Article created by: Dominyka

One of the best parts about the internet is how great a learning tool it can be. Even if you’re just casually browsing some random forum or website, you can stumble across a weird fact you’ve never heard before. The next thing you know, you’re knee-deep in research and it's been hours since you last had a snack.

The members of the r/AskReddit online community had a lot of fun sharing the most mind-blowing facts that they recently realized. It sometimes takes a tiny thing to change your perspective completely. Whether that’s seeing a duck in a tree, thinking about space travel, or finally comprehending how late the Roman Empire actually fell. Scroll down for some fresh facts that you (probably!) don’t know.

Bored Panda wanted to learn more about source reliability and how to reverse our shortening attention spans, so we reached out to Susan A. Nolan, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Seton Hall University. You'll find her insights as you read on.

#1

Silhouettes stargazing under a vast night sky, capturing a moment of wonder about the world with a telescope. That you could legitimately travel at warp speed through the center of galaxies and never run any real risk of hitting a star. That’s how spread out space really is.

justanotherguyhere16 , Yuting Gao Report

Bacon Tentacles
Community Member
8 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Recommend checking out Steven Wilson's recent album, The Overview. Great music and the topic is the sheer vastness of space, and how truly terrifying it can be.

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    #2

    Person reading braille at a table, wearing sunglasses and a brown sweater, representing shared world facts. That people that are blind from birth don't see "black" or "nothing," they see with their eyes what you see with your elbow.

    HeavyRightFoot19 , Yan Krukau Report

    #3

    Stack of US dollar bills on a wooden table, symbolizing realizations about world facts shared online. Being poor is very very very expensive. Once you have a decent amount of money and no debt, it’s very easy to live super cheap. Once you have the money to buy things, it’s MUCH easier to say no to those things.

    anon , Nathan Dumlao Report

    #4

    Man walking by stone wall with mountains in the background, sharing world discoveries online. When I found out a large percentage of people walk around all day without an inner monologue it really messed with me. How do you think? Do you think? How do you make decisions?

    GrumpyOldMan59 , Valentine Angel Fernandez Report

    #5

    A mallard duck glides through calm water, showcasing nature's beauty. One day I sat on a tram, passing a river. There was a duck in a tree. I realised I've never seen ducks in trees. No one else seemed to notice, but I was puzzled. Now whenever I come across something that seems intuitive but I have never considered I call it a duck in a tree.

    Ol_Pasta , Quân Mạnh Report

    #6

    Owl peeking through a wooden gap, capturing a curious yet accidental realization about the natural world. Owl‘s silent flight. I mean i always knew that but a while ago was the first time i actually witnessed it. Owl came flying towards me and landed only a few feet away and you couldn‘t hear anything. Crazy.

    Zealousideal-You-324 , Skitterphoto Report

    #7

    Shark swimming underwater, captured in a striking frontal view, illustrating fascinating world facts. That sharks predated the rings of Saturn.

    BeardedDominant , Daniel Torobekov Report

    #8

    Astronaut on the moon surface in spacesuit, showcasing a fascinating fact about the world and space exploration. We went from kitty hawk to the moon inside of 66 years.

    alczervikslumberyard , Pixabay Report

    #9

    Hands holding playing cards with poker chips, illustrating a fact about the world unexpectedly shared online. That every time you shuffle a deck of cards it’s extremely likely that no deck of cards in history has ever been in the same order you just shuffled your deck to.

    roughly7chickens , Marin Tulard Report

    #10

    New York City skyline with the Empire State Building at sunrise, showcasing world facts and urban beauty. They were colonizing the Wild West the same time as they were building skyscrapers in Manhattan. I always think of them taking place eighty to a hundred years apart. It's wild.

    Emilayday , Matias Di Meglio Report

    #11

    Tax form with coins, percentage symbol, and "TAXES" tiles on a green background. Percentages can be reversed. 30% of 70 is 70% of 30.

    sfkf8486 , Nataliya Vaitkevich Report

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    #12

    Bare feet on a vintage scale, reflecting a moment of realization on tiled floor. When you lose weight, most of it ends up as carbon dioxide which is exhaled from your lungs.

    Wannagetsober , Ketut Subiyanto Report

    #13

    Ancient ruins of Jerash under a blue sky, showcasing historical architecture and cityscape. The Roman Empire fully fell less than 50 years before the discovery of the new world

    South-by-north , Hisham Zayadneh Report

    #14

    Light trails under a bridge at night, capturing a striking world scene with vivid colors and dynamic motion. The speed of light is consistent in relativity no matter how fast you are traveling because of the effects speed has on time and gravity. If you are traveling at 99% the speed of light, then the light you emit from a flashlight would appear to be traveling away from you at the speed of light because your time is slowed.

    Myzx , Ray Bilcliff Report

    #15

    Tractor in a field during farming season under a cloudy sky, showcasing agriculture machinery outdoors. I saw this on a Facebook meme today: the word Ohio looks like a tractor.

    cronin98 , Mark Stebnicki Report

    #16

    Group of friends sitting on a tennis court, sharing interesting world facts online using smartphones. Be there or be square…. Because you’re not around.

    tachyfootsteps , Yaroslav Shuraev Report