Dogs Like to Poop in Alignment with Earth’s Magnetic Field

You know the drill if you have a dog – even if it’s so hot you’re dripping sweat and can literally feel your skin burning, and even if it’s so cold you can barely hold a leash with your frozen fingers, they’re absolutely not going to do their business until they find the perfect spot.

Then, they’re going to turn around several times, squat, perhaps adjust, and finally take that long-awaited dump.

Hallelujah!

What I have to tell you today isn’t going to make your dog-walking experience any more pleasant, but hey, it is going to teach you something about your best friend. Sometimes, that’s the best you can hope for when the situation contains poo, right?

It turns out your dog isn’t searching for an arbitrary “best” spot go do their business – they’re actually doing their best to line their behind up with Earth’s magnetic field.

Not only that, but a study, published in Frontiers in Zoology, also found that they prefer a north-south axis for their dumping grounds.

The researchers found that dogs are sensitive to small variations in the Earth’s magnetic field, and after studying 70 dogs (37 different breeds) over the course of 2 years, they learned that under “calm magnetic field conditions,” dogs preferred to “excrete with the body being aligned along the north-south axis.”

They avoided east-west altogether, actually. Also, the dogs in the study were entirely unconfined and unleashed, leaving them free to do their business exactly where they pleased.

What the study did not learn was why canines prefer to poop in a certain direction.

“It is still enigmatic why the dogs do align at all, whether they do it “consciously” (i.e., whether the magnetic field is sensorial perceived (the dogs “see”, “hear” or “smell” the compass direction or perceive it as a haptic stimulus)) or whether its reception is controlled on the vegetative level (they “feel better/more comfortable or worse/less comfortable” in a certain direction).”

Either way, it’s certainly interesting and the scientists involved hope their findings will open “new horizons” for further research in organisms’ use of magnetic fields for direction.

So now you have something to share with your friend at the dog park the next time you’re both waiting around, freezing to death waiting for your pups to line up.

You’re welcome.

The post Dogs Like to Poop in Alignment with Earth’s Magnetic Field appeared first on UberFacts.

Check Out the World’s Surprising Variety of Weird and Wonderful Apples

Most of us have eaten the typical apples, such as Granny Smith. If we’re lucky, we may have also had a few other types of apples as well –Honeycrisp has had a major moment the past few years – but most of us have probably not tried as many kinds as writer William Mullan.

That’s because Mullen is researching as many types of apples as he can get his hands on, and getting photographs of them.

He spoke with Atlas Obscura about his fascination with apples, which began when he was a teenager growing up in the UK and grew into a full-blow obsession when he was forced into a dietary change for health reasons. Now he satisfies his sweet-tooth on apples.

So what’s the big deal? We checked out Mullan’s Instagram, and he’s really onto something.

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Thornberry! Tiny cotton candy bubble gum sweetheart created by Northern California heartbreaker hottie fruit breeder Albert Etter. Etter was particularly taken with the rose-pink European apple called “Surprise”, creating more 30 seedlings on his orchard back in the 1920s, in what is now called Ettersberg in Humboldt County, California. “Surprise” was mostly dismissed by fruit growers; it tended to be sour and was considered a novelty. But Etter saw potential, eventually selling his Pink Pearl to the California Nursery Company in the 1940s. Etter passed away 10 years later, in 1950, leaving his experimental orchard largely abandoned. In the 1970s, the Fishman family began evaluating the surviving apple trees, both on the site itself and on nearby orchards, eventually locating fifteen of Etter’s “Surprise” seedlings, including Thornberry, which they discovered in another abandoned orchard about a mile outside of the town called Whitethorn (which is about 10 miles south of Ettersburg). – Thornberry exhibits traits typical of the Etter “Surprise” seedlings. Most pronounced among those is a distinct “berry” aromatic flavor, which can likely be linked to the anthocyanin compound that makes the flesh pink. It’s almost like a dwarf-sized Pink Pearl, sharing the same translucent skin, bubble-gum pink flesh, and a spry, lively tartness of that aforementioned favorite. That said, I found this Thornberry, kindly sent to me by Chad Frick of @vulture_hill, to be much sweeter than Pearl. It reminds me of all my childhood candy shop fantasies condensed into one little apple. Like those memories, my first and only sample of it has been canonized in my brain.

A post shared by William (@pomme_queen) on

In addition to taking beautiful photographs of apples from all over the world, Mullan delves deeply into the apples’ histories, discussing how they’re grown, bred, and what they taste like. His descriptions of apples are gorgeously detailed, and he’s sold books and prints of his images.

Mullan also went into detail about how and why only certain apples make it to consumers’ hands at grocery stores. Big agriculture and market demands are the main reasons.

