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We humans are meaning-seeking creatures. The question 'why?' has pushed us to explore the mysteries of the universe as well as the depths of our existence. But in the process, we learned that not every revelation brings us peace of mind.
Reddit user Yoloextreme345 made a post on the platform, asking everyone on it, "What is a fact you know off the top of your head (preferably disturbing) that you probably shouldn't?" and people immediately started sharing things they would like to forget.
From ancient funeral practices to modern celebrity lives, here are some of the most popular answers.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
The more the ice caps melt, the higher the likelihood that some ancient bacteria is released and ravages our population.
Jared Robinson 1 year ago
I said I supported AI overlords. Not bacteria overlords thank you very much
#2
A Jewish doctor treated Hitler’s Mother(The only person Adolf ever truly loved) while she was dying of cancer.
He promised his eternal gratitude to the doctor and even after becoming a pathological anti-Semite and later the Fuhrer, he was true to his word and was adamant the doctor and his family be placed under protection from the purge.
While some may think this an act of genuine kindness, I just think about all the lives lost because Hitler never stopped to think that all Jews were capable of good and not just the one who happened to have been good to him because of immediate proximity..
#3
In ancient Egypt, the deceased bodies of beautiful and high ranking women were left to decay for several days before mummification to discuourage necrophilia by the embalmers.
#4
A woodpecker retracts its tongue and wraps it around its brain to prevent injury when drilling into trees in search of insects,
#5
Humans, being mostly Carbon, can be made into diamonds.
I plan to go the cheaper route and have my ashes be rolled into a glass paperweight. Some day I might even end up on the shelf of a Goodwill for $2.99
Edit: 3000 points has unlocked another, also disturbing fact.
Snow is so sound deadening, that your kid could be building a snowfort, have it collapse, and you wouldn't hear their cries for help. Even worse is when they're tunneling into one of those parking lot plow piles. They won't hear the plow coming.
#6
That reports of child abuse dropped precipitously during the COVID-19 pandemic not because less children were abused but because teachers were unable to see the typical evidence of abuse because most teaching was conducted online.
#7
Humans can live without their stomachs (and no you don’t necessarily need any ostomy bags either).
Ask me how I know…
Never mind, I’ll tell you.
I don’t have one any longer (stomach cancer).
Edit: Thank you kind strangers for the awards. ☺️ Never got one before and now I have two, scratch that FOUR Now
Edit 2:Y’all!!!! You are so sweet and kind. Thank you everyone for the well wishes, kindness and questions.
Please go get genetically tested for these things. So far 4 of the 6 members of my family don’t have stomachs anymore (all this year).
Genetic testing can save your life!
Edit 3: Fun fact: Us ones without stomachs call ourselves seahorses now because they don’t have stomachs either.
#8
I was told by a very senior police officer (a parent of a kid I taught) that it is estimated that 30% of all missing persons reported to police who are never located have been murdered and more often than not they have been murdered by the person reporting them missing in the first place. The police know this, but lack evidence to proceed with prosecutions.
#9
I remember hearing some dude (retired military) on a podcast talk about how fragile our electric grid really is, and if it ever went down some 60%-ish of the population would die in about 2-3 months because nobody knows how to gather food or water anymore.
Daniel Cadman 1 year ago
"Haibo" comrade come to south africa the land of load shedding, and an absolute waste of time government.
#10
Big corporation always calculate wether its cheaper to pay a fine/settlement rather than obey the law.
#11
Elon Musk’s father is currently with and has a child with his step-daughter. He became her step-father when she was about 3
#12
I think I speak with every woman on here: blood stains are easier to get out of fabric than you think they are with very few cleaning materials, provided you get to them quickly enough.
#13
Most arsonists are found masturbating somewhere within a few blocks of their fires
#14
That when you have a headache because you're extremely hungover, it's because your dehydrated brain is shriveling and pulling on the membranes that connect it to your skull.
Once I found that out it's made all of my hangover headaches much worse just thinking about it.
