Buzz
Humans often believe they hold complete mastery over the world. This belief is especially strong when considering the destruction we've caused to natural ecosystems. However, animals sometimes find creative ways to retaliate. As the saying goes, 'The best-laid plans of mice and men.' Here are 10 examples of animals turning the tables on human endeavors.
10. The Herring Fart That Almost Triggered an International Crisis
In countless submarine thrillers, there's always a moment when the crew falls into complete silence. An officer strains to hear through the headphones, knowing that even the slightest sound could expose their position. They are being hunted by a quiet and lethal foe.
In the 1980s, the Swedish authorities believed they were detecting the sounds of Russian submarines within their waters. High-pitched squeals and pops were captured by underwater microphones. The Swedes raised concerns with the Soviets, but the mysterious noises continued.
When the Soviet Union dissolved, the Swedes hoped the disturbances would come to an end. But the sounds persisted. It was then that the Swedes began to consider an alternative explanation.
Researchers found that the noises were actually coming from the flatulent herring. These fish produce the sounds by expelling gas through their anuses. Most marine life, including the herring’s predators, cannot hear these farts, thus allowing the herrings to communicate privately.
Technically, the noisy ‘bottom burps’ aren’t true farts, as the gas is from air inhaled at the surface rather than the byproduct of digestion. It remains unclear how much the herrings cost Sweden in terms of enhanced coastal defense.
9. Pigeons Delay the Confirmation of the Big Bang
During the mid-20th century, two prominent models of the universe were at odds. One proposed that the universe was eternal and unchanging, known as the steady-state theory. The other suggested that the universe had evolved from a much smaller state, the big bang theory. However, the search for proof of which theory was correct almost got derailed by pigeons.
In 1964, physicists Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias were using a microwave detector to measure the sky’s brightness. Finding the lowest point of brightness proved challenging, as there was a persistent buzz no matter where they pointed their telescope.
After ruling out all other possible sources of interference, they discovered a pair of pigeons nesting in their equipment. And where birds make their home, pigeon droppings are never far behind. The scientists suspected that the droppings might be causing the persistent hum they were detecting.
The scientists captured the pigeons and sent them to a pigeon expert located 48 kilometers (30 miles) away. They then cleaned the droppings from their equipment. However, once released, the pigeons returned to the telescope. The battle between the scientists and the birds continued for months. Throughout it all, the strange signal remained.
Once the pigeons were no longer a factor, it became apparent that the signal was no error. No matter where one looked in the sky, there was consistent background microwave radiation. This is precisely what the big bang theory had predicted. For their groundbreaking discovery—and their skillful pigeon management—Wilson and Penzias were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
8. Jellyfish Shut Down Nuclear Power Plants
Power plants are typically located next to large bodies of water, as they rely on this water to drive the turbines that generate electricity. Nuclear power plants depend especially on this water, as it not only provides steam for turbines but also helps cool the reactor. As we all know, an overheated nuclear reactor is a major risk.
In 2013, a Swedish nuclear power plant was forced to shut down when a swarm of jellyfish blocked the inlet pipes. The plant had to remove tons of jellyfish before the reactor could be restarted.
This wasn’t an isolated case. Sea salps have also been known to swarm into power plant pipes, causing clogs. Roughly two to three times a year, a power plant or water desalination plant must shut down due to jellyfish swarms, also known as blooms. It is believed that overfishing is contributing to the rise in jellyfish blooms, as it removes their natural predators.
7. Mayfly Swarms and Traffic Accidents
Mayflies are a large group of insects that love to swarm. They spend the majority of their life cycle in an immature form in water. Upon reaching adulthood, they take to the air to mate. To reduce the risk of being eaten, entire populations of mayflies often mature simultaneously, creating massive swarms in the air.
In the video above, the mayfly swarm was so intense that authorities had to close a bridge. The insects are drawn to lights, creating hazardous driving conditions. Despite their small size—about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch)—these mayflies can gather in such numbers that they form layers on the road, turning it into a slippery mess when cars pass over them.
Turning on the windshield wipers often creates a sludge from their crushed bodies that obstructs the driver’s view. Crashes caused by mayflies are not unheard of. Some swarms are so vast that they are detected by weather radar.
6. Bird Collisions
Having an insect fly into your face is bothersome. Having a bird collide with you would be painful. However, when a bird strikes your vehicle while it’s traveling at high speeds, the results can be catastrophic.
Naturally, when a bird collides with an airplane, it’s usually the bird that suffers. But there are times when the bird can actually bring the plane down. Bird strikes are estimated to cause more than $1 billion in damages annually.
In 2009, a plane crash-landed in the Hudson River after a flock of Canadian geese collided with it. In 1912, the first recorded bird strike resulted in a plane crashing into the Pacific Ocean when a seagull interfered with the aircraft’s controls, leading to the pilot’s death by drowning.
