Three Cool, Useful or Otherwise Interesting Things I Didn't Know a Month (or so ...) Ago.
Look what I learnt recently!1. We Go Wrinkly When We're Wet for a Reason
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| Via: www.gettyimages.com |
You know you've been in the bath too long when your fingers start pruning, but it's not just a sign that it's time to get out. Back in our more hunter gatherer days, we were barefoot and we had many a terrain and weather condition to contend with in our nearly 100% outdoor lives. Now imagine it's peeing it down and you're trying to scale a rock face to get a clearer view of that wildebeest you intend on having for dinner. Or you're walking through wetlands, foraging and trying to pick up wet things. As we get wetter, our wrinkly fingers and feet work like tyre tread to give us better grip in wet conditions. Why haven't we evolved this away? Because we're generally a quite clean species, and we like like to get wet on a regular basis. Our bodies don't know that we're just having a shower, and not trying to scale a waterfall.
2. Ants Change Colour, Depending What They Drink
Hee hee! This just makes me smile. That we KNOW this makes me smile. And I think I did share the story on my Facebook page, so apologies if you've already seen it there. Dr. Mohamed Babu, from Mysore, India noticed that ants in his kitchen were changing white as they drank some spilt milk. A few experiments with food colouring later and we have, coloured ants! That's it really, coloured ants. You can read the full story here but ... COLOURED ANTS PEOPLE!!
3. Goldfish are Better at Memory Games than we Thought
How many times have you wowed a dinner crowd with the knowledge that 'Goldfish only have 3 second memories'? No? Just me then.
Who knew? Not me clearly.
