Category: knowledge

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People Share The Best Trivial Facts They’ve Picked Up On The Job

Random knowledge is always being thrown at us and there are some things we’d never hear about if not for our jobs.

The workplace can be one of the best places to learn and thrive.

Case in point, I learn everyday from reading threads like this. I gather knowledge about science, geography, humanity, murder—the list is endless.

It can be useful and useless all at once. And that’s fun.

Redditor HugSized wanted to discuss all of the random knowledge many of us pick up in the workplace.

They asked:

“What trivial fact do you know only because of your job?”

Let’s get ready for Jeopardy…

A Special Time of Season

“The reason many TV shows have ‘holiday special’ episodes is because TV viewership is very low the week of Christmas but if they call it a special they don’t need to include it when they calculate their average ratings for the season.”

“Also the day Americans watch the least amount of TV is the 4th of July.”  ~ thisisanewusername57

Inch by inch by inch…

“Tulips will continue to grow, on average, two inches more after they’ve been cut. Generally not while they’re in cold storage, but once they’re in a warmer environment.” 

“Usually the entire flower will get bigger. They will grow in length, but also as the petals open the petals will become larger as well.”

“Taking them out of cold storage will make them continue to grow, and do they!”

“I think it’s the cells becoming larger as they get warmer. Like they expand and contract with temperature and light.”

“A lot of flowers will open in light and close in dark. There is a point of no return.” ~ marefo

“As someone who worked in floral making arrangements for a while, tulips have become my least favorite flower to work with.”

“Those flimsy ass stems that just flop over because they’re so top heavy, and since they tend to grow at different rates, it is hard to use them in arrangements.”

“Plus the soil is always packed into their leaves, leading to dirty water if you happen to miss a spot when cleaning them.”   ~ amugnai

Buying. Selling. For a bit. 

“The average length of a Real Estate Agent’s career is about four months.”  ~ Bunktavious

“I lasted three years. I didn’t have the money to pay the Realtor fee at the time or the car to impress.”

“Then I moved out of town, got divorced, spent a whole year broke before I was back on my feet, with other 9-5 entry level positions.”

“I’ve wanted to get back into it but with such a bad market where I live and the necessity to make money asap, it is a hard decision.”  ~ LLL84

Better to Breathe

“Babies born vaginally tend to have less respiratory distress than babies via c-section of the same gestational age because the squeeze through the birth canal helps get amniotic fluid out of their lungs.”  ~J ohnnytucf

“This saved my nephew.”

“He would have died if delivered cesarean but being born vaginally, the squeeze pushed his intestines back through the hole in his diaphragm and into his abdomen allowing his lungs to expand.”  ~ neinta

“Also the sudden change from chilling in their own pee to suddenly being squeezed, relatively slowly, through a very small space causes a release of stress hormones which also help absorb fluid in the lungs as well as triggering breathing.”

“Babies born through C-section don’t get as much of that stress.”  ~ kjhwkejhkhdsfkjhsdkf

Shopping in Secret

“In the state of Nevada, only licensed private investigators are allowed to work as mystery shoppers.”  ~ cattemonstre

“I had a secret shopper twice in a row.”

“He was making sure we checked IDs. I asked for his ID when he ordered, gave me a green card indicating I passed, I gave that to my manager, started talking to him.”

“Saw him again the next month, said hello and just asked for his ID before he said anything.”

“He just smiled again, gave me another green card and I bought him an appetizer so he could just sit and relax a bit.”  ~ illgot

“Based on my experience, I think mystery shopping companies that operate in Nevada recruit current PIs to do mystery shopping work on the side, rather than encouraging aspiring shoppers to get licensed.”

“The locations being shopped also have somewhat higher security needs (stores and restaurants in casinos, etc.), so that might have something to do with it.”  ~ cattemonstre

For the price of ink…

“You know those vintage looking shirts at the store that are distressed on the print. It saves the company a ton of money on ink costs.”

“My boss says that trend is what made him a millionaire.”  ~ PlopsMcgoo

“Also makes it easier to print/less waste.”

“Didn’t get solid pressure all the way through the push? No problem, it’s distressed. Didn’t flood the screen fully in one spot?”

“It’s ok, distressed. Pretty much any error is easily hidden in a distressed design.”

“When you need crisp, sharp lines is where errors become majorly obvious and any error can mean recording and printing a new shirt.”  ~r edebekadia

Gimme your grade…

“The most common type of stainless steel is grade 304. The second most common is grade 316, which is used for food and surgical purposes.”  ~ mycatiswatchingyou

“Most common because it’s the cheapest grade of stainless steel, 316 has higher quantities of more expensive elements, 321 more so.”

“You can then kick it up a notch and look at Duplex and Super Duplex stainless steels if you have the budget and the need.”  ~ KarmannosaurusRex

Food Prep Areas

“Ground moles have kitchens just like us!”

