Fun Facts: Creepy, Crawly, and a Little Bit Gross! 🧟🪳

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Speaker 1: Your resume is three tight siet.

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Speaker 2: Did you know that the brain of a zombie ant is actually controlled by a fungus? What the parasitic fungus takes over the ant's body, turning it into a creepy, mind controlled zombie. Hello, friends, and welcome back to sleep Tight Science, a bedtime show that answers your questions about science. In this episode, we will combine all the information we gather into one of our favorite format, lists of facts. We love these bite sized pieces of information because they are fun, can be easy to remember, lead to more questions, and you may find you will impress your family and friends with all kinds of fun science facts.

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Speaker 1: We will explore some of.

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Speaker 2: The weirdest and grossest creatures out there, from houseflies that will vomit on their food and cockroaches that can survive without heads, to hippos flinging poop and wombats with cube shaped droppings. We'll also meet creepy animals like tarantulas, giant squids, and vampire bats, discovering the odd ways they survive in the wild. Even though they might seem gross, these creatures play import rolls in the animal kingdom. So let's get started. First, let's talk about flies and cockroaches. You may have seen them buzzing or scurrying around, but do you really know just how gross houseflies and cockroaches are. These little critters may seem harmless, but their habits can be disgusting, from tasting with their feet to surviving without a head. Here are some fun facts about flies, cockroaches, and other creatures that creep and crawl. Did you know that houseflies actually taste with their feet? That's right, when they land on you, they're not just resting, they're tasting the salt and sweat on your skin. Yach, beware the pesky housefly that lands on your food. House Flies can't eat solid food, so they spit or vomit on their meal to turn it into a liquid, then slurp it up like a smoothie delicious. Houseflies are also very messy guests. They poop about every few minutes, and they can carry up to two million bacteria on their bodies. They definitely aren't the kind of visitors you want near your lunch. Did you know houseflies lay their eggs on rotting meat or poop. That's where they're babies called maggots feast before growing into flies, so the next time you see a fly, you know where it might have been hanging out. Houseflies are notorious for spreading germs. They can carry diseases like typhoid, cholera, and even dysentery, making them not just annoying but.

00:04:17
Speaker 1: Also a health hazard. Did you know?

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Speaker 2: Cockroaches are the tough guys of the bug world. If you cut off their head, they can still survive for about a week. How They breathe through holes in their body segments, but eventually die of thirst because they need their mouth to drink. The world's largest cockroach is found in South America and can grow to a wopping six inches long, about the length of an adult hand, and with a twelve inch wingspan, it's not exactly easy to miss. Cockroaches are the masters of survival. They've been around for over three hundred million years, which means they were crawling the earth long before dinosaurs ever showed up.

00:05:22
Speaker 1: Did you know?

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Speaker 2: Cockroaches can live without food for up to a month. They can survive on almost anything, including glue, soap, and even paper. Cockroaches can squeeze through the tiniest of spaces because their bodies can flatten out to fit through gaps as small as a coin. No crack or crevice is safe from these sneaky creatures. Did you know cockroaches can hold their breath for up to forty minutes. This helps them survive in all kinds of environments, even under water for short periods. So whether they're buzzing, crawling, or scurrying, these critters have some gross and fascinating habits. Have you ever wondered why flies seem so fast? Flies seem super fast because they have some incredible adaptations that help them zip around and avoid danger. Here's why they're so speedy. Flies have incredibly fast reflexes. Their nervous system processes information much faster than ours, allowing them to react instantly when they sense danger, like a hand swatting at them. We talked about this in a previous episode. But fly eyes have compound eyes with thousands of tiny lenses, giving them a nearly three hundred and sixty degree view of the world. This means they can see in almost all directions at once, so they're great at detecting movement coming toward them from any angle. Flies can beat their wings up to two hundred times per second. This allows them to change direction quickly and fly away before we even realize they've moved. Because flies are so small, they can accelerate and turn quickly without much resistance from the air. Their light bodies help them dart around and make sharp turns at high speeds, so when you're trying to catch a fly, it's like they're always one step ahead thanks to their fast reflexes, vision, and rapid wing movements. Did you know that some spiders liquefy their prey before eating it. They inject digestive juices that turn their meal into a bug smoothie before slurping it up. Yuch. The animal kingdom is full of weird and wonderful habits, but some creatures take things to a whole new level when it comes to grossness. Let's start with one of the biggest animals around, the hippopotamus. Believe it or not, male hippos have a very unique way of impressing their female friends. When they want to show off, they poop and use their tails to spin the poop around, flinging it everywhere. That's kind of gross. And then there's the wombat, an adorable animal with a funny twist. They arrange their cube shaped poop into little piles to mark their territory. That's right, their poop is shaped like cubes so it doesn't roll away. That's some pretty organized poop.

