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.