Why do flies buzz and cicadas and crickets chirp? Flies buzz because of how fast their wings have to move, cicadas chirp by flexing their tymbal, and crickets rub their wings together. Flies aren’t the only insects that buzz. The majority of insects produce some kind of buzzing sound when they fly. Some insects produce […]
#1035 Why do flies buzz and cicadas and crickets chirp? Read More »
How can hippos sleep underwater? They have a reflex that makes them bob up and down in the water while they are asleep so that they can breathe. Hippos are the third largest land animals. They are only beaten by white rhinos and elephants. Hippos grow up to 5 m long, including their tails, and
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How do animals sense earthquakes? No one actually knows how animals can sense earthquakes. They might be able to hear them. Possibly they can smell them. It could be that they sense the changing pressure. The surface of our planet is constantly moving and there are several hundred earthquakes a day. Many of them are
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Why is a duck-billed platypus so odd? It has a beak, no teeth, lays eggs, sweats milk, has 10 sex chromosomes, has webbed feet, has fur that glows, they have no stomachs, and has venomous spurs. The duck-billed platypus is native to Australia. Its name comes from Greek and means “flat foot”. It is so
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How is a mongoose immune to snake venom? They are not immune to all snake venom, just the snakes they live around. Even then, they have resistance rather than immunity. There are different types of venom for different types of snakes. The mongoose is particularly resistant to the venom of the cobra, which is a
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How do rats find landmines? They can sniff them out and the rats are light enough that they don’t set the landmines off. It is estimated that there are 110 million landmines still buried around the world. These landmines are still active and they are buried in over 60 countries. Explosives do deteriorate with age,
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Why can owls turn their heads so far? Because their heads are only connected by one socket, which can rotate. Owls are renowned for several things. One of them is their ability to swivel their heads completely around so they can keep an eye out for prey or predators. Being able to turn their heads
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Do bulls really hate red? No, they don’t. It is the movement that they don’t like. The fact that bulls hate red has become common knowledge. It is even in sayings, such as, “like a red rag to a bull” meaning a trigger to anger someone, and “seeing red”, meaning in such a blind rage
#1005 Do bulls really hate red? Read More »
What is a bookworm? A bookworm is any number of insects, or the larvae of insects, that eat books. They are not actually worms. Why would an insect eat a book? What food is there in a book? Some insects don’t actually eat the books, but fungi and mold that grow on the pages of
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Are elephants the only source of ivory? No. Ivory comes from many other animals, besides elephants. It is also possible to make synthetic ivory. Ivory is a hard, white substance that forms the teeth and tusks of a lot of animals. It is made of dentine, which is a form of bone. The inside of
#1000 Are elephants the only source of ivory? Read More »