00:09:35
Speaker 1: But wait, there's more.

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Speaker 2: Vultures take gross to another level. They will vomit to defend themselves from predators. It's their version of a stinky shield to keep enemies away. They also eat dead animals, but you knew that part. When bearded dragon feel threatened, they sometimes shoot blood from their eyes to scare off predators. That would certainly scare me away. When in danger, sea cucumbers can eject their internal organs out of their bodies to confuse predators. They eventually grow them back, but still, that's pretty gross. Turkey vultures not only vomit to protect themselves, but they also pee on their own legs to cool down. Sloths only poop about once a week, and when they do, they make a special trip to the ground from the trees, which is dangerous for them. They lose about a third of their body weight each time they poop. Some species of bats have a habit of spitting on themselves to cool down. Spit showers don't sound too refreshing to me, I'll stick to ice water in a swim on the beach. Did you know that lobsters are known to have pea battles. They pee out of special nozzles near their eyes to mark territory or even to attract a mate. So if lobsters are ever battling it out, they're probably peeing all over each other. Did you know penguins create a poop jet when they're nesting. They often shoot their poop far away to keep their nest clean. Gross but effective. Many people admit to picking their noses, and animals.

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Speaker 1: Aren't much different.

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Speaker 2: In the forest of Madagascar, the eeee has been caught using its long three inch finger to dig deep up its nose, and then it licks it clean afterward.

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Speaker 1: Yach. These strange and.

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Speaker 2: Gross habits might seem bizarre to us, but they help animals survive, protect themselves, or communicate with each other in ways that only nature can explain. Did you know that owls can turn their heads almost all the way around about two hundred and seventy degrees. No wonder they seem so spooky at Halloween. Plenty of creepy animals in the wild give people the chills.

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Speaker 1: Whether it's because of.

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Speaker 2: Their looks, behaviors, or habitats. One such creature is the tarantula, a large, hairy spider that can easily send shivers down your spine. While their bite isn't usually dangerous to humans, just seeing a big tarantula up close is enough to make anyone feel uneasy. Another mysterious and creepy creature is the giant squid found deep in the ocean. This massive creature with tentacles that can grow up to thirty or forty feet long, has huge eyes and sucker covered arms that make it one of the seas most fascinating yet eerie animals.

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Speaker 1: And then there are vampire bats.

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Speaker 2: These small bats live up to their name by feeding on the blood of other animals, usually cattle or birds. They have special sharp teeth to make tiny cuts and lap up the blood with their tongues. You might ask do vampire bats bite people and then turn them into vampires? The answer is no, vampire bats don't turn people into vampires. While the idea of turning into a vampire is fun for Halloween stories and movies, it's just pretend. Vampire bats do bite animals and sometimes people, but all they do is drink a tiny bit of blood.

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Speaker 1: They usually go.

