Nature — Page 4
Natural phenomena
204 facts
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…
A sundog is a type of rainbow that appears at night.
A sundog, or parhelion, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that appears during the day, usually when the Sun is low…
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 Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish is immortal.
The Turritopsis dohrnii, a jellyfish a few millimetres long, can reverse its life cycle to the polyp stage when under…
The lenticel is the name of the small opening in the leaf through which the plant breathes.
The lenticel is a small opening in the epidermis of woody plants that allows gas exchange between the interior of the…
The Hyperion redwood is the tallest tree in the world.
The Hyperion redwood is a California redwood about 115.9 metres tall, the tallest in the world. It was discovered in…
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…
Snow rollers are man-made.
Snow rollers are natural cylinders formed when wind rolls up layers of fresh, moist snow on the ground. They can…
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…
Light pillars are caused by lightning.
Light pillars are vertical columns of light that appear in the sky when sunlight or moonlight is reflected by ice…
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…
Bacteria do not survive in clouds.
Bacteria can survive in clouds and even play a role in the formation of rain and snow. Some species, such as…
Bamboo can grow up to 91 centimetres per day.
Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant in the world. Some species can grow up to 91 centimetres in a single day, or…
Volcanic lightning can occur during eruptions and is called dirty thunderstorms.
During an eruption, the ash and gases expelled create friction and separation of electrical charges, generating…
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…
Bananas are slightly radioactive due to their potassium content.
Bananas contain potassium-forty, a naturally occurring radioactive isotope. However, the amount is so small that you…
Trees communicate and share nutrients through underground fungal networks.
Known as the mycorrhizal network, this symbiosis between roots and fungi allows trees to exchange carbon, water, and…
The smell of freshly cut grass is actually a chemical distress signal emitted by plants to warn their neighbors.
When cut, grass releases volatile organic compounds that alert nearby plants to activate their defenses against…
Fungi share a more recent common ancestor with animals than they do with plants.
Genetic analyses show that fungi and animals diverged from a common unicellular ancestor after it had already…
The Sahara Desert was once a lush, green savanna with large lakes and rivers, as evidenced by ancient rock art and geological data.
Changes in Earth's orbit altered monsoon patterns thousands of years ago, gradually transforming this fertile region…
Octopuses have two hearts that pump blood to the gills and a third that sends it to the rest of the body.
This unique circulatory structure allows the octopus to maintain an efficient oxygen supply, even when one of the…
The largest living organism on the planet is an Armillaria fungus in Oregon, covering nearly ten square kilometers under the forest.
Known as the giant honey mushroom, this fungus spreads through a vast underground network of mycelium that may be…