Whew! It’s gotten quite tricky to turn up unused #weirdscifacts, even though I’m sure I’m hardly scratching the surface.  Nevertheless, I’m still going strong!

641. Dec 14: Dolphins playing with humpbacked whales??!!  We’ve seen interspecies cooperation in previous weird science facts, but this is the first one we’ve shown that involves different species playing with one another.  (h/t @edyong209)

642. Dec 15: This is amazing: first “smoke recordings” of human voice from 1860 reconstructed in 2008.  Amazing still isn’t a strong enough word: “awe inspiring” is the phrase that now comes to mind.  These smoke recordings represent the first recordings of the human voice, but it took nearly 150 years for these recordings to be played back.  To listen to them feels like listening to a ghost from the past.

643. Dec 16: New post: Sir Edmond Halley takes a dive! (1714)  This of course is my own post on Sir Edmond Halley, most known for “Halley’s comet”.  Way back in 1714, Halley had perfected the diving bell to the point where he could comfortably stay for an hour or more under 60 feet of water!

644. Dec 17: IPHAS named a nebula after Crown Prince of Spain as wedding gift.  (h/t @allinthegutter)

645. Dec 18: #weirdscifacts from last month: spiders dosing their web with poison?  (h/t @drrubidium)

646. Dec 19: ‘Vocal fry’ is spreading among young American women, thanks to pop music?  This ‘fry’ is a creaking sound used by pop stars to reach low notes.  It turns out that research shows it becoming trendy in normal speech, at least among American English speakers.   (via @moximer)

647. Dec 20: Is it possible to swim in the sand? The sandfish lizard can! “Sandworms.  You hate ’em, right? *I* hate ’em!”