Facts that sound false but are true — Page 23
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 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 emperor Nero played the violin while Rome burned.
Nero was not in Rome when the great fire of 64 AD began. He was at his villa in Antium, about 50 kilometres away, and…
Albert Einstein was invited to be president of Israel.
In 1952, after the death of Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, Albert Einstein was invited to assume the…
Albert Einstein's brain was donated to science by Einstein himself.
Einstein's brain was removed without permission by pathologist Thomas Harvey during the autopsy in 1955. Harvey kept…
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…
The fairy circles in Namibia are caused by ants.
The fairy circles in Namibia are circles of bare earth surrounded by grass, whose origin is debated. Hypotheses…
A lunar rainbow only appears during the new moon.
The lunar rainbow, or moonbow, appears during the full moon, when moonlight is refracted by raindrops. It is much…
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…
Mercury is the hottest planet in the solar system.
Mercury, despite being closer to the Sun, has no atmosphere to retain heat. Venus, with its dense carbon dioxide…
The chameleon's tongue can extend to the length of its body in 0.07 seconds.
The chameleon's tongue is fired by specialised muscles that store elastic energy. It can reach prey in just 0.07…
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…
The Aztecs ate chocolate as a sweet dessert.
The Aztecs consumed chocolate as a bitter, frothy drink, seasoned with chilli and spices. Sweet chocolate as a…
Vanilla is naturally pollinated by bees in all regions of the world.
Outside Mexico, vanilla has no natural pollinators. That is why all vanilla flowers grown in other countries are…
The red rain of Kerala was caused by animal blood.
In 2001, red rain fell in the state of Kerala, India. After several hypotheses, scientists concluded that the colour…
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…
Graphene is the strongest known material, 200 times stronger than steel.
Graphene is a sheet of carbon only one atom thick, arranged in a honeycomb pattern. It is the strongest known…
The first email was sent in 1971.
The first email in history was sent in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, an ARPANET engineer. He chose the at symbol to separate…