What’s a new fact or something you learned recently?
Posted by CoconutCitizen@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 50 comments
I recently learned the life cycle of a dandelion. I didn’t know the yellow flower and blowy flowers were the same plant at different stages and probably should have known this long before now!!
I’m intrigued to know what else I don’t know!
StardewObsessive@reddit
Australia is wider than the moon. You’re welcome.
JurassicM4rc@reddit
And the moon appears upside down in Australia (compared to how we see it in the northern hemisphere).
doegrey@reddit
And if you look at the moon you could fit every know planet in our solar system between earth and the moon head to tail.
StardewObsessive@reddit
Ok internet stranger, I had to look that one up because (no offence) it sounded genuinely bonkers. And it’s absolutely true. It’s got my brain throwing a syntax error. That has genuinely blown my mind. Thank you for sharing.
Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit
404 moon not found.
doegrey@reddit
Absolutely no offence taken, cause that was exactly my reaction, and I went and checked as well!
GoldenGolgis@reddit
But please don't try.
notanadultyadult@reddit
Wow!
Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit
Due to pregnancy, the average number of skeletons inside the human body is more than one. This makes me feel...creeped out.
JurassicM4rc@reddit
A woman pregnant with a single child will contain more bones than 2 adult humans.
Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit
I don't like it x
CoconutCitizen@reddit (OP)
Ooh, pregnancy fact 2: a woman carrying a female foetus will carry 3 generations from the second trimester - a grandmother, mother, and grandchild are connected within one maternal body.
AlternativeAd1984@reddit
This is hurting my brain, can you explain further please?
CharlotteElsie@reddit
The female foetus will develop ovaries containing eggs.
AlternativeAd1984@reddit
Ah yeah. Thanks!
Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit
Yeah i found that very strange when my sister was having a girl. But then when she was having a boy I also found it very odd that she was growing a penis inside her.
fookreddit22@reddit
Same vein, average amount of eyes, hands, feet etc is less than 2
CaterpillarLake@reddit
Today I learned that if you could fold a piece of paper 50 times, it would be 563 million km thick ie roughy 3.5 times the distance from the earth to the sun
IntelligentCitron917@reddit
It's impossible to fold in half more than 9 times regardless of the size of paper
CaterpillarLake@reddit
I know. Hence the wording “if you could”.
I think it’s only possible to fold paper 7 times but I’m not sure exactly
dbxp@reddit
The inflated healthcosts in the US increase GDP by 5-10% (this is just counting the additional amount compared to European systems). It makes sense when you consider that GDP is just everything you spend money on but that is a very significant figure in terms of jobs and money. If you compare it to other industries the premium that Americans spend on healthcare is far bigger than their entire fossil fuel industry.
OK_LK@reddit
A couple of facts I learnt on a recent jaunt to York...
The UK is the only country where the orange smarties taste of orange
AND
It's the shell that tastes of orange, not the chocolate
ClydeB3@reddit
Pipistrelle bats (the smallest and most common out of the 18 bat species in the UK) weigh around the same amount as a 20p coin (5g)
OK_LK@reddit
One of my favourite events is the moment I can shout / text "the bats are back!" to my husband
There are a few that love to fly about in front of my living room window
MermaidPinUp@reddit
This brought me unimaginable joy
intangible-tangerine@reddit
The 'raspberry' or 'strawberry' jam used in many commerical doughnuts is actually apple sauce based. It's apple sauce with some strawberry or raspberry jam mixed in.
scisteve@reddit
Is that for a runnier consistency?
intangible-tangerine@reddit
It's cheaper and sweeter. Same reason so many fruit juices are apple based.
Decent_Confidence_36@reddit
Ton618 the largest black hole we know is equivalent in mass to 66 billion suns..
Also completely unrelated if every person that has ever lived shuffled a deck of cards for the entire time the universe has existed the chances of 2 being the same is practically 0.. the number is 52! And it’s fascinating
RecentTwo544@reddit
I'm utterly woeful at maths, got an E at GCSE, but I was quite proud of myself when I messaged my wife to ask how many poppadoms she wanted when we were ordering a curry for when she got home from work, and she replied (annoyed that I should know as it's always the same) simply with "3!" When she got home I proudly presented her with six poppadoms.
CoconutCitizen@reddit (OP)
That blows my mind. I seriously just cannot compute the vastness of the universe… and now the card shuffle is going to keep me awake tonight trying to comprehend that! 😅
damalan67@reddit
"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space." Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Decent_Confidence_36@reddit
That card shuffle thing is genuinely one of the most mind bending things I’ve learnt.. look into it the actual size of 52! As a number is hard to believe
Ben750@reddit
I think of this fact every time I see a deck of cards. While I know it makes sense mathematically it's still really unbelievable.
Organic_Reporter@reddit
I tried, brain just said nope.
Impressive_Jaguar_70@reddit
For anyone wondering, 52! looks like this:
80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,403,766,975,289,505,440,883,277,824,000,000,000,000
Lost-Engineering-211@reddit
This is an oversimplification but Parkinson's disease is associated with reduced dopamine and is alleviated by medicines that seek to increase dopamine levels.
Psychosis/schizophrenia is associated with increased dopamine and is alleviate by medicines that seek to decrease dopamine levels.
Therefore, the side effects of Parkinsons disease medications can appear to be like Pyschosis/Schizophrenia symptoms and, well, you can make your own deduction about the side effects for psychosis/schizophrenia meds!
Illustrious-Plum1766@reddit
Then what about ADHD? Chronic lack of dopamine
StardewObsessive@reddit
Not so much a lack of dopamine as dopamine disregulation in ADHD. Parkinson’s leads to dopamine producing neurons dying off. ADHD is that the neurons don’t release dopamine as they would in people that don’t have ADHD. Science is exploring connections though, apparently there is a small increase in likelihood of Parkinson’s in people with ADHD but more studies are needed before we draw any meaningful conclusions.
Illustrious-Plum1766@reddit
Well that’s just marvellous news for me 😂
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
Me too !
Lost-Engineering-211@reddit
Thanks for the explanation! I did try and look into it as it was a very good question but didn't have time to go over research...and I didn't wanna use any random source for the answer.
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
I have ADHD - my mum had Parkinson's!
Illustrious-Plum1766@reddit
Down voters, I have ADHD. I don’t think about the physiology of it often. Give me a break.
Bossman_Mike@reddit
For obvious reasons it has never been formally prescribed, but the dopamine hit from nicotine has been shown to help too.
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
And weed !
Mental_Body_5496@reddit
My mum had Parkinson's had night hallucinations and obsessions.
I have ADHD ...
Organic_Reporter@reddit
i had a neighbour who had Parkinson's and he used to take ecstasy once or twice a month as a little holiday from it. It was crazy, like his symptoms completely disappeared for a night.
CoconutCitizen@reddit (OP)
Not at all, that is interesting! I find it fascinating, I wish I knew more!
atomicsiren@reddit
The distance in time between now and Eric Cantona going mental and kung fu kicking that Crystal Palace fan is longer than the distance in time between Eric Cantona going mental and kung fu kicking that Crystal Palace and JFK being shot.