How Many Strange Things?

Pull up a log. This is the virtual campfire edition.

Most people remain unaware of these 10 mind-blowing facts about science, nature, and human biology. The facts are real. The editorial jokes I HOPE you enjoy, are on me.

From the Natural World

1. The Smell of Rain

That earthy smell after rain? To certain springtails, it can be a dinner bell. Geosmin, a compound produced by soil bacteria, attracts these tiny, wingless, six-legged creatures, which feed on bacteria and can help spread their spores (Nature Microbiology). Humans notice geosmin, too. Some people can detect it in water at concentrations as low as five parts per trillion (Scottish Water). That's an almost incomprehensibly tiny amount. A comparison? We detect geosmin with a greater sensitivity than sharks will detect blood in water.

* Here is an interesting yet pointless fact you should never care about. We share this ability to detect geosmin with a tiny, wingless, six-legged "bug" commonly called a springtail, with camels, with mosquitos, with frutit flies, with round worms, and with fresh water fish. What is curious to me is all those other species rely on this ability for survival. We use the detection ability to decide we need to bring an umbrella and a rain coat.

2. The True Weight of Clouds

A fluffy cumulus cloud looks practically weightless. In reality, a cloud occupying roughly one cubic kilometer can contain about 500,000 kilograms of liquid-water droplets. That's approximately 1.1 million pounds, or the weight of about 100 elephants (USGS, EarthDate). So why doesn't it fall out of the sky? Its tiny droplets are suspended by air currents and turbulence, while the cloud's overall density is close to that of the surrounding air. 

* Remember lying in the grass as kids, looking up at those fluffy marshmallows and trying to see shapes in them? Some of us still do that as adults. Good thing those clouds don't behave like a super-intoxicated guy outside a bar late at night, unloading all that liquid on you at once.

3. Underwater Sloths

Sloths have the ability to slow their heart rates by two-thirds allowing them to hold their breaths underwater for up to 40 minutes! Folks, that is even longer than dolphins can remain under. 

* Another fact about slow moving sloths. Not only can they slow their heart rates, they can hold their urine and poop, and regularly do, a week at a time! Do you think it hurts when they finally go, or does it feel fantastic...best moment of their weeks? Lol, seriously, there is a much more practical reason. The trip to the forest floor is risky. Sloths are vulnerable to predators when they're down on the ground, which makes their bathroom routine a surprisingly dangerous undertaking (California Academy of Sciences). They often return to the base of a tree to do their business, sometimes digging a small depression in the ground (Britannica). 

4. Wombat Geometry

Wombats are the only animals known to produce cube-shaped feces. They can leave behind as many as 100 little cubes in a day (Smithsonian Magazine). For years, scientists wondered how a soft, tube-shaped intestine could produce something with corners. Researchers eventually discovered that different regions of the wombat's intestine have different levels of stiffness and elasticity. As the material dries and moves through the gut, those differences help shape it into cubes. One proposed explanation for the unusual shape is that the cubes don't roll away easily. Wombats can pile them on rocks and logs to mark their territory (CNN). Nobody has asked a wombat to confirm.

* Now, how fun would it be to put a couple of them in an ice cube tray at a party? If anyone caught on, apologize and say you'd added alcohol to the ice cube, which is why it was a darker color. You're welcome. You may never be invited back, but you'll have made an impression.

5. The Octopus Is Running Three Hearts on Blue Blood

An octopus has three hearts. Two pump blood through the gills, while the third circulates it through the rest of the body (Smithsonian Magazine). Here's the catch: the heart that circulates blood through the body stops beating during swimming. That helps explain why octopuses often prefer crawling along the ocean floor to swimming around. Swimming is energetically demanding for them.Their blood is blue, too, because their oxygen-carrying protein uses copper rather than iron (Smithsonian Magazine). So the next time someone calls you cold-blooded, thank them. It's an upgrade in certain oceans. Three hearts, blue blood, and eight arms. 

* Meanwhile, some of us can't even coordinate two hands and a cup of coffee before 9 a.m.

