Arturchik Topchik

17/05/2022

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06/12/2021

06/12/2021

Those who think everything on the planet has already been discovered might just not be looking close enough. A tiny chameleon discovered in northern Madagascar and measuring just 28.9 millimeters is believed to be the smallest reptile on Earth. The itty bitty chameleon was recently discovered and reported in the January 2021 issue of Scientific Reports. But there's one thing about these critters that's big for its size: The genitalia of the males measures almost 20% of its body length.

02/12/2021

Because of pollution, the Earth's ozone layer has suffered a lot. That's bad news for everyone, since the fragile gas layer protects our planet and shields us from the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays. Fortunately, climate change experts believe that the ozone layer will fully heal within 50 years, according to a 2018 report from the United Nations.

The recovery is thanks in large part to the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which put a global ban on the use of one of the main culprits for the damage: chlorofluorocarbons (CFOs). Previously, CFOs had been common in refrigerators, aerosol cans, and dry-cleaning chemicals.

23/11/2021

Experiments in universities have actually been carried out to figure out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, both with machine and human lickers (because this is important scientific knowledge!). The results ranged from 252 to 411.

20/10/2021

Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, wasn’t the first to introduce Christmas trees to Britain from his native Germany—Queen Charlotte did that in the late 1700s. But, Victoria and Albert are credited with popularizing the custom in the mid-1800s.

20/10/2021

The tallest building in the US is One World Trade Center in New York, which comes in at number six on the worldwide list. It stands at exactly 1,776 feet as a nod to the date of the Declaration of Independence.

19/10/2021

Lincoln Logs were created by John Lloyd Wright, son of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright, in the 1920s. They were named after Abraham Lincoln, who grew up in a log cabin.

18/10/2021

Cartoonist Mort Walker, creator of Beetle Bailey, came up with names for the things we often see in comics and cartoons: “briffit” is the dust cloud a character makes when he runs away quickly; “plewds” are the beads of sweat when a character is under duress; and “grawlix” are symbols such as “ #@*%” that stand in for curse words.

18/10/2021

Flamingoes are only pink because of chemicals called carotenoids in the algae and fish (which also eat the algae) they eat; their feathers are grayish white when they’re born

15/10/2021

You might think that it's just fish that have gills, but there are several species of sea snake that breathe through their skin as well. For example, the Hydrophis cyanocinctus has been found to breathe through the top of its own head. It has a small hole and collection of blood vessels at the top of its head for picking up oxygen from the seawater and sending it to the reptile's brain while it moves underwater.

15/10/2021

Few odors are as pleasing as "new car smell"—and not just because it's nice to be in a brand new car. But while the scent may be strangely satisfying, the fact is that it's pretty much just a combination of 50+ chemicals (known as "volatile organic compounds") that are released into the car, decaying quickly over time. The concentrations found in a typical new car aren't dangerous, but among the VOCs that make up much of that new car smell are those found in nail polish, auto fuel, and petroleum.

14/10/2021

Eric Brader, his emergency room physician, told McKnight he should send it into the Guinness Book of World Records, but McKnight brushed it off as a joke. Brader was so impressed by the feat that he sent in the paperwork anyways, which was approved in 2003, but didn't make the cut until its 2008 edition.

14/10/2021

You might notice that any sweat you produce right after a shower doesn't smell so bad. That's because your sweat itself isn't stinky; it's the bacteria on your skin that breaks the sweat down that causes the odor. Additionally, you'll find that the sweat on your arms and legs doesn't smell as much as your armpits. That's because sweat glands in your armpits secrete more protein into a dark, damp environment—the perfect place and food for bacteria.

13/10/2021

Feet are enormously complex parts of the body. Each foot contains 26 bones, as well as 33 joints and 19 muscles, which work together to allow for a huge range of motion and movements. But many of these bones remain cartilage throughout a person's childhood, slowly ossifying into bone as the years go on. According to the Ontario Society of Chiropodists, all of the bones in the foot don't completely harden until a person is about 21 years old! And for more trivia to keep you sharp, sign up for our daily newsletter.

13/10/2021

It sounds like something out of a horror film, but it's all too real: The Elysia cf. marginata, a type of sea slug, has been found to not only survive decapitation, but to be able to grow a whole new body from it. Ecologists at Nara Women's University in Japan found that, a few hours after having their heads severed from their bodies, the snails' heads were already nibbling on algae as if nothing had happened. In about 20 days, one-third of the sea slugs studied had fully grown back their bodies—heart included.