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In this modern world, where the amount of fake news, alternative facts, scams, and quasi-claims seem to be off the charts, it’s easy to doubt things. But despite our suspicions, many of us still enjoy and seek out good "truth is stranger than fiction" stories. Because life is weird. Science is crazy. Evolution is wild. And there are so many staggering or downright surreal things happening right under our noses we don't even notice.

Chances are, you've stumbled upon at least one piece of trivia that is so weird, it sounds totally made up. And you’re definitely not the only one. There’s an entire thread on 'Ask Reddit' where this subject matter takes center stage. "What is a true fact that sounds fake?" asked user TheMemeing and inspired hundreds of members to share their intriguing tidbits of knowledge immediately.

From snails having 14,000 teeth to Mantis shrimp generating light, just because something sounds a little bogus, it doesn’t mean it’s not real. We've gathered some of the most illuminating responses from the thread, so continue scrolling! Although remember that a little healthy skepticism goes a long way, so put your thinking caps on and take everything you read online with a pinch of salt. Then upvote the facts that surprised you most, and be sure to share your own nuggets of information with us in the comments.

Psst! When you've finished this list, take a look at our previous post filled with fake-sounding facts here.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The oldest hotel in the world is The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Japan and has been in business since 705AD. The crazy thing is that it’s still a family business. For 52 generations

novaorld , Boltor Report

Final score:
746points
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#2

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Female dragonflies drop out the sky and pretend to be dead to avoid unwanted male advances.

SuvenPan , Stijn Dijkstra Report

Final score:
501points
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#3

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Donald Trump was actually the US President at one time.

Zinger2020 , Shealah Craighead Report

Final score:
497points
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#4

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses In 1895 there were 2 cars out of the entire state of Ohio and they still managed to crash into each other

Infamous_fire94 , dan_jimeta01 Report

Final score:
481points
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#5

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses There’s a penguin named Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III who is the ceremonial head of the Norwegian Royal Guard

Poorly-Drawn-Beagle , wikipedia Report

Final score:
451points
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#6

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Nestle intentionally created a famine by giving put free formula in African countries and pushed a campaign that said it was healthier than breast milk. Then when most of the population had converted and dwindled the number of mothers capable of nursing, they began charging exorbitant prices for formula. this caused thousands of children to starve to death and they got away with it.

CxT_The_Plague , Raúl Hernández González Report

Final score:
423points
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#7

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses There are more slaves today than in any point in history

tranc3rooney , Rio Lecatompessy Report

Final score:
374points
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#8

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.

klakkrr , Paul Bill Report

Final score:
368points
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#9

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Oxford University predates the Aztec Empire by 3.5 centuries.

astrielx , Anna Kozlova Report

Final score:
363points
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#10

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Humans can smell geosmin (the chemical released when it rains or snows) at 5 parts per trillion. Which means that humans are 200,000 times more sensitive to smelling geosmin than sharks are at smelling blood.

spookyskelley , Andriyko Podilnyk Report

Final score:
332points
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#11

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Dinosaurs were around for so long that there were already dinosaur fossils while they were still alive.

Basically, as T-Rex was munching away on Triceratop steaks, Stegosaurus had already been dead and underground for millions of years by that point.

mjohnsimon , Narciso Arellano Report

Final score:
327points
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#12

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses People were on the moon before they put wheels on suitcases.

sheepywife , Pixabay Report

Final score:
316points
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#13

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses In the Pompeii eruption, the extreme heat caused some victims' brain tissue to turn to glass.

0ddcharlie , wikipedia Report

Final score:
300points
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#14

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The Mantis shrimp punches so hard it generates light.

Angel_OfSolitude , Amber Wolfe Report

Final score:
298points
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#15

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Johnny Cash was the first westerner to learn of Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953. He was a morse code operator at the time

gavh428 , CBS Television Report

Final score:
292points
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#16

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses From 1912 to 1948, the Olympics awarded official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music, alongside those for the athletic competitions.

Lone_Wolf_888 , Dave Kim Report

Final score:
290points
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#17

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The greenland shark, has a life expectancy of between 250-500 years. That means there could be a greenland shark swimming around, that swam the oceans when the Spanish conquistadors went to search Mexico for gold, which at that time, were inhabited by the Aztecs.

