Slash Facts

Honey found in Egyptian tombs is still edible after 3,000 years - its low water and high acidity make it hostile to microbes.

Octopuses have three hearts; two pump blood to the gills, one to the body - and the body one stops when they swim.

There are more legal chess positions than atoms in the observable universe by many orders of magnitude.

Botanically, bananas are berries and strawberries are not - berries develop from a single ovary.

A day on Venus lasts longer than its year: it rotates once every 243 Earth days but orbits the Sun in 225.

Sharks predate trees - the first sharks appeared about 450 million years ago, trees roughly 390 million years ago.

The Eiffel Tower can grow about 15 cm taller on hot days as the iron expands.

Your brain is about 2% of your body weight but uses roughly 20% of its energy.

Wombats produce cube-shaped poop, which stops it rolling away and marks territory reliably.

Lightning strikes the Empire State Building around 25 times per year.

Hot water can freeze faster than cold under some conditions - the Mpemba effect is real but still debated.

There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way - about 3 trillion versus 100-400 billion.

We use only 10% of our brains

→ Myth. Brain imaging shows virtually all regions are active over a day.

Lightning never strikes the same place twice

→ Myth. Tall structures get hit repeatedly - the Empire State dozens of times a year.

Goldfish have 3-second memories

→ Myth. They remember for months and can learn tricks.

The Great Wall is visible from space with the naked eye

→ Myth. Astronauts confirm it's too narrow.

Sugar makes children hyperactive

→ Myth in double-blind trials - parental expectation drives the perception.

Hair and nails grow after death

→ Myth. Skin dehydrates and retracts, exposing more of what's already there.

Bats are blind

→ Myth. Most species see well; many also echolocate.

Dogs see only black and white

→ Myth. They see blues and yellows, just not reds and greens.

You swallow 8 spiders a year in your sleep

→ Myth. Spiders avoid you; you're warm, noisy breathing and vibration.

Cracking knuckles causes arthritis

→ Myth. Large studies found no arthritis link; the sound is gas cavitation.

Vikings wore horned helmets

→ Myth. That's 19th-century opera costume design.

Einstein failed maths

→ Myth. He mastered calculus by 15; the rumor misreads a grading-system change.