BBC Focus - 03.2020

Q&A

GET T Y IMAGES X4 ILLUSTRATIONS: DAN BRIGHT

NATURE’S WEIRDEST CREATURES...

THE PANGOLIN

If ananteateranda pineconehadchildren,

thisis whatthey’dlooklike.Thepangolinis

theonlymammaltosportanarmourof

scales.Thesesharp,overlappingplatescover

theanimal’sentirebody,apartfromitssnout

andbelly,and,whenthreatened,a pangolin

willcurlitselfintoa ball,helpingtodeter

predatorssuchaslions,tigersandhyenas.

Pangolinsdon’thaveteeth.Instead,they

feed on ants and termites using a sticky

tonguewhichis rootedintheanimal’schest

andcanbeupto40cmlong– sometimes

longerthanthepangolinitself!Pangolins

alsoswallowsmallstones,whichhelpto

grinduptheinsectsinsidetheirstomach.

Theirpowerfulfrontclawsaregreatfor

breakingintotermitemounds,butrubbish

forwalking.Therearefewsightsmore

appealingthanthehunchedfigureofa

pangolin scurrying along on its back legs

only,likea dinosaur.Googleit,I urgeyou.

Thereareeightspeciesofpangolin.Four

liveinAfrica;fourinAsia.Allarethreatened,

andpangolinsarenowthemosttrafficked

animalintheworld.Theyarepoachedfor

theirmeat,andfortheirscaleswhichsome

thinkhavemedicinalqualities.Buttheir

scalesaren’tmedicinal:they’remadefrom

keratin,whichis thesameproteinthat

makes up hair, claws and horns.HP

Bananasareslightlyradioactivebecausetheyare
richinpotassium,andoneofitsnaturalisotopes
(variants)is potassium-40,whichis radioactive.
A lorryfullofbananasis radioactiveenoughto
triggera falsealarmona radiationdetectorlooking
forsmugglednuclearweapons.Butyoucan’t
becomeradioactivebyeatingbananas,becauseyou
alreadyareradioactive!A typicaladultcontains
around140gofpotassium,ofwhichabout16mgis
potassium-40– makingyou 280 timesmore
radioactivethana banana.Eatingoneincreasesyour
totalamountofpotassium-40by0.4percent,which
is detectablewitha sensitiveGeigercounter,butthe
effectis temporarysinceyourmetabolismclosely
regulatestheamountofpotassiuminyourbody,and
you will excrete the excess within a few hours.LV

JOHNNYPEREZ,VIAEMAIL

HOWMANYBANANAS

WOULDI NEEDTOEATTO

BECOME RADIOACTIVE?