I love learning new facts, especially ones that make me sit down and scratch my head in amazement. Okay, I'm downplaying this — I love learning facts that make me go, "WTF IS GOING ON, WHEW CHILE."
So when @Erikjb12 asked people on Reddit, "What are some NOT fun facts?", I wanted to see how I could expand my mental territories. And y'all. These. Facts. Are. Wild. Here are just a FEW that'll crack your head:
1. The strange way vomit and parmesan cheese are related:
"The smell of vomit comes from butyric acid, as does the smell of parmesan cheese. When given a sample of butyric acid to smell, test subjects were disgusted or pleased depending on whether they were told it was puke or parm."
2. The limitations of horses:
"Horses can't throw up. If they need to throw up, they'll die."
3. "Ring of Death":
"If you shine a flashlight/smartphone on a newborn sea turtle for too long, it will start crawling around in circles. Known as the 'Ring of Death,' it means that the turtle's eyesight has been permanently damaged due to mistaking your lights for the moon that guides it to the sea. By doing this, you have doomed the sea turtle to death right after birth."
4. I didn't even know this can even happen to sloths:
"Sloths can die from starvation with a full stomach."
5. The whale that can't communicate with other whales:
"There is a whale called 52 Blue who sings at such a strange frequency, scientists think he is unable to communicate with other whales."
6. This fact that should make you consider who you're kissing:
"Gingivitis, well the bacteria in gingivitis, is contagious."
8. A terrifying reality of heart disease:
"When it comes to heart disease, sometimes the VERY FIRST symptom is sudden death. Meaning you could be perfectly healthy and drop dead because you had heart disease and didn’t know it."
9. Whales can drown, y'all (well, suffocate from lack of air):
"Some whales, when old, no longer have enough strength to swim for as long, so if they swim too deep, they might not have enough strength to swim back up to get air. They suffocate from the lack of air in their lungs."
10. Cutting grass is actually REALLY morbid:
"The wondrous smell you get while cutting grass is actually a chemical distress signal, you're smelling the silent screams of your lawn."
11. This plant exists — oh yeah, its nickname is the "suicide plant":
"There's a plant in Australia called the gympie gympie tree that has hairs all over its bodythat are small enough, and are compared to, hypodermic needles. Whenever a person touches the plant, these hairs stick into your skin and inject a toxin. That causes a pain compared to the affected area being covered in acid and set on fire. The pain lasts months to years."
12. The sun sends out bursts of plasma that can cause a worldwide blackout:
"The sun occasionally lets out supermassive bursts of plasma energy called coronal mass ejections. These could knock out our satellites, power grids, and internet for decades. One barely missed us in 2012, and another has about a 12% chance of happening in the next 10 years."
13. Your body can and will attack itself if it thinks it's a threat:
"The outside of your eye prevents your immune system from ever knowing about the inside of your eye. If a puncture allows the two to meet, your immune system may attack and destroy your eye as an invader."
—Borborygmous87
14. Lastly, and perhaps the most uncomfortable, is the hormonal habits of dolphins (which I'm not linking out to because dis tew much):
"Dolphins will use decapitated fish heads to masturbate. If you think I am joking look it up."
Hi, yep, this is currently my face — absolutely mortified, and wondering how I found myself in this Reddit hole. Do you know any interesting / strange / weird facts? Tell me in the comments!
