Not everything that you read on the internet is true. In a similar vein, far from everything that sounds made up is fake. Fact is often stranger than fiction, and some truly bizarre things about life on Planet Earth are closer to reality than myth.

Reddit user u/Mmemyo sparked an interesting discussion on r/AskReddit. They invited everyone to share the “stupid facts” they knew which might sound suspicious and weird but are actually correct. We’ve collected the most intriguing ones to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to check them out! Hopefully, you'll learn something new.

#1

There are more planes in the ocean than boats in the sky

Image credits: vexix

#2

For every single human being on Earth, there are 2.5 MILLION ants.

Yes, this means that there are about 20 QUADRILLION ants on this planet.

If the ants decide to take over, are you strong enough to handle the 2.5 million that you'll be responsible for killing? If you've got kids, you might have to kill more because a 2 year old isn't going to accomplish a god damn thing if millions of ants are marching towards them.

Image credits: PM-ME-FOR-CATNIP

#3

There are 5.87 Popes per square mile in the Vatican City.

Image credits: henfeathers

Misinformation can spread just as quickly as—if not faster than!—legitimate info. So before you go sharing any random factoids or news snippets that you found in a dimly-lit corner of the digital realm, slow down and think about the claims. Double-checking every tiny little piece of info would be exhausting, so you need to consider the (un)reliability of the source.

Legitimate news sources that employ fact-checkers and editors, and have high journalistic standards are far more trustworthy than those that don’t. So you’re better off relying on sources like AP, the BBC, Reuters, and The New York Times, rather than random tabloids that survive on gossip and manufactured drama. You should consider what the goal of an outlet is, whether it’s to report on the news or to generate outrage (and clicks!).

In the meantime, you can consult fact-checking websites like Snopes which do most of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to outlandish claims.

#4

I’m closer to being a millionaire than Bill Gates is.

Image credits: i_am_cullivan

#5

6X9+6+9=69

Image credits: DushyantKhator

#6

Honey never spoils

Image credits: willyw0nka_

The core idea is that nobody should blindly accept anything as “fact” without a pinch of salt. According to the Macdonald-Kelce Library at the University of Tampa, readers should also check the author’s credentials. Not only should the author be well-versed in the topic they’re writing about but they should also have a history of legitimate reporting.

Of course, everyone makes factual mistakes from time to time. The best journalists admit theirs and correct them. The worst of the bunch, however, report on semi-legitimate hearsay with impunity and don’t bother to provide a broader context for their news stories.

#7

Bananas are berries, but strawberries are not true berries (in botanical terms berries are defined by their structure, and bananas fit the bill while strawberries don't)

Image credits: willyw0nka_

#8

A man named John Young brought a corned beef sandwich to space illegally and shared it with his colleague on board and he would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for the recording of them talking about the sandwich.

Image credits: Watermelonseeds8U

#9

Someone named the fear of long words hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.

Image credits: Fynx_HD

The more dramatic and emotionally charged a fact, claim, or topic, the more careful you should be. If the author leans heavily toward a particular point of view, it’s likely that they’re biased and ignoring some of the nuances. Life is rarely black and white, and most stories have at least two sides. 

A good rule of thumb is that you should be very skeptical about sensational news. Try to build a broader picture of what’s going on by reading a wide range of sources from outlets with different leanings. And if your gut tells you that something is far too good or bad to be true, then it probably is. 

#10

18% of adult Americans claim they have seen or been in the presence of a ghost.

Image credits: OJimmy

#11

Less than 40% of great white sharks have filed their 2022 tax returns

Image credits: Due_Essay447

#12

We thought to put wheels on luggage after we got to the moon.

The lighter the Roast the more caffeine coffee has.

A new car costs less than it's equal weight in Hamburgers.

Image credits: Chance-Personality50

#13

A lot of averages.

Example: The average number of legs humans have is less than 2.

Image credits: Uilamin

#14

Pink is really just a light shade of red, but we think of it as a distinct color because we have a word for it that stuck. Not all languages have that. In Italian, they have a similar word for light blue, called “azzurro,” and it’s so common they actually think of it as a separate color from blue. We have the word “azure” in English, but it isn’t nearly as common, so we tend to think of that color as just a shade of blue.

Image credits: Atheist_Alex_C

#15

Pirates are why the US isn't on the metric system.

Image credits: DarthDregan

#16

There are more Hydrogen atoms in a single molecule of water than there are stars in the entire Solar System.

Image credits: Wadsworth_McStumpy

#17

Im always seeing my nose ..its just that my brain ignores it

Image credits: PYROMANIA6

#18

Cows have best friends and can become stressed when they're separated from them.

Image credits: berrybandz_

#19

The longest place name in the world is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

Image credits: x_Fairy_Daisy

#20

New Mexico (the state) got its name before Mexico (the country)

Image credits: HiThisIsMichael

#21

Cleopatra is closer to the invention of the iPhone than the building of the Giza pyramids.

Image credits: feedg

#22

If you open your eyes in a completely dark room, the name of the color you will see is eigengrau, a kind of dark grey shade

Image credits: Wisanbon

#23

There are clouds of alcohol floating around in space.

