72 Not-So-Fun Facts That People In This Online Thread Can’t Forget About

Life isn’t just about cute animals, fun artwork, and wholesome stories. Our world is full of uncomfortable historical and scientific facts that would make any Panda feel uneasy and just a bit queasy. However, we think that facts are facts: we have to do our best to see the full picture, even if we don’t feel too rosy and cozy reading some things.

We’ve collected the most ‘unfun’ facts about life on Planet Earth, as shared by internet users on the r/AskReddit subreddit. Scroll down to have a read. Though we have to warn you, these facts really aren’t for the faint of heart. If you’d rather have something bright and light instead, you should definitely check out this Bored Panda article right here about people doing good deeds out of the kindness of their hearts. To the rest of you who are sticking around—we salute your bravery and curiosity. Onwards!

Of course, we have to remember to take everything that we read on the internet with a grain of salt. We reached out to Joseph M. Pierre, a professor of psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, to talk about conspiracy theories, whether some events seem to attract far more lies than usual, and what kinds of people tend to believe in misinformation. Read on for Bored Panda’s interview with him. When you’re done, you should take a peek at our earlier article about not-so-fun facts right over here.

#1

When your skin becomes red from spending too much time under the sunlight, it’s basically because your skin cells are committing suicide to avoid becoming cancerous.

Image credits: Captain-Cheesehead

#2

After experiencing the symptoms of Rabies there is no going back, you are dying 100%

Image credits: PraisePancakes

#3

Anyone can have a brain aneurysm at any age. No matter your health situation

Image credits: Scicst

I was curious to find out whether there are certain historical periods that have more conspiracy theories associated with them. For instance, propaganda during wartime, e.g. during the Second World War, seems to indicate that people may have been more likely to believe in theories rather than facts. However, this might not be the case.

Professor Pierre from UCLA pointed out that that there are two ways of looking at this. First off, stating that people during some historical periods were more prone to believing in conspiracy theories isn’t particularly consistent with cold, hard facts. On the flip side, there are certain events that conspiracy theorists tend to focus on when twisting the truth for whatever purpose they have in mind.

In short, the upside is that, historically, people were just as smart then as they are now. The downside? People were only as smart then as they are now.

#4

There are at least 8 nuclear weapons known to be missing.

Image credits: yo_gabba_gavin

#5

Only one in every 1,000 sea turtles born ever make it to adulthood

Image credits: ItsFiin3

#6

A human tooth has 36 calories

Image credits: nawjas69

“Joseph Uscinski at the University of Miami would disagree that there was any increase in conspiracy theories in the 1930s or 40s,” Professor Pierre told Bored Panda.

“His research together with his colleague Joseph Parent going back to the 1800s shows no evidence of that. Based on their research, the only spike from the 20th Century occurred during the 1950’s communist ‘red scare,’ he shared. Though, when we take a peek at specific historical events from a more modern perspective, the situation changes.

“It is true that certain historical events do tend to attract conspiracy theories and there is evidence that times of societal upheaval or crisis when people are feeling unsafe and desperate for clarity offer a kind of fertile soil for conspiracy theory beliefs,” the expert revealed.

#7

Fatal familial insomnia exists. It’s a rare, incurable prionic brain disease that progressively destroys your brain’s ability to sleep. Eventually, you stop sleeping altogether, go insane, have seizures, and die.

Image credits: Fenius_Farsaid

#8

The youngest person to ever give birth was a Peruvian girl, Lina Medina, a Quechua Indian who gave birth to a child in 1939 at age 5. She had precocious puberty and had her first period at age eight months. She may have been raped at a debauched indigenous religious festival where people often brought small children and rapes were known to occur. The man who raped her was never found, and she was silent about how she got pregnant.

The delivery was by Caesarean as vaginal delivery was deemed impossible. Her son was told that he was her little brother, and she also treated him in this manner. Obviously, she was an incompetent parent, preferring to play with dolls rather than tend to the baby, but that's to be expected. The case is well documented in medical journals, including photos of her pregnant body. It is also in the Guinness Book.

