Why Jupiter is Jinxed & Saturn Stinks? MARCH 2026 Musings.

 

Why Jupiter is Jinxed & Saturn Stinks? MARCH 2026 Musings.

Facts are supposed to provide us with a sense of clarity and certainty. But sometimes they can be misleading too, if we just look at them superficially. Take the case of Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in our solar system.

Let’s take Jupiter. To a superstitious person on Jupiter the Sun would look like a blazing dot and would seem to follow two distinctively strange elliptical orbital patterns and hence the person may think the planet was jinxed. This is the consequence of a unique location of the Sun-Jupiter center of mass (barycenter). The location is outside the Sun, making them perform a loose binary dance rather than a simple planet-star orbit.

Now consider Saturn. Its core consists mostly of hydrogen and helium, both of which are odorless, while its atmosphere has methane, ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide, water vapor, phosphene, ethane, acetylene, propane. Its upper atmosphere has ammonia clouds that would smell like strong cleaning fluid, while deeper layers with hydrogen sulfide might smell faintly of rotten eggs. To a human being trying to penetrate this atmosphere, the planet would stink! But only if the human olfactory sense can survive the journey through its clouds.

In this series of blog posts during 2026, I hope to discuss facts that may seem strange at first glance, but which could otherwise be explained. I will focus on one factoid every month.

The factoid for this month is Not just Humans, African Buffalos also Vote and the females are decisively enfranchised!

Yes, it must be very humbling (nay, indeed humiliating), especially for the votaries of modern western democracies to be told this. But the ecologist Herbert Prins, who spent years observing buffalo behavior, formulated a theory many decades ago, and confirmed by others, that large herds of buffalo in fact have a rudimentary voting system to determine the direction they move in.

African buffalos engage in a democratic "voting" process to make collective decisions about herd movement. Adult females indicate their preferred direction of travel by standing up, looking, and aligning their heads in that direction, with the majority choice ultimately deciding the herd's path.

And other researchers have found that there is more to the “buffalo democracy’ than just migration! Some interesting key aspects of the African buffalo democracy includes:

Inclusive Decision-Making: Even less dominant members of the herd have a say in the decision-making process.

Directional Voting: Females signal their preferred direction by resting, then standing up and turning their bodies to face a specific direction.

Collective Choice: The direction that the herd takes is the one that receives the most "votes" (alignments to traditional pasture cycles), demonstrating a form of consensus.

Social Behavior: This behavior is part of the complex social structure and, specifically, the female-led decision-making process in African buffalo.

So, the next time a candidate turns up at your door soliciting your vote, remember the following:

ü  A bellowing buffalo is just nature’s way of telling the world it is there; so too is the candidate’s supplication, democracy’s way of telling you it still exists!

ü  A buffalo seldom wanders far away from the marsh where it was born; and so is the person standing in front of you!

Why Jupiter is Jinxed & Saturn Stinks? FEBRUARY 2026 Musings.

Facts are supposed to provide us with a sense of clarity and certainty. But sometimes they can be misleading too, if we just look at them superficially. Take the case of Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in our solar system.

Let’s take Jupiter. To a superstitious person on Jupiter the Sun would look like a blazing dot and would seem to follow two distinctively strange elliptical orbital patterns and hence the person may think the planet was jinxed. This is the consequence of a unique location of the Sun-Jupiter center of mass (barycenter). The location is outside the Sun, making them perform a loose binary dance rather than a simple planet-star orbit.

Now consider Saturn. Its core consists mostly of hydrogen and helium, both of which are odorless, while its atmosphere has methane, ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide, water vapor, phosphene, ethane, acetylene, propane. Its upper atmosphere has ammonia clouds that would smell like strong cleaning fluid, while deeper layers with hydrogen sulfide might smell faintly of rotten eggs. To a human being trying to penetrate this atmosphere, the planet would stink! But only if the human olfactory sense can survive the journey through its clouds.

In this series of blog posts during 2026, I hope to discuss facts that may seem strange at first glance, but which could otherwise be explained. I will focus on one factoid every month.

The factoid for this month is Dolphins Have Names.

Dolphins use unique "names" for each other in the form of distinct signature whistles, which function like human names for identification and communication, allowing them to call, recognize, and even remember specific individuals.

