Mark S. asks: Do ostriches really hide their heads in the sand in response to being attacked? Today I found out that ostriches don’t hide their heads in the sand, contrary to popular belief. When an ostrich feels genuinely threatened, rather than hiding its head in the sand, it will take off running- fast. In fact, the ostrich is the […]
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Today I found out why mosquito bites itch. When female mosquitoes poke their proboscis through your skin so they can suck some of your blood to be later used to make eggs, they inject you with some of their saliva. This saliva helps them to drink your blood more quickly, because it contains a cocktail of anticoagulants. Once the female mosquito is […]
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Today I found out Camels’ humps are not filled with water. So what are Camel humps filled with? It turns out, fat. These fat humps can weigh as much as 80 pounds and allow the Camel to comfortably go one to two weeks without eating, if necessary. Now, some of you out there might be saying to yourselves, “Well, but […]
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Today I found out everything you probably think you know about Velociraptors is a lie. Now to be fair, everything I “knew” about Velociraptors came from the Jurassic Park movies and so I shouldn’t really be surprised it was all wrong. So if, like me, you thought that Velociraptors were slightly bigger than a human; reptilian looking; hunted in packs; […]
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Today I found out that Lobsters do not mate for life, contrary to popular belief. The origins of the myth that they do mate for life are not completely known, but this myth was first publicly popularized on an episode of Friends (Episode 2.14) where Phoebe says Ross is Rachel’s “lobster” and goes on to say that it is a […]
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Today I found out that Honey Bees know the world is round and can calculate angles. It turns out, scientists have figured out how to interpret a Honey Bee’s dance; a Honey Bees dance is where they communicate where to find food, a new home, and things of this nature. Using this information, an experiment was done called the “Schafberg […]
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Today I found out the world’s strongest animal is the copepod. Relative to their size, typically about 1mm long, copepods are also the world’s fastest animal, being able to jump at a rate of about a half a meter per second. Their incredible strength, relative to their size, makes them over ten times stronger than any other known species on […]
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Today I found out where Bacon comes from. Now you might think, as I always did, that Bacon comes from combining two parts awesome with a smidgen of outstanding. But in fact, Bacon, or as my brother calls it “meat candy”, obviously comes from our snout nosed little bald friends, pigs, which don’t seem remotely awesome. Though of course, one […]
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Today I found out cats of all sizes aren’t afraid of bears.
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Today I found out that dogs really are man’s best friend. For even further proof, you need go no further than this story about the dog Hachiko.
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