Lifestyle

Wiekes weetjes: 10 facts that sound completely fake

By Wieke Veenboer | #!30Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:45:55 +0200+02:005530#30Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:45:55 +0200+02:00-10Europe/Amsterdam3030Europe/Amsterdam202330 18am30am-30Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:45:55 +0200+02:0010Europe/Amsterdam3030Europe/Amsterdam2023302023Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:45:55 +02004510456amSunday=9#!30Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:45:55 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam6#06-18-2023#!30Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:45:55 +0200+02:005530#/30Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:45:55 +0200+02:00-10Europe/Amsterdam3030Europe/Amsterdam202330#!30Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:45:55 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam6#

Yesss, it's that time of the week again to delight you with some fun facts. This time I've gathered some more in my favorite category: facts that you really can't believe. But do believe it, because these are all one hundred percent true. You can really impress with these.

1. If you looked at one star every second, it would take you 3000 years to see all the stars in the Milky Way
I am amazed every time at how vast the universe is… To make it even weirder: there are twenty times as many universes in the universe as there are stars in the Milky Way. Mind is blown.

2. Frogs swallow with their eyes
A frog swallows something by closing its eyes — the muscles of their eyes are used to push the food down their throat.

3. Hippos have an average body fat percentage of two percent
Hippos are not fat but really bizarrely muscular and that’s why they are also a lot faster than you would expect. What I find amusing is that they cannot swim: they sink to the bottom and then walk along the bottom.

4. Not everyone sees the future ‘in front’ of them
When we talk about the past and the future, the former is behind you and the latter is in front of you, right? But that’s not the case in every language. For example, in Malagasy (the language spoken in Madagascar) it is actually the other way around. The reasoning for this is that the past is in front of you because you can see it (i.e. you know what has happened) and the future is a mystery, something you cannot see, just like you cannot see what is behind you.

5. Ostriches can feel attracted to humans
In the case of ostriches raised in captivity, researchers have found that they find humans more attractive and then try to seduce them.

6. The world's largest pyramid is in Mexico
The pyramid of Giza in Egypt is the longest, but the one in Cholula, Mexico, is the largest. The Tlachihualtepetl (try pronouncing that) is 66 meters high and 450 by 450 meters wide.

7. Elephants are the only mammals that cannot jump
And also the only ones that have four knees.

8. Woodpeckers use their tongue to protect their brains when they peck against a tree
And that looks quite strange from the inside.

9. When a male honeybee has an orgasm, his balls explode
And then he dies. Romantic.

10. Dolphins use pufferfish to get high
For humans, pufferfish are extremely toxic, but for dolphins, their poison acts like drugs; that’s why they often play with these kinds of fish (they release the poison when they are attacked) and then hang around nicely stoned.