Posted on Feb 13, 2021

17 Things I Learned This Week That Blew My Mind In Ways I Didn't Know Possible

It would take how many balloons to lift the house from Up? 🤯

BuzzFeed Editor

Gᴇɴᴇʀᴀʟ Jᴀᴍʙᴀʟᴀʏᴀ🔪 @NightExcision

I recently learned that volcano snails exist. Their shells are made of iron and they live around hydrothermal vents that can reach up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit.

09:07 PM - 07 Feb 2021
Reply Retweet Favorite

Twitter: @NightExcision

This amazing animal was recently added to the IUCN Red List as endangered due to destructive deep sea mining practices.

Image credit: Chong Chen and Julia Sigwart

2. In some international versions of Sesame Street, Big Bird is not yellow.

Sesame Street's Big Bird Came in Different Colors Depending on the Country from Damnthatsinteresting

In the Sesame Street universe, these are technically Big Bird's cousins.

3. Inspired by Pixar's Up, this is allegedly how many party balloons (30 million) it would actually take to lift a house:

A depiction of how many party balloons it would actually take to life the house from Up... from Damnthatsinteresting

Originally inspired by a YouTube video created by The Corridor Crew, Reddit user u/Andy-roo77 posted this image and left a comment on the post saying:

"In their video they showed how many weather balloons you would need to lift the house. Party balloons are much smaller, and I was still curious to see what 30 million party balloons would look like. So naturally, I made my own estimate on the ruff size, and then made the picture in photoshop."

4. There's a pink manta ray in Australia — the only known pink manta ray on the planet — and the leading scientific theory for how it got its unique color is genetic mutation:

A rare pink manta ray was spotted off the Great Barrier Reef in 2020. “I had no idea there were pink mantas in the world” says photographer Kristian Laine. The fish, who cruises the waters around Lady Elliot Island, is the only known pink manta ray in the world. from Damnthatsinteresting

6. Marion Stokes recorded live television 24 hours a day for over 30 years. There's a documentary about her life titled Recorder_ _that dives deep into this ambitious project and the person behind it:

Marion Stokes who single handedly recorded everything on television from 1979 to 2012 preserving this era of TV from Damnthatsinteresting

7. The Curiosity Rover used_ to sing _happy birthday to itself every year. It has since stopped because "there is no scientific gain from the rover playing music or singing ‘Happy Birthday’ on Mars."

Amazing but a bit sad from Damnthatsinteresting

8. Someone actually found out their spouse was cheating on them by poking around on Google Maps:

Nuclear revenge from Damnthatsinteresting

9. These stunning photos were taken by divers in the underwater city of Shicheng in China. How did the city end up underwater? It was intentionally flooded to make room for a hydroelectric dam in 1959. The city's residents at the time were relocated — some families had been living in the city for generations:

This centuries old underwater city in China from interestingasfuck

10. There's a smaller Statue of Liberty in Paris. For the 1937 World Fair, it was turned to face its US-counterpart:

In Paris there’s a quarter-scale replica of the Statue of Liberty. It’s 22 metres tall and faces west in the direction of its larger sibling in New York City. from interestingasfuck

11. This is how the plumbing worked in many medieval castles. In fact, these "latrine shafts" were occasionally used to gain access during a siege:

What Medieval Castle Toilets Looked Like from interestingasfuck

12. Sears used to sell entire homes in their catalogues:

Craftsmanship from OldPhotosInRealLife

13. These dinosaur footprints in Argentina look fresh, and straight out of Jurassic Park:

These are footprints of dinosaurs from Cretaceous period found in El Chocón, Argentina from interestingasfuck

14. The Arctic is melting far more rapidly than you might think:

The Arctic size difference between 1983 and 2016 from interestingasfuck

15. This asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter might be made entirely of metal (iron and nickel). For context, most asteroids contain some metal, but this asteroid might be _all metal. _If true, it would likely be worth $10,000 quadrillion:

This asteroid from Damnthatsinteresting

16. The term "crocodile tears" is an expression used to describe someone who's faking grief and/or emotion. Did you know it comes from actual tears that crocodiles shed after they eat?

Crocodiles shed tears as a result of the air trapped in their sinuses after eating their prey. So this has nothing to do with pain. For this reason, the expression crocodile sheds tears is used for people who do not feel sorry for something but pretend to be sad. from interestingasfuck

17. And thanks New Zealand's rapid and science-based response to the COVID-19 outbreak last year, residents have been living relatively normal lives compared to the rest of the world. In fact, they haven't even started administering the vaccine yet.

