stackyFACTS
Science

Penguins drink seawater and sneeze out the salt

HERE’S THE INTERESTING PART

Drinking exclusively from the ocean should immediately kill you via intense cellular dehydration, unless you wear a tuxedo. Penguins bypass this minor inconvenience via their supraorbital gland, which actively yanks sodium out of their bloodstream. They literally sneeze or vigorously shake their heads to violently expel the excess toxic salt right back into the freezing wind.

From the Stacky collection1 min read
Penguins drink seawater and sneeze out the salt
STACKY / Science
Topics in this factbiologysalt glandanatomy
One discovery leads to another.

Keep exploring facts in this topic.

Science →
STACKY FOR IPHONE

A bigger world.
One discovery
at a time.

Keep discovering with Stacky. Interesting facts in an app that is always within reach.

Download on the App Store
ONE MORE DISCOVERY?

Keep exploring

All in this topic →
Why does stubbing your toe predictably generate a second, deeply agonizing wave of pain a few seconds after the initial impact?
Science

Why does stubbing your toe predictably generate a second, deeply agonizing wave of pain a few seconds after the initial impact?

Why does stubbing your toe predictably generate a second, deeply agonizing wave of pain a few seconds after the initial impact?

Discover more
Garden snails possess a ribbon-like structure in their mouths called a radula, which is covered in up to fourteen thousand microscopic teeth used to scrape food into their digestive tracts.
Science

Garden snails possess a ribbon-like structure in their mouths called a radula, which is covered in up to fourteen thousand microscopic teeth used to scrape food into their digestive tracts.

Garden snails possess a ribbon-like structure in their mouths called a radula, which is covered in up to fourteen thousand microscopic teeth used to scrape…

Discover more
What’s the slightly terrifying biological reason your tattoos don’t just naturally heal and disappear over time?
Science

What’s the slightly terrifying biological reason your tattoos don’t just naturally heal and disappear over time?

What’s the slightly terrifying biological reason your tattoos don’t just naturally heal and disappear over time?

Discover more
Like tigers, humans actually have distinct stripes all over their bodies. How can we see them?
Science

Like tigers, humans actually have distinct stripes all over their bodies. How can we see them?

Like tigers, humans actually have distinct stripes all over their bodies. How can we see them?

Discover more
Despite making up only two percent of your total body weight, how much of your daily energy does your brain consume?
Science

Despite making up only two percent of your total body weight, how much of your daily energy does your brain consume?

Despite making up only two percent of your total body weight, how much of your daily energy does your brain consume?

Discover more
Why your heart ends up on the left
Science

Why your heart ends up on the left

The only reason your heart is on the left side of your chest is because of millions of microscopic, spinning biological windshield wipers. During early…

Discover more
StackyMore discoveries in the app
Download on the App Store