For the #SciAdvent calendar π§ͺπ, I made a long list of the most stunning facts I know about #science, a lot more than 24! I'll group the others in "1-week themed post series" to share during 2025! I hope you'll enjoy!
Have a wonderful end of 2024 and a great start of 2025! ππ
#SciAdvent π§ͺ done! This year was hard for many reasons and I have struggled to find motivation in my career because of the difficulties of finding a permanent position. Sharing some of my favourite #science facts helped me remember why I got into this career in the first place! I hope you enjoyed!
P.S. Last #SciAdvent had to be about my favourite animal, I couldn't help it! If you want to know more about their rhythmical coordination, read royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10....
π§ͺπΊ #SciAdvent Dec24 ποΈπποΈπποΈ
#Gibbons produce complex vocalisations that they seem to use for territorial behaviour, pair bonding, signaling predators and maybe more. They vocalise solo and in duet, and they seem to coordinate with others rhythmically! πΆπ΅ (1/2)
Sound on!π
youtu.be/wIYkC4M44-Q?...
π§ͺ #SciAdvent Dec23 π³ππ³ππ³
Some trees avoid each other's crowns, giving the canopy a jigsaw look! This is known as "Crown Shyness". In part, it's due to breakage of neighbouring terminal twigs hitting each other with windπ but there's more...(1/2)
#science #botany
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/cro...
Only two days left in the #SciAdvent calendar and two more of my favourite #science facts to go! π§ͺ I'll have to choose carefully but so many facts didn't make the cut! π₯²
π§ͺ #SciAdvent Dec22 π¦ ππ¦ ππ¦
Mitochondria may have once been free-living prokaryotic cells that became symbiotic with eukariotic ones. This origin goes under the name of "Endosymbiotic Theory" and was proposed by Biologist Lynn Margulis! (1/2)
#WomenInSTEM #science
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Ma...
π§ͺ #SciAdvent Dec21 π¦ββ¬ππ₯ππ¦ββ¬
The flightless Kiwi bird from New Zealand has a massive egg for its body size! π Recent research suggests that Kiwi lay such big eggs π₯ because it allows well-formed hatchlings more fit for surviving (1/2)
#science #birds
www.audubon.org/news/why-kiw...
P.S. Ok I truly hope the results of the survey I mentioned is reproducible or no more #SciAdvent for today! π
πΊπ§ͺ I was informed that the study of Chimps and Humans imitating each other could not be reproduced! So, in the correct spirit of #science, I removed the post and will prepare another #SciAdvent later today! Apologies to the people who read my posts! You three deserve reliable info!
Nooooo! Apologies! A #SciAdvent gone bad! Thanks for the info!
π§ͺ #SciAdvent Dec19 πππππ
Cosmic rays - atomic nuclei stripped of their electrons βοΈ - can interact with the transistors in our electronic devices π±π» and change their state, which causes a bit-flip (0->1 or vice versa)!(1/2)
youtu.be/AaZ_RSt0KP8?...
π§ͺ #SciAdvent Dec18 πͺ¨ππͺ¨ππͺ¨
Did you know that #Neanderthals used "glue"?! There's evidence they produced birch wood tar, which they likely used to attach handles (like spears) to flint tools! (1/2)
#HumanEvolution #PaleoAnth
www.science.org/content/arti....
π§ͺ #SciAdvent Dec17 πππππ
Elephants exhibit a complex behaviour toward the remains of other dead elephants! 𦴠They have been observed visiting and revisiting remains, and investigating them with their trunks! Also, they show particular attention to the skull bones! (1/2)
youtu.be/Ku_GUNzXoeQ?...
You're welcome! The point of the #SciAdvent is precisely to share what I have been mindblown about over the years so that other people could be mindblown too!
Just been added to the #science feed π§ͺ so I thought I'll repost some of the #SciAdvent so far!
Four couple of images showing the differences between melanosomes in lepidosaurs, in pterosaurs, in non-maniraptoran dinosaurs maniraptoran ones. Scale bars:β1βΞΌm.
