Bad news sells, so the media tends to focus on the negative things and ignores some of the things that make the world a better place. That’s why we want to share this list of 30 happy facts to remind you about the bright side of life.

Everything started when a Reddit user asked others to post fun facts that made them happy. This list snowballed because people couldn’t get enough of random facts about people and the world that make them smile. Later, somebody took this list and matched it to pictures adding a couple of new interesting facts. Now, we’re having a go at improving it by adding a couple of our own finds.

What’s better than knowing a random fun fact that somewhere out there in the world, sea otters are holding hands, cows have best friends, and that there are monkeys in Japan that buy snacks from vending machines with change? Scroll down below for more of these not-so-general knowledge facts!

1. Sea otters hold hands when they sleep to keep from drifting apart.

Image credits: commons.wikimedia.org

2. When you were born, you were, for a moment, the youngest person on earth.

Image credits: Gonzalo Merat

3. The elements that we are composed of were formed in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are all made of star dust.

Image credits: Michael Shainblum

4. Cows have best friends.

Image credits: mare

5. A prison in Washington pairs up “death row” shelter cats with select inmates as part of a rehabilitation program. It seems to be a pretty wonderful thing for both the inmates and the cats.

Princess Natalie relaxes with Joseph Contreras, one of her caretakers. (Image credits: catster.com)

6. Blind people smile even though they’ve never seen anyone else smile.

Image credits: Sachiho

7. Turtles can breathe through their butts.

Image credits: TaraDSturm

8. The Beatles used the word “love” 613 times in their songs.

Image credits: inspirationaldaily.wordpress.com

9. Squirrels plant thousands of new trees each year simply by forgetting where they put their acorns.

Image credits: Irene Mei

10. Macaques in Japan use coins to buy vending machine snacks.

Image credits: o2worldnews.com

11. A BBC News program broadcast in 1957 ended claiming that spaghetti grew on trees on a farm in Switzerland. Many viewers believed the report and called the BBC asking how to grow their own trees. Their response: “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

Image credits: Robert Couse-Baker

12. Norway knighted a penguin.

Image credits: thatpanic.com

13. In China, killing a Panda is punishable by death.

Image credits: Cute Baby Animals

14. Rats laugh when tickled.

15. The voices of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse got married in real life.

Image credits: zimbio.com

16. Spiders can’t fly.

17. Sweden has a rabbit show jumping competition called Kaninhoppning.

Image credits: thowra

18. Gentoo penguins propose to their lifemates with a pebble.

Image credits: telegraph.co.uk

19. Dolphins have names for each other.

Image credits: Vitaliy Sokol

20. Kissing burns 2 calories a minute. Undressing burns 8.

Image credits: Jeremiah Kuehne

21. Puffins mate for life. They make their homes on cliff sides and even leave some separate room for their toilet.

Image credits: fourteenfoottiger

22. The Kingdom of Bhutan uses “Gross National Happiness” as an important national measurement.

Image credits: Adam Brill

23. When playing with female puppies, male puppies will often let them win, even if they have a physical advantage.

Image credits: Brian Whipple

24. Pigs’ orgasms last for 30 minutes.

Image credits: Source Media

25. A study measuring the effects of music found that cows produce more milk when listening to soothing music. They produce the most when listening to R.E.M’s “Everybody Hurts.”

Image credits: cbc.ca

26. There is a program that makes prison inmates responsible for training and raising seeing-eye dogs. Many reported that they felt like they were making amends for their past actions by working with the puppies.

Image credits: absencesix

27. Google, the periodic table, the structure of our DNA, and “Yesterday” by the Beatles are all ideas that were conceived in dreams.

Image credits: Sarolta Ban

28. There’s a superhero with a hearing aid called ‘Blue Ear’. He was created by Marvel Comics to encourage a little boy to wear his own!

Source: My Fox Boston

29. Good news is more likely to be shared through social media than bad news (wink wink, nudge nudge).

Image source: Jeff Van den Houte

30. Oops! We’re missing one. What other happy facts do you know?

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