25 Interesting Facts That Will Make You Question Life

It really is. Its location, however, is a bit different from what we’ve read in Tolkien’s works. 

Mordor is the home of Sauron, the evil antagonist in the Lord of the Rings novels. And, while J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth was a work of fiction, Mordor is a real place. According to USA Today, it is a dark and mysterious area on Charon, one of Pluto’s moons, that often looks exactly like an old, or dried red bloodstain. (And, yes, the creepy red spot was named after the novel, not the other way around.)

While we’re discussing celestial bodies, let’s tell you something interesting about our moon. We all know that the moon circles around the Earth, but not everyone knows that the distance between the Earth and the moon is increasing. As the comparatively small celestial body continues its planetary spinning, it drifts 1.48 inches farther away from the Earth each year, which is roughly the same rate at which human fingernails grow.

This means that the moon was much closer to us in the past. Scientists believe that when the moon was first formed, it was only 14,000 miles away from the Earth. Today, it is about 250,000 miles away.

Are you the type of person who can recall specifics about things that you’re trying to remember but can’t “see” it in your mind’s eye? Most people can picture a loved one’s face or the best meal they’ve ever had, but other people’s minds go blank when they try to do the same.

This condition is known as Aphantasia.

Aphantasia can be summarized as the inability to have visual memories when thinking of things in their absence. People with Aphantasia cannot picture how characters look or visualize the settings they’re in while reading books. They may also have difficulty remembering the face of a loved one who has passed away.

If you’re one of those people that hate garlic, don’t ever step on it. 

Scientists recently revealed that you can taste the distinct flavor of garlic through your feet. Well, you can’t actually taste with your feet. Still, suppose you place garlic under your feet. In that case, the molecules responsible for garlic’s aroma, allicin, can penetrate through the skin, get into your bloodstream, and travel to your mouth and nose, where you quickly start to recognize the taste of garlic.

Chemistry does wild tricks with food, even changing the way you taste it, literally.

We’re sorry to tell you this, but every coloring book, first-grade storybook, Disney movie, and Pixar animated film has lied to you.

Ladybugs are not cute, sweet bugs that we should make wishes upon. They are, in fact, vicious cannibals.

An adult ladybug devours approximately 50 aphids (sap-drinking bugs that all gardeners despise) every day. However, when there isn’t enough food available, they will eat ladybug larvae and even other young ladybugs, both of which have shells that are tender enough for an adult ladybug to chew.

You know that voice in your head that goes through your thoughts and emotions? No? As it turns out, not everyone has internal monologue. 

During 2020, a lot of people were astonished to learn that some people do not have an internal monologue, while those who didn’t have it – were surprised to learn that other people actually do. These people simply have quiet, tranquil minds for the biggest part of their days. 

When asked if they ever get songs stuck in their heads, one said yes, it’s probably the closest they get to having one. And while they may not hear an internal voice, they still read in their heads.

Dogs have long been acknowledged to be man’s best friend, but Americans are rapidly taking that to a new level. According to a Rover.com study conducted over three years published in 2017, 54% of dog owners will end a relationship if their dog doesn’t like their partner.

According to the report, 94% of dog owners see and treat their dogs as a member of their family, and 78% include their canines during significant family moments. Given that one-fourth of people bring their furry companions on first dates, it might be a good idea to get dog treats instead of flowers the next time you go on a first date.

When we went to the moon, we didn’t just leave a flag and footprints behind. (We left a couple of hundred bags of poop and urine too, but we’re not here to talk about that today).

The Apollo astronauts left seismometers meant to record thermal data on the moon’s surface. The equipment soon confirmed that the moon – just like the Earth experiences earthquakes – experiences moonquakes. In fact, scientists confirmed that there are four types of moonquakes:  shallow, deep, thermal, and those caused by meteorite impacts. 

But more recently, researchers made an exciting discovery. Some of the thermal earthquake data gathered by Apollo 17 mission instrumentation confirmed that the moon also experienced a fifth and unexpected type of moonquake – quakes coming from the Apollo 17 lunar lander base itself. 

This new phenomenon is not caused by the moon, but it adds to our seismic knowledge of the celestial body, which is crucial for future lunar exploration.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…”  How many times as a child did you stand and say those words? 

