All of us, if we really give ourselves time to think about it, know some pretty interesting things.
But while some things we know could be reasonable conversation starters, some of us know some things that are just plain weird.
Redditor Ok_Guidance_1916 asked:
"What is the weirdest fact you know?"
Bees: Unexpectedly Playful
"Bees like to play. Scientists put bees in a box thing under stress-free conditions with a few wooden round balls scattered about to see what would happen."
"There are videos of this experiment, and the bees just climb all over these wooden spheres, rolling them around happily. It's the cutest thing."
"The videos are very easy to find, but here is one of my favorites. One bee in particular from this very experiment came back and played with a ball FORTY times in one day. It had the best time of its life."
- WideFox116
"Every single thing I learn about bees makes me like them more."
- PepperoniJedi
Frogs: With Eyes Bigger Than Their Stomachs
"Frogs swallow using their eyes."
"If you've ever seen a frog eat something, they close their eyes as they swallow. They're using their eyes and eye muscles to push food down their little throats."
- LtColShinySides
Space: Much Bigger than the Candy Bar
"If you looked at one star per second, it would take you over 3,000 years to look at all the stars in the Milky Way galaxy."
- meresymptom
"And there are 20 times the number of galaxies in the universe as there are stars in our Milky Way."
- KonaBrad
Roald Dahl: Famous Last Swears
"Roald Dahl's last words were, 'Ow, f**k!'"
""The best part of this one is the context. He had prepared some lovely and touching last words, which he did indeed successfully say to his family at the appropriate time: 'You know, I'm not frightened. It's just that I will miss you all so much.'"
"Then, when he had apparently fallen unconscious, the nurse injected him with morphine to ease his passing. The still-alive Dahl stirred and uttered his actual last words: 'Ow, f**k!'"
- havron
Manatees and Hippos: Surprisingly Round
"Manatees aren't fat. They're round."
"Many mammals develop a layer of fat or blubber to preserve body heat. Manatees are tropical mammals and do not need a lot of body fat."
- MrHyde_Is_Awake
"Hippopotamus also only have around 2% body fat, which is lower than professional bodybuilders normally get for competition."
- iCameToLearnSomeCode
"...Which is why they are a lot faster than they seem, and can easily split you in half in one bite."
- MadxCarnage
"Yeah, don’t mess with professional bodybuilders."
- JesusIsMyZoloft
The Space-Time Continuum
"Rosa Parks could have seen Shrek in theaters."
- narwhalsonacid
Kidneys: Collect All Five!
"When you get a kidney transplant they leave the old ones in unless there’s a reason to remove them (cancer etc)
I currently have five. Two original, two failed transplants, one functioning transplant."
- toomuchisjustenough
"On this episode of 'Hoarders'...'"
"(Seriously, I hope you're doing well now.)"
- OhWhatsHisName
KFC: Committed to Their Recipe
"KFC follows 11 people on Twitter: the five former Spice Girls and six guys named Herb."
- jliol
"Please let this be true."
"EDIT: I just looked it up. It's true. That's golden."
- disastertwink
"...fried perfection with our amazing blend of 11 herbs and spices. Get two pieces with a side and a biscuit for just five dollars!"
- Dason37
Get that Natural Platypus Glow
"Platypus glow when you hit them with UV light."
- bregorthebard
"That seems a bit extreme, couldn't you just shine the UV light on them instead?"
- IBeAPirate01
The Shock of the S.S. Daniel J. Morrell
"In recent times, more people have become aware of the story of the S.S. Daniel J. Morrell, a 600-foot-long Great Lakes ship that broke in half, and people on the front section thought they saw another ship coming to rescue them, but it was in fact the rear section approaching them under power."
"What people seldom learn is that, when the wreck pieces were discovered, the lifeboats of the rear section weren't deployed in the apparently three hours that it continued to steam along before sinking, thus leading analysts to conclude that the staff in the rear section had no idea the ship had even broken apart until it sank."
- CorsairVI
Jellyfish: The Biological Fountain of Youth
"In the animal kingdom, there is a type of jellyfish called the Immortal Jellyfish (scientifically known as Turritopsis Dohrnii)."
"What makes it fascinating is its ability to revert back to its earliest form after reaching adulthood. When facing environmental stress or old age, it can transform its cells, essentially returning to a polyp stage and then growing into a new adult jellyfish."
"This process can theoretically repeat indefinitely, hence the name 'Immortal Jellyfish.' While it's not truly immortal in the sense of living forever, it has an exceptional regenerative capability that allows it to bypass the typical life cycle limitations of other organisms."
- side-hustler
"It’s worth noting that it IS biologically immortal; it just can’t ever achieve that because they are food for other animals."
"Also, they’re able to age backward through transdifferentiation, in which adult cells revert back into stem cells so that they can become juvenile cells."
"If we can understand how they do that, it would likely help cure a bunch of different cancers."
- Zane_628
Forest Mice: Just Wanna Have Fun
"If you place hamster wheels in the forest, mice will run on them for fun."
- Eniptsu
"That's actually pretty wholesome and a fun fact."
- taddymason_76
A Rowing Metaphor: Looking to the Past
"In most languages, people think of the future as 'in front' of them and the past as 'behind' them. So we think of ourselves as 'moving forward' in time. It's such an ingrained metaphor that we don't even think about it."
"But there are a couple of outliers: languages where the past is 'in front' and the future is 'behind.'"
"In at least one of these languages, someone explained that the past is in front because you can see it. You know what was in your past, but the future is a mystery you can't see, just like you can't see what's behind you."
- picked-papaya
"Like rowing a boat, we enter the future backwards. All we see are scenes of the past, and one cannot see the views of tomorrow."
- ddyourpleasure
The Earliest Book and Late to Rise
"I'll give two:"
"The Tale of Genji, usually considered the be the world's first novel (not to be confused with Don Quixote, the first modern novel) is over 1000 years old."
"China is all under one time-zone officially; Beijing Time, to be specific, which means that all the way in the west of the country, the sun rises around 10 AM."
- TricellCEO
The Kale Doesn't Fall Far From the Broccoli
"Broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and Brussel Sprouts are all the same plant cultivated for different characteristics."
- thewilyone
"That's cool and strange, yet they taste so different."
- CelifrogTwo
It's always fascinating to learn new things, but it's especially cool when they are unexpected things.
From tumbling bees to elongated time zones, there's always a new piece of information to pick up.
