The stat of the week:
Did you know that
the average American eats 13 pounds of ice cream a year?
In today’s post:
TRIVIA OF THE WEEK
What weighs more?
(Explanation at the end of the newsletter)
5 FACTS
Starfish don’t have brains or blood? ⭐️
Starfish are an often overlooked keystone species. Check out these fun facts:
Starfish can push their stomachs out of their bodies to eat! This helps them digest food that’s too big for their mouths, like mussels or clams. When they’re done, they pull their stomachs back in. 🍽️
They can regrow their entire body! If an arm gets cut off, it can crawl away and grow into a brand-new starfish! 🌱
Some species of starfish have up to 40 arms! Having more arms helps them move, grab food, and hunt more easily. 💪
Starfish don’t have brains! Instead, they have a simple nervous system that spreads through their entire bodies and arms, helping them sense danger, coordinate movements like opening clam shells, and explore their surroundings. 🧠
Starfish don’t have blood! Instead, they pump seawater through their bodies to carry nutrients, oxygen, and remove waste. 🩸
Watch a starfish push its stomach into a mussel to eat it:
DID YOU KNOW?
Does the cold actually make you sick? ❄️
It feels like everyone gets sick in the winter. But what’s really going on?
Cold weather itself doesn’t make you sick. Colds and the flu come from viruses which spread through tiny droplets in the air or by touching things. However, winter does make it easier for these viruses to spread:
Viruses survive longer in cold, dry air. This helps them stay floating around where people can breathe them in. 🧣
People stay indoors more. Being inside and close together gives viruses more chances to spread from person to person. 🏠
We get less sunlight in winter. That means our bodies make less vitamin D, which we need to help keep our immune system strong. ☀️
Heaters dry out the air. Dry air makes our mucus less sticky and protective. Mucus normally traps viruses before they can enter our bodies. 👃
Source: The Conversation
PICK OF THE WEEK
Video tour of the Space Station! 🛰️
Ever wonder what it’s like to live on the Space station?
Fun facts about the Space Station:
People have lived on the space station non-stop since 2000! 🕰️
The station circles Earth every 90 minutes! 🌎
Astronauts get to see 16 sunsets and sunrises every day! 🌅
Astronaut Frank Rubio holds the record for longest time in space: 371 days! 📆