This is indeed a sophisticated communication skill unique among non-human mammals. Elephants and Parrots are also understood to have similar capabilities.

This ability to use individually specific vocal labels for others is considered a remarkable trait, highlighting the advanced social intelligence of dolphins.

Each dolphin develops its own whistle, often learning it from its mother, and other dolphins copy these whistles to address or call out to them, like how humans use names. 

Unique Whistles: Each dolphin creates a distinct whistle that serves as its personal identifier.

Learning & Imitation: Young dolphins learn their signature whistles from their mothers and can imitate others' whistles to call them, demonstrating complex social learning.

Addressing Others: When a dolphin wants to get another's attention, it mimics that specific whistle, acting as a call or "name".

Memory & Social Bonds: Dolphins remember the names (whistles) of their close allies, using them to maintain social bonds and form teams, even remembering cooperators from the past.

What is still not clearly known is how they avoid having the same names – it would be silly for the bottlenecks’ bromance if there was a single whistle for two individuals!

Some researchers say that dolphins also use the taste of urine of fellow-dolphins to identify individuals. A case of two-factor authentication? Cybersecurity specialists could perhaps take a clue.

Why Jupiter is Jinxed & Saturn Stinks? JANUARY 2026 Musings.

Facts are supposed to provide us with a sense of clarity and certainty. But sometimes they can be strange and confusing too, especially if we just look at them superficially. Take the case of Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in our solar system.

Jupiter first. To a superstitious person on Jupiter, the Sun would look like a blazing dot, and would seem to follow two distinctively strange elliptical orbital patterns and hence it would seem that his planet was jinxed. Factually this is a consequence of the unique location of the Sun-Jupiter center of mass (barycenter). The location is outside the Sun, making them perform a loose binary dance rather than a simple planet-star orbit. Seemingly jinxed, but certainly not!

Now consider Saturn. Its core consists mostly of hydrogen and helium, both of which are odorless, while its atmosphere has methane, ammonia, ammonium hydrosulfide, water vapor, phosphene, ethane, acetylene, propane. Its upper atmosphere has ammonia clouds that would smell like strong cleaning fluid, while deeper layers with hydrogen sulfide might smell faintly of rotten eggs. To a human being trying to penetrate this atmosphere, the planet would stink! But only if the human olfactory sense can survive the journey through its clouds.

In this series of blog posts during 2026, I hope to discuss facts that may seem strange at first glance, but which could otherwise be explained. I will focus on one factoid every month.

The factoid for this month is Wood Wide Web.

We have often overheard gardeners talk about locating different species of seeds and saplings in ways that would ensure that the desired ones had the best chances of survival. Such conversations also hinted about the challenges of weeds and parasites competing with the main plants for soil nutrients.

But are these ‘garden rules, based on universal truths about how plants really survive in the wild?

Would you believe that the plant kingdom, especially those that thrive in the forests, have now been scientifically studied in detail and they exhibit an uncanny parallelism to the digital communication technology invented by humans, namely the world wide web!

Yes, trees talk to each other very intimately and efficiently!

The "Wood Wide Web" is the underground network of fungi (mycorrhizae) connecting tree roots, allowing them to share water, nutrients (carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus) and chemical signals, essentially forming a forest's communication system.

It has now been revealed that a symbiotic network exists which helps older trees support seedlings, warns of dangers, and facilitates a complex exchange of resources.

It means that we must now transform our view of forests from individual trees to interconnected ecosystems. Let’s look at a few of the elements in this wood wide web.

Fiber-optic cables: Fungal filaments (mycelia) form vast underground webs that link tree roots.

Resource sharing: Trees send sugars to fungi, and in return, fungi provide water and minerals, effectively expanding the tree's root system.

Communication: Trees use the network to send chemical messages, warning neighbors about pests or drought.

Angel Support system: Large "mother trees" can send carbon and nutrients to shaded seedlings, increasing their survival chances.

Enormity of Scale: These networks are massive, with immense lengths of fungal hyphae under forests.

Open architecture versus Cybersecurity: It's not always altruistic; some plants might steal resources, while most others rely on cooperation; and hence the dynamics of competition versus cooperation decide on the natural vibrancy of forest-growth.

Interesting factoid, don’t you agree? If you also want a funny one, here is one:

What did the tree do when the bank closed? It started its own branch.