Hey, there! Are you ready to nerd out! I’m not talking trash, I mean that in a good way!
In fact, I wish I knew more about science…it was never my strong suit. I think I took Biology 101 three times in college and always failed miserably…
But I’m ready to get smarter today with some cool science facts!
Let’s get nerdy with some folks on AskReddit.
1. Creepy!
“Spiders do not have muscles.
They move around by pumping their blood throughout their body/legs much like hydraulics on a car!”
2. That’s pretty high.
“The average kangaroo can jump higher than the average house.
I’ll lay another science fact down as well. The average house can’t jump.”
3. Good to know.
“You can tell if it’s above or below 14°F outside by walking on snow.
If the snow squeaks underfoot, it’s below 14°F.”
4. Done in a jiffy!
“The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds given adequate vacuuming systems.”
5. Listen to this one.
“There’s a strong correlation between gum disease/gingivitis and Alzheimer’s disease.
Brush your teeth!”
6. Mostly empty space.
“99.9 percent of the atom is empty space. If the nucleus of an atom is a size of a basketball then the electron would be around 2 miles away… everything in between is empty space.
Also, our science books never showed us about the distances and why things appear to be solid if 99 percent of atoms content is just empty space”
7. Like a fungus.
“A better metaphor for the human brain than a computer would be a giant, electric, meat mushroom. It grows and behaves a lot more like a fungus.
This is why I’m not worried about “neural uplinks” anytime soon. We needed a biopunk craze. The cyberpunk craze has just made us depressed that we’ll never get s*x robots that love us back.”
8. So far away.
“The nearest galaxy (Andromeda) is so far away that if you started traveling at the speed of light toward it on the day you were born, you would die of old age before you got there.”
9. All about squids.
“We don’t know the true size of giant and colossal squids but estimated on the squid beaks (that looks like huge parrot beaks) we found in sperm whale stomachs (who actively hunt squids (it’s not a deep sea rivalry how it’s often depicted)) they can possibly grow up to 20 meters long.
All giant squids we found were dying squids, that’s why they are so close to the surface of the ocean. They are not made for the low pressure in the upper oceans but for the pressure in 1.500-2.500 meters.
You can see that they are dying because of the white spots on their skin. Like other squids they can change color and the white is those cells that change color dying.
Giant squids use bioluminescence like other squids to hunt and communicate. It’s might more or less work like a flash bang while hunting.
The giant squid is longer than the colossal squid with it’s tentacles but the colossal squid is much more massive and larger in body size.
In 1941 the British transport ship Britannia was sunk by the german cruiser Thor. The crew had to wait several hours to get rescued. A few crewmen saved themself on a floating piece of wood.
All of them reported how one of their mates got pulled into the depth by a giant squid. After that the squid returned a few times but I can’t remember if he took another man with him. This isn’t the only giant squid attack on humans we know of.
And lastly: squids and octopuses don’t get old. They only live for about two years. That’s why they can’t exploit their intelligence like we can. We get old enough to have wisdom and share this wisdom, they can’t become wise because of their short lives.”
10. That’s strange.
“Carrots were bred into being orange.
They were originally purple and much harder, more like an uncooked yam.”
11. Thank goodness for that.
“You don’t swallow when you’re asleep.
Your salivary glands slow waaay down so you don’t drown in your own spit.”
12. Fascinating!
“Female tortoises can keep sperm healthy in their body for up to 20 years, so they can choose the proper and safe moment to get their eggs fertilized.”
13. You’re a star.
“The calcium in your bones, the iron in your blood, just about everything in you other than hydrogen was fused together in a massive star that exploded.
And now you, a clump of these atoms, is contemplating this fact.”
14. I did not know that!
“Time is slightly slower between higher altitudes and lower altitudes, to infinitesimal fractions of a second.”
15. It’s all about the pulling.
“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.”
16. Wow!
“You’re closer to space than you are to anything more than about an hour’s drive away.
Seattle is closer to space than to the Pacific Ocean.”
17. Interesting.
“Female bedbugs don’t have v*ginal openings on their bodies.
Instead the male bedbug has a sharp pen*s that stabs her and ej*culates into her bloodstream and the sperm cells float around until they get to their destination.”
18. Good to know.
“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.”
19. Not forever.
“Diamonds aren’t forever. In fact, the 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.”
20. The sun also rises…a lot…
“The sun rises on the International Space Station every ~90 minutes which is the time it takes to orbit the earth and so astronauts experience about 16 morning every day.”
21. Time to eat up.
“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.”
22. Booze facts.
“When you take a shot of alcohol it actually activates the receptors in your body to indicate your body is on fire/exposed to heat, which is why alcohol burns on the way down.
This is less of a science fact and more of an alcoholic fact.”
23. Still going strong.
“Koalas have smooth brains and thick skulls that function as helmets cause they fall off trees a lot.
Why aren’t they extinct yet?”
24. More salt, please.
“Some people need more salt in their systems than others (mainly Nepalese), and if they are forced to use less they can have brain damage.”
25. Makes sense.
“Google’s secretive X Lab showed 10 million YouTube images to a neural network of 16,000 computer processors for machine learning.
The first thing the network did was invent the concept of a cat.”
26. Egg colors.
“Chicken eggshells are either white or blue all the way through the shell.
If you have an egg any other color (cream, brown, green, olive) it is because the chicken’s reproductive tract painted the blue or white egg with a brown pigment late in the egg laying process.”
27. The more you know.
“The earth makes a full rotation in about 23 hours and 56 minutes, not 24 hours.
But during that rotation, it’s also revolved 1/365th of the way around the Sun, so it takes about another 4 minutes of spinning before every individual point on Earth gets back to the same (approximate) angle it was at 24 hours ago relative to the Sun (approximate because there’s also axial tilt which causes seasons).”
28. Interesting…
“Severe diabetic neuropathy in the feet causes a walking gait similar to people with leprosy. Normally you change your gait throughout the day from longer to shorter strides, and alter your foot position as they get achey or tired.
Since diabetic neuropathy damages both sensation and position sense, diabetics do not change their gait to alleviate pain, can develop a “slapping” gait (so they can feel the ground) and are susceptible to falls. They develop Charcot joint as a result of repeated injury (destruction of ankle joint), can have “rocker bottom” feet, toe deformities, and of course, diabetic foot ulcers.
Interestingly both diabetics and lepers can develop an indifferent attitude toward the significant foot injuries, even when amputation is threatened. “It doesn’t hurt, what’s the big deal?”
A lot of research regarding diabetic neuropathy was done in Louisiana using armadillos which can carry leprosy. BTW leprosy also attacks nerves, usually in the coolest body areas: nose, elbows, hands, feet. Fun fact: people with leprosy lose their eyebrows.
Source: I’m a doc and yes I’ve seen leprosy in a patient.”
How about you?
What cool science facts do you know?
Talk to us in the comments!
