We're going to talk about the not-so-fun facts.
Reddit user Chilloutjack asked:
What is a fun fact that is mildly disturbing?
Reddit did NOT disappoint. Quite a few of these are outright heartbreaking, cringeworthy, and in some cases kind of gross. Proceed with caution. There is talk of death, fetal death, animal rape, etc. ahead.
Ruining Nemo
"Want to ruin Finding Nemo?"
"Clownfish live in groups that are all male except for the biggest and most aggressive fish who is the Dominant Female. The next biggest fish is the Dominant Male, and these two are the only ones who breed. When the dominant female dies, the dominant male changes gender to become the dominant female. All the other males then fight to become the dominant male, and the cycle continues."
"If you keep a Clownfish male on his own for long enough, he will become female."
- Sygga
Some Serious Stones
"The world record for most kidney stones passed is 6,504 by Don Winfield, the most being removed is 172,155.
The largest kidney stone ever removed. was 20cm long and weighed 4.4 pounds, another being 13 cm."
- PNote09
The Eagles AddictionÂ
"He song hotel California by the Eagles is actually about drug addiction. For example, the "pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends." Are actually the side affects. And think about the lyric "You can checkout any time you like. But you can never leave."
"When I learned it, I was shocked."
Blondes Don't Always Have More Fun
"If you have blond hair you are 70 percent more likely to get cancer."
Eating You Back
Giphy"Pineapples have an enzyme that dissolves meat, meaning that when you eat one, it's technically eating you back."
Coke
"Coke (cocaine) was in Coke (the soft drink) and that's why it's called Coke."
So Easy Not To Get Caught
"There are an estimated 35-50 active serial killers in the US. Famous serial killer Edmund Kemper (I think?) said he thinks that number is way higher because it was so easy not to get caught (he turned himself in)."
SUPER Superbad
"Christopher 'McLovin' Mintz-Plasse's mom had to be on set during the filming of his sex scene in Superbad because he was only 17 at the time it was being filmed."
Dangerous Dolphins
Giphy"Dolphins can and will pick stuff up and move it around using their penises."
"They also rape people, and are known to push people out to sea about as much as they push them ashore. They also get high off sea urchins and puffer fish. They pass it around like a bong."
Speeches
"If Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin got stuck on the moon the official policy was to cut communication and let them suffocate in silence, Nixon even had a speech and procedure prepared in case this happened."
"There were also speeches prepared in case 'the spacecraft goes missing, 'the astronauts abscond with the spacecraft', 'the spacecraft returns with extra astronauts', 'the spacecraft crashed into the USS Hornet, crushing Nixon', or 'the spacecraft is accidentally sold for scrap with the astronauts inside'"
Tasty Monkeys
"Chimpanzees just flat out love to eat monkeys."
"They love it so much they've feasted on certain breeds to local extinction."
"Always found this mildly (moderately) disturbing because of the similarities in the species, like if wolves sought after puppies."
Postmortem Birth
"If you die while late into a pregnancy the build up of bodily gases as you decompose can push the dead foetus out of your body. Its called postmortem fetal extrusion."
Puppy PTSD
"The rescue dogs from ground zero on 9/11 developed PTSD and needed therapy afterwards because there were so few survivors and so many dead recovered that the dogs thought they'd screwed everything up and done a bad job."
- jeg26
Thanks, Snot!
"If it weren't for a layer of snot lining the inner walls of your stomach, the acid would burn through you and your insides would fall onto the floor."
Smoked BBQ
Giphy"Burnt humans smell like smoked Texas barbecue."
"Before anybody calls me a serial killer, I worked in a trauma ER and the bad burn victims smelled exactly like this."
Rabies
"If you contract rabies it can lay dormant in your body for years until one day you get a headache, and by then its already too late and you will slowly go insane and grow an erratic fear of water and Inability to swallow - then you die."
- swagxake
Melted
"They couldn't give the firefighters from Chernobyl morphine, because their veins were literally melting."