“They will paralyze earth worms (their primary food source) by biting its head and will drag the worms to a designated burrow where they store the bodies to save for later.”  ~ GraeBabe

I’lll just take two of these…

“So many companies will let you walk in say ‘I’m with the computer company’ and walk out with a computer.” ~ SirPasta117

“I’ve seen this work at a tech company. Had more than a dozen developers hand their laptops over to a random guy with a cart.”

“I’m from IT doing a laptop upgrade, here to collect the old ones”

“From the security footage, one of the devs ran after the guy to stop him… to hand over the charger that goes with the laptop.”

“We only found out when we started getting angry calls a few hours later from developers demanding to know how long the replacement was going to take.”  ~J uan_Golt

Head Held High! Moooo!

“Cows have a tendon running down the back of their necks that holds their head up.”

“It’s called a paddy whack and you can dry it out and give it to dogs like a rawhide bone.”

“That’s the source of Knick knack paddywhack, give a dog a bone.”  ~ ellipses1

Well that is a ton to process. I don’t know if I’ll ever make an episode of Jeopardy! but it’s good to have knowledge tucked away.

It can be fun to just blurt out random facts at a party.

You know when we do, people might be inspired to follow up in research. And then we’re all learning.

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People Share Their Best Medical Tips That Everyone Should Know

Medical science has come a long way in the last few decades—to say nothing of the last century.

The rapid innovations and near-constant shifts in the field have left some struggling to catch up.

So Redditor  ATOM-Tomzej decided to get some quick tips and facts about medicine in our modern age.

Of course, just as with anything else medical, please refer to your doctor and not an entertaining Reddit list for advice.

He asked:

“What’s a medical fact or tip everyone should know?”

Do not attempt!

“Please, don’t give an unconscious diabetic insulin.”

“You’re probably going to kill them if you do.”~733094

Also,

“When I complained about physical problems my parents often dismissed it.”

“Don’t ignore physical pain of yourself or others and listen if someone complains about pain.”

“I’ve walked around with a broken bone in my foot for multiple weeks as a child before getting medical attention and later had bells palsy and didn’t say a thing.”~Koroit_

Remember to really push.

“ER/ trauma nurse here.”

“When performing CPR, the compressions are substantially more important than the rescue breaths.”

“If you aren’t comfortable and properly trained in CPR, stick to compressions only.”

“And, you should go ~2 inches deep into their chest with each push.”

“You will be TIRED if you do it right.”~theperipateticnurse

Spotify to the rescue!

“The New York Presbyterian Hospital has a playlist on Spotify called ‘Songs to do CPR to’, which all have that kind of rhythm – it’s well worth a look, and a lot are very catchy!”~cortexaire

Some came with a list.

“First aid”

“Someone’s having a seizure – don’t restrain them, or put anything in their mouth, just move any objects away from them, and place some padding under their head.”

“Once the seizure stops if they’re still not fully responsive, then put them on their side into the recovery position.”

“Someone swallowed chemicals/poison – don’t encourage them to be sick.”

“This can make things far worse as you cause additional burns on the way back up, or they start choking on it.”

“Call an ambulance, try to identify the chemical/poison, and follow any instructions they give.”

“Injured people who can’t move themselves should be left where they are unless there’s an immediate threat to their safety.”

“Motorcyclists helmets – if they’ve been in an accident then as long as they can maintain an open airway and breathe leave the helmet on.”

“Only remove it if it’s causing airway or breathing difficulties.”

“Nosebleeds – you tilt the head forward now, not backwards.”

“This advice changed many years ago but the amount of people I still see saying to tilt head back is frustrating.”~GrumpyOldDan

And,

“Top four:”

“Vaccinations”

“Vaccinations again, because it’s that f*cking important”

“Not shitting in your drinking water”

“Washing your hands”~kjata

Learn the signs.

“Signs of a heart attack in women are not your typical ‘tight chest, arm pain’ symptoms as in men.”

“Women typically experience stomach upsets and cramping first.”

“Likewise, many people experiencing heart attack symptoms do not seek emergency treatment because they are in denial.”~Jay1313

Drink Wisely.

“On an alcohol note, alternate your booze and water. A hangover is your brain being dehydrated.”~I_SH*T_A_BRICK

See the answer clearly.

“If you are drinking enough water, and are still getting massive headaches, get your eyes tested.”

“There’s a good chance you can’t see right and it’s strain headaches.”

“This is how I found out I needed glasses.”~Smecomposers

Always communicate.

“Don’t be afraid to speak up.”

“Learned early on in my Husbands treatment that the Dr.s etc. had what I started calling ‘the go to drugs’ (and I’m not speaking of the chemotherapy ones).”

“Long story short…we had the majority of his drugs changed to benefit HIS goals…he was lucid enough to spend quality time with his family before he passed.”

“Priceless.”

“Don’t be afraid to monitor, question etc.“~f*kcancr

Tests that you can’t study for are still important to take

“Pap tests and prostate exams are harmless and very important.”

“They can save your fertility, can save you from a lot of pain, they can even save your life.”

