The Best Interesting Random Facts
Almost all cats have retractable claws. The cheetah has semi-retractable claws like the Iriomote Cat and Flat-headed Cat, offering extra grip in its high-speed chases. The ligament structure of the cheetah’s claws is the same as other cats, but it lacks the sheath of skin and fur present in other cat species, and the claws […]
Poor Butterfly! This beautiful, colorful insect does not have a mouth with which to chew like other insects have. But nature has given the butterfly another way to nourish itself. The butterfly has a long, thin tube, called a proboscis, through which it can suck up the sweet nectar from flowers, the same way you […]
Chameleons are lizards known for their ability to change colors. But contrary to popular belief, the chameleon does not change its color to match its background. It changes as a result of its mood, the temperature, or light conditions. Most chameleons have brown or green as their main color, but they can turn to an […]
On space flights in the past, the components of breathable air, oxygen and nitrogen, were brought up in canisters. However, when the space station built, plans were announced to have it carry equipment to recover oxygen indirectly from the carbon dioxide crew members exhale. astronauts NASA’s Johnson Space Center tested means to recycle air and […]
The pound is a unit of mass used in various systems of measurement, and historically, the pound has referred to similar but not identical standards of mass or weight. The lb. abbreviation for pound comes from ancient Rome and originates from the Latin word, “libra pondo,” or “pound of weight.” A number of different definitions […]
Just smile. Anyone who thinks steaks contain blood, well, they’re wrong. They’re not necessarily wrong in their preference for eating well-done steaks, although many would argue that such behavior should be declared a felony. Where they’re wrong is in calling your steak bloody. There’s practically no blood in it at all. Blood, you might politely […]
Tigers are pretty easy going about breeding in captivity and in the wild for that matter. Mating of tigers can occur all year round, but it is usually more common between the months of November and April. Enough tiger kittens are born in captivity that live captures are no longer necessary to keep zoos and […]
Before humans learned the secret of glassmaking, nature was the world’s only glassmaker. Lightning striking sand melted it into long, thin tubes of glass, and volcanoes erupting melted rocks and sand into glass. The earliest glass made by humans was probably a glaze on ceramic pottery made somewhere around 3000 B.C. Today, three inexpensive ingredients, […]
The kiwi fruit is not called kiwi because it has to go through a kiwi bird’s digestive system to sprout. The kiwi fruit isn’t even a native of New Zealand like the bird. The fruit really comes from southeastern China. It was called the Chinese gooseberry until it was transplanted to tropical places around the […]
Coffee is so popular today that you might think people have been drinking it forever. But most of the world has been drinking coffee for only a few hundred years. Coffee plants first grew wild in East Africa and Arabia. Around the year 850, according to an Arab legend, a young goat-herd was tending his […]
The Portuguese Man of War is a marine invertebrate also known as Physalia physalis from the Physaliidae family, and is very similar to a jellyfish but isn’t. Technically a siphonophore, other names for the Portuguese Man of War include Portuguese Man o’ War, bluebottle, and man-of-war. The Portuguese Man of War’s name comes from a […]
There’s a little bit of neon in the air we breathe, so yes, our atmosphere contains neon. You can extract it by using a process called adsorption. That involves superchilling the air at temperatures below 411 °F so it becomes a liquid. When you run the super cold liquid over charcoal, the neon molecules stick […]
Girls reach their full height when they are about 18 years old, but boys keep growing taller for a few more years. There are two periods in your life when you grow very rapidly. The first period began right after you were born and lasted until you were about six months old. The second period […]
Cactuses are thrifty plants that live in dry regions. They may not get much moisture where they live, but they manage to make the most of what they do get. Since the cactus’s long roots lie close to the surface of the ground, they can catch water from desert rains. And since the roots have […]
The camel eye is very well adapted for its desert existence. Camels have three eyelids. The upper eyelid and lower eyelid each have eyelashes, and the third eyelid is thin, transparent and moves from side to side like a windshield wiper. During sandstorms, camels often keep their third eyelids closed and can still see where […]
