Curiosify

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Curious

Animals are starting to come out at night to avoid humans

Nocturnal animals

That human life affects fauna all around the world is no news, but up to what point do we have influence on other living beings? What’s clear is that our existence on earth has slowly but surely been killing our planet. However, up until know we thought it was just climate change we had to be worried about. But studies have shown we also have a big impact on wildlife.

Scientifically proven

A study carried out in Berkeley noticed that activity patterns of numerous species have been changing: animals are becoming nocturnal, even if they had previously always been daytime creatures. This change affects mostly the mammal species around the world, like tigres and coyotes.

Nature tourism

Nature tourism

Scientists claim the reason behind this change seems to be “nature tourism”, amongst other reasons. Nature tourism is the main argument for such pattern changes: their instincts are to avoid human life. However, throughout the last couple of decades they have become more and more invaded by humans, thus being forced to come out at night.

Serious consequences

Although it might be an evolutionary adaptation for these species, researchers do believe these animals are put under high amounts of stress, meaning the changes could have serious consequences in the future that are yet to be discovered.

Worldwide

A world-wide study

This is not just any study: research has been carried out on data on a global scale collected from tens of studies on movements of 60 different mammal species from all five continents. Apparently, where human activity has invaded, animals are on average 1,36 times more nocturnal. Will we ever stop damaging our planet?

Images: Unsplash

Why do we like cat videos so much? Here’s the answer

Cats

We’re sure it’s happened to you before that someone has sent you a cat video and before you know it you’ve spent your entire afternoon watching felines caressing each other. It’s okay. Been there, done that. But it does keep you wondering, what do cat videos have that we like so much?

Cat

Cat videos are the number one favourite videos online with an number of 26,000 million views a year. But why is it? There might not be a definitive answer just yet, but there a several studies that seem to come close.

It hits home

On the one hand, we have that a lot of people have a cat at home. And when we say a lot, we mean a lot. This means that, in the same way we like pictures in which our friends appear, we prefer to watch videos with animals similar to our own.

They serve as a distraction

Cat

Another reason could be the “humanizing factor”. This phenomenon is why we find a cat playing dead or any other “human” activity amusing. Watching such videos makes us feel close to the animals and puts us on the same level.

However, one of the most important reasons why we like them so much is the feeling these videos give us. We almost never actually look them up directly; we rather “bump into them”. This means a distraction for whatever other boring activity you were carrying out, while at the same time having a small feeling of guilt for wasting time.

“The forbidden fruit” effect

Cats

Something that previously might seem negative, stimulates us to keep watching these types of videos. A phenomenon similar to when someone tells us not to do something: we immediately feel the urge to do it.

Lastly, we find that cats don’t care if they are being filmed or not. This doesn’t happen with dogs or humans. It’s why we often capture (even by accident) animal’s reactions naturally.

Still no definite conclusion

Cat

These are all reasons that make the question even bigger: why do we like cat videos so much? Unfortunately, there’s still no definite answer.

Images: Unsplash

Curious Facts About Starbucks Coffee Workers

Starbucks Coffee is one of the world’s most iconic brands. Famous for its green mermaid emblem and name personalization on every cup, this chain has expanded to more than 24,000 store locations worldwide. Whether you’re a loyal customer or just go for the occasional splurge, there are some pretty interesting facts you probably didn’t know about the people pouring your brew.

The Workers Are Not Baristas

Man holding out Starbucks cup.

Typically, someone working at a coffee shop is known as a barista. However, at this Seattle-based chain, all the workers are referred to as partners. This is for two reasons. One, it fosters a level of companionship among all the employees. Second, after working there a year each employee gets a share in the stock, so they are literally stock partners.

They Serve Your Pooch, Too

If you bring your furry companion to a Starbucks, many of their employees will offer your dog a “puppacino.” This treat consists of cup filled with whipped cream. Although it’s not the healthiest thing to give your dog, given the high fat and sugar content, it’s a nice way to make him or her feel special!

You Can Request Coffee Foam Art

coffee foam art.

Starbucks is known for having many fancy flavors and drinks that are instagram-worthy (hello, pink drink!) but you very rarely see their drinks with foam art. This is due to technical reasons. The Starbucks pitchers are actually wider than standard pitchers at local coffee shops, making it difficult to pour the foam decoratively. You can however request a worker to add art– just don’t expect them to be too happy about it. Which takes us to our next point…

Yes, They Will Decaffeinate Drinks Of Rude Customers

For anyone who has accidentally purchased or consumed decaf when they desperately needed full-caffeine, this is a true nightmare. But our suspicions prove to be true- some Starbucks workers have admitted to giving decaf to rude customers as means for “revenge.” Some additionally misspell your name on purpose. But can we really blame them? Sometimes it’s the little things that get us through the day when we’ve been treated badly. You have been warned!

Photos: Unsplash

Reasons Writing In Cursive Benefits Your Brain

Remember those agonizing days in elementary school of learning how to (and be forced to) write in cursive? Only for the majority of us to never use it again later in life… Well, turns out writing in flowing, cursive handwriting actually helps our brains in many ways. Time to put down the phone and start practicing your fancy script again!

