You might not realize this, but humans are secretly obsessed with geckos. It’s because we’re jealous, honestly. We’re always trying to emulate something about these sticky-fingered little lizards, from the way we engineer bras to glue to gloves. Gecko are a group of mostly nocturnal lizards that live in warm climates throughout the world. They’re …
Water vapor exists in our air, and the resulting humidity can affect us. We sweat to stay cool, but when the air’s relative humidity is super high, our sweat doesn’t evaporate. You know that sticky feeling when you’re saturated with sweat. As a result, it feels much hotter than it actually is when humidity levels …
You Have a Thermostat, But Do You Need a Hygrometer, Too? Read More »
Picture this: You’re on vacation. You’re soaring through Australia’s clear blue sky, and suddenly, a beautiful pink lake emerges beneath you, looking like a giant pool of bubblegum. Nope, it’s not a dream. This pink lake is a mesmerizing natural phenomenon. Australia’s western coast boasts such pink wonders. But what gives these lakes their pink …
Australia Has More Than One Pink Lake (Many More!) Read More »
You might not realize this, but humans are secretly obsessed with geckos. It’s because we’re jealous, honestly. We’re always trying to emulate something about these sticky-fingered little lizards, from the way we engineer bras to glue to gloves. Gecko are a group of mostly nocturnal lizards that live in warm climates throughout the world. They’re …
Reptiles make up a vast section of the animal kingdom. There are more than 6500 known species of reptiles that can be divided into four groups: turtles and tortoises, lizards and snakes, crocodiles and alligators, and tuatara, a species that dates back to the dinosaurs [source: San Diego Zoo]. Differentiating between the different groups of …
They may not have their own cult classic movie like the infamous great white shark, but the equally massive Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) holds a pretty impressive record: They’re the longest-living vertebrate known to science. It’s estimated they can live up to approximately 400 years, beating out the former record-holder — a species of bowhead …
A Greenland Shark Living Today Could Have Been Alive in 1620 Read More »
Ah, the beach — sandy refuge where people lounge, wearing little more covering than cocktail napkins. We flock to these warm havens to soak in the sun, read trashy novels and eat piles of cheese curls and chocolate chip cookies without a care in the world. That is, until we step into the water. If …
Can I Survive a Shark Attack by Gouging Out Its Eyes? Read More »
In 1975, a 28-year-old filmmaker named Steven Spielberg scared the bathing suits off of movie audiences all over the world with the smash hit “Jaws.” His big-screen adaptation of Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel cost just $7 million dollars to make, went on to gross more than $470 million around the world and launched Spielberg’s …
After Adolf Hilter and the Nazis invaded Poland in August 1939, World War II was all but certain. Hitler and Josef Stalin had signed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact just a few months prior, which ensured Hitler wouldn’t fight the Soviets in Poland. Just a few days after the invasion of Poland, Great Britain and France …
On June 4, 2018, the remains of what is most likely a predatory Allosaurus were sold to the highest bidder at the Aguttes auction house in Paris, France. Nearly 30 feet (9.1 meters) long and 70 percent complete, it’s valuable in more ways than one. Like all fossils, these bones are ambassadors from an earlier …
The industrious, poop-grubbing dung beetles might not have a fancy job, but it turns out they evolved eating the rarified poop of the dinosaurs. Around 6,000 members of the Scarabaeidae family can be found on every continent except Antarctica, and a new study suggests they showed up on the scene between 115 and 130 million …
Nutritious Dino Poop Greased the Wheels for Dung Beetle Evolution Read More »
Words can become fossils in their own right. Triceratops means “three-horned face” and Velociraptor translates to “speedy plunderer.” Both genus names fit the dinosaurs they belong to; we know Triceratops had a trio of horns on its skull while Velociraptor was a lightly-built carnivore. The case of Stegosaurus isn’t so straightforward. Rooted in Greek, this …
The biggest land animals of all time were sauropod dinosaurs. Long-tailed and (usually) long-necked, these vegetarian giants once lived on every continent, Antarctica included. Some experts think the very largest could’ve weighed over 60 tons (54 metric tons). Pillar-like legs supported all that tonnage. The late paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh was amazed by their enormity. …
The Big Dinosaur Debate: Is It an Apatosaurus or Brontosaurus? Read More »
On May 18, 1983, while performing his song “Billie Jean,” a human named Michael Jackson performed a dance move on national television that nobody had ever seen before. It was called the Moonwalk, and a lot of other humans all over the world lost their marbles over it. The Moonwalk is an objectively cool move: …
How Billie the Dolphin Taught Her Flippered Friends to Bust a Move Read More »
Dolphins and porpoises are different. You probably figured this was true, even though when you picture them in your mind’s eye, they look exactly the same. Admit it. But it turns out, dolphins and porpoises are very different. Both are highly intelligent and communicate by sonar, which is produced through a bulbous structure on the …
Dolphins and porpoises are different. You probably figured this was true, even though when you picture them in your mind’s eye, they look exactly the same. Admit it. But it turns out, dolphins and porpoises are very different. Both are highly intelligent and communicate by sonar, which is produced through a bulbous structure on the …