BBC Science Focus - 10.2019

Q&A

NATRE’S WEIRDEST CREATRES...

THE PINK FAIRY ARMADILLO

The pink fairy armadillo is mostly an apt name.

Aer all, this is a species that spends most of its

time in a subterranean neverland and whose

pink armour, siing atop silky white fur, gives it

an almost magical charm. However, it also has

some rather unfairy-like qualities. Fairies, for

instance, do not have robust digging claws. And

fairies do not use their enormous booms to

firm up the soil as they dig to strengthen the

walls of their tunnels.

This species of armadillo is found only in the

deserts and scrublands of central Argentina. To

limit the likelihood of heat exhaustion during

the warm season, it uses its leathery shell as a

cooling aid. By pumping this thin layer of

armour with blood, the pink fairy armadillo can

ush away heat from its body’s core. This is an

organism that doesn’t spare its blushes. It

depends upon them for survival.

Like all fairies, the pink armadillo is hard to

see. The only time these animals surface is

when heavy rain forces them out of their

burrows, oen into the mouths of introduced

predators such as domestic cats and dogs. The

species is likely to be declining in the wild, so

this is one fairy that’s in need of a godmother. JH

As water is transparent, it seems odd

that it makes clothes look darker. Aer

all, it doesn’t have that eect on, say, a

hard plastic surface. Surprisingly, the

science behind the phenomenon was

only fully investigated around 30 years

ago. Physicists John Lekner and

Michael Dorf at the Victoria University

of Wellington, New Zealand, showed

that the darkening eect is the result

of fabric being both rough and

absorbent. When light strikes any

surface, some of it is reected back

into our eyes. But damp clothes have a

thin layer of water on their surface

(held in place by the material’s

roughness), which leads to more of the

reected light rays being bent –

‘refracted’ – o-course. Some of the

light also gets reected back into the

film of water, or scaered o the tiny

water-filled holes in the fabric. The

combined eect is a reduction in the

amount of light reaching our eyes,

which makes the fabric look darker. RM

ANNA DACA (LEICESTER) AND CALVIN TOMSIC

(EVERETT, WASHINGTON, USA)

WHY DO CLOTHES

GET DARKER

WHEN WET?

FATIMA, MANCHESTER

WHY IS THE MOON SOME TIMES

VISIBLE DURING THE DAY?

In fact, the Moon is visible in daylight almost

every day. The Earth’s daily revolution on its

axis means that the Moon is actually above the

horizon for about 12 hours out of every 24.

Usually, some portion of that time will be during

daylight – you just need to look carefully,

because its brightness is so much less than the

Sun’s. The only times you won’t be able to see it

during the day are near a new Moon, when it is

positioned too close to the Sun in the sky to be

seen, and near a full Moon, when it rises at

sunset and sets at sunrise, so is only visible

during the hours of darkness. AGu

The percentage by which girae

numbers have fallen in Africa over

the last 30 years. In response to this,

the animals and their body parts are

now regulated under the Convention

on International Trade in

Endangered Species (CITES).

40

Q&A

NATRE’S WEIRDEST CREATRES...

THE PINK FAIRY ARMADILLO

The pink fairy armadillo is mostly an apt name.

Aer all, this is a species that spends most of its

time in a subterranean neverland and whose

pink armour, siing atop silky white fur, gives it

an almost magical charm. However, it also has

some rather unfairy-like qualities. Fairies, for

instance, do not have robust digging claws. And

fairies do not use their enormous booms to

firm up the soil as they dig to strengthen the

walls of their tunnels.

This species of armadillo is found only in the

deserts and scrublands of central Argentina. To

limit the likelihood of heat exhaustion during

the warm season, it uses its leathery shell as a

cooling aid. By pumping this thin layer of

armour with blood, the pink fairy armadillo can

ush away heat from its body’s core. This is an

organism that doesn’t spare its blushes. It

depends upon them for survival.

Like all fairies, the pink armadillo is hard to

see. The only time these animals surface is

when heavy rain forces them out of their

burrows, oen into the mouths of introduced

predators such as domestic cats and dogs. The

species is likely to be declining in the wild, so

this is one fairy that’s in need of a godmother.JH

As water is transparent, it seems odd
that it makes clothes look darker. Aer
all, it doesn’t have that eect on, say, a
hard plastic surface. Surprisingly, the
science behind the phenomenon was
only fully investigated around 30 years
ago. Physicists John Lekner and
Michael Dorf at the Victoria University
of Wellington, New Zealand, showed
that the darkening eect is the result
of fabric being both rough and
absorbent. When light strikes any
surface, some of it is reected back
into our eyes. But damp clothes have a
thin layer of water on their surface
(held in place by the material’s
roughness), which leads to more of the
reected light rays being bent –
‘refracted’ – o-course. Some of the
light also gets reected back into the
film of water, or scaered othe tiny
water-filled holes in the fabric. The
combined eect is a reduction in the
amount of light reaching our eyes,
which makes the fabric look darker.RM

ANNA DACA (LEICESTER) AND CALVIN TOMSIC
(EVERETT, WASHINGTON, USA)

WHY DO CLOTHES

GET DARKER

WHEN WET?

FATIMA, MANCHESTER

WHY IS THE MOON SOME TIMES

VISIBLE DURING THE DAY?

In fact, the Moon is visible in daylight almost

every day. The Earth’s daily revolution on its

axis means that the Moon is actually above the

horizon for about 12 hours out of every 24.

Usually, some portion of that time will be during

daylight – you just need to look carefully,

because its brightness is so much less than the

Sun’s. The only times you won’t be able to see it

during the day are near a new Moon, when it is

positioned too close to the Sun in the sky to be

seen, and near a full Moon, when it rises at

sunset and sets at sunrise, so is only visible

during the hours of darkness.AGu

The percentage by which girae

numbers have fallen in Africa over

the last 30 years. In response to this,

the animals and their body parts are

now regulated under the Convention

on International Trade in

Endangered Species (CITES).

40