The world is a big, wonderful place full of facts we never thought possible. For instance, if a pregnant mouse has a sudden medical issue, the fetus will send stem cells to heal the mother, increasing its chances of survival as well. Fetal stem cells have been found in human mothers as well, dubbed by science as microchimerism.
Bright Side dug up some more marvelous facts about nature and its creations, upholding our yearly resolutions to spread knowledge and joy.
1. The heart slows when your face touches water.
As mammals, we can’t breathe underwater, so as part of the mammalian dive reflex, our heart rate goes down in the water — more so if we go underwater. Even splashing the face with water makes the heart slow down, making it a great way to calm down.
2. Fungus can break down plastic in weeks.
It is said that in the future, there may be more plastic in the ocean than fish. This is why the plastic-eating fungus is great news, and there are around 50 new species of such fungi discovered already. One of the fungi discovered can digest plastic within 2 months, so there’s hope for us yet.
3. Newborn babies can support their own weight.
Newborn babies are strong — strong enough to be able to grasp things in their tiny fists and even support their weight as shown by an experiment done in the nineteenth century. Louis Robinson witnessed babies able to hang from a walking stick, from 10 seconds to 2 minutes and 35 seconds.
4. Koala fingerprints have been mistaken for human ones.
We’ve been told that our fingerprints are unique, and they are. But the fact remains that even though we share a common ancestor with the koala that was alive 100 million years ago, koala fingerprints look very similar to human fingerprints, as do chimpanzee fingerprints for that matter.
5. Snails can sleep for 3 years.
If you thought bears had it good with hibernation, meet the snail. Snails can sleep rather than hibernate for 3 years at a time without needing food. Of course, this is with some snail species, not all of them. Meanwhile, bears usually hibernate for just 4-8 months.
6. Sloths need 2 weeks to digest food.
Sloths don’t only move in slow motion — even their insides move slowly, ostensibly to preserve energy, which is why a sloth’s digestive system takes 2 weeks to process the food it ate. Plus, most of what it eats is indigestible, giving it very little energy from each slowly chewed mouthful.
On the other end of the spectrum lies the shrew, whose digestion takes mere minutes and is done so fast, not much of it is fully digested. This is the reason why shrews eat their own feces. They can die of starvation in a matter of hours if they don’t eat.
7. Your brain ignores seeing your nose.
We can see our nose all the time, it’s just that the brain tends to ignore it because it’s a constant visual stimulus. It’s the same with people who wear glasses. After a while, they simply stop noticing them.
8. Your forearm is the same length as your foot.
If you don’t have the time to try on a shoe, measure it from your elbow crease to your wrist. If it fits or is just a little smaller, it would fit your foot because the length of your forearm is the same as your foot. And this is just one of many human body ratios that are a marvel in themselves, including the fact that your femur bone is one-quarter your height.
9. You can “see” your white blood cells.
If you look up at a cloudless, bright blue sky and see some wiggly things at the periphery of your vision, you’ve just experienced the blue field entoptic phenomenon. The wiggly things are white blood cells moving in the fine blood vessels moving in front of the retina, at the back of the eye.
10. Human beings have striped skin, but only cats can see it.
Human beings have stripes and patterns on the skin too, and they are called Lines of Blaschko, name eponymously by the scientist who discovered them, Dr. Alfred Blaschko. These are closer to tiger stripes, forming more of a V-pattern fanning out from the center to the extremities. These lines are visible under UV light, a spectrum that cats can see too, which is why cats can see you as a striped being as well.
Which of these facts turned out to be a revelation for you? Share your extreme nature facts with us and blow us away.
Preview photo credit Shutterstock.com, Shutterstock.com
A child dials 911 seeking assistance from police officer.
Generally, we tell our kids to call 911 if they ever need help. But one child took the lesson to a completely new level!
The child was experiencing problems with his homework, so he made the decision to call for help. Since 911 was the only number he knew, he took up the phone and dialed it. Is it true that the people listed on this number are ones that need help? Indeed. I think he was right someplace, too.
The operator who was answering began asking the standard questions. Following a lengthy period of miscommunication, the operator discovered that the child truly had difficulty with math problems.
The entire phone call they had is available below. We were really amused by this and laughed a lot. The YouTube video is also available at the conclusion of the article.
Operator: emergency 911
Boy: I do require assistance.
Operator: What’s wrong?
Boy: Using my arithmetic.
Operator: Using your lips?
Boy: Not using my math. I must complete it. Are you going to assist me?
Operator: Alright. What city do you reside in?
Boy: I can’t do the math.
Operator: You’re right, I understand. But where do you live?
Boy: No, I’d rather have a phone conversation with you.
Operator: I’m not able to do it. I can dispatch another person to assist you.
Boy: Alright.
Operator: What type of math problems are you having trouble with?
Boy: These are my takeaways.
Operator: You must complete the takeaways, I see.
Boy: Certainly
Operator: Okay, so what’s the issue?
Boy: I need your assistance with my math.
Operator: Alright, explain the arithmetic to me.
Boy: Alright. What is 8 minus 16?
Operator: You inform me. How much do you estimate it to be?
Boy: I have no idea, 1.
Operator: Not at all. What is your age?
Boy: I’m just four years old.
Operator: Four!
Boy: Certainly.
Operator: What’s the next issue? That was a difficult one.
Boy: Well, this one’s here. Five things to take away.
Operator: Five minus five, what do you think that is worth?
Boy: five
Female: Johnny What are you doing, exactly?
Boy: I’m getting help with my math from the policeman.
Woman: Did I mention that I was going to call you?
Operator: The mother is here.
Boy: You told me to call someone if I needed assistance.
Woman: The police aren’t who I meant!
Leave a Reply