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Uncover chilling facts about snow and dive into astonishing truths that will make you question reality. From frosty wonders to mind-bending revelations, these facts are sure to leave you amazed.
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00:00Throwing a snowball to your friends, putting a carrot on the snow person of yours, skating, and many more.
00:05It's the snowy winter spirit. Here's some facts about snow.
00:10Surprisingly, snow can come in different colors. Let's start with yellow snow.
00:15If it starts snowing when flowering trees are already in bloom, pollen is in the air too.
00:21Besides giving you allergies, it lands on snow-covered surfaces.
00:25In this scenario, snow blends with pollen, which results in this suspiciously yellow shade.
00:31The snow clouds can carry sand particles too.
00:35Yellowish-tinged snow was seen in South Korea in March 2006.
00:39The snow got the sand from the deserts of northern China.
00:43Pollen is oftentimes harmless.
00:45But sand-caused yellow snow isn't that innocent. It's related to air pollution.
00:50When NASA's Aura satellite detected this phenomenon, weather officials warned the public about the potential risks of this golden snow.
00:59Sometimes the color of the snow looks closer to brown, not even yellow.
01:04Certain trees, like oaks, carry a lot of tannins in the bark.
01:07These are organic compounds that protect the tree from harmful bacteria and funguses.
01:13These tannins can fall to the ground near the tree.
01:17For that to happen, it first needs to rain, and then the rain should turn into snow.
01:21The moisture makes the tannins run down.
01:25Have you ever just laid on the fresh snow and opened your mouth to let those tiny flakes in?
01:31How safe is it to eat those flakes, though?
01:33In most cases, it isn't.
01:35But here's a pro tip for snow eaters.
01:37The safest way to consume snow is by choosing a clean and white layer.
01:42Get some from the freshly fallen fluffiest part.
01:45And now, forget about it.
01:47You never know what random show in the street may contain.
01:51Blue-tinted snow is the next one on the list.
01:54A cloudy day will create darker shadows.
01:57Snow absorbs all color wavelengths.
01:59Well, almost all color wavelengths.
02:01It cannot completely absorb blue.
02:03The bottom line is that bluish snow forms due to the weather conditions.
02:08I mean, the snowflakes are actually translucent, since they're made up of ice crystals.
02:13These crystals reflect light.
02:15That's why, in regular cases, snow appears white to our eyes.
02:21Gray and black snow also exist.
02:24Here, I'm not talking about melted snow mixed with dirt near the roads.
02:28The one I'm referring to is created with the dust coming from the volcano.
02:32But it can be created with less exotic soot, ash, or motor vehicle exhaust.
02:38This type of snow is dirty.
02:40It might have a dusty or oily scent.
02:42If its color comes from petrochemicals, then it's probably toxic.
02:47The next one is watermelon snow.
02:50The name comes from the red and green color of the snow.
02:54Unlike other color versions, this one has a sweet and fruity scent.
02:58Different kinds of algae and bacteria produce watermelon snow.
03:02You would be very lucky to see it because it's seen during summer in alpine and coastal polar regions.
03:09The greenness comes from chlorophyll, and the redness comes from astaxanthin.
03:14This is sort of a pigment.
03:16Fun fact!
03:17Some animals, such as flamingos, crabs, and salmon, also get their color from that pigment.
03:23This phenomenon is super important ecologically.
03:27When the snow melts, it mixes into the waters and becomes a food source for organisms.
03:33Snow can come in different colors, but also different shapes too.
03:38An example would be snow rollers.
03:40To me, it looks as if someone is dragging an ice cream scoop through the ground.
03:44They are rare phenomenon because they need certain conditions to form.
03:48There should be wind, but it shouldn't be too strong.
03:51Typically, 30 miles per hour should do it.
03:54Yet, it depends on the snow too.
03:56It should be snowing, and how powerful the snow falls is another issue.
04:02Snow rollers occur in open prairies or hills with no obstacles like boulders or trees.
04:08It's a combo of two separate layers of snow.
04:11The first layer is the pre-existing sheet that crashed on the ground.
