A cloud in the middle of a room.

Pangea with current countries

Image from: http://9gag.com/gag/aeNNL3O

The giant squid.

Luckily, it has razor sharp teeth to properly chew its meals.

It also has the largest eyeball in the animal kingdom, measuring up to 25 cm (10 inches).

Why is a cat's tongue so rough?

Have you ever wondered why a cat's tongue feels so rough? Check out this close up shot.

A cat's tongue is covered in backwards facing spines, about 500 microns long. These are called papillae and they contain keratin (the same stuff your fingernails and hair is made of) making them quite rigid. These are used in grooming and act almost like a hairbrush.

I won't show you a photo of this, but a cat's tongue isn't the only body part to have spines. The penis has a band of about 120–150 backwards-pointing penile spines, which are about one millimeter long. These rake the inside of the females vagina, triggering ovulation.
So there you go. Now you know why a cat's tongue feels like sandpaper, and why female cats make such a loud noise when mating!

What is a Theory?

Definition of a scientific theory: a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world, based on a body of knowledge that has been repeatedly confirmed through observation and experiment.

Other modern scientific theories: germ theory, theory of relativity, heliocentrism, atomic theory, plate tectonics, and cell theory.

PS Yes, gravity is a theory. Look up "the theory of gravity" and "Newton's Law Of Gravitation". Also, a theory never becomes a law.

Argentavis; the biggest bird that ever lived.

Argentavis lived approximately 6 million years ago in Argentina. According to current estimates, it had a wing span of 7 metres.

Science of Sandcastles

Sandcastles can be an art form, but there actually is a lot of science behind them. When making a sand mixture, it must be (by volume) 99% dry sand, 1% water. If you add much more water than that, you’ll be in danger of creating landslides. Essentially, you want just enough water so that capillary bridges hold the grains of sand together.

How well does this work? The researchers were able to make a cylinder 7 centimeters in diameter that stood 60 centimeters high!

More info: http://bit.ly/19DSu5g

Duck born with a backwards foot given 3-D printed prosthetic

Born in a high school Biology class, Buttercup had difficulties walking due to his deformed foot. He was transferred to Feathered Angels Waterfowl Sanctuary, where one of his caregivers knew he had to take immediate action to protect against inevitable injuries and infection. The foot was amputated, and a prosthetic was 3D printed as a replacement. The foot was modeled after the left foot of Buttercup’s sister, Minnie.

More info: http://bit.ly/13eGJyD

Photo via Feathered Angels Waterfowl Sanctuary

2% of people don't sweat their underarms.

This genetic variation does not attract the bacteria that cause body odor. Two percent of the population is thought to have this, and therefore have no need for underarm deodorant. Individuals with this variation are also more likely to have dry earwax compared to sticky earwax.



More info: http://bit.ly/10qgeUb

Image: Alamy

Blue Whale possible largest animal to ever live

The blue whale is not only the largest animal alive currently, but is likely the largest animal ever to have lived.

Depending on the location, blue whales can grow to be 33 meters (108 feet) and weigh as much as 181 metric tons (200 imperial tons).They can live to be 90 years old and ingest about 3.6 metric tons (4 imperial tons) of krill each day. Blue whale are considered endangered by the IUCN.

More info: http://1.usa.gov/13eRd10

Photo via: Harry Wilson

Largest dinosaur that ever lived vs Elephant

Marie Curie

A child's skull before losing the baby teeth.

Difference between obese and thin.

These two pictures show body scans of two women approximately the same age and height. The one on the left weighs 113 kg (250 lbs), while the one on the right weighs 54 kg (120 lbs). Accumulated adipose tissue is not the only difference between the two; the obese woman has an enlarged heart and her lungs are somewhat restricted.

Obesity has recently been declared a disease by the American Medical Association. While this does not have any legal ramifications, it may encourage doctors and insurance companies to take more steps in treating and preventing obesity. However, many disagree with the AMA's definition, citing that obesity is a complex issue with multiple causes and treatment options.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index over 30 kg/m^2. It greatly increases the risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoarthritis.

More info: http://bbc.in/14whyV6

Skeleton Typogram

Click image for full size

Created by artist Aaron Kuehn

For more info click HERE

Discovery allows sponges to absorb oil, but not water.

Unfortunately, the chemical treatment is expensive so it will not be used in clean-up efforts in the near future. It is likely to see more immediate use in industrial applications.

More info: Click here

Photo from Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

Scientific glass sculptures to teach students

Farlow Scientific Glassblowing Inc makes amazing blown glass sculptures for use as teaching tools: http://www.farlowsci.com/

Huge flask in Winnipeg.

Artists Bill Pechet and Chris Pekar designed an amazing giant flask that is on display at Winnipeg's Millennium Library Plaza. It drizzles water and creates a fog and the lights even change color. The sculpture is 10.7 meters (35 feet) tall and weighs 22,000 kg (48,500 lbs).

The Map of diseases!

This world map shows the geography of disease; what is most likely to affect you based on where you live. Most of North America is covered in adipose tissue, as obesity-related illnesses affect over a third of the population. Europe and Russia show brain tissue to represent neurodegenerative disease. East Asia and the Pacific show pancreatic cells to represent their diabetes epidemic. 

