eclecticfactoids

[eclecticfactoids]

Starfish (and some other marine animals) don't have bodies; according to scientists at Stanford, these animals are all head!

“When we compared the expression of genes in a starfish to other groups of animals, like vertebrates, it appeared that a crucial part of the body plan was missing ... The genes that are typically involved in the patterning of the trunk of the animal weren’t expressed in the ectoderm. It seems the whole echinoderm body plan is roughly equivalent to the head in other groups of animals.”

[Source: BBC Science Focus]

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Hippos can sleep underwater! Thanks to an unconscious reflex, hippos can bob up to the surface, take a breath, and sink back down again, all without waking up!

[Source: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance]

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Having a third nipple is probably more common than you think; about 5.5% of people (1 in 18) have polythelia!

Even more interestingly, sometimes this supernumerary nipple comes with milk-producing tissues!

[Source: 101 Random Fun Facts That Will Blow Your Mind and My Boyfriend Has Three Nipples on Science Focus]

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It's also called alternating caps, sticky caps, or spongecase, and dates back to at least the 1970s!

[Source: Wikipedia]

Today I learned that that thing where you cApiTaLiZe RaNdoM LetTeRS to mock someone has an actual name. It's called "studly caps," and it existed long before the Spongebob meme.

[eclecticfactoids]

Something about Venetian ghetto

The first ghetto in Italy was established in Venice on March 29, 1516. The Republic of Venice ordered the Jewish residents to move to an area where an old, disused foundry once stood. This area was called the "ghetto," a term derived from “geto de rame” (copper casting), referring to the practice of dumping copper waste in that deserted spot.

In the centuries leading up to the ghetto's creation, Jews primarily lived in towns on the Venetian mainland, with only a few families residing permanently in Venice. Mainland Jews, excluded from guilds and barred from owning property, were forced to earn a living through pawn lending or trading used goods. They were allowed to stay in Venice for no more than fifteen consecutive days, during which they conducted business at the Rialto market before returning to Mestre. Some Jews were also permitted to practice medicine.

However, after Venice's defeat at the Battle of Agnadello (1509), during a time of social and economic difficulty, the Venetian government allowed Jews to settle in the historic center in exchange for an annual contribution of 6,500 ducats. Many Jewish families moved into homes near Rialto, causing significant protests, particularly from certain preaching friars. In 1515, the Venetian Senate proposed allowing Jews to remain in the city due to their economic contributions but decided to isolate them in specific areas.

Thus, in 1516, the Venetian government decreed the segregation of Jews into a special district, creating the first ghetto in history. Jews were required to wear a yellow cap, except for certain doctors and bankers. The ghetto was surrounded by high walls, with gates that were locked every evening and reopened at dawn. Guards, paid by the Jewish community, patrolled the area day and night, including the surrounding canals.

[eclecticfactoids]

Anosmia is the loss of the ability to smell. This is a somewhat common thing to experience when we have a flu or sinus infection and, in these cases, it's only temporary. However, the loss of our olfactory sense can persist when it is caused by smoking, obesity, diabetes, a brain injury, or by a condition that affects nasal receptors (e.g. Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s).

[Source: clevelandclinic.org]

[eclecticfactoids]

Water isn't wet itself, but it can make other things wet!

💧💦💧💦💧💦💧💦💧💦💧💦💧💦💧💦💧💦

[Source: 101 Random Fun Facts That Will Blow Your Mind on Science Focus]

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In some parts of the USA, at least 20% of armadillos are still infected with leprosy according to Science.org

More info:

Read more about illnesses brought to North America by explorers and colonisers in How Europeans Brought Sickness to the New World on Science com and Native American Disease and Epidemics on Wikipedia

Read about the Tragic History of US Leprosy Colonies on History.com

Read the Leprosy article on Wikipedia

Read more about the three-, six-, and nine-banded armadillo on Britannica.com

That is true! Armadillos are one of the very few mammals besides humans to be able to contract leprosy. That’s because they have an unusually low body temperature for mammals, around 34°C (93°F), which is similar to ours and allows the leprosy bacteria to thrive on them just like it thrives on humans. Not all of them carry it, of course, but it’s best to be safe than sorry. When it comes to wild animals, “not touching them, period” is usually the best approach, anyway.

