Facts that sound false but are true — Page 20
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 salmon returns to the river where it was born using its sense of smell.
The salmon memorises the unique smell of the water of the river where it was born. Years later, when it returns from…
The sand temperature determines the sex of turtle hatchlings.
In many species of sea turtles, the sex of the hatchlings is determined by the temperature of the nest sand…
Napoleon escaped from the island of Elba where he was exiled.
Napoleon was exiled to the island of Elba in 1814, after his abdication. In February 1815, he escaped from the island…
Machu Picchu was abandoned by the Incas.
Machu Picchu was built around 1450 and abandoned about 100 years later, during the fall of the Inca Empire. The city…
Most of an iceberg is underwater.
About 90 percent of an iceberg's volume is submerged. This happens because ice is less dense than seawater, but not…
ARPANET was the precursor of the internet.
ARPANET was the first computer network to use the TCP/IP protocol, created in the United States in 1969 by the…
There is a runestone in the United States attributed to the Vikings.
The Kensington Runestone, found in Minnesota in 1898, contains a runic inscription that recounts a Viking expedition…
The titanoboa was the largest snake that ever existed.
The titanoboa, which lived about 60 million years ago, could reach 13 metres in length and weigh more than a tonne…
Google uses an algorithm called PageRank to rank search results.
PageRank, developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1996, evaluates the importance of a web page based on the number…
The lamprey has no jaw.
The lamprey is a jawless fish that attaches to prey with a circular mouth full of keratinous teeth. It feeds by…
There is a parasite that replaces a fish's tongue.
Cymothoa exigua is a parasitic crustacean that attaches to a fish's tongue, sucks blood until the tongue atrophies…
There are worms that eat whale bones.
Worms of the genus Osedax bore into the bones of dead whales and feed on the bone marrow and collagen. They have no…
The IBM Simon was the first smartphone in history.
The IBM Simon, launched in 1994, is considered the first smartphone in history because it combined phone, diary, fax…
The transistor was invented in 1947.
The transistor was invented in 1947 at Bell Labs by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley. They received…
The naked mole-rat is one of the few cold-blooded mammals.
The naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) cannot regulate its body temperature like most mammals. Its temperature…
Umami was discovered by a Japanese chemist in 1908.
Umami, the fifth basic taste, was identified in 1908 by the Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda, who associated it with…
The House of Wisdom in Baghdad was one of the greatest centres of knowledge in the world.
The House of Wisdom, founded in Baghdad in the 8th century, brought together translation, astronomy, mathematics…
The Brocken spectre is a person's own shadow magnified in the mist.
The Brocken spectre is an optical phenomenon in which the observer's shadow is projected onto mist or cloud…
The pitch drop experiment has been running for almost a century.
The pitch drop experiment began in 1927 at the University of Queensland in Australia, to demonstrate that pitch…
Halley's comet only passes near Earth every 76 years.
Halley's comet completes one orbit around the Sun in about 76 years. Its last passage near Earth was in 1986, and the…
Egyptian scribes could be punished for writing errors.
Scribes in ancient Egypt were highly valued but also severely punished. Didactic texts from the period mention…
Lightning can be several kilometres long.
Lightning can extend over several kilometres between the cloud and the ground or within the cloud itself. In 2020…
The planetary nebulae have nothing to do with planets.
Planetary nebulae are clouds of gas and dust ejected by dying stars. The name arose in the 18th century when…
Tungsten has the highest melting point of all metals.
Tungsten melts at 3,422 degrees Celsius, the highest melting point of any metal. This property makes it ideal for…