She later married, had another son, went to work for the physician who delivered her and lived a quite normal life. The son was healthy but died young at age 40. She and her family both refused all requests to speak of the case, including offers of significant sums of money. As of 2008, she was still alive at age 75 and living in a slum in Lima, Peru. If she is still alive, she would be 87 years old.

Image credits: Silverfox17421

#9

A new mattress weighs about 90lbs, a used mattress weighs about 110lbs

Image credits: Humanaut93

“Over the past 60 years, the assassination of JFK, the death of Princess Diana, and 9/11 are the most obvious examples of national traumas surrounded by conspiracy theory beliefs.”

He added: “We should acknowledge that many conspiracy theories, like the idea that the Earth is flat, aren’t really based on any kind of obvious traumatic event.”

#10

I’ve been thinking about my parents, who are in their mid-60s. During my first 18 years, I spent some time with my parents during at least 90% of my days. But since heading off to college and then later moving out of Boston, I’ve probably seen them an average of only five times a year each, for an average of maybe two days each time. 10 days a year. About 3% of the days I spent with them each year of my childhood.

Being in their mid-60s, let’s continue to be super optimistic and say I’m one of the incredibly lucky people to have both parents alive into my 60s. That would give us about 30 more years of coexistence. If the ten days a year thing holds, that’s 300 days left to hang with mom and dad. Less time than I spent with them in any one of my 18 childhood years.

When you look at that reality, you realize that despite not being at the end of your life, you may very well be nearing the end of your time with some of the most important people in your life. If I lay out the total days I’ll ever spend with each of my parents—assuming I’m as lucky as can be—this becomes starkly clear.

It turns out that when I graduated from high school, I had already used up 93% of my in-person parent time. I’m now enjoying the last 5% of that time. We’re in the tail end.

Image credits: collin-h

#11

Child helplines are most busy day is Christmas Eve, because parents get drunk and what not. It's so sad to think about.

Image credits: Kvindertilsalg

#12

That brain-eating amoebas exist at all and is also pretty commonly found in freshwater ponds and lakes. Apparently, only 4 people have survived getting it in the last 50 years.

Image credits: PM_Me_Nudes_2_Review

According to Professor Pierre, the people who tend to believe in conspiracy theories are those who see the world in very black-or-white tones, as a constant struggle between what is good and what is evil.

“People who believe in conspiracy theories are also often attracted to the Manichean narratives that conspiracy theories offer, involving battles of good and evil pitting against each other in an almost apocalyptic fashion. So, it should come as no surprise that conspiracy theories might sprout up from World War II—a real-life apocalyptic battle between good and evil,” he said.

#13

New research shows that the North Pole will be gone in 40 years no matter what we do now.

Image credits: Tobiasohaa

#14

There are only 2 states in the US that have outlawed child marriage. One of them only just put it into law a few weeks ago. 23 states don’t even have an age limit on marriage.

Image credits: Behkeybeerkey

#15

Whales don’t die of old age. Eventually, they just don’t have the strength to resurface and slowly drown.

Image credits: sbdtech

#16

You have a higher chance of dying on the way to get a lottery ticket than actually winning.

Image credits: Soggy-Seals

#17

You might still be “it” from an unfinished game of tag

#18

More Americans died in 2 months from Covid19 than 10 years of Vietnam.

#19

When doing CPR/chest compressions you're going to hear a loud crack. That’s the sound of the sternum/ribs breaking.

#20

Your bones are always wet.

#21

When Hitler was four years old he fell into a pond next to a church and nearly drowned. however, the priest jumped in and saved his life. to think that WWII and the holocaust, as well as modern history as a whole, could have been prevented if not for that man is mind-blowing.

#22

There is more plastic than plankton in the ocean

#23

In 2014 the CDC once found a smallpox sample that they had lost and didn’t even know it. It was just laying around in some random storeroom.

#24

From 1948- the end of the Cold War, there were approximately 5,000 close case scenarios in which Nuclear weapons were launched or detonated. The fact that we are alive is a statistical miracle.

#25

A hippo’s bite is as strong as a grand piano falling on top of you from a 3 story building. They can also run up to 25 MPH.

#26

Your lips are made of the same skin as your anus. Do you have lips on your a**, or an anus for a mouth?

