Category: Science

Posted on

This is Why We See Such Beautiful Colors in the Fall

Fall is such a great time of year. It’s a time of transition from summer to winter, and nothing quite embodies that transition like the changing colors of the leaves.

According to an Iroquois Native American legend, the leaves change colors in the winter because a group of young hunters slew the Great Bear, and its blood turned the leaves red.

While a vivid illustration, there’s actually a much simpler and less gory explanation for why the leaves change colors in the fall.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Do you remember learning about photosynthesis in school? If not, let’s do a quick refresher.

Photosynthesis is the process of plants converting carbon dioxide, water and sunlight into energy. Photosynthesis cannot happen without chlorophyll.

According to Gardening Know How,

“chlorophyll, which resides in the chloroplasts of plants, is the green pigment that is necessary in order for plants to convert carbon dioxide and water, using sunlight, into oxygen and glucose.”

So, does that mean the leaves turn shades of yellow, orange, and red because the plants are running out of chlorophyll?

Well… yes and no.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Chlorophyll isn’t the only pigment present in leaves, even when they looks green. Pigments carotene and xanthophyll are also present, although we can’t see them.

In the fall, when the days are shorter and colder, and the air is dryer, there isn’t as much sunlight for the leaves of the trees to absorb.

Without sunlight, those leaves can’t convert carbon dioxide and water into energy, so they stop their food making process.

The chlorophyll in the leaf breaks down, revealing the other beautiful pigments that were always there.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Have you ever wondered why the leaves fall as they change color?

This happens because as the days get shorter and colder, each leaf grows a layer of cells that seal it off from the tree.

The tree keeps living, and the leaf detaches and decomposes, so that a new leaf can grow in the spring.

While carotene pigments give rise to orange leaves, xanthophyll pigments give us those beautiful yellow leaves like you might see on a Big-leaf Maple.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Some leaves, like those of most oak trees, will simply turn brown. Red or reddish-purple leaves will have various mixtures of anthocyanin pigments residing within them.

Some years you might see more vivid red leaves. This is because weather plays a role in determining how much anthocyanin pigment can be found in certain leaves.

Sunny days mixed with low evening temperatures, above freezing, generally lead to more anthocyanin production in trees like maples.

With the sun shining, the leaf can produce energy, but the cool evenings cause the tree to absorb as much sugar and nutrients from the leaf as possible.

The result is a higher amount of anthocyanin pigments.

Image Credit: Unsplash

Isn’t science cool?

Hopefully, the next time you take an autumn stroll through the park or in the woods, you’ll remember how the colors of fall come to be, and appreciate them all the more.

Personally, I love a maple full of yellow leaves.

What do you think is the most beautiful type of tree in the fall? Let us know in the comments!

The post This is Why We See Such Beautiful Colors in the Fall appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

This is How Synesthesia or ‘Crossing of the Senses’ Works

If you experience synesthesia, then you most likely already know what it means. For everyone else, here’s a quick definition: experiencing something with one sense and somehow, that experience translating to a second one.

Like, you see a scone, and can taste the scone. Or, you hear the letter B and imagine the color yellow.

It doesn’t have to make sense, either; music can be a color, letters can taste like cake – whatever your brain comes up with goes.

Image Credit: iStock

For a long time, researchers believed synesthesia was fairly rare, but a 2006 study that employed objective tests found that’s not true – it affects around 2%-4% of the general population.

One of the reasons it can be hard to pin down is that there are so many different forms of the condition, and as a general rule, synesthesia can occur with any combination of senses or cognitive pathways.

The most common type is graphemes (letters or numbers) taking on certain colors. One synesthete will always see the letter A as red, but every synesthete won’t see the letter A as red – although some letter/number combinations are more common than others.

Sound-to-color synesthesia is the second most common type – a 2006 study found that these synesthetes typically associate a higher pitch to a lighter color, leading researchers to conclude that synesthesia might be using the same cross-modal pathways that most people use, rather than ones unique to the condition.

Lexical-gustatory (olfactory), tasting flavors based on a visual picture, word, or sound, is one of the rarer types of synesthesia – they might even associate smells with certain colors or shapes.

Image Credit: Pexels

Some people claim to taste emotions, or to experience a physical sensation when other people are touched, or even to assign personality traits to random letters or numbers.

