random fact

WTF Fun Fact 13545 – Stanford Taylor Swift Course

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A Stanford Taylor Swift Course is on the books at Stanford. The aim? To explore the storytelling prowess of Taylor Swift, an artist who has, over a decade, deftly blended musicality with intricate narratives.

A Literary Dive: The Stanford Taylor Swift Course

Every week, students in this course will deep dive into one of Swift’s 10 albums. They’ll not just listen but dissect, focusing keenly on lyricism, storytelling, and oblique literary references.

Ava Jeffs, a sophomore at Stanford, championed this course offering. Her vision? “Situate it in the English department,” she emphasized to SFGATE. Jeffs believes in drawing parallels between Swift’s lyrical content and classic literature. For her, this course is a journey, one that maps the intricate lanes of literature onto the vast avenues of Swift’s music.

Swift’s musical repertoire often nods to literary giants. A striking example is the track “Ivy,” which echoes a phrase from Miller Williams’ poem “Compassion.” Even the album title, “Evermore,” has fans drawing connections to an Emily Dickinson poem.

These literary tie-ins signify the depth and breadth of Swift’s artistic canvas, and this course intends to highlight and celebrate these connections.

The Making of the Course

This new course is part of Stanford’s Student-Initiated Courses, a unique initiative where students pitch activity courses on a credit/no credit basis. Every SIC requires the backing of a faculty member, and for Jeffs, that support comes from Mark McGurl.

While Swift released her debut album in 2006, Jeffs’ admiration for the singer spans almost her entire life, creating a personal resonance and passion for this academic endeavor.

While Stanford’s course might sound avant-garde, it isn’t the first academic foray into Swift’s art.

In 2022, both New York University and the University of Texas at Austin explored Swift’s artistry in their courses. Stanford, however, aims to go a step further. Jeffs sees her course as a challenge to higher education norms, urging institutions to place popular music on the same pedestal as classical literary works.

For Jeffs, Swift’s narrative style holds immense academic value. She believes that Swift’s focus on storytelling mirrors the intricacies found in classic literature.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “Stanford’s Taylor Swift course will explore the singer’s folklore” — SF Gate

WTF Fun Fact 13544 – How Long Can a Tarantula Live Without Food?

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If you’re a tarantula owner, hopefully you’re not asking yourself, “How long can a tarantula live without food?”

However, if for some reason you need to know, the answer may astound you.

So, How Long Can a Tarantula Live Without Food?

Tarantulas, the large, hairy spiders that evoke fear in many, hold an astonishing survival capability – the ability to endure up to two years without a meal.

It’s a feat that many creatures on Earth would find hard to match.

But how does this eight-legged creature achieve such a prolonged fast?

Unique Physiology Allows Tarantulas to Live Without Food

Unlike mammals that require regular food intake for energy and maintenance, tarantulas have a slower metabolism. This low metabolic rate means that they don’t burn energy at the same speed as other animals. Consequently, they can conserve energy over long periods, allowing them to survive during times of food scarcity.

While they can survive without food for a long duration, access to water remains crucial.

Tarantulas, like all living organisms, need water for basic cellular functions. They can go weeks without it, but eventually, the lack of water will become a bigger concern than the lack of food.

When in their natural habitat, tarantulas will often burrow deep into the ground to access cooler and more humid conditions, which helps them maintain their water balance.

Refusing Food

Tarantulas, throughout their lifetime, go through periods of molting. This is when they shed their exoskeleton to allow for growth or to repair any damage.

During the pre-molt and molting phases, tarantulas tend to refuse food altogether, further lengthening the periods between meals. Additionally, the younger the spider, the more frequent these molting cycles are.

As tarantulas mature and their growth slows, their molting becomes less frequent, and the intervals between feeding can extend even further.

Food Scarcity Determines How Long A Tarantula May Go Without Food

In their natural habitats, tarantulas may not always find prey readily available.

Drought, seasonal changes, or other environmental factors can result in food shortages. Thus, this incredible adaptation to long fasting durations is not just an interesting fact; it’s a survival mechanism. It ensures that during lean times, the tarantula can wait it out, remaining relatively inactive, conserving energy, and then springing to action when food becomes available again.

Another factor that plays into the tarantula’s ability to go without food for extended periods is its size.

Larger tarantulas have more fat reserves than their smaller counterparts. These reserves provide the necessary energy during food shortages. Consequently, bigger tarantulas can often go longer without eating compared to younger, smaller ones.

Don’t Let Captive Tarantulas Go Without Food

While tarantulas have this remarkable ability, those who keep them as pets should exercise caution. In captivity, it’s not uncommon for tarantulas to refuse food for various reasons. Whether it’s due to stress, an impending molt, or changes in their environment, pet owners should monitor their spiders closely.

