r/ScienceFacts

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Science Summary for last month

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The smallest movie ever made, A Boy and His Atom, was created using individual atoms and a scanning tunneling microscope (STM).

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Chameleons’ long, elastic tongues are one of the fastest muscles in the animal kingdom, extending more than twice their body length and packing 14,000 watts of power per kilo.

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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm, on April 23, 2020, Sol 2742 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission, at 16:21:18 UTC.

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Science Summary for last month

3yr ⋅

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Crabs, such as this Japanese spider crab (Macrocheira kaempferi), cannot grow in a linear fashion like most animals. Because they have a hard outer shell (the exoskeleton) that does not grow, they must shed their shells, a process called molting.

4yr ⋅

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Apoptosis is a form of programmed cell death. Apoptosis removes cells during development, eliminates potentially cancerous and virus-infected cells, and maintains balance in the body.

4yr ⋅

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When hunting, a thresher shark's tail moves so quickly that it lowers the pressure in front of it, causing the water to boil. Small bubbles are released, and collapse again when the water pressure equalizes. This process is called cavitation, and it releases huge amounts of energy stunning the fish.

5yr ⋅

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Atlantic Goliath grouper can grow up to lengths of 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and can weigh as much as 362.8 kg (800 lbs). The grouper in this gif is preying upon a 1.2 m (4ft) black tip shark. These large fish are native to shallow reefs and coastal waters in the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

5yr ⋅

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The Bumblebee Bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) is the smallest species of bat and arguably the world's smallest mammal. It is about 3cm long and weighs about 2g.

7yr ⋅

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Buff-tip moths, of family Notodontidae, resemble the pale branches of broken Birch trees (Family Betulaceae). This camouflage hides them from potential predators.

6yr ⋅

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Psuedopupils are omatidia (clustered photoreceptor, pigment, and support cells topped with a cornea) that are absorbing light - causing them to appear black when looking at them head-on. The pseudopupils will move across the compound eye as the mantis shifts her head.

6yr ⋅

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Sometimes animals also need vaccines to protect them. Recently a vaccine for Avian cholera has been created to protect albatross chicks on Amsterdam Island in the Indian Ocean. Avian cholera was decimating chicks but this new vaccine has led to a dramatic increase in survival.

5yr ⋅

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The Shoebill Stork is a threatened species whose chicks are often at risk of being stolen for sale in the black market. When a chick is rescued, human contact must be limited to prevent imprinting. A simple grey sheet and sock puppet will be worn during feeding in order to hide the human form.

7yr ⋅

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When trying to carry overly large prey back to their nests ants sometimes form chains to make it a little easier. The gif is showing, for the first time, ants in a daisy-chain formation carrying a giant millipede.

7yr ⋅

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A veterinarian used fiberglass to repair a box turtle's broken shell after it was hit by a car. She then released it into the woods near her home. Several years later the box turtle returned to the area is was released and is doing well!

7yr ⋅

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Female wolf spiders carry their egg sacs around on their backs. When the young hatch they hitch a ride on her for a few days before ballooning off on their own.

5yr ⋅

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The first whales evolved over 50 mya. They were typical land animals and had long skulls & large carnivorous teeth. From the outside, they don't resemble modern whales. However, their skulls, particularly in the ear region, strongly resemble those of living whales and are unlike any other mammal.

6yr ⋅

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The genus Halobates is almost exclusively marine and is unique in having the only known species of insect to live in the open ocean. Halobates are water striders, and of the 46 Halobates species described, only five are completely oceanic in habitat.

6yr ⋅

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The jelly blubber (Catostylus mosaicus) in this gif provides shelter for several small fishes avoiding the predatory Cornet fish.

7yr ⋅

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Queen ants remove their wings after mating and use the remaining wing muscles as a source of nutrients while developing their new colony.

7yr ⋅

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The creature on the left is more closely related to you than it is to the creature on the right.

6yr ⋅

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Those long arms our friend the cuttlefish is extending are called, aptly, feeding tentacles. The ends are called tentacular clubs and help the cuttlefish get a better grip on their prey. While the shafts they are connected to are smooth, the clubs have rows of suckers.

7yr ⋅

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Glowing in mostly purple and green colors, a new type of Aurora is sparking the interest of scientists, photographers & astronauts. The display was initially discovered by a group of citizen scientists who named it Steve which scientists changed to Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.