“And they are so simple and easy.”

“Yes, there is some discomfort.”

“But something tells me cancer causes much more discomfort.”~Lactiz

Always follow the prescription!

“If you’re taking antidepressants, or you know someone who is, and you feel better, IT IS NOT A REASON TO STOP TAKING THEM.”

“You are feeling better because of them.”

“They are not bandaids, they are long haul drugs that really rejig your brain’s chemistry.”~Releaseform

Baking soda fixes everything.

“Mix water and baking soda (small amounts of each/till soupy) and put it on any kind of sting.”

“It soothes and removes some of the poison if there is any.”

“Not sure if everyone already knows this but I have not seen any of my friends do it when they got stung.”

“Your welcome people of Reddit.”~ImThe_RealDirtyDan

There are no shortcuts.

“Calling 911 and going by ambulance is not a fast pass to the front of the line!”

“Only call in a real emergency not for a stubbed toe at 3 in the g*d d*mn morning!”

“Hospitals will still send you to triage and you’re left with a wait to get in and a super expensive bill for a ride that could have cost you a thousand times less by taking Uber.”~jesus-christ-of-ems

There are better ways to lose weight.

“Don’t buy popular diet teas that guarantee weight loss.”

“It’s just a laxative and you’ll spend less money if you just get a laxative from the store.”

“Also don’t use laxatives for weight loss.”

“It can cause bad nausea, and massive stomach cramps that leave you curled up on your bathroom floor and wondering what end sh*t is gonna come out.”

“Only use laxatives as directed.”~volcanic-sass

Medical science has come a long way.

While there are plenty of nuggets of truth in this list, always remember to consult your own doctor for your own medical questions.

But without a doubt, laughter is the best medicine.

Maybe.

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People Share Facts So Ridiculous They Almost Sounds Fake But Are Totally Real

Knowledge is power, and there is so much to take in.

What’s funny though, is that in some situations, some knowledge we acquire can sound more like made up storytelling.

There have been plenty of times where an Onion article became reality.

Go figure.

Redditor SuruchiSushi wanted to discuss all the fascinating facts about life that leave us reeling because it sounds more like fiction.

They asked:

“What is a fact so ridiculous that it sounds fake?”

Let’s talk about what’s really real.

Pre-Zombie Menu

“We’ve eaten mummies into rarity.”  ~ Daylight_The_Furry

“Yep, it was all the rage a few hundred years ago in Europe. Largely for medicinal purposes, ground up into powder and mixed with stuff, mostly.”  ~ Reddit

“I mean, this was around the same time that British scientists categorized aboriginals as fauna. I don’t think they had a very good sense of who counted as people.”  ~ Callmecaesar1

“Not only eaten, but they used to be ground up to make pigment for paints. Literally called mummy brown.”  ~ThatOneAsianGuy33

Missing Parts

“Some moths emerge from the cocoon without a mouth or anus.”  ~happy_cake_babe

“Serious response: a lot of what we think of as ‘insects’ are actually the adult forms, and often don’t live very long as adults.”

“Basically they emerge as adults, go find another to make babies with, and then die once the eggs are laid.”

“If they’re only going to live a few hours or days, they can get by without mouths or buttholes.”

“A lot of insect species spend most of their time as little maggoty things, and only take their distinctive adult forms for a brief portion of their life.”

“Insects are weird, yo.”  ~ AndAzraelSaid

Bad Words

“The term ‘prime minister’ was first used as a slur.” ~ ____andresito____

“The term ‘Prime Minister’ as we know it today emerged in the 18th century, during the prolonged conflict between Britain and France.”

“It was first applied insultingly to Sir Robert Walpole, who is now considered the first Prime Minister of Great Britain.”

“It was used by members of Parliament against Walpole, who served for 21 years and oversaw the increasing power of his role and simultaneous withdrawal of King George I from cabinet meetings.”

“The derogatory nature was derived from its comparison to France’s Chief Minister, Cardinal Richelieu.”

“The British were proud of not to be an absolute monarchy, like France, so the comparison was intended to be offensive.”

“Source” ~ Zhyko

Among the Stars

“When two galaxies merge, almost nothing collides despite each having trillions of stars.”  ~mrbigmac61

“Yep, it’s because there’s really just far too much space between objects when you zoom in.”

“Even the asteroid belt has thousands of miles of empty space between each asteroid.”

“If you flew through the asteroid belt, you’d only crash if you did so on purpose.”  ~ nsci2ece

Hey Rubber Ducky

“In 1992, shipping containers with around 28,000 rubber ducks were lost at sea(in the Pacific Ocean)…. they’re still being found today.”  ~ BlueSparkle2810

“Imagine being lost at sea for a few days, you see something in the water in front of you.”

“Maybe a clue to where land is? No. It’s a friggin’ rubber duck.”  ~ DancingDoggos

A Massive Population

“Bangladesh, a really tiny country has a population larger than all of Russia.” ~ R4zerSins

“Just scanning over Bangladesh on Google maps satellite view is incredible.”

