There Are Whales Today That Were Born Before Moby Dick Was Written

 

In Alaska’s North Slope lives a population of bowhead whales with a remarkable life span. Some whales in the water are over 200 years old, and were alive even before Moby Dick, the famous novel about the white whale, was written. This population is the made up of the few survivors that made it through the commercial whaling spree from 1848 to 1915, which killed all the whales except 1,000 or so animals. These whales, some with barbed steel points still imbedded in their 17-19 inch blubber, rebuilt the population.

The bowhead whale gets its name from its definitive bow-shaped skull that measures over 16.5 feet long and is about 30-40% of their total body length. The bow shape helps the animal break through thick ice in the winter time when it needs air.

 

(via The Smithsonian)

The Only Footage of Mark Twain

 

Samuel Clemens, a.k.a Mark Twain, was great friends with American inventor and businessman Thomas Edison. Edison once said, “An average American loves his family. If he has any love left over for some other person, he generally selects Mark Twain.”

In 1909, Edison visited Twain’s home in Redding, CT, and filmed the famous author, creating the only known recording of the man in existence. Twain, very interested in the inventions Edison showed him, tried to record himself reciting his short story “An American Claimant” in a phonograph, but after 48 tries to get it perfectly, he gave up, and his attempts were lost. He tried again later at Edison’s laboratory in New York, but those cylinders were destroyed in a fire in 1914.

 

(via Mental Floss)

Hairy Bat Tongue

 

This is a close-up of a Pallas Bat tongue, which shows all the hairs it uses to sop up nectar on the wing. In the bat’s mouth, these hairs stay flat, but when the animal sees a flower with a promise of nectar, it increases blood pressure in the tongue, causing the hairs to pop up and the tongue to extend. Without the ability to increase and decrease the size of the tongue and lay the hairs flat, the Pallas wouldn’t be able to fit the huge muslce inside its mouth; when extended, the tongue can be at least twice the size of the bat’s head.

(via NPR)

 

 

 

The History of Typography

 

 

 

“The History of Typography” is a fascinating stop motion animation that provides a historical overview of typography in five minutes. Designer Ben Barrett-Forrest cut nearly 300 paper letters to make the animation.

 

(via Laughing Squid)

Why Do We Feel Hot In Temperatures Lower Than Ours?

 

Why do our bodies, usually 98 degrees Fahrenheit, feel like it’s about to melt if the temperature is only in the 80′s or 90′s outside?

It’s because of how our bodies regulate heat. Any kind of physical activity our bodies make produces heat, regardless of whether it’s strenuous like working out, or chemical like digestion. In order to keep from overheating, our bodies release that extra heat into the atmosphere, which, ideally, absorbs the heat, keeping our bodies cool. However, if the weather outside is already hot, releasing extra heat into the atmosphere doesn’t work so well, and it’s harder for our bodies to get rid of that unwanted warmth. That’s why, even if the air outside isn’t as hot as our bodies, it’s still hot enough to reject extra heat, and our bodies have to resort to more extreme measures, such as evaporating heat through sweating, to keep itself at the ideal 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Sweating is a very efficient way for our bodies to get rid of extra heat in the summer time, but if it’s humid outside as well, that can be a problem. To learn why, read one of my previous posts on the subject.

 

(via Life’s Little Mysteries)

How They Make Movie Trailer Music

Not many people think about the music that accompanies movie trailers, but there is a surprising amount of work involved in making people want to see the actual movie. Because the music in the actual production is copyrighted, separate companies have to compose music, often blindly, to fit the movie trailer. In this short clip, co-founder Yoav Goren of Immediate Music, a lead company in movie trailer business, explains what all is involved in this overlooked art.

P.S. Please note that the PG rating for language on the still screen shot doesn’t apply to the documentary.

(via Laughing Squid)

Newborn Foal’s Hooves

 

The hoof of the foal is soft and waxy. At birth, the hooves will have feathery-type horn that will wear off in a day or two and the hoof will start to toughen up in about a month. The first trim should be between four and twelve weeks of age. The hooves are shaped this way, to prevent the hooves from damaging the mother during the birthing process

 

(via The Soul is Bone)

Lost City of Heracleion Rediscovered

Herodotus and Homer mentioned it, Helen of Troy and Paris visited it, stone slabs talked about its demise….and yet for many centuries it was commonly thought to be a myth because of the lack of evidence of its existence.

Yet the Egyptian city of Heracleion, also known as Thonis, considered legend for 1,200 years, has been right under our noses this whole time, and exactly where everyone said it was: right on the Bay of Aboukir, the most important port for Egyptian trade in the ancient world. However, when it collapsed and sank beneath the sea because of an unstable foundation, the whole city was buried under 150 feet of water and sediment.

Over thousand years ago, Heracleion was the center for Egyptian trading since it conveniently stood at the mouth of the River Nile delta. It was one of the cities where camels lined up to take their loads over the famous Silk Road. Over 64 ships containing gold coins and weights of bronze and stone have been discovered on the bottom of the sea, showing that even when the city was showing signs of shifting and some parts of the city were underwater already, trading was still continuing. When the last of the city disappeared, a huge tsunami must have sunk the ships.

 

 

But this ancient catastrophe means a modern field day for archaeologists. All the statues, slabs, buildings, and such are beautifully preserved, allowing for a better glimpse into this interesting culture. Giant 16 foot statues as well as hundreds of smaller statues of minor gods have been uncovered on the sea floor, as well as dozens of small sarcophagi and slabs of stones with Greek and Egyptian inscriptions.

Huge ships, much larger than any previously found, accompanied with over 700 ancient anchors have been found, showing just how incredible their shipbuilding skills were, and how little we understand the advanced mathematics involved. Right now, the whole city, complete with an almost perfectly preserved infrastructure is being uncovered.

Slabs, which contain information on taxation on imports and exports are being deciphered, showing how the government ran. Previous detailed understanding of the government has not been possible because all the informative slabs in Egyptian cities that had been conquered by other cultures had all the slabs destroyed as a part of annihilation.

(via The Telegraph)

How To Make Square Bubbles

 

The impossible is now possible, thanks to math and Steve Spangler! Enjoy!

 

(via Youtube)

The Pangolin

 

The pangolin is a unique creature related to the anteater and armadillo. They eat ants with a very long tongue, roll up into a ball when threatened, carry extremely sharp claws, and have the very unique feature of being the only mammal to be completely covered in scales. These scales are made up of keratin, which is the same as our fingernails, and serve to protect the creature like a full set of armor. The pangolin usually grows to about a meter long and is a warm-blooded mammal.

 

 

The pangolin’s scales never stop growing, and new ones continually grow underneath old one to replace the armor as soon as an old one falls off.

 

 

Because they don’t have teeth, Pangolins eat small stones to help with the digestion of their ant meals. One of these mammals can eat up to 70 million insects each year, and so are crucial to keep the voracious insect populations in check. Their tongue is astonishingly long, and can reach up to half a meter long, which is roughly half of its body length.

The ear, which can be seen as the little disk on the side of its head, can be consciously closed by the Pangolin to avoid ants from crawling inside when it is eating.

 

 

Pangolins are found in many regions, including China and Africa, where they have been hunted to almost extinction. In many other parts of the world, they are also endangered from the uncontrolled hunting for its scales, tasty meat, and medicinal qualities. In 1820, this Rajastan armor coat, covered in pangolin scales and embellished with gold, was given to King George III as a foreign relations gift.

Many other clothes have these unique keratin scales, and the Chinese use the scales today as medicine for various purposes. To read more and see more pictures, click here.

 

 

(via Dark Roasted Blend)