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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!

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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3 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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Ron Man
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5 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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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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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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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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Jessica Shookhoff
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11 minutes 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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“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
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5 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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MargyB
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5 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Imagine having to replace them all when they are on maternity leave, a logistical HR nightmare!

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whineygingercat
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4 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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2bwhctmvgn
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3 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Again, "how they look" or "what they look like", not "how they look like". Also, when you refer to a class you can either refer to it in plural ("peacock feathers") or in indefinite singular ("a peacock feather").

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Nimitz
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1 hour ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a regular Fuji apple that is left on the tree in rain and frost until the water permeates the cells. They are actually one step short of rotting and taste like candy. But thanks to capitalism, they call them artisanal and sell them for $20 each

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The Phantom Stranger
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5 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I always thought pineapples few on palm trees similar to coconuts or bananas. Wasn't until I visited Hawaii that I learned they actually grow on bushes.

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G R
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5 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He had an artificial heart installed after his own heart failed. Technically the artificial heart was two pumps, so no beat like a flesh heart has. Sadly, he died five weeks after having the artificial heart installed.

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Justin Tyme
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3 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But a quantum computer is a supercomputer. supercomputer: “a powerful computer that can process large amounts of data very quickly” Collins Dictionary, 2024.

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BrunoVI
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5 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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The Phantom Stranger
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5 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Crystalized honey had been found in Egyptian tombs. All you have to do is heat it up until it melts and it is perfectly safe to eat. (As long as you don't believe in Mummys' curses.)

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David Houde
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3 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure if it was the same thing, but one morning driving to work just before the sun came up I saw what I can only describe as a "gray scale rainbow". It was so odd. I was driving west with the sun below the horizon. I saw a rainbow in front of me, but there was no colors, just different shades of gray.

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MargyB
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5 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait...is this like when you suggested that putting a rolled up ball of aluminium foil in the microwave would create a ball bearing? I still don't have a kitchen!

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