Image credits: metoobud

#27

The most common cause of death for tall people is a heart attack, brought on by the fact that their hearts just naturally have to work harder than average to circulate all that blood through that larger body.

Left-handed people are most likely to die in an accident involving a power tool, because they’re all designed by right-handed people, for right-handed people.

Image credits: BigTallCanUke

#28

The moon Is slowly moving away from the earth, meaning in the future people will only be able to see a small light.

Saturn's rings whilst beautiful... We're created by Saturn literally ripping an icy moon apart, causing the pieces to spread out forming a ring. After a while, large bits of debris pulled in lesser bits and formed the moons that carved out the lines.

Jupiter's eye is shrinking, meaning the red spot will one day be gone.

The star known as Betelgeuse? Can never spell it, will have or at some point will go supernova and we'll see that after the light reaches here, it'll light up the sky as bright as day for a while

A wandering black hole with sufficient mass could easily pull the sun and or any planets away from their normal orbits... And these particular black holes wander hence their names. So one could pass by at any time and we would be screwed.

#29

Most animals will kill you before eating you, bears just start eating you

#30

One day the last person who knows your name will die and you will be forgotten.

You could still be alive when this happens.

#31

Scar tissue is constantly in repair, and lack of Vitamin C will eventually cause old scars to reopen.

#32

Most people will live and die with none or barely any influence on the future of our planet

#33

Deforestation in the Amazon got up 55% from January to April

Image credits: mbar2004

#34

Horses are omnivores

#35

Trees actually only make roughly 20% of the world's oxygen with the other 80% consisting of the algae phytoplankton, so simply planting trees isn't as effective as you'd think

#36

Squirrels will eat baby birds and horses will eat baby chicks if given the chance.

Image credits: Ahoogabooga

#37

The female tarantula hawk wasp stings a tarantula between the legs, paralyzes it, then drags the prey to a specially prepared burrow, where a single egg is laid on the spider's abdomen, and the entrance is covered. Sex of the larvae is determined by fertilization; fertilized eggs produce females, while unfertilized eggs produce males. When the wasp larva hatches, it creates a small hole in the spider's abdomen, then enters and feeds voraciously, avoiding vital organs for as long as possible to keep the spider alive. After several weeks, the larva pupates. Finally, the wasp becomes an adult and emerges from the spider's abdomen to continue the life cycle

#38

Bananas are slightly radioactive.

#39

When the gas chambers were first assembled and experimented with at the Auschwitz concentration camp, the SS soldiers that oversaw the process found that the people inside would start screaming as soon as the gas agent was dropped in. The screaming was so loud that it could be heard through the thick walls of the building, and the victims would continue screaming over the course of 20 minutes until it gradually faded to nothing. The screaming disturbed the soldiers (believe it or not), so they tried to think of a way to drown out the noise so they didn't have to hear it. Their idea was to get 2 motorcycles and rev the engines as loudly as they could at the same time during those 20 minutes.

It didn't work.

Image credits: someguy73

#40

When preparing a body for an open casket, the mortician will sew the person's jaw shut (to keep their mouth from flopping open) and place special contact lenses on the eyes lined with hooks, both to keep the eyelid from snapping open due to shrinking tissues and to give the eye a bit more natural bulge, as the eye tends to sink into the socket after death.

Image credits: Omny87

#41

Tapeworms can grow up to 32 feet inside of you and they eat half of what you eat

Image credits: reddit

#42

There are more slaves today than at any time in history.

Image credits: sobriety_kinda_sucks

#43

Humans have caused 322 animal extinctions over the past 500 years

#44

Just because you click together, doesn't mean you'll be together forever. Not everyone positive you meet is meant to stay in your life.

#45

Bacteria (usually) outnumbers your own cells on your own body.

#46

Scallops have eyes. Around 200 under the Shelly lip

#47

Every unborn baby grows a moustache in the womb, which then spreads to cover the entire body. The baby then eats the entire hair called lanugo, and excretes it after birth with their first bowel movement, which is a substance called meconium

#48

You're going to die one day with a lot of your hopes and dreams completely unfulfilled and unrealized.

#49

There is a sunken boat on the English Channel near where I used to live called the SS Richard Montgomery. It is filled with live dynamite and, if disturbed, will explode causing flooding in most of London and killing hundreds of people.

