36 Pieces of trivia that are slightly unsettling but true

I’m saying this without even a hint of sarcasm: learning new things is so cool. There are so many wild fun facts about the world that blow my mind on a regular basis. However, there are insane facts that are the exact opposite of fun.

These are some of the most disturbing and terrifying not-fun facts we found.

Dead People Can Get Goosebumps

After a person dies, the chemical adenosine triphosphate, which provides the energy to cells, depletes and lactate builds up in the muscles.

This process causes the muscles to stiffen, triggering rigor mortis and causing the arrector pili muscles to stiffen, giving rise to goosebumps.

I Suddenly Feel Bad For Exterminators

People who handle cockroaches develop allergies to them. This usually prevents them from drinking pre-ground coffee because of the cockroaches that sometimes get ground in with the large batches of beans.

Octopuses Deserve The Mother Of The Year Award

Deep-sea octopus eggs take over five years to hatch. During that time, the mama octopus never leaves the “nest” to feed (meaning she doesn’t eat for five years!). She normally dies when the babies finally hatch.

Suddenly, I Want To Get More Sleep

Fatal familial insomnia exists. It’s a rare, incurable prionic brain disease that progressively destroys your brain’s ability to sleep. Eventually, you stop sleeping altogether, go insane, have seizures, and die.

I Feel So Sad About Old Whales

Whales don’t die of old age so much as they eventually just don’t have enough strength to resurface to breathe. Instead, they slowly drown while swimming because they can’t get new oxygen.

You Ever Just Leave A Deadly Disease Lying Around?

In 2014, the CDC found a smallpox sample that they had lost without even realizing it. It was just lying around in some random storeroom at an unsecured government lab outside Washington, D.C. The smallpox virus was initially declared eradicated from the world in 1980.

Sunburns Are More Intense Than I Thought

When your skin becomes red from spending too much time under the sunlight, it’s basically because your skin cells are committing suicide to avoid becoming cancerous. That’s why sunburns turn into dead skin that just peels off.

Kissing Is A Lot Less Cute To Me Now

Your lips are made of the same skin type and texture as your anus, which objectively makes sense based on the structure of the digestive system. However, I still hate this information.

Guess What I’m Never Touching!

Touching an AM radio broadcast tower will not only kill you, it will also hurt the entire time you’re dying since your body gets incorporated into the electric current. Weirdly, you’d be able to hear whatever was on that particular station as you die.

In Case You Need An Emergency Snack…

The average human tooth contains 36 calories. Just about everything has some level of caloric value—the ability to provide energy for the body.

I’m just worried about why someone wanted to know how much energy they could get by eating teeth.

I’m Not Crying, You Are!

There is a whale called 52 Blue that only sings at a frequency of 52 Hertz, meaning it can’t communicate with other whales. It is nicknamed the “loneliest whale on the planet.”

Finally, A Good Reason To Be Short

The most common cause of death for tall people is a heart attack, brought on by the fact that their hearts just naturally have to work harder than average to circulate all that blood through that larger body.

Nature Is Beautiful, But Also Disgusting

Brushtail possums are coprophagic (they eat their own poop). They need their food to go through their digestive system twice to get all the nutrients.

They’re nocturnal, so they spend the night eating eucalyptus and other plant leaves and flowers. During the day, they curl up into a little ball with their mouths close to their bums and eat their poop as it comes out in. While they’re out the next night, they poop again.

I’m Only Swimming In Oceans Now

Brain-eating amoebas exist and are also pretty commonly found in freshwater ponds and lakes. Only 4 people have survived them infiltrating and attacking their brains in the last 50 years.

Babies Have Better Moustaches Than Most Men I Know

Unborn babies grow a mustache in the womb, which then spreads to cover the entire body. The baby then eats the entire hair, called lanugo, and excretes it after birth with their first bowel movement, which is a substance called meconium.

Even The Dead Are Burping

As dead bodies undergo the process of decaying, they “burp,” or release gasses. It’s for this reason that caskets and mausoleums need to be ventilated so that the gas can escape.

