Science is WILD.
Like, we can do unbelievable things because of scientific discoveries and understanding. I'm constantly in awe of science. In fact — can we talk just a second about how fast we developed the COVID vaccines? That was ludicrous, you guys! I know, I know, the pandemic goes on and on, but the development of those vaccinations was unprecedented and I'm not sure science got nearly enough love for it.
But I digress.
Recently over on Reddit, u/analyzeTimes asked the world:
"What is a scientific fact that absolutely blows your mind?"
And I went through to gather some of the coolest facts for you. Enjoy!
(And take these with a grain of salt! They were found on Reddit, after all)
1. Blood Vessels
There are actually blood vessels obstructing light from reaching certain areas in your eye, effectively creating a shadow. Your brain filters this out and essentially fills in the gaps so you don’t actually see this spiderweb-like network of black lines. However, you can visualise them by shining a light at a diagonal into your eye (not directly!) and gently wiggling it about. This means your brain doesn’t have enough time to filter it out and you see this spiderweb like network of blood vessels!
Technical instructions to clarify the actions involved. I find it easier to see this effect in a dark environment, so the contrast of the black shadow against the light is higher. You want to be staring straight ahead and shining the light into your pupil at a 45 degree angle from the side directed at your nose at about 10-20 cm away from them. Phone light will do great and have it on the dimmest setting if possible. Then wiggle the light in gentle 1 cm movements side to side. Keep this up for about a second at least and you should see them. Hope this clears it up a bit!
2. So perfectly preserved
There are some Ice Age animals that are so perfectly preserved in permafrost that scientists have been able to find them still with all their soft tissue, hair, and organs. They even found a couple mammoths that still had liquid blood in them and I remember one scientist even tasting the mammoth meat.
Also there was a mummy found in China that was so well preserved that she still had all her skin, hair, organs, etc. Her body was even flexible that you could bend her limbs as if she was alive. They even found her last meal still in her stomach and could perform an autopsy on her to tell you why she died. She died over 2000 years before she was found.
3. Light
All matter literally gives off light, but we can only see a sliver of that spectrum (although we do have tools to help us see other spectrums.)
Our bodies give off infrared, and are basically glowing in that portion of the spectrum similar to how iron glows to our normal vision when it’s heated. Something that sees a different spectrum than us might not see hot iron as glowing at the same temperatures we see iron glow at.
4. Dissolving caterpillars
Caterpillars basically dissolve into liquid in the cocoon. The only thing left are the so called ‘imaginal discs’, groups of cells that contain all the information and the mechanism to turn that soup into the various body parts of a butterfly (the same applies for other insects).
5. Neurons
The human body has at least 150 billion neurons.
6. T-Rex & Stegosaurus
T-rex lived 66 million-ish years ago. Stegosaurus lived 155 million-ish years ago. The gap between rex and stego is 16 million-ish greater than between rex and present day.
7. Beetles are everywhere
If you put 1 of every animal in a bag and then pick one out you have a 1/5 chance in picking a beetle.
8. Slime is insane!
Slime molds don’t have brains or nervous systems but some how retain information and use it to make decisions. Even more crazy is that they can fuse with another individual and share the information
9. Atoms
There are 8 times as many atoms in a teaspoonful of water as there are teaspoonfuls of water in the Atlantic ocean
10. Cold Welding
If 2 pieces of the same type of metal touch in space, they will bond and be permanently stuck together. Space welding ( cold welding )
The post 20 Weird And Mind-Blowing Science Facts appeared first on The Mother of All Nerds.
20 Weird And Mind-Blowing Science Facts
Source: Pinoy Inquirer News
Post a Comment