#25. Newborns Can’t Shed Tears
I know what you’re thinking: there has got to be a mistake in the title. All babies do is cry! Well, it appears to be that newborn babies can’t cry properly. In fact, babies shed their first tears when they’re between one and three months old.
I know what else you’re thinking. If they can’t cry properly, why do they do it so loud? Doctors believe that it’s just a way to complain as well as to notify or catch their parents’ attention. After all, they’ve got to communicate in some way!
#24. The Human Brain Shrinks
What makes us human beings more intelligent than other animals is our brain. At least, that’s what science has always taught us. And it seems to be true… at least to a certain point. Because what’s also true is that our brain comes with a disadvantage compared to any other animal.
The human brain is the only brain that shrinks with age. So actually, we humans are the only animals in the world that get dumber and dumber as the years go by. Shocking, right?
#23. A Woman Who Smells Parkinson
Parkinson’s disease is a very complex disease, and above all its very difficult to detect. The thing is, there isn’t a definitive diagnostic test for Parkinson. However, it has reportedly been proven that there is a woman who can diagnose it by smelling!
The woman shown in the picture above is Joy Milne, a 68-year-old retired nurse from England. According to several doctors, she can detect Parkinson’s just with her nose before some of the symptoms even appear. She has been made an honorary lecturer at the University of Manchester because of her efforts to identify the disease’s smell.
#22. The Bananas We Eat Are Not Bananas
What do we mean with the assertion that “the bananas we eat are not really bananas“? It sounds like a prank! Well, the bananas that are grown for commercial use don’t have any seeds, which means they can’t reproduce. Thus, they are artificial, or “mutant”. In other words, they have been artificially created in order to be consumed.
But if you wish to see how a banana really looks like, then you must grow a banana plant by planting a seed. But these real authentic bananas look nothing like the big yellow ones you find at the supermarket.
#21. The Highest Paid Entertainer Was A Farter
Joseph Pujol, who went by the nickname “Le Petomane“, was a French professional farter from the 19th century. I know what you’re thinking: is this even a profession? Well, believe it or not, this “artist” – or shall we say, performer? – earned more money than Pablo Picasso and Marcel Proust.
Reportedly, he was the main event at the Moulin Rouge, and he traveled the world for over two decades. Literally, his only role was to surprise the audience with his artistic and somewhat musical farts. It’s too bad there aren’t any recordings of his shows.
#20. Cows Have Best Friends
Cows are practically one of the commonest animals in the world, but there are several unique features about them that most of us don’t know. For instance, did you know that a cow needs to drink an average of 40 gallons of water per day in order to survive? But even more crazy is the fact that cows have best friends.
This discovery was made by a group of researchers from Northampton University. The study reached the conclusion that cows felt more comfortable when they were next to their best friends than when they were next to cows they didn’t know. But how did they reach this conclusion? Their heart rates were way lower when they were around their best friends, which means that they were less stressed. If you want to learn more about cows, click next!
#19. Cows Have Regional Accents
Having best friends isn’t cows’ only amazing and human-like habit. Apart from that, and according to specialists in linguistics, cows “moo” with different accents, depending on their place of origin. Just like humans! But how did they prove this?
This was discovered based on a study carried out in 2006. The reason the study was made was that several dairy farmers had claimed that their cows had different moos. Apparently, their accent not only changes according to its birthplace but also its herd.
#18. Is Jurassic Park A Porn Film?
All of you are familiar with Jurassic Park, aren’t you? The first film of this saga was released in 1993, and as the years went by it became one of the most iconic movie franchises ever made. But although both kids and adults love this film, it’s actually not as innocent as you’d think.
It appears to be that the dinosaur noises that appear throughout the film actually came from the recordings of two tortoises having sex. Can you believe that? So actually, Jurassic Park is pretty much a porn film! In an interview, the sound designer of the movie, Gary Rydstorm, said it himself: “If people knew where the sounds in Jurassic Park came from, it’d be rated R!”.