If a tarantula doesn’t eat, it’s essential to ensure that it has access to fresh water. And while they can go without food, this doesn’t mean they should be deliberately starved. Their natural ability to fast is a survival mechanism in the wild, not an invitation for neglect.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “How Long Can Tarantulas Go Without Eating Or Water?” — Animal Vivid

WTF Fun Fact 13542 – Null Island

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At first glance, Null Island might seem like just another of the countless islands scattered across our planet. However, the truth about this island is far more fascinating: Null Island doesn’t really exist.

So, why does it have a name, and why do so many people know about it?

The Genesis of Null Island

Null Island gets its moniker from its coordinates: 0°N 0°E. This is the point where the equator meets the prime meridian, right off the west coast of Africa.

But if you were to travel to these exact coordinates instead of an island, you’d find yourself floating in the Gulf of Guinea. The island’s very existence is a digital fabrication, a response to a common error in Geographic Information System (GIS) data.

The advent of digital mapping and satellite tracking has revolutionized the way we navigate our world. But with technology comes the inevitability of errors.

When GIS doesn’t have valid data for some reason, it defaults the location as “null.” This translates to 0° latitude and 0° longitude in the system. Consequently, a vast number of mapping errors point to this exact location in the Gulf of Guinea, leading to the humorous creation of “Null Island” to “house” these mistakes.

Having Some Fun

In light of the frequent misplacement of geographical data to this point, some cartographers decided to have a bit of fun. They “created” a 100-square-meter island at the 0°N 0°E point, complete with its own flag, history, and even weather station (which, of course, does not exist). This conceptual island has become a well-known inside joke among the GIS community.

While Null Island is a humorous solution to a digital problem, its very existence serves an essential purpose. Every time data points erroneously to 0°N 0°E, it alerts cartographers and data scientists to an error in their datasets.

These mistakes can range from simple misplacements due to incorrect data entry to more systemic issues in data collection methods.

By having a “go-to” spot for these errors, professionals can more easily identify and rectify them.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “The Center of the Earth Has an Imaginary Island and One Floating Soul” — Atlas Obscura

WTF Fun Fact 13540 – Florida Man Tries Running to London

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Reza Baluchi, a 44-year-old man from Florida, had a peculiar and ambitious dream: to “run to London” across the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.

Unlike traditional marathoners who dash on the pavement, Reza’s strategy was different. He aspired to make this transatlantic journey inside a floating contraption that remarkably resembled a hamster wheel.

Not So Fast, Florida Man

On August 26, 2023, the US Coast Guard spotted Baluchi 70 miles off the coast of Tybee Island, Georgia. When asked for his vessel’s registration, Baluchi, slightly disoriented, claimed he had it on board but couldn’t locate it.

Coast Guard officials became concerned when they assessed the condition of his vessel. Comprising wires and buoys, they deemed his journey “manifestly unsafe.”

Their worries were justified; Baluchi’s unique vessel wasn’t the standard ship one would expect to see on a voyage across the ocean. They requested him to disembark, but the journeyman had other plans.

A Standoff at Sea: Florida Man vs. Coast Guard

Baluchi resisted the Coast Guard’s orders to leave his vessel. He remained defiant inside his floating wheel for three arduous days. Allegedly, he even threatened that he had an explosive device on board.

However, after a tense standoff, Baluchi finally exited his vessel, which led to his arrest. He now faces charges of obstructing a boarding procedure and violating port orders.

Past Endeavors on the Open Waters

Baluchi’s audacious attempt to run across the Atlantic was not an isolated incident. He has a history of embarking on such extraordinary adventures.

In 2014, he tried to make a trip to Bermuda. However, the voyage didn’t go as planned. He got lost and had to rely on fishermen for directions. Ignoring the Coast Guard’s warnings, he continued on his quest, only to activate his locator beacon 70 nautical miles off the coast of St. Augustine, Florida.

Yet, the spirit of the adventurer remained unbroken. In interviews, he emphasized, “I’ll never give up my dream.”

A Charitable Mission at Heart

Behind these perilous adventures lies a noble intent. Baluchi aims to raise funds for various causes. From supporting homeless individuals to raising awareness about the treatment of women in Iran, his objectives are altruistic.

He even maintains a webpage for his efforts at https://runwithreza.tv/.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “Florida Man Arrested After Attempting To “Run To London” Across The Atlantic Ocean” — IFL Science

WTF Fun Fact 13539 – Male Menstruation in Egypt

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While male menstruation sounds like an anomaly, accounts from Egypt painted a curious picture.