Image credits: Unexpected_Waffles

#24

Sloths are most vulnerable to predators when pooping. They have to climb down to the trees to the floors floor, and it is a bit of a process for them to actually poop leaving them at risk of predators.

Image credits: Faultiergeist

#25

Coffee is not a bean it is the pit of the coffee plant which is a fruit.

Image credits: Chance-Personality50

#26

- [ ] Of the few people who have top secret clearance at the White House one of them is the person who writes all of the party invitations.

Image credits: Eejaypea14

#27

You can go the rest of your life without breathing.

Image credits: Janube

#28

The vikings, who came from Scandinavia, used iron as their main ingredient for forging weaponry, but it was also common practice to add the bones of dead animals to the mix. The belief was that it would infuse the weapon with the spirit of the creature, making it stronger, but they ended up making a primitive version of steel because of the carbon in the bones mixing with the iron making the weapon stronger, just as they thought it would. 

Image credits: Nameless_Chad

#29

The original name for the color orange was "geoluhread," which means "yellow-red" in Old English

Image credits: willyw0nka_

#30

Bee keeper here. You can survive off of only Bee pollen and a roughage (provided you have water). You will literally never need to know that. Firstly because of how you collect pollen, and secondly and far more concerning, the amount of wild Honey Bees is quickly dropping.

#31

The Earth is not round. It is an oblate spheroid.

#32

Playing Tetris up to 6 hours after a trauma can help against PTSD

#33

The Eiffel Tower can be 15 centimeters taller during the summer due to thermal expansion.

#34

Bald eagles are not actually bald. Balde is old english for white.

#35

A bone “break” is the same as a “fracture.” Fracture is just the medical term. It does not have any correlation with the severity.

#36

Crows can be trained to bring you money

#37

Some invader (don't remember specifics) sent a letter to sparta saying that "If I invade Lakonia you will be destroyed, never to rise again" and the Spartans sent a letter back with a single word in it. "If" 

#38

Apparently not many people know that 3rd degree burns are the worst, most think it's the other way around

#39

Pirates wear eye patches to see better in the dark (covered eye doesn't get used to sunlight and is more sensitive after uncovering).

#40

Don't know if it's stupid. But 1 ding on the elevator going up and 2 doing down

#41

You have to kill about 400 people to get enough iron from their blood to make a sword

#42

When basketball was first invented, at every game, they would have a man who would go up a ladder to retrieve the ball after every basket. It took them around 20 years to figure out maybe it would be a good idea to cut the bottom of the basket out to make retrieving the ball a lot easier. 20 years!!!

#43

A pound of feathers, indeed, does weigh more than a pound of gold. Gold is measured in troy weight which is 12 ounces to a pound, whereas feathers would use 16 ounces to a pound.

#44

There are no outlets of Five Guys on the moon

#45

The Atari 2600's release date and the last execution by guillotine happened less than 24 hours apart.

#46

Redheads require more anesthesia than non-redheads.

#47

Male rhesus macaques will pay to see pictures of female monkey butts. Payment is in the form of trading their juice rewards.

Image credits: WantAllMyGarmonbozia

#48

A man named Wilmer McLean owned a farm in Manassas, Virginia USA where the very first battle of the US Civil War was fought. After the battle he's like "I'm outta here" and bought a farm way out in the country at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia...where Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses Grant in McLeans living room four years later.

#49

You can loosen a tight jar lid if you clasp and interlock both hands and fingers over the lid and give it a squeeze with both your palms. It should instantly do the pop sound your dad does when he smacked it on the bottom.

#50

A species of frog, the African clawed frog, was the most reliable pregnancy test for a few decades before at-home tests were widely affordable and accessible.

#51

For all of human history every single dead human body has been in earth's atmosphere

Except for a few seconds on June 29, 1971.

#52

You are constantly clapping, but the claps are just spaced differently.

#53

Dung beetles navigate using the Milky Way

#54

Looking at the sun (not recommended) is looking 8 minutes into the past, as it takes eight minutes for sunlight to reach earth.

#55

The average number of skeletons in a human body is more than 1.

#56

Sharks are older than trees

#57

-40C and -40F are the same temperature.

#58

Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon

created the name (Lululemon) to have many L's so that it would sound western to Japanese buyers, who often have difficulty pronouncing the letter. He later remarked that he found it "funny to watch (Japanese speakers) try and say it" and that "it was the only reason behind the name"

#59

The plural of cul-de-sac is culs-de-sac

#60

Incorrect is spelled incorrectly in the Oxford English Dictionary and it’s funny yet annoying

#61

Of all the mammals on earth, 36% are human, 60% are domesticated. That leaves only 4% wild.

#62

There are 43 quintillion atoms in a grain of sand and there are more ways to shuffle a deck of cards than there are atoms in the Milky Way galaxy..

#63

Statistically you are more likely to lease an apartment if the apartment smells like lavender and chamomile than any other scent.

#64

The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell

#65

Racecar spelled backwards is racecar.

#66

Our planet will exist long after humans go extinct

#67

The guy that invented dynamite also created the Nobel Peace Prize. What a bang up guy ?