25 Strange and Fun Facts About Our World and Universe

Organic Oddities

Strangely, some of the foods we eat on a regular basis have their own quirky characteristics. For instance, did you know that bananas are actually classified as berries, despite their fruit-like appearance, while strawberries are considered berries too? Here's how they stack up: botanically speaking, a true berry has seeds inside the flesh. Bananas fit the bill, but strawberries, with their seeds on the outside, don't.

Natural Wonders

Our planet has some incredible natural wonders that often go unnoticed. Take the Amazon rainforest for example. It's known as 'the lungs of the Earth' because it alone produces 20 percent of the world's oxygen. Then there's Crater Lake in Oregon, a lake formed by a volcanic eruption about 7,700 years ago. It holds the title for being the deepest lake in the United States.

Astronomical Oddities

The universe is filled with many surprising and unusual facts. Did you know that on Venus, a day lasts longer than a year? Venus takes about 243 Earth days to rotate once on its axis, but it takes only 225 Earth days to orbit the Sun. This means its day is longer than its year. Another fact that might seem out of place is that Antarctica is a desert. Despite its icy surface, it receives less precipitation than the Sahara Desert.

Animal Adorableness

The animal kingdom is full of surprising facts that tickle our curiosity. Koalas, for instance, have fingerprints so similar to humans that they can even confuse crime scene investigators! Another one is that jellyfish have survived the majority of Earth’s mass extinctions and have been around for over 500 million years. They have a collective name, too! A group of flamingos is called a “flamboyance,” which perfectly describes their vibrant and striking appearance.

Biomimicry and Communication

Nature is its own laboratory of survival strategies. Trees, for instance, have an elaborate underground system of fungi to share nutrients and warnings about pests. Speaking of sharing, Octopuses have a surprising and unique physiological characteristic; they have three hearts. Two hearts pump blood to the gills, while the third one circulates blood to the rest of the body. And while we often think of our bodies’ digestive processes as harshly aggressive, our stomachs actually regenerate lining every three to four days to protect against the acidity of digestion.

Human Intricacies

The human body is a complex and fascinating machine. For instance, the stomach regenerates its lining every three to four days. Human saliva contains a natural painkiller called opiorphin, which is said to be more potent than morphine. Our brain generates enough electricity to power a small light bulb, producing about 20 watts of power from our neurons. And in an amusing historical fact, a jockey won a horse race posthumously in 1923, with Frank Hayes remaining on his horse until the finish line despite collapsing during the race.

Historical Anomalies and Science

History is replete with bizarre stories. For example, the Eiffel Tower can expand up to 6 inches during the summer due to thermal expansion. And didn’t you know that sharks are older than trees, having been around for over 400 million years, whereas the first trees emerged about 350 million years ago? Another historical oddity: the shortest war in history, the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896, lasted just 38 to 45 minutes. There's also the strange case of the Great Fire of London, which helped end the plague by destroying many plague-infested areas.

Earth and Space Facts

Planet Earth and outer space are full of amazing, strange things. A teaspoon of honey is the work of 12 bees, traveling thousands of miles, and the longest-living cells in the human body are brain cells that can last a lifetime. Did you know that Saturn could technically float if you found a bathtub big enough? Lastly, lightning strikes the Earth about 100 times per second, with the U.S. government funding the Global Positioning System (GPS) at a cost of over $2 million per day to ensure its global availability.