Eremitic23 , wikipedia Report

Final score:
289points
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#18

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Bananas are berries and strawberries aren't.

sushandeep , alleksana Report

Final score:
277points
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#19

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Koalas are so dumb that they can't recognise a eucalyptus leaf if it isn't attached to a tree.

thedragoncompanion , Valeriia Miller Report

Final score:
261points
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#20

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses More people drown in the desert than die of dehydration.

mitchade , Amine M'siouri Report

Final score:
260points
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#21

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Alligators will give manatees the right of way if they are swimming near each other

Duncan970 , Lia Schmidt Report

Final score:
256points
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#22

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Sharks existed before grass.

Yrrebnot , Tomáš Nožina Report

Final score:
249points
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#23

Placebo medicine is more effective if patient is told it's expensive.

capable_taco Report

Final score:
245points
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#24

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The ancient Egyptian empire lasted more than 3000 years. It has been less time since the empire fell.

librician , Alex Azabache Report

Final score:
244points
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#25

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Snails have 14,000 teeth and eat bones and meat not just vegetables.

Feathertail80 , PhotoMIX Company Report

Final score:
231points
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#26

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses A fully loaded Amazon Kindle is a billionth of a billionth of a gram heavier than an empty one.

Aggravating_Speed665 , freestocks.org Report

Final score:
226points
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#27

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses McDonalds feeds 1% of the world’s population daily.

UniquePotato , C. Cagnin Report

Final score:
225points
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#28

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Butterflies are fond of cow s**t, fresh blood, and corpses.

itsme_Imtheproblem , Pixabay Report

Final score:
220points
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#29

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses There’s a type of mold that, as a single celled organism, can move around by itself, learn, recognise colours and solve mazes. there are many species of slime mold that can come in all colours such as banana yellow, hazard-jacket orange and, fittingly, slime green.

WesternApplication76 , mountainamoeba Report

Final score:
213points
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#30

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Australia has the largest amount of wild camels in the world.

There are more pet tigers in Texas than there are in the wild of the entire planet.

Black---Sun , Frans van Heerden Report

Final score:
207points
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#31

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is the fear of big words.

Kiabobiia , Thought Catalog Report

Final score:
201points
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#32

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Hot water freezes faster than cold water. Mpemba effect. The guy who discovered it (in modern times, since Aristotle wrote about it) was ridiculed by everybody including his own teacher, but 6 years later the results were published and is considered fact.

BowDownToThor , Eva Bronzini Report

Final score:
196points
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#33

The creation of sticky notes was a result of glue that wasn’t sticky and deemed a failure( 3M)

The formula was put in the records as a failure and later a scientist found it to be useful to stick notes to his workbench.

Then we got sticky notes

SnooRadishes3472 Report

Final score:
187points
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#34

King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden were turned away from a German restaurant in 2011 since there were no free tables and they didn't have a reservation.

ronin668 Report

Final score:
185points
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#35

Cheetahs don't roar, they meow.

BeastAlpha07 Report

Final score:
185points
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#36

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The chainsaw was invented to aid in childbirth. It was used and invented in the 1700s to cut through the woman's pelvic bone before C-sections became the commonplace way to deliver babies.

YourMomSmokesMeth , Karolina Grabowska Report

Final score:
181points
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#37

When Joe Biden was born, he was closer to Abraham Lincoln's presidency than his own.

JustAShi**yProducer Report

Final score:
176points
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#38

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The lighter was invented before matches.

Unhappy-Nail-9281 , Ricardo Liberato Report

Final score:
171points
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#39

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The day Michael Jackson's hair caught fire while filming a Pepsi commercial was the exact middle of his life.

Born: August 29, 1958

(9,281 days)

Pepsi incident: January 27, 1984

(9,281 days)

Died: June 25, 2009

divshappyhour Report

Final score:
168points
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#40

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses The Michelin Star system was developed by Michelin tires.

Pasghetti_Western , Ye Massa Report

Final score:
140points
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#41

We are closer to the last ever dinosaur than the last dinosaur was to the first ever dinosaur.

drax3012 Report

Final score:
53points
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#42

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Cleopatra only had 2 pairs of great grandparents.

oy-cunt- , wikipedia Report

Final score:
50points
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#43

President Jimmy Carter is a badass who once dove Into an active nuclear reactor to prevent a meltdown.

Sleepdprived Report

Final score:
49points
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#44

Attila the Hun died from a nose bleed on his wedding night

dull_storyteller Report

Final score:
44points
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#45

The universe’s resources are finite and eventually the processes making new stars will be unable to continue. The universe will become a dark void intermittently filled with stellar bodies.

We live in a glorious time where we can see beautiful pictures of the stars and enjoy them from our backyards. Count yourself lucky.

That_Phony_King Report

Final score:
44points
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#46

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being signed. Both of their last words were along the lines of “My friend Adams/Jefferson still lives”. They shared almost the same last words but had no idea one of them were already dead.

