50 Random Facts That Seem Too Hard To Believe Yet Are Completely True, As Shared On This Encyclopedic Instagram Account
If we allow our curiosity to roam around freely, it can take us to interesting places, both in real life and online. Like the Instagram account 'Facts And Science.'
Just like the famous subreddit 'Today I Learned,' it doesn't limit itself to just one subject and revolves around a vast specter of themes, ranging from human behavior and popular culture to the animal kingdom and beyond.
Being huge fans of trivia, we at Bored Panda decided to go through the account and hand-pick our favorite posts. After all, if 381K people follow it, the content has to be worth it, right?
More info: Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
Um, that's a f****d up law. However I'm happy this little girl now has a loving father.
Going through obscure facts isn't just temporary fun. Turns out, it's also good for our mental health. For example, experts say that playing trivia games can provide a dopamine rush much like gambling, but without the negative effects.
Even if our trivia games differ, the benefits are there. Whether we're playing Trivial Pursuit at home or attending a pub trivia night, the basic premise remains the same: we experience the thrill of providing correct answers to questions about lesser-known facts.
"You get a rush or a neuroreward signal or a dopamine burst from winning,” John Kounios, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of the doctoral program in applied cognitive and brain sciences at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, told Healthline. “I think whenever you’re challenged with a trivia question and you happen to know it, you get a rush. It’s sort of like gambling.”
Kounios said the benefits can also be similar to those of playing a video game.
However, unlike gambling and even video games, Kounios said trivia is generally not a problematic habit.
“I don’t think there are any pitfalls,” he said. “Like anything else that’s fun, it takes up time.”
His little face just made my morning. I'm going to go squeeze my good puppy right this instant.
Famously goes back a long way in the German military tradition- for officers at least- right back to the Austro-Prussian war in the 1860s when supposedly a Prussian officer defended himself from reprimand by arguing that he was simply "following orders". His commander, Prince Frederick Charles, reportedly replied: “His Majesty made you a Major because he believed you would know when not to obey his orders.”
A librarian from California, Sarah Kishler, loves trivia games and enjoys attending a monthly pub trivia night in which a team of librarians participates.
"Learning facts so that I can get better at trivia is definitely a passion of mine," she told Healthline. "Getting a question right is definitely very satisfying to me."
You are absolutely right! Also, your last name indicates you are from, or at least have roots in my home state, so yay! Deu borem karun, Bai.. :-)
Load More Replies...India - just Google the name Akku Yadav [edited to correct typo - thank you Na Schi & Karen Grace!]
Load More Replies...I am actually quite happy that our society went past mob killing. There is a reason for a system
Yes, thete is a reason, but the system had failed these women and community over and over. Something had to be done. They never charged any one in the murder, and the whole city celebrated in the streets when word got around. Akku Yediv was the monsters name. And in this particular case, a lynch mob was necessary.
Load More Replies...I guess the chilli powder was for throwing into the eyes of guards who tried to stop them?
I understand chili powder in the eyes, nose, mouth, and other orifices would be painful. I wonder if chili powder put in a knife wound makes it hurt even worse.
Load More Replies...https://www-indiatimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.indiatimes.com/amp/news/india/serial-rapist-bharat-kalicharan-lynched-in-nagpur-courtroom-555675.html?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16570506810998&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiatimes.com%2Fnews%2Findia%2Fserial-rapist-bharat-kalicharan-lynched-in-nagpur-courtroom-555675.html
I applaud these women. We're not able to do that often enough and the cause of this happens too often. 👏👏👏👏👏
The fact that this is necessary, that it comes to this, and still the govt wont get the message that there's and issue and rapists get 3 years in jail. The worst part is, apart from the crimes being heinous, sex offenders so often continue to commit crimes as soon as they get out. Im all for rehabilitation of inmates, but we need to move on from this stance that rape is like some minor inconvenience. Even just inappropriate touching can be extremely traumatic, and yet it gets brushed off as just a normal part of life
Why aren't sex offenders like rapists and pedophiles, just automatically castrated? There wouldn't be repeat offenders that way. If that were the law, it would stop many of these crimes from happening even once.
Do you really think all pedophilic abuse involves the penis?
Load More Replies...They were not charged. The man had been let off and protected before so they had no trust in their local court system. I suspect the nightmare of trying this mob, when some of the women claiming the murder were actually provably elsewhere at the time was too daunting. Besides, the execution was rather popular, publicly...
Load More Replies...More sentences should be carried out in the courtroom, not after long delays!
The women went home, news spread of the POS death, and the entire city celebrated in the streets. 5 women were initially arrested, but let go quickly due to public reaction. No one was ever charged with his murder. This man was an absolute monster that terrified the whole city and had the justice system on his payroll. These women did the right thing IMO.
Load More Replies...Awesome. If it were the U.S., the ACLU would represent the rapist, CNN would air reports about how it's not his fault because he had a bad childhood, and any woman who attempted vengance would be imprisoned.
