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?