Saint Thomas 1 year ago (edited)
One glass of water between each two alcoholic beverage to stay hydrated. It won't totally stop you from having a hangover (especially if you drink a lot), but it can really help. (Oh, and it won't help with your alcohol level, so please don't use it as a trick to take the wheel...)
#15
One of the most toxic chemicals on Earth is an organic mercury compound. The material safety sheet notes that it has a slightly sweet odor, but at a concentration where the smell is detectable, it is already lethal. That observation came from someone who would inevitably die from accidental exposure.
HTakeover 1 year ago
There was a famous incident of a chemist lady (Karen Wetterhahn) who was running some experiments involving it. I highly recommend the YT video about her by ChubbyEmu. Cliffs Notes version... she was gloved up but spilled a couple of drops on her hand. It went through the gloves and absorbed into her skin, unknown to her. Then she started developing symptoms. As soon as she knew what caused it, and knowing it was a debilitating death sentence, she started documenting every step of her life as it progressed, hoping it would benefit science in the future and people could learn from it. And we did... that knowledge gained was invaluable and heartbreaking.
#16
"If you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided for you" doesnt mean the attorney is free
Edit: Holy s**t I didn't know this was going to catch so many eyes! For clarification this is in the US (suprise suprise) and this is on a state by state basis.
#17
Doctors removed the eyes of Jack The Rippers last known victim in order to check if they could extract an image of the killer.
#18
If you touch something you shouldn't, touch it again in the same place and the police can't get a fingerprint as one distorted the other.
Edit: This is no longer true as technology has solved the "issue". So wear gloves or don't do naughty things without consent.
Jared Robinson 1 year ago
jokes on them take the finger at the last knuckle you are all good. how do you thnk i'm typing this.
#19
If you skin a person alive and they somehow don't die of shock, they'll actually die due to hypothermia as without skin, they become unable to regulate their core body temperature.
#20
If you’re a cannibal, never eat the brains. Eating brains is how you catch a disease called Kuru. It is 100% lethal.
#21
•A dead body in the beginning stages of decomp smell like wet hay
•if you die alone and become a “bloater” they pop you like a big zit before removal
•the best way to remove frozen brain matter off the sidewalk is a flame thrower
Confessions of an emergency cleanup specialist ♥️😏
#22
Dolphins throw around pufferfish like a volley ball just to play with them. They also get high off their toxins. Talk about a puff and pass.
#23
People dying often smell sweet. Not in a sugary way, but much more in flowery way. It's the decompositions of the body already starting. It can also smell vaguely like alcohol, especially their breath
Lousha 1 year ago
I can only speak of my dear old cat, not humans. She had a peaceful, slow way to passing, and while it was clear that she is nearing the end, for about a week it was not clear exactly when she would go. Then on her last day I knew immediately that it will be THAT day. She smelled exactly like autumn leaves. Never been near death before, but I guess the knowledge might be stored deeper than personal memories. Sure enough, she did go in about 12 hours. I kept the top I was wearing that day for a long time, because I could smell that autumn scent on it, and it was the last thing she left behind.
Spocks's Mom 1 year ago
Love to you, Lousha. What a sweet and lucky kitty.
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Disgruntled Pelican 1 year ago
This is true unfortunately. That and their skin will start to mottle.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
I am NOT going around town asking people to let me smell their dead!
WalterWhiteSavannah 1 year ago
Huh. Ive had multiple residents pass and mostly they smell quite awful in the week or so leading up to their passing.
Auntie Panda 1 year ago
I have smelled different things with the dying. The fruit like scent from those with Diabetes, the sickly sweet that is only from a cancer patient and the decaying smell that is gangrene.
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Savannah greenleaf 1 year ago
Working in a nursing home and taking care of hospice patients I never noticed anything sweet. I would smell an ammonia like odor. If I detected that I would say a little prayer for them. I think it must have been some form of organ failure
Binny Tutera 1 year ago
My mom got some vitamins that smelled kind of sweet and they made my dad physically ill. He said they smelled like death. He was in WW2.
Atomic Annie 52 1 year ago
I can smell when a patient is declining by their smell. Not everyone, but I can smell death.