Cursive Enhances Your Concentration

Group of students writing in cursive, looking focused.

Writing in cursive helps our thoughts to stay connected and on topic. In fact, in the United States a study found students who wrote in cursive on the SAT college entrance exam actually scored higher than those who wrote in normal print. The theory behind this advantage is that students who wrote with the flowing letters didn’t have to use extra effort and time by writing in print, thereby having more time to concentrate on the content of their writing.

Activates More Parts Of Your Brain

Brain with lots of electric bolts coming from it.

When compared to typing or writing in normal print, writing in cursive has been found to activate more parts of the brain. Additionally, when people read in cursive, more neurological pathways of both left and right hemispheres in the brain work together, than reading regular manuscript. This enables you to understand and retain learned content better.

Helps You Become A Better Speller

magnet letters all mixed together.

When writing in cursive, you are naturally learning to form words in which each letter is connected. This in turn creates associations and connections in the brain, helping you to remember the proper spelling of words. This is super helpful, especially when you consider how bad spell check can be sometimes…

Fine Tunes Your Motor Skills

Man buttoning his shirt.

To be legible, cursive requires lots of practice using fine motor skills. These skills work the small muscles in our hands so that we can do daily activities, like buttoning a shirt, grabbing items, and feeding ourselves with much more ease. You might not be worried about losing these functions at this point in your life, but it can’t hurt to keep them skilled for lifelong self sufficiency and a great mind too!

Photos: Freepik

Biodegradable yucca bags to replace plastic

Biodegradable

That we ought to reduce our plastic consumption has become common sense by now. However, it seems to be awfully difficult to carry out. It has become so deeply integrated into every aspect of society that now that we are starting to live with the consequences, we just don’t know how to get rid of this harmful thing we call plastic.

Bags against pollution

However, with new ideas like these yucca-based biodegradable bags we are certainly taking a step in the right direction. Kevin Kumala came up with this innovative idea. It occurred during one of his trips to his home country: Bali. He noticed the enormous amounts of plastic that end up at the beaches, not only in Bali, but everywhere around the world.

Non-plastic bags

Kumala’s journey

From then on, the biologist started seeking for a solution to replace these plastic bags that have become so usual in our daily lives. However, the journey he would have to go through would definitely not be an easy one.

He did not only want these new bags to be biodegradable, he also wanted to make sure that, in case they did end up in the sea, they wouldn’t harm marine fauna.

A clever solution

Yucca bag

He found yucca starch bags to be the perfect solution for the plastic problem. What Kumala accomplished went further than just bags that biodegrade at a fast pace: he managed to make his invention eatable for fish, meaning they would not only not cause any harm, they would also feed marine wildlife.

Yucca bags

Kumala chose the yucca veggie to be the protagonist of his invention because of his own roots. Indonesia cultivates over 25 million tons of yucca every year. This is why yucca seemed like the perfect candidate for the job. Once the biologist chose the material he wanted to work with, he went onto copying the manufacturing process of regular bags.

More than bags

Cutlery

The result of Kumala’s investigation was a bag that would turn into compost in only 100 days, that dissolves in warm water and is as cheap as 5 dollar cents. This project, if all goes as planned, will reach other countries in no time.

However, Avani Eco did not want to limit themselves to just “plastic” bags: they have already started creating all sorts of plastic replacements in other areas like food recipients or cutlery.

Images: Avani Eco

These Seals Were Taught To Sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Typically we don’t think of seals as musically gifted creatures, but scientists at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland have managed to train a choir of three seals, as seen in this latest video.

Granted, the trio of gray seals only have two songs memorized under their belt, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and the theme to “Star Wars.” However, this is a far cry from the occasional bark we expect to hear from this sea creature. Yes, all in the name of science!

Singing With A Purpose

The purpose of the study was to see if animals can be successful at vocal learning. This skill is vital for humans in learning language, but rarely seen in animals. Published in the scientific journal Current Biology, the study aimed to see if seals could copy human formants and melodies, which are needed for humans to process information.

grey seal lying on sand.

As you can imagine, learning human languages is not native to seals. For this reason, the animals were first trained to mimic their own sounds and the sounds of human vowels.

While this might seem like a simple task, the reality of it according to the researchers was quite the opposite. It took “hundreds of trials to teach the seal what we want it to do.”

Quick Learners

After many trials and errors, the sea creatures eventually got used to the training and were able to copy new sounds within only a few attempts.

Upon watching the video, you might not be so impressed by the way the seal Zola barks her way through the two songs. However, the researchers were extremely impressed given these sounds are not typical of their species, proving their vocalization is apt for learning.

The Next Steps For The Seals

While their ability to make human sounds is proven, the next step is to see if these creatures understand language. This would require further investigation with the animals labeling different objects, vocally.

seals lying on a chair hugging each other.

This might seem silly research to the average human, but this investigation is useful because seals and humans share the same neural and anatomical structures. Meaning, the research in vocal learning on seals can help better understand human speech disorders and learning.

Photos: Unsplash and Pixabay.