While a small bird entering an engine typically causes no significant issues, a goose is a heavy object that can cause serious damage to a jet engine’s blades. Because of the dangers, airports around the globe have developed strategies to scare birds away from runways. Most bird strikes occur during takeoff or landing, and various methods—such as loud cannons, flashing lights, and even trained birds of prey—are used to deter them.
5. Newton’s Dog
Anyone who owns a cat knows the frustration of them wandering into places they’re not welcome. Ancient records indicate that this behavior is nothing new.
Roman tiles have been found with cat paw prints imprinted on them. Manuscripts have surfaced where a curious cat walked through ink and left tracks all over the pages. While these are merely minor inconveniences, Isaac Newton’s dog, Diamond, nearly drove the great scientist to the brink of madness.
Diamond, known to be quite an energetic dog, was running around one day and bumped into a table. The impact knocked a candle onto the manuscript that Newton was working on. Ironically, the work of the man who discovered gravity was literally burned up in the flames.
Fortunately, the room remained untouched, but the manuscript was completely destroyed. Newton, however, took the incident in stride. He reportedly told his dog, “Oh, Diamond, Diamond, little do you know the mischief you have done me!”
Some reports suggest that this setback led to Newton losing an entire year of work due to both the destruction of the manuscript and the depression that followed. During this period, he was unable to produce any new work.
4. Aircraft Crash After Crocodile Breaks Free
In 2010, a plane crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo under mysterious circumstances. Nineteen people lost their lives when the aircraft struck a house near its destination. The sole survivor provided a possible explanation for the crash—a crocodile that had escaped.
The survivor claimed that the crocodile, measuring between 0.6 and 0.9 meters (2 to 3 feet), had slipped out of a passenger's bag. Understandably, this caused a panic among the passengers, who rushed to the front of the plane. This shift in weight seems to have caused the plane to lose balance and crash.
An investigation into the accident found footage showing the crocodile emerging alive from the wreckage. Despite surviving the crash, the crocodile was later killed by a machete.
While other possible causes for the crash were considered, such as human sabotage, there is no evidence suggesting that the incident was anything other than an unfortunate accident caused by the crocodile.
3. The First Computer Bug
When something goes wrong with a computer, we often call it a bug. We typically think of this as a metaphor: something’s wrong, and we blame a “bug” in the system. But the first recorded use of the term in this context dates back to 1889:
Mr. Edison, I was informed, had been up the two previous nights discovering “a bug” in his phonograph—an expression for solving a difficulty, and implying that some imaginary insect has secreted itself inside and is causing all the trouble.
The early computers, however, were much more mechanical than the ones we use today. In 1947, the Mark II computer at Harvard malfunctioned. Upon investigation, technicians discovered the issue: they found a moth. They attached the insect to the logbook, noting it as 'First actual case of a bug being found.'
Grace Hopper, the trailblazing computer scientist responsible for the Mark II, helped cement the term 'bug' in computing culture by frequently recounting the tale of the moth.
2. Sparrow Knocks Over The Dominoes
In 2005, a world record attempt for the most dominoes set up caused an uproar among animal rights groups. With 4.1 million dominoes arranged and ready for the attempt, a sparrow flew into the venue. The bird disturbed the event by causing a chain reaction, knocking over 23,000 dominoes before the organizers intended.
The team had spent weeks carefully arranging the dominoes, so the disruption was met with considerable frustration. Fearing further disruptions from any other uninvited birds, an exterminator was called, who promptly took action and shot the sparrow with an air rifle.
With the bird taken care of, the domino setup continued. It took two hours for the entire chain reaction to unfold, but eventually, the world record was successfully shattered.
The sparrow’s death, however, prompted the creation of a condolence book. It was later discovered that the bird was a house sparrow, a species considered endangered in the Netherlands.
1. LHC Marten
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) stands as one of the most intricate and costly scientific apparatuses ever constructed. Given its immense size and delicate nature, it's not surprising that it has faced issues. Throughout its operational history, animal-related incidents have caused the world’s largest experiment to be temporarily shut down on three separate occasions.
In 2009, a bird was responsible for halting the LHC after it dropped a piece of baguette onto a capacitor that connected the LHC to the external power supply. This caused a failure in the cooling systems, raising temperatures in the collider ring. Surprisingly, the bird survived and was found enjoying its discarded meal.
The animals involved in the 2016 shutdowns were less fortunate. In the early part of the year, a marten (likely the culprit) chewed through a power cable, resulting in a week-long LHC outage.
Later that year, a stone marten ventured into the LHC and made contact with a transformer. This caused 18,000 volts to course through the marten, instantly killing it. The LHC lost power and all experiments were suspended. The unfortunate creature can now be seen, preserved in its crispy state, in a Dutch museum.
