All 6 odd truths
Everything on the site, in one list. Each one is a question someone actually asks, a straight answer, and a source you can open.
Is a day on Venus longer than a year on Venus?
Yes. Venus takes about 243 Earth days to spin once on its axis, but only about 225 Earth days to travel all the way around the Sun. A Venusian day is longer than a Venusian year.
Do octopuses really have three hearts?
Yes. An octopus has three hearts: two branchial hearts that push blood through the gills, and one systemic heart that sends it around the body. The systemic heart stops beating when the octopus swims, which is part of why they would rather walk.
Do human beings glow in the dark?
Yes, faintly. Human bodies emit a small amount of visible light as a by-product of metabolism. Researchers imaged it with ultra-sensitive cameras in 2009. It is roughly a thousand times weaker than the human eye can detect, so nobody has ever seen it.
Did Cleopatra live closer in time to the Moon landing than to the building of the Great Pyramid?
Yes. The Great Pyramid was built around 2560 BC. Cleopatra died in 30 BC — about 2,500 years later. The Apollo 11 Moon landing was in 1969, roughly 2,000 years after her death. She is nearer to us than to the pyramids by about 500 years.
How much does a cloud weigh?
An average cumulus cloud holds roughly 500,000 kilograms of water — about 1.1 million pounds, or 550 tons. It floats because the air underneath it is denser than the cloud is, not because the cloud is light.
Does honey ever go bad?
Sealed honey does not spoil. Archaeologists have recovered pots of honey from ancient Egyptian tombs, sealed for over 3,000 years, still edible. Three things do it: almost no water, an acidic pH, and hydrogen peroxide produced by an enzyme from the bees.