Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share Their Absolute Favorite Random Fact

The world is a fascinating place. We should know-we live there.

In and above the world, we have so many exchanges of life; space; information; it feels impossible to ever fully grasp this incredible, strange thing called life that we live.


u/TheRebel2187 asked:

What's your favourite random fact?

Here were some of those answers.


It's Just A Dinosaur, NBD

In the production of the 2014 Godzilla movie the sound designers played Godzilla's roar through a whole lot of concert speakers and they got noise complaints from 3 miles away about people thinking there was an earthquake.

Neat-Guy

I'd Rather Watch Asparagus Grow

Asparagus grows so quickly during the spring (up to 10" in one 24 hour period, or almost half an inch per hour) that you could literally sit and watch it grow were you so inclined (or that bored).

panadolxtra1

Now I Can ALWAYS Get There

Alexander the great once built a permanent bridge to an island just because he was upset when they laughed at his offer for surrender on their part because he couldnt get there.

Zachfulger

Tried To Eat Some Bugs But Then I Got High

So certain millipedes secrete cyanide as a protective mechanism to kill predators. However lemurs are immune to this lethal effect and instead intentionally provoke millipedes to get them to excrete cyanide. The lemurs do this because instead of killing them, the cyanide produced by the millipedes gets them high (and I think they can also use it as insect repellent). TLDR: Lemurs eat millipedes cyanide to get high.

ChrisLetai

Bye Bye Miss Electron-Pie

Astronomer here! Magnetars are a type of neutron star (the core of a giant dead star where a ball of neutrons the mass of the sun are crammed into a 20km/12mi radius) that have the most extreme magnetic fields we know of in the universe. How extreme? Well if you got within a thousand kilometers/ 620 miles of one, the magnetic field itself would kill you, by basically pulling the electrons out of your very atoms.

Space is so cool!

Andromeda321

A Mysterious Spice

There used to be three staple seasonings for tables in ye olden days, salt, pepper and nobody knows, table sets from back then have been found with 3 containers consistently but no one ever bothered to write down what was in the 3rd one bc? Common knowledge right? What idiot wouldn't know what to put in the third container? Us apparently. Just another random bit of knowledge lost through the ages.

Taragharagharagh

That's What We Call COLD

During the Cold War, an American condom company was shipping, well, condoms to the USSR but they switched the sizes so that, for example, a XL size was labeled under medium on the box so that the Russians would think Americans had big d!cks.

_Oxygenstealer_

There And Back Again

There is approximately 2 meters of DNA packed into the average human cell. That means there is approximately 20,000,000,000 kilometers of DNA in the average adult human body, conservatively estimating 1013 cells in the body.

For reference, that is ~66 roundtrips between Earth and the Sun.

P0rtal2

Salt Fat Acid Heat

Tomato is a vegetable and a fruit. Vegetables is a culinary term while fruits are botanical.

The age-old question actually has an answer—it's both! Tomatoes are fruits that are considered vegetables by nutritionists. Botanically, a fruit is a ripened flower ovary and contains seeds. Tomatoes, plums, zucchinis, and melons are all edible fruits, but things like maple "helicopters" and floating dandelion puffs are fruits too. For some reason, people got hung up on tomatoes, but the "fruit or vegetable" question could also work for any vegetable with seeds.

Now, nutritionally, the term "fruit" is used to describe sweet and fleshy botanical fruits, and "vegetable" is used to indicate a wide variety of plant parts that are not so high in fructose. In many cultures, vegetables tend to be served as part of the main dish or side, whereas sweet fruits are typically snacks or desserts. Thus, roots, tubers, stems, flower buds, leaves, and certain botanical fruits, including green beans, pumpkins, and of course tomatoes, are all considered vegetables by nutritionists.

There is no hard-and-fast rule that clearly designates a botanical fruit as a vegetable, but, given that tomatoes are generally not used in desserts and are closely related to other fruit-vegetables (e.g., eggplants and peppers), it is not too counterintuitive for tomatoes to be classified as vegetables. So go ahead and call a tomato whatever you want—it's super tasty either way.

calitreexsweet

A Natural Radiation Site

There existed a natural nuclear reactor in Africa 2 billion years ago. And 30 km from the site of the reactor were find the oldest fossils of animals, also aged of 2 billion years ago. There doesn't appear to be any link though.

Dr_Peter_Venkman_84

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Pete Docter; screenshot from "Elio"
Brianna Bryson/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images; Disney/Pixar

Pixar Exec Hit With Backlash After Callously Explaining Why LGBTQ+ Content Was Cut From 'Elio'

The Wall Street Journal, part of a media conglomerate controlled by Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch, recently profiled Pete Docter of Pixar. The director of such hits as Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out, Docter has served as the chief creative officer (CCO) at Pixar since 2018 and has won three Academy Awards for his directing.

In the article, Docter—who has emphasized how his Christian faith guides his decisions—stated:

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Kai Trump shopping
Kai Trump/YouTube

Trump's Granddaughter Sparks Backlash With Video About Dragging Secret Service With Her To Go Shopping

Kai Trump, the granddaughter of President Donald Trump, sparked backlash after she shared a tone-deaf vlog called "I Brought My Secret Service to Erewhon"—in which she goes shopping with her Secret Service detail.

Erewhon is an upscale grocery chain in the Greater Los Angeles area that has been compared to the early years of Whole Foods Market. It boasts 11 locations and prices are definitely out of reach for many Americans struggling out there in the middle of a nationwide affordability crisis.

Keep Reading Show less
Screenshot of Donald Trump and Santiago Peña
RT

Trump Dragged After Attempting Bizarre Tug-Of-War Handshake With Paraguay's President In Viral Clip

President Donald Trump is getting dragged online after attempting a bizarre tug-of-war handshake with Paraguayan President Santiago Peña at the inaugural "Shield of the Americas" summit over the weekend

In a 16-second clip from the encounter, Trump is seen repeatedly tugging Peña’s hand during a handshake, while Peña maintains a steady grip and remains composed. The two briefly pull back and forth while smiling for cameras before releasing their hands and turning to a short conversation.

Keep Reading Show less
Vice President JD Vance
Home of the Brave on X

2024 Video Of JD Vance Warning About Kamala Harris Sending Young Americans 'To Fight In Stupid Wars' Resurfaces

In the wake of the Trump administration's Iran strikes, Vice President JD Vance is being called out for his warnings from 2024 that voting for former Vice President Kamala Harris would lead to the U.S. entering "stupid wars" and possibly even reinstituting the draft.

In response to a post from former Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote criticizing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for not ruling out drafting Americans to fight in Trump's latest war, the X account "Home of the Brave," which amplifies critics of the Trump administration, shared a video of remarks Vance made during a 2024 Pennsylvania campaign event.

Keep Reading Show less
Kristi Noem
@Jared_Poland/X

Someone Put The 'Veep' Closing Credits On Kristi Noem's Final Speech As DHS Secretary—And It's Too Good

On Thursday, March 5, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was in Nashville, Tennessee, to address the Major Cities Conference.

Shortly after Trump publicly fired her on Truth Social, Noem took the podium to give her speech. CNN reported Noem learned she'd been fired before Thursday’s event began.

Keep Reading Show less