Some apples truly have their own personalities.

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Rubaiyat! Pinot noir speckled juice rock with splashy strawberry watermelon flesh. Rubaiyat (also known as CV. Etter 8-11) is another ultra-rare Albert Etter (maker of Pink Pearl) red flesh breed that has been trademarked by Greenmantle Nursery, who took over his property. It’s one of many red flesh cultivars Etter made while he was alive, including the previously featured Grenadine and Pink Pearl. It’s aroma and flavor reminds of Ribena, for all you UK folk out there; for all those who haven’t experienced Ribena, think juice box berry (although Ribena comes in plastic). You’re not likely to come across Rubaiyat at a market (Greenmantle forbids growers from selling it), but if you’re lucky, you might meet a friendly orchardist who has it. It’s a shame, because Rubaiyat is delicious and has seemingly good keeping qualities. Side note: Young Albert Etter was hot. Google him. A beautiful man who made beautiful fruit. I got this Rubaiyat courtesy of the nice folks at @redbrydcider 🙏

A post shared by William (@pomme_queen) on

Other apples are works of art that stand on their own.

Farmers have avoided certain types of apples because they are more likely to pick up diseases, they come from trees that naturally produce fewer apples, or they have fragile skin.

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Hi! Can you see this trio of fantastic galactic Black Oxford apples? Are you excited for Pomme SZN? Word is that some posts aren’t showing up on the feed. If you would like to see more #PommeCon, plz comment below and the algorithm will love me. A lot of nice folks have DM’ed me for prints and I will be releasing those on IG in the late summer, so if you want to be notified, like, tap, comment, etc etc etc 🙃🙏❤🍎. – On these Maleficent orbs… Black Oxford apples are little soft tannin bombs wrapped in a haunting chic purple-black plum coat. They yield sweet corn and vanilla with time. The Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle of Apples (post tragic-transformation scene). They’re also known as July Apples because word is they can be kept till July! A Maine native and a favorite of mine. I got very lucky with these very black ones from @scottfarmvt last szn; usually they’re more purple.

A post shared by William (@pomme_queen) on

Mullan’s interest has garnered him a steady following. Thanks to his research and photographic work, we get to be exposed to beautiful varieties of apples from all over the world. Click here to check out more of his photographs.

What do you think of Mullan’s work and efforts to introduce the world to more apples? Feel free to comment below so we can read your opinion!

The post Check Out the World’s Surprising Variety of Weird and Wonderful Apples appeared first on UberFacts.

Pictures of Newly-Adopted Pets Should Put a Smile on Your Face

It’s hard to think of anything more rewarding than the look of relief and satisfaction on an animal’s face after it is adopted.

And these adorable animals are no exception.

Let’s take a look at these heartwarming photos.

1. Hi, Pumpkin!

Adopted a rescue cat today. Meet Pumpkin from cats

2. Welcome home!

Me: "We don’t have room for any more dogs" Sister: *sends this pic from the shelter* Me: "Ok maybe one more dog" Everyone say hi to Gemma from aww

3. Falling in love.

We adopted an 11-year old cat from a Chicago shelter. He and my 13-yo daughter fell in love. This is them after she got back from a week at camp. from aww

4. He looks relieved.

This is my rescue dog at the vet right after being freed from the puppy mill from aww

5. You might’ve been wrong…

First time cat owner. I used to think I was a dog person, but I think I may have been wrong. from cats

6. Live long and prosper.

Adopted this handsome good boy yesterday! Reddit, meet Spock! from aww

7. No more of that.

After months of living in the streets and being bullied by other cats, I rescued Masha. She is now a happy indoors cat. from cats

8. Love the name.

Neighbors abandoned him when they moved, he’s now my best friend. Say hi to Mister Meow. from cats

9. Destroy all the basketballs you want.

Surrendered for adoption 5 times because of too much energy, I present Kadie: Destroyer of Basketballs. from aww

10. New year. New best friend.

Our new years eve was spent getting this cutie. 2020, meet Baker! from cats

Are those photos wholesome, or what?

I know they put a big smile on this guy’s face.

Do you have any pics of your adopted furry friends? Share them with us in the comments! We’d love to meet them!

The post Pictures of Newly-Adopted Pets Should Put a Smile on Your Face appeared first on UberFacts.

Deep Tweets from the ‘Thoughts of Dog’ Twitter Account

You should really be following this account on Twitter. Forget about celebrities, athletes, and politicians.

The Thoughts of Dog Twitter account takes you inside the brain of this adorable pooch, and, frankly, reading his thoughts is a lot more enjoyable than reading 99% of literature out there. Enjoy.