Vengeance is not justice. But ... in this case, possibility of recidivism 0%
But why vegetable knives? I feel like that's somehow significant. You know, why not a cleaver or a chef's knife, or my personal favorite, a bird beak paring knife?
Because other knives are probably not popular in India. I try to get my wife to use the chef's knife I use, but she refuses to do it.
Load More Replies..."Vigilantes murder criminal suspect during court trial" Sounds very bad and should certainly not be commended.
There is several news articles about what happened. Apparently, the man in question was a gang leader who used acid attacks, murder, rape, and destruction of homes and property to terrorise a slum in India. They kept reporting his crimes to the police but he was bribing officials who would turn around and tell him who had reported the crimes. They took him into custody for his own protection after he was threatened by a mob when he went after a woman who was trying to get outside help to remove him. When he went into the courtroom and saw one of the women he had raped, he made a comment that he would do it again when he got out (which everyone was expecting to happen). The woman attacked him, telling him that they couldn't both live on the earth. Then other women joined in. Women were arrested for it, but all of the charges were eventually dropped.
Load More Replies...Because the victim goes on suffering on and on, while a murder victim's suffering is over.
Load More Replies...Over the past decade or so, pub trivia nights that are popular in the United Kingdom appear to have grown in other parts of Europe and the United States.
Enthusiasts like Kishler enjoy getting to interact with people at these events, especially compared to electronic trivia games.
She has learned that doing well at these social trivia games gives her "a feeling of validation" and increases her self-esteem.
It looks like some rare steampunk gem that they need to power their cities in a utopian future :D
What a great thing to do! It's often extremely difficult to re-integrate into society when no one will employ you. Well done Gordon
"I love general knowledge, geography, literature, music, science trivia," Kishler explained. "I just love to accumulate knowledge. I like the exercise that it gives my brain and memory."
She doesn't think of herself as a competitive person but nevertheless enjoys getting a bit amped up at trivia games.
“People really like to have some expertise on something and the brain is very good at focusing on things that you’re interested in,” Deborah Stokes, Ph.D., L.P.C., B.C.N., a psychologist in Virginia, who focuses on neurotherapy, also told Healthline.
According to Stokes, learning large bodies of knowledge can often start with trivia. And people who are interested in trivia can be brainy, have a high IQ, and be smart on a lot of levels.
However, Kounios said that people aren’t necessarily better at trivia games just because they’re more educated.
"Some people soak up facts,” Kounios added. "Plenty of people with a lot more education may not remember what they had for breakfast yesterday morning."
"In typical people, my observation, not backed up by any research, is that their interest in trivia is confined to topics that they are generally interested in. So if a person is very interested in history, then they may either seek out history trivia, or they might just naturally pick it up in the course of learning about nontrivial aspects of history."
Stokes also pointed out that trying to retain information about things we're interested in can be like a good exercise for the frontal cortex as the brain ages.
While that's really cool, my mind is hiccuping on the fact that 3 million dollars can only cover 33 students, meaning that a full lecture hall earns a college a couple million of suckers paying 90K plus to try to have a successful life.
Marie Curie is not radiating joy, and Einstein seems relatively bored. Not as much as Niels, though.
I'm sorry 4 years? Is it just me or does that seem like a long time to put some lights in windows connected to a small pc?
Not really. The contract includes a lot of binding clauses, and the final product can only be a noncommercial, short (<45 min), short movie non meant for distribution. It comes with a lot of strings attached regarding the ownership of related IPs, including original ones from the filmmaker, that are transferred to mr. King on agreement of the contract. I am not saying it is a bad thing per se, but the way it is stated here overlooks a lot of the complexity of the contract involved.
The first time I saw the movie I thought it was Timothy Olyphant. It's the second time I realized it was him.
That must be such a pain in the neck when he wants to buy a beer or... do literally anything only grown-ups are supposed to do, really. "Are you lost, sonny jim?" "No, I work here." "Very funny - where are you parents." "I'M THE MANAGER!" "You're playing truant from school, for a more-like." "Ugh."
Note: this post originally had 66 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
Since you didn't say anything posted here was untrue I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted (-2 when I first saw it) for merely stating a basic fact. I used my other phone to Google many of these to garner more information. Although I probably would have done some of this anyway, it would have helped greatly to have the most basic background information included. In fact, that would have even made it easier to Google.
Load More Replies...My favorite hard to believe fact is that 'Sharks are older than trees' I always thought that was so cool
Since you didn't say anything posted here was untrue I'm not sure why you're getting downvoted (-2 when I first saw it) for merely stating a basic fact. I used my other phone to Google many of these to garner more information. Although I probably would have done some of this anyway, it would have helped greatly to have the most basic background information included. In fact, that would have even made it easier to Google.
Load More Replies...My favorite hard to believe fact is that 'Sharks are older than trees' I always thought that was so cool