Koko was probably the most famous real-life primate of all time. That’s because she was remarkable. Koko was a gorilla who learned to communicate with human beings through the use of sign language. Last week, Koko died at the age of 46—here’s a look back at her remarkable life. Birth Koko was specifically a western […]
The animal kingdom has its champions, too. A safari through YouTube’s wildlife clips reveals some fascinating and surprising records and some incredible footage from the wild world. (This article was first published in YouTube: World Records.) Monkey Business About 98 percent of their genome is identical to humans, so it is not surprising that chimpanzees are […]
There is plenty of kitten action and a lot of celebrity cats on YouTube, but not many make the record books. Here’s a select few who are on the road to purr-fection. (This article was first published in YouTube: World Records.) Fluffy Sweater Alley, a stray cat, was adopted after she was found looking frail and nervous […]
Who’s a good blog entry full of facts about puppies and dogs? These are! Yes they are! Puppies at Birth Puppies are born without teeth, sight, and hearing. (Those come at about two weeks old.) Nor can they regulate body temperature or know how to expel body waste. The first sense they develop is touch, […]
Here is a celebration of one of the world’s most adorable, fascinating, and endangered creatures. Size In pictures and in videos—spending an afternoon in a panda wormhole on YouTube is a fine way to waste a few hours—pandas look like they’re about the size of a stuffed teddy bear, or a dog. They’re actually much […]
Dogs’ noses are wondrous things. Their acute sense of smell enables them to be trained to detect bombs and drugs, and find earthquake survivors. But it also makes them fine-tuned to human emotions, strengthening the bond between dog and owner and helping them serve as therapeutic companions to those in distress. (This article was first […]
Toilets: Is there anything they can’t do? New York Harbor doesn’t exactly have the reputation of being the cleanest body of water in the world. It borders the overpopulated, smoggy, Big Apple, and for decades has been besieged by pollutants and poor sewage management. You wouldn’t find much fish in there today, but even if […]
A total solar eclipse, already titled the Great American Eclipse, will be visible in the sky on August 21, 2017. Or rather, nothing else will be visible because it’s going to block out the sun. There are actually different categories of solar eclipses. For example, a partial solar eclipse happens when a portion of the […]
Humans aren’t the only creatures with fathers, of course—we’re just the only ones with an official Father’s Day where we buy them gifts to thank them. Here are some other proud poppas from the realm of the animals. Seahorses It’s one of those well-known pieces of trivia that among seahorses it’s the males who bear […]
Uncle John knows pretty much everything—and if he doesn’t, he heads his massive research library, or puts one of his many associates on the case. So go ahead: In the comments below, ask Uncle John anything. (And if we answer your question sometime, we’ll send you a free book!)
Be kind to animals—the life they save may be…yours. Captain Kangaroo In 2003 Leonard Richards, 52, was checking his Tanjil South, Australia, emu farm for storm damage when a tree branch came crashing down on his head and knocked him out. Luckily for Richards, Lulu, his pet kangaroo who “thinks she’s a dog,” was following […]
Seafaring was a major foundation of the world economy in the 1700s and 1800s because of whaling. Hunting whales and processing their fat, teeth, and other parts into useful goods was extremely important and profitable. (So much so that whales are now mostly endangered.) Whaling is now banned virtually worldwide, but here’s a look back […]
The key to treating to metabolic disease that affects more than 20 million Americans may lie inside the stomach of the duck-billed platypus. There are already many unique things about the platypus, the furry little creatures native to Australia. For example, it’s semi-aquatic, meaning it spends some of its time on land, and some in […]
That headline is not a joke. There’s something weird going on in Scandinavia that involves reindeer, and unfortunately it doesn’t involve Santa, red noses, or delivering presents to all the children of the world. Here’s a freak story of the powerful effects of weather and electricity. A recent thunderstorm in Norway killed 323 reindeer (including […]
A full moon is never just a full moon. For while they happen semi-regularly—about once a month, usually in the middle—where it falls in the year gives each full moon a special distinction. These originated primarily in New England, where many come Algonquin tribes passed them along to European settlers.
These spider facts are more scared of you than you are of them. SPIDERS ARE SNEAKY! Ever seen a newborn spider? No? That’s because they’re colorless (and tiny), making them virtually invisible to predators…and you. Hundreds can colonize your home and by the time you realize it, they’re all fully grown. THEY CAN SEE YOU! […]
We hope these heifer-vescent cow facts really m-o-o-o-o-ve you. (1) The first American cows arrived with the British in 1611 at the Jamestown colony. (2) It takes about 350 “squirts” to make a gallon of milk. (3) How can you tell how old a cow is? Count the rings on her horns. (4) Cows were […]
Some interesting facts about America’s favorite pastime—lawn care. (And when you’re done with reading this, get out there and start mowing.) An average lawn has six grass plants per square inch. That’s 850 per square foot— which can contain as many as 3,000 individual blades of grass. There are 50 million lawn mowers in use […]