04:15The second one is a fresh layer of fallen snow.
04:19Imagine snow running down from the top of an ice rink, which doesn't hold on to what's under.
04:24Then, the wind carries some snow that is sticky enough to hold on to the things on its way.
04:30As the roller moves, it continues growing.
04:33If it's windy, and there's an opportunity for rolling down a hill.
04:38Now, I want to move on to other cool facts about snow.
04:41For instance, it's silence.
04:43Do you know how freshly fallen snow absorbs sound?
04:47Especially if you live in a busy city, you realize it's the quieter ambience.
04:52It literally absorbs sound waves.
04:55Think of it as a commercial sound-absorbing product.
04:58Things change when it melts and refreezes.
05:01Then, the ice reflects sound waves.
05:03As a result, sound travels further.
05:06Plus, it gets clearer.
05:09It's not just us enjoying the snow.
05:12Apparently, some monkey species love it as much as we do.
05:16Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, also make snowballs and play with them.
05:21Young macaques especially get attracted to snow.
05:24They steal one another's snowballs, then fight to get them back.
05:28Snow?
05:29Blizzard?
05:29What else?
05:30I can count some words related to snow.
05:33But the Inuit, for example, has dozens of words for snow.
05:37And Scots has 421 terms related to the snow.
05:41For instance, scalf is a large snowflake.
05:44And unbrac means the beginning of a thaw.
05:48From one point of view, there's the cold and the risk of hypothermia.
05:52From the other point of view, animal burrows or human igloos.
05:56We associate snow with cold, but it warms you up.
06:00Since snow consists of above 90% trapped air, it's a perfect insulator.
06:06We talked about snow itself, but what about snowflakes?
06:11The shape of a snowflake is bound to the air temperature around it.
06:15Researchers examined snowflakes and found out that long, thin, needle-like ice crystals
06:21form at around 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
06:24They also investigated other ice crystal samples taken from different temperatures.
06:30The flakes appear to be flat and plate-like in lower temperatures, such as 23 degrees Fahrenheit.
06:36The snowflake can also appear with six arms or a dendritic structure as ice crystals.
06:42And that again depends on the changes in the temperature surrounding each snowflake.
06:47Maybe you heard the saying that no two snowflakes are identical.
06:50A catalogue of snowflakes supports this theory.
06:54One chemistry educator detected more than 30 different types of snowflakes.
06:59They are classified as column, plain, rimmed, irregular, and so on.
07:04The reason for all this variety is the path each snowflake makes to fall to the earth.
07:09Each one of them faces a tiny bit of different atmospheric conditions on its way to the ground.
07:15All of them have six sides, that's for sure.
07:18But in 1988, a scientist found two identical snowflakes.
07:23Turns out, they can be identical.
07:27Snow can be seen in deserts too.
07:30I know it sounds super contradictory.
07:32We're accustomed to thinking about smoking hot sand, cactuses, and nothingness from a desert at first glance.
07:39In Death Valley or the Sahara Desert, snow is occasionally seen.
07:44In fact, in January 2022, some parts of the Sahara Desert got covered with a white blanket.
07:50It's not unlikely to happen all the time, but it's not impossible at all.
07:55You see, on some nights, the temperatures in the desert get low.
07:58Snow needs two things to form, cold temperatures and moist air.
08:03Sahara put a tick on both of these conditions.
08:06Bonus fact, how long is the tallest snow figure?
08:10In 2008, Bethel town residents in the U.S. united their forces with the people of surrounding towns to break
08:17a world record.
08:18The snow person was 120 feet tall.
08:22It took them more than one month to finish creating the figure.
08:25The Statue of Liberty was only a few inches taller than this figure.
08:31When we see a strong snowstorm, we call it a blizzard.
08:35That's not always so.
08:37You see, a snowstorm should meet some qualifications to be classified as a blizzard.
08:42For instance, the wind should be at least 35 miles per hour.
08:46Plus, the snow must decrease the visibility to a certain mile for three hours at the least.
08:53Otherwise, the snowfall can be named a snow squall or a snow burst.
