’s nearly half the circumference of Earth. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Anatoli Brouchkov
Anatoli Brouchkov, a Russian geocryologist, injected himself with a 3.5 million year old strain of bacteria known as Bacillus F, which he found in a permafrost sample, just to see what would happen. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/yp3gg7/meet-the-scientist-who-injected-himself-with-35-million-year-old-bacteria
WTF Fun Fact – Space Between Atoms
If you took out all of the empty space from between and within the atoms making up each human being, the entire human race would fit into the volume of a sugar cube. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: http://www.scienceabc.com/pure-sciences/can-the-entire-human-race-fit-inside-a-sugar-cube.html
WTF Fun Fact – Most Feel-Good Song
According to cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Jacob Jolij’s research, Queen’s 1970s hit Don’t Stop Me Now was the top feel-good song of all time. Abba’s Dancing Queen came in second place. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Hormonal Mechanism
Boys born in winter are more likely to be left-handed than those born during the rest of the year in what scientists say is indirect evidence of hormonal mechanism.– WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140703102940.htm