“Even in areas that look green from zoomed out, there’s villages absolutely everywhere when you zoom in.”

“And then when you do get cities, they’re mega-densely populated metropolises with huge slum areas. It’s mad.”  ~PillarofSheffield

Give me the keys…

“It’s legal to own, and drive a tank in the USA.”

“You can even drive it on the road if you replace the steel tracks with rubber tracks. The guns and cannon must be disabled though.”  ~ KKKKOOOOBBBBRRRRAAAA

“Actually that last ‘fact’ is untrue. You do not need to disable the gun, in fact you can buy tank shells.”

“The reason however most are disabled (there are a few not disabled) is its ridiculously expensive and requires a lot more paperwork.”  ~corbear007

Flying High

“On the 29th of September 1940 two planes had a mid-air collision, got stuck together and successfully landed.”

“The pilot used the controls of the top plane and the engines of the bottom plane.”

“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp478Tgm5gg“. ~ alphaechothunder77

Meeting your maker…

“France didn’t stop executing people by guillotine until 1977.”  ~ whereismattdamon

“Yeah, like all the modern execution methods. And the guillotine is even more sure than getting shot in the head.”

“The ol’ chopper is the method I’d choose if I had to be executed.”

“Course, I’d request that they quickly grab my chopped head and show me my body. That’d be sick.”  ~ 4_P-

The Missing

“20% of foster children are missing at any given time.”  ~ SagiTsukiko

“20% of foster care children are missing.”

“A lot of this is due to runaways.”

“My girlfriend works in foster care and every week she has at least one foster child runaway, mind you these are just her cases and not her coworkers cases who also have constant runaways.”  ~ skuzzlebut90

“98%. 2% are unaccounted for. It’s still a major issue that so many foster kids are running away, though.”

“A glimpse into how inadequate the system and many foster parents are.”

“It’s not always their fault that they cannot adequately care for a foster child, though, and many foster parents who are not abusive simply just were not prepared for a lot of the issues that may arise with a traumatized child who has been removed from their birth family and shuffled around.”  ~ SagiTsukiko

Playing the Devil

“2 actors have died playing Judas in live biblical productions by accidentally hanging themselves for real in his death scene.”  ~ acronicality

Death

“The last time an inmate in the USA was executed by firing squad was on June 18th, 2010.”  ~bob4for4

“Ronnie Lee Gardner (January 16, 1961 – June 18, 2010) was an American criminal who received the death penalty for shooting a man in the face and killing him during a robbery in 1985, and was executed by a firing squad by the state of Utah in 2010.”

“https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Lee_Gardner“. ~ Reddit

Well that was a lot of knowledge to devour at once. Some fascinating, the rest surprising.

We were still using firing squads in this century?

I have no words.

Now we’re all one step closer to Jeopardy.

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People Share The Facts That Completely Changed Their Perspective

“You never know.”

That is an age old saying that may also be one of life’s truest truths.

We do never know. Because there is so much out there to know and learn and sometimes random things happen.

And sometimes your new knowledge changes everything.

Redditor ettleboy wanted to discuss the knowledge some of us have acquired over time, that lead our thoughts and opinions in a different direction.

They asked:

“What fact totally changed your perspective?”

Let’s share some perspectives…

Switching Metals…

“It took mankind 4 times longer to switch from copper swords to steel swords than to switch from steel swords to nuclear bombs.”  ~ Im_gonna_fart

“This sucks because I am having way harder time cutting my steak with my nuclear bomb, compared to when I used to do it with my steel sword.” ~ hyelander

resist, Resist, RESIST!!

“The longest a nicotine craving will last is 180 seconds. That means all I need to do is resist for 3 minutes.”

“My last cigarette was January 25 2008.”  ~ nivla73

“YMMV. I saw this fact (have no idea if it’s true) when I was a heavy smoker and it helped me ease back on my intake.”

“I decided that if this is true then what I’d do is think back to my last craving.”

“If I had a cig last time then I’d skip this one and wait for the next craving to go have one.”

“As my body got used to only smoking 5 a day instead of 10 then I was smoking 4 or 3, then 2 until finally I was only smoking when I was out with friends or particularly stressed.”

“Now I only smoke on occasion and while I want to eliminate that entirely.”

“I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to have one every so often (maybe once a month now) as long as I don’t go buy a pack and start back up smoking regularly.”

“This approach simply doesn’t work for some people. No solution is one-size-fits-all.”  ~ ej255wrxx

“I quit, after 30 years of smoking, in 1995. Even after 23 years I sometimes (rarely) get a craving.”

“Mine last less than a minute and are not intense. I will never go back to smoking. Smoking killed my wife before age 70.”

“She just didn’t have the willpower or motivation to give it up.”

“At the end, after being released from the hospital because she had almost died from COPD, she went back to smoking.”

“Two days later she was taken in Emergency and she died about a week after. “

“By that time we had been divorced for 14 years.”