Patricia Smith 1 year ago
Only saints and Angelica smell flowery at death, according to the Roman Catholic Church. Your lovely old cat was passing over the Rainbow Bridge.
two-sided llama 1 year ago
person 1: OMG ARE YOU OKAY. dying person: help me i'm dying. Person 1: is that a rose. dying person: call 911. person 1: wow you have great cologne. dying person: i'm not wearing cologne. perosn 1: oh i need to write this down in my notebook. dying person: *dies*. person 1: aw there goes the smell
#24
I once read that the average person walks past 36 murderers during their life.
Edit: the average American
#25
A perfectly healthy person can have a seizure at any point for no apparent reason.
The human brain has neurons misfire all the time. 99.999% of the time you don't notice because there's no noticeable effect, but if the wrong couple neurons misfire at the same time it can induce a seizure.
Source: happened to me
Spannidandoolar 1 year ago
Also doctors sort of allow everyone one seizure, obviously they investigate the cause of it and reoccurring seizures are treated differently but if they can't fully explain it and it's a one off they just accept it. I discovered this when my son had a seizure as a baby and had to attend their regular "First seizure clinic".
#26
22 U.S. Military Veterans commit suicide each day.
Boris Long-Johnson 1 year ago
Whilst sad that figure tells you very little. What is it against the “normal” rate in the USA and how much of the population do veterans make up? Whilst 1 is too many 22 a day might not be a particularly high number as the USA has a lot of military and a high population.
#27
A person split in half by the stomach doesn't die instantly. It has some lastly moments of suffering.
Source: a person was hit by a train and split in half in front of me. He took some time to die.
#28
That Robert Pickton, serial killer in British Columbia, used to dispose of bodies at a local fat rendering plant, meaning that many of the products made from that plant, think gummies or anything gelatin related, likely contained human remains.
HTakeover 1 year ago
This is a bit misleading. He had a hog farm and his own processing plant. Some of the bodies were fed to pigs, some were ground up & mixed with the pork meat, etc. Which does mean he could've ground misc. parts up & mixed in with the pig parts to be rendered. But the various stories/explanations come from him, and he claims he was framed, so whatever he says we have to take with a grain of salt. We know very little about what actually happened to the bodies as there's almost no evidence since he'd been working for over 30 years and the previous investigations into him (prior to the final takedown) were bungled pretty badly.
#29
That in ancient egypt it was a regular occasion that all people watched the pharao masturbate in to the nile
#30
A cremation oven is about 1800° F. Lava is about 2000° F. Hawaii has accessible lava.
Mjskywalk 1 year ago
And it will form a thin, black crust over red hot lava (as it is cooled by the air). The crust is not sturdy enough to hold a human’s weight; meaning if you walk on newer lava fields you could break through and not be found. Source: got to walk on safe week old lava in Hawaii, but the park ranger had to chase a tourist that walked farther out than was safe.
#31
The US military conducted chemical weapons tests on 60,000 US service members during WWII. It was kept secret until the 1990’s and wasn’t widely known until NPR wrote an investigative story on it in 2015.
#32
The body fat of a drowned person turns into a soap-like substance if they stay under water with no air contact
rullyman 1 year ago
There is a lake in Washington State in the USA that does this. It's called Crescent Lake IIRC. I used to date a guy from Seattle and we did a road trip and bought some books about weird stuff in the state. They said that teenagers from the 60s had been found down there... saponified...
#33
Orcas will slap baby seals 80+ ft into the air with their tails until the seal's skin comes off, and eventually dies. The orcas will then not even eat it after, meaning that they literally just do it for fun.
#34
I've learnt of some uncomfortable facts from some Aztec (Mexica) fammily which has been passed down from generation to generation, though I don't know how true this one is:
During a ritual, Aztec kings used to bring some victims up the tall pyramid so they may be sacrificed to their gods. Typically, these victims were tossed along the side of the very jagged rocks and we're usually found dead at the bottom.
The priests would gather the bodies and cut them up for distribution to the people according to importance, so the king got the best piece and his family and the other priests received some parts, etc. They inevitably ate these pieces as part of their ritual.
Of course they didn't just munch on them, they prepared them like any other meat and usually ate them with soups.
