Plus other weird things we learned this week.
What’s the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you’ll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci’s hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It’s your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster.
They engage in some truly wild behavior to find new shells, including something known as a “vacancy chain.” Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1dnocPQXDQ But what happens when shells are in short supply? Apparently when a homemade snail shell isn’t available, a store bought chunk of plastic will do. People have spotted—and taken pictures of—hermit crabs wearing bottle caps, light bulb bases, and other bits of trash for years.