10 Facts That Show a World We Haven’t Seen Yet

We can find anything we want on the internet, read every article out there, watch any video we choose, and see the entire universe from our phones. But even after all this, the world still finds ways to amaze us and prove that life is full of interesting discoveries, captivating adventures, and new stories.

Bright Side was stunned by these 10 facts and couldn’t help but tell you about them.

1. There is a breed of chicken called a “Silkie.”

It looks like a toy, but aside from the feathers that look like silk, this breed has some other unusual qualities: this chicken has black skin and bones, blue earlobes, and 5 toes on each foot (other chickens have only 4). Baby chickens cost anywhere between $3 to $10 each, and adult hens, $15 to $50 each.

2. This is a real heart from a blue whale.

This is the only heart of a blue whale we’ve ever had because dead whales usually sink. But when one blue whale washed ashore in 2014, researchers did all they could to extract the heart and save it from decomposition. This heart weighs 440 lb, it’s the size of an average car, and every beat moves 220 liters of blood.

3. If butterflies have a chance, they will drink your blood.

Maybe you already know that butterflies can drink turtle tears. But these insects have another dark secret: all kinds of butterflies will drink blood if they find it. The thing is, blood contains minerals and nutrients, for example, glucose and sodium. Butterflies need a lot of these elements and they are hard to come by.

4. Thor’s hammer exists, and only the worthy ones can lift it. But there is a trick you should know about.

English inventor Arthur C. Clarke once said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” And this is true. Allen Pan created Thor’s Hammer and demonstrated how it works on YouTube. The hammer uses powerful electric magnets that won’t let you lift it. There is a fingerprint scanner on the handle, and if your fingerprint is in the database, you will be able to lift the hammer.

5. Fremdschämen is the German word we all need.

Fremdschämen is a German word that describes the state when you feel awkward because of someone else’s behavior. It is used when you feel embarrassed for somebody else.

6. Scientifically speaking, cats behave like liquids.

In physics, a liquid is something that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a (nearly) constant volume independent of pressure. Cats can fit this definition. Sometimes, they act like liquids and can take any shape.

A study was conducted in order to understand how this process occurs. And this researcher received the Ig Nobel Prize in 2017.

7. The KFC mystery was revealed.

It’s known that the KFC chicken recipe contains 11 herbs and spices. Not long ago, a Twitter user found that the official KFC account only follows the 5 Spice Girls and 6 men named Herb. Mike tweeted his discovery right away and it went viral.

KFC thanked Mike for his detective work and sent him a big painting with Mike himself on Colonel Sanders’ back with a beautiful forest in the background.

8. Rap battles appeared in the fifth century.

Rap battles are competitions where people try to humiliate each other with the best punches. Interestingly, in the 5th century, there were competitions called “flyting.” During this competition, 2 poets were supposed to insult each other using classical poems. And the loser was the one with the worst poetry.

9. The smallest snowman in the world is only 2.7 microns tall.

To put this in perspective: the thickness of a human hair is 75 microns. In order to create such a snowman, scientists put 3 spheres of silica on top of each other. They were 0.9 microns in size. The eyes and the mouth were made with an ion beam and the arms and the nose were made of platinum. See, science can be fun!

10. Crocodiles and alligators don’t die because of old age, and continue growing forever.

Some animals have what is called “negligible senescence” which means that theoretically, they can live forever. For example, crocodiles cannot die of old age and they will continue to grow eating more and more food. However, you are very unlikely to see a 1000-year-old crocodile. Most animals die because of hunger, disease, and other predators.

Did you know any of these facts before you read the article? Which of them do you think was the most interesting?