Facts that sound false but are true — Page 43
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
There is a giant cloud of alcohol in the constellation Sagittarius.
The Sagittarius B2 gas cloud contains vinyl alcohol in astronomical quantities. Although the concentration is very…
Hoatzin chicks are born with claws on their wings.
The hoatzin is a unique Amazonian bird whose chicks have functional claws on two of their wing digits. They use them…
The Texas horned lizard squirts blood from its eyes for defence.
When threatened, this desert lizard increases blood pressure in its head and ruptures small vessels in the corners of…
The longest mountain range on Earth is underwater.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the Pacific Ridge are part of a continuous system stretching over sixty-five thousand…
In fifteen eighteen, a dancing plague struck Strasbourg.
Hundreds of people began dancing uncontrollably for days or weeks. Many eventually died of exhaustion, heart attack…
There is enough gold in the Earth's core to coat the planet's surface.
It is estimated that the Earth's core contains so much gold that, if brought to the surface, it would form a layer…
An average summer cloud can weigh five hundred tonnes.
Although they look light and fluffy, the water droplets in a medium-sized cumulus cloud add up to a massive weight…
The sunset on Mars has a bluish hue.
The Martian atmosphere is very thin and full of red dust. These particles absorb red light and allow blue light to…
The GPS system requires Einstein's theory of relativity to work.
Because satellites move very fast and are further from the Earth's centre of gravity, their atomic clocks tick at a…