Nothing has been done about it because American authorities claim the ship has been extracted safely and is no longer there, claiming to have photographic evidence as well as a receipt.

It is still there to this day and every day hundreds of ships pass the nearly-sunk masts - a single mistake could mean catastrophe for London and the southeast of England.

#50

Dead people can get goosebumps

#51

Eskimo women suck the snot out of their babies nose with their mouth

#52

People who handle cockroaches develop allergies to them. This usually prevents them from drinking pre-ground coffee because of the cockroaches that get grounded in with large batches.

#53

Your nipples are older than your teeth

#54

Deep-sea octopus babies take 5+ years to hatch, while mama octopus never leaves the “nest” to feed and dies when the babies hatch. She doesn’t eat for 5+ years!

#55

There's a planet where it rains molten glass... horizontally... at 5400 mph or 8700 kmh

#56

Scuba Divers can experience a sudden change in pressure when swimming near pipes and will get sucked inside, doesn’t matter the size of the hole. It’s called Delta P, worst part? Someone else usually has to go inside the pipe to remove the body.

#57

A single female tiger killed 436 people in India. She is known as the Champawat Tiger.

#58

There are about 2,500 languages that have died out and/or are being less and less used with each passing day

#59

You know when you search for businesses, and you see the maps? and get directions and stuff?

The companies aren't necessarily the "best companies"... they just paid a lot of money to pop up when you searched for them. I know because its my job to manipulate the search.

Lots of good companies have the budget to show up, but unfortunately, so do unethical companies.

#60

Fossilization is actually quite rare. It takes a very specific set of circumstances for something to even become a fossil let alone have it survive to the modern day.

This means there are likely millions of species of animals, plants, and other organisms that we will simply never know about because they either:

A. Never fossilized.

B. Their fossils were destroyed (either naturally or by humans).

C. The fossils are in an area not easily accessible to humans, like at the bottom of the ocean or under the ice in Antarctica.

For all we know, there could’ve been an advanced civilization that existed before humans, but we may never know about them because any trace of their existence has been lost to time.

Kinda makes you wonder if WE’RE gonna end up that way...

#61

Judith Barsi, the little girl who voice acted Ducky in The Land Before Time was murdered by her father at age ten. All they found of her and her mother were charred remains. The father shot himself after.

#62

Loads of people have their ashes scattered at Disneyland - the place is essentially one giant haunted house

#63

According to quantum mechanics, there's a small chance the whole universe will suddenly disappear in the next 5 seconds also there's a small chance the universe, the earth, all the people, the buildings, whatever device you are reading this from, your posts, the replies, the whole internet, your knowledge of everything, your personality, your memories, your existence, etc... was created just 1 second ago

#64

There is a whale called 52 Blue that only sings at that frequency meaning it can’t communicate with other whales. It is nicknamed the loneliest whale on the planet.

#65

Touching an AM radio broadcast tower will kill you, and not only will it kill you, but it will hurt the entire time you're dying. Number one, the voltage is so high that your hands would instantly clamp to whatever charged part of the tower you touched, then because it's oscillating at a frequency your cells can't feel you wouldn't be able to feel yourself being electrocuted until it starts to heat your body from the current, and you'd also be able to hear your body acting as a "speaker" where you'd literally be able to hear whatever was on that particular station as you die.

#66

The next Einstein could have very well been born, but never had access to proper resources to grow

#67

Your voice on recordings is actually how your voice really sounds. Your voice in your head is a bit muffled and deeper because the sound travels through your head instead of the air. That's why it feels weird to hear your own voice recorded.

#68

The sun is becoming hotter and in about a billion years, the oceans will boil off and our atmosphere will be unable to sustain any form of life.

#69

Dolphins in captivity usually commit suicide by suffocating themselves.

Famous example: Flipper

#70

It takes longer to say WWW than it does to say World Wide Web

#71

As dead bodies decay, they "burp" or release gasses.

For this reason, caskets and mausoleums need to be ventilated so that the gas can escape.

#72

There could be some planets swimming in the deep space without suns and even without galaxies. and you can't even see stars from their surface. absolute darkness.

#73

Jesus may love you, but everyone else thinks you’re an idiot