As much as a lot of us were pushed to detest research while in high school or college, the truth of the matter is, that research can be really fun when the topic is interesting to you.
But the most surprising thing is how out of left-field that interest can be, and how deep the research rabbit hole could go...
Ready to take notes, a Redditor asked:
"What question or topic pulled you into the deepest [research] rabbit hole?"
...We're Listening
"If cigarettes are such a significant public health concern, are a multi-billion dollar industry, and are over a century old, why can’t we make them less harmful?"
"Went DEEP into the research. The answer was surprising: we can."
"The rabbit hole involves GMOs, a secret research project dubbed 'Project X,' catalytic filtering, Central American politics, and the Amish. I now have a file on my computer dedicated to the research papers I dug up on the topic."
- No-Exit4324
The Sheer Vastness of Space
"The size of the Universe, it's unfathomably big, so big my tiny little brain hurts when i try to put myself in perspective."
- xXDoeshyXx
"'Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.' - From The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
- Deep-Jello0420
"I honestly get panic attacks if I think about space too much."
- Feeling_Excitement90
Also, The Bootes Void
"The Bootes Void. Space is fascinating and terrifying."
- MaximumZer0
"I never got the fascination with this one. Just a large area of space that happens to be largely empty. What am I missing?"
- Dry-Acanthaceae1689
"The physics and math behind it do not remotely add up."
"It's a void that should be, for all intents and purposes be as densely filled with galaxies as the area around it."
"For an area to be that sparce, something should have affected it like gravity or time, but neither has existed for the amount time or power to create the area of emptiness that exists in that void."
"And it's f**king huge. Like unimaginably huge? No, bigger."
- Rabid_Dingo
Two Words: Harry Houdini
"The life of Harry Houdini. I was working on a historical novel idea a couple of years ago that wove fictional events into historical 1926 New York City. My main character encountered several notable locations and places, and Houdini, his home, magic, and family played a major role."
"There is so much of Houdini’s life that is fascinatingly well-documented. There are also tantalizing unknowns that keep both historians and magic buffs intrigued until today."
"Here are some weird facts:"
"He was the first to pilot an airplane in Australia."
"When WW1 broke out, he trained US troops how to escape prisoner shackles if they were captured by the enemy and how not to panic if trapped underwater, such as in a torpedoed ship."
"He knew and collaborated with HP Lovecraft who ghost-wrote an adventure story set Egypt in Houdini’s voice. They were collaborating on a book debunking superstitions at the time of Houdini’s death."
"His house in Harlem was wired with a secret microphone system permitting him to eavesdrop on visitors and then appear to have mind-reading powers."
"He purchased an actual Egyptian mummy that rattled around in his basement, much to his wife’s chagrin."
"I could do this all day. Check him out sometime."
- East_Of_Amoeba
Same, Fellow Redditor, Same.
"Nothing had me in a chokehold like the Bermuda Triangle at 10 years old."
- Bringmecoffee444
"Ah yes. The greatest threat to humanity."
- Bennerbench
How It Holds On and Never Lets Go
"Amelia Earhart, the Titanic, ghost ships, and other mysterious spooky disasters. I let it go in college, and when I was in my late 20s, I discovered podcasts, and the first one I listened to was 'Dyaltov Pass.'"
"My new husband was concerned. He had no idea the grip True Crime, survival, unexplained, and mildly paranormal stories would have on his seemingly sane and logical bride."
- HopefulKitty
About As Wild As Everest
"People climbing Mount Everest."
- Tarotcards444
"This is one I've been on recently because of a wrestler called Darby Allin."
"He's pretty divisive within wrestling. He recently participated in a legend's retirement match by jumping into a real pain of glass which sprayed into the crowd solely because "real glass" is a meta-joke about the promotion he works for, so that gives you an idea of whether you'd love or hate him."
"He is currently traveling to Everest for an exhibition and has made cryptic comments about dying there."
- WheelbarrowLegMan
Keeping Others' Memories Alive
"Random people from 100 years ago or who pique my interest, and then I'm on Ancestry for the next little while, trying to piece together their life stories."
- TheSanityInspector
"Heh, a 'little' while…"
"I’ve lost weeks to this."
- mysteriousmeatsuit
"It always amazes me... that if you think about even someone who is pretty famous right now, say Ariana Grande for a random example, and you realize no one will remember her in 60 years or so."
"That's my take away from looking back at non-famous lives. which are actually most people. All those memories, just, lost."
- Used_Ambassador_8817
Missing Persons Accounts
"Missing persons. People have no idea how hard it is to find someone in the wilderness, especially if they aren't trying to be found. The bodies are there, just never found. Sometimes people stumble upon the remains, but it's usually a coincidence."
"I posted very recently, a local elderly woman walked away from her son's house. She wasn't missing long before he realized."
"There was a full scale search, helicopter up, and dogs out. It was near the water so boats were looking. Nothing."
"Months later, a duck hunter found her in the marsh. They said you could see her son's house from the body. Around here is ocean, farmland, and dense woods, too many places to disappear."
