No Two Butts Are Alike to Chimpanzees

Butts, butts, and more butts!

Human beings recognize others by their unique facial features, but for chimps, it’s butts that differentiate one animal from another.

People use something called configural recognition that allows us to process an entire facial structure instead of individual features. This is, obviously, a complex and involuntary ability.

And it’s an ability that chimpanzees have and use – but not to recognize faces. Instead, they use it to recognize each other’s butts.

View this post on Instagram

#sanfrancisco #sfzoo #sf #chimpanzeebutt

A post shared by Christopher Avalos (@c.hrisavalos) on

Researchers from the Netherlands and Japan observed the animals as they examined photographs of primate butts and “matched” them, coupling identical butts on a touch screen. Like humans with faces, they struggled with ones that were upside down, which suggested to the scientists that the same configural recognition process was at play.

The findings were published in PLOS One, and conclude that chimps have evolved to recognize butts instead of faces because they move in groups, which puts them at eye level with each others’ behinds. Not only that, but females rear ends often appear red and swollen during ovulation, meaning males have extra incentive in being able to identify them.

“The findings suggest an evolutionary shift in socio-sexual signaling function from behinds to faces, two hairless, symmetrical and attractive body parts, which might have attuned the human brain to process faces, and the human face to become more behind-like.”

Which makes sense…but is still kind of funny.

And something to think about the next time you’re staring at someone in the grocery store as you try to place them.

It’s awkward and everything, but it could be worse. You could be looking at their butt, instead.

The post No Two Butts Are Alike to Chimpanzees appeared first on UberFacts.

Ladies, Your Boobs Will Be Cool All Summer with These Freezable Bra Inserts

Ladies, listen up!

Can’t stand the summer heat mixed with boob sweat? Fret no more. There is a product out that will keep you cool and fresh even on the hottest days: Bra Coolers!

Forget about that gross line of perspiration that appears on your shirts, right under your bra line. And the best part is?

These Bra Coolers are made to fit all bra sizes! Yippee!

Photo Credit: Polar Products

A company called Polar Products, led by creator William Graessle, is revolutionizing the cooling garment game – it’s “a leading worldwide manufacturer of body cooling and hot/cold therapy products.”

Since the company’s inception in 1984, Graessle’s “cooling garments [have been] used worldwide to cool surgeons in hot operating rooms, workers in sweltering factory conditions, military personnel out in the field” and more. Those all sound like important uses for the technology, but let’s be real…boob sweat reduction is the future.

What are Bra Coolers?

Exactly as the name suggests, Bra Coolers are oval-shaped packs filled with a special cooling agent intended to be worn in your bra. Are you worried your nipples may freeze from contact? Nope! The cooling agent is set to stay at 58 degrees – just right.

They are made not to need a freezer around to chill them. Customers can use a refrigerator or even a cooler of ice water. Those hot days at a tailgate? No problem.

Each cooling pack maintains temperature for about two hours, depending on activity, breast size, and body metabolism.

What do they look like?

Photo Credit: Polar Products

Each order comes with four cooling packs and two cotton covers. The products are discrete enough to travel with, so you don’t have to worry about any undue embarrassment. So far Polar Products only has “light blue” covers available, but I suppose boob sweat doesn’t need fancy colors – leave that to your bras.

Since they come in a four-pack, you can keep an extra pair handy at home, at work (shhh…), or in a cooler on the way to an event.

Who would buy these?

Um? Every woman?

But if you need a more practical reason think pregnancy, PMS, menopause, or simply summer heat.

How much do Bra Coolers cost?

Don’t worry, you won’t need to sacrifice your first child or even your left breast. Bra Coolers are super affordable…like $37 and change, affordable. That breaks down to $18.50 per boob, which is a small price to pay for comfort.

So get your cooler packs now and go beat the summer heat.

The post Ladies, Your Boobs Will Be Cool All Summer with These Freezable Bra Inserts appeared first on UberFacts.

Indian Scientists Used Mango Leaves to Solve a $2.5 Trillion Global Shipping Problem

This is a fascinating story.

Sometimes, the solution to a $2.5 trillion problem is hiding in plain sight.

The global shipping industry has a major rusting problem that costs an estimated $2.5 trillion each year, per a study from the National Association of Corrosion Engineers. That’s a lot of money.

A team of Indian scientists has found one solution to the issue in the leaves of mango trees. They developed a compound from the leaves that protects ships from rusting in a cost-effective, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly way. Win-win-win!

