24 Wild Facts That Are Hard to Comprehend
Here are some interesting science facts we learned about over at r/AskReddit!
Published 3 years ago in Wow
Here are some interesting science facts we learned about over at r/AskReddit!
2
If you sever the connections between the two halves of the brain, amazingly, they will still function on their own but they can no longer communicate. It led to some very interesting discoveries about the role of the left and right brain. “Split-brain” patients would appear to behave normally following surgery and reported feeling fine. -u/largerandbrighter3
Whales were originally land mammals who lived and hunted on coasts, that eventually evolved to leave the land behind, but then evolved again to become amphibious and make use of the land, THEN EVOLUTION PUT THEM AS FULLY AQUATIC AGAIN LATER ON. Whales have tiny little bones near their spines that are remnants of the lower legs they had when they were land mammals. And their closest land mammal relative is the hippopotamus! -u/Alleged34434
Your brain actually only has cells to detect red, green, and blue light. So what happens when we see yellow? We see yellow because our eyes detect a mix of red and green and our brains average it to equal yellow. So yellow light exists but our brain is sort of guessing what it looks like since we don't actually have yellow receptor cells. -u/Kairos3856
Humans are likely the cause of the extinction of Elephants in America. They used to live in California, and their range decreased as time went on. The last elephants lived on islands off the coast, and they were killed out in a giant fire, that is suspected to have been started by some early humans. -u/mrenglish2212
There are more combinations of a deck of cards than there are particles in the entire Earth. Not just molecules or even atoms, individual protons, electrons, etc. To put it bluntly, you can safely bet that when you shuffle a deck of cards that combination of cards has never been created before ever or ever will be. -u/ThePhabtom456713
Mitochondrial endosymbiont theory. Mitochondria (the powerhouse of the cell) used to be a a free living prokaryotic cell. It was engulfed by a bigger cell. The bigger eukaryote took care of the little prokaryote and in exchange the little prokaryote became the mitochondria and provided energy! -u/Pairaboxical19
Crows are the smartest species of bird with the intelligence of a human 7 year old. They can make lever tools to solve complex problems, use currency, visit their grandparents, and can remember a face for at least 5 years and can mimic sounds they hear. They can also pass the snack test: a test where you offer them a small portion of food with the promise of a larger portion if they decline it. Human toddlers and most primates can't pass this test. They're also self aware. -u/Sol-Blackguy21
Clarence Dally was one of Thomas Edison’s favorite employees, whom frequently demonstrated Edison’s newly invented “fluoroscopy machine”. This was way before anyone knew of the dangers of radiation, thus no safety measures were in place. Due to the high amount of radiation Dally received in a short period of time, he began suffering from visible radiation damage (Mostly Desquamation) to his hands, arms, and face. Dally required many skin grafts, and had to amputate his entire left hand, as well as multiple fingers on his right hand. In a final attempt to save his life, Dally had both arms fully amputated, however this was not enough to stop the spreading carcinoma. Clarence Dally soon died from mediastinal cancer, and he is thought to be the first radiation-induced death in history. After the death of his beloved friend and assistant, Thomas Edison abandoned his research on fluoroscopy. When asked about it, Edison said “Don’t talk to me about X-rays; I am afraid of them”. -u/abbyhatesall