Now that we understand (?) a bit more of what it means to be a synesthete, let’s talk a little bit about why scientists think people end up with these strange powers.

Only a little bit, because even though it’s become a popular field of study, synesthesia still isn’t well understood. There is some idea that it has a genetic component, because around 40% of people report a first-degree relative who also has the condition, and most recall experiencing it from a young age.

What scientists do agree on is that synesthesia is a sensory phenomenon that is unrelated to memory – meaning you thinking of a letter being blue because it was blue in your childhood bedroom isn’t the same thing.

Image Credit: iStock

It happens early in the perception process – you mind just makes the connection, it doesn’t spend time searching your memory for it.

Researchers believe synesthesia is a cross-wiring in the brain – that the area for one sense stimulates the area for another. There could be increased neural connections that stuck around when others were being pruned while still in utero – there might even be physical differences in brain matter to find.

Scientists also believe there could be some secondary benefits for people who “suffer,” mainly in the area of memorization. Some synesthetes can memorize a large list of numbers by using their color associates, for example, and some others can distinguish between extremely similar colors.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows, though; many report the condition can be grating or uncomfortable, like when they see a letter or number that’s the “wrong” color, if a name doesn’t “taste” right, or other stuff the rest of us will never understand.

I’m not sure I understand humans any better after writing this article, but listen – I do have a renewed respect for how truly different each and every one of us are.

The post This is How Synesthesia or ‘Crossing of the Senses’ Works appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Gömböc

A ‘gömböc’ is a 3-d shape that will always end up settling in the same position regardless of how it was originally placed. The mathematics of these shapes has helped explain why tortoises can roll back over onto their legs when they’re placed with their shell to the ground.

The post Gömböc appeared first on Crazy Facts.

Posted on

Check Out These Images of a Giant Squid in U.S. Waters

If you’re even a casual ocean aficionado, you realize that there’s no consensus that space is actually the last frontier.

The world’s oceans hold many similar secrets in their depths, tucked safely out of sight, and even though we’ve lived with these bodies of waters for millennia, we may never uncover them all.

Image Credit: Public Domain

We know that giant squids exist – there have been sightings, drawings, and the like for centuries – but here in the States, we’ve never had one show up on our shores.

The first modern look at these giant cephalopods was back in 2004, in Japanese waters, and then again around the same spot in 2014.

This time, though, NOAA researchers on an exploratory mission in the Gulf of Mexico captured a recording of a juvenile swimming in the waters there.

The video is brief, and like all underwater happenings, a bit eerie. The squid swims straight at the camera, which makes it hard to tell exactly how large it is, though researchers are estimating around 10-12 feet.

Image Credit: YouTube

An adult of the species could grow up to around 43 feet in length – the same as around seven adult American men.

The marine biologists are hoping the squid will come back and they’ll be able to get more footage. Their ROV that captured the encounter, the Medusa, doesn’t use the bright lights that others do in the depths, which could make the squid feel more comfortable.

Here’s hoping we get to see more soon!

As long as I’m watching from a distance, I’m here for it.

If there was one undiscovered or rare creature to be found in the depths, what would you want it to be?

I mean, the obvious answer is mermaids, but…what would you want it to be?

The post Check Out These Images of a Giant Squid in U.S. Waters appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

Scientists Claim That Driving Tiny Cars Helps Rats Relax

Some days, driving can seem super relaxing and carefree, but other days, it’s definitely not – and it mostly depends on other drivers, not myself.

For rats, though, I suppose they’re always driving their tiny cars in nice, controlled environments. No rat road rage, no people looking at their phones instead of the light turning green…what a lovely world.

Image Credit: YouTube

Why, you ask, are rats driving cars? Why does it relax them, and how?

If you’re curiosity is piqued, I invite you to keep reading.

It’s researchers from the University of Richmond, in Virginia, where you’ll find these vehicle-driving rodents, and listen – they weren’t taught to drive just to see if they could do it. Scientists there wanted to prove that an enriched environment could improve their cognitive function, sharpening their ability to learn more complex tasks.

Image Credit: YouTube

Dr. Kelly Lambert, one of the study authors, expanded in an interview with IFLScience.