The scientists picked mango leaves because they’re rich in antioxidants and high in polyphenols, which resist corrosion.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The compound has yet to be tested in the field, but it shows significant promise. It inhibits corrosion in commercial steel by 99% when immersed in a saline solution that is similar to seawater.

“This is a novel approach to dealing with the problem of corrosion but so far it has been tested only in simulated laboratory conditions rather than in actual use,” Nitya Nand Gosvami, assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, told QZ.

With more research, this new method could be proven to be vastly superior to the most widely accepted current methods, such as galvanizing with zinc or coating with epoxy-based paints.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

“What has been developed is a dip-coated method—we do not know the strength of this coating and its ability to resist wear and tear in real conditions outside the laboratory, or the commercial viability of the product,” Nitya explained.

Other plant-based methods for reducing corrosion are also under study, including date palm seed extract, ginger root extract, and an extract of seaweed and horsemint.

The post Indian Scientists Used Mango Leaves to Solve a $2.5 Trillion Global Shipping Problem appeared first on UberFacts.

Indian Scientists Used Mango Leaves to Solve a $2.5 Trillion Global Shipping Problem

This is a fascinating story.

Sometimes, the solution to a $2.5 trillion problem is hiding in plain sight.

The global shipping industry has a major rusting problem that costs an estimated $2.5 trillion each year, per a study from the National Association of Corrosion Engineers. That’s a lot of money.

A team of Indian scientists has found one solution to the issue in the leaves of mango trees. They developed a compound from the leaves that protects ships from rusting in a cost-effective, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly way. Win-win-win!

The scientists picked mango leaves because they’re rich in antioxidants and high in polyphenols, which resist corrosion.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

The compound has yet to be tested in the field, but it shows significant promise. It inhibits corrosion in commercial steel by 99% when immersed in a saline solution that is similar to seawater.

“This is a novel approach to dealing with the problem of corrosion but so far it has been tested only in simulated laboratory conditions rather than in actual use,” Nitya Nand Gosvami, assistant professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, told QZ.

With more research, this new method could be proven to be vastly superior to the most widely accepted current methods, such as galvanizing with zinc or coating with epoxy-based paints.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

“What has been developed is a dip-coated method—we do not know the strength of this coating and its ability to resist wear and tear in real conditions outside the laboratory, or the commercial viability of the product,” Nitya explained.

Other plant-based methods for reducing corrosion are also under study, including date palm seed extract, ginger root extract, and an extract of seaweed and horsemint.

The post Indian Scientists Used Mango Leaves to Solve a $2.5 Trillion Global Shipping Problem appeared first on UberFacts.

The Apollo 11 Astronauts Were Honored with Butter Sculptures at the Ohio State Fair

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing, the three astronauts on that mission are being honored with life-sized sculptures made out of butter at the Ohio State Fair.

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the moon and changed the course of history. The state of Ohio has a strong kinship with space travel: Neil Armstrong was an Ohio native and so was John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth. Ohio also has a long history of dairy production. Combine all those factors together and you get the magnificent butter display at this year’s Ohio State Fair.

If you are lucky enough to be able to go to the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, don’t miss the traditional “cow made out of…

Posted by Suellen Brady-Nugent on Thursday, July 25, 2019

Dairy farmers donated over 2,000 pounds of butter to help create the sculptures. An artist from Cincinnati named Paul Brooke and a team of sculptors spent 400-500 hours creating the buttery tributes in a cooler set at 46 degrees to prevent the pieces from melting.

Here’s a cool time-lapse video of the butter being sculpted:

Alexander Balz, one of the artists, said, “The space suits were a real challenge, to be honest. It’s easy to sculpt things that you know. When you sculpt a human being you memorize it, so this was a challenge.”

Roughly 500,000 people are expected to have attended the State Fair in late July and early August. Here’s a video with some great footage of the display.

What a unique and cool way to honor a pivotal event in American, and human, history!

And, by the way, I’m really hoping that this butter sculpting catches on more widely because it is fabulous.

The post The Apollo 11 Astronauts Were Honored with Butter Sculptures at the Ohio State Fair appeared first on UberFacts.

A roman scholar predicted microbiology…

A roman scholar predicted microbiology over 2000 years ago, writing “there are bred certain minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, but which float in the air and enter the body through the mouth and nose and cause serious diseases.”

Patients Share Jaw-Dropping Confessions About Their Stay in Mental Hospitals

There’s no shame in seeking help when your mental health is suffering. And sometimes that means you have to end up in a psychiatric ward for help.

If you believe the media and movies, these places are strange, scary, dangerous places… but is that the reality? At least the reality THESE days? Only people who have been inside know for sure.