During the Napoleonic campaigns in the early 19th century, French soldiers noted a peculiar condition among the local Egyptian men: many reported blood in their urine, leading to the label “the land of the menstruating men.”

Deciphering Male Menstruation

The actual cause behind this perplexing phenomenon is a parasitic disease named schistosomiasis. It originates from Schistosoma worms.

When freshwater snails infected with these parasites release larvae, those larvae can penetrate the skin of humans who come into contact with the water.

Once the larvae invade a human host, they mature into adult worms that live in the blood vessels. The female worms lay eggs, some of which the body excretes through urine or feces, and some remain in the body.

It’s these eggs that can cause inflammation, tissue damage, and bleeding when they lodge in the bladder or intestine.

The presence of blood in urine, or hematuria, became a characteristic symptom among many Egyptian men. This sign of schistosomiasis was the source of the “male menstruation” confusion.

The disease not only caused physical distress but also carried a significant cultural and psychological burden given the societal perceptions of the symptoms.

French Soldiers and Schistosomiasis

In the late 18th century, under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte, French ambitions extended beyond Europe, aiming to challenge the British Empire’s growing dominance.

The French campaign in Egypt, which began in 1798, was a strategic endeavor to disrupt British trade routes to India and spread revolutionary ideals. Napoleon, with an army of approximately 35,000 soldiers, invaded Egypt, capturing Alexandria and later Cairo.

This expedition was not purely military; it also included scholars and scientists who studied the ancient and contemporary culture of Egypt. Their presence led to significant discoveries, including the famed Rosetta Stone.

However, while the campaign had initial successes, it faced challenges, such as an encounter with schistosomiasis.

While the local Egyptians bore the “menstruating men” moniker, the French soldiers were not immune. Many who waded in the Nile for bathing or other activities also contracted the disease. However, the term likely stuck more with the Egyptians due to pre-existing observations.

Unraveling the Mystery of Menstruating Men

It took some time before medical professionals connected the dots. The visible blood in urine, a clear symptom of a severe schistosomiasis infection, was initially misunderstood. (However, both men and women suffered from this symptom.)

Eventually, with advancements in medical knowledge and further studies in parasitology, the real nature of the disease became apparent. Scientists and doctors recognized that the “male menstruation” was actually a manifestation of schistosomiasis.

Modern medicine offers effective treatments for schistosomiasis, primarily using the drug praziquantel. Efforts to control the disease also focus on reducing the population of infected snails and improving sanitation to prevent contamination of freshwater sources. Education campaigns aim to reduce human contact with infested water.

Today, the disease remains endemic in many parts of Africa, including Egypt, but global health initiatives strive to reduce its impact.

Recognizing the history and myths surrounding schistosomiasis can help in understanding its cultural implications and the importance of continued efforts to combat it.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “History of schistosomiasis (bilharziasis) in humans: from Egyptian medical papyri to molecular biology on mummies” — Pathogens and Global Health

WTF Fun Fact 13538 – The Power of Smelling Coffee

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Do you perk up in the morning after smelling coffee? Maybe you start to feel it working even before you’ve had a sip. Or perhaps you do some of your best work at the coffee shop when you can smell those invigorating beans all day.

Well, that makes sense!

Coffee’s Olfactory Power

Many of us start our day with the intoxicating aroma of coffee. But there’s more to this scent than just an olfactory delight. In 2008, a group of researchers led by scientist Han-Seok Seo looked into the science behind this phenomenon. Their findings reveal that coffee’s aroma doesn’t just wake up the senses but might also rejuvenate the brain.

Smelling Coffee vs. Sleep Deprivation and Stress

Lack of sleep stresses the body and mind. Sleep-deprived individuals often grapple with cognitive and physical health challenges.

Given these effects, Seo’s team wondered if coffee’s aroma could counteract the negative impacts of sleep deprivation. Their subject of choice for this exploration? Laboratory rats.

The team exposed both well-rested and sleep-deprived rats to the scent of coffee. They then examined gene and protein expressions in the brains of these rats. The results were astonishing.

Rats exposed to the coffee aroma showed varied activity in 17 genes. Out of these, 13 exhibited different mRNA expressions when comparing the sleep-deprived group to the group that inhaled coffee while sleep-deprived.

Translating Science: What it Means for Us

In simple terms, inhaling coffee aroma seemed to recalibrate the brain’s workings. It potentially offsets the harmful impacts of sleep deprivation.

Among the impacted genes, some are linked to proteins with antioxidant properties. These antioxidants help protect nerve cells from stress-induced damage.