George Washington had several horses throughout the American Revolutionary War, but his two prized steeds were Nelson and Blueskin. Mongolia, another favorite horse of Washington’s, was a white Arab. A few of his other horses were Samson, Steady, Leonidas, and Traveller, all good and hearty horse names. Washington, however, wasn’t so straight-faced when it came […]
An alligator chews its food only to break the food up into pieces it can swallow. Although the alligator sports very strong jaws and teeth sharp enough to crush bones and other hard matter, it prefers prey it can swallow whole. Inside the alligator’s belly are small pebbles it has swallowed that help grind up […]
The ostrich is the fastest animal in the world on two legs. The Ostrich, also known by its scientific name “Struthio camelus”, is a large flightless bird native to Africa, and is the only living species in its family. It has a long neck and legs and has the fastest land speed of any bird. […]
There are at least two stories about the origin of the word of the word blimp. One is that a British naval officer coined the term while trying to duplicate the sound the giant airbag made when he flicked his fingernail against it. The other story is that the early airships were marked AIRSHIP MODEL […]
Skunk spray or musk is not dangerous or poisonous to humans or animals such as dogs. However, to animals who depend on their sense of smell to hunt food, find and attract mates, or avoid predators, being sprayed makes them unable to pick up scents of any kind, leaving them vulnerable. There are 10 species […]
There aren’t any Fightin’ Emus at EMU, nor are they the mascot of the other significant EMU, Eastern Mennonite University. That’s too bad, because the name would sort of make sense, and not just because of the EMU initials. After all, Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti is overshadowed by its larger, more prestigious relative, the […]
Rattlesnake rattles are not, as many people believe, tiny pebbles or other rattling things inside the snake’s tail. A baby rattlesnake is born with a tiny, keratin-based hard shell at the end of its tail. Every time the baby sheds its skin, a new shell, slightly bigger, appears below, loosely attached to the one before […]
The tiny kangaroo rat, a native of the southwestern deserts of the United States, never takes a drink of water in its lifetime. What little moisture this tiny rodent needs it gets from eating roots and desert plants. Yet this is enough to keep the kangaroo rat alive. The kangaroo rat got its name from […]
Fleas are the best jumpers in the insect world. They can jump eight to ten inches high, many times their own height. The tiny flea is a parasitic insect, one that lives on other animals. It is best known for living on dogs and cats, but fleas also live on other animals, such as rats, […]
Good question, it gets stupid cold in the Arctic. The average temperature goes down to about 90 degrees below zero, with a windchill factor that will freeze the nuts of a squirrel. Animals survive the cold with thick warm fur, a lot of body fat, small heads, ears, and tails to reduce heat loss, and […]
Llamas are not too picky about their food and will eat hay, grass, and grain. Domesticated Llamas are usually fed a mixture of bromgrass hay, alfalfa hay and corn silage, and a llama owner has a wide variety of commercial and farm based food products to choose from. Young llamas, which are still growing, require […]
There are many legends about the invention of soccer, but most people agree that the game began in England. According to one legend, English workers during the 11th century were digging on the site of an early battle against Danish invaders, when they found the skull of a slain Danish soldier. The workers began kicking […]
People of the Inca Empire in the Andes mountains have been using llamas for at least 5,000 years, probably making them the first large domesticated pack animal, or beast of burden. The llama were of symbolical significance to Inca royalty and llama figures were often buried with the dead. Even the Inca deity Urcuchillay was […]
There are no wild reindeer on earth, but that’s only by a technicality. Reindeer are by definition smaller, domesticated caribou, which means technically that there are no “wild” reindeer in the world. So what do people do with captive reindeer, you may be wondering? Think of them as an arctic camel. Their feet are wide […]
It is not its temper that makes a rhinoceros charge an intruder, but its poor eyesight. If it cannot recognize something, it will take no chances, but rush at it like a living tank, fast and furiously, ready to bite. The “horn” at the end of the rhino’s long nose, which can vary from 1 […]