17 Facts About the World That Sound Too Bizarre to Be True

If you think that nothing can surprise you anymore, scientists are constantly making progress. As it turns out, more than 80% of animal species, 90% of the ocean, and 99% of microbes in our bodies are still unknown. So it looks like the world around is always ready to amaze us with new discoveries.

We at Bright Side uncovered 17 facts that will prove the world around you still has plenty of surprises up its sleeve.

• Dogs’ paws often smell like corn chips. This phenomenon is harmless and caused by a combination of sweat glands on their feet and bacteria.

• We all know that some animals can regrow their legs or tails, but sea slugs are the champions of regeneration. These creatures can grow a whole new body within a few weeks. The head lives on its own, waiting for the rest of the body to grow again.

• Inventors created textured wallpaper by sealing the air between 2 shower curtains. Their invention can now be found in every home — it’s bubble wrap.

• To remember something easier, researchers suggest closing your eyes, as it is likely to increase the accuracy of your memory.

• People can smell your personality. Turns out that body odor can tell people around us about our extraversion, neuroticism, and dominant personality traits.

• Owls don’t have eyeballs, their eyes are in the shape of tubes. So they aren’t able to move their eyes, and as a result, owls are able to rotate their heads 270 degrees left and right, and 90 degrees up and down.

• Dog people tend to be extraverted and eager to please others, while cat lovers are more introverted and curious.

• The Internet seems to be obsessed with the fact that cats enjoy sitting in squares and circles that owners create on the floor. The research found that this happens because cats imagine boxes, and our ambush hunters just can’t help but enjoy sitting in these pretend things.

• People who feel that they lack influence on events during the day tend to stay up later than they want. This phenomenon is called revenge bedtime procrastination, and it gives people a feeling of control.

• The next time you think about what gift to buy for someone, keep in mind that age plays a crucial role. Studies show that the older people get, the more they value experiences over material goods, while children will be the happiest to receive material goods.

• Doctors have observed cases when a kid’s fingertips could regrow and be fully functional 8 weeks after trauma. The medical community still isn’t sure about why it happens, and it doesn’t always happen, so you still have to be careful not to lose your fingertips.

• Acacia trees have a unique alarm system. When animals start eating their leaves, the tree starts to produce chemicals that are toxic to animals. Other surrounding Acacia trees feel this chemical and start producing it to scare off animals.

• People talk about intelligence and IQ a lot. But it turns out that success is 2 times more dependent on emotional intelligence than on IQ.

• Grapes light on fire when put in the microwave. So it’s better to never place these fruity fireballs in the microwave.

• Humans are the only animals who can blush.

• There’s a 50,000-word novel called “Gadsby” that deliberately avoids the letter “E,” the most common letter in English.

• It turns out that your tongue can smell like a nose can, as it has the same odor receptors that are found in our noses. So it isn’t just the nose that sends the sense of smell to our brain.

What are other curious facts that you know? We’d love to hear about some scientific facts that could knock you down with a feather.