Our universe is filled with an infinite amount of unexplained mysteries yet to be explored.
And yet, the limited number of substantive facts we are cognizant of still continue to baffle us.
For instance, did you know the Eiffel Tower can be 15 cm taller in the summer because of thermal expansion? Or that polar bears are nearly undetectable by infrared cameras due to the thickness of their coat and skin?
But along with those rather "cool" facts, there are just as many that are truly unsettling.
Curious to find out what facts can give you the heebie-jeebies, Redditor aelmnnor asked:
"What's a scientific fact that creeps you out?"
Creepy Species
If you apply these entities' characteristics towards human beings, you will have the makings of a horror movie.
Goodbye Siblings
"Obligate siblicide. In some species of animals, multiple offspring are born but only one is actually raised by the mother. The others are born only as backup in case the first-born doesn't survive. When the first-born is fine, which is the typical case, it kills the others."
"Body Horror Lump Of Meat"
"Honestly nothing is more creepy than how deep sea anglerfish mate."
"The deep sea is dark, and the anglerfish are spread very thinly. Therefore, when an anglerfish meets another anglerfish, it's incredibly important they get the chance to mate over and over again. The evolutionary strategy that deep sea anglerfish devised is extra creepy. The male latches onto the female, biting her and never letting go. That way he can inseminate the eggs she drops. Not that bad so far right? But wait, how does he eat if he's latched on his mate?"
"Well, the circulatory systems fuse and the female provides nutrients for the male through this fused circulatory system. The true horror starts here. The organs of male start to wither and atrophy, being absorbed into the female. Eventually, the male is reduced to a lump of testicles the females use to fertilize their eggs. Females are often covered in bumps of several males that have melted into the female, becoming a literal body horror lump of meat on the female."
Stomach This
"Sea stars eject their stomachs to cover edible parts of their prey, begin digesting it externally, and then pull the partially digested prey into digestive glands to finish the job."
The Eternal Void
"Rogue black holes. There are black holes that just are floating around in space and potentially f'king up solar system just by passing through it."
– Xiagax
Plants Are Weird
"That so many vegetables came from the same plant. Broccoli, kale, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc. They are, botanically speaking, the same species. Humans have just bred them to emphasize different traits (buds, leaves, tubers...) Imagine if humans were as genetically flexible. Imagine a person walking around with GIANT toes, but otherwise normal. Actually, plant genetics in general is a weird, weird world."
A Persistent Virus
"Doctors/ scientists are BARELY keeping up with the influenza virus. It keeps on mutating rapidly. It really wants to get inside you."
– [deleted]
Goo-bye
"Caterpillars turn completely into goo in their cocoon, and then become a butterfly."
"And there is evidence they retain memories from their pre-goo days. Memories of strong positive/negative stimuli that they show preference-for/aversion-to, even after metamorphosis."
alice in wonderland smoking GIF by The Good FilmsGiphyOur Body Is A Wonderland
Our soul occupies a shell that is a community of tons of other autonomous elements. We truly are merely passengers. Go ahead, ask your brain.
Body Language
"A fever is your body way of saying:"
"We dont negotiate with terrorists! We either destroy the enemy or we die with them!"
– Knork14
Following Our Brains
"Your brain is making decisions before you are even aware of the decisions it has made. It also makes decisions based off of learned behavior and you just go along with it."
Always Being Punk'd
"The brain can play tricks on you:"
"When you look at a clock and the second hand seems to freeze for a moment, your brain is actually generating a false memory - and your perception of time stretches slightly backward."
"This effect is called chronostasis."
Why Do Our Faces Itch? This
"That there are little crab-like things crawling on your face."
Take A Breather
"Thinking about how breathing and lungs work freaks me out. Once I start thinking about it all I can think about is my breathing and then I have to force myself to stop thinking about it."
DNA Mutations
"Some mutations of just one letter in the DNA code can kill the fetus almost instantly, but some people live and have a seemingly healthy life while missing a whole chromosome. If you understand anything about biology, that's completely wild."
Invisible Light
"Humans are bioluminescent (nothing to do with body temperature). We emit visible light that can be photographed in specific conditions. But, this light isn't visible to us. Which makes it a strange thing to have evolved, and begs the question"
"what organisms is this light visible to, and why?"
"Edit: Adding an edit for all the comments explaining evolution... Please read the thread before commenting. I find this a creepy fact due to implications on interspecific relationships, NOT because I think prehistoric humans went shopping for a bioluminescent hat with a specific motive in mind."
Our Breathing Apparatus
"Thinking about how breathing and lungs work freaks me out. Once I start thinking about it all I can think about is my breathing and then I have to force myself to stop thinking about it."
Ominous
Hints of death abound in these unsettling facts.
Tragic Remains
"When the titanic sank non of the shoes decomposed so there's tons of shoes at the bottom of the ocean."
– Dref27
This Sucks
"There is something called 'the squeeze,' where when people had old scuba suits with tubes, you could actually get sucked into that tube if the pressure was off. You are literally shredded through your own breathing tube."
The Urge
"The sudden urge to jump off of a very high height. You can be physically and mentally stable to the greatest degree and still have this feeling when at such a high height."
Always In Battle
"You get and cure cancer in your own body thousands of times a day....."
"Your body produces thousands and thousands of cells with damaged dna. It's a bit of exaggeration to call them cancer but if any of these cells were to survive they could become cancerous. Your immune system destroys them before they get to that point. This is also why if you were to live forever you would eventually get cancer because the chances of your body missing them statistically increases. This occurs thousands upon thousands upon thousands of times a day."
Based on the factoids that just invaded your brain, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.
One factoid that kept me up at night was reading about a woman in 2015 who suffered from headaches. It turned out the source was a brain tumor – one that resembled skin and had bones, teeth, and hair.
The rare mass was called a "teratoma," and doctors confirmed it was not a "twin," but germ cells that had fallen off when the woman was an embryo and wound up on an abnormal place – her brain – and continued to develop along with her.
If the woman heard voices in her head – as some of us figuratively experience – it might have literally been because she had a mouthpiece growing inside her brain.
Ahh, the mysteries of life.
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