#17. Octopuses Have Three Hearts
The octopus is an ocean creature famous for having eight arms and a bulbous head. They also have blue blood, and they release ink as a defense mechanism in order to deter predators or enemies. But do you know what the craziest fact about octopuses is?
The octopus has not one, but three hearts! Two of them pump blood all the way up the gills, while the third one helps circulate the blood to the rest of the body. And can you guess how many brains they have? Nine!
#16. It Rains Diamonds On Jupiter
During the last decades, astronomists from all over the world have carried out impressive research on the different planets of the galaxy, and they have made some startling discoveries. For example, researchers from NASA recently discovered that sometimes it rains diamonds on Jupiter and Saturn. But how can this be possible?
New atmospheric data from these two planets have proven that there is an abundance of carbon in its crystal form. The scientific explanation is kind of complicated, but each time there is a lightning storm, the methane is transformed into soot, which solidifies into bricks of graphite, which falls in the form of diamonds. Impressive, huh?
#15. The Place Where It Never Rains
Did you know that in the driest place in the world it never rains? The Atacama Desert in Chile has the world record for being the driest place on Earth, receiving an annual average rainfall of 0.1 cubic millimeters. That’s equivalent to less than a day of rain per day.
What’s more, there’s plenty of evidence that suggests that the Atacama Desert did not receive any significant rainfall from 1570 to 1971. And some specific locations within the desert have never received any rainfall whatsoever. Isn’t that crazy?
#14. Cleopatra Wasn’t Egyptian
Cleopatra is probably the most famous personality in Egypt’s entire history. She’s also the most popular and admired queen in the history of the nation. She’s also a cultural icon of “Egyptomania”, considering the amount of biographical and fictional films that have been released in different parts of the world, including Hollywood’s Cleopatra.
But there’s a tiny detail that most people ignore. Cleopatra wasn’t really Egyptian. She was actually of Greek origin, and her native language was Koine Greek. The thing is that she was born in Alexandria, which nowadays belongs to Egypt, but back then belonged to Greece.
#13. Stalin Used Photoshop
Most of us probably had to study the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in our high-school history classes. But there are certain things that are seldom taught at school. For instance, did your history teachers tell you that Stalin edited photos ages before Photoshop existed?
Indeed, many historians realized that Stalin frequently retouched and altered some of his pictures, mainly in order to remove people who had died or people who had been removed or expelled from the Communist Party. He was no fool, we’ll give him that!
#12. Your Saliva Can Fill Two Swimming Pools
Have you ever thought about how much saliva your glands produce? Well, here are some rough numbers: an average person produces around 2 liters of saliva per day. But how many liters do we produce in all of our life? Well, let’s do the maths.
Let’s say that you live for 80 or 85 years. That’s equivalent to… 58.400 liters of saliva! And if you think about it, with that amount of saliva, you could pretty much fill two swimming pools. This fact is a bit gross, but also kind of cool!
#11. China Banned Time Travel Films
Ever since cinema was created, different states have imposed different forms of film censorship. For instance, throughout the first half of the 20th century, most countries in the world have prohibited the exhibition of erotic scenes in films. But China has taken things to the next level.
In 2011, the Chinese government has banned all films about time travel. But why? The official reason is that such movies “disrespect the historical facts” according to the Communist regime. So Back to the Future fans, think twice before moving to China!
#10. A Fish That Lives Outside Water
Are you familiar with the phrase “like a fish out of water”? Well, it only applies to all creatures that live under the sea, except for one. An ancient species of fish called lungfish had the ability to live both underneath or outside the water, and for an unlimited period of time.
The lungfish featured an extremely sophisticated and complex breathing mechanism. Thus, they were able to survive both inside and outside the water with no problems. It was kind of like a superpower!
#9. Twins With An 87-Day Gap
Meet Maria Jones-Elliot, a British woman who gave birth to a real miracle. It was 2012, and she was carrying twin girls. But on the 23rd week of her pregnancy, the doctors told her that things weren’t looking good and that the twins’ birth was probably going to be a risky one.
