Surprising Facts About the Coronavirus, Cotton, and Clever Creatures

• Did you know which fish spits to hunt?
The archerfish, also called the "archer shooter," has a clever way of catching food. It fills its mouth with water and spits it at insects sitting above the water. The strong squirt knocks the insect down into the water, and the fish quickly gobbles it up.

• Did you know where the highest active volcano is?
Mount Cotopaxi is the world’s highest active volcano. It’s the second tallest mountain in Ecuador and is found just south of the capital, Quito. It stands 5,897 meters high, is covered in snow, and has a beautiful, perfectly shaped peak.

• Did you know how cotton becomes fabric?
Cotton is planted in the spring and grows flowers in white or yellow. After about three months, fluffy cotton bolls are ready to pick. In the winter, the cotton is harvested, cleaned, rolled, dyed, and spun into fabric or made into cotton wool.

• Did you know why Israelis are called “sabras”?
The sabra fruit (in Arabic: sabres) is sweet and soft inside but has a thorny outer layer. Long ago, people even used it as a fence to keep thieves away. Because of this mix of prickly outside and soft inside, Israelis are often nicknamed "sabras" too.

• Did you know how sunlight becomes electricity?
Solar panels on rooftops and other places collect sunlight and turn it into energy we can use. This kind of energy is clean, doesn’t run out, and doesn’t pollute the air. That’s why more and more people are using solar power all over the world.

• Did you know which animal has a leaf-shaped tail?
It’s the leaf-tailed gecko, a special kind of lizard that lives only in Madagascar. Its body is the color of tree bark, and its tail looks just like a leaf. This helps it hide so well in the trees that it’s almost impossible to spot.

• Did you know what’s special about the coronavirus?
The coronavirus, which we’ve heard so much about recently, is named for its crown-like shape—“corona” means “crown” in Latin. There are many types of coronaviruses that are common in animals like birds, mammals, and reptiles. What made this one different is that, for the first time, it spread quickly among people.