Fast forward to the time when the conquistadores came from Spain. These guys show up not long after some ritual took place, then the Aztecs welcomed them in and shared their food.
You can figure out by now where this is going, these conquistadores ate the soup so they inquired about what it was made of and sure enough they found out.
Although eating human meat was a big no no, the Spaniards actually enjoyed it. So when they inevitably conquered over the Aztecs, they ended up keeping the recipe of that soup. Instead of using human meat though, they used pork since they've said that it tastes similar.
We still eat that today, it's called Pozole (Pozilli).
Shark Lady 1 year ago
There are still a few tribes who eat humans, the meat is called long pork because of the similarity in taste. Learnt that from an episode of River Monsters.
#35
Cows can create mummified foetuses inside of their uterus. If the foetus dies and is not retrieved, the body absorbs all the liquids and humidity from the foetus, and what is left is a tiny dried up hard solid mummy of a calf.
#36
19th century murderer William Palmer's last words to the hangman who would take his life were "Are you sure it's safe?"
Charles Dickens called him "the greatest villain that ever stood in the Old Bailey."
#37
4% of people on Death Row are innocent
Pittsburgh rare 1 year ago
Even if it was 1% , enough reason to stop it. I've always said that death is a disproportionate punishment for most crimes and too little for others. So no one gets served real justice.
#38
The witch in Hansel and Gretel actually was cooking the two kids correctly, by using low heat cauldron over a long time with fatty meat, cuz she fattened them
#39
Using a dead animal to try and throw off body sniffing dogs is a myth spread around to try and get people to trip up. If there's disturbed ground and some random animal 3-4ft down you can bet your booty that entire areas getting turned over.
Kristiina Männiste 1 year ago
Would it not be reasonable just strip the body, remove identifying features- hands, feet, head, body art. And just leave the body in a unfrequented place where animals can easily access it? By the time it gets found it would be scattered and eaten enough to make it impossible to know how the person died or who they vere. Never tested it of course :)
#40
Takes 3hrs for a 180lb human to completely dissolve in a bathtub of potassium hydroxide.
#41
During the Black Death, people would be so infected with the plague that the buboes (those lumps) that you could hear them gurgling with bacteria
#44
Having an erection for 4+ hours can cause gangrene of the d**k which is when tissue is dead or dying due to lack of blood flow or an infection cause by bacteria. This can lead to erectile dysfunction, cosmetic issues, permanent tissue damage, and in worst cases as I've mentioned earlier, gangrene. This situation is called priapism.
#45
Spotted hyena females have "Psuedopenises". Pretty much both sexes have penises, except the female penis replaces the vagina. This means the urethra must be penetrated by a male in order to mate. The pseudopenis also functions as a birth canal. Pretty painful birth if you ask me.
In a study, Female Spotted Hyenas have been seen trying to peg Male Hyenas. Pretty amusing but also disturbing fact.
Special thanks to my 8th grade biology teacher for this mental scar of information.
Edit: Spotted Hyena females have the pseudopenises, not all Hyenas.
TMoxraaaar 1 year ago
This is the only species with worse birth pains than humans. The infant and maternal mortality percentage is in the 20s.
#46
When you cremate someone with a tumor a lot of times the tumor doesn’t burn… it just smolders and smells bad.
#47
If you need a human body to decompose faster, fill the a**s with yogurt. Don't ask how i know, please just google it instead.
#48
Had a school presentation of this, cause it fascinates me while simultaneously horrifies me. The movie The Rock got me interested in finding out how much of it was true.
The VX-nerve agent kills in a brutally painful way.
When you tell a muscle to contract, you send out a chemical (ACh) in said muscle causing it to contract. When you no longer want to tense it, you send out a new chemical (AChE) neutralising the first chemical. The VX-nerve agent prevents this new substance (AChE) from being used to neutralise the first substance (ACh).
In the movie they mention you get spasms strong enough to break your own back, which I don't know if it's true or not, but you will begin involuntarily tense every single muscle in your body (including the diaphragm muscle) with so much force it can tear it's own muscle attachment until you eventually die because you can't exhale.
