The dying oak tree we had to take down is now hosting new life in the form of mushrooms, moss and lichen (themselves a symbiosis of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria). Life uh...finds a way

He does an excellent job presenting the complex science so that a lay reader can understand its importance, presenting scientific thought in its historical context, conveying the sheer wonder he feels at the complexity and beauty of nature, and even ending on a hopeful view of the future. Beautiful!

Pottery! Detailed descriptions of throwing, carving, etc, as my protagonist makes a piece that I also made in real life. Hope other people find it as interesting as I do. 😅

Love it!

Right?! Like even just being able to sense the light of the Milky Way is nuts...actually using it to navigate somehow is...a whole other level.

I missed a few but I did my best! I have gone to as many weird science facts panels as I could because I love collecting these tidbits.

The most matriarchal mammalian society is the spotted hyena. The females have more testosterone than the males and an enlarged clitoris larger than the male's equipment, which is also their birthing canal. 😱

Chickens only ever have one working ovary and it is always the left one. Roosters crow at 140 decibels (jet engine level) and have a flap in their ear that closes when they do so in order to not deafen themselves.

Crocodilians are one of the most ancient lineages of reptile. They have an intense bite force, but the muscles that open the jaw are very weak. So just don't let them open their mouth!

Hippos sweat a red fluid, but it is not blood. It acts as an antibiotic, sunscreen and insect repellant.

Hippos are very muscular, with 2% body fat. They are so dense they cannot swim, they run along the bottom of the river and jump to breath.

The smallest reptile in the world is the nano chameleon. It can sit on a sunflower seed. The smallest (known) vertebrate is the Brazilian flea toad. 3 of them can sit on a sunflower seed.

The smallest mammal in the world is the bumblebee bat and the smallest bird is the bee hummingbird.

Herring communicate by passing gas and clicking so mechanically that during the Cold War, Sweden spent a lot of money trying to find Russian submarines that were just herring schools.

The 2nd most expensive naturally occurring liquid is scorpion venom. The most expensive is champion racehorse semen at $49 million/gallon.

Greenland sharks live up to 510 years and are pregnant for 8-18 years.