What is the weirdest fact you know?

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#1

The Australian Gimpy-Gimpy plant can cause pain so increadably bad you’d just about wish it was fatal (depending on how bad the “sting” is). The slightest contact with any leaf cause chronic pain that can last for years. This is just from what I’ve read, no personal experience (fortunately). And yes, I’m a native plant nerd (because that’s definitely what normal teenagers are interested in). And this already looks like an essay…
Basically stay on the trail and don’t use pain plant for toilet paper

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Dumb teenager
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#2

Electrons don't travel at the speed of light. They have (very low) mass, but even then they are surprisingly slow. Electricity is way faster, but it is not carried by electrons from start to finish - every electron in fact "relays" the wave to the next in what is called "electron drift".
I'm way out of my depth here, but it is like what happens when you squeeze toothpaste - the action is transferred from the bottom of the tube* to the top almost immediately, but it is not the paste from the bottom that is coming out on the other end.
* Because you are a caring, civilized person, and not an ogre that squeezes the tube in the middle

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Rafael
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Bantam_Wyvern (she/her)
Bantam_Wyvern (she/her)
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6 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I might be a middle-of-toothpaste-tube-squeezing ogre. 🤷‍♀️ sorry everyone civil edit:why does this sound sarcastic? It’s not

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#3

Did you know that there's a species of jellyfish known as Turritopsis dohrnii, also called the "immortal jellyfish," which has the ability to revert back to its juvenile form after reaching maturity? This essentially means that it can theoretically live forever, cycling through stages of maturity and rejuvenation indefinitely. It's like having a built-in fountain of youth!

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Kota Coy
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#4

Brain to body size, crows and ravens have larger brains than dogs, and are much smarter.

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Internet wanderer
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Rafael
Rafael
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never be mean to crows, they remember and can hold a grudge. And they talk among themselves!

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#5

Photons generated inside the sun can scatter along all that mass for MILLIONS of years, so the light that reach us is both 8 minutes old if measured from the surface, and pre-Cambrian if measured from when it was "created".
Imagine what that means for all those distant starts, millions of years away from us. That photon hitting your retina has seen things, man...

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Rafael
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Alex Ruddies
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As I recall, the light hitting your eyes is approximately 8000 years old.

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#6

By cell count, you are more bacteria than human. While not a 10:1 ratio as commonly thought a while ago, it is still something to the tune of 30 trillion of human cells versus 39 trillion of bacteria. Of course, those numbers can vary, and after being "under the weather" from tummy issues, your bacteria count can drop by half or more.
Also, speaking of myths, the idea that we use only "10% of the brain" is false. The brain is always active one way or the other, even if the neurons aren't always firing. If they were, it wouldn't be good either: the brain is about patterns, not brute force. If you had your printer activating "all the ink heads" you would get a black blob on the paper, not a picture.

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Rafael
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#7

In a worldwide arm wrestling competition, with all 8 billion plus people on the planet competing, where the losers in each round all go home and winners move on, the ultimate winner to have outlasted every other person would only have to win 34 matches.

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David Hassoun
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#8

The distance between your elbow and your wrist is your shoe size

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Karl
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#9

Many male characteristics are passed down from your mom, not your dad. So in that regard, a man will resemble some man up along his mom's side more than his dad.

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Tiramisu
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Natalie Kelsey
Natalie Kelsey
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is especially true for male pattern baldness, a form of alopecia that is passed from the mother to her children. So men, if you want to know how your hair will be as an older adult, look at your mother's father. Women, your sons will have hair like your dad's. My biological father is not worth much but he's got a full head of wavy hair, I think my boys were relieved to learn that!

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#10

Ever wondered why the left side of the brain controls the right side, or why our visual cortex is in the back of our heads? Furthermore, the optic nerves are crossed one over the other! What gives?

Turns out our brains are backwards in our heads, and by "our" I mean every vertebrate on Earth. Our last common ancestor had this mutation where the brain turned backwards during development, and it rode along in our lineage. Our embryos even start out "normal", but then the top of the nervous system turns to one side, and the rest of the body turn to the other side, God only knows why.

This is called "The Inversion Hypothesis", and I'm not sure how accepted it is, but it explains a lot. Also, it has the additional implication that what is the "dorsal" region on us is "ventral" region in all other animals. We're upside down worms!

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Rafael
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#11

Your brain lies to you regarding your your tactile perception, to compensate for nerve length - so if you touch your forehead with your toe (you double-jointed you!*), it will tell you that the two actions are simultaneous, when there's in fact a (otherwise) perceptible delay.

*You are not, in fact, double jointed. This is just an expression of the English language, that sounds rather funny to we non-native speakers :-)

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Rafael
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#12

The soybean got its name from the sauce that was made from it, not the other way around

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David Hassoun
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#13

Not the weirdest, but one of them. To a newspaper in Dublin arrived this story:
"I am the seventh son of a seventh son. I have seven siblings and was born August 7th, 1907, that is, the seventh of the seventh, of the seventh year, at seven o'clock. On my 49th birthday (seven times seven), I saw that the seventh race had a horse called Seventh Heaven. He had an advantage of seven stones and the bets were seven to one. He bet seven schillings to Seven Heaven... and the horse arrived on seventh place."

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Luis Hernandez Dauajare
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Dan Silverman
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6 months ago

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#14

If chemists in 1928 had decided to make bromofluorocarbons instead of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) it would have been 46 times more effective at destroying the ozone. The giant b word was just slightly more expensive so we lucked out with not being completely blind, cancer ridden, dead and so on.