Today in New Zeland. No virus, no masks, no lockdowns. PM Jacinta Arden at a party on a national holiday from Damnthatsinteresting

Browse links

17 Things I Learned This Week That Blew My Mind In Ways I Didn't Know Possible

1. The sea pangolin is a species of deep sea snail that lives near volcanic vents in the ocean and has a shell made of iron sulfide — yes, this snail is made of metal:

2. In some international versions of Sesame Street, Big Bird is not yellow.

3. Inspired by Pixar's Up, this is allegedly how many party balloons (30 million) it would actually take to lift a house:

4. There's a pink manta ray in Australia — the only known pink manta ray on the planet — and the leading scientific theory for how it got its unique color is genetic mutation:

6. Marion Stokes recorded live television 24 hours a day for over 30 years. There's a documentary about her life titled Recorder_ _that dives deep into this ambitious project and the person behind it:

7. The Curiosity Rover used_ to sing _happy birthday to itself every year. It has since stopped because "there is no scientific gain from the rover playing music or singing ‘Happy Birthday’ on Mars."

8. Someone actually found out their spouse was cheating on them by poking around on Google Maps:

10. There's a smaller Statue of Liberty in Paris. For the 1937 World Fair, it was turned to face its US-counterpart:

11. This is how the plumbing worked in many medieval castles. In fact, these "latrine shafts" were occasionally used to gain access during a siege:

12. Sears used to sell entire homes in their catalogues:

13. These dinosaur footprints in Argentina look fresh, and straight out of Jurassic Park:

14. The Arctic is melting far more rapidly than you might think:

15. This asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter might be made entirely of metal (iron and nickel). For context, most asteroids contain some metal, but this asteroid might be _all metal. _If true, it would likely be worth $10,000 quadrillion:

16. The term "crocodile tears" is an expression used to describe someone who's faking grief and/or emotion. Did you know it comes from actual tears that crocodiles shed after they eat?

17. And thanks New Zealand's rapid and science-based response to the COVID-19 outbreak last year, residents have been living relatively normal lives compared to the rest of the world. In fact, they haven't even started administering the vaccine yet.

Did you learn anything new this week? If so, share it in the comments below so we can all learn something new!

17 Things I Learned This Week That Blew My Mind In Ways I Didn't Know Possible

1. The sea pangolin is a species of deep sea snail that lives near volcanic vents in the ocean and has a shell made of iron sulfide — yes, this snail is made of metal:

2. In some international versions of Sesame Street, Big Bird is not yellow.

3. Inspired by Pixar's Up, this is allegedly how many party balloons (30 million) it would actually take to lift a house:

4. There's a pink manta ray in Australia — the only known pink manta ray on the planet — and the leading scientific theory for how it got its unique color is genetic mutation:

6. Marion Stokes recorded live television 24 hours a day for over 30 years. There's a documentary about her life titled Recorder_ _that dives deep into this ambitious project and the person behind it:

7. The Curiosity Rover used_ to__ sing__ _happy birthday to itself every year. It has since stopped because "there is no scientific gain from the rover playing music or singing ‘Happy Birthday’ on Mars."

8. Someone actually found out their spouse was cheating on them by poking around on Google Maps:

10. There's a smaller Statue of Liberty in Paris. For the 1937 World Fair, it was turned to face its US-counterpart:

11. This is how the plumbing worked in many medieval castles. In fact, these "latrine shafts" were occasionally used to gain access during a siege:

12. Sears used to sell entire homes in their catalogues:

13. These dinosaur footprints in Argentina look fresh, and straight out of Jurassic Park:

14. The Arctic is melting far more rapidly than you might think:

15. This asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter might be made entirely of metal (iron and nickel). For context, most asteroids contain some metal, but this asteroid might be _all metal. _If true, it would likely be worth $10,000 quadrillion:

16. The term "crocodile tears" is an expression used to describe someone who's faking grief and/or emotion. Did you know it comes from actual tears that crocodiles shed after they eat?

17. And thanks New Zealand's rapid and science-based response to the COVID-19 outbreak last year, residents have been living relatively normal lives compared to the rest of the world. In fact, they haven't even started administering the vaccine yet.

Did you learn anything new this week? If so, share it in the comments below so we can all learn something new!

Share This Article

7. The Curiosity Rover used_ to sing _happy birthday to itself every year. It has since stopped because "there is no scientific gain from the rover playing music or singing ‘Happy Birthday’ on Mars."