1. Truth

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

2. Zooms!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

3. Gary is bae

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

4. Hear that?

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

5. Carpet pls

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

6. Grrrrr

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

7. Win!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

8. Slurp!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

9. Do not move

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

10. Frens!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

11. Control

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

12. Where shoe? Don’t know.

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

13. ALL the things!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

14. You can’t catch me!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

15. Me need pats pls

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

16. Good luck!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

17. Heheh, good boy

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

18. Thunder!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

19. Pls give ball back. kthxbai

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

20. LUVS!

Photo Credit: Twitter,dog_feelings

(h/t: smosh)

We know you can choose a lot of sites to read, but we want you to know that we’re thankful you chose Did You Know.

You rock! Thanks for reading!

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Tardigrades Are the Most Resilient Animals on Earth, but Even They Will Struggle with Climate Change

Tardigrades are tough little sons of guns; they can survive freezing temperatures, being boiled, and even the vacuum of space. They don’t need to drink water or breathe air to stay alive. But scientists seem to have hit on one thing that might be a killer for them–global warming.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

Ricardo Neves, from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, led a team of researchers to study how well a species of tardigrade, Ramazzottius varieornatus, could handle different environments.

Neves told Newsweek,

One of the [things] that makes tardigrades so interesting is their extraordinary ability to survive in environments characterized by severe conditions, such as environments without oxygen or water and temperatures close to the absolute zero. Moreover, we were aware of previous studies reporting on their ability to endure high temperatures (up to 151 C) for short exposure times (up to one hour). However, it remained to be seen whether tardigrades could endure exposure to high temperatures for periods exceeding one hour, which we tested in our study.

This particular species of tardigrades can be found in roof gutters where they can easily reproduce and feed in freshwater. When there’s no water and conditions are dry, the R. varieornatus survive by entering a state of suspended animation called cryptobiosis.

Tardigrade

When the team examined the creatures under different temperature ranges and time lengths, they discovered that, despite what pop-science websites have touted, tardigrades do have a weakness.

Fifty percent of the tardigrades in an active state died when the temperature was 37.1 C (98.78 F). Given a period to acclimatize, they could survive at 37.6 C (99.68 F). In a state of cryptobiosis, they survived temperatures up to 82.7 C (180.86 F) for one hour. When exposed for 24 hours, they could survive a maximum temperature of 63.1 C (145.58 F).

The record high in Denmark is 36.4 C (97.52 F), which is close to the maximum temperature half of the tardigrades in an active state could survive. This points to a potential struggle for survival as temperatures around the globe rise.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

What was once considered an animal that could literally survive anything is now showing its own vulnerability to climate change. Neves said tardigrades have shown they can acclimatize, but he also wonders how other living beings will cope.

He, and the rest of the world, are going to find out. Like it or not, the Earth is warming and humanity is not doing enough to stop it from happening.

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Here are Some Interesting Maps of Stuff You Wouldn’t Normally Think to Map

I remember studying atlases for hours when I was a kid and being fascinated by all of the exotic and strange places around the world.

So in the spirit of rekindling my childhood obsession with all things map-related, here are some very interesting maps about all kinds of random things that are quite fascinating.

Let’s take a look.

1. An eagle’s movements tracked over a 20-year period.

Photo Credit: Reddit

2. Tracking different packs of wolves in Voyageurs National Park. You can see how they avoid each other’s territory.

Photo Credit: Reddit

3. Countries talked about in the Bible.

Photo Credit: Reddit

4. The U.S. from an Alaskan perspective.

Photo Credit: Reddit

5. Where flamingos live around the world.

Photo Credit: Reddit

6. The longest possible way to travel by train in the world.

Photo Credit: Reddit

7. Different giraffe patterns in Africa.

Photo Credit: Reddit

8. Each section contains 10% of the world’s population.

Photo Credit: Reddit

9. Locations from Johnny Cash’s song “I’ve Been Everywhere.”

Photo Credit: Reddit

10. The populations of the Dakotas and Manhattan, NYC.

Photo Credit: Reddit

11. 50% of Canadians live below that red line.

Photo Credit: Reddit

12. How much snow it takes to cancel schools.

Photo Credit: Reddit

13. The entire continent of South America is east of Michigan.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Those are awesome!

What did you think? Are you a big map fan?

Tell us all about it in the comments. And if you have a map you’d like to share with us, let’s see it!

The post Here are Some Interesting Maps of Stuff You Wouldn’t Normally Think to Map appeared first on UberFacts.

Koala Bears Aren’t Bears at All

We’ve been hearing a lot of sad news about koala bears lately because of the bushfires ripping through Australia. The flames and smoke have decimated a huge portion of the koalas’ natural habitat and killed enough individuals that experts estimate they may now be an endangered species.