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Marla
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#15

A squid's brain is doughnut shaped and circles it's esophagus. It can give itself brain damage by eating something too large.

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Rae Rory
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#16

-turtles breathe through their butts
-seahorses are one of the only animals where the males become pregnant

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Kiki’sNotLookingBack
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#17

In a room of just 23 people there's a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday. In a room of 75 there's a 99.9% chance of at least two people matching.

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David Hassoun
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#18

That we owe Star Trek Voyager's Seven of Nine for the Presidency of Barack Obama. Actress Jeri Ryan was married to an up and coming Illinois politician - Jack Ryan. In 2004, Jack Ryan was in a race for U.S. Senate against Illinois State Senator Barack Obama. Ryan was expected to win, but at the same time he and Jeri were going through a bitter divorce. In depositions that became released to the public, it was shown that Jack Ryan had some very "unique" sexual habits, including coercing his wife into activities that she did not want to engage in. The resultant scandal cost Ryan the election and Obama was elected. Four years later, Illinois Senator Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States.

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Crescent 3
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#19

Atlanta has over 70 streets with some variation of "Peachtree" in their name. Peachtree Road, Peachtree Street, Peachtree Avenue, West Peachtree, North Peachtree Road, Peachtree Battle, Peachtree Industrial Blvd., Old Peachtree...

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Freya the Wanderer
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Mattie
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

so that's why MTG had trouble saying "petri dish" a couple years ago... She represents Georgia, after all

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#20

More a theory than a fact, but it a group setting, there is a lull in conversation every 7 minutes. There's a short awkward silence before people start talking again.

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Ross “Sarcastic Dad”
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cerinamroth
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Haha, in Germany it would be longer. The "dinner party silence" as my friend calls it - Germans find it not at all awkward but it leaves us Brits squirming in our seats.

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#21

In some shark species it really is survival of the fittest before they are even born. Shark pups will eat their siblings, particularly those who are less developed.

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Shark Lady
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#22

Every mammal over 3 lbs takes 20 to 21 seconds to void their bladder. Even the Elephant.

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Susan Atkinson
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#23

The University of Virginia has been studying reincarnation since the 1970's and has over 2400 cases on file. They only study children below the age of 8-10, because after that, is when you lose most of your childhood memories. Their results are impressive.

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Dan St John
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#24

A couple of things I learned in beauty school:
There's microscopic mites at the base of each of everyone 's eyelashes.
Sucking on your hair ends or biting your nails is an effective way to get pinworms. Pinworms are nocturnal and crawl out of your a**s at night and cause a crawling, itching sensation and are contagious.
What most people believe is "dandruff" is actually dry scalp flakes. Real dandruff is contagious and is yellow and waxy, and can be as large as cornflakes. Many "dandruff" shampoos clear up dry scalp temporarily but continued use causes worse dry scalp, which keeps them in business. Real dandruff needs a prescription.
Your hair shaft has a cuticle that is heat sensitive. Using some chemicals, heat tools and hot water open the cuticle,. That can make hair look more volumized but also causes tangles, split ends and frizz. Using good conditioner and rinsing hair in cold water can close the cuticle, giving you less frizz and tangles and more shine.
Hair and skin have a pH of 4.5-5.5, so acidic products and water are much better for them than alkaline products.

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Natalie Kelsey
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#25

Warm water freezes quicker than cold water.

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rebeccy_a
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#26

The male possum has a bifurcated penis. The female possum has two vaginas.

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Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
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#27

The closest thing that humans taste like are mushrooms.

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Rainbreeze
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#28

Lefthanded people are the largest minority on Earth.

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DadManBlues
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MurderMittens
MurderMittens
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I guess the largest minority on earth would be close to 49%, so either men or women would be the largest minority. I think originally there are more men born. That means women would be the largest minority.

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#29

Turtles breathe out of their butts

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Mowhak gurl
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#30

New Zealand was the first country in the world to allow women to vote in 1893.

IDK if that's weird or not.

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𝐸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽_𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂𝑒𝓇
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#31

Algae that grows on sloths is being researched as a cancer treatment.
A cat's pure can help broken bones heal faster. Something to do with the vibrations.
These are things that I read about I don't know how true they are so don't judge.

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86
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#32

Baby's don't have knees!

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Roos Dillema
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#33

Lately, upvotes are not added up anymore at Bored Panda. Weird.

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trollingergirl
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trollingergirl (Submission author)
trollingergirl
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have to correct that: points are not added in profile. Sorry for the confusion.

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#34

Composers Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn were all born within roughly two years of each other (1809-1811) but Liszt was born in Doborján, Hungary which became and still is today Raiding, Austria on October 22nd. 1811.
Mendelssohn and Chopin were the best of friends.
-OP classical pianist since the age of 4. Studied classical music 50 years.

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By Deleted User
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Anagram margana
Anagram margana
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is oddly disjointed post. Why is there a “but “ after “(1809-1811).” Liszt’s birthplace/date should be a sentence on its own. Though that leads one to wonder why the dates/places of the two others aren’t mentioned. It’s great that M & C were best buds, but how do we know this? Any example? Or some kind of context? And finally, congratulations on your long career (or avocation?) - again, a little more info? I hope you’ve recorded yourself playing for future generations. My Dad, who had played since age 5 and died at 81, never did and I regret not insisting he do so! 😢

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#35

In a room of just 23 people there's a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday. In a room of 75 there's a 99.9% chance of at least two people matching.

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David Hassoun
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