Nature — Page 2

A single lightning bolt has enough energy to toast 100,000 slices of bread.

A typical lightning bolt carries about 1 billion joules of energy. That energy would be enough to toast about 100,000…

The Petrified Forest in Arizona has tree trunks more than 200 million years old.

The Petrified Forest in Arizona contains tree trunks that lived more than 200 million years ago, in the Triassic…

A rainbow is actually a complete circle, although we usually only see half of it.

Rainbows are complete circles formed by the refraction of light in raindrops. From the ground, we only see the upper…

The fire rainbow is a rare atmospheric phenomenon caused by ice crystals.

The fire rainbow, also called a circumhorizontal arc, has nothing to do with fire. It is an optical phenomenon caused…

Morning Glory clouds form in Australia and can be up to a thousand kilometres long.

Morning Glory clouds are cylindrical rolls that form in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, and can stretch for more…

Fireflies produce light without heat, with over 90 percent efficiency.

Fireflies produce light through a chemical reaction called bioluminescence, in which the enzyme luciferase acts on…

A saguaro cactus can live more than 150 years and grow 12 metres tall.

The saguaro, native to the Sonora Desert, is the tallest cactus in the United States. It grows very slowly, reaching…

The pyrosome is a colony of creatures that glows in the ocean.

The pyrosome is a cylindrical colony of small organisms called zooids, which join together to form a larger creature…

Petrified wood is wood that has turned to stone.

Petrified wood forms when wood is buried in volcanic ash or silica-rich sediments. Over time, minerals replace the…

Some sand dunes produce sound when the wind makes them slide.

Singing dunes, such as those in the Mojave Desert, emit a low-pitched sound similar to distant thunder when the sand…

Orchids of the genus Ophrys imitate the scent of female bees to attract males.

Ophrys orchids produce pheromones identical to those of female bees. Males, attracted by the smell, try to mate with…

Most tornadoes last less than 15 minutes.

Most tornadoes last less than 15 minutes, although some can last more than an hour. The longest tornado ever recorded…

A lichen is a partnership between a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium.

Lichens are organisms composed of a fungus and an alga or cyanobacterium. The fungus provides shelter and minerals…

The Catatumbo lightning in Venezuela occurs almost every night for half the year.

The Catatumbo lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs at the mouth of the Catatumbo River in Venezuela…

There are formations of snow and ice in the shape of sharp blades called penitentes.

Penitentes are formations of snow and ice that resemble blades or needles pointing towards the Sun. They form at high…

Fire tornadoes can form during wildfires.

Fire tornadoes, or fire whirls, form when hot air from flames rises and creates a vortex. These whirls can reach…

The titanoboa was the largest snake that ever existed.

The titanoboa, which lived about 60 million years ago, could reach 13 metres in length and weigh more than a tonne…

The Brocken spectre is a person's own shadow magnified in the mist.

The Brocken spectre is an optical phenomenon in which the observer's shadow is projected onto mist or cloud…

Lightning can be several kilometres long.

Lightning can extend over several kilometres between the cloud and the ground or within the cloud itself. In 2020…

The aurora borealis is a purely visual phenomenon and does not emit any sound.

Auroras can emit sounds, although faint. Finnish scientists have identified that the sounds, described as crackles or…

Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in the atmosphere and glow at night.

These clouds form in the mesosphere, about 80 kilometres altitude, where temperatures are extremely low. They are…

Ants do not have lungs, breathing through small holes in their bodies called spiracles.

Oxygen enters the ant's body directly through a network of tubes called tracheae, distributing air to all cells…

Some species of bamboo can grow up to ninety-one centimeters in a single day, making them the fastest-growing plants in the world.

Unlike trees, bamboo grows from the top rather than the trunk, allowing it to reach its maximum height in a few weeks…

The Venus flytrap counts the number of times its trigger hairs are touched before closing the trap.

This carnivorous plant requires at least two touches within a short time frame to close, an evolutionary mechanism…