The brightest take on this week’s science
The Northern Hemisphere might be melting and explosive diarrhea is spreading across the US…
But in grim moments like these, it’s more important than ever to have a laugh and renew your sense of wonder.
We’ve got you covered.
This week, our team members at ScienceAlert are sharing their favorite science facts, so you can turn any chat this July 4 weekend into an interesting one.
Other convo starters:
🌋 Did you see the strange boiling hole that appeared in Yellowstone?
🦈 Have you heard of the megalodon fossil that was lost for decades?
🦭 Do you know why that chaotic seal in Australia is destroying traffic cones?
Scroll on 🤘
LOOK OUT
The Scientific Reason Neil The Seal Destroys Traffic Cones
(Marine Conservation Program/Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania)
‘Neil the Seal’ is not trying to be a nuisance, but as he grows larger in size and in fame, he’s becoming one.
Australia’s favorite chaotic southern elephant seal is back on the shores of Tasmania to shed his coat.
The 1,000-kilo Neil likes to nap in the middle of the road.
When officials put traffic cones around him for protection, the seal sometimes crushes them with his body.
Scientists say that when elephant seals are shedding, they like to rub up against surfaces.
Neil just seems to prefer bright orange, human-made surfaces.
To see the hilarious videos of Neil the seal about town, click the link below.
HEADLINES
This Week in Science
LOW-KEY GENIUS
Scientists Found Long-Lost Megalodon Bones
(lexaarts/Creatas Video+/Getty Images Plus)
In 1978, paleontologists unearthed roughly 20 vertebrae from a single megalodon.
One was larger than any megalodon vertebra ever found, before or since.
But they somehow lost the fossil…
For decades, no one knew where it went.
Then, vertebrate paleontologist Bent Erik Kramer Lindow, curator of the Natural History Museum of Denmark, noticed a box of jumbled bones.
It was the long-lost megalodon.
ZOOM ZONE
Microscope Mystery: What Do You See?
(Public Domain)
A) Parasite
B) Iris
C) Fungal spore
D) Human ovum
Answer at the bottom.
LOOK OUT
Strange Boiling Hole Opens at Yellowstone
The location of the new pool. (USGS/Public Domain)
Just two days after scientists were walking in an area of Yellowstone, the land collapsed into a strange boiling hole.
One day the churning hole wasn’t there. The next day it was.
Thankfully, no one was hurt, but what exactly caused the disaster?
It was a hydrothermal explosion, the closest this hazard has ever occurred to a scientific monitoring system.
In the seismic data, scientists detected a strange anomaly…
WOW FACTOR
ScienceAlert’s Fascinating Facts
Here are some inspirational convo starters from our team:
Which animal has more bones in its neck, a giraffe or a human? They actually have the same number!
Spider silk is so incredibly fine, just 2 kilograms of it would extend all the way around Earth.
Less time separates humans and T. rex (66 million years) than T. rex and Stegosaurus (79 million years).
The Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon, but it's also about 400 times farther from Earth, which is why they appear almost exactly the same size in our sky. No other planet in the Solar System has this!
Your brain is nearly 60 percent fat – it's the fattiest organ in your body. Fatty acids play a key role in how well your brain functions.
Cuttlefish have a remarkable ability to change the colors displayed on their skin. And yet, they are technically colorblind. Their eyes are sensitive to polarized light – an entirely different way of seeing.
If your peripheral vision were as sharp as your central vision, you’d probably need a visual cortex as large as a classroom to process all the information.
Voyager 1 has been traveling through space since 1977 and still hasn't made it one light-year away from Earth. In November this year, it will reach one light-day.
During pregnancy, a woman’s body makes nearly 50 percent more blood and up to 100 times more of certain proteins to deal with the intense physiological demands of growing a tiny human.
DOPAMINE HIT
Before You Go…
Ever seen a firework ladder? Now you have.
Microscope answer: Human ovum
The human ovum is surrounded by a thick egg coat and a halo of spiky cells called the corona radiata, which provides nutrients and protection. Sperm need to ‘part’ these cells to get through and fertilize the ovum.
That’s all for today… see you next week!
- Carly