“The findings that the animals housed in a complex environment had more efficient learning in the driving task confirms that the brain is a plastic organ that is molded by our experiences to some extent.

I tell my students that they are accountable for what they do with their brains every day of their lives – more challenging and enriching lifestyles lead to more complex neural networks.”

The study, published in Behavioural Brain Research, explains that the rats were given “cars,” that were basically plastic jars atop electric-powered wheels. They drove forward and steered using a copper bar, a task that’s not hard…if you’re human.

Image Credit: YouTube

The rats had to employ a ton of cognitive, motor, and visuospatial skills, and combine them, too, in order to get to their prize – Fruit Loops.

I get it. I would do some crazy stuff for a bowl of Fruit Loops right now, myself.

There were 11 rats involved in the study – six who remained in their standard environments, and five lucky rats who got an “enriched environment” that resembled a rat’s natural habitat, with awesome toys.

Image Credit: YouTube

The rats living in the enriched spaces performed better at the driving test, and even retained an interest in driving the car after the Fruit Loops were removed from the equation.

On the other hand, the rats who remained in their standard lab cages showed little to no interest in figuring out driving the cars, or the Fruit Loops.

Hormones seem to be part of the equation. The driving rats poop showed increasing levels of dehydroepiandrosterone – which controls stress – and decreasing levels of the stress hormone corticosterone, which suggests that mastering the skill of driving relaxed the rodents.

The study definitely suggests that, for rats, at least, their environment is tied to their mental state.

Image Credit: YouTube

Dr. Lambert, and the rest of the scientists involve, believe we humans could take a few lessons from the results.

“It reminds us that we can use challenging tasks with preclinical animals work to learn more about human challenging behavior and cognitive systems. We also see that the rats had healthier stress hormone profiles with the driving training.

We think this learning task and operating the ROV may be an animal model for agency or self-efficacy – two elements critical for mental health.”

If you’re feeling down and out, unmotivated, or just plain blue, you might want to try giving yourself a new challenge, it would seem.

I mean, it can’t hurt, right?

The post Scientists Claim That Driving Tiny Cars Helps Rats Relax appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

NASA Captures Amazing New Images of the Universe That Almost Look Photoshopped

There are so many secrets of our universe that we still haven’t figured out yet. We get a little bit closer every day – and these images from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory are definitely a giant leap in the right direction.

Since 1999, the flagship X-ray telescope has produced over 23 trillion bytes of data. Thanks to the giant orbiting fixture, tons of magical, awe-inspiring images have come our way.

Here’s the latest drop from NASA that’s sure to blow the minds of even the most pessimistic of us.

Eta Carinae

Photo Credit: NASA/CXC

Eta Carinae is a volatile system in our Milky Way galaxy. Previous eruptions from these two stars once created a ring of incredibly hot gas spanning 2.3 light years in diameter. That’s some pretty serious firepower.

Researchers are keeping track of which stars are up next to transform into supernovas – stars that suddenly become super bright due to a recent catastrophic explosion. This pair is likely high up on that list.

Helix Nebula

Photo Credit: NASA/CXC

This image was created using data from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, Spitzer Space Telescope, Hubble Telescope, and NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer. The reason it takes so many sources to create one image? Each telescope is detects different elements of the Helix Nebula – so putting the data together provides a more accurate picture of the nebula’s moving parts.

This particular image is around 4 light years in diameter – or roughly 24 trillion miles long.

Cartwheel Galaxies

Photo Credit: NASA/CXC

Galaxies like the one above are formed when collisions alter star formations. The hot gas distributed from this particular collision drags on for over 150,000 light years. That’s a distance that we cannot even begin to understand on Earth.

Messier 82

Photo Credit: NASA/CXC

Messier 82, or M82, is giving scientists a glimpse into the process of star formation.

Here’s more about the image from NASA:

X-rays from Chandra (appearing as blue and pink) show gas in outflows about 20,000 light years long that has been heated to temperatures above ten million degrees by repeated supernova explosions.

Optical light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope (red and orange) shows the galaxy.

This incredible album of images is seriously out of this world. The vast expanse of the universe gives me a little bit of hope during this super dark time. It helps remind me that there are things out there far bigger than our own tiny existence here on planet Earth. Plus, it’s comforting to look at other planets in the solar system and realize that – as it stands – Earth is still pretty hospitable.

