Facts that sound false but are true — Page 11
Our highest surprise rating: the facts people most often refuse to believe until they read the explanation. Every one of them is documented.
627 facts
Scientists filmed a live goblin shark at nearly 700 metres deep in the Pacific.
In 2025, rare footage showed a goblin shark swimming freely at about 700 metres in the central Pacific, near Jarvis…
A tiny blue octopus the size of a golf ball was discovered at 1,800 metres deep in the Galapagos.
The animal, found during a deep-sea expedition, has an intense blue colour and a shape that surprised scientists. The…
About 74 percent of people may have a type of giant DNA hiding in their mouth.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo discovered Inocles, extrachromosomal DNA elements with an average of 350…
King Gustav III of Sweden used prisoners to test whether coffee was poisonous.
In the 18th century, the king ordered two condemned twins to drink coffee daily to prove whether it was harmful. The…
Point Nemo, in the Pacific, is the most isolated place on Earth and is 2,688 kilometres from any land.
Point Nemo is the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, identified in the 1990s through computer simulations. Ocean…
A 2,500-year-old statue was found buried face down under a Roman road in Turkey.
The statue, over 2.13 metres tall, was discovered in Sardis, the ancient capital of the Lydian Empire, during…
A 1,600-year-old Egyptian mummy contained a scroll with Homer's Iliad.
Archaeologists discovered in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, a papyrus scroll with excerpts from Homer's epic poem placed on the…
The Amazon zombie fungus also lives inside mosses without causing harm.
The Ophiocordyceps fungus, known for infecting ants and altering their behaviour, was found living inside mosses at…
A new plant that does not photosynthesise was discovered in Malaysia.
Thismia aliasii, nicknamed the fairy lantern, obtains nutrients by parasitising fungi instead of photosynthesising…
Scientists discovered new rules about how planarians regenerate body parts.
Researchers at the Stowers Institute found that planarian stem cells follow precise rules to rebuild a head or an…
The ANKLE1 protein is the first human enzyme capable of detecting physical tension in DNA.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong identified ANKLE1 as the first nuclease in mammals that responds to…
A new technology allows the production of flexible, ultra-pure diamond films at scale.
The technique, developed by Chinese scientists, enables the creation of flexible diamond films with applications in…
Stanford researchers invented the first self-powered mechanical circuits that learn.
The circuits use a mechanism called Adaptive Directed Springs (ADS), which work like mechanical neurons capable of…
Electronic circuits made from living mushrooms can detect heat and have self-healing capacity.
Researchers bioprinted networks of living fungal mycelium onto stretchable electronics to create a self-sustaining…
A smart bionic eye prototype combines sensing, memory and processing in a single system.
The invention from RMIT University uses a molybdenum disulfide chip measuring 2 centimetres by 2 centimetres that…
Horseshoe crab blood is blue because it contains copper instead of iron.
The horseshoe crab uses hemocyanin, a copper-based protein, to transport oxygen. Unlike human hemoglobin, which…
The deep-sea fish Macropinna microstoma has a transparent head and barrel-shaped eyes.
This Pacific species has a transparent fluid-filled dome on its head, through which its green, tubular eyes are…
The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia becomes the world's largest natural mirror when it rains.
With more than 10,000 square kilometres, the Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat on the planet. When a thin layer…
The Taal volcano in the Philippines contains an island within a lake, which is itself on an island.
The Taal volcano is located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Inside the volcano's crater, Lake Taal formed…
The Hundred Years War actually lasted 116 years.
The conflict between England and France began in 1337 and ended in 1453, totalling 116 years. The name is a later…
There is a type of ice that can burn, called methane hydrate.
Methane hydrate is a crystalline structure of water that traps methane molecules. It forms under conditions of low…
Comet 2I/Borisov came from outside the Solar System and brought clues about the formation of other worlds.
2I/Borisov is the second known interstellar object to visit the Solar System. Its chemical composition, rich in…
Jupiter s Great Red Spot is a storm larger than Earth.
The Great Red Spot is a giant anticyclone in Jupiter's atmosphere, observed for over 350 years. With a diameter that…
A new species of archaea was discovered living in fumaroles at nearly 100 degrees Celsius in Antarctica.
Brazilian researchers found the archaea on Deception Island, an active volcano where fumarole water reaches…
