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.
627 facts
The Arctic tern migrates from the North Pole to the South Pole every year.
The Arctic tern migrates from the North Pole to the South Pole every year, a journey of about 70,000 kilometres. It…
The bar-tailed godwit can fly more than 11,000 kilometres without stopping.
The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica) is capable of flying more than 11,000 kilometres without stopping, from…
The boxer crab uses sea anemones as boxing gloves.
The boxer crab (Lybia tessellata) carries sea anemones in its claws and uses them as boxing gloves to defend itself…
The human body contains enough phosphorus to make about 2,200 match heads.
The adult human body contains about 780 grams of phosphorus, most of it in bones and teeth. This amount would be…
The human body contains enough potassium to fire a toy cannon.
The adult human body contains about 140 grams of potassium, essential for muscle and nerve function. This amount…
The human body contains enough sulfur to kill all the fleas on a dog.
The adult human body contains about 140 grams of sulfur, present in amino acids such as cysteine and methionine. This…
The Yubari King melon from Japan can sell for thousands of euros.
The Yubari King melon is grown only in Yubari, Japan, and is considered a status symbol. A pair of perfect melons can…
The most expensive vegetable in the world is hop shoots.
Hop shoots are the most expensive vegetable in the world, with a price that can exceed 1,000 euros per kilogram. They…
The white truffle is one of the most expensive foods in the world.
The white truffle (Tuber magnatum) is found only in a few regions of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. It is so rare that…
Sweden has more than 267,000 islands.
Sweden has more than 267,000 registered islands, the highest number in the world. Most are small and uninhabited, but…
The last meal served on the Titanic had 11 courses.
The last first-class meal on the Titanic, served on the night of 14 April 1912, had 11 courses, including oysters…
The pyrosome is a colony of creatures that glows in the ocean.
The pyrosome is a cylindrical colony of small organisms called zooids, which join together to form a larger creature…
Petrified wood is wood that has turned to stone.
Petrified wood forms when wood is buried in volcanic ash or silica-rich sediments. Over time, minerals replace the…
The human eye can detect a single photon.
Under ideal dark conditions, the human eye can detect a single photon of light. Studies show that the rods in the…
The human nose can detect a drop of perfume in an entire house.
The human sense of smell is extremely sensitive. We can detect the smell of a single drop of perfume dispersed…
Moonquakes can last more than an hour.
Moonquakes, seismic events that occur on the Moon, can last more than an hour. Unlike earthquakes on Earth, which…
The electric eel can produce discharges of up to 860 volts.
The electric eel can produce discharges of up to 860 volts, enough to stun a horse. The discharge is generated by…
Some sand dunes produce sound when the wind makes them slide.
Singing dunes, such as those in the Mojave Desert, emit a low-pitched sound similar to distant thunder when the sand…
Orchids of the genus Ophrys imitate the scent of female bees to attract males.
Ophrys orchids produce pheromones identical to those of female bees. Males, attracted by the smell, try to mate with…
A day on Jupiter lasts only about 10 hours.
Jupiter is the fastest-rotating planet in the solar system, completing one rotation in about 9 hours and 56 minutes…
There is a maximum limit for the mass of a star.
Stars with a mass greater than about 150 times the mass of the Sun would be unstable due to radiation pressure and…
Fugu, a Japanese fish, contains a deadly poison.
Fugu (pufferfish) contains tetrodotoxin, a poison that can be fatal if ingested. Only licensed chefs in Japan can…
The deepest hole ever drilled by humans is in Russia and is about 12 kilometres deep.
The Kola Superdeep Borehole, on the Kola Peninsula in Russia, was drilled between 1970 and 1989 and reached about…
The Antikythera mechanism is considered the first analog computer.
The Antikythera mechanism, found in a Greek shipwreck in 1901, is a bronze device with more than 30 gears. It was…