6yr ⋅

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Green sea turtles are named for the green color of the fat under their shells. They are easily distinguished from other sea turtles because they have a single pair of prefrontal scales (scales in front of its eyes), rather than two pairs as found on other sea turtles.

6yr ⋅

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Chameleons have elastic tissue in their tongues that allow them to contract the muscles in their tongue, like a person pulling back the string of a bow. Similar to the release of the bow string propelling an arrow forward the, chameleon releases its tongue muscles,allowing it to spring forward.

7yr ⋅

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In 2002, Airbus filed a patent for a trap door positioned outside of the cockpit. Theoretically, should a terrorist or hijacker try to force their way into the cockpit, a trap door would open and send them into a security cell underneath the cabin floor.

8yr ⋅

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Combinations of red-blue, red-green , red-grey or blue-grey images can create the illusion of depth. This visual illusion is called chromostereopsis.

7yr ⋅

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Leatherback Sea Turtles rarely rest or slow down. They are active for 99.9% of the day. Their constant swimming produces muscle-generated heat that keeps them warm. Their core temperature is much warmer than the water they're in. [X-Post from /r/TurtleFacts]

8yr ⋅

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Jacob sheep males and females are horned; sporting two, four and occasionally six horns.

6yr ⋅

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The scanning electron microscope uses a focused beam of high-energy electrons to generate a variety of signals at the surface of solid specimens. Areas ranging from approximately 1 cm to 5 microns in width can be imaged (magnification from 20X to 30,000X, spatial resolution of 50 to 100 nm).

6yr ⋅

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Coconut Crabs can have a crushing force greater than that of the jaws of most terrestrial predators, with exception to alligators. A very large crab of 4kg would have an estimated pinching force of 3300 Newtons! Enough to break human bones.

8yr ⋅

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Cactus flowers grow from the area of the plant known as the cephalium, which is wooly or bristly. The cephalium will only begin growing after a cactus has reached a certain size or age.

7yr ⋅

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Professor Stephen Hawking believes we have 100 years left on Earth and said that he's not the only one who believes humans have to find a new planet to populate within 100 years

7yr ⋅

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Leucism is a condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an animal's skin, hair, feathers, scales, etc. that results in white or pale coloration. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in multiple types of pigment, not just melanin and does not affect eye color.

7yr ⋅

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Naturally fermenting fruits can range from 0.6% up to 4.5% ethanol in Central America. Bats can eat these without getting inebriated. Party on, bats! (x-post from /r/batfacts)

8yr ⋅

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The Schmidt Sting Pain Index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt (born 1947), an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona.

7yr ⋅

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The Common Surinam toad carries its eggs in the skin of its back. The eggs form pockets in the skin where the young develop into tadpoles and eventually fully formed toads. When ready they erupt from the skin pockets and go their separate ways.

8yr ⋅

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New research indicates that sea turtle hatchlings work together with clutch mates to escape their underground nests. It can take as long as eight days to dig through the sand and emerge from their nests after hatching, and the more they team up, the less energy they waste.

8yr ⋅

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The evolution of the turtle's shell is unique because of how the carapace represents transformed vertebrae and ribs. The shells of other tetrapods, such as armadillos, are not linked directly to the vertebral column or rib cage. This specimen is a Greek tortoise.

8yr ⋅

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Atlantic Goliath grouper can grow up to lengths of 2.5 m (8.2 ft) and can weigh as much as 362.8 kg (800 lbs). The grouper in this gif is preying upon a 1.2 m (4ft) black tip shark. These large fish are native to shallow reefs and coastal waters in the western Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

8yr ⋅

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Woolly aphids are sucking insects that live on plant fluids and produce a filamentous waxy white covering which resembles cotton or wool.

7yr ⋅

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The Common Musk Turtle or Stinkpot (Sternotherus odoratus) remains very small, only growing up to 5.1–14 cm (2.0–5.5 in) with an average weight of 603 g (1.329 lb).

8yr ⋅

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Crested coua chicks have colorful markings on the insides of their beaks, and each chick has its own unique design. These markings are thought to help parents identify their chicks or aim for their offspring’s beaks during feeding. The markings fade as the chicks grow.

8yr ⋅

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