What is the weirdest thing in science and nature that you know?

[Doc Dan]

What is the weirdest thing in science and nature that you know about? One thing I find weird and fascinating is that there is a type of fungus that makes zombies out of ants before it eats them. It literally introduces mind control chemicals into the ant's brain and forces the ant to do its bidding. It sounds like science fiction but it is real.

[Mushroom]

I guess something I know that I can add to your fact is that the fungus you described is called Cordyceps and there are actually hundreds of unique different kinds of cordyceps that infect a variety of insects and animals. Some cordyceps are even used medicinally.

[soc_monki]

To me the weirdest thing in nature is life itself! Think about it. The big bang, billions of years pass and stars and planets form and die. Over time proteins and amino acids form, simple life comes into being. A long, long path of evolution ensues and somehow, some way, by chance WE and all life as we know it evolves to what we see today. It's just amazing (and painful!) to think about!

We are the manifestation of the universe, attempting to know itself. It's breathtaking in my opinion, and weird. I mean, what is life? Yea, it's early, I haven't had enough coffee, but I often ponder what would have happened if just one little thing happened differently. Where would we be? Would humans have even made it? How did we come to create all this wonderful technology? Why do I love knives so much?

I wonder if the answer really is 42?....

[bearfacedkiller]

The universe is an ongoing explosion. That is where you live. In an explosion.

We have no idea what living actually is. Sometimes when atoms get arranged in a certain way they get haunted.

That’s us. When an explosion explodes hard enough dust wakes up and thinks about itself.

The weirdest thing is that all of this even exists in the first place.

[legOFwhat?]

...that you can ignite a left cheek sneak :p

[Naperville]

Black Holes are weird, scary and have more mass than anything we can possibly imagine. But that isn't the weirdest thing in science and nature that I know.

The weirdest thing in science and nature that I know is that in some galaxies there may be intelligent life that can see with the naked eye neighboring solar systems getting devoured by a nearby black hole. How terrifying that must be.....

[RustyIron]

The universe is an ongoing explosion. That is where you live. In an explosion.

We have no idea what living actually is. Sometimes when atoms get arranged in a certain way they get haunted.

That’s us. When an explosion explodes hard enough dust wakes up and thinks about itself.

The weirdest thing is that all of this even exists in the first place.

Eloquent words there, hoss. I had to google that, and think I came up with the original source. Is that guy you?

[bearfacedkiller]

The universe is an ongoing explosion. That is where you live. In an explosion.

We have no idea what living actually is. Sometimes when atoms get arranged in a certain way they get haunted.

That’s us. When an explosion explodes hard enough dust wakes up and thinks about itself.

The weirdest thing is that all of this even exists in the first place.

Eloquent words there, hoss. I had to google that, and think I came up with the original source. Is that guy you?

No sir. I follow a bunch of philosophy pages on IG and came across that gem. I spend too much time thinking about the absurdity of existence. :)

[Doc Dan]

I wonder if the answer really is 42?....

It must be because a really big computer calculated it over a very long time. 6 to the first power + 6 to the second power = 42.

[soc_monki]

The universe is an ongoing explosion. That is where you live. In an explosion.

We have no idea what living actually is. Sometimes when atoms get arranged in a certain way they get haunted.

That’s us. When an explosion explodes hard enough dust wakes up and thinks about itself.

The weirdest thing is that all of this even exists in the first place.

Eloquent words there, hoss. I had to google that, and think I came up with the original source. Is that guy you?

No sir. I follow a bunch of philosophy pages on IG and came across that gem. I spend too much time thinking about the absurdity of existence. :)

To quote someone famous... "we're all made of star stuff!"

[James Y]

The vastness of nature itself. As far as our knowledge and technologies have advanced and how jaded we often become, that there is still, and always will be, far more about nature/this universe than we will ever know.

Jim

[Pokey]

...that you can ignite a left cheek sneak :p

Really!

My car runs on compressed natural gas, (mostly methane,) and it's Octane rating is about 130. Hard stuff to light off. :D

[legOFwhat?]

...that you can ignite a left cheek sneak :p

Really!

My car runs on compressed natural gas, (mostly methane,) and it's Octane rating is about 130. Hard stuff to light off. :D

"pyroflatulence flatus ignition or fire breathing dragon" Ah yes, the things you find on Wikipedia when you are bored:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fart_lighting :D

[bearfacedkiller]

The universe is an ongoing explosion. That is where you live. In an explosion.

