Listener Questions: Poisonous Animals, Sunsets and Earth 🐍🌞🌏

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Speaker 1: You're listening to sleep Tight Science. Did you know that the type hands snake is considered the most venomous snake in the world. What its venom is incredibly potent, but thankfully taie hands are very shy and rarely come into contact with humans. Hello, friends, and welcome back to sleep Tight Science, a bedtime show that answers your questions about science. In this episode, instead of following a specific topic, we will spend all our time together answering questions that listeners have sent us. You have sent so many excellent questions that it's hard to answer them all, so in this episode we will focus on your research interests. Let's get started. Our first question is from Quintin, who is five years old and lives in Australia. Quentin asks why are some frogs poisonous? Some frogs are poisonous because it helps them stay safe from predators in the wild. Many animals might want to eat frogs, like birds and snakes. Being poisonous gives frogs a special way to protect themselves. When a predator tries to eat a poisonous frog, the frog's toxins can make the predator sick or even scare it away. Many poisonous frogs get their toxins from the things they eat. In the wild, these frogs feast on ants, beetles, and other insects with certain chemicals. Over time, the frogs build up these chemicals in their skin, turning them into powerful poisons. Here are a few examples of poisonous frogs. First, we have the poisoned dart frog. These are some of the most famous poisonous frogs. They live in Central and South America and are known for their bright colors. The golden poisoned dart frog is one of the most poisonous animals on earth. Just a tiny bit of its poison can be deadly. Next, we have the blue poison dark frog. This frog is a beautiful, bright blue color, but don't let that fool you. Its skin contains toxins that can make predators really sick. Lastly, there is the strawberry poison dark frog. This little frog is as red as a strawberry and is found in Central America. Its bright color warns predators to stay away. One thing that these and many other poisonous frogs have in common is that they are really colorful. Those bright colors are like a neon sign. That says I'm dangerous, don't eat me. This is called a posmatism. Away animals warn others that they're not safe to eat. The bright colors help predators remember which frogrugs to avoid in the future. It's important to remember that not all frogs are poisonous. Many frogs have other ways to protect themselves, like camouflaging with their surroundings to hide from predators. Frogs play a crucial role in the environment by controlling insect populations. They eat a wide variety of insects, including pasts that can damage crops and spread diseases. They also serve as important indicators of environmental health, as their permeable skin makes them sensitive to changes in their surroundings, helping scientists detect issues like pollution and habitat loss. Frogs are a key part of the food web, serving as prey for birds, snakes, and other animals, thus maintaining the balance of ecosystems. Thank you for the question, Quentin, did you know that the cone snail can shoot venomous darts? This tiny sea snail can fire a harpoon like tooth loaded with venom, making it a surprising underwater sharpshooter. Our next question comes from Alexander, who is six years old and from New York. Alexander asks which is more venomous, a king cobra or a rhinoceros viper. Before answering that question, let's learn a little bit about each snake. First, we have the king cobra, the longest venomous snake in the world. King cobras can grow up to eighteen feet long. That's longer than a car. These snakes live in the forest in India and Southeast Asia. Their venom is potent and can take down big prey like other snakes and even small mammals. But what makes the king cobra extra special is the amount of venom it can deliver in one bite. Typically, it can inject between two hundred and five hundred milligrams of venom, but it can sometimes deliver up to one thousand milligrams. This is about the size of a small cube of sugar. The rhinoceros viper might not be as long as the king cobra, but it sure is colorful. Rhinoceros vipers have beautiful patterns on their skin and they live in the rainforests of West and Central Africa. Their venom is very strong, and they use it to hunt small animals like rodents and birds. They have long, sharp fangs to deliver their venom, which makes them super effective hunters. So which snake is more venomous. It's a tricky question because both snakes are dangerous in different ways. The king cobra's venom is deadly because it affects the nervous system, which can stop an animal from breathing. Plus, because of their size, they can inject a lot of venom at once. On the other hand, the rhinoceros viper's venom causes tissue damage and makes blood vessels leak. This venom can be very painful and dangerous for its prey. Even though the rhinoceros viper's venom is strong, it doesn't inject as much as the king cobra does. Overall, the king cobra is considered more dangerous because of the large amount of venom it can inject with one bite. Both of these snakes are best admired at a distance. The king cobra and the rhinoceros viper are important parts of their ecosystems. They help control the population of the animals they eat and are fascinating examples of nature's diversity. Remember, snakes are more afraid of us than we are of them. If you ever encounter one in the wild, give it plenty of space and appreciate its role in nature. Thank you for the question, Alexander. Many of you have questions about poisonous animals. Kira, who is six and lives in Belgium, does too. Kira asks what happens when a venomous spider bites? Does it