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Who doesn’t love a good random fact? Here’s one for you that I’ve learnt recently: A fluffy, weightless-looking cloud actually weighs around a million pounds. Since it's made out of water and air, it can accumulate quite a lot of mass—about the weight of 100 elephants. You wouldn’t think a cloud was this heavy when you’re soaring through it on a plane, would you?

More exciting facts about our world await you in the list below, courtesy of the “Factz.unheard” Instagram account. Scroll down to learn about the things you probably haven’t heard about before and make sure to upvote the ones that surprised you the most.

Sticking to the topic of clouds, we reached out to BSc meteorologist Janice Davila and meteorologist, atmospheric scientist and owner of Makens Weather, Matt Makens, who kindly agreed to tell us more interesting facts about the atmosphere and weather!

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BSc meteorologist Janice Davila tells Bored Panda that one of the most unknown facts from her field of expertise is that weather radars are slightly tilted upward in a half-degree (1/2°) angle. 

“This means that when you or someone else opens a weather app only to see that it says it's raining, it actually means the radar is detecting the rain at 1/2 degree up rather than looking at the surface. If you're not seeing any rain, it's because it's evaporated by the time it passed the radar, reaching the surface,” she explains. 

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Nea
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17 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This could only be Japanese! Please dont kill me, they are so cute and as an Indian do look like cotton fresh to me :)

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Meteorologist, atmospheric scientist and owner of Makens Weather, Matt Makens, believes that most people might not be aware of just how much moisture there is in the air. “Especially within thunderstorms that are miles high and carry large hail...the tremendous amount of upward wind to enable all of that water and ice to stay in the air is mind-blowing to us as observers when we watch those thunderstorms pass through.”

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Another phenomenon he finds interesting in the field of meteorology is banded snowfall. “Whether it be lake effect snow or upslope against mountains, the total amount of snow that can fall within just hours can be staggering,” Makens says.

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Ron Man
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19 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Of course they did. Willingly engaging in corporate espionage is a huge crime. Also, what would Pepsi care about Coke's recipe? Not like they're going to change their own due to that. Chances are, they already had it to begin with. The Coke secret recipe is more of a myth than anything else. They've changed their recipe a few times over the years and current Coke bears absolutely no resemblance to the original Coke.

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Both meteorologists believe that the average person should have more knowledge about the atmosphere and weather, mostly for their safety. “I highly recommend people knowing the basics about the weather, especially hazard safety when it comes to storms,” says Davila. “Due to climate change, storms are getting more aggressive, therefore people should be more aware of how to react during nocturnal tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and anything else that may not be typical for their region.”

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“The lower atmosphere in particular has so many different conditions based on altitude yet the general public assumes its all relatively the same behavior no matter how high into the sky,” says Makens.

“Much like a river flowing through the mountains, there's extreme turbulence, calmness, variable speeds and variable temperatures throughout that river and the atmosphere is the same way. This knowledge can better help people understand why they see certain clouds at certain levels, or how wildfire smoke is transported to their areas, or even give them some forecast sense of what weather is headed their way by what they are observing in the sky around them,” he stresses.

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Jessica Shookhoff
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14 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Awww, so cute! We have hummingbird moths in the Rockies. They're exactly like mini hummingbirds but with fuzzy antennae!!!

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However, it’s not just the average person who might find some weather phenomena puzzling or surprising. These experts also admit being bewildered by some things that their scientific community hasn’t figured out yet.

Davila for example, is trying to find out how migraines could be connected with the rise and fall in barometric pressure. While Makens is fascinated by El Niño and La Niña, whose driving forces can’t be exactly pinpointed thus far.

According to Climate.gov, the two terms refer to warm and cool phases of a natural climate pattern across the tropical Pacific. “The pattern shifts back and forth irregularly every two to seven years, bringing predictable changes in ocean temperature and disrupting the normal wind and rainfall patterns across the tropics.," it writes. Since El Niño and La Niña don’t appear on a regular schedule, it challenges the meteorologists.

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“Today, we can accurately—more or less—predict these features out to a year or maybe two. To be able to forecast these patterns several years in advance would be of tremendous economic gain for the hundreds of industries that rely upon risk management practices protecting from changes those ocean-atmosphere patterns create,” explains Makens.

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Karl der Große
Community Member
19 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There is a recent article from a guy named Saul Justin Newman that found that a lot of longevity claims in places like Okinawa are caused by fraud or sloppy record keeping, and that there may not be any place where there is a strikingly unusual number of supercentenarians.

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Richard Graham
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17 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the 1946 Spacelander Classic bicycle (British), designed by Benjamin Bowden. It was manufactured into the 1960s.

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TribbleThinking
Community Member
17 hours ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nope. Was married to an average looking man. Now with a more attractive, taller, nice to his parents, etc man, and am MUCH happier. You can't magically foolproof against creeps - never forget, some people are unattractive AND horrible.

MC C
Community Member
19 hours ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you want to be happy for the rest of your life never make a pretty woman your wife, and from my personal point of view get an ugly woman to marry you.

Ka Se
Community Member
19 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I recommend marrying someone with whom you share at least some interests and world views. It makes you want to do more together, which is usually very positive for a relationship.

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Toothless Feline
Community Member
19 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Probably because less attractive men are less likely to be self-absorbed dumb@sses.

Farnzy
Community Member
19 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Which is hilarious because the TV couple in the pic dated in real life and it was rumored they split up because he thought he was too smart for her!

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Fembot
Community Member
10 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe (and I’m generalizing here) non-pretty people have a higher chance of developing their personality and are therefore more likely to find someone they really match with. Maybe it doesn’t work for women as well as men because society dictates that a woman must be pretty in order to be a desired partner.

BeesEelsAndPups
Community Member
8 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm pretty sure this study was done by a bunch of ugly dudes. As an ugly guy myself, I would bet that if women truly wanted to be happy in their life, they'd stay single

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Breadcrumb.
Community Member
18 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sure keep telling yourselves that. Why not actually try to make her happy, besides using your less than attractive looks.

Goat express
Community Member
8 minutes ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This picture being with this fact is very subjective. I think Johnny Galecki is extremely attractive!

Don Adams
Community Member
2 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Back in the '70's (maybe 80's), there was a singer (think it may have been Millie Jackson) that sang a lyric something like " if you want a good f*** get yourself an ugly man". And I'm like, great. More pressure to perform.....

martymcmatrix
Community Member
3 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Probably true...my female coworkers keep laughing all the time when I'm around...🤷🏽

Khavrinen
Community Member
11 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

None of the women I've ever met have heard of this study.

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WubiDubi
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18 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Albino are not endangered. It's a genetic trait you don't want, increased risk of skin cancer and eye issues.

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whineygingercat
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18 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm thinking that they believe anyone who fits in the 100% discount needs to eat more and so they'll feed them for free

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BrunoVI
Community Member
19 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No religion? Uh... no. "[T]o live in Auroville, one must be the willing servitor of the Divine Consciousness." Oh, and there is no paper currency, but everyone is required to get a special debit card.

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Jenna Kay
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19 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So, as someone who lives with depression, I need to eat more nanas 😊

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Note: this post originally had 80 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.

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