Science
Discover facts about science. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Science
Botanical geneticists sequencing the genome of the domesticated tomato discovered that it possesses over thirty-one thousand genes, which is roughly ten thousand more than a human being.
Botanical geneticists sequencing the genome of the domesticated tomato discovered that it possesses over thirty-one thousand genes, which is roughly ten…
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Protecting koalas now includes a vaccination strategy.
Protecting koalas now includes a vaccination strategy. Chlamydial disease can damage koalas' health and reproduction, making it a conservation problem as well…
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Pig reproduction comes with a remarkably slow delivery.
Pig reproduction comes with a remarkably slow delivery. A University of Wisconsin teaching resource describes boars taking roughly 7–15 minutes to ejaculate.…
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Rats emit ultrasonic giggling sounds when they are being tickled by researchers, revealing that these notoriously hated rodents actually possess a very rudimentary sense of joy and playfulness.
Rats emit ultrasonic giggling sounds when they are being tickled by researchers, revealing that these notoriously hated rodents actually possess a very…
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Trillions of tiny subatomic particles called neutrinos pass through your body every single second without you ever noticing, originating mostly from the nuclear reactions happening inside the sun.
Trillions of tiny subatomic particles called neutrinos pass through your body every single second without you ever noticing, originating mostly from the…
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Scientists found a rotten-egg ingredient above Uranus's clouds.
Scientists found a rotten-egg ingredient above Uranus's clouds. Hydrogen sulfide absorbs particular wavelengths of light, leaving a pattern that instruments…
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Pigeons possess an incredible visual memory that allows them to distinguish between the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet after undergoing behavioral conditioning.
Pigeons possess an incredible visual memory that allows them to distinguish between the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet after undergoing…
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One of the world's tiniest plants still makes a flower.
One of the world's tiniest plants still makes a flower. Wolffia consists of minute floating plants with an extremely reduced body. Some are around a…
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A sloth's fur can house a tiny ecosystem.
A sloth's fur can house a tiny ecosystem. Moths live in the fur, and algae grow among the hairs. A 2014 study proposed that the moths help supply nutrients…
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A tree's roots trade sugar with fungi underground.
A tree's roots trade sugar with fungi underground. Mycorrhizal fungi grow fine threads that explore soil beyond the roots themselves. The plant supplies…
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Earth keeps putting old water into new places.
Earth keeps putting old water into new places. Evaporation, rain, rivers, groundwater, and living organisms move water between reservoirs over and over. A…
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One jellyfish can rewind its life cycle.
One jellyfish can rewind its life cycle. Under certain stresses, Turritopsis dohrnii can return from its adult jellyfish stage to a polyp stage that produces…
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A cloud can hold a million pounds of water without falling like a stone.
A cloud can hold a million pounds of water without falling like a stone. For a cumulus cloud a kilometer across, a typical droplet concentration gives a water…
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An octopus sends its blue blood through three hearts.
An octopus sends its blue blood through three hearts. Two hearts pump blood through the gills, and a third sends it around the body. Its oxygen-carrying…
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Spacewalk gear can bring back an odor astronauts compare to hot metal.
Spacewalk gear can bring back an odor astronauts compare to hot metal. They notice it after returning inside and removing their helmets, with descriptions…
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Temperature alone can make plain water taste sweet.
Temperature alone can make plain water taste sweet. Researchers studying thermal taste found that warming the tip of the tongue with water could produce…
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A woodpecker's head works like a hammer, not a cushion.
A woodpecker's head works like a hammer, not a cushion. High-speed measurements and models in a 2022 study found that woodpecker skulls transmit the impact…
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Koalas have fingerprints with ridges strikingly similar to human ones.
Koalas have fingerprints with ridges strikingly similar to human ones. These patterns evolved independently in the two lineages, showing how gripping surfaces…
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Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, contains a massive subsurface ocean holding more than twice the amount of water found on Earth.
Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, contains a massive subsurface ocean holding more than twice the amount of water found on Earth. Jupiter’s changing…
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Superfluid helium can escape over a container's wall.
Superfluid helium can escape over a container's wall. Cool helium-4 below about 2.17 kelvins and part of the liquid flows without ordinary viscosity, the…
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Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of massive supergiant stars and are so incomprehensibly dense that a single teaspoon of their material would weigh roughly six billion tons on Earth.
Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of massive supergiant stars and are so incomprehensibly dense that a single teaspoon of their material would weigh…
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Corvids possess highly developed cognitive abilities and can recognize, remember, and actively hold grudges against specific human faces for several years.
Corvids possess highly developed cognitive abilities and can recognize, remember, and actively hold grudges against specific human faces for several years.…
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Researchers estimated 20 quadrillion ants from hundreds of studies.
Researchers estimated 20 quadrillion ants from hundreds of studies. A 2022 analysis combined sampling data across continents and habitats to estimate their…
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Inhaling helium causes the human voice to sound incredibly high-pitched because sound travels nearly three times faster through helium than it does through normal air.
Inhaling helium causes the human voice to sound incredibly high-pitched because sound travels nearly three times faster through helium than it does through…
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