Have you ever heard of the pistol shrimp? They have to be one of the most amazing animals we’ve never heard of! Here's 5 fun facts about them:

🦐 Did you know that pistol shrimp can create sonic blasts louder than a gunshot? They have asymmetric claws, and their larger claw is very specialized and can snap so fast that it creates a bubble that can travel up to 60 mph and, when it pops, creates a shockwave that's louder than a gunshot! A gunshot is usually around 170 decibels, but the pistol shrimp's pop can reach 210 decibels! The pressure is strong enough to kill small fish and even break glass.

🦐 Hot bubbles! When the bubble from the pistol shrimp's snapping claw pops, it reaches temperatures up to 8,600°F! That's almost as hot as the surface temperature of the Sun (9,930°F)! In fact, the snap is so powerful that it creates flashes of light (called sonoluminescence)!

🦐 They're noisy! When pistol shrimp live in colonies, their snapping can interfere with sonar and other underwater communications. In fact, they're considered by some to be a major source of sound in the ocean!

🦐 As powerful as they are, they have extremely poor eyesight. As a result, they often form symbiotic relationships with other creatures, especially goby fish, which can act as their eyes. When the goby fish see a threat, they alert the pistol shrimp with a movement of their tail.

🦐 Their claws regenerate! If a pistol shrimp ever loses its snapping claw, its smaller claw will grow into a new snapping claw, while the shrimp regenerates a new, smaller claw.

There’s a lot of fascinating creatures hidden in the ocean!

Did you know that space smells like seared steak?

After spacewalks, when they return to the airlock and remove their helmets, astronauts have often shared that their suits and equipment smelled like seared steak! They’ve also described it as smelling like hot metal, welding fumes, or even spent gunpowder.

Scientists think the smell comes from the high-energy particles and atomic oxygen (created when ultraviolet rays from the sun split oxygen molecules into single oxygen atoms) which stick to their suits and trigger chemical reactions. NASA even recreated this scent to help with astronaut training! You can read more about it here.

Are bats really as “blind as a bat”?

One common belief is that bats are blind - hence the “blind as a bat!” And while bats use echolocation (emitting high-frequency sounds that bounce off of objects and their surroundings) to navigate in complete darkness, they actually have excellent eyesight! Here’s some examples:

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”

Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was probably one of the most famous and recognizable physicists of modern times who fundamentally changed how we understand space, time, and gravity. Besides his theory of relativity, he also published papers on the photoelectric effect, for which he won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics. He was also a passionate advocate for civil rights and global peace.

Four animals are suspects in a jungle jewel theft: a zebra, monkey, parrot, and a snake. Each gives a statement. Only one of them is telling the truth.