The blue whale is renowned as the Earth’s largest animal, taking that title today by quite some distance. That holds true even stretching back through time as these enormous marine mammals are even bigger than some of the largest of the dinosaurs.How Big Is a Blue Whale?(Credit: Ajit S N/Shutterstock)The largest blue whale ever found stretched 33 meters (108 feet) and was caught by whalers in the early 1900s. Usually, however, they can range between 24 and 30 meters (78-98 feet) in length, dep ...read more
Bite force is the amount of pressure and force in an animal’s bite. It’s measured in psi (pounds per square inch). But no matter the unit of measurement when these mega-predators chomp down, you’d better hope you’re not on the receiving end of it. Just to give you some perspective, the bite force of a measly human is just 162 psi. Here are some animals with the strongest bite force. 1. Nile Crocodiles — 5000 PSI(Credit: KateShots/Shutterstock) Nile crocodiles are the second largest ...read more
After delivering a guest lecture on sticklebacks, an unfamiliar fish caught Stanford University researcher David Kingsley’s eye. When he walked past an aquarium at the Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratory, a strange aquatic creature stopped him in his tracks.“I did this huge double take because I looked in this one tank, and there was one of the weirdest fish I've ever seen,” says Kingsley. “It had the body of a fish, the wings of a bird, and it was walking along the bottom of the tank o ...read more
Under warm summer conditions, the sea ice stretching across much of the Arctic Ocean shriveled much more dramatically than it did during cooler summers of decades past, the National Snow and Ice Data Center has reported."While it wasn’t a new record low, this year’s sea ice minimum is yet another example of a changed Arctic environment," said Walt Meier, an NSIDC senior research scientist.Every year, the Arctic's floating sea ice shrinks under summer warmth, typically reaching a minimum exte ...read more
The mournful eyes, the lingering stares, the sad sighs. Many pet parents leave the house each day with a dog or cat watching somberly from the window.Social scientists have found that pet owners experience ongoing guilt about wanting to do better for their animals. Researchers have called it an understudied topic that needs to be better considered, particularly as more workers are called back into the office full-time. Why Owners Feel Guilty About Leaving Their PetsPsychologist Lori Kogan felt ...read more
Author Vishay SinghPosted on Categories Discover Magazine