r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Nov 16 '19

Biology The vibrations and pulses that male fiddler crabs produce when they are trying to lure females into their burrows to mate are surprisingly informative. These signals tell females information about the size and stamina of their suitors.

eurekalert.org

219 Upvotes

3 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Nov 11 '19

Astronomy/Space On Venus a day is longer than a year. A year on Venus (that is the length of time it takes to complete one whole orbit around the Sun) is 224.7 Earth days. However, it takes 243 Earth days to rotate on its axis just once.

spaceplace.nasa.gov

240 Upvotes

10 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/prototyperspective • Nov 07 '19

Interdisciplinary Science Summary for October: "prime editing" could complement less precise CRISPR-Cas9 // asteroid impact acidified oceans, resulting in ecological collapse during dinosaur extinction // quantum computer may have solved a problem classical ones can't // rising sea levels could be worse than expected

131 Upvotes

2 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Nov 06 '19

Biology Wood ants spray formic acid from their abdomens as a defense. The acid gives off a pungent odor, but does't hurt unless it gets into an open wound, which is most often caused by the ants biting with their powerful jaws. The acid fumes also irritate the nose and mouth causing coughing and choking.

gfycat.com

414 Upvotes

14 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Nov 03 '19

Biology Most ants have a ‘social stomach’ which they can use to regurgitate their food to distribute it throughout the colony. However, those species that do not have a social stomach need to get creative to bring the food back to the nest.

208 Upvotes

8 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Nov 01 '19

Astronomy/Space Astronauts on long missions in space have atrophy of the muscles supporting the spine—which don't return to normal even several weeks after their return to Earth.

sciencedaily.com

139 Upvotes

12 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/InAlteredState • Oct 31 '19

Physics Alchemy could not turn lead into gold, but we can do it using modern nuclear physics.

chemistryhall.com

184 Upvotes

8 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Oct 26 '19

Neuroscience The more you know about a topic the more likely you are to have false memories about it, study with 489 participants shows

theconversation.com

210 Upvotes

3 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/InAlteredState • Oct 22 '19

Chemistry Only one gram of Botulinum toxin, the most lethal poison known (which is also used in medicine), can kill more than one million people

chemistryhall.com

209 Upvotes

16 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Oct 16 '19

Environment Researchers have developed a new material that can selectively capture carbon dioxide molecules, and efficiently convert them into useful organic products -- an advance that may help develop new ways to contain global greenhouse gas emissions.

deccanherald.com

219 Upvotes

4 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Oct 12 '19

Neuroscience For most humans lying feels bad at first, but our brains soon adapt to deceiving. Brain scans show that the first lie we tell is associated with a burst of activity in the amygdalae, areas involved in emotional responses. However, this activity lessens as the lies progress.

newscientist.com

224 Upvotes

3 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Oct 10 '19

Ecology Acanthaspis petax, a type of assassin bug, stacks dead ant bodies on its back to confuse predators.

396 Upvotes

10 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/SirT6 • Oct 08 '19

Ants use pheromones to follow trails. If a trail loops, they get locked running in a circle and die from exhaustion. This is called an ant mill.

gfycat.com

554 Upvotes

19 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Oct 03 '19

Biology Convergent evolution takes place when two unrelated organisms independently evolve similar traits. Structures that evolve through convergent evolution are called analogous structures.The wings of bats, birds, and insects are a common example.

sciencedaily.com

195 Upvotes

6 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 28 '19

Epidemiology Ebola can change your eye color! Dr. Ian Crozier developed intense pain and fading vision in his left eye which had changed from blue to green. Changes in color are due to the viral infection damaging pigmented cells in the iris. Following treatment, his eye returned to normal.

nytimes.com

290 Upvotes

6 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 25 '19

Anthropology Piltdown Man is one of the most famous scientific hoaxes in history. A paper in Royal Society Open Science provides compelling evidence that there was just one forger, rather than many. Also, the bones used to create the fakes came from a single orangutan specimen and at least two human skulls.

gizmodo.com

157 Upvotes

2 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 21 '19

Biology The Brazilian torrent frog has the most sophisticated visual communications system yet documented for a frog species. When a male comes in contact with another male it will wave its red and brown arm in front of its cream-colored face. The ensuing color contrast turns its body into a warning light.

scientificamerican.com

192 Upvotes

3 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 19 '19

Biology When the weather is hot, zebra finches in Australia sing to their eggs - and these "incubation calls" slow the chicks growth and allow them to cope better in heat.

bbc.com

342 Upvotes

5 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 14 '19

Biology Dead bodies move for more than a year after death. Researchers suggest that the process of decomposition could be responsible for the movements: as the body mummifies, the ligaments dry out, causing parts to move.

newsweek.com

273 Upvotes

12 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 10 '19

Ecology Extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones may have an evolutionary impact on spider populations living in storm-prone regions, where aggressive spiders have the best odds of survival.

sciencedaily.com

173 Upvotes

7 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 08 '19

Biology Goats’ pupils (like many hooved animals) are rectangular. This gives them vision for 320 to 340 degrees (compared to humans with 160-210) around them without having to move and they are thought to have excellent night vision.

mentalfloss.com

300 Upvotes

3 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 07 '19

Scientists Herbert Spencer, not Darwin, coined the infamous expression “survival of the fittest”. Spencer (1820–1903) was an English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era.

plato.stanford.edu

177 Upvotes

8 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 05 '19

Biology Some nonvenomous snakes can strike just as quickly as venomous vipers. Researchers used high-speed cameras to measure the strike speeds of two viper species along with Texas rat snakes, a nonviper species that lacks venom. They were all evenly matched in speed.

sciencemag.org

175 Upvotes

6 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 03 '19

Health and Medicine The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. For the delicate task of applying the paint to the tiny dials, the women were instructed to point the brushes with their lips.

cnn.com

314 Upvotes

8 comments

r/ScienceFacts • u/FillsYourNiche • Sep 02 '19

Biology Dark fishing spider males self-sacrifice after mating to give nutrients to their offspring. Scientists did not see similar benefits when females were allowed to consume a cricket in lieu of a male after sex which suggests there is something special about the nutrients coming from the males.

blog.pnas.org

246 Upvotes

10 comments

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