“The divorce was partially caused by her inability to change her bad habits.”  ~ La_Lanterne_Rouge

With each passing minute…

“Time doesn’t stop.”

“That speech I’m about to give in front of my class and I’m sweating balls over, in the next 2 minutes, it’s going to be done with. 2 minutes is two minutes.”  ~ DinoTerrorisT

“This has helped me so very much in life. I always tell myself the same thing – this time tomorrow, it’ll be in the past, a distant memory.”

“I’ve just got to get through it, but it will be over.”

“I hope your speech went well!”  ~ BasketballShooter

“I love thinking like this.”

“I kind of adopted it from the movie ‘We Bought a Zoo’ where they talk about how all it takes is just like 30 seconds of insane courage to do something.”

“You wanna ask someone out on a date? You want to ask for a raise? You want to try something crazy like skydiving?”

“All it takes is 30 seconds where you are just unstoppable and you just do it!”  ~ Reddit

“Hope your speech went well.”

“One of my favorite sayings related to a speech is, ‘For every speech you gave, there will be 3 versions. The speech you were prepared to give.”

“The speech you actually gave. And the speech you wished you gave.’”

“Unrelated to the question. But felt like sharing it here.”  ~ tempemailacct153

Truths…

“I’m capable of being entirely convinced of something false.”

“As a result anything I’m convinced of doesn’t necessarily reflect reality.”  ~ AssadTheImpaler

“The one thing we all had in common is that we all think we’re right.”

“Now you’ve gone and fucked it up.”  ~ briffobroffhouse

Back in the Day…

“Can’t remember exactly where I saw this, but the first Western movies filmed in Hollywood were made around 1915, when the industry moved there.”

“At the time much of the area outside of Los Angeles was ranchland and there were still some sizable cattle drives going on.”

“Directors would hire actual cowboys for a pittance to train horses or be extras.”

“Basically they made movies fantasizing these big cattle drives and gunfights as American history, while people who had actually done all those things irl were chilling in the background.”  ~ bradthaphoend

“They also used trained sharpshooters to fire real bullets at things before the invention of the squib.”

“All the cannon fire in the 1915 film ‘The Birth of a Nation’ were live. Blanks were available, but not pyrotechnics.”

“Someone was killed during the filming of Cecil B DeMille’s ‘The Captive’ because they forgot to swap out their live ammo for blanks in one scene.”

“The Captive (1915) Silent film review.”  ~ behemuthm

All the Money in the World…

“There are real life castles that are less expensive to buy than a New York City apartment.”  ~ yerrrdoobie

“You can actually get a free castle in France as long as you can provide a plan for how to keep up with upkeep of the castle so that it won’t become a ruin.”  ~ Christian__N

“There are planets out there without suns, planets that are hurtling through space in absolute total darkness.”

“Imagine being there.” ~ Reddit

Run Faster…

“Balto only ran the last leg of the route.”

“The dog that ran the longest and most treacherous parts of the route (and at night) was named Togo.”

“Balto toured the U.S. as a hero, but couldn’t be bred because he was neutered.”

“Togo’s owner was pissed Balto got so much attention, and then his story got out and Togo got to tour the U.S. and was bred like crazy, so most Huskies are descendants of the greatest sled dog in history.”  ~ FnkyTown

The Pull Around Us…

“How strong gravity is at a neutron star. If you were to stand on top of one, you’d be flattened at the subatomic level.”  ~ verymuchlol

“What’s really cool, is that it wouldn’t just crush you, it would crush you so hard that the molecules that make up your body would stop obeying what we typically think of as fundamental laws of particles.”

“Everyone goes on about black holes, neutron stars are cool as crap.”  ~ contrivedpanda

Shuffle Along…

“If you shuffle a standard deck of cards, it is most likely the only time that sequence of cards has ever been shuffled in the history of cards.” ~ Leaves_1991

Pets on Pets…

“An example of being mutually beneficial.”

“Giant tarantulas keep tiny frogs as pets.”

“The tarantula protects the frog from predators – and the frogs, in turn, eat insects that could possibly harm the tarantula’s eggs.”  ~ Back2Bach

Well my brain is full for the time being.

I love new knowledge.

You just never know all there is to know.

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People Share The Most Terrifying Facts About The Universe

What life lies beyond the clouds?

What life forces dance among the stars?

What secrets does the sky hold?

What sort of ferocious creature is sitting on a planet waiting to evaporate us?

Or what sort of dark element hides in the vastness of the unknown, biding it’s time to unleash a dangerous fury over all the planets and lives in it’s path?

These are all the lighthearted thoughts I ponder when I think about the Universe and space. And what could possibly be out there.

Sometimes science and knowledge can be more anxiety inducing than fun.

Remember back in the days of middle school? We’d all learn about space and space travel and theorize about what lies beyond and it would be a fascinating process. That was cool.

Or do you recall enjoying films like Alien, Armageddon and Deep Imapct?