If you’re feeling down about climate change, check out these dire photos from Venus. They’re sure to help you appreciate the greenery around us that we take for granted.

What are some of your favorite photos from space? Share them with us in the comments below!

The post NASA Captures Amazing New Images of the Universe That Almost Look Photoshopped appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

How Your Tattoos Might Be Messing With Your Sweat Glands

Tattoos are very common today. Back in the day, only fun ladies and military dudes (or I suppose convicts) really sported ink on a regular basis, but since the nineties, they’ve continued to trend as a common, if permanent, accessory.

Perhaps that’s why scientists are really just beginning to wonder whether or not there could be any long- or short-term effects of having ink deposited right beneath your skin – and this recent study seems to conclude that one of those effects could be a poor ability to sweat.

Image Credit: Pixabay

The paper was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, and featured a pretty small sample size of 10 participants. The subjects wore tube-lined suits containing warm water, which induced them to sweat – though skin covered by a tattoo or tattoos produced 15% less sweat than skin left unmarked.

This research joins more like it, like another small 2017 study that used an electric current to produce sweat, and found that inked skin produced 50% less perspiration, but is belied by at least one study that found no difference in sweating ability between inked and non-inked skin.

Image Credit: Pexels

There doesn’t seem to be conclusive evidence, nor does the study make any comment on why or how a tattoo could affect one’s ability to sweat.

For now, it seems like you’re safe to continue amassing as much ink as you like, though if this does eventually prove to be an issue, the more tattoos you have, the more trouble you might have cooling off on a hot day.

Image Credit: Pexels

Then again, people with full body tattoos have been staying cool with no trouble since forever, so you’re probably fine either way.

You do you, my friend, and leave the scientists to their business.

The post How Your Tattoos Might Be Messing With Your Sweat Glands appeared first on UberFacts.

Posted on

A New Study Busts the Myth That Vikings Weren’t Genetically Diverse

Most people have an idea that Vikings were all giants with blond hair, blue eyes, and a thirst for raiding and pillaging foreign lands before returning how to bask in the icy, Nordic cold.

And while the latter may still turn out to be true, a new study is pretty much proving the homogenous physical description in our minds incorrect.

The study, published in Nature, indicates the Viking Empire arched over genetically distinct groups that emerged from different Scandinavian regions – some of which contained Southern European and Asian genes.

Image Credit: Oxford Archaeology

It took the study authors six years to sequence the genomes of 442 Viking-age skeletons that dated from 2400 BCE to 1600 CE. When they were done, they had data that revealed how different factions within the Viking world had trickled throughout Northern Europe.

Author Martin Sikora delved deeper into their research in a statement.

“We found that Vikings weren’t just Scandinavians in their genetic ancestry, as we analyzed genetic influences in their DNA from Southern Europe and Asia, which has never been contemplated before.

Many Vikings have high levels of non-Scandinavian ancestry, both within and outside Scandinavia, which suggest ongoing gene flow across Europe.”

Norwegian Vikings mainly traveled to Ireland, Scotland, Iceland, and Greenland, while Swedish Vikings preferred the Baltic countries.

Image Credit: iStock

Danish Vikings headed off to England.

The genetic consequences of those specific raiding tendencies can be seen today, with around 6% of British people bearing Viking genes.

The study also revealed that Vikings likely traveled in family units as they pillaged foreign lands – one of the earliest raise involved 41 men from Sweden traveling to Estonia in the mid-8th century.

Image Credit: iStock

They all perished, and genetic analysis revealed the group included 4 brothers and a bunch of other closely related men.

They also found Vikings with no Scandinavian ancestry at all, so theories arise that certain Northern European cultures were likely assimilated into the Viking world without ever mixing genetically with their overlords.

Image Credit: iStock

So, researcher Eske Willerslev says we need to come to grips with the idea that the Vikings did not all look alike – and they wouldn’t have all passed Hitler’s muster, either.

“Our research debunks the modern image of Vikings with blonde hair as many had brown hair and were influenced by genetic influx from the outside of Scandinavia.”

There you have it, folks – history is not always what we believe, and if you ask me, that’s one of the best things about it.

The post A New Study Busts the Myth That Vikings Weren’t Genetically Diverse appeared first on UberFacts.