Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
Solid objects don't need atoms packed like tiny marbles.
Solid objects don't need atoms packed like tiny marbles. An atom's nucleus occupies only a tiny part of its overall size, but the surrounding electrons are…
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Most people are completely unaware that the natural resting position for the human tongue is actually pressed against the roof of the mouth, not laying flat at the bottom.
Most people are completely unaware that the natural resting position for the human tongue is actually pressed against the roof of the mouth, not laying flat…
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Ants can leave chemical footprints that slow their aphid herds.
Ants can leave chemical footprints that slow their aphid herds. Researchers found aphids moved more slowly on surfaces ants had walked over. Keeping the…
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Astronomers have isolated the sound of a supermassive black hole located in the Perseus galaxy cluster, and it registers as a B-flat that is fifty-seven octaves below middle C.
Astronomers have isolated the sound of a supermassive black hole located in the Perseus galaxy cluster, and it registers as a B-flat that is fifty-seven…
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Pigs use mud for a cooling job sweat does poorly.
Pigs use mud for a cooling job sweat does poorly. Pigs have little effective sweating capacity, so wallowing helps them shed heat as moisture evaporates. A…
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Female praying mantises frequently practice sexual cannibalism by biting off the heads of their male partners during or immediately after mating.
Female praying mantises frequently practice sexual cannibalism by biting off the heads of their male partners during or immediately after mating. Some nerve…
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Wood frogs survive winter with much of their body water frozen.
Wood frogs survive winter with much of their body water frozen. Ice forms largely outside their cells, while glucose and other protective changes help tissues…
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An echidna's dating scene can turn into a single-file queue.
An echidna's dating scene can turn into a single-file queue. During breeding season, several males may follow one female in an echidna train. Observers on…
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Lobsters keep a cellular repair tool switched on.
Lobsters keep a cellular repair tool switched on. Researchers found telomerase activity in many lobster tissues. The enzyme helps maintain chromosome ends as…
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Quantum tunneling lets a particle cross a barrier it could not climb.
Quantum tunneling lets a particle cross a barrier it could not climb. A quantum wave can extend into and beyond a finite energy barrier, leaving a probability…
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Supermassive black holes occasionally tear apart and consume wandering stars in a violent process called a tidal disruption event, but they do not always swallow their cosmic meals cleanly.
Supermassive black holes occasionally tear apart and consume wandering stars in a violent process called a tidal disruption event, but they do not always…
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Sonoluminescence occurs when high-frequency sound waves are directed into a liquid, creating microscopic bubbles that rapidly expand and collapse with such violent force that they emit brief flashes of light.
Sonoluminescence occurs when high-frequency sound waves are directed into a liquid, creating microscopic bubbles that rapidly expand and collapse with such…
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We cannot recover a T.
We cannot recover a T. rex's exact voice from its skeleton. Researchers compare dinosaurs with living relatives such as birds and crocodilians, which make…
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Your gut has its own network of millions of nerve cells that coordinates digestion locally.
Your gut has its own network of millions of nerve cells that coordinates digestion locally. This enteric nervous system can organize many functions without…
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Some shrews shrink their skulls and brains for winter, then grow them again in spring.
Some shrews shrink their skulls and brains for winter, then grow them again in spring. This seasonal remodeling is called Dehnel’s phenomenon. A smaller body…
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Many city pigeons descend from birds people domesticated.
Many city pigeons descend from birds people domesticated. Their ancestors were bred for food, messaging, and other uses, and escaped or released birds…
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Dung beetles can steer by the Milky Way.
Dung beetles can steer by the Milky Way. In planetarium experiments, beetles kept a straight course when shown the galaxy's broad band of light. That helps…
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Tiny pads help cats make surprisingly deep purrs.
Tiny pads help cats make surprisingly deep purrs. A 2023 study found soft tissue pads in cats' vocal folds that help produce very low-frequency vibrations.…
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An avocado can be food for you and a hazard for a pet.
An avocado can be food for you and a hazard for a pet. Persin in avocado is particularly dangerous to some animals, including birds and certain livestock.…
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Many commercial fig varieties require a highly specific, mutualistic pollination process involving tiny female wasps that physically crawl inside the inverted flower of the unripe fruit.
Many commercial fig varieties require a highly specific, mutualistic pollination process involving tiny female wasps that physically crawl inside the inverted…
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Jupiter makes the Sun wobble around a point outside its surface.
Jupiter makes the Sun wobble around a point outside its surface. Both bodies move around their shared center of mass. Because Jupiter is so massive, that…
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A giraffe builds its enormous neck from the same seven bones as you.
A giraffe builds its enormous neck from the same seven bones as you. Its neck vertebrae are greatly elongated rather than multiplied into a long chain of…
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Moray eels possess a terrifying secondary set of jaws located entirely in their throat that forcefully shoots forward to drag captured prey down into their digestive tract.
Moray eels possess a terrifying secondary set of jaws located entirely in their throat that forcefully shoots forward to drag captured prey down into their…
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Male honeybees experience an explosive, highly dramatic death immediately after successfully mating with the queen mid-air.
Male honeybees experience an explosive, highly dramatic death immediately after successfully mating with the queen mid-air. The drone's reproductive organ…
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