Nature is full of raw power that knows no bounds, the source of many mysteries that man has tried, in equal parts, to understand and harness throughout the millennia. While our great thinkers and scientists have wrestled to understand nature around us, nature always finds ways to surprise. Below are just some of the simple facts of nature that cause us, as mere mortals, to scratch our heads and collectively say, “huh”?
1. Heat is the deadliest weather condition
This might come as an unrealistic and shocking surprise to a lot of people, but heat can be just as much fatal to human beings as it is effective in cooking raw meals to edible perfection. With horrifyingly catastrophic consequences witnessed around the world thanks to acts of nature including deadly weather conditions like tornados, floods, lightning, tsunamis and hurricanes, you would be forgiven if you doubted this fact.
Heatwaves around the world have claimed an average of somewhere over 100 people annually, according to a report covering a study done on weather-related fatalities through the last 30 years. This figure effectively overshadows other weather-related fatalities like flooding, which has cost an average of just over 80 lives a year and tornadoes, which has cost an average of 70 lives annually according to the same report.
2. The human brain is shrinking
Don’t worry, our brains have shrunk just a tiny bit compared to the size it was some 10,000 years ago, but it is all thanks to the evolutionary process we all inevitably have to go through. As we usher in new and more diverse generations, we are witnessing a literal shift in the different people’s ways of life.
Our essential need and use of our brains to handle everyday encounters have effectively been integrated to the environment we live in. 10,000 years ago, human and wildlife interaction was probably as frequent as human and pets interaction. For this reason, people way back then had to always be on survival mode if they were going to live unharmed through their lifetimes. This meant increased brain activity as people would always be thinking of how to avoid wild predators, which in turn translates to a bigger brain probably to accommodate the constant thinking.
3. There are more gay male giraffes than there are straight ones.
This is usually quite a landmine of a subject to talk about. It might not be believable to imagine a gay giraffe let alone any other gay animal. Considering the turbulent nature of gayism and the rollercoaster of a ride that has been in store for a lot of couples in the human world through the years, the thought of having more male giraffes than straight ones would probably seem too far fetched.
In one study in a Tanzanian National Wildlife Conservancy, however, scientist found more and more male giraffes displaying homosexual trends as opposed to the more understandable heterosexual mating activities. The study published in the Biological Exuberance revealed that a staggering 94% of the entire studied mounting activities was homosexual.
4. The cloning plant
As we are mostly well aware, there is a pretty straight forward manner in which most plants reproduce. This involves the essential combination of genetic matter from at least two plants. This is not the case for the lomatia plant, however. Found only in Tasmania, this plant, also referred to as the Kings Holly, requires to drop a piece of branch on the ground and a whole new plant is sure to sprout from that very branch.
The plant’s ability to virtually create another whole plant from only a piece of itself is what earned the plant the cloning attributes it is known for. The newly sprouted lamatia plant, however, bares the exact DNA of its parent plant purely significantly limiting its ability to adapt to the hostilities and ever-changing nature of the environment. They are, as a result, critically endangered.
5. Caffeinated natural pesticides exist
Most people enjoy a good “cup o’ jo” simply for its fulfilling and stimulating effects. What is not so common knowledge to a lot of people is that the caffeine in it is also a natural pesticide and useful for the protection of the plant containing it. Don’t worry though; the caffeine is only strong enough only to go as far as giving us that powerful stimulating jolt we need before we can go about our business.
For plants like tea, kola, nuts, coffee beans and guarana berries, the caffeine contained in them will effectively overwhelm those destructive insects and paralyze them if not kill them. By doing this, the insects are prevented from causing any significant damage to the plant.
6. A human’s femur is stronger than concrete
Without offering any incentive to put this to the test, it is a worthwhile piece of knowledge to have that your femur is pound for pound an unassailable 4 times stronger than concrete. It is the strongest as well as the largest bone in the human body found in the thighs.
Owing to its structural design and density, the bone can withstand some monumental amounts of pressure and mass. It is incredible how nature always finds a way of beating artificial creations of humanity.
7. Water can simultaneously freeze and boil
At exactly 0.01 degrees Celsius (32.018 degrees Fahrenheit), the water’s temperature will maintain a continually fluctuating rate of temperature that will allow all the three states of it to alternate from one to the other virtually at the same time. It’s wild to imagine water freezing, boiling and vaporization all at the same time. Well, it is possible.
This state of all three forms of gas, liquid and solid occurring at the same time is called the triple point which all substances are capable of achieving. It is, therefore, possible to witness all three states of matter at the same time.