We’d watch them and laugh about how none of that could actually happen.

Now cut to 2021 and I’ve lost track of the number of asteroids I hear about that have barely missed us and or are coming for us.

Now who’s laughing? We know next to nothing about what is out there. And the more we discover, the less I want to hear.

And I’m not alone in this opinion.

Redditor ZenitsuCrybaby wanted to discuss all the things we may not want or need to know but do.

They asked:

“What is the most terrifying fact about our universe/world?”

The Big Burn Out…

“Every once in a while, our sun just emits a solar flare big enough to end civilization.”

“In 1859 we had one hit the Earth powerful enough that the telegraph system became self powered for a while before burning itself out.”

“Fortunately at that time, that was pretty much the extent of our electrical infrastructure, so the damage didn’t do too much to civilization.”

“If one hit today without any warning, every system on long spans of wire would be fried. We’d lose a massive amount of infrastructure.”

“No refrigeration for food distribution, large chunks of communication infrastructure gone, massive amounts of manufacturing capacity gone.”

“Pretty much every aspect of life would be affected. And without that infrastructure, we almost certainly don’t have the capacity to rebuild the infrastructure before people start starving to death.”

“And once people start starving, things are likely to go downhill pretty quickly.”

“You might be wondering what are the odds that we’ll ever see another solar storm that large, and the answer is that we already have.”

“On July 23 of 2012, a similarly sized solar flare missed the Earth by 9 days.”

“In the last few decades we’ve added in some early warning systems and protocols to give us a chance of surviving.”

“Basically we’ll get about 45 minutes warning to disconnect as much of the electrical grid as we can, then hope enough of it survives.”  ~ open_door_policy

Better Life Out There

“The universe’s opinion of us: Mostly harmless.”  ~ FredGruntbuggly

“What’s even scarier is that if there is other intelligent life out there, it could have stuff one million times stronger than all of the nuclear weapons on earth combined.”  ~ ThatOneDoveSlayer

Tiny, tiny bits…

“How unfathomably tiny our planet is in comparison to the continuously expanding universe.”  ~Grentis

“The way that the universe operates on such an infinitesimal small scale, but also an impossibly massive scale freaks me out.”

“Even if we can look at the numbers and know the scale, I feel like our minds can’t really conceptualize it.” ~ Reddit

“What’s worse is that not only is the universe continuously expanding, it’s accelerating.”

“Meaning that as time progresses that distant galaxies will literally fade from view, the light emitted from them will never reach us.”

“Eventually the inhabitants of our galaxy will never know of that the universe extends beyond our local group of gravitational bound galaxies.” 

“And even eons beyond that… the notion of other galaxies outside the milky-way will be myth.”

“Dark Energy is one cruel witch.” ~ GRVrush2112

The Grand Expansion…

“What’s outside the universe?”

“If it’s always expanding, what is it expanding into?”

“Any time I think about this for too long it reminds me about how little I understand about the existence of anything and it scares me.”  ~ businessgoose3000

Empty Spaces

“One of the largest “structures” in the universe is the Boötes void. A void is a region of space that contains very little celestial objects or matter.”

“It is a region of the universe 330 million light years in diameter. Despite this it has been found, so far, to contain only 60 galaxies.”  ~ NOVAQIX

We are so terribly young…

“I’ve posted this before but I think about it a lot. Our civilization is so, so early.”

“The universe is expected to continue star formation for 100 trillion years. We exist 13.7 billion years after the big bang.”

“That’s 0.014 percent of the total “habitable” time of our universe.”

“If the big bang was January 1st, 1900 and star formation ends at January 1st, 2000. Then it’s currently January 6th, 1900.”

“What are the chances of that? Why do we exist now, so early, instead of any other point in the rest of time?”  ~ TheReaper42

We know nothing for sure…

“Humans can’t understand the concept of eternal and we can’t understand the concept of infinite.”  ~eggslocated

“That’s why I’m scared of the afterlife, If there is one. The idea of simply ceasing to exist scares me, but the idea of existing eternally also scares me.”

“I simply cannot comprehend the idea of existing forever and ever and ever and ever with no end in sight.”  ~ edd6pi

Anybody out there?

“There could be intelligent life on other planets or we could be the only form of intelligent life in the universe. Either scenario is pretty terrifying.”  ~ Thomas_Chinchilla

“To me, being all alone in the vast expanse of space is an extremely interesting possibility.”

“I scoff when people say it would be boring or a waste of space.”

“It would be absolutely fascinating if there was all of that out there, and then just us.”  ~ dubspace

And on Earth

“You can be born into a completely awful and nightmarish environment, and never escape it. You’ll be born miserable and die miserable.”  ~ DANYALKIM

“There’s also people born into these that do make it out and they’re much stronger for it and go on to ensure that many people don’t end up the way they were.”

“Doesn’t make it any better but at there’s a little glimmer in there somewhere.”  ~ Reddit

WARNING! DANGER!