Here’s the thing, though: leprosy was inexistent in the Americas before the late 15th century! This means that the ones to bring the bacteria over here, where it started to infect humans and armadillos alike, were none other than these jokesters:

That’s right. The seafarers from the Age of Exploration. It’s like, way to go. Now the funny turtle rabbits are contagious. Not the worst thing they’ve pulled over here by a LONG shot but still a jerk move nonetheless.

[eclecticfactoids]

Pedogenesis is the process of soil formation, where hard rocks are gradually transformed into soft, nutrient-rich soil that supports plant life.

Over hundreds of years, parent material—which includes rocks, sediments, and organic residues—is broken down by natural processes like abrasion, freezing and thawing, oxidation, and acid secretion by organisms.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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The San Jose Cochran frog (also known as the fringe-limbed tree frog; Cochranella euknemos) is a type of glass frog* that lives in the rainforests and wet forests of Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia.

In Panama, this frog species is threatened by deforestation. It's also considered rare in Costa Rica but scientists aren't sure what's causing the population decline.

[Sources: Amphibiaweb.org and Wikipedia]

🇨🇷 🇵🇦 🇨🇴 🇨🇷 🇵🇦 🇨🇴 🇨🇷 🇵🇦 🇨🇴 🇨🇷 🇵🇦 🇨🇴 🇨🇷 🇵🇦 🇨🇴

* "The internal viscera, including the heart, liver, and gastrointestinal tract, are visible through the skin. When active their blood makes them visible; when sleeping most of the blood is concealed in the liver, hiding them." [Source: Wikipedia's article on glass frogs]

breaking news! new beautiful photo of the best species of frog in the world just dropped

cochranella euknemos, 📸 nuqui_herping on instagram

[eclecticfactoids]

Can you explain why Europeans were much more technologically advanced than the indigenous populations of Africa? I mean, these cultures hadn't even invented sewage systems, which is something the Romans were able to design and implement in 800-735 BC (a long fucking time before "the white man" colonized it)... I mean fuck, without "the white man", they would probably still be in the fucking bronze age.

I don’t really know what kind of history books bigots like you read.

The Great Libraries of Timbuktu? The steel metallurgy of the Haya? Dentistry? Caesarean section? Premature neonatal care? Mathematics, architecture, engineering?

I know it’s hard for a racist like you who imagines “technological advancement” to be some kind of end-all-be-all, or proof of some “inherent intelligence”. I know, I know. It’s hard to imagine, but Europeans have been drawing knowledge from everyone around them since the dawn of time. What did you think ended the Dark Ages?

Your magical (read: white supremacist) idea of a purely ‘white’ Rome never existed.

Nevertheless…

The Minoan culture on the island of Crete between 1500-1700 B.C.E. had a highly developed waste management system. They had very advanced plumbing and designed places to dispose of organic wastes. Knossos, the capital city, had a central courtyard with baths that were filled and emptied using terra-cotta pipes. This piping system is similar to techniques used today. They had large sewers built of stone.”

In case you needed further clarification, neither the Minoans nor other (later) Greeks were ethnically uniform. They also had the first flush toilets, dating back to 18th century B.C.E. They had flushing toilets, with wooden seats and an overhead reservoir. The Minoan royals were the last group to use flushing toilets until the re-development of that technology in 1596.

Oh, and look the Mayans had indoor plumbing, acqueducts, and pressurized water too. I mean, you can ignore that the area Mayans lived in had little to few rivers, no lakes or standing water, nor other sources of running water, while simultaneously dealing with monsoons and flooding due to one of the heaviest yearly rainfalls in the Americas.

