True or false: 10 weird facts about nature

My cousin is a big fan of wildlife and nature, so he'll often relate unusual facts about nature which even a non-nature dude like myself find interesting. So as it's World Wildlife Day in a few day's time, I thought this would be an appropriate time to round up a collection of interesting facts on the theme of nature.

Editor's note: "Charles, that's a duck, not a swift!"
Charles: "Yes, I know, but it was the closest I could find,
so it'll have to do."

However, as I often like to do, I've decided to turn things into a true or false quiz by also including a few made-up bluffs! Take a look at the following 'facts' and see if you can guess which of the following facts are totally true, and which are complete bluffs!

1) Fly me to the Moon

During the course of their lifetime, a swift will typically fly around 4.5 million kilometres, which is roughly equivalent to flying to the Moon and back six times!

To clarify things for the benefit of stupid people, swifts don't actually fly to the Moon - that would be ridiculous - but they cover the same distance as flying to the Moon and back six times.

True or false?

2) "Congratulations, it's a girl! A pregnant girl!"

Aphids can give birth to female babies that are already pregnant when they're born!

True or false?

Spinach, pictured yesterday.

3) Attack of the killer swamp human-hybrids!

As ridiculous as it sounds, scientists have reportedly used spinach leaves to create beating human heart tissue!

However, there is a qualifier that at this stage it's only a proof-of-concept, and the team responsible is still figuring out how to integrate spinach leaves with living human heart tissue.

True or false?

4) More brains

Due to the regenerative capacity of the Mexican salamander, it can have part of its brain removed, cut into pieces, replaced, and it won't die.

True or false?

In the interests of journalistic integrity, please
note that this isn't the actual Methusaleh tree.
This is just a random tree.

5) As old as the hills trees

The oldest living individual non-clonal* tree in the world can be found in Eastern California, and it's an impressive 4,851 years old!

Its age was of course measured by counting its rings, and the tree has been named 'Methusaleh' after the patriarch from the Bible who lived to a mere 969 years old.

* Footnote: I don't actually know what the term 'non-clonal' means, but I just included it anyway to try and sound intelligent.

True or false?

6) R.I.P.

Mayflies don't live for quite as long as trees, because sadly, mayflies only live for a mere 24 hours, and in fact some species of mayfly die within a few hours!

Basically, their only purpose during their short lives is reproduction.

True or false?

The American jelly fish versus the British jelly fish.

7) Who wants to live forever?

If you thought 4,851 years was impressive, then the potential lifespan of the turritopsis nutricula species of jellyfish is even more impressive, because they are biologically immortal!

The turritopsis nutricula jellyfish uses trans-differentiation to replenish cells, meaning they can potentially live forever. In reality they can still die from disease, injury, or being eaten by predators, so they're not literally immortal, but they won't die from old age.

True or false?

8) Red belly

When you blush, it's not just your face which goes red, your stomach lining also goes red. This is because the emotional response which causes blushing leads to increased blood flow throughout the body. The veins in the face, and also the stomach lining, therefore have more blood in them, so they appear red as a result.

True or false?

"It's getting hot in here - so hot - so lick your fore-ore-arms.
I am - getting so hot - yeah, I'm gonna lick my fore-ore-arms!"

9) G-roo-vy cooling method

Kangaroos cool down by licking their forearms.

True or false?

10) Photographic memory

Hyperthymesia is a condition which causes people to remember pretty much every thing that ever happened to them in vivid detail.

Imagine that! You'd be a great witness in a court case!

True or false?

- - - - - - - - - -

Scroll down the page to find out which of the 'facts' were true, and which were sneaky bluffs...


















My claim that some of the above facts were sneaky bluffs was in fact itself a sneaky bluff, because all of the above facts are true!

You can find more tangentially related nature facts and recollections in the blog posts below:
Nature vs Technology: A 'higher or lower' quiz
Today is honesty day
10 real facts that sound made up