Facts that sound false but are true — Page 18
Our highest surprise rating: the facts people most often refuse to believe until they read the explanation. Every one of them is documented.
1017 facts
The bone marrow produces about 2 million red blood cells per second.
The bone marrow in long bones continuously produces red blood cells to replace those that break down. Every second…
The liver is the only internal organ capable of fully regenerating itself.
The liver can regenerate even after losing up to 75 per cent of its tissue. The process occurs through the division…
The cashew belongs to the same plant family as poison ivy.
The cashew, mango and pistachio belong to the family Anacardiaceae, the same as poison ivy and sumac. The cashew nut…
Mount Everest grows a few millimetres per year.
Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, grows about 4 millimetres per year. The growth is caused by the…
Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt.
Sudan has about 200 to 255 pyramids, built by the Kingdom of Kush at Meroë, while Egypt has about 138. The Sudanese…
Canada has more lakes than all other countries in the world combined.
Canada has about 62 per cent of the world's lakes, with more than 3 million lakes. The country has more lakes than…
The Ottoman Empire lasted more than 600 years.
The Ottoman Empire was founded in 1299 and lasted until 1922, totalling more than 600 years. At its height, it…
The Vikings reached North America about 500 years before Columbus.
Leif Erikson, a Viking explorer, reached North America around the year 1000, about 500 years before Christopher…
The Egyptian pyramids were originally covered in polished white limestone.
The pyramids of Giza were covered with blocks of polished white limestone, which reflected sunlight and gave them a…
A single lightning bolt has enough energy to toast 100,000 slices of bread.
A typical lightning bolt carries about 1 billion joules of energy. That energy would be enough to toast about 100,000…
There is a giant lake hidden beneath the ice of Antarctica.
Lake Vostok, in Antarctica, is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world and is hidden beneath about 4…
The human body contains about 0.2 milligrams of gold.
The human body contains traces of gold, about 0.2 milligrams, mostly in the blood. Gold has no known biological…
There are more possible chess games than atoms in the observable universe.
The number of possible chess games, known as the Shannon number, is estimated at 10 to the power of 120. The number…
Helium can become solid under very high pressure.
Helium is the only element that does not solidify at normal atmospheric pressure, even near absolute zero. However…
The Sun contains 99.86 per cent of the mass of the Solar System.
The Sun is by far the most massive object in the Solar System, concentrating 99.86 per cent of its total mass…
There is water ice on the planet Mercury.
Despite being the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury has water ice in polar craters, where sunlight never reaches…
Titan, a moon of Saturn, has lakes of liquid methane.
Titan is the only moon in the Solar System with a dense atmosphere and stable liquid bodies on its surface. The lakes…
The first video game was created in 1958 by an American physicist.
The first video game was Tennis for Two, created in 1958 by William Higinbotham, a physicist at Brookhaven National…
The word robot comes from a Czech play from 1920.
The word robot was first used in the play R.U.R., by Czech writer Karel Čapek, in 1920. The word comes from the Czech…
The first floppy disk was 8 inches in diameter.
The first floppy disk was created by IBM in 1971 and was 8 inches in diameter. It stored about 80 kilobytes of data…
The Greenland shark is the longest-living vertebrate in the world, living more than 400 years.
The Greenland shark grows only about one centimetre per year and reaches sexual maturity at 150. Age is determined by…
Butterflies taste through their feet.
Butterflies have taste receptors on their legs. When landing on a flower or leaf, they taste it and decide whether it…
Crocodiles swallow stones to help with digestion and buoyancy control.
Crocodiles swallow stones, called gastroliths, which stay in the stomach. The stones help grind food and regulate the…
Frigatebirds sleep while flying.
Frigatebirds can sleep during flight, using only half of their brain at a time. This phenomenon, called…