The Universe
"The entire Universe outside our galaxy could have completely disappeared over 20,000 years ago and we still wouldn't know it yet. Our view of the Universe is actually what it looked like anywhere from thousands to Billions of years ago -with no way to see what it actually looks like "right now". Imagine if you looked out your front window and saw your yard as it was 6 months ago, neighbors house across the street a year ago, and houses a block or two away as they were several years ago. Also off in the distance you see the glaciers from the last ice age. That's what it's like looking out at the Universe."
- UEizo
Nutmeg
"Nutmeg was used as a hallucinogenic before modern drugs. It can also kill you if more than a tablespoon is eaten at once."
"I basically spent my late teens researching and experimenting with everything I could get my hands on."
"Naturally I tried nutmeg. Ingested about half a spice shaker in one sitting. Never experienced a hell like that. It felt like the entire world lost meaning, that I was pointlessly walking around in this grey plastic world and every minute dragged on for eternity. Couldn't function, couldn't focus on anything or do much of anything but lay on the floor and beg for it to be over. Faked being sick to not go to school. It lasted like 3 days and I felt like there were still noticeable effects weeks later. Still afraid I did some kind of permanent damage."
"Do not recommend."
These certainly would liven up dinner party conversation -- or perhaps end the party all together.
Do you have similar facts to share? Let us in the comments below.
I have no idea why it works that way, it just does. I know I'm not alone, though - otherwise Pop Up Video wouldn't ever have existed. Memes wouldn't be a thing either, now that I think about it.
Thing is, I have no idea where these factoids came from. I don't remember ever purposefully researching the mating habits of the common garden snail; but there's the knowledge of snail penis-jousting just sitting right there and there's no way I can shake it!
And yeah, turns out I'm not the only one who can't shake stuff once it's in there.
reddit user XxEggWarriorxX asked:
So here's Reddit's ode to you, fellow factoid-knowers! Let's talk about animals, mitochondria, Vanilla Ice and that plastic thingie on the end of your shoelace!
The Amazing Octopus
An Octopus can fit through any hole that's larger than its beak.
This makes me incredibly uncomfortable. Just the fact that they can survive on land as well.
You know they had some in an aquarium, and some of the other fish kept going missing. Eventually they shut the octopus tank properly - blocked the exit by putting like a brick on the lid or something - and the fish stopped vanishing. Turned out the octopus was getting out, going on a walk, and eating some of the other fish.
Terrifying.
- Klop422
Phineas And Ferb Taught Us
GiphyThe plastic bit on the end of a shoelace is the aglet
I also remember that episode of Phineas and Ferb.
A-G-L-E-T! AGLET! Don't forget it!
Drowning Danger
Drowning doesn't look like you think it does. Drowning is silent and they'll be barely above the water line, not waving their arms around calling for help.
Chickens Are Terrifying
Chickens are natural cannibals, and WILL eat each other given the chance.
I remember reading something online about someone who had chickens and on of them got a sore on it's back in a spot it could reach with it's beak, so like any animal with the ability to do so it picked at it and ended up making it worse and then it started to literally eat at the wound, the chicken was literally eating itself and the person had to knit something to prevent the chicken from getting at the sore until it fully healed just to stop the chicken from self cannibalizing.
Yup, witnesses this first hand. Had 5 chickens, a week later we were down to one. We decided to name him Hannibal... till he drowned himself three days later. :/
I was out collecting our hen's eggs and accidentally dropped one. All of the chickens attacked the broken egg and ate it within seconds.
They were like monsters, devouring their unborn.
Will eat each other if they see blood. Doesn't even have to be chicken blood. If you prick your finger and wipe it in a chicken, the whole coop will murder each other.
Cuddle Hormone
Oxytocin is sometimes known as the cuddling hormone because it is released in large amounts when cuddling with a significant other.
Also released in breast milk...babies being milk drunk is kinda real.
It's also referred to as the love hormone as well. And also that explains why babies are hungry all the time, they are high on happiness.
Betty White
GiphyBetty White was born before the invention of sliced bread, so sliced bread is the best thing since Betty White.
Banana Plague
There was a banana plague and the species banana flavored candy was based off was killed in it, explaining why banana flavored items don't taste like bananas.
- izzy_e3