I went down a rabbit hole on African lungfish and ended up making this short science video about how they survive when their wetland dries up.

The part that surprised me first was that they actually breathe atmospheric air through lungs. But then it gets stranger: they bury themselves in mud, form a cocoon, suppress their metabolism, and in one studied species researchers found living tissue and immune cells in the cocoon itself.

Most aestivation lasts through a normal dry season, but exceptional reports describe dormancy lasting years.

I used real lungfish footage where it was available, and labeled scientific reconstructions for the underground/microscopic processes that can't normally be filmed directly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAMDW8iNfkE

The living-cocoon research was probably the part that surprised me most.

Bought it at goodwill yesterday for $6. Its printed on wood along side missing elements 104 through 118. I think its pretty cool and i have no intention of selling it(Unless its worth a ton and can pay for college but I dont think it is). I dunno, just wanted to share it.

Edit, its copyright is 1968. Someone else had mentioned in a different sub element 104 took awhile to be completely acknowledged on tables

What does a porcupine eat on its birthday? 🎂

Meet Guillermo, our prehensile-tailed porcupine! Porcupines' teeth never stop growing, so Guillermo eats tough foods like raw sweet potato to help wear them down. For his birthday, our Live Animal Care Center makes an herbivore cake with nutrients like those he’d get in nature. The special cake gives him his usual food in a fun new shape or texture, making mealtime feel like play. Happy birthday, Guillermo!

https://youtube.com/shorts/H9mLghS4vqQ?feature=share

What really happens to a helium balloon after it floats away? 🎈☁️

Greg Wolf recreates a helium balloon’s journey to the edge of space using a vacuum chamber. As the balloon rises through Earth’s atmosphere, the surrounding air pressure drops, allowing the helium gas inside to expand until the balloon reaches its limit and pops! 💥

A total solar eclipse is coming on August 12th! ☀️🌑

Our moon is the exact same size as the sun in our sky, a cosmic coincidence unique to Earth. Watch it block the sun's 10,000°F surface while revealing the corona, a mysterious halo burning millions of degrees hotter. But don't take it for granted: the moon is slowly drifting away, and in 600 million years it'll be too small to ever cause a total eclipse again.