Thinking Beans, Mysterious Rumblings, Carnivorous Sponges and More Mysterious News Briefly — January 18, 2021

Mysterious News Briefly — January 18, 2021

Before you dig into that casserole, consider the findings of a new study by Spain’s the University of Murcia which found that climbing beans are sentient, showing evidence of decision-making when deciding the best way to climb a pole. Riches will be had by the first person to train them to climb into the dish on their own.

Officials in South Florida say a mysterious rumbling and shaking felt from north Broward County south to the Keys was not caused by an earthquake, explosion or sonic boom, but they have no other explanations. Could they be hiding the existence of giant belching alligators? (Asking for a friend living near a swamp.)

Rumors of air-powered cars have caused inventors to mysteriously disappear, so suitable warnings should go to researchers in China who have developed nanoplates powered by ambient changes in temperature that they claim can turn carbon dioxide into methanol which can then be made into fuel. If there are no gas stations, where will we get our cheap coffee, slushies and beef jerky?

Researchers have discovered three new species of meat-eating sponges in the Great Australian BIght off the country’ southern coast, bringing the known total in Australia alone to at least 25. If this helps them remove baked-on meat in skillets better, it’s time to find room in the aquarium.

Artificial intelligence has made chess-playing computers far superior to human players, but a new study shows they can’t compete when it comes to storing memories. Big deal – who wants to remember all of the times you lost to Deep Blue?

Glass frogs (Sachatamia orejuela) in the rainforests of India, Borneo, Brazil and Ecuador that live near loud streams or waterfalls that drown out the sound of the mating croaks have been found to switch to waving a leg or nodding their heads to let the opposite sex know they’re in the mood. It works and it’s cheaper than a box of chocolate-covered flies.

Forget talking or using tools – new research shows that birds who engage in social play with other birds, especially magpies and ravens, have the biggest bird brains. Birds that play with themselves, especially while peeking in your window, are just perverted.

For the first time since 2014, a rare wolverine has been recorded by a motion camera in Yellowstone National Park. Wolverines are the largest weasels in the U.S. not involved with politics.

Hydrogen sulfide – the poisonous gas that does an excellent impression of the smell of rotten eggs — may help protect aging brain cells against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers. It worked in mice – especially mice whose tiny arms were too short to hold their noses.

Burmese pythons, South African mole snakes and other snakes that have developed an immunity to the poisonous bite of cobras have been shown to have developed positively charged nerve receptors that repel positively charged snake venom neurotoxins the same way the magnetic poles with the same charge repel each other. Before you get any ideas, this won’t let you stick them on your refrigerator door.

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