Science+Nature: Weird Science

Do you ever stop to think about how weird the world around you is? Why does your little sister wake up with frizzy hair that can’t be tamed? Why does your dog try to eat poo in the park? And why can’t you get that song out of your head? It’s all down to science! This book will delve into answering all the questions you have about the most bizarre animal habits, incredible human abilities, odd jobs and strange science. Find out how animals mimic plants, why some humans can hear in colour and what it’s like to be a water slide designer. We’ve also included some puzzles to get your brain ticking and fun experiments to try out yourself. You’ll soon see science is more than just test tubes…

Science is all around us and there are lots of weird and wonderful discoveries being made all the time, like how to get bubbles into bubble tea and why some insect stings hurt more than others. So why not have a go yourself? The scientific method is a simple way scientists study and learn things about the world, and anyone can use it. Start by thinking of a question that you really want to know the answer to, beginning with a word like ‘why’, ‘what’ or ‘how’. Next, come up with at least one guess (called a hypothesis) of what the answer might be. This could be based on something you see or find out. Then run an experiment to discover if your guess is right and create a graph…

Compared to eager-to-please dogs, cats are often seen as unemotional, inexpressive animals. However, cat-loving scientists have been working to overturn this bad reputation. According to a new study, cats might be more expressive than you think and are able to pull almost 300 distinct faces. This discovery was made by Lauren Scott and Brittany Florkiewicz at the University of California in Los Angeles, US. From June to August 2021, Scott spent time filming 54 moggies at a cat café, where customers can interact with friendly felines. In total, Scott gathered 194 minutes of video footage, focusing in particular on the faces that cats made to each other. She then studied her films with Florkiewicz, an expert in how animals think and feel. Together, the researchers found that cats have 276…

Human eyes may differ in colour and strength of vision, but otherwise they’re all the same size and work the same way. However, in the animal kingdom there is a wide range of weird and wacky eyes – from peepers the size of dinner plates to ones that can look in two directions at once. Let’s eyeball some amazing eyeballs. No matter how many carrots you eat, you’ll never be able to see as well in the dark as an owl; but why do owls have such good night vision? Like humans, an owl’s retina (a layer of light-sensitive cells at the back of an eye that sends messages to the brain) is made up of two types of cells called cones and rods. Rod cells are sensitive to light,…

Stop copying me! If you’ve ever had a sibling or friend copy everything you do, then you know how annoying it can be. However, for some animals, mimicry – the ability to imitate another species – is key to their survival. One of the most successful animal mimics are the Phasmids, otherwise known as stick insects. These are insects which, as far back as 126 million years ago, evolved to look like sticks. This allows them to blend in perfectly with the trees, and avoid being spotted by predators. Astonishingly, there are around 3,000 species of these so-called “walking sticks”. As well as defence, animals also use mimicry to lure prey. An insect called a katydid imitates a female cicada to respond to the mating call of a male cicada.…

You’ve probably heard of a hybrid (the cross-breed offspring of two different species) in films or books. The centaurs in the Harry Potter films are hybrids of human and horse; the Minotaur is a man–bull from Ancient Greek mythology. Did you know that hybrids appear in the natural world, too? Hybridisation occurs in both plants and animals. Living things – especially plants – will naturally hybridise in the wild, and many plants that people eat, from strawberries to beets, carrots, corn and potatoes, have been created by hybridisation. Cross-breeding sometimes occurs when animal’s normal territory overlaps, due to habitat destruction or changing climate. The “grolar bear” (aka “pizzly bear”) is a hybrid that happens when grizzly and polar bears mate. As the environment warms, grizzlies in Alaska and Canada roam…