BagelSteamer Report

Final score:
44points
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#47

A spider called the banana spider, can bite you and cause a painful Erection that last hours

Muted_Ad5364 Report

Final score:
42points
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#48

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Apple seeds contain a substance that releases cyanide into your bloodstream

rygad33 , Skylar Kang Report

Final score:
42points
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#49

Volkswagens most sold product is a sausage.

V4cras Report

Final score:
41points
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#50

Sharks who hang out on sandbars a lot can get a sun tan.

Ohhhhcanadada Report

Final score:
39points
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#51

Most common houseplants thrive on neglect.

Most people kill their house plants by paying too much attention to them, by overwatering them or over fertilizing them.

Dakens2021 Report

Final score:
38points
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#52

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses Betty White (1922) is older than packaged sliced bread (1928 in the USA and 1937 in the UK).

martusfine , wikipedia Report

Final score:
35points
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#53

Pineapple actually tries to eat you while you eat it.

Bromelain extract is a mixture of protein-digesting (proteolytic) enzymes and several other substances in smaller quantities.

The burning you feel when eating pineapple is its liquids trying to digest you. That's also the reason for the lingering feeling after eating it.

InnerDevice8081 Report

Final score:
35points
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#54

Can you believe if a person who can completely see is blind almost 40 mins to an hour per day? This phenomenon is called Saccadic Masking and also known as (visual) Saccadic suppression. It is a visual illusion where the brain selectively blocks visual processing during our eye movements.

A saccade is a quick, simultaneous movement of both eyes between two or more phases of fixation points in the same direction. Humans become effectively blind during a saccade.

FarFromFaith33 Report

Final score:
34points
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#55

Hillary Clinton won a Grammy.

Sablemint Report

Final score:
32points
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#56

Shaving your cat in the summer heat is bad and can actually cause overheating.

Ouchyhurthurt Report

Final score:
31points
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#57

Sharks are older than the rings of Saturn

Stunning-Metal-6159 Report

Final score:
30points
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#58

-40 c is equal to -40 f

Unhappy-Grapefruit88 Report

Final score:
29points
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#59

Over 30 million people in china live in caves!

das_pineapple Report

Final score:
29points
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#60

Breathing out one nostril at a time naturally.

uverfox Report

Final score:
29points
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#61

Argentina occupied California in 1818 for a week.

Tomatowithdepression Report

Final score:
28points
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#62

Dolphins and Whales evolved from land mammals.

MetaControl Report

Final score:
28points
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#63

Insurance companies most years pay out more dollars in claims and loss expenses than they collect in premium dollars. They make all their money by investing the premium dollars before they have to pay them out.

Edit: I’m talking about car and home insurance. Health insurance works differently and I never worked in that field so I don’t know.

scumbagstaceysEx Report

Final score:
28points
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#64

Killer Whales love Great White Shark liver. They are capable of extracting it with surgical precision, leaving the Great White to bleed out and die.

itsyobbiwonuseek Report

Final score:
28points
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#65

“Tiffany” is a name from the Middle Ages

olaolie Report

Final score:
27points
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#66

Nintendo was founded in 1889.

Tontonsb Report

Final score:
26points
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#67

Solid matter is made up of mostly empty space.

Nbardo11 Report

Final score:
26points
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#68

Snakes have necks and tails

Muted-Radish6071 Report

Final score:
25points
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#69

Cats can drink seawater

Tel-aran-rhiod Report

Final score:
25points
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#70

The last official execution by guillotine was 1977 September 10th at Baumetes Prison in Marseille, France.

PhesteringSoars Report

Final score:
25points
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#71

Both Stalin and Hitler were briefly in the same city as each other (Vienna) before they met (or knew about each other, at least).

askXmeXaboutX2006-7 Report

Final score:
24points
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#72

Abraham Lincoln died before the Samurai were abolished as a caste.

42mepey Report

Final score:
22points
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#73

Someone Asked People "What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?" And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses For one hour every year a part of Oregon and Florida will have the same time of day

hunterlong12 , Arturo Anez Report

Final score:
22points
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#74

Salvador Dali was alive when the first Predator movie came out, so he might have watched it in the cinema

teachbirds2fly Report

Final score:
22points
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#75

The role of John McClane in Die Hard was originally offered to Frank Sinatra.

vandyne Report

Final score:
19points
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#76

3 of my grandparents have the same birthday and two of them on the same year

Last-Invite-338 Report

Final score:
17points
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#77

I once read that if you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn white.

Ok_Storage525 Report

Final score:
16points
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