The scientists who first discovered
the platypus thought it was fake.
Although indigenous Aboriginal
people already knew of the creature,
European scientists assumed an
egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed,
otter-footed, venomous mammal had
to be an elaborate hoax. SourceSource 2
Baby elephants suck on their trunks for
comfort, just like human babies suck
their thumbs. Adult elephants do it, too.
Trunk-sucking is most common in the
young, but even old bulls suck their
trunks when they feel nervous or unsure. SourceSource 2
The pink inner corner of your eye
helps with movement and tear
drainage, but it’s actually left over
from when humans used to have
a third eyelid. Source
Before US astronaut Scott Kelly returned from his year-long mission aboard the International Space Station, he shared photos of his very last sunrise in space. SourceSource 2
The Atlas moth defends itself by imitating a snake’s appearance and behavior. Along with its convincing wing patterns, the moth will fall to the ground when threatened and flap around to look like a writhing snake. SourceSource 2
Is molten fuckin’ metal/rock/whatever seriously the same deal as swinging your finger through a candle??
THE FORGE GOD
this is the lidenfrost effect, his hand is soaked in water. when the water contacts the molten material it instantly evaporates because of the heat, causing a brief ‘shield’ of steam around his hand.
the drum is filled with hot steam and then sprayed with cold water. the pressure on the outside of the drum is far more than inside. the pressures try to maintain and find balance taking the drum as a casualty.
“Oh FUCK that’s cold!”
when youre in the shower and someone flushes the toilet
My Chemistry teacher did this the first day of class with a coke can, a hotplate, and a basin of water. I have never forgotten the scientific principles behind it, and here’s why.
There were 20-something of us in the classroom, all dying of sleep deprivation since it was the first day back to school, first class of the day. Mr. Moses was that teacher you weren’t sure how to deal with. I mean, the man’s name was Noah Eugene Moses, for starters. He drove a Harley to school, but also drove the bus. He had giant cokebottle glasses and a doofy mustache with shaggy ex-Beatles hair. He always wore suspenders and a grease-stained t-shirt because he had a potbelly and taught the shop/electrical classes. He wasn’t even really lecturing; he was throwing in tidbits of the syllabus in the midst of bad jokes and fun stories. We were all a bit nervous, because none of us had taken a class from him before, but his tests were legendary—nobody had ever made it out with an A (until I did, but that’s another story for another time and involves a really awesome bet and some hair cutting scissors).
Well, as we were fighting to stay awake, and attempting to take notes of whatever he was talking about, he was pacing around the room from here to there, straightening things and moving stuff. He was very scatterbrained, and it was easy to tell from how he kept forgetting where he put his coke. Turns out, that was just a ruse. He had the can filled with just a tiny bit of water, and the things he was moving around were stacks of papers and books hiding the hot plate and water basin. So he set his coke can down onto the hot plate, continued talking loudly enough so we wouldn’t hear the water boiling, and then knocked it over really fast into the water basin.
BANG!!!!!!!!
Three girls fell out of their seats, one dude swore so violently I’m pretty sure the devil himself cringed, everyone at least jumped and screamed, and I actually broke my pen in half.
See, with rapid decompression comes a vacuum, and with a vacuum comes a rushing of air that creates a massive sound. Think “thunder”. That’s the same principle behind it. His little tiny coke can of steam into a bucket of ice water, and we had a bang so loud the band teacher came in from across the hall to see “what was exploding today.” To which Mr. Moses responded, “Nothing, it imploded. Explosions are chapter 3.”
And that’s when I knew it was going to be the best class ever.
The list of things you’re supposed to avoid when you’re pregnant (like I am) is comically long. Hot baths. Alcohol. Soft cheeses. Tuna and lunch meat. Sprouts.
So it felt a little odd to be offering up my arm for a vaccine a few weeks ago, at the start of my third trimester. Really? No ibuprofen or Pepto, but yes vaccines?
The shot was to protect against whooping cough, among other things, and doctors at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists or ACOG recommend it for all women, in every pregnancy. And, there are a few other shots that are advised for pregnant women, depending on your circumstances — and a few you’re not supposed to get.
For the first time, the group has released a one-page immunization guide for pregnant women that spells all of this out.
It’s basically like the vaccine schedule for children you might see in the pediatrician’s office, but much simpler. The goal is for it to be easily posted in doctors’ offices, “so that it becomes more automatic and part of everyday prenatal care,” says Dr. Laura Riley, one of the guide’s authors and chair of the ACOG immunization work group.
What’s recommended: An infant lifesaver
The two vaccines most pregnant women should get are the flu shot and the tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis vaccine or Tdap.
Tdap is a bit different — it protects newborns against pertussis or whooping cough. It’s a very contagious disease especially for infants and it can make them seriously ill. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, half of babies who get pertussis end up in the hospital, and some die.
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