31 Fascinating Facts We Learned In 2020

1.

An extinct species of monkey crossed the Atlantic on its own.

2.

Mars constantly makes a humming noise.

3.

When plants are under attack from insects, they let out aromas that warn other plants and entice the insects’ predators.

4.

It’s likely that more than 11 species of fish can walk on land.

5.

Over 1,000 years ago, Puebloans in modern-day New Mexico survived droughts by melting ancient ice in the depths of caves.

6.

There was a badger-like animal 66 million years ago, and scientists named it Adalatherium, which means “crazy beast.”

7.

In the past couple decades, supermassive black holes in distant galaxies have launched jets of material.

8.

Some hummingbirds use colors we can’t see to find food.

9.

There is a giant lakebed a mile under northwest Greenland.

10.

A 550-million-year-old fossilized digestive tract was found in Nevada, making it the oldest known digestive tract ever.

11.

On average, lightning strikes Earth 100 times each second.

12.

And lightning strikes over 100 million times a year in the tropics.

15.

Through sensing electrostatic fields, bumblebees can tell if another bee has visited the flower they’re at in the past couple of minutes.

16.

There are four buried lakes on Mars.

17.

Modern humans reached westernmost Europe 38,000 to 41,000 years ago — 5,000 years earlier than we thought.

18.

The oldest known species of pythons were in Germany.

19.

A gas associated with living organisms is in Venus’s atmosphere.

20.

Some bats make different kinds of sounds to talk about different subjects, like food or sleep.

21.

There’s a blue fruit that gets its color from its fat.

22.

Tectonic plates became a thing over 4 billion years ago — at least a billion years earlier than we thought.

24.

An animal in Antarctica hibernated over 250 million years ago, which is the oldest evidence of a hibernation-like state.

25.

There’s a coral reef in the Great Barrier Reef that’s taller than the Empire State Building.

26.

Duckbilled dinosaurs were present in Africa, and they swam from Europe or Asia.

28.

There were periods of extreme cold in Ancient Rome, and it was caused by a volcano eruption in Alaska.

29.

Earth’s continents were submerged 3.8 billion years ago.

30.

After sea turtles lay eggs, they create decoy nests to fool predators.

31.

And lastly, there is water on the moon.