But how much do we in the States know about this cute, furry little guys, really? I know that I learned a ton of new things when I visited a sanctuary outside of Brisbane, but I definitely don’t remember them telling us that the animal we know as a koala bear isn’t a bear at all.

Image Credit: Pixabay

In fact, they’re not even closely related to bears – they’re much more like another Australian animal, the kangaroo, which also raise their underdeveloped young in a pouch.

Both animals are mammals, like bears, but they re classified as Marsupialia, order Diprotodontia, family Phascolarctidae, genus Phascolarctos.

And that’s a very different branch of the tree of life from where you’d find a grizzly.

Image Credit: Pixabay

Koalas are known scientifically as Phascolarctos cinerus, and they are the only living species in the genus. Though there are three subspecies of koala, their differences are very minor.

Therefore, the koala is more closely related to the kangaroo and the wombat, both members of the order Diprotodontia, than to bears, which are in the order Carnivora.

You might be wondering, then, how they got so mis-named in the first place. Well, as with most things, we can blame English-speaking settlers.

In the 18th century, they spotted the animal for the first time, and, due to it’s bear-like appearance and behavior, they made an assumption.

Image Credit: Pixabay

You know, like how they met Natives all over the world and assumed they were “savages” based on strange (to them) appearances?

The koala’s scientific name comes from what Englishmen thought they observed – Phascolarctos is derived from the Greek phaskolos (pouch) and arktos (bear).

And now you know, though I doubt the sleepy little animals will much care what we call them as long as we save them from burning alive.

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These Funny Cat Memes Should Brighten Your Day

I’ve had some cats in my life and each one had their own hilarious personality and their own weird little quirks.

Our first cat Mr. Whiskers was a stray that we took in and he liked to crawl in and out of the neighborhood sewers. I’d be walking home from school and he’d come and greet me by literally crawling out of the sewer. Esmeralda was definitely an indoor cat and she liked to hang out on the back porch and take in as much sun as possible…oh, and she relished in tormenting our dogs.

I love cats. You love cats. We all love cats!

Enjoy these cat memes!

1. Take that into consideration…

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

2. What are you up to now?

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

3. Protect the leader at all costs.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

4. They always help with that.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

5. Time to make some tea.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

6. I like this guy’s style.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

7. You talking to me?

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

8. One-in-a-million shot.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

9. For me?!?!

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

10. Let me see the child.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

11. That is awesome.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

12. Not a beer fan.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

13. Slimming down.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

14. All warm and toasty.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

15. Best friends forever.

Photo Credit: Cheezburger

Are those memes adorable, or what?

Do you have some mischievous kitties running around your house?

Share some pics with us and tell us all about them!

The post These Funny Cat Memes Should Brighten Your Day appeared first on UberFacts.

Funny Tweets About Cats and Cat People

You probably know folks who you consider “cat people.” Folks who are obsessed with their kitties – who, quite frankly, probably like cats waaaaaay more than they like human beings.

Hey, it’s cool. We’re not here to judge…

It’s time to meet some people who definitely have some very strong feelings toward kitties…

1. Blown away.

2. Adorable.

3. And here we have some pasta…

4. Let’s never be apart…

5. Vibing.

6. Hahahaha.

7. Split personality.

8. This is great.

9. Seems to be having a good time.

10. Having a party.

11. Cat in storage.

12. You did the right thing.

13. He’s faking it…

14. Only the best for you.

15. This is great!

What about you?

Can you be considered a “cat person”?

Either way, share some pics of your furry feline friends in the comments, please. We need some new friends!

The post Funny Tweets About Cats and Cat People appeared first on UberFacts.

Dad Bods and Rescue Dogs Unite to Make a Great Calendar

You can sell just about anything if it features rescue dogs – even a calendar that also contains photos of “dad bods,” apparently.

The calendar features professional photos of French Bulldogs, English Bulldogs, Boston Terriers, and Pugs along with model volunteers. For fans of the breeds, along with dog (and dad) lovers everywhere, these calendars sure seem like a winner.

Image Credit: Lucky Bulldogs Rescue

Also? The proceeds all go to Lucky Bulldogs Rescue, so buy more than one!

Here are just some of the images – ones that will surely have you asking for more!

Wink!

Posted by Lucky Bulldogs Rescue on Friday, November 8, 2019

I think this one is my favorite.

Posted by Lucky Bulldogs Rescue on Friday, November 8, 2019

If you’re cold, they’re cold?

Posted by Lucky Bulldogs Rescue on Friday, November 8, 2019

I never knew I could want a dad bod calendar more!

Are you going to nab one? Would you ever pose like this? Tell us why or why not in the comments!

The post Dad Bods and Rescue Dogs Unite to Make a Great Calendar appeared first on UberFacts.