π§ͺ #SciAdvent Dec16 π¦ππ¦ππ¦
We can know #dinosaurs' colours thanks to fossilised melanosomes! These are soft-tissue organelles containing pigments. At first mistaken as bacteria, they were first identified in fossil squids and then in fossilised feathers...(1/2)
(img from doi.org/10.1038/natu...)
#SciAdvent Dec15 βοΈπβοΈπβοΈ
We have no proof of grass existing before 65 Million years ago - around the time #dinosaurs π¦π¦ went extinct! They had time to snack on it: in fact, the oldest evidence of grass comes from silica residues in fossilised dinosaur droppings! (1/2)
www.nature.com/articles/new...
#SciAdvent Dec14 π§ ππΌοΈππ§
Some people do not visualise images when they think! This is called #Aphantasia and it was identified by Psychologist Francis Galton in 1880 but got a name and became of popular knowledge only in 2015! More info at aphantasia.com/what-is-apha... (1/2)
#SciAdvent Dec13 π¦·ππ¦·ππ¦·
When magnified, our teeth show striations because they form in layers. These layers are periodical during growth and their frequency is affected by stress. Birth is such a stressful event that the forming teeth show a clear mark! This is called the neonatal line... (1/2)
#SciAdvent Dec12 πͺ°ππͺ°ππͺ°
In some cicadas (Magigicada spp.), after developing mostly in the ground, nearly all individuals come out to reproduce AT THE SAME TIME every 13y or 17y (depending on the species)! How do they know how many years have passed? The details are not clear but... (1/2)
#science
#SciAdvent Dec11 π¦ββ¬π²π¦ββ¬π²π¦ββ¬
How do the stunning shapes of starling #murmurations happen? How does each bird know what to do? By 3D-tracking starling flocks and comparing their movements with computer simulations π©βπ», researchers found out that birds only keep track of about 7 other closest birds! (1/2)
#SciAdvent Dec10 πππΈππ
Bees sense the electric field of flowers! Bees get a +charge during flight. Flowers have -charge. When a bee lands on the flower, it makes its charge change, so the next bee can tell if the flower was visited recently, signalling little nectar! (1/2)
youtu.be/ee381dCP6JM?...
#SciAdvent Dec9 ππππΊπ
As if #seagulls couldn't be any cooler, they also "tap-dance"! They stomp their feet rapidly and rhythmically onto the soil, which is believed to mimic the vibration of rain π§οΈ on the ground (1/2)
#BirdScience #science
#SciAdvent Dec8 ππ¦ππ¦π
Narwhal tusk is an overgrown spiralled tooth π¦·, precisely a left upper canine. The long tusk is typically a male feature, with females growing either no or shorter tusks. The spiralling helps keep it straight and it may act in the perception of water movements π. (1/2)
#SciAdvent Dec7 π§¬ππ§¬ππ§¬
If you stretch the #DNA from each chromosome from JUST ONE of your cells and attach all of them together, it would amount to a #DNA 𧬠strand of 2m! Each human cell has 2m of DNA inside its nucleus, a space of the diameter of about 6 microns! (1/2)
youtu.be/57Q5V0HcIWU?...
#SciAdvent Dec6 πππππ
Some #whales can communicate at long distances using the SOFAR! The SOund Fixing And Ranging channel is a deep region of the sea where temperature and pressure change rapidly, creating a "tunnel" for sounds π to travel through. (1/2)
#SciAdvent Dec5 ππ©»ππ©»π
Working with #CT, I scanned many things: mostly bones π¦΄, teeth π¦·, rocks πͺ¨, fossils...My favourite? A toothpick! At Hi-res, birch wood πͺ΅ is very pleasing to the eye: you can see spaces occupied by vessels (large holes) and tracheids (small holes) (1/2)
doi.org/10.3390/app1...
As a follow-up to today #SciAdvent, a skinny camel π«π¦΄ who has many problems except where to store fats!
#SciAdvent Dec4 π«ππͺππ«
Hump #science for Hump Day! Camel humps are full of fat, not water. The fatty acids in the humps go through an oxidation reaction that transforms the fat into CO2 and H2Oπ§, thus releasing water that goes into the camel body without the need to drink! But why humps? (1/2)