I Think This Is The Past Incarnation Of My Ex-Wife

A single female tiger, known as the Champawat Tiger, was responsible for the deaths of approximately 436 people in Nepal and the Kumaon area India from the late 1800s until she was hunted and killed in 1907.

Great—I’m Now Afraid Of My Own Brain

Anyone can have a brain aneurysm at any age. It doesn’t matter what state your health is in: you could be perfectly healthy on paper and still experience a brain aneurysm without any prior indication.

There Are More Murders Happening Than You Think!

It’s predicted that there are 50 active serial killers at any given time in the US. Many serial killers fly under the radar because police information isn’t often shared effectively across jurisdictions; for example, it’s believed that the Zodiac Killer could’ve been caught 50 years ago if not for this issue.

Sorry, Lefties!

Left-handed people are most likely to die in an accident involving a power tool. This is due to the fact that most power tools are designed by right-handed people with right-handed people in mind.

That’s It! No More Dolphin Captivity!

Dolphins in captivity usually commit suicide by suffocating themselves. They do this by consciously deciding to not breathe until they die, literally holding their breath so hard it kills them. They’re awake and aware the entire time.

Where Would It Even Fit?

Tapeworms can grow to be up to 32 feet long inside of your body, and they eat half of what you eat. In fact, some people have even tried to ingest tapeworms to help with weight loss.

Not A Fan Of This Fact

South Koreans have a superstition called “fan-death,” where if you keep a fan on too long it will kill you. The term’s origin is much darker.

In the past, when people committed suicide and the coroner had to determine the cause of death, they would say it was “death by fan” to save the face of the family and not cause them shame.

Imagine How Many More Dinosaurs There Are

Fossilization is actually quite rare. It takes a very specific set of circumstances for something to even become a fossil, let alone have it survive to the modern day, meaning there are likely millions of species of animals, plants, and other organisms that we will never know about.

Not-So-Famous Last Words

The most common last words that are said before dying are: “Something doesn’t feel right” or “Something is wrong.” Of course, the words are followed by a severe medical issue, such as a heart attack or stroke.

People Who Want To Travel Through Space Are Brave

There’s a planet where it rains molten glass horizontally at 5,400 mph (8,700 km/h). Its official name is HD 189733b and it was first discovered in 2005 using the Hubble telescope.

Well, That Is Disheartening

You have a higher chance of dying on the way to get a lottery ticket than actually winning. That said, I’m still going to buy the occasional lottery ticket anyway.

I’m Officially Never Speaking Again

Your voice on recordings is actually how your voice sounds to others. Your voice in your head is a bit muffled and deeper because the sound travels through your head instead of the air.

I Knew I Didn’t Trust Horses

Despite all the pictures of them happily living in pastures and galloping around, horses are actually omnivores and consume both meat and plants. They’ve been known to eat birds and small rodents.

Well, I Think That Might Have Ruined The Movie

Marlin in Finding Nemo should really turn into a woman and Nemo becomes the husband. Schools of clownfish have a hierarchy with a female fish at the top; if she dies, the most dominant male changes sex and takes her place.

That’s Not What It’s Like In The Movies…

If you’re performing CPR/chest compressions properly in real life, you’re going to hear a loud crack. That’s the sound of the sternum and/or ribs breaking under the pressure of your compressions and it’s totally normal.

Science Scares Me Sometimes

According to quantum mechanics, there’s a small chance the whole universe will suddenly disappear in the next five seconds. There’s also a small chance that the universe was created just one second ago.

Mickey Really Be Living In A Graveyard

Disneyland is actually a popular destination that people visit in order to scatter the ashes of their late loved ones. Think about that next time you so hear “It’s A Small Word” play.

Algae Is The Real MVP

Trees actually only produce roughly 20% of the world’s oxygen. The other 80% is created by mass amounts of algae called phytoplankton, so simply planting trees isn’t as effective in conservation efforts as you might think.

Only Seems Fair

This one depends on what you find “fun,” but King Henry VIII (the one who had two of his wives beheaded) exploded in his coffin while the grave was being dug, and the mess was cleared up by stray dogs.

I Think I Need To Lie Down For A While

Everyone can perceive you and have their own unique mental image of who you are as a person and that none of them, not every your own perception, is completely accurate.