“We’re not yet at the point of no return for the coming ecological catastrophe and we’re gonna sail past it anyway.”  ~ zomboromcom

“Considering the fact that our planet is the only one known to sustain intelligent life in the discovered universe.”

“It reminds you of how many things have to line up perfectly in order for that to be possible.”

“It is a very fragile balance, and certain ecological and atmospheric temperatures/resources/chemical concentrations are essential.”  

“Yet we look at the way we are carelessly screwing it up, but it is easy to imagine this one in a million planet becoming unlivable.”  ~ twilit_earth

Stop the Killing!

“We have millions of unknown living things on our planet, and most will never be discovered due to humans killing nature.”  ~ Cubsfan630

“Tbh it’s not even just humans killing nature. Humans are also just not capable of seeing or hearing tons of things.”

“There could be a giant 4 dimensional uv dragon sitting next to me and if I hear a fart my brain will blame it on the dog cause I can’t see the dragon.”

“Or that’s how I interpreted the other posts on this stuff recently lol.”  ~ raspberrykitsune

Well that is a lot to process. I don’t remember middle school and high school science classes being so full doom and gloom.

No matter what is out there, one thing is for sure. Humans… we have to do better!

We all play a part in the survival and the downfall, close to home and far and wide.

I’m going to stick to learning about English Lit now. There couldn’t be anything to worry about there.

Right?

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People Break Down The Most Random Science Facts

I love science.

Although I hated it in high school, now that I’m old… I mean an adult, I love it.

Why you ask?

Because the more science you learn, the more you can understand what’s happening around you and live better.

But science has sadly been under attack for the last several years.

So let’s be our own Bill Nye and absorb a bit of science for our own good.

Redditor Look_Under_The_Bed went to Reddit for all the best science on offer and asked:

“What’s a random science fact that you know?”

So let’s talk science…

You never know when you’ll need to spit out some random facts to impress people at parties.

And if nothing else, we’ll be better prepared for Jeopardy!.

Cry me a River…

“When you cry really hard, your nose runs because it’s connected to the same pipes as your tear ducts, so your nose is also helping you get your tears out.” ~ Threspian

“On a similar note, your nose runs when it’s cold out because you have created a heat gradient.”

“Warm air can hold more water than cool air so as you exhale, the water condenses at the end of your nose and so your nose runs.”  ~ wolfmoral

LOOK OUT BELOW!!!

“Squirrels can survive falling from terminal velocity.”  ~ terrariapro117

“I learned this after witnessing a squirrel hit the ground after a presumably long fall.”

“It made a loud SMACK as it hit the ground, scared the crap out of me and the dog, then scampered away, up another tree like nothing happened.”  ~ _cocophoto_

Time after Time…

“Time is slightly slower between higher altitudes and lower altitudes, to infinitesimal fractions of a second.”  ~ Redditor

“The designers of the GPS satellites had to compensate for this, since the entire system is built around ridiculously precise timekeeping.”

“It was calculated theoretically first as a consequence of general relativity, and then confirmed experimentally.” ~ Murgatroyd314

 Strength in opposing directions…

“Muscles can only contract. Muscle tissue can’t push.”

“Doesn’t sound like a big deal until you realize that actions like sticking your tongue out of your mouth are completely the result of pulling, not pushing.” ~ fd1Jeff

“I teach anatomy. Always fun to watch students work through this information for the first time.”

“That is a series of pulling and relaxing and the opposite movements are also pulling and relaxing.”

“i.e…triceps vs biceps.”  ~ Warlock2017

2 every solar system turn…

“Venus the only planet to spin clockwise.” ~ siglawoo

“Sun’s axis rotates a full turn about every 27 Earth days but since the Sun is not solid but a ball of plasma the rotation speeds are different at different latitudes.”

“At the equator it’s surface rotates faster, every 24 days.”

“Another fun fact: the orbital plane of the planets is tilted about 7 degrees in relation to the Sun’s axis mentioned above.”

“This should not be the case because of the way planets form around a star.”

“Astronomer’s suspect that the orbital plane of the planets tilted as a result of the gravity of a large planet size object that is no longer around.”

“Existence of this planet is hypothetical so it was given a name Planet X (or sometimes Planet 9). Other anomalies had been observed that could also suggest existence of such an object.”

“Example: grouping of planetoids on the outskirts of the Solar System.”

“The reason that the planet hasn’t been observed directly is that it’s so far away beyond Neptune that it doesn’t reflect enough sunlight to be seen with available technology.”

“Another proposed explanation for the orbital plane tilt is existence of a nearby planet-sized black hole which orbits the Sun but hasn’t been detected yet.”

“The new James Webb space telescope that will be launched soon should help to answer those questions.”  ~ aykontakt

“Makes you wonder. What if something hit Venus?”

“In Dynamics if two objects hit each other and their center of gravities aren’t along the path each was traveling, one will spin clockwise and the other counterclockwise.”