While it may feel that the Pledge of Allegiance has been around forever, it was actually only written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy as part of a competition to increase the sales of the weekly children’s magazine Youth’s Companion. While today’s Pledge is very close to Bellamy’s original version, it has gone through a few significant changes throughout the years. Notably, the phrase “under God” was not introduced until 1954.

That could be why airplane food has such a terrible reputation. The elevation of an aircraft can have a negative impact on how well we’re able to taste things. 

In a 2010 research project carried out by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, the lack of moisture at high elevations, as well as low pressure, decreases a person’s taste buds’ sensitivity to sweet and salty foods by roughly 30%. Add to that the fact that dry cabin air impairs our ability to smell, and our ability to taste is reduced even further.

You may or may not have heard this fact before, but it keeps me up at night. 

When you sneeze, your eyes close for a brief instant. However, if you sneeze while driving at 60 mph, your eyes will be closed for approximately 50 feet. According to one 2014 study, drivers who temporarily lose vision due to sneezing cause 2,500 accidents in England every week. Yes, every week. Now, what are those stats in the US, where we have more land mass and significantly more cars on the roads? I shudder at the thought.

According to one earlier study, more than 2 million drivers have crashed while driving simply because they sneezed. This suggests that 7% of adults have been involved in a car accident due to sneezing.

I am really sorry to have to do this to you, but it’s time you knew the truth.

Shellac is an ingredient in candy and all things sweet that most people like to refer to as  “confectioner’s glaze.” That is because it gives all candies and sweets like jelly beans and candy corn its beautiful hard and shiny coating. 

But, whatever you prefer to call it, shellac, which we also use as a wood finish and brush on colorants – is extracted from the secretions left by the female Kerria lacca insects. Yes, dear friends – bug poop. I bet those jelly beans have just lost a lot of their flavor, right?

I know most of us picture the end of the last ice age (about 10,000 years ago) when we think of Wolly Mammoths – majestic, ancient, hairy creatures who roamed the earth long before we came onto the scene. 

However, these massive beasts were actually still around when the Great Pyramid of Giza was being built between 2580 and 2560 BC. According to the BBC, the last woolly mammoths vanished from Wrangel Island in Russia’s Arctic Ocean territory a mere 4,000 years ago.

I am incredibly ticklish; I don’t know about you. That’s why I am not sure how I feel about the following fact. 

There’s a reason it’s practically impossible not to chuckle when someone tickles you – and it has absolutely nothing to do with the situation being hilarious. Instead, your body is most likely using a natural defense mechanism. 

Scientists from Germany’s University of Tuebingen discovered that when we are tickled, the portion of the brain that expects pain is activated. Because our brain believes we are in danger, we may strike at whoever is tickling us, or laugh, which is an act of submission.

Men, for years, you’ve had to listen to women complimenting each other on that beautiful “pregnancy glow.” And while a pregnant woman experiences numerous hormonal shifts that lead to brighter skin – we don’t have to feel left out anymore.

A couple of years ago, it was discovered that we all glow – literally. While it might be hard to see with the naked eye, the human body emits a modest amount of visible light (“visible” in the scientific sense – the illumination is around 1,000 times less intense than the level of light that we would really be able to see). Researchers in Japan employed a special camera to track this glow and discovered that it fluctuates throughout the day, with the body generating the least amount of light around 10 a.m. and the most around 4 p.m., a rhythm the scientists attribute to changes in our metabolisms.

Being a left-handed person in a right-handed world is not always easy. In fact, it can be downright deadly.

While our left-handed brethren (and sistren) might be lightyears ahead of us when it comes to creativity, daydreaming, imagination, and intuition, more than 2,500 left-handed people die every year as a result of an injury caused by equipment built for right-handed people. As it turns out, the right-handed power saw is the most deadly item. So, to our southpaw fans – please stay away from those. It’s just not worth it.

Albeit thousands, yes, thousands – of tiny microscopic ones. And now I just can’t unsee it. 

Snails come across as relatively simple creatures with distinguishing characteristics like shells and slime. However, some snail species have an unusual feature: According to the Natural History Museum, they have a ribbon-like tongue, and a jaw called a radula with thousands of tiny little teeth that allow the ferocious slime monsters to tear and rip their food into smaller, more manageable bits. I’m not sure how I will ever pick one up ever again. I am done with gardening.

You know that cute puppy-eyed look your dog loves to give you whenever he wants something from you? Turns out, that while it is 100% adorable, it is also 100% intentional and something they’ve learned to do after becoming man’s best friend.