hurt a lot? When a venomous spider bites, it uses its fangs to inject venom into your skin. This venom can cause different reactions in your body. Most spider bites might feel like a beasting or a bad bug bite. The area around the bite red, swollen, and sore. It can hurt a little or a lot, depending on the type of spider and how your body reacts. Some people might feel itchy, get a rash, or even feel sick to their stomach. In rare cases, if the venom is very strong, or if a person is allergic, it can cause more serious symptoms like feeling dizzy. But don't worry. Most spider bites are not dangerous and will heal on their own in a few days. Here are a couple of spiders that you can find in Belgium that have venom. The first one is the false widow spider. This spider is related to the black widow, but is much less dangerous. Its bite can cause my miild symptom similar to a beasting, such as redness and pain, but it is generally not harmful. The second is the cross orb weaver, also known as the European garden spider. It is one of the most common spiders in Belgium. While venomous, it's bite is not dangerous to humans and usually only causes mild irritation. While these spiders have venom, they are generally not aggressive and will only bite if threatened. It's always a good idea to be respectful of spiders. Thank you for the question, Kira. Did you know that Earth is not a per sphere due to its rotation. It's actually slightly flattened at the poles and bulging at the equator, giving it an oblate spheroid shape. Our next question comes from Rylin, a five year old from Kitchener, Ontario. Rylin asks why the sun looks red at sunset When you see the sun at sunset, it looks red or orange because of how sunlight travels through the air. During the day, when the sun is high in the sky, its light takes a short path through the atmosphere. Sunlight is made up of all the colors of the rainbow red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The atmosphere scatters the blue and green colors more than the others, which is why the sky looks blue during the day. At sunset, the sun is lower in the sky and its light has to travel through a much thicker layer of the Earth's atmosphere to reach your eyes. The atmosphere is full of tiny particles like dust and water droplets that scatter the blue and green light in all directions. Because the blue and green light gets scattered away, it doesn't reach your eyes. What's left are the colors with longer wavelengths, like red and orange, which don't scatter as much. This is why the sun looks red or orange when it's setting. The long path through the atmosphere lets you see the beautiful reds and oranges that are usually hidden during the day. Thank you for the question, ryle One. Our last question is a really big one. Kira, who is eight years old, wants to know how the world was made. Our world began to form a long, long time ago, about four point five billion years ago. It all started with a giant cloud of gas and dust floating in space. This cloud, known as a solar nebula, began to spin and clump together because of gravity, which is the force that pulls things together. As the cloud spun faster, most of the material gathered in the center and became very hot, forming the Sun. The leftover gas and dust started sticking together to form tiny rock us. These tiny rocks kept clumping into bigger rocks, eventually becoming planets, including Earth. At first, Earth was a hot, rocky place with lots of volcanoes erupting everywhere and no oceans or life. The surface was covered in molten lava, and the planet took a long time to cool down. As it cooled, the surface hardened to form a solid crust, but it was still a very different place from what we see today. Water came to Earth from comets and volcanic eruptions, which helped create oceans. Over millions of years, rain filled the low places on Earth's surface, forming the first seas and oceans. The Earth's surface kept changing due to something called tectonic plates. These plates are like giant puzzle pieces that float on the hot, gooey layer beneath the crust. They slowly move around, causing continents to drift apart and bump into each other, forming mountains and valleys. As Earth changed, tiny living things called microbes appeared in the oceans. These simple life forms were the beginning of life on Earth. Over billions of years, these tiny creatures evolved into more complex plants and animals, eventually leading to all the amazing life we see today, including dinosaurs, mammals, and humans. I hope that answers your question, Kira. In this episode, Quentin asked why some frogs are poisonous. Frogs are poisonous to protect themselves from predators. Their bright colors tell us to stay away. They are not good to eat. Alexander asked which snake is more venomous, the king cobra or the rhinoceros viper. Both are very venomous, but overall, the king cobra is considered more venomous due to the amount of venom it can deliver in one bite. Caira wanted to know what happens when a venomous spider bites you. Reactions to a spider bite vary from person to person and are usually not that dangerous. Most spiders will not usually bite unless threatened. Why does the sun look red at sunset was Ryland's question, and learned it is because of the way the sunlight travels through the air. We ended the episode with a question from Kira about how the world was made. We would love to get your feedback on our show. If you have any feedback, please send it our way. If you want to make sure you get all the episodes, please ask your parents to subscribe. You can find us on Apple podcasts or wherever your parents listen to podcasts. If you love learning about science with us, please leave us a review. It may help others find our show. If you'd like to send us your questions, please send them to Hello at sleeptightscience dot com. Sleep Tight