09:01Your tummy acid can chow down on a razor blade like it's no big deal.
09:06Some penguins can totally out-hide us humans.
09:09And you could potentially turn a jar of peanut butter into a rockin' diamond ring to pop the question to
09:14your boo.
09:15Sounds crazy.
09:17Well, it's all true.
09:18If you're itching for more facts like these and want to learn why salty crackers are more of a tooth
09:23hazard than sugary treats, then stay tuned.
09:29Mattresses get heavier over time.
09:31As we sleep, our mattresses soak up all our skin oils, sweat, and tears.
09:37Yes, I also cry at night.
09:38This creates the perfect environment for dust mites, fungi, and bacteria to thrive.
09:44Over five years, your mattress might collect up to 880 pints of body fluids.
09:51Dead skin is another big weight-adding factor, too.
09:54With one and a half million skin cells shed hourly, these flakes pile up and become a feast for dust
10:00mites.
10:01An average used mattress could be home to up to 10 million of these critters.
10:06Your spilled coffee makes your mattress heavier, too.
10:09Foam layers in a mattress trap the liquid and add to its weight.
10:13If you know Miss Piggy from The Muppets or Yoda from Star Wars, you'll instantly recognize their unique voices.
10:20It's hard to believe they have anything in common, right?
10:22Well, Frank Oz spilled the beans in 2021 in his interview.
10:27Starting with The Muppet Show and Sesame Street, Frank gave life to characters like Miss Piggy, Cookie Monster, Grover, and
10:34more.
10:35Then he ventured into the galaxy far, far away to voice Yoda and even came up with the alien's iconic
10:41way of speaking.
10:43Let's say you decided to move to the healthy side and started munching on carrot sticks instead of your regular,
10:49not-exactly-healthy snacks.
10:52Suddenly, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and realize that your skin has a subtle orange tint.
10:59Say what now?
11:00Nope, you're not dreaming.
11:02All that beta-carotene and orange fruits and veggies can give your skin a temporary glow-up.
11:07Don't worry, though.
11:08Just switch up your snacks and the Oompa Loompa look will fade in no time.
11:13Some people believe there's no such thing as too much garlic.
11:16And they're right.
11:17For a fun science experiment, try tasting garlic through your feet.
11:21The American Chemical Society claims it's totally possible.
11:25Cut a piece of garlic, place it in a bag, put your bare feet inside, and wait.
11:31Thanks to a compound called allicin, the garlic will travel through your skin to your mouth and nose.
11:38Kids of identical twins share a special bond, being considered both cousins and half-siblings.
11:44This unique relationship is due to their genetic similarities.
11:47They inherit similar DNA from their identical twin parents.
11:51While legally they are cousins, genetically, they're more like half-siblings.
11:56In fact, they share about 25% of their DNA, double the amount shared by regular cousins.
12:02This makes them more genetically related than typical cousins, but not as close as full siblings or identical twins.
12:11A man in the U.S. has been surviving on nothing but 20 potatoes a day for two months.
12:17Chris Voigt from Washington State Potato Commission wanted to show that potatoes aren't just a bunch of carbs, but are
12:24actually good for you.
12:25You may think that eating spuds alone may make you gain a few extra pounds, but Chris shed some pounds
12:32and lowered his cholesterol instead.
12:34By the way, in theory, you could even survive eating taters and butter only.
12:40Not only are potatoes cool on Earth, but scientists have also made them cool in space.
12:45They're the first plants ever grown beyond Earth.
12:48In the early 90s, there was an experiment about growing potatoes in space.
12:52The study aimed to understand how microgravity conditions affected the growth of potatoes.
12:58Potatoes were chosen for their resilience to different climates and ability to thrive in extreme conditions.
13:05We need our stomach acid to be super acidic to break down all the variety of foods we eat.
13:12It's so strong that it can even dissolve some metals.
13:16For example, razor blades dissolve in stomach acid pretty quickly.
13:20After 24 hours, they're already 63% gone.
13:25Double-edged blades can be broken within 15 hours, while single-edged blades disappear in just 2 hours.