Classic Maya even used household water filters using locally abundant limestone carved into a porous cylinder, made so as to work in a manner strikingly similar to modern ceramic water filters.

Of course, by this time millenia later none of your precious “white people” had developed any methods besides shitting in pots.

Continuing, the earliest archaeological record of an advanced system of drainage comes from the Indus Valley Civilization from around 3100 B.C.E in what is now Pakistan and North India.  By 2500 B.C.E (almost 5,000 years ago), highly developed drainage system where wastewater from each house flowed into the main drain.

All houses in the major cities of Harappa and Mohenjo−daro had access to water and drainage facilities. Waste water was directed to covered drains which lined the major streets directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Each home had its own private drinking well and its own private bathroom. The mains that carried wastewater to a cesspit were tall enough for people to walk through. Reservoirs, a central drainage system, fresh water pumped into the homes. Pools. Baths.

It was made from bricks smoothened and joined together seamlessly. The expert masonry kept the sewer watertight. Drops at regular intervals acted like an automatic cleaning device.

Filters for solid waste.

Sorry, what were the British doing up until like, 200 years ago? Shitting in the streets? Oh yeah.

I mean, I could get into how by the Shang Dynasty (roughly 1600 B.C.E.), China had sophisticated plumbing including pressure inverted siphons.

Or into the city of Amarna, Ancient Egypt. Or Persepolis, Persia and the Achaemenids in 600 B.C.E.

But, I mean, it sounds like the only one still in the Bronze Age is you.

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The first dinosaur to be named* was the Megalosaur in 1824. After massive jaw and limb bones were discovered in a quarry in Stonesfield (near Oxford), England, William Buckland recognised these fossils belonged to a huge reptile that was not a known living species.

"On 20 February 1824, he addressed the Geological Society of London, and gave the reptile a formal scientific name: Megalosaurus, meaning 'great lizard'."

[Source: BBC]

*The first dinosaur to be named in Europe, at least.

[eclecticfactoids]

The ankh, a symbol of life, was the hieroglyphic symbol most used for decoration in ancient Egypt. The ankh is often depicted in the hands of the gods and goddesses to represent their life-giving powers and ability to revive souls in the afterlife.

In the 1960s, the ankh symbol was reborn as a symbol of African cultural identity in the context of Western society, and has since been adopted by neopagans and the goth subculture.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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Did you know that even though Pangolins look very similar to armadillos, they're not related? They're a great example of convergent evolution.

A baby pangolin is born quite helpless, other than the ability to suckle and cling. Until the baby is big enough to travel on its on, a mother pangolin will tote it around on her tail.

Images: Firdia Lisnawati

[eclecticfactoids]

Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving languages in India (the other being Sanskrit) and was the lingua franca (common language) for early maritime traders. Archeologists have discovered evidence of Tamil use dating back to the 5th century BCE. These days, Tamil is an official language in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and India (in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), and is popular in Malaysia, Mauritius, Fiji, and South Africa.

There are at least 100 English words believed to have been taken from or influenced by Tamil including mango, pariah, curry, and cash.

To listen to some Tamil, click here for the poem 'Sentamil Nadu' read by Ravishankar Balasubramani.

[Main sources: Tamil Language on Wikipedia and Tamil Language on Britannica.com]

[eclecticfactoids]

Did you know that wearing a tie can reduce the blood flow to your brain by 7.5%, leading to dizziness, nausea, and headaches?!

[Source: 101 Random Fun Facts That Will Blow Your Mind on Science Focus]

[eclecticfactoids]

The Khanjar is a traditional dagger that originated in the Sultanate of Oman, and then spread across the Arab world.

Traditionally, the Khanjar was worn by all men as everyday attire, but is now worn only for formal events and ceremonies.

[Source: Wikipedia]

Khanjar with carved ivory hilt and engraved blade, Iran, 19th century

from Hermann Historica