All facts — Page 56
The complete ONAURE library, newest first. Every fact has an explanation and a source you can check.
2056 facts
The Armillaria ostoyae fungus in Oregon is one of the largest living organisms in the world.
An underground network of this fungus covers about 9 square kilometres and is thousands of years old. Most of the…
The mantis shrimp delivers a punch so fast that the water boils and forms cavitation bubbles.
The mantis shrimp's punch reaches speeds similar to a .22 calibre bullet. When the appendage moves through the water…
The world's smallest QR code was created with silver atoms and can be read by a common phone.
Researchers at FZU used a scanning tunneling microscope to position silver atoms one by one, forming a QR code of 50…
Capuchin monkeys have been observed abducting baby howler monkeys in the wild.
Biologists documented five male capuchin monkeys carrying at least eleven different infant howler monkeys, a behavior…
The platypus has venomous spurs on its hind legs and glows under ultraviolet light.
The male platypus has venomous spurs behind its legs that can cause intense pain in humans. Its skin and fur also…
Cycads heat their reproductive structures up to 15 degrees Celsius above ambient temperature.
These ancient plants produce heat and emit infrared light to attract pollinating beetles. Heat pollination may be the…
The wood frog can freeze up to 70 percent of its body and come back to life in spring.
Up to 70 percent of the wood frog's body water can freeze. The heart stops beating, breathing ceases and the blood…
CSIRAC, Australia's first computer, still works and could help with quantum computing.
CSIRAC is the fifth automatic digital computer ever built and the first in Australia. Built in the 1940s, it is still…
The night parrot, an Australian species, was rediscovered after 100 years without records.
The night parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis) is one of the world's most mysterious birds. It lives in remote regions of…
Japanese researchers discovered an unknown anatomical structure beneath the navel.
The structure is a dense vertical sheath that wraps around a fat pocket and extends deep into the connective tissues…
The human skull has microchannels connecting the inner surface to the brain.
Spanish researchers described a network of microchannels in the skull that could be key in neurological diseases…
Live ants can ferment milk to make yogurt, scientists confirmed.
The ancestral technique from the Balkans and Turkey uses acids and bacteria present in ants to accelerate milk…
Churros were invented in Mexico.
Churros are not Mexican. Their most likely origin is Portugal or Spain, where shepherds prepared fried dough instead…
In 2025, a tsunami in an Alaskan fjord reached 481 metres high.
The tsunami of 10 August 2025 in Barry Arm fjord, Alaska, was the second-highest ever recorded. The wave reached 481…
A submerged tropical island the size of Iceland was discovered in the Atlantic.
The island would have existed about 80 million years ago, driven by a mantle plume. The remains were found about…
The Hjortspring boat, 2,400 years old, was sacrificed in a Danish lake.
Denmark's oldest warship was deliberately sunk in a lake as an offering to the gods. Excavated in the 1920s, the…
Humans mastered fire 400,000 years ago.
Recent studies indicate that humans mastered fire about 400,000 years ago, not 1 million years ago as previously…
Cacti can take forms ranging from 18-metre columns to coin-sized balls.
The cactus family is extremely diverse. Some branch out like massive trees, others stand as columns reaching 18…
There are plants that appear to die completely in drought and come back to life with rain.
Known as resurrection plants, these species lose almost all their water and look dead. When rain returns, they…
In 2025, scientists discovered a material with impossible thermal behaviour in a meteorite.
Inside a meteorite kept for 300 years, researchers found a material that defies traditional physics theories. The…
Astronomers discovered an object that is a mix of black hole and star.
The object, nicknamed a black hole star, emits 100 billion times more energy than any star known to produce by…
Exoplanet PSR J2322-2650b is shaped like a lemon.
The exoplanet's unusual shape results from the intense gravitational pull of its host star, which distorts it. The…
Comet 3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to cross the Solar System.
Discovered in July 2025, 3I/ATLAS exhibits unusual characteristics and may originate from a planetary system older…
Researchers created electronic circuits made from mushrooms.
Scientists cultivated and dehydrated mushrooms to create circuits that switch between electrical states more than…