18 Things I Literally Just Learned That Sound Fake But Are 100% True

What is it about a sunset on Mars that terrifies me so much?

1. This fossilized nodosaur was discovered in Canada and is the best preserved specimen of its kind:

The best-preseverd dinosaur ever discovered This fossilized nodosaurus is more than 112 million years old, and patterns are still visible on the skin from interestingasfuck

2. This is Elizabeth Ann, a black-footed ferret and the first-ever endangered species cloned in the US. The hope is that she'll provide some much needed genetic diversity to a species that was once believed to be extinct:

Meet Elizabeth Ann, a black footed ferret cloned from the DNA of a ferret that had died over 30 years ago. from interestingasfuck

3. This is what a sunset on Mars looks like:

Sunset on Mars. Best view yet. NASA from interestingasfuck

4. When the Curiosity rover collects a rock and soil sample, it drills a hole like this, which is actually much smaller than it looks (roughly the size of a dime):

A hole drilled on Mars from interestingasfuck

5. The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey — once a cathedral, then a museum, and now a mosque — was built 1,500 years ago and still contains the scars (in this case, graffiti) from a 10th century Viking raid:

A note from the second floor of Haghia Sophia, Istanbul. Written by a viking during a raid in the 9. century. “Halvdan was here” from Damnthatsinteresting

6. Blue whales are absolutely massive animals and can weigh up to 200 tons. They also have incredibly long life spans; the oldest blue whale ever discovered was 110 years old:

🔥 a blue whale skull with a human for scale 🔥 from NatureIsFuckingLit

Sadly, blue whales are also endangered.

7. Hanako was allegedly the oldest koi fish ever recorded and lived to a whopping 226 years old:

Born in Japan, 1751 and died in July 7, 1977 at a grand old age of 226, koi Hanako was the oldest koi fish ever recorded. from interestingasfuck

8. North Dakota's blizzard of '66 was one of the worst storms on record for the Great Plains. With 20–30 inches of total snowfall over three miserable days and 70-mph winds that caused drifts of up to 40 feet. At least 18 people died in the storm:

The 1966 North Dakota blizzard from Damnthatsinteresting

9. The inventor of karaoke is a man named Daisuke Inoue, and among his reasons for not patenting the invention is that he didn't actually expect it to become so popular:

Here is Daisuke Inoue, the inventor of karaoke. He chose not to patent the machine because he wanted to "teach the world to sing" and never regretted it, despite the billion dollar industry his machine birthed. Photo of him and the very first karaoke machine ever made. from Damnthatsinteresting

10. Iran is home to many formations known as "salt domes," including the longest salt cave in the world, which is more than 6,400 meters deep:

Rock salt mountains in Iran from interestingasfuck

11. Iran also boasts the oldest windmills still in use. They've been milling grain for flour for an estimated 1,000 years:

Windmills, Nashtifan, Iran [OS][1024x680] from VillagePorn

12. Donald Harvey, also known as the "Angel of Death," would poison his victims' food with cyanide, which a medical examiner was actually able to smell during an autopsy (cyanide is said to smell like bitter almonds):

"A nurse" from Damnthatsinteresting

13. During Hurricane Andrew in 1992, zoos searched for creative ways to safely store animals. The Miami Zoo famously put their flamingos in the men's room:

Flamingos huddling together in a Miami Zoo bathroom during Hurricane Andrew. from Damnthatsinteresting

14. If you weren't terrified of kidney stones before, you probably will be now:

Kidney stone under electron microscope. You can tell why it hurts so damn much now. from interestingasfuck

15. For an episode of How Hard Can It Be on the National Geographic channel, a team of professionals inspired by Pixar's Up managed to fly a house using only weather balloons — oh, and there were people inside:

A Team Of Scientists, Engineers, And Two World-Class Balloon Pilots Successfully Launched A House With 300 Weather Balloons from interestingasfuck

16. Witch hazel might be a part of your daily skincare routine. Here's what it looks like in nature:

This is what a Witch Hazel flower looks like from interestingasfuck

17. Crater agate is an extremely rare type of rock formation that can only be found in Patagonia, Argentina, near a petrified wood deposit:

Patagonian Crater agate found only in Argentina from interestingasfuck

18. And lastly, lynx have very large paws to prevent them from sinking in deep snow (sort of like snowshoes):

How big the feet of a lynx is from interestingasfuck

Want to see what I learned last week? Click here to find out.