We should all strive to be curious, open-minded, and seek to get as close to the objective truth as possible. However, this doesn’t change the fact that, well, the truth can often be pretty uncomfortable. You need a lot of emotional resilience to live with the knowledge about how the world really works.
Amateur and veteran researchers took to an online thread to share the scariest science facts that they know that might keep you up at night. We’re featuring some of the most powerful ones, and the odds are that you might wish you could unlearn some of them. Scroll down to shift your perspective on how you see the world.
#1
Scars aren't regular skin; they are actively maintained by the body.
The maintenance requires vitamin C.
If you become deficient, the scar tissue will dissolve.
Don't get scurvy.
The maintenance requires vitamin C.
If you become deficient, the scar tissue will dissolve.
Don't get scurvy.
40points
#2
Polar bears are one of the rare animals that will actively hunt people. Not chase, *hunt*.
EDIT: As a bonus legal fact, in Longyearbyen, Norway, you are required by law to own a large-caliber rifle to defend yourself against polar bears.
EDIT: As a bonus legal fact, in Longyearbyen, Norway, you are required by law to own a large-caliber rifle to defend yourself against polar bears.
38points
#3
It would take you about two hours to walk out of our breathable atmosphere if you could walk straight up.
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37points
According to Scientific American, human beings’ desire to learn new things is partly a preference for novelty. “We tend to seek out new information and experiences, and that adds to what we know. We also like to reduce uncertainty. Information can bring food, safety, relationships, and other physical rewards.”
In a nutshell, curiosity, though dangerous at times, encourages exploration, promotes survival, and allows us to build more accurate models of the world we live in.
However, beyond that, we don’t just enjoy learning for the immediate payoff. We are, fundamentally, curious about the world. We have an innate urge to learn.
#4
The only reason malaria isn't endemic in the USA anymore is mosquito control. Not any new meds or anything like that. We used to have summer malaria epidemics all the way up into the New England states, AS WELL AS Yellow Fever, which is a hemorrhagic fever like Lassa and Ebola. The thing keeping them out is mosquito control. Which relies on all of us.
I look at the empathy and social responsibility displayed everywhere and don't feel particularly optimistic about malaria not becoming endemic again within my lifetime in the USA.
I look at the empathy and social responsibility displayed everywhere and don't feel particularly optimistic about malaria not becoming endemic again within my lifetime in the USA.
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37points
#5
Prions. Everything about them is nightmare fuel.
Ubeube_Purple21:
It's the fact they are almost indestructible that makes them scary.
WakingOwl1:
We had a patient with CJD in our nursing home once. It was incredibly sad. Definitely not a way I’d want to go.
kitarchive:
To make prions even scarier: standard hospital autoclave sterilization (the high-pressure steam used to clean surgical tools) does not reliably destroy them. If a patient with an undiagnosed prion disease (like CJD) undergoes brain surgery, those exact same surgical instruments can potentially transmit the misfolded proteins to subsequent patients, even after being 'sterilized' by normal medical standards.
Ubeube_Purple21:
It's the fact they are almost indestructible that makes them scary.
WakingOwl1:
We had a patient with CJD in our nursing home once. It was incredibly sad. Definitely not a way I’d want to go.
kitarchive:
To make prions even scarier: standard hospital autoclave sterilization (the high-pressure steam used to clean surgical tools) does not reliably destroy them. If a patient with an undiagnosed prion disease (like CJD) undergoes brain surgery, those exact same surgical instruments can potentially transmit the misfolded proteins to subsequent patients, even after being 'sterilized' by normal medical standards.
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30points
#6
At least half of your health is determined by social determinants of health. Things like your income, where you live, color of your skin, and education. Some of it even depends on your parents status. You can make as many healthy decisions as you want but if you are poor, live in a rough area and/or aren't educated, you will statistically have worse health. They have done studies comparing rich folks who smoke vs poor folks and the rich have healthier longer lives. So as much as people stress out about seed oils and healthy habits, it's not going to impact you health much compared to your standing in society. Which is pretty depressing.
People blame poor people for having bad health because they eat bad or make bad decisions but really it's all because of how unequal society is.
People blame poor people for having bad health because they eat bad or make bad decisions but really it's all because of how unequal society is.
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29points
Human beings are especially driven to learn more about the things that we already know a little bit about.
“You can think of curiosity as the process that guides the acquisition of knowledge,” said neuroscientist Celeste Kidd, from the University of California, Berkeley.
“If you feel positive after learning something, then you now understand the joy of learning, which motivates you to learn next time,” adds educational psychologist Kou Murayama, from the University of Tübingen, in Germany.
Meanwhile, Pierre-Yves Oudeyer, from the French research institute Inria, in Bordeaux, emphasized that people ought to “focus on learning activities that are neither too easy nor too difficult, the ones where you have maximum improvement in speed, which will progressively get you to more and more complicated and yet learnable activities.”