So, the smell of coffee might do more than just perk us up; it could protect our brain cells from stress-related harm.

The Power of Smelling Coffee Goes Beyond Coffee

Seo’s groundbreaking findings pave the way for more questions. If the aroma of coffee yields such benefits, what about other scents? Could the whiff of freshly baked bread or the scent of rain bring their own set of health benefits?

Next time the weight of sleeplessness bears down on you, remember the power of scent. As you pass a café or brew your morning cup, take a moment to inhale deeply. Behind that sense of alertness and the smile that follows lies a fascinating dance of molecules and biology.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “Coffee’s Aroma Kick-starts Genes In The Brain” — Science Daily

WTF Fun Fact 13537 – Black Hole Eating A Star

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There’s a black hole eating a star out there at an astonishing rate.

University of Leicester astronomers discovered a star, similar to our Sun, that a relatively small black hole is devouring. Every close orbit results in the star losing a mass equivalent to three Earths!

Watching a Black Hole Eating a Star

The research, chronicled in Nature Astronomy, could be the “missing link” in understanding how black holes disrupt the stars that orbit them. Funded by the UK Space Agency and the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council, this discovery is instrumental in propelling our grasp of celestial phenomena.

An intense X-ray flash originating from the center of galaxy 2MASX J02301709+2836050 is what initially captured the team’s attention. That galaxy is approximately 500 million light-years from the Milky Way.

The anomaly has been designated as Swift J0230. And it was detected in real-time thanks to a pioneering tool designed for the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

Further investigations revealed a curious pattern: Swift J0230 would radiate intensely for about a week, then go dark, resuming its cycle roughly every 25 days.

How a Black Holes “Eats” Star

This behavior parallels certain phenomena involving stars having materials torn by black holes due to close orbits. However, the Swift J0230’s emission pattern positioned it as a bridge between two known categories of these eruptions.

Drawing from existing models, researchers concluded that Swift J0230 demonstrates a Sun-sized star, trapped in an elliptical orbit around a black hole with low mass, situated at the core of its galaxy.

As this star nears the black hole, a gravitational tug wrests away material equivalent to three Earth masses. This process superheats the material to about 2 million degrees Celsius, triggering the massive X-ray emissions detected by the Swift satellite.

Unprecedented Research

Dr. Phil Evans, the lead author, remarked on the unprecedented nature of this find: a Sun-like star being intermittently torn apart by a relatively small black hole. Labeling the phenomenon as “repeated, partial tidal disruption,” Dr. Evans highlighted that such events had been rare finds until now, falling into one of two categories based on their frequency. This new discovery bridges the gap, providing a more comprehensive understanding.

Dr. Rob Eyles-Ferris, who contributed to the Swift satellite study, emphasized the singularity of Swift J0230. Unlike most observed systems where stars are entirely destroyed, this system offers insights into a middle ground. The finding unifies the two previously identified categories of partially disrupted stars.

Further, Dr. Kim Page, part of the study’s data analysis team, is confident that many more similar objects await discovery.

In terms of mass, the team estimates that the black hole is between 10,000 to 100,000 times that of our Sun. That’s a mere fraction when compared to supermassive black holes typically anchoring galaxies. For perspective, our galaxy’s central black hole weighs in at 4 million solar masses.

The Tool That Helped Detect the Black Hole Eating a Star

The University of Leicester team conceptualized and designed a novel transient detector for the Swift satellite, facilitating this breakthrough. This tool instantly detects astronomical X-ray transients—rare and extreme X-ray bursts in previously silent sky regions.

Dr. Caroline Harper, the Head of Space Science at the UK Space Agency, praised the globally-acclaimed Swift mission, shedding light on a minuscule black hole periodically “snacking” on a Sun-like star. The mission’s continued partnership with NASA promises further invaluable cosmic insights.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “Ravenous black hole consumes three Earths’-worth of star every time it passes” — Science Daily

WTF Fun Fact 13536 – Digitizing Smell

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In order to smell, our brains and noses have to work together, so the idea of digitizing smell seems pretty “out there.”

However, if you think about it, our noses are sensing molecules. Those molecules can be identified by a computer, and the smells the humans associated with them can be cataloged. It’s not quite teaching a computer to smell on its own, but maybe it’s best we don’t give them too many human abilities.

The Enigma of Olfaction

While we’ve successfully translated light into sight and sound into hearing, decoding the intricate world of smell remains a challenge.

Olfaction, compared to our other senses, is mysterious, diverse, and deeply rooted in both emotion and memory. Knowing this, can we teach machines to interpret this elusive sense?

