Orbit Knowledge
Honey Found in 3,000-Year-Old Tombs Is Still EdibleNew
Pots of honey found in ancient Egyptian tombs stay preserved for thousands of years. The reason is a three part defense bees build into every jar: very little water, natural acidity near pH 4, and a small steady supply of hydrogen peroxide.
-
Orbit KnowledgeBananas Are Berries. Strawberries Are Not.New
Is it a myth? Botanists say no. A berry must grow from one flower with one ovary and hold its seeds inside three fleshy layers. The banana passes that test. The strawberry, an aggregate accessory fruit whose red flesh is a swollen flower base, does not.
-
Orbit KnowledgeWombats Poop Cubes, and Their Intestines Mold Every CornerNew
The bare-nosed wombat is the only known animal that makes cube shaped droppings, up to 100 a day. A study in the journal Soft Matter found the cubes form in the last 17 percent of the intestine, where stiff and soft tissue squeeze at different speeds.
-
Orbit KnowledgeA Day on Venus Is Longer Than a Year on VenusNew
Venus takes 243 Earth days to spin once and only 225 Earth days to circle the Sun, according to NASA. It also spins backward, so the Sun would rise in the west, and a sunrise comes only once every 117 Earth days.
-
Orbit KnowledgeSharks Are Older Than Trees by Tens of Millions of YearsNew
The earliest shark scales date to about 450 million years ago, and the oldest undisputed ones to about 420 million years ago. The oldest known forest is about 385 million years old. Sharks were already ancient when the first tree stood up.