We have no idea what living actually is. Sometimes when atoms get arranged in a certain way they get haunted.

That’s us. When an explosion explodes hard enough dust wakes up and thinks about itself.

The weirdest thing is that all of this even exists in the first place.

Eloquent words there, hoss. I had to google that, and think I came up with the original source. Is that guy you?

No sir. I follow a bunch of philosophy pages on IG and came across that gem. I spend too much time thinking about the absurdity of existence. :)

To quote someone famous... "we're all made of star stuff!"

Yes! I have a Carl Sagan T-shirt! Cherish the pale blue dot!

The fact that “life” formed on this planet is amazing for sure but what is many times more amazing is that this planet developed “life” with consciousness. It is the awareness of being alive that truly amazes me. That is of course making the bold assumption that what we are experiencing is even real.

[soc_monki]

Eloquent words there, hoss. I had to google that, and think I came up with the original source. Is that guy you?

No sir. I follow a bunch of philosophy pages on IG and came across that gem. I spend too much time thinking about the absurdity of existence. :)

To quote someone famous... "we're all made of star stuff!"

Yes! I have a Carl Sagan T-shirt! Cherish the pale blue dot!

The fact that “life” formed on this planet is amazing for sure but what is many times more amazing is that this planet developed “life” with consciousness. It is the awareness of being alive that truly amazes me. That is of course making the bold assumption that what we are experiencing is even real.

We may be a simulation, not "real" but would we even be able to tell? It makes me think when I play the Sims or a similar game that those "people" may actually be aware of what is going on. It makes me play differently. Maybe dumb, but do we ever really know?

What really gets me is how we not only are aware, and conscious, and have a sense of self, but that we form meaningful relationships with others. I couldn't imagine life without my wife and son, they are both precious to me. How that all comes from chemical reactions and electrical impulses in my brain and body I don't know, but I'm glad it does.

*mind blown*

[vivi]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göbekli_Tepe - This discovery raises all sorts of questions about our established timeline of the history of human civilizations. They also found interesting artifacts at this buried site, like these little beads with perfectly drilled holes, from 10,000-12,000 years ago:



Biblically accurate angels, like the one Ezekiel saw:



There are theories the early Christians took psychadelics, such as https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_muscaria which is found in many many early Christian artworks. Burning bush, flying wheels of eyes on fire....who knows. Some people think these substances lead to delusional hallucination, some believe they're tapping into divine energies and transcending into alternate dimensions.

The moon is the perfect distance away from Earth and the Sun to make solar eclipses happen when you factor in the size of the Moon and Sun. People living in the distant future will not be able to experience them. The Moon happens to be about 400 times smaller than the Sun, but the Sun happens to be about 400 times further from the Earth than the Moon is. So simple geometry tells us that the apparent disk of the Moon is almost exactly the size of the apparent disk of the Sun.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/li ... incidence/ - quite a coincidence.

I'm a big fan of out of place artifacts. Consider the Antikythera Mechanism - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism From what we know about the ancient greeks they should not have had this level of sophistication of manufacturing.

Bimini Road is interesting if you're into old maps. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimini_Road There is an early 16th century map by Piri Reis that shows an island located where Bimini Road currently lies underwater:



This whole branch of life is fascinating - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ctenophora

Polynesians and South Americans pro-created in the pre-columbus era. Vikings also made a few establishments in North America within the same chronological ballpark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Anse_aux_Meadows

Our history is much less linear than we've been led to believe.

[The Meat man]

This is pretty amazing. Soft tissue, including blood vessels and many different proteins, found within dinosaur fossils.

https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/dinosaur-tissue/

As a Jurassic Park fan, this sounds distinctly promising.

[soc_monki]

This is pretty amazing. Soft tissue, including blood vessels and many different proteins, found within dinosaur fossils.

https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/dinosaur-tissue/

As a Jurassic Park fan, this sounds distinctly promising.

The scientists were so preoccupied with if they could they didn't stop and think if they should....

Or something like that! :D

[The Meat man]

The scientists were so preoccupied with if they could they didn't stop and think if they should....

Or something like that! :D

Exactly! :D

[BLUETYPEII]

I don’t know if it’s really science but check this out.

These are both the full length version a couple hours each but they have shorter versions on YouTube as well. It’s worth a look if you’re curious about what’s out there.

Commander David Fravor
https://youtu.be/Eco2s3-0zsQ

Bob Lazar
https://youtu.be/BEWz4SXfyCQ