Telomers and telomerase

This one was a bit more challenging than other FancyFacts. When explaining telomers and telomerase it is easy to explain it so simply, that what is being explained, is not actually accurate, and that leads to misunderstandings. But this is a complex matter, and explaining…

Lab-grown minibrains

My scanner is up! Well, for now.. Imagine having money.. Anyway, here we have the long awaited (or something) brain post! A few people were worried I was going to do something mean to the brain, but no, It’s just a happy brain in a…

What are lichens?

When I as considering this one, I thought maybe I shouldn’t make it, because it’s rather common knowledge, right?  “Because everyone knows that lichens are made up of.. eh..  ” and then I realized that I actually forgot it, so at least I have made…

Mother of the year octopus

I love octopuses, they are astounding, but this surprised me. How many times can one creature make me go “whaaat? That’s crazy. I will never learn enough about these guys. Check it out: https://futurism.com/scientists-discover-longest-living-and-longest-brooding-octopus-guards-eggs-for-4-5-years#:~:text=The%20title%20goes%20to%20the,just%20one%20to%20two%20years (last accessed 31.08.2021)

Fire pine cones

You would think forest fires were just terrible, and nothing good could come from them. Apparently, this pine cone disagrees. Learn more: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/BOREASFire https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/ecological-benefits-fire/ (Sites last accessed 27.08.2021)

Pomato

If you want to grow your own pomato plant, you can find instructions here: https://plantinstructions.com/vegetables/what-is-a-pomato-plant-and-how-to-grow-it/ (last accessed 16.07.2021) You can read more about the science behind grafting here: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/the-science-of-pomato-plants-and-fruit-salad-trees/ (last accessed 16.07.2021)

Sperm whales

Saw a picture of this earlier today, it looks really weird 😛 Take a look at this: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/sperm-whales-nap-sleeping-photography-spd and this: https://www.livescience.com/59910-sleeping-sperm-whales.html (Last accessed 13.07.2021)

Chicken heads

They do look funny. This is also why they bob their head when they walk, they stick out their neck and then the rest of the body follows to “catch up ” with it. Learn more: http://www.cogsci.nl/blog/stabilizing-vision-do-the-chicken-head.html (They are citing this book: Land, M.F., &…

Mitosis vs meiosis (+ some terms)

Okey, it is finally done! And not all that pretty, but whatever. This is the first one that I have split in two, but I think that was necessary. I have posted a detailed mitosis one before, illustrating the different steps, but I wanted to…

Soapy cilantro

I suppose a lot of people already know this one, but I figured it would be fun for those who didn’t, and also nice to have something we can shove in someone’s face if they should disagree that cilantro is inherently nasty. Oh, and also…