13:33Batteries are safe, but pennies don't even get a scratch.
13:38Good thing our stomach has a protective layer of mucus and bicarbonate to keep everything in check.
13:44The reason we're taller in the morning than at night is the intervertebral discs in our spine.
13:50These discs are mostly water, and throughout the day, they get squished down from all the bending and twisting we
13:57do.
13:57But when we sleep, our spines get a chance to relax, and the discs soak up more fluid, making us
14:03a bit taller in the morning.
14:06Scientists have found that there are some pretty big gaps between adult brains and teenage brains.
14:11One key player in this brain game is the prefrontal cortex.
14:16This part of the brain handles important stuff like decision-making and impulse control, but it's not all grown up
14:22until you hit your 20s.
14:25Adults have their prefrontal cortex in full swing, helping them make smart choices and think things through.
14:32Teens, on the other hand, might be more likely to let their emotions guide their decisions.
14:37If a cow ever smiles at you, you're going to be in for a shot.
14:41They don't even have upper front teeth.
14:44Instead, they have a special dental pad that helps them munch on grass like a pro.
14:49When it comes to chewing, cows have it down to a science.
14:52They have sharp incisors at the bottom of their mouth for cutting grass and molars at the back for grinding
14:58it all up.
14:59It all works smoothly, like a quality food processor.
15:03Researchers have discovered a penguin species that lived 37 million years ago and would have been as tall as most
15:10humans.
15:11This giant penguin, also known as the Colossus penguin, stood at a whopping 7 feet tall from toe to beak
15:18tip and weighed as much as 250 pounds.
15:22To put that in perspective, today's biggest penguin, the emperor penguin, is only 3.6 feet tall and weighs between
15:3050 and 100 pounds.
15:33The researchers have also found the longest recorded fused ankle foot bone and parts of a wing bone from this
15:39ancient species.
15:41With their larger build, these giant penguins were able to dive underwater for longer periods of time, up to 40
15:49minutes, to hunt for fish.
15:51Every year, people around the world take about 1.81 trillion photos.
15:57That's around 57,000 photos snapped every second.
16:01Or a whopping 5 billion pics snapped daily.
16:05These days, we take more photos every two minutes than were taken in the entire 19th century.
16:11Cheese!
16:13In Singapore, researchers gave cyborg cockroaches a spin in the desert to try them out for search and rescue missions
16:20down the road.
16:21Turns out, a team of 20 roaches decked out with computer backpacks can actually work together as a swarm.
16:28The scientists were able to steer the roaches by sending commands through the backpacks, thanks to a cool new algorithm
16:34they came up with.
16:35These high-tech bugs could be a real game-changer in disaster situations when it comes to sniffing out survivors.
16:43What do peanut butter and an engagement ring have in common?
16:47Both of them contain diamonds.
16:49Scientists have learned how to turn peanut butter into diamonds.
16:53They extracted oxygen from CO2, got carbon, and then put it under intense pressure, forming diamonds in the end.
17:01Double-stuffed Oreo cookies aren't double-stuffed, in fact.
17:05A math teacher, Dan Anderson, weighed 10 regular Oreos, 10 double-stuffed Oreos, 10 mega-stuffed Oreos, and 5 wafers.
17:13Turns out, double-stuffed Oreos are only 1.86 stuffed Oreos.
17:20Next time you ditch your favorite candies because of your fear of cavities, think twice about what you replace those
17:25candies with.
17:27Crackers are even more harmful for your teeth than sugar.
17:29It's not sugar, but acid that decays the teeth enamel.
17:33Sticky crackers produce that acid.
17:36It's a good environment for bacteria.
17:38They're going to feast in between your teeth.
17:42Water is something that just can't go off.
17:45How come there are these expiration dates on water bottles, then?
17:48The expiration date on mineral water doesn't refer to the water.
17:52It's about the bottle that can actually get expired.
17:55The thing is, over time, it starts leaking some chemicals that aren't quite safe.
18:00You deal with contouring money.
18:00Oh yeah.
18:01Amen.
18:03Have fun.
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