Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share Facts That Will Blow A 5-Year-Old's Mind

People Share Facts That Will Blow A 5-Year-Old's Mind
upload.wikimedia.org

There's nothing quite like the curiosity of the average five-year-old.

Five-year-old me was convinced the Bermuda Triangle was one of the world's most serious problems and could not understand why we hadn't done something to take care of all those disappearing ships I kept hearing about. (Just in case you were wondering what kind of kid I was.)

After Redditor BigNibbaDicc asked the online community, "What are some cool facts to tell a five-year-old?" people gave it their best shot.


"There are numbers..."

There are numbers below zero.

Sergeant_Dimitri

"Then you get..."

You can't lick your elbow.

Then you get a good 5min watching them try.

CriticallyNormal

"There are more stars..."

There are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on Earth.

OstensiblyStupid

Astronomer here! Clap your hands once, and then clap them again a second later. The two claps were actually done about 30,000 miles apart thanks to the Earth's motion in space!

I did the calculation once and interestingly most of the stuff you think of, like the rotating Earth or out orbit around the sun, is a negligible part of it. The real contributions are from our star orbiting the galaxy, and the galaxy's motion itself in space.

Andromeda321

"A group of zebras..."

A group of zebras is called a dazzle and a group of giraffes is called a journey.

Magicbean96

"We will never..."

We will never experience tomorrow as by the time it's "tomorrow", it will be today.

Thanos696969

"Birds like chickens..."

Birds like chickens descended from dinosaurs. Watch them look at their chicken nuggets in absolute awe.

Sqweedward

"It takes 8 minutes..."

It takes 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach the earth. So when we look at the sun, we're actually seeing how it was 8 minutes ago.

Boring_Psycho

"By the standards..."

By the standards of the universe,you are both stronger and weaker than millions of things.

notsofancylad

"When you look up at the night sky..."

When you look up at the night sky and see a star, it's because a little particle of light called a photon shot out of the star and traveled across the vast distance of space and time to land safely in your eye. You're catching a little bit of ancient star whenever you see one.

lightknight7777

"Otters..."

Otters sometimes hold hands to sleep when in the water, so that they don't drift apart when floating in the sea.

gracegilligan

"Pluto..."

Pluto hasn't completed a lap around the sun since it was discovered.

Suckgarbanzo

"There's a disease..."

There's a disease know as Münchmeyer's disease, wherein the afflicted's damaged muscle tissue is 'healed' with skeleton tissue, eventually culminating in the afflicted's muscle system being converted into a secondary skeletal system, hence it's common name, second skeleton disease. It's completely incurable and largely untreatable. & since it symptoms usually don't appear until the age of 10, you could have it & we wouldn't know for another 5 years.

"Once formed..."

Thanks to a couple of quantum mechanical things that most adults would have problems comprehending, let alone a 5-year-old, it's entirely possible for what's know as a 'hard vacuum' (a place where no matter can exist) to spontaneously form anywhere in the universe. Once formed, it would propagate at lightspeed until it destroyed all matter in the universe.

GingerMcginGinII

"Sharks..."

Sharks don't actually like eating people (we apparently taste bad to them), that's why most shark bites stop there. Most sharks bite people out of curiosity or because the person unwittingly provoked the shark.

GingerMcginGinII

"Similarly..."

Most freshwater fish will die if placed in saltwater, & most saltwater fish will die in saltwater. Similarly, most deep-sea creatures cannot survive near the surface, & most surface-dwellers cannot survive the deepest depths.

GingerMcginGinII

"There are butterflies..."

There are butterflies which mimic the pattern of Monarch butterflies to avoid being eaten by predators, because Monarch butterflies are poisonous and predators avoid eating them. In nature, this is called mimicry.

theloneshewolf

"When they die..."

When they die, ants release pheromones attracting other ants to come and carry their dead bodies away to their graveyards.

theloneshewolf

"Animals and people with white fur and red eyes..."

Animals and people with white fur and red eyes are called albinos. Albinism is a condition caused by lack of pigmentation, resulting in extremely pale skin, white hair, and red/purple eyes. Red/purple eyes are themselves the result of seeing blood vessels in the back of the eye.

theloneshewolf

The oxygen that we breathe..."

The oxygen that we breathe is the same oxygen that has been around since ancient times. In other words, the air you breathe may very well be the same air breathed by a dinosaur.

theloneshewolf

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

dog and cat snuggling together
Krista Mangulsone on Unsplash

Times Pet Owners 'Severely Underestimated' Their Pets' Intelligence

I've lived with cats—because no one owns a feline—most of my life. Some have been very clever creatures while others were real dingbats.

Family members have owned dogs whose talents also ran the gamut.

Keep ReadingShow less
Scott Bessent
Meet the Press/NBC News

Scott Bessent Blasted Over His Bonkers Suggestion For How To Bring Your Own Inflation Rate Down

Continuing to follow the example of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on Meet the Press Sunday to blame Democratic President Joe Biden for the financial downturn caused by Trump's tariff fiasco, then lied repeatedly about the state of the economy.

Meet the Press host Kristen Welker played a clip of MAGA Republican Vice President JD Vance telling a conservative audience at a Breitbart News event that Americans owe the Trump administration "a little bit of patience"—apparently while they figure out what tariffs are and how they work since they're rolling back more of them to lower consumer prices despite claiming Trump's tariffs don't affect consumer prices.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lindsay Lohan attends the men's final during day fifteen of the 2025 US Open Tennis Championships at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Elsa/Getty Images

Lindsay Lohan Is Now Sporting A New Accent—And Fans Aren't Sure What To Make Of It

In a twist freakier than a sequel to Freaky Friday, Lindsay Lohan has debuted yet another new accent—this time at the Fashion Trust Arabia Awards in Doha, Qatar.

Draped in a maroon, jewel-trimmed gown by The New Arrivals Ilkyaz Ozel and accompanied by her husband, Bader Shammas, and their 2-year-old son, Luai, the actress looked serene, elegant, and completely unbothered by the collective whiplash she was about to inflict on the internet.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jameela Jamil
Gilbert Flores/Variety/Getty Images

Jameela Jamil Speaks Out Against The Rise Of The 'Aesthetic Of Emaciation' Among Women In Hollywood

Content Warning: eating disorders, thinness as an aesthetic, emaciation in Hollywood

There's no denying that we've been gifted with some incredible music, television shows, and films this year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Screenshot of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in "Rush Hour 2"
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images; New Line Cinema

Trump Is Now Using His Presidential Sway To Pressure Studio Into Making 'Rush Hour 4'—And, Huh?

President Trump has reportedly pressured Paramount head Larry Ellison to make another sequel to Rush Hour, his favorite buddy-cop movie, as the company looks to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

The first Rush Hour film, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, was released in 1998, received positive reviews, and made $245 million worldwide. Chan and Tucker returned for two sequels released in 2001 and 2007 respectively.

Keep ReadingShow less