Miraculously, one of the two babies was born on June 1, 2012. She was four months premature and weighed barely more than a pound. However, the other baby stayed in the womb, for some strange reason. And she was only born three months later, on August 27. It’s the longest recorded age gap between a pair of twins in history: they have an 87-day difference!
#8. Turtles Breath Through Their Butts
When turtles hibernate in winter, they can’t breathe through their noses, because as you know, they stick their heads inside their shell. Can any of you guess what they do to survive the 3 months of hibernation? Believe it or not, they breathe through their butts!
To be more precise, the technical term that describes this odd phenomenon is cloacal respiration. As you can see, turtles resort to any means necessary in order to survive the long cold winters! If you enjoy wacky animal facts, don’t miss the next one!
#7. Toads Were Used As Pregnancy Tests
Pregnancy tests have been in the market for several decades, but back in the 1950s, it was a great novelty. And in fact, when pregnancy tests were first created, the procedure wasn’t so simple as it is now. You won’t believe all the steps that were needed for a woman to know if she was carrying a baby!
Until the 60s, if a woman wanted to take a pregnancy test, she had to send her urine to a lab in Great Britain. Once there, scientists would inject the urine into a toad and wait for a couple of hours. If the toad had laid eggs, then that meant that the woman was pregnant. Isn’t that bizarre?
#6. Half-An-Hour War
Wars are always tragic, and the worst part is that they usually last for years. But this was not the case of the Anglo-Zanzibar War. As its name suggests, this war was fought between Great Britain and the Zanzibar Sultanate on 27 August 1896, and it will be forever remembered as the shortest war in history.
According to historians, the war lasted somewhere between 38 and 45 minutes. The British didn’t give the poor Zanzibari a chance! And do you know how many losses the British suffered? A total of 0 dead and 1 wounded! How did they manage?
#5. Horse Senator
Caligula was the Emperor of Rome from the year 37 AD to 41 AD. But that’s not the only reason why he became famous. He was not only known for his political power, but also for his madness. According to most historical accounts, he was an extremely ruthless political leader, and he was also kind of insane.
He took several mad decisions, but the strangest one of all was that he named his horse, Incitatus, the senator of Rome. But that’s not all: he also put his horse on the list to become a consul, but at the end that never happened. Why did he do that? Not even historians can agree on the reason.
#4. High Heels Were Designed For Men
High heels are one of the things that women most love to wear. However, did you know that high heels were originally designed for men? In the 10th century, Persian equestrians created and wore high heels, but not for fashion nor to become taller.
According to Elizabeth Semmelhack, who works as a curator at the Bata Shoe Museum, high heels were extremely useful for soldiers, because when they stood up in their stirrups, it helped them secure their stance so that they could shoot their bow and arrow more easily.
#3. Eating A Polar Bear Will Kill You
Whether you like it or not, the truth is that humans eat all types of exotic animals. However, polar bears are one of the few animals that must be out of our list. Because recently, scientists have warned that eating from 30 to 90 grams of polar bear liver in one meal can kill you.
The polar bear meat can cause a vitamin A toxicity in your system, and its effects can be truly lethal. The polar bear’s liver contains really high levels of retinol, which may have deadly effects on the human organism.
#2. Bees Can Detect Bombs
Bees are just magnificent creatures, and no entomologist can deny it. They are one of the more long-lived insects, living up to 5 years. But what’s most impressive about them is their accurate sense of smell, which makes them smell odors that not even dogs can.
First of all, it is said that bees are capable of detecting cancer before it becomes deadly to humans. But what is even more impressive is that bees can detect bombs and other explosives. That’s a really practical superpower, isn’t it?
#1. A Stewardess Survived A 33,000-Foot Fall
The woman in the picture below is Vesna Vulovic, a real-life superhero. This Serbian stewardess holds the world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute. Working as a flight attendant, she was the only survivor of the JAT Airways plane crash in 1972.
I know it sounds like pure science fiction, but according to the evidence, she fell from a 33,000-foot height with no parachute and somehow survived. There has been a long controversy regarding the crash since some people claim that the plane actually fell from an 800-meter distance, but one way or another, Vulovic received the World Guinness Record, and Paul McCartney gave her the award.