scienceactually

scienceactually, 5 days ago to science

Otters have pouches under their forearms where they store their favorite rocks used for cracking shellfish open, and snacks for eating later or for bringing back to their dens.

#science #sciencefacts #otter #otters #otterpockets

scienceactually, 1 month ago to science

1000000000000066600000000000001 is a prime, a palindrome, and named after a prince of Hell, Belphegor, due to the 666 in the middle and 13 zeros on either side. Fun sidenote, it's represented with the symbol for Pi - but upside down.

#science #sciencefacts #math #mathfacts #belphegorsprime

scienceactually, 1 month ago to science

Time moves ~58.7 microseconds per day faster on the moon than on Earth.

#science #sciencefacts #gravity

scienceactually, 1 month ago to science

At the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), there's a reserved parking spot exclusively designated for Nobel Prize winners.

#science #sciencefacts #nobelprize #nobellaurete #freeparking #ucberkeley

scienceactually, 3 months ago to science

Thanks to a poorly chosen font and some good natured fun, the The International Astronomical Union has officially named Venus' quasi-moon 2002VE as 'Zoozve'.

Thanks to Kovi at @funfactscience for sharing!

#science #sciencefacts #venus #moon #quasimoon #zoozve

scienceactually, 3 months ago to science

The Flaming Rocks of Chimaera, Turkey - called Yanartaş in Turkish - have been burning for at least 2500 years.

#science #sciencefacts #flamingrocks #chimaera #turkey #yanartaş

scienceactually, 3 months ago to science

During a power outage in 1994, people in LA phoned 911 to report a strange cloud in the sky. It was the milky way.

#science #sciencefacts #lightpollution #losangeles #milkyway

scienceactually, 4 months ago to science

Venus has over 85,000 volcanoes, more than any other planet or moon in the solar system.

#science #sciencefacts #venus #volcano #volcanoes

scienceactually, 5 months ago to science

Contrary to popular imagery, the asteroid belt is mostly empty. Spacecraft pass through the asteroid belt with virtually no chance of a collision, and in fact considerable effort is required for a close flyby of even one asteroid.

#science #sciencefacts #asteroids #asteroidbelt #emptyspace

scienceactually, 6 months ago to science

HD1 is the farthest known galaxy, some 13.5 billion light-years away.

#science #sciencefacts #galaxyhd1 #galaxy #hd1 #lightyear

scienceactually, 6 months ago to science

Lesotho is the only country in the world entirely above 1,000m thus people say it dwells in the sky.

#science #sciencefacts #Lesotho #altitude

scienceactually, 7 months ago to science

Without touching a single piece of land, it's possible to sail from Alaska to India in a completely straight line.

More precisely, along a geodesic, or a curve that constitutes the shortest path (arc) between two points on a surface, like a spheroid.

#science #sciencefact #sailing #straightline #geodesiccurve #geodesic #sphere #spheroid

scienceactually, 7 months ago to science

India’s rainbow colored Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) grows up to 1m (3ft) long and weighs 1.8kg (4lb).

#science #sciencefacts #squirrel #malabar #malabargiantsquirrel #rainbowsquirrel #india

scienceactually, 8 months ago to science

The largest known prime number, known as M82589933, is 24,862,048 digits long and can be calculated by multiplying together 82,589,933 twos and then subtracting one.

#science #sciencefacts #math #prime #primenumbers #m82589933

scienceactually, 8 months ago to science

Legless lizards are not snakes. Lizards have ear openings and moving eyelids, and snakes do not.

Thanks The Guernsey Scientist for the tip!

#science #sciencefacts #leglesslizards #snakes

scienceactually, 8 months ago to science

A day on Venus, taking about 243 Earth days to complete one rotation, is longer than a year on Venus, which orbits around the Sun once every 225 Earth days

#science #sciencefacts #venus #day #year

scienceactually, 8 months ago to science

Hawaii's Keck Observatory can deliver near-infrared images three to four times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope.

#science #sciencefacts #keckobservatory #hubblespacetelescope

scienceactually, 8 months ago to science

Marine Iguanas are the only marine lizard species in the world, found only in the Galápagos Islands.

#science #sciencefacts #marineiguanas #galapagos #galápagosislands

scienceactually, 9 months ago to science

Scallops use jet propulsion to swim.

Thank for the tip The Guernsey Scientist

#science #sciencefacts #scallops #swim #jetpropulsion

scienceactually, 11 months ago to science

A new study suggests that ancestors of comb jellies, not sponges, were the first to break off from the common ancestor of all animals.

#science #sciencefacts #jellies #combjellies #sponges #evolution

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/comb-jellies-may-be-the-worlds-oldest-animal-group-180982209/

scienceactually, 1 year ago to science

Earthquake lights are lights that appear in the sky days or hours leading up to earthquakes.

#science #sciencefacts #earthquakes #earthquakelights

https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/environment/2019/04/earthquake-lights-explained

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-are-earthquake-lights

scienceactually, 1 year ago to science

A supernova explosion can briefly outshine an entire galaxy of billions of stars.

#science #sciencefacts #supernova #explosion #outshine

scienceactually, 1 year ago to science

The Leidenfrost effect is the phenomenon whereby a liquid, in near contact with a mass significantly hotter than the liquid's boiling point, produces an insulating vapor layer which keeps the liquid from boiling rapidly.

#science #sciencefacts #liedenfrost #liedenfrosteffect