According to a 2019 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, domesticated dogs have evolved to have tiny facial muscles around their eyes, something wild wolves do not have. These muscles allow our pets to communicate with us by lifting their brows to appear unhappy or pouting. I wonder if that’s why we prefer them over our partners?

Have you ever found yourself in the unfortunate situation of sharing a bed with a couple of hundred bedbugs? It itches. A LOT.

Bed bugs are nearly impossible to eradicate and can spread quicker than water cooler gossip. According to scientists, that might be why they’ve survived for so long. In a 2019 study published in Current Biology, scientists determined that the bugs have been around since the time of the dinosaurs, first appearing some 115 million years ago. While most of us are not thrilled to hear this fact, I mean, we now know cockroaches weren’t the only bugs to survive the meteor and subsequent events – it proved that the evolutionary history of bed bugs was far more evolved than anyone had previously thought, opening up other areas for future studies.

If you thought the human body was done evolving, think again. Some people, it turns out, have a bone in their knee called a fabella. 

And, while this particular, modest bone with its unknown purpose was at one point fading away, it has become increasingly prevalent over the last century and a half. In 1875, over one-eighth of all people tested had a fabella. By 1918, the number had fallen to 11%. However, by 2018, 39 percent of people had this mystery bone. Unfortunately, you won’t know if you’re one of the 39% unless it gets picked up with an MRI or x-ray, as the bone is located behind the knee.

Or, at the very least, the components of one. Iron is a vital nutrient when it comes to the human body. Iron helps your red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout your body, a feature that is critical for energy production. That is why an iron deficit can cause feelings of exhaustion and fatigue. 

A healthy adult possesses roughly three grams of iron, which, if extracted and melted down, could produce a three-inch-long nail. In that same vein, the iron inside about 250 large men will be enough to make an average-sized medieval sword. Creepy, I know, but that fact was just too good to keep it from the list.

There are enough interesting facts about jellyfish that they could get a whole list of their own. Jellyfish are fascinating creatures for an array of reasons. They come in a variety of forms, sizes, and colors; they have no brains and sting over 150 million people each and every year – and some are deadly. 

But the most astounding part of these creatures is that one species, Turritopsis dohrnii, responds to potentially dangerous circumstances by reverting to an earlier form and restarting its growth process. So, in a way, they are immortal.

No, we didn’t make a typo: wine and cheese. And here we were, thinking we knew everything about the royal family…

Although he does not use fuel in this car, climate environmentalists believe cheese and wine are not ideal fuel alternatives because they lead to deforestation. In an interview with the BBC about climate change and his efforts to reduce his carbon footprint, King Charles acknowledged that his gorgeous old DB6 ran on bioethanol fuel made from wine and cheese. Yes, the classic Aston Martin has a diet fit – literally – for royalty. 

The fuel is made by Green Fuels, a Gloucestershire-based company that collaborated with Aston Martin legacy specialist RS Williams Ltd to turn the King’s DB6 into a cheese and wine machine.

Have you ever heard of the “key ceremony?” Neither have I. 

The key ceremony is a secret (or maybe not so secret) gathering of a few individuals who wield unbelievable authority over the internet. These seven keyholders, according to The Guardian, are handpicked security experts who meet every three months and whose different digital keys create one master key that, in turn, manages one of the central security measures at the heart of the World Wide Web.

As part of a global effort to secure the domain name system (DNS) and the internet, these specialists have exclusive access to the DNS, which is basically a directory of everything online. Every time they come together, they flush out fake and harmful addresses.

Environmentally, it is obvious that humans are geo-engineering the planet; as such, there is no doubt that we are significant and not just a blip in the cosmos. However, while we might be dominating the planet with our sprawling cities and almost limitless technology, we are, in fact, just one species among 8.7 million that exist along one another on planet Earth. 

According to a 2011 study published in the journal PLoS Biology, there are 7.8 million species of mammals, 298,000 species of plants, 611,000 species of mold, mushrooms, and other fungi, 36,400 different species of protozoa, and over 27,500 species of chromista or algae on the planet. It’s also worth mentioning that the researchers made no attempt to quantify the amount of bacteria. 

Enjoyed this list? Check out 25 Mind-Blowing Random Facts You’ve Never Heard Before.