We all know a few random facts that tend to come in handy during different social situations. But some of the facts we may know are actually really unsettling, weird, or downright gross. Obviously, if you know a fact like that, you’re probably going to share it with other people. Misery loves company, after all.
The people in this Reddit post weren’t afraid to share the deeply unsettling facts they’ve come across over time.
“Within three days of death, the enzymes from your digestive system begin to digest your body.”
Unfortunately, it’s true. Alongside other creatures and organisms, your body will digest itself after you die. Well, in theory, anyway. Considering the fact that most of us will be cremated or embalmed after we die, that won’t happen. But man, what a morbid fact about our bodies.
“All whales eventually lose the energy to surface for oxygen, so they basically just sink and drown.”
It’s sad, but true. Known as a whale fall , the carcass that the whale leaves behind creates a temporary ecosystem for the other creatures living down there. At the very least, the whale’s body goes back to the earth (ocean?). It’s definitely the most “circle of life” thing I’ve heard all day.
“Cadmium poisoning is so horrible the name in Japanese (イタイイタイ病) literally translates to it hurt it hurts.”
“Cadmium poisoning can cause your bones to literally soften ; also it can cause kidney/lung disease, chills, muscle aches, hair loss, and fever.”
On the plus side, it doesn’t look like cadmium is that common in the air or our food. But still, better stay away from the stuff.
“In extreme cases of scurvy, your scars break down and old wounds re-open.”
“Collagen keeps scars together and that collagen maintains itself throughout our lives. But without vitamin C , that process begins to halt and the collagen breaks down.”
Scurvy isn’t very common anymore — considering how many vitamin C-rich foods there are, you’d probably have to try to get it. But, uh, don’t try to get scurvy.
“Mortgage means ‘death pledge.'”
The word comes from French . “Mort” means death, while “gage” means pledge. I guess it was implied that you’d be paying off your house for the rest of your life. I don’t know about you, but that makes being a homeowner a little bit less appealing to me.
“In the 1800s a LOT of dentures were made using the teeth of dead soldiers.”
At one point, they even had a name. Waterloo Teeth were made from the teeth of fallen soldiers in the battle of Waterloo, and were actually somewhat of a fashion statement in 1800s England.
Nowadays, I think we can all agree that it’s probably one of the grossest things ever.
“The symptoms for a heart attack can be a lot milder than what is shown in movies or TV shows.”
While a lot of heart attacks do happen quickly, many can be slow , and the symptoms can seem mild at first.
It’s always a good idea to seek medical attention if you think you may be experiencing a heart attack, even if it doesn’t feel as intense as you’d think it would.
“When you blush so does your stomach.”
More specifically, your stomach lining does. When you get nervous or embarrassed, your stomach lining turns red . Too bad you’ll never be able to see that happen (unless we create x-rays that can show that kind of thing as it happens).
“Bananas are berries but strawberries are not.”
There are plenty of berries out there that we don’t think of as berries, like bananas, eggplants, tomatoes, and avocados. But strawberries aren’t berries . The little “seeds” we see on them are actually the fruit, and the flesh of the berries holds them together. My whole life has been a lie.
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“Cows don’t convert grass directly into protein.”
“They have enormous colonies of bacteria in their stomachs that have population explosions when they eat grass, live, breed, die, and then the cows digest them into protein.”
As it turns out, we’ve all been wrong about how we thought cows worked. To be honest, that’s kind of heavy metal of them.
“There are dogs and cats on YouTube that made more money than you and your parents working your whole life.”
I mean, technically the pet owners are making the money, using the adorable faces of their furry companions. It’s still kind of sad to know that, no matter how much money I make in my lifetime, there will be a cat or dog somewhere that’s made more than me.
“Once symptoms start, rabies has a 100% mortality rate.”
“Fortunately, the incubation period is several months, so get that shot ASAP.”
While there’s no cure for rabies, there are treatments for it. That treatment involves a series of shots that need to be taken as soon as possible after exposure. Don’t delay because as soon as those symptoms start, it’s already too late.
“Cats know when they are going to die, they go and find a small secluded place and pass away.”
It’s more likely that they find a secluded place to rest , and just so happen to die during that process (as upsetting as it is to think about!). But when they’re old and/or sick, they prefer to be alone.
It’s probably better to just cherish every moment with your pet than to think about this too much.
“Baby sharks are born in eggs their mother houses inside of her body.”
This isn’t true for every shark (many species lay their eggs), but they are a rare kind of fish that give birth to live young . I guess this isn’t a mammals only kind of thing.
“Sloths metabolism/digestive system is so slow they can starve to death on a full stomach.”
Sloths are slow, and lack the ability to regulate their own body temperature . This causes their metabolism to act so slowly that they can starve to death, even if their stomach is completely full.
This usually happens in colder temperatures, when a sloths body just can’t keep up.
“One day, you’ll be thought about for the last time, and everyone will forget you.”
I mean, some people in history have been remembered for centuries and even millennia. We still remember Julius Caesar and Ramses the Great, after all. Though, no one will be around to remember what they were like as a person, just their achievements in history. Oof, what a creepy thought.
“An ear of corn will always have an even number of grains.”
Apparently, the average ear of corn has about 800 kernels , all within 16 rows. It’s bonkers how specific that is. Like, do all corn plants just know how many kernels to produce? Or is it just by chance?
“Mummy brown is a paint hue partially made up of ground up Egyptian mummies. There are paintings made of dead people.”
Once you learn about mummy brown , there’s no going back. For some reason, Europeans ground up mummies and turned them into paint pigments.
It was a really popular color in the 16th Century, and was available to purchase and use as late as the 20th Century. Similar colors exist today, but no pigments use mummies anymore (thankfully).
“Tumors can grow teeth.”
There’s a rare kind of tumor out there called a teratoma , and it can grow teeth, as well as other things like hair, or muscle.
Like other kinds of tumors, they can be benign or cancerous, and if you end up having one like this, you’ll probably want to get rid of it.