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Speaker 2: After sleeping animals like cows or birds and use their sharp teeth to make a small cut. Then they lick up the blood with their tongues. The good news is that the bites aren't usually dangerous, and the animals often don't even notice it happening. The bats are much more interested in their next meal than turning anyone into a vampire. Speaking of strange creatures, let's dive deep into the ocean where we meet one of the weirdest animals out there, the blobfish. One of the oddest looking creatures is the blobfish, often called the world's ugliest animal. When brought up from the deep sea, this gelatinous, droopy faced fish looks like something out of a nightmare, enough to make anyone squirm. Another unsettling creature is the lamprey, an eel like animal with a circular mouth full of sharp teeth. It latches onto fish and sucks their blood, which definitely adds to its creepy appearance and strange habits. There's also the tailless, whip scorpion, and a rachnid with long, spindly legs and whiplike antenna that may look terrifying but harmless to humans. Still, its unusual appearance is more than enough to make you feel uneasy. And don't forget about camel spiders. These creepy creatures aren't actually spiders or scorpions, but they look like a mix of both. With large and the ability to run at surprising speeds, camel spiders can be pretty terrifying to encounter. Then there are leaf insects, which blend in so perfectly with their surroundings that you might not notice them until they move. While they aren't dangerous, their camouflage abilities can make you jump when you finally spot them. Finally, one of the creepiest animals is the surinam toad. This unusual toad carries its eggs in small holes on its back, and when the baby's hatch, they emerge through the skin. While it's a unique way to raise young, it's creepy to watch. These creepy creatures might make your skin crawl, but they're all fascinating in their own way, with strange adaptations and behaviors that help them survive in the wild. In this episode, we explored some of the Animal Kingdom's most unusual and sometimes downright icky creatures. We kicked things off with the housefly, learning that they taste with their feet, vomit on their food to liquefy it, and poop every few minutes while carrying millions of bacteria, making them not so welcome guests at dinner. Next, we dove into the tough world of cockroaches, discovering that they can live for a week without their heads and that the largest cockroach in the world can be as long as an adult hand. We also learned about the hippopotamus, which tries to impress females by flinging poop with its tail, and how wombats have cube shaped poop that they arrange in piles to mark their territory. As we ventured into the creepier side of nature, we met tarantulas, giant squids, lampreys, camel spiders, and more. We found out that many of these creatures have strange and surprising ways of surviving, like vampire bats that drink blood, blobfish that look other worldly, and surinam toads that carry their eggs in holes on their back until their babies hatch. Throughout the episode, we learned about the strange, the creepy, and the gross, all while appreciating the important roles these animals play in their ecosystems. Even though some might make you squirm, they are all great examples of how weird and wonderful the natural world can be. Thank you to Delphine, Giselle Lusette and Mavis Jackson who introduced our show. You are all super awesome.

00:20:43
Speaker 1: Thank you to.

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Speaker 2: Ala five years old, Lachlan age five from Beaumont, alberta Zan from New Zealand, christ Church Leo from Albuquerque, New Mexico in the US, Nunez from San Jose, California, Adelaide five years old from Michigan, Maggie six and a half from Iowa, Judah from Austin, Texas, Ridley seven years old, and Rowan five years old from Phoenix, Arizona. We would love to hear from you. Ask your parents to help you. Write us a note to the email address in our show notes. You can also visit our website and send a message that way. Also leave us a rating or a comment. Wherever you listen to our podcast, we love to get your feedback.

00:21:46
Speaker 1: If you want to make sure you.

00:21:47
Speaker 2: Get all the episodes, please ask your parents, to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or all the other cool ways you can follow us. If you'd like to send us your questions, please send them to Hello at sleep tightscience dot com. Did you know your brain can go on amazing adventures while you sleep? You might dream about some of the cool things we talked about, like flying through the clouds, watching raindrops fall, or even floating.

00:22:23
Speaker 1: On a big, icy glacier.

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Speaker 2: Maybe you'll explore how the skeleton protects your organs, or imagine being a scientist discovering why ice.

00:22:34
Speaker 1: Cracks when it melts.

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Speaker 2: Your dreams can take you anywhere, and who knows, maybe tonight you'll dream about uncovering something new and exciting in the world of science. Good Night, sleep tight comm