Resistance collection
I’m still working on the new web page, and I have 7 new paintings that I’m looking forward to showing everyone. In the meantime, I put together my illustrations of the four main resistance mechanisms of bacteria. I like to have things like this in…
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)
Coconuts
Floating seeds has helped the coconut to spread to lots of far reaching places. To facilitate this they have also become slow-germinating to avoid the new palm to sprout in the middle of the ocean. Since coconut palms are super-useful for humans, providing materials for…
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., &…