1. It took 200,000 years for the human population to reach 1 billion. Then it only took 200 years for it to reach 7 billion.
2. Mental breaks (such as naps, meditation, and nature walks) increase productivity, replenish attention, solidify memories, and encourage creativity.
3. If you drilled a tunnel straight through Earth and jumped in, it would take you about 42 minutes to get from one side to the other.
4. All blue eyed people can be traced back to one person who lived near the Black Sea about 10,000 years ago.
5. ‘Hypersomnia’ is a condition where a person can sleep for 12 to 15 hours but still wake up feeling tired.
I have this!
6. In 1998, Marvel offered the movie rights to nearly all of its characters to Sony for just $25 million. Sony declined and only purchased the rights to Spiderman for $10 million.
Sony believed he was the only character audiences would care about.
7. Your ‘meanest’ friends might care about you the most, according to research published in the journal Psychological Science.
Friends who are honest-but-harsh may act that way, believing the impact of negative emotions will be beneficial in the long run.
8. If the world’s population of spiders worked together, they could theoretically eat every human on Earth in one year.
9. Using MRI scans of dogs’ brains, scientists have found that they not only love their humans, they see their owners like family.
They also prioritize the scent of their owners over anything and anyone else.
10. A group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope.
11. Gorillas sing happy “songs” while they eat.
They don’t sing the same song every time, and they sing even louder while eating their favorite foods.
12. The 8-hour workday was adopted so people could evenly divide the 24 hours in a day.
“Eight hours’ labour, Eight hours’ recreation, Eight hours’ rest”.
13. Prince is the only person credited on his first album, except for a co-writer on one song.
Prince sang all the parts, produced every song, and played all the instruments for the album.
14. In Finland, the cost of a speeding ticket is determined by your income.
In 2002, a Nokia executive got a ticket for $103,000 for going 45 in a 30 zone.
15. The human brain named itself and then went on to name everything else.
16. UPS delivery trucks save an estimated 10 million gallons of gas every year by avoiding left turns.
17. Your pupils dilate when you’re looking at someone you love.
They also do the same when you’re looking at someone you hate.
18. Without the moon, Earth’s axis would shift unpredictably, and our seasons would not be constant.
19. If we could harness just 0.1% of the ocean’s tidal kinetic energy, we could meet the current global energy demand 5 times over.
20. When he was in high school, Bill Gates altered his school’s program codes, so he would be placed in classes with mostly female students.
21. It snows metal on Venus.
22. The more pictures you take during an event or moment, the less you remember it.
23. You can get a tan from eating sweet potatoes due to their high carotene content.
24. After a large meal, lions can sleep for up to 24 hours straight.
25. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re underwater and can’t find the surface, blow some air bubbles, and watch where they go.
They will always float to the surface.
26. Your shoelaces keep untying because every time you walk, the knots on them experience seven times the force of gravity. For comparison, the world’s most powerful rollercoaster makes you experience a gravitational force of 6.3G.
27. Sound can influence the way you perceive the taste of your food. Low-frequency sounds enhance the bitterness while high frequency noise brings out the sweetness.
28. People are more honest when they’re tired. That’s why most confessions are made during late-night conversations.
29. Placebo sleeping is when you make your brain believe you’ve slept well. If you’re convincing enough, it can boost your brain performance.
30. Scientists claim that the best time to take a nap during the day is from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. That’s when a dip in your body temperature makes you sleepy.
31. NASA has translated radio waves created by planets atmospheres into audible sounds. That’s how astronomers found out that Neptune sounds like ocean waves, Jupiter like being underwater and Saturn’s voice resembles background music to a scary movie.
32. Cats have 32 muscles in each ear. Thanks to these muscles, they can hear every little noise. They help the ears rotate independently and thus detect sounds better.
