Random Fact of the Day - Tumblr Edition

Did you know that sharks have organs called ampullae of Lorenzini that allow them to sense electric fields generated by the nervous systems of other fish? They appear as small dark spots on the snout of the fish. Other cartilaginous fish, as well as some bony fish have the organs. Platypus and echnida (which are mammals) have an unrelated ability to sense electric fields.

Did you know that bull sharks are able to regulate the amount of salt in their blood stream, thereby allowing them to live comfortably in fresh or salty water? Most fish are unable to do this, and cannot live in water with significantly different salinity. Other fish that can include salmon, some types of trout, stingrays, and lots of others.

Did you know that sharks and rays (and skates, which are very similar to rays) are distinct from almost all other vertebrates—animals with spines—since they have skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone?

Did you know that if the space probes currently going into interstellar space (Pioneer 1 & 2, Voyager 1 & 2, New Horizons), the Voyager probes are expected to run out of power in the later half of the 2020s, and the New Horizons in the 2030s? The Voyager probes will be further from the Sun when the mission ends, compared to New Horizons, at somewhere between 160-200 AU for Voyage 1 and 140-160 AU for Voyager 2 (1 AU is the mean distance from the Earth to the Sun).

Did you know that pistol dueling was an Olympic demonstration sport in 1908, as well as a full sport in the semi-official 1906 Intercallated Olympics? The contestants in 1908 fired at dummy targets, and in 1906 they used rubber bullets and padding so duelists were mostly safe.

Did you know that Sneek is a city in Friesland in the Netherlands, and is the 3rd largest city in the province with 33,000 residents?

Did you know that the 1918 H1N1 pandemic, also known as the Spanish Flu pandemic, was unusual due to being more lethal for people with healthy immune systems (e.g. young adults) compared to people with impaired immune systems (e.g. the elderly)? This is due to the virus causing a “cytokine storm,” an overreaction of the immune system, which is more dangerous with a stronger immune system.