I don’t know why, but I usually think of Maxim Magazine as a men’s magazine. Well, today I was reading an article about myths. One of the myths caught me as very interesting with my science mind and all. That one is actually the last one…wouldn’t you know. The last one is the one I like best. Here is there exact quote.
Myth 28: Roaches are the only species that’d survive a nuke blast.
The truth: A small one, yes.
If you’re talking total nuclear annihilation, no one stands a chance. But cockroach cells divide every seven days, as opposed to continually (as in humans and other animals), says Joseph G. Kunkel, a professor of biology at University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Radiation messes with cell division. So, if the blast were localized, the six-sevenths of the roach population whose cells weren’t dividing that doomsday would stagger to their feet and march on. Whoa!
I believe what they are saying. I have tried to kill a roach before, but I find this so amazing.
What I don’t believe is that they are the only species that does this delay in cell divide. I just have a hard time believing that one bug out of all the wondrous and diverse creatures on earth have the special skill on only dividing there own cells only every X amount of days. There just has to be another species or something somewhere that divides more or less frequently if a roach can.
I think I have stopped thinking about Maxim as a men’s magazine as well. It seems like a great resource for about anyone.
Well, that is all for me. Night…