From udder-shaped cloud formations to the majestic song of the humpback, today we look
at Phenomena Science Can’t Easily Explain.
#12 Animal Migration One of the most incredible natural feats to
witness annually is seasonal migration.
Some species will travel up to 11,000 miles to reach their summer home before taking the
trip back later that year!
Some trips aren’t annual, and instead astound scientists in the length between migrations.
For example, some baby turtles will hatch from an island in the middle of the Atlantic
Ocean, only to wait years until fully grown to make the 1,400 mile return trip...to the
middle of the ocean!
The ability of various species to navigate seemingly by pure instinct is one of the greatest
unsolved mysteries of modern science.
#11 Mammatus Clouds More of a growth formation than an actual
category, Mammatus clouds hang from the underbelly of other clouds.
Believed to be formed by cold air creating pockets within the clouds that sink and cause
the cloud to extend downward in rounded tufts.
Scientists have proposed many hypothesized mechanisms to explain this odd formation,
mainly due to the many different properties they display and environments in which they
appear.
From cooling due to hydrometeors to gravity waves, the theories surrounding Mammatus [muh-may-tus]
clouds differ wildly.
The one constant between the various proposed mechanisms, though, comes in the belief that
sharp changes in moisture, momentum, and temperature play a strong role in creating these udder-like
clouds.
#10 Sun’s corona Perhaps most easily viewed during a solar
eclipse (bare-eyed observation is not recommended), the Sun and other stars across the Universe,
are surrounded by a thick aura of plasma.
This glowing ring of ambient light is referred to as the Sun’s corona and emanates millions
of kilometers into outer space.
The light created by the corona, however, is not nearly as curious to scientists as
its temperature.
Burning at several millions of Kelvins higher than the surface of the Sun, the corona has
perplexed scientists as heat directly transferred from the Sun’s interior to its plasmic aura
would violate the second-law of thermodynamics.
Thus, scientists deduce something else must be at work here, attributing two theories
as having the most potential for cause: magnetic reconnection and wave heating.
Magnetic reconnection is the belief that the solar magnetic field creates electrical currents
in the corona to generate heat, whereas the latter theory relies on waves, like plasma
and gamma, to carry the heat to the corona . Either way, there has yet to be any true
consensus on the source of the Sun’s plasma crown.
#9 Cat’s Purr While most pet owners may think of it as being
analogous to the wagging tail of a dog, a cat’s purr is one of the most complex functions
among all animals, let alone house pets.
Commonly thought of as a display of comfort, happiness, or pleasure, the cat’s purr has
recently been found to serve a variety of other purposes.
In addition to happiness, cats have been known to purr when frightened or threatened, similar
to how a human may smile when nervous as well as when happy.
More than simple emotions, purrs have also been said to serve as a means of communication
with cat owners.
Some tones within a purr have been recorded as having a frequency similar to that of a
crying baby, playing on the innate want to nurture as produced by the sound of an infant
in need.
Discounting these infantile tones, however, purring also serves healing purposes for both
feline and owner.
The vibrations formed by twitching the laryngeal muscles, or the process of purring, have been
found to assist with bone growth, pain relief, and muscle and tendon repair.
In humans, purring can assist with stress relief, with the tonal effects creating a
calming, peaceful atmosphere.
Cat owners have even showed a 40 percent reduced risk for heart attacks when compared to non-owners.
Biologists and researchers are still hard at work to find out more about the true purpose
of the purr.
#8 Jellyfish Lake The Republic of Palau [pa-louw, like allow],
an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, is home to one of the most interesting bodies
of water in the world: Jellyfish Lake.
Nestled within the island of Eil Malk among the Rock Islands of Palau [pa-louw, like allow],
the lake is stratified with an oxygenated layer and an anoxic[an-ox-ik] layer that remain
entirely separate.
Within the top layer, any of its inhabitants that rely on oxygen to survive coexist, including
the lake’s namesake the jellyfish!
This layer only extends about 15 meters.
Further down, though, is an anoxic layer, the waters can be incredibly dangerous to
most all multi-celled organisms.
The top three meters are chock full of bacteria, and the water itself contains high amounts
of ammonia and phosphate [foss-fate], creating an environment so dangerous that it can poison
divers through their skin!
To prevent the possibility, scuba gear isn’t even allowed in the lake.
Estimated to be about 12,000 years old, Jellyfish Lake is a sanctuary for two distinct species:
the golden jellyfish and the moon jellyfish.
Relatively consistent in their population stability, the moon jellyfish prosper through
night time feeding tactics, mainly subsisting on copepods with similar habits.
Conversely, the golden jellyfish has a much more complex behavior.
It crosses the lake horizontally a couple times a day before spending 14 hours a day,
from dusk to dawn, bobbing vertically near the pockets of chemicals it presumably requires.
But even with a routine they stick to, the golden jellyfish haven’t had the best attendance
record.
In the fall of 1998, the population of the golden jellyfish began to drop sharply until
hitting zero by December.
But in January 2000, this glowing species made its return to the lake from seemingly
nowhere and by 2012 it had replenished to a pre-disappearance population.