More info: http://bit.ly/15HpC4y

Painted by: Odra Noel

The smell of freshly-cut grass is actually a plant distress call

The next time you’re enjoying the fragrance of freshly mowed grass, remember that you’re actually smelling the distress call of all of those individual plants.
A group of scientists were studying wild tobacco plants when they noticed a caterpillar eating some of the leaves. Shortly after, a predatory insect came to eat the caterpillar. The scientists eventually determined that the predatory plantresponded to the odor of cut leaf and came to find the caterpillar responsible for eating it. While some plants develop a natural pesticide to keep pests away, this adaptation is pretty brilliant. It allows the plant to have protection against predators without allowing the predators develop resistance to a pesticide.

More info: http://bit.ly/139kuLL

Plastics killing Albatross

The Midway Atoll is 1,200 miles away from civilization in the Pacific Ocean, about halfway between North America and Asia. Millions of albatross that live there have been unknowingly snacking on garbage from the nearby Great Pacific Garbage patch. Of course, their bodies cannot process the plastic, and they eventually die.

More info: http://bit.ly/14YIyPl

Photo via: Chris Jordan

Few tricks to do with your brain!

If you cant see it clearly click this link: http://thumbnails.visually.netdna-cdn.com/the-power-of-the-mind_50290a8a7c3f1_w969.jpg

Brain Trick! Getting hallucinations

I have no idea how anyone found this out, but it's completely true. You don't even necessarily need to have a red light. Apparently, the brain is addicted to sensation. So when all sensation is blocked out, the brain creates its own!

"I'm sorry for what I said when I was hungry."

A new study suggests that hunger not only affects moods, but also the ability to make decisions and willingness to take risks. Fruit flies typically fly away from places when high levels of carbon dioxide are detected, though the presence or absence of food plays a major role in the decision making process. Hungry flies were more willing to put themselves into an unfavorable situation when they smelled food compared to when food was not present. When scientists disabled the nerve line for the hunger sensation, all of the flies avoided the dangerous situation regardless of how hungry they actually were.



Ilona Grunwald-Kadow, the head of the study, explains "If the fly is hungry, it will no longer rely on the 'direct line' but will use brain centres to gauge internal and external signals and reach a balanced decision. It is fascinating to see the extent to which metabolic processes and hunger affect the processing systems in the brain."

Music band of robots!

Robots are getting more and more advanced these days. They can mop floors, assist with daily living tasks, pour beer… but can they rock your face off? It turns out that they can.

Z-Machines is a new band in Japan composed of robots created by students at Tokyo University. Mach (center) plays lead guitar with 12 picks and 78 fingers. Cosmo (left) plays keyboard and shoots lasers from its eyes. Ashura (right) is on drums and uses 21 sticks.

More info: http://bit.ly/122UgTK

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBIBf86DYLI
Photo credit: Koji Sasahara

Guide to helping fallen birds

Birds generally don't have the best sense of smell, so if you need to help a bird in need, don't worry about the parents rejecting the baby if you do. But, it isn't always necessary. This guide by Bird and Moon Comics lets you know what to do in case you come up upon a hatchling, nestling, fledgling, or dromaeosaur (you laugh now, but one day you'll be glad to have this information).

Mouse cloned from single drop of blood.

Using a single drop of blood taken from the tail, Japanese scientists were able to successfully clone a mouse. The technology was similar to that used to clone Dolly the sheep. The mouse grew up healthy. and was able to reproduce.

More info: http://bbc.in/19FQXIt

Photo: Corbis Images

Canadian boys send LEGOs to space for 400$

Last year, two Canadian boys sent a LEGO Minifigure up to the stratosphere on a homemade rig. For only $400, they were able to connect a weather balloon to a platform that held four digital cameras, a parachute, and a LEGO man, proudly holding the Canadian flag. This wasn’t done for a school project; the boys did it in their spare time purely to see if they could. Their project was a success, and the apparatus went up an estimated 24 kilometers in the air; triple the height of a commercial airliner.

University of Toronto astrophysics professor Dr. Michael Reid hailed the boys’s experiment as extremely resourceful and likened it to work that Ph.D. students perform.

Read more about how they did it:http://bit.ly/16Csylk

Scanning electron microscopy image of regular salt and pepper.

Scanning electron microscopy image of regular salt and pepper.



Via Getty Images

Ultramarathons: Running 200 miles easier than 100

Ultramarathons are an up and coming sport where participants run for multiple days straight, covering hundreds of kilometers, climbing up to 40 m high over the terrain. At first glance, this might sound like an excruciating way to tear up your body all weekend, but results from a study showed that participants were taxing their bodies up to 30% less at the 200 mile mark than at the 100. Exhaustion plays a big role in this. Participants that went the full distance were about 4 minutes per mile slower than their counterparts who did half the distance. It appears that “slow and steady” really does have advantages in a race setting.


More info: http://bit.ly/17G08va

Photo: Pierre Verdy/AFP/Getty Images