6. One Rotation Outlasts Its Year

Venus takes about 243 Earth days to complete one rotation on its axis, yet it takes only about 225 Earth days to travel once around the Sun (NASA Space Place). In other words, a day measured by one complete rotation is longer than a year on Venus. Even stranger, Venus rotates backward compared with most planets in our solar system. As a result, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east (NASA).

* Somewhere up there, it's always Monday morning in macroeconomics. And you thought your week was off to a bad start.

Human Biology and Perception

7. The Brain's Fuel Consumption

Your brain accounts for roughly 2% of your body weight, yet it consumes about 20% of your body's energy at rest.All that thinking, remembering, daydreaming, and occasionally wondering why you walked into a room and forgot what you came for runs on roughly 20 watts of power. That's less than many household light bulbs use (Britannica). Twenty watts! 

* So the next time somebody tells you to use your head, remember that your brain is already working overtime. Stop absorbing so much. Push away from the metabolic table… brain!

8. Fragmented Phone Use and Your Attention

In a three-week observational study, researchers collected more than 733,000 readings of smartphone use among 160 teenagers. More fragmented phone use — picking up the phone, putting it down, then picking it up again — was associated with greater distraction in most participants (SAGE Journals). The study found an association, not proof that fragmented phone use directly causes attention problems.

* Still, it gives us something to think about. As if we needed any help losing track of time or being clueless. Thanks, iPhones and Androids. I'll have to ask my friend Allie if that's why she never turns her phone on Sunday. One day a week to reclaim her attention span. Of course, if she doesn't answer, I'll have to wait until Monday to ask her. I see a flaw in my research methodology.

9. Phantom Vibration Syndrome

Ever reached into your pocket because you were certain your phone had vibrated, only to discover that absolutely nothing happened? Congratulations. You may have experienced phantom vibration syndrome. A substantial number of smartphone users have reported feeling vibrations that never occurred. In one survey of hospital medical staff, 68% reported the experience (BMJ).  A 2012 study of college students found that nearly 90% had experienced it (WWNO). Apparently, our brains can become so accustomed to expecting notifications that we occasionally imagine them. 

* I don't feel my phone vibrate, I think it talks to me. Relax. It's usually just the alarm reminding me that I have another appointment I don't want to attend.

10. Your Brain Can Catch a 13-Millisecond Image

Your brain can recognize visual information at astonishing speeds.In research at MIT, participants viewed rapid sequences of images and were asked to identify a target, such as a picnic or a smiling couple. In some experiments, images appeared for just 13 milliseconds — far faster than a blink — and participants could identify targets better than chance. That 13 milliseconds refers to how long the image appeared on the screen, not the total time the brain needed to process it.  Processing can continue after the image disappears. 

* Damn, I wish I'd known that in college. It would have been my excuse for falling asleep — or showing up hungover — in Professor Walter's early Monday morning macroeconomics seminars. I'd wake up, possibly snoring, and he'd be a smartass and say, "Welcome back, Fred." I could have answered, "My brain was processing every word, Professor. My eyelids just couldn't keep up." Then I'd tell him to look it up. Scientifically valid excuse? No. Would I have tried it? Absolutely.

There You Have It

Ten strange facts about our planet, the animals we share it with, and the astonishing machinery inside our own heads. Clouds weigh more than we imagine. Wombats manufacture geometric poop. Octopuses have three hearts. Venus has a day longer than its year. And our brains can recognize images in the blink of an eye — sometimes faster than we can come up with a decent excuse for falling asleep in class. 

The world is a peculiar place, and science keeps finding new ways to prove it. That's the beauty of curiosity. You start out wondering why it smells like rain, and a few minutes later you're contemplating a wombat's bathroom habits.

So pull up a log, grab something to drink, and bring a question or two of your own. Just please don't use the ice cube tray for anything involving wombats.

Have any of you seen, heard, care to share really strange, or just little know facts? I am all ears and will love to hear more. 

Until next time, keep wondering.