Digitizing Smell

A collaboration between the Monell Chemical Senses Center and the startup Osmo aimed to bridge the gap between airborne chemicals and our brain’s odor perception. Their objective was not just to understand the science of smell better but to make a machine proficient enough to describe, in human terms, what various chemicals smell like.

Osmo, with roots in Google’s advanced research division, embarked on creating a machine-learning model. The foundation of this model was an industry dataset, which detailed the molecular structures and scent profiles of 5,000 known odorants.

The idea? Feed the model a molecule’s shape and get a descriptive prediction of its smell.

That might sound simple, but the team had to make sure they could ensure the model’s accuracy.

The Litmus Test: Man vs. Machine

To validate the machine’s “sense of smell,” a unique test was devised.

A group of 15 panelists, trained rigorously using specialized odor kits, was tasked with describing 400 unique odors. The model then predicted descriptions for the same set.

Astonishingly, the machine’s predictions often matched or even outperformed individual human assessments, showcasing its unprecedented accuracy.

Machines That Can ‘Smell’ vs. Digitizing Smell

Beyond its core training, the model displayed unexpected capabilities. It accurately predicted odor strength, a feature it wasn’t explicitly trained for, and identified distinct molecules with surprisingly similar scents. This accomplishment suggests we’re inching closer to a world where machines can reliably “smell.”

But for now, that’s overstating it. The team has made a major leap towards digitizing smell. But machines don’t have senses. They can only replicate the kind of information our brains produce when we smell things. Of course, they don’t have any sense of enjoyment (or repulsion) at certain smells.

In any case, the Monell and Osmo collaboration has significantly advanced our journey in understanding and replicating the sense of smell. As we move forward, this research could revolutionize industries from perfumery to food and beyond.

—WTF fun facts

Source: “A step closer to digitizing the sense of smell: Model describes odors better than human panelists” — Science Daily

WTF Fun Fact 13534 – The Roundest Object in the World

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When it comes to spherical perfection, nothing we’ve ever discovered in space beats Kepler-11145123, the roundest object in the world. This distant star is located about 5,000 light-years away from Earth.

What Defines “Round”?

Before diving into Kepler-11145123, it’s essential to understand what we mean by “round.” Most celestial objects take on a somewhat spherical shape due to the gravitational forces pulling matter toward their centers. However, the force of their rotation tends to squash them at the poles and widen them at the equator, causing an oblate spheroid shape. The difference between the equatorial and polar diameters of a celestial body measures its “roundness.”

Kepler-11145123 was initially discovered as part of NASA’s Kepler mission, designed to find exoplanets by observing stars and the tiny dimming caused by planets passing in front of them. While that was Kepler’s primary task, its trove of data fueled other groundbreaking research as well. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany used these precise observations to study the star’s oscillations, which provided clues about its internal structure and, fascinatingly, its shape.

A Surprising Level of Perfection

What truly sets Kepler-11145123 apart is the astonishingly small difference between its equatorial and polar diameters. The star’s equatorial diameter exceeds its polar diameter by a mere 3 km, despite having a diameter of 1.5 million km overall. This difference is microscopic on a cosmic scale and represents an unprecedented level of spherical perfection. For context, the disparity between the Earth’s equatorial and polar diameters is about 42 km, a figure that suddenly feels gigantic compared to this distant star.

The Science Behind the Shape

Kepler-11145123’s almost-perfect roundness is intriguing and prompts the question: how did it get so round? One leading hypothesis is that magnetic fields within the star could be redistributing mass, making it more spherical. However, researchers also point out that the star’s slow rotation rate plays a significant role. The slower an object rotates, the less it gets flattened due to centrifugal forces. Kepler-11145123 spins at a much slower rate than our Sun, thus maintaining its almost perfect shape.

Broader Implications of Being the Roundest Object in the World

The discovery of Kepler-11145123’s unique shape has broader implications for our understanding of astrophysics. It forces scientists to reevaluate models of star evolution, as well as the role magnetic fields play in shaping celestial bodies. Furthermore, this finding might have implications for exoplanet studies. A star’s shape can influence the stability of its planetary orbits, which in turn could have consequences for planetary climates and habitability.

Why Should We Care About the Roundest Object in the World?

Apart from the sheer wonder of discovering such a perfectly round object in space, understanding Kepler-11145123 can help scientists refine their models of stellar behavior and evolution. These models are fundamental to our grasp of the universe, from the life cycles of stars to the forces that shape galaxies. The more accurate our models become, the better we can understand a host of other phenomena, including potentially habitable exoplanets.

— WTF fun facts

Source: “Distant star Kepler 11145123 is the roundest object ever observed in nature” — Astronomy Now