If you’re a geek like me, then you might be curious to know about a lot of random titbits that aren’t common knowledge. The world is a vast and beautiful place with so much to offer that you’ll actually be surprised at how some things seem fake, yet they're actually true.
1. Alex Honnold and His Mom
While everyone has heard about Alex Honnold, who dared to climb the infamous El Capitan via the route Freerider, leaving the climbing world speechless, but not many people know about his passionate and courageous mom. She started climbing at the whopping age of 60, becoming the oldest person to climb El Capitan with a rope! But that’s not all. She went ahead and broke her own record at the age of 70. You’re never too old to follow your heart.
2. Diamond Rain
On the planets of Saturn and Jupiter, it rains diamonds as big as some of those designer brands pop stars are wearing these days. Lightning storms turn methane into carbon, hardening graphite and eventually into diamonds. It's time to build a spaceship and head up there.
3. The Immortal Jellyfish
If you thought immortality was just confined to our favorite Greek mythology books, you were wrong. The hydroid species of jellyfish can revert to their younger version whenever they reach maturity. Its discovery took the scientific community by storm because it challenged the limits of cellular regeneration as we knew it.
4. Uranus’s Clouds Stink
The composition of the gas surrounding the planet is hydrogen sulfide. This gives it a rotten egg smell. But what’s funny is that this same smell is found in flatulence in smaller amounts. If you’re planning on going to outer space, you'd better pack some perfume.
5. Sound Is Just Vibration
Have you ever wondered what sound really is? Well, let me tell you. Sound is produced as a result of an object vibrating. When the air particles around the object move, it causes other particles to move as well, leading to a chain reaction. This can also be observed when two vocal cords respond similarly as air is pushed inside our lungs.
6. Portland Dumps Millions of Gallons of Water
All the way back in 2014, Portland, Oregon, decided to dump a whopping 38 million gallons of water. Why? Because some teenage boys apparently urinated in the open reservoir. Though the water was not deemed that harmful, it was still decided that most of it would be thrown out.
7. Bangladesh Has More People Than Russia
Bangladesh is a country that has a relatively small surface area. But that doesn’t mean that they don’t have a significant population. Russia covers a pretty sizable portion of the world, yet they still have 20 million fewer people living there than Bangladesh.
8. A Con Man Sold the Eiffel Tower
One of the most prominent and cunning con men in history, Victor Lustig convinced some metal scrap dealers that the entire Eiffel Tower was being bid upon, and they believed him. When controversy about the rusting of the tower was going around, Lustig used it to his advantage to convince the poor blokes to pay him a staggering 70,000 dollars.
9. Tigers Can Stand Up Even When They’ve Passed Away
I know this sounds a bit bizarre, but it is, in fact, true. Tigers are a force of nature, and their muscular, solid legs make them very resilient. Even when they’re hurt and wounded, they can still stand tall. But what’s even more astounding is how they can remain upright even after they’ve passed away.
10. Harvard University’s Establishment Predates Calculus
Harvard is a prestigious Ivy League university founded all the way back in 1636. But calculus theories like Isaac Newton's “Principia” came out in 1687. This means that it was about 50 years after the institution opened its doors.
11. Austria’s Underwater Park
As soon as springtime hits, an Austrian Park named Green Lake gets fully submerged in water that’s 30 feet high. This is because snow and ice melt from the nearby Hochschwab mountain. Scuba divers from around the world come to explore the benches, trees, and trails underwater. But during the winter season, you can walk around and explore the place like usual.
Related: 16 Fantastic Things to do in Graz, Austria’s Second City
Source: Quora.