- First_Cranberry_2961
Gastrointestinal Secrets and Big Food
"Gastrointestinal Distress. The stomach, intestines, and digestive process is actually very intricate and interesting to learn about. Also taught proper ways to relieve bloating and stomach issues."
- Ballsack2025
"Been down this one myself for a while too because of having GI issues myself my entire life. I’m pretty close to convinced that our bodies are just vehicles for our microbiome. Keep them happy and healthy, they’ll keep you happy and healthy. It’s really wild s**t."
- _Krombopulus_Michael
"Like eating yogurt?"
- DFWguy2024
"Oh man, yogurt is the tip of the iceberg. Read a couple of books from GI specialists about the microbiome, it’s fascinating. It’s common knowledge more or less that there are more bacteria cells in our body than human ones, and if you spend your entire life not taking care of the ones that live in symbiosis with your systems, it wreaks HAVOC on your body."
"They are just starting to really appreciate the number of diseases and ailments that are created from our microbiome being out of whack. It’s becoming the main focus of health for a lot of physicians. There is a doctor named Rachel Scheer you should look up if you’re interested."
- _Krombopulus_Michael
"Interesting. So, a healthy diet is good for the biome. I don’t know why a healthy diet should be so much to ask. I don’t like eating unhealthy food."
"But, it’s also because I know it’s not good for you. Fried chicken and candy tastes good but I know it’s bad for you so I stay away from it. I see a lot of people these days that have GI problems because of gluten."
- DFWguy2024
"It’s seriously a wild topic. When I first started, I thought, 'What is this voodoo horses**t?' and then I really got into it, and it’s actual doctors screaming this from the rooftop from high-level institutions. We’ve just evolved over billions of years to live with this bacteria inside of us, and if its health is doing poorly because of your diet, your health is doing poorly as well."
- _Krombopulus_Michael
The Addictive Properties of Research
"I got pretty deep down the '9/11 was an inside job' rabbit hole when I was in my early 20s (now in early 30s), which subsequently led to all the Illuminati/freemason stuff."
"I found my way out of it when YouTube videos I was watching started making predictions about upcoming events and I was so sure they were going to happen… and then they didn't."
"That's when I took a step back and realized a lot of the things I was buying into weren't really backed up with any decent information."
- lolstuff101
Not the Theme Park We're Looking For
"For a little while, I couldn't stop reading about Action Park, a water/amusement park that was open in New Jersey from the late 70s until 1996. Basically, the whole place skirted a TON of rules and regulations, and six people died on rides."
"There were also literally THOUSANDS of injuries."
"The owner would pay employees $100 to test out crazy new rides. They had a slide that went completely upside down. It was um, not safe."
"There was a giant human-sized hamster wheel they tested by rolling down a hill. It rolled down the hill, broke the fence, and crossed the highway, with someone inside."
"I recommend the documentary, 'Class Action Park,' on HBO, or you can just see some crazy rides and old footage on YouTube."
- Madmanmelvin
Cause Analysis of Airplanes
"The disappearance of MH370 in 2014, as I've flown on Malaysian Airlines several times and a big part of my job is doing root-cause analysis of complex incidents."
" I work in medicine, not aviation, but the reasons why planes go down have always fascinated me."
- ThadisJones
"Oh my god, that was TEN years ago now?!?! I thought it was a lot more recent than that, like maybe five. What the f**k is time anymore?"
- P2n210p3_G4rc1a
"If you don't already listen to it, you should check out the podcast, 'Black Box Down.' It takes airline 'incidents,' not always crashes, and breaks down what led up to it, what happened during, the aftermath, and what we learned from it and changed so it doesn't happen again."
- tsundoku2sensei
Trains... Just, Trains
"Trains."
- malu_saadi
"See, you, I like. Everyone else is delving into subterfuge, malice, and nightmare fuel. We need more people who just want to obsess over something because it’s neat."
"For me, it’s spacecraft."
- alltherobots
"Yes! My favorite is combat robots. I know it's a sport so it's a little different, but I've become obsessed because there's just so much that goes into it."
"For a kinetic weapon alone, you're pushing the laws of physics to crazy levels in building momentum in a spinner, and designing it in a way to bite into the opponent and transfer as much energy as possible while minimizing how much energy is transferred into your robot using shock mounting, spin direction, all sorts of stuff like that."
"Plus, it's just really cool to watch robots rip each other to pieces."
- twitch9873
Talk About a Rabbit Hole!
"I saw something about governments that weren't recognized by the US..."
"Which led me to look up failed states..."
"Which led me to 90s Somalia..."
"Which led to the situation in Mogadishu that the US got involved in..."
"Which led to the Black Hawk Down incident..."
"Which led to stories and recounts from people who were there and survived..."
"Which led to other stories from military people about other events like the capture of Saddam Hussein..."
"Which led me to think what the hell am I doing with my life to be awesome, which led me to order Taco Bell and watch a live stream."
- pheat0n
It couldn't be more obvious why these are interesting subjects to so many people and why they spend so much time exploring these topics. In case you're looking for something to study through the hot summer, there might be something on this list!