nature is amazing #001: magnetic moths, false memories, and lightning ⚡

Nature is amazing, and I am continually floored by how much we are still learning about the world around us. Here are some of the things that have caused my jaw to drop lately: 

🦋 MAGNETIC MOTHS | Our planet is a giant magnet. We already knew that certain animals (like sea turtles and songbirds) use their magnetic senses to get around. Now we know that some insects can do it, too! It was just proven that a certain type of Australian moth uses the earth's magnetic field for navigation. It's essentially like having a built-in compass, and this has me wondering about human's own magnetic senses and how they might be guiding us without us realizing it. (NYT) 

💡 MEMORY CAN BE TRANSFERRED | So.... scientists made snails remember something that never happened to them. WTF! They did it through RNA. Evidently this was done before, way back in the 1960's, when scientists had flatworms eat other worms and their memories went along with the flesh. Gah! Imagine what this could mean. Like, what if someone nefarious wants to feed you false memories. Black Mirror much?  (link)

⚡ TURNING LIGHTNING UP TO 11 | Artists are really bad at depicting lightning, a new study shows. Historically, artists don't draw lightening with any more than 11 "veins", but it turns out that in reality, lightening can have many dozens. This is kind of funny to me. (NYT)

Gif is by palerlotus.