“Maybe Earth and Venus are the same size because we’re the result of two roughly similar sized objects hitting each other in space. Idk.”  ~ detectiveDollar

Within Reach…

“You’re closer to space than you are to anything more than about an hour’s drive away.”

“Most folks take “space” to be “outside of Earth’s atmosphere.”

“There’s no precise boundary to where Earth’s atmosphere ends and space starts, but a lot of people take the Kármán line to be as good a point as any to split atmosphere vs. space.”

This line is 100km/62 miles up, which is roughly the distance your grandma can drive in an hour on the highway.”  ~ meatfrappe

I see the resemblance…

“Tyrannosaurus was closer in time to Humans than to Stegosaurus.”  ~ jsreyn

“That explains why my arms are so short.”  ~ TransientFeelings

“Haha same! When I sit on a chair, I never know what to do with my arms.”

“If I put them on my legs near my hips, I end up slouching because I can’t sit straight and put my hands on my thighs.”

“So I cross my arms and then people say I look defensive.”  ~ Zealousideal9151

Human Waste in Orbit…

“If you bleed more than 100ml/min on the international space station, they write you off and say any medical supplies spent on you is a waste.”  

“It’s been years since I saw the article but I believe the only plan at that point was ‘get the astronaut to earth ASAP’ which, you know… isn’t done in a few minutes, soooo.”  ~ Wit-wat-4

Square cut or pear shaped…

“Diamonds aren’t forever. In fact, they are dust at 500 degrees in your oven for a few hours.”

“Diamonds aren’t pressure/temperature stable at the surface. If you heat them without also applying incredible pressure, they become CO2 and a little pile of carbon.”  ~ Driftmoth

Veggies keep you level…

“If you ever get a cut and it won’t seem to stop bleeding chances are you’re low on vitamin K as it’s the one that helps your blood clot. Vitamin K can be found in most vegetables.”  ~ orion284

“Especially leafy greens! Which is why people on warfarin (and certain other anticoagulants IIRC) need to be mindful of their greens intake… ideally.”

“They should eat them only in moderation and aim for the same amount every day to keep their warfarin levels stable.”  ~ sheepthechicken

Always Sunny, Everyday

“The sun rises on the ISS every ~90 minutes which is the time it takes to orbit the earth and so astronauts experience about 16 mornings everyday.”  ~ pseud0human

I feel like my IQ points just jumped exponentially.

There is definitely enough information there to make me look a tad more sophisticated at parties.

There is no such thing as useless knowledge! The more you know, the more you grow.

Maybe I should write for Hallmark…

Anyway, knowledge of science can be fun and keep us from making foolish mistakes or bad decisions.

Remember that kids.

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People Shared the Most Interesting Random Facts They Know

Twitter can be a real cesspool of terrible news sometimes, but once in a while it really gives us a great thread full of great information.

And this thread is a great example!

This tweet got the ball rolling.

And then the responses poured in. Here are 13 of the best.

1. They are cute, though.

2. Think about that one…

3. Just for you.

4. I’m not trying to kill you.

5. Elvis will never die!

6. Wooly males.

7. Just in case.

8. Times have changed.

9. Who will be the winner?

10. That is mindblowing.

11. Mystery flavors.

12. Isn’t that something?

13. This changes my entire childhood!


Those are great! I feel like I learned something today!

Okay, now it’s your turn, our dear readers. What is the most random, most interesting fact that you know?

Let us know in the comments. Please and thank you!

The post People Shared the Most Interesting Random Facts They Know appeared first on UberFacts.

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Diehard Jeopardy! Fans Created a Database of Almost Every Question Ever Asked on the Show

This is awesome!

Are you a Jeopardy! junkie? Do you tune in religiously to see how folks from around the country will perform under pressure and how wide their knowledge is?

I know I do! I love shouting along as Alex Trebek hosts the iconic show, and I’m always excited to see what the categories will be for the night.

Well, if you’ve ever wanted to take a really deep dive – and I mean really deep – into the show’s quizology, you need to check out a website called the J! Archive. Some diehard Jeopardy! fans created the website, which, as of today, contains a total of 384,440 questions from 36 seasons of the incredibly popular game show. The archive dates back to when Alex Trebek started hosting the show in 1984.

The website was founded 15 years ago by a patent attorney named Robert Schmidt. Since then, Schmidt has had help updating the J! Archive from a small group of hardcore fans of the show.

One of the people involved in the site is a man named Mark Barrett who has spent countless hours watching old VHS tapes of past Jeopardy! episodes in order to update the site (and, we assume, because he likes to). Barrett said that he has about 150 episodes that he taped to go through, but that there could be as many as 1,400 episodes worth of questions that need to be cataloged and added to the site.

Each episode catalogued contains all the important information, such as the date of the episode, the contestants, and, of course, the questions.

Spend some time on the site and give that brain of yours a workout!

The post Diehard Jeopardy! Fans Created a Database of Almost Every Question Ever Asked on the Show appeared first on UberFacts.