If you spray mere millilitres of this substance on a door handle, the next person to grab the door handle will die. It was used to assassinate Kim Jong Un's brother Kim Jong Nam, by spraying him in the face with this substance in a regular water spray container. I believe the ones who did this also died from the very minuscule amounts that landed on them as well.
Norm Gilmore 1 year ago
No. Just No. The ladies involved did not perish. 🙄 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Kim_Jong-nam#:~:text=At%20approximately%209%3A00%20a.m.,murder%20of%20Kim%20Jong%2Dnam.
#49
WD-40 rapidly destroys cocaine rendering it chemically unrecognizable. If you ever need to transport cocaine bring a bucket of wd-40 in case you get pulled over
#50
Freddie mercury’s last words were ‘pee pee’ as he needed help going to the toilet
What do you think ?
CF 1 year ago
This was an absolutely stupid list and so full of inaccuracies that I just can't even.. I usually refrain from commenting because I once got so many downvotes -> suspended on an innocent comment that I felt bad for days (yes, I know I shouldn't take it personally and blah blah blah but here I am). But I had to comment on multiple stupidities on this list.
MayaGeGe 1 year ago (edited)
Yup. You'll find out a lot of people here don't specifically care about accuracy, reality, measure and argumentation, and will just downvote without commenting to support their opinion. A dude on another recent post just established that 'All museums in Western countries were displaying stolen artifacts" - which a big big exaggeration to say the least. My poor attempt to nuance that was met with mute downvotes (not that I care, it's chill beer evening). But yes, it's more about what people want to believe sometimes here. Sorry you were suspended.
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TMoxraaaar 1 year ago
I'm an interpreter. You wouldn't believe what we learn.
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Rick Seiden 1 year ago
The amount of time it takes for your brain to receive input from the various senses is less than the amount of time it took for the submersible to implode near the Titanic. That means those poor people down there knew they were in trouble, knew they were probably going to die, and then, just weren't anymore. No pain, no suffering, no knowing what is happening. One instant you're there, the next you're not. It's kind of better that way, I'd say.
marianne eliza 1 year ago
If a bear has been eating human flesh, its scat will be white. A bit of knowledge from search and rescue.
Catherine Bruce 1 year ago
Bored Panda should be held responsible for allowing individuals to publish information as fact when there is no evidence to back it up.
David A Paterson 1 year ago
Knew about half of these. Of those I do know, you got them all right. Good list. I learnt a lot.
CF 1 year ago
This was an absolutely stupid list and so full of inaccuracies that I just can't even.. I usually refrain from commenting because I once got so many downvotes -> suspended on an innocent comment that I felt bad for days (yes, I know I shouldn't take it personally and blah blah blah but here I am). But I had to comment on multiple stupidities on this list.
MayaGeGe 1 year ago (edited)
Yup. You'll find out a lot of people here don't specifically care about accuracy, reality, measure and argumentation, and will just downvote without commenting to support their opinion. A dude on another recent post just established that 'All museums in Western countries were displaying stolen artifacts" - which a big big exaggeration to say the least. My poor attempt to nuance that was met with mute downvotes (not that I care, it's chill beer evening). But yes, it's more about what people want to believe sometimes here. Sorry you were suspended.
Load More Replies... TMoxraaaar 1 year ago
I'm an interpreter. You wouldn't believe what we learn.
Load More Replies... Rick Seiden 1 year ago
The amount of time it takes for your brain to receive input from the various senses is less than the amount of time it took for the submersible to implode near the Titanic. That means those poor people down there knew they were in trouble, knew they were probably going to die, and then, just weren't anymore. No pain, no suffering, no knowing what is happening. One instant you're there, the next you're not. It's kind of better that way, I'd say.
marianne eliza 1 year ago
If a bear has been eating human flesh, its scat will be white. A bit of knowledge from search and rescue.
Catherine Bruce 1 year ago
Bored Panda should be held responsible for allowing individuals to publish information as fact when there is no evidence to back it up.
David A Paterson 1 year ago
Knew about half of these. Of those I do know, you got them all right. Good list. I learnt a lot.
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