These 20 confessions are from patients who’ve been institutionalized, and their stories will surprise you…

20. That’s a long time to feel like you’re not part of the world.

Photo Credit: Whisper

19. Hmmm, you probably didn’t have to lie about that…

Photo Credit: Whisper

18. I bet that’s a common feeling.

Photo Credit: Whisper

17. Damn.

Photo Credit: Whisper

16. So that happened!

Photo Credit: Whisper

15. That sounds exhausting…

Photo Credit: Whisper

14. Everybody deserves a chance to get well.

Photo Credit: Whisper

13. Haha… well, hope that didn’t fuck with people too much.

Photo Credit: Whisper

12. It gets better with treatment…

Photo Credit: Whisper

11. The world could use less judgement and shame. For real.

Photo Credit: Whisper

10. Good to know!

Photo Credit: Whisper

9. Hope it works out!

Photo Credit: Whisper

8. I can imagine that working in those places take their toll…

Photo Credit: Whisper

7. Make friends however you can…

Photo Credit: Whisper

6. Sorry it didn’t work out.

Photo Credit: Whisper

5. Glad you got better!

Photo Credit: Whisper

4. BFFs!

Photo Credit: Whisper

3. Join us…

Photo Credit: Whisper

2. Well, that’s probably true. But can you really live like that forever? Probably not.

Photo Credit: Whisper

1. Bummer. Sorry to see this.

Photo Credit: Whisper

Sounds like some serious shenanigans can happen in mental hospitals!

Who knew?

The post Patients Share Jaw-Dropping Confessions About Their Stay in Mental Hospitals appeared first on UberFacts.

In the Last Two Years, Scientists Have Discovered over 50 Species of Plastic-Eating Fungi

This is great news!

If you feel a pang of guilt every time you throw a piece of plastic away and start spiraling into anxiety about the impending climate apocalypse — here is some news that may brighten your day.

Plastic is infamous for its ability to pollute the environment for years and years without degrading. But because the planet is magical, there are certain organisms that can degrade plastic. Dozens and dozens of them, apparently.

In 2011, students at Yale discovered a plastic-eating fungus in Ecuador called Pestalotiopsis microspora. This fungus can digest polyurethane, even in an air-free environment (like the bottom of a landfill).

Photo Credit: iStock

This breakthrough was already good news, but as researchers continued to turn their attention to the subject, it became clear that Pestalotiopsis microspora is not unique among fungi in its ability to degrade plastic.

Researchers at Utrecht University were able to achieve a similar result with Oyster mushrooms and Split gill mushrooms in the lab; this process even resulted in an edible end product. In 2017, scientist Sehroon Khan and his team found another biodegrading fungus in a landfill in Pakistan called Asperillus tubigensis, which is capable of breaking down polyester polyurethane (packing foam).

Sehroon and his team went on to find over 50 other species of plastic-eating fungus since 2017.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Scientists still have a long way to go before this research is applicable on a large scale as a means of plastic recycling.

Still, this is proof that anything is possible here on Planet Earth. You never know where new solutions are going to come from.

The post In the Last Two Years, Scientists Have Discovered over 50 Species of Plastic-Eating Fungi appeared first on UberFacts.

This Is Why You Have Black Dots on the Edges of Your Car Windows

Know what I’m talking about?

Those black dots on car windshields and windows are something I’ve noticed, but I’ve never really thought about them. They’re just one of those things that exist in the background of my life, seemingly purposeless.

Except it turns out they actually do have a purpose.

I think we can all agree that windshields are important. Back in the day, windshields used to be held in place by metal frames. These days, windshields are held in place by adhesive. Obviously, it’s a really tough adhesive, but it still needs something to grip. That’s where the frit comes in.

The black band running around the edge of windows is called a frit. The frit is a band of ceramic paint that provides a better surface for the adhesive to stick to.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

That’s not the only reason for the frit, though. The frit also keeps UV rays from deteriorating the adhesive, ensuring that your windshield stays put.

That explains the black band, but what about those dots? Well, the dots actually do a few things. First, they provide a bit of shade, which is why there are extra dots behind your rear-view mirror. Second, they’re aesthetic. Glass manufacturers thought that the black dots would look a bit less jarring than just a plain black band.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

Third and perhaps most importantly, the dots help with the baking process. The black band heats faster than the clear glass, which could cause warping. The dots prevent that warping so your windshield stays clear.

Who knew those little black dots were so useful?

Oh, and those lines on your rear window? They’re for your rear defroster. They help spread the heat evenly.

The post This Is Why You Have Black Dots on the Edges of Your Car Windows appeared first on UberFacts.