Scientists suspect a sharp rise in sea temperatures as a cause for the temporary disappearance
of the species, but mysteries surrounding the lake, its odd jellyfish, and their disappearance
abound.
#7 Kelimutu Near the town of Moni, at the centre of Flores
Island in Indonesia, a massive volcano named Kelimutu [kel-lee-moo-too] sits between three
surrounding lakes, the likes of which are as mysterious as they are radiant.
Each sporting their own scintillating [sin-til-lay-ting] coloration, these lakes are of great interest
to scientists as their unique hues not only differ from one another, but fluctuate in
color at seemingly random times.
Geologists believe the color changes are related to chemicals reacting to volcanic gases, but
given a lack of consistent monitoring of the volcano, researchers lack the data to identify
its cause for sure.
#6 Naga Fireballs Believed by many to be a naturally occurring
phenomenon, the Naga Fireballs of the mekong river are the target of much skepticism from
the scientific community.
Each night, anywhere between tens and thousands of fireballs the size of bowling bowls are
launched into the night sky as onlookers watch from the river shore.
Scientists and skeptics have concluded that flare guns could very easily be creating these
effects from an area across the river, well outside the audible and visual range of the
public.
Any scientific attempts to explain these fireballs as a natural phenomena have also fallen short,
with large gaps in each theory.
Still, locals maintain they are but a spectacle unique to the region, and attempts to explain
them as anything short of a miracle tend to be ignored.
And thus the truths of the Naga [nah-gah] Fireballs remain a mystery.
#5 Synchronous Fireflies In the Southern mountains of North Carolina
and Tennessee, authorities hold a lottery for interested parties in determining which
few people may visit the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during the height of firefly
season.
The National Park is home to the dazzling insect known as the Synchronous firefly, a
type of firefly known for their magical display of fluorescent green lights.
These bugs spend two years in a larva state preparing for this opportunity, a three-week
period that makes up the species’ mating season, the end of which marks the conclusion
of their life-span.
During its mating season, the Synchronous [sink-roh-niss] firefly will work in tandem
with the rest of its population to rhythmically strobe in sync with the rest of the forest.
The end result is a hypnotic experience that persists in puzzling academics across the
scientific community.
#4 Ice Circles Like glacial lily pads, the formations known
as ice circles or ice pans are born of slow-moving water in frigid climates, characterized by
a steady but constant rotation.
Believed to come from ice broken off in eddy currents, or the swirling patterns of movement
that some rivers follow, these ice circles spin to circular proportions, eroding any
jagged corners while spinning.
However, the creation of these discs is so rare that scientists haven’t fully determined
the mechanisms responsible for their creation.
#3 Humpback Song It’s easy to attribute the mating calls
and sounds of animals as a natural behavior or function, with the motivation being fairly
obvious once observed.
However, in the case of the humpback whale, scientists have a much more difficult time
understanding the purpose of their sea song.
Evolving slowly with each new entry, these complex acoustic calls echo throughout the
ocean and spread to other members of the species who, in turn, sing the same song back.
Some whales will at times sing in chorus with one another, though not in unison.
These choir sessions will last up to 20 hours at times, with the seven to thirty minute
songs being repeated ad nauseum . Explanations for the true purpose of the humpback
song range from mating calls to biosonar to acting as an audible lighthouse of sorts during
migration.
Female humpback whales, however, rarely approach singing males.
Singing males also tend to form some bonds with other singing males, an act that seems
counter to the aggressive masculinity found within other species during mating season.
Thus, a popular theory hypothesizes that these songs actually act as a means of male camaraderie
. Whatever their true purpose, these songs remain a beacon of scientific interest under
the sea.
#2 The Hum In the town of Taos, a subtle monotonous drone,
that apparently only 2% of people can hear, confounds the scientific community.
The low-frequency noise is generally said to be heard on the west of the town near Tres
Orejas [oh-ray-hoss], a nearby summit.
Elsewhere, in Bristol, England and Auckland , New Zealand, similar humming sounds have
been reported, with similar frequencies accounted for as well.
Regarded by some as a possible symptom of tinnitus or the result of spontaneous noises
that ears sometimes generate, some other less dismissive explanations have been hypothesized.
These include the echoes of heavy, subterranean mechanical devices or the resonating calls
of a local animal species.
Regardless of the source, the Hum as it’s often called, remains a topic in fiction,
having been referenced on shows such as Criminal Minds, Unsolved Mysteries and the X-Files.
#1 Animal Rain A next-level weather phenomenon, reports from
as early as the 18th century have told of animals falling from the sky.
So far more than 30 incidents across the past 3 centuries have been documented, with a majority
of them claiming fish rained from the sky.
Incidents of spiders, frogs, toads, jellyfish, worms, and more falling from the sky have
been reported as well.
These supposed animal showers are predicted to have been the result of tornadic waterspouts,
weather formations that would have lifted the creatures off the ground only to have
them rain from the sky.
But scientists have yet to actually witness and study the process live, so that theory
is uncertain.
On top of that, there’s another factor that proves troublesome to scientists: typically,
only one type of animal is seen raining from the sky at a time.
The tornadic rainspout hypothesis, while somewhat reasonable, still doesn’t account for the
lack of diversity in species during each incident.