Happy Wednesday!
Think you have what it takes to terraform Mars? See how your choices compare with those of real scientists!
Here’s what we’ve got this week:
TRIVIA
Living fossil 🌲
How old is the oldest tree in the world?
Explanation at the end!
ANIMAL FOCUS
Jaguars 🐆
Meet one of nature’s most powerful predators! Jaguars can swim, climb trees, and even crush bones with their jaws!
Jaguars have the strongest bite of any cat! Their bite is 3 times stronger than a lion’s, and they can even bite through bones and turtle shells! 🦴
Jaguars love water! Unlike most cats, they are excellent swimmers and often hunt and fish in rivers and wetlands. They can swim more than 1.5 miles without stopping! 🐟
Every jaguar has unique spots! Scientists use these spots to tell jaguars apart, just like fingerprints! Their spots also help them blend into the rainforest’s patchy sunlight and shadows. 🔍
Jaguars eat almost anything! They’ve been seen eating more than 85 different kinds of animals, including deer, monkeys, reptiles, fish, birds, and rodents! 🦌
Jaguars can leap the length of a small bus! They can leap 20 feet and jump up to 12 feet in the air. In fact, the name “jaguar” comes from an Indigenous word meaning “he who kills with one leap.” 🚌
EVER WONDER?
Why do we hiccup? 🤷
What are hiccups? 🫤
Your diaphragm is the large muscle below your lungs that helps you breathe.
Sometimes the nerve that controls your diaphragm gets irritated. When this happens, the diaphragm suddenly tightens. Right after that, your vocal cords close quickly, making the “hic” sound.
What causes hiccups? 🥤
Hiccups can happen when you:
Eat too much or too fast
Drink soda or other carbonated drinks
Swallow air when chewing gum
Drink something very cold on a hot day
How to make hiccups stop 🛑
Most hiccups are harmless and stop on their own after a few minutes. If they don’t go away, tell a parent or talk to a doctor.
Some common tricks to stop them include:
Holding your breath
Drinking cold water
Swallowing a spoonful of sugar
These tricks may change your breathing and help stop hiccups.
PICKS OF THE WEEK
🐟 Clownfish can erase their stripes
🥦 How to get kids to eat veggies
🧂 What is salt and how is it made?
BRAIN TRIVIA
Code breakers: Can you find the 4-digit code? Use the numbers 1-9 with no repeats:
4 2 3 5 - 1 digit is correct and in the correct position
8 1 7 6 - 2 digits are correct but in the wrong positions
2 7 5 1 - None of the digits are correct
4 3 2 7 - 1 digit is correct but in the wrong position
6 1 2 8 - 2 digits are correct and in the correct positions
Jilanfeng Dai | Capture the Dark 2025
Thanks for reading! See you next time!
- Steve
P.S. Methuselah, a 4,857-year-old pine tree, started growing around 2833 BC!
P.P.S. Have an animal or science question you want us to feature? Just hit ‘Reply’ and tell us!