That way, there is a positive feedback loop between curiosity and learning.
#7
US Media generally keeps its news publications at a 8th grade reading level. However, 60% of the population has less than a 6th grade reading comprehension level.
In a media environment designed to capture and direct attention to create engagement, the skill of focusing relies heavily on latent cognitive activity. The long term consequences is a stunted ability to control attention.
Modern advertising isn’t about selling a product but creating engagement. Everytime someone states something wrong or controversial, the engagement between the multiple parties is ultimately the product they’re selling.
This means the cognitive dissonant, the controversial, and the belligerently ignorant are the perfect attributes for a profitable media “star”.
So profitable, outright lying can generate enough engagement for profiteers.
In a media environment designed to capture and direct attention to create engagement, the skill of focusing relies heavily on latent cognitive activity. The long term consequences is a stunted ability to control attention.
Modern advertising isn’t about selling a product but creating engagement. Everytime someone states something wrong or controversial, the engagement between the multiple parties is ultimately the product they’re selling.
This means the cognitive dissonant, the controversial, and the belligerently ignorant are the perfect attributes for a profitable media “star”.
So profitable, outright lying can generate enough engagement for profiteers.
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28points
#8
Every fossil we have likely represents only less than 1% of every species that lived on Earth. Most species are completely lost to time with no proof they even existed.
24points
#9
Aneurysms. Anyone can have it and u kinda just drop since it's so random.
For me it's the scariest because I was told my condition makes it higher chance.
SereniaKat:
It can even happen to otherwise healthy children. We had a family friend whose 12yo daughter had a bad headache all day. No fever or anything, so her parents gave her Panadol and put her to bed. She crawled into bed with them a bit later, fell asleep between them, and never woke up.
It's so frightening because there wasn't anything they really could have done differently. A one-off headache doesn't seem like it needs an ER visit.
For me it's the scariest because I was told my condition makes it higher chance.
SereniaKat:
It can even happen to otherwise healthy children. We had a family friend whose 12yo daughter had a bad headache all day. No fever or anything, so her parents gave her Panadol and put her to bed. She crawled into bed with them a bit later, fell asleep between them, and never woke up.
It's so frightening because there wasn't anything they really could have done differently. A one-off headache doesn't seem like it needs an ER visit.
24points
Which of these science facts genuinely made you feel a bit uncomfortable?
How do you find the time and energy to stay curious about the world, despite being so busy in your day-to-day life?
What are the most interesting, weirdest, or spookiest things that you recently learned about the world? Share your insights in the comments below with all your fellow readers.
#10
Your brain is so good at creating a stable version of reality that most people don’t realize how much of what you “see” is actually prediction, reconstruction, and filtering done by the brain in real time.
You’re not experiencing reality directly as much as you think you are.
You’re not experiencing reality directly as much as you think you are.
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23points
#11
Tattoos only work because our immune systems are trying to protect us from the ink free floating in our blood stream, so it sends cells that just trap the ink there as best they can. Slowly, particles of the ink will rearrange within or escape through their barriers, which is why tattoos fade and/or get fuzzy over time. Also sunburns can cause tattoos to fade because it forces the body to send extra immune cells and fluids to the area, which breaks down or washes away ink particles at a faster rate. Not necessarily super scary outside of thinking about how our bodies are trying to protect us and we’re just like “ooooh pretty!” and doing it anyways.
22points
#12
We can't do a true study on how nano and microplastics impact the human body because it is impossible to find a control group. Microplastics are found in literally everything, they are in the brain, placenta, breast milk, the atmosphere, glacial ice, sediment deep deep down. They are one of the most invasive things we have ever seen.
22points
#13
Sometimes, if you sneeze hard, you'll pop a hole in the tube that carries your cerebrospinal fluid down your spine. You get a spinal headache, like you can get after an epidural or spinal draw, except nobody poked a hole in your spinal fluid system with a needle, you just sneezed and tore a hole.
This can happen at any time. Your spinal fluid will be leaking out the hole into your body and you won't know. You'll get debilitating headaches from standing or sitting up because your brain isn't floating on enough fluid, but they'll go away if you lie down. It takes forever to diagnose and then most of the time they'll just wait to see if it heals on its own. (They can do a blood patch, which they do after an epidural or a spinal, except they don't know where the hole is so they don't know where to send the patch.)
Any sneeze, anytime. The human body is so broken.
This can happen at any time. Your spinal fluid will be leaking out the hole into your body and you won't know. You'll get debilitating headaches from standing or sitting up because your brain isn't floating on enough fluid, but they'll go away if you lie down. It takes forever to diagnose and then most of the time they'll just wait to see if it heals on its own. (They can do a blood patch, which they do after an epidural or a spinal, except they don't know where the hole is so they don't know where to send the patch.)
Any sneeze, anytime. The human body is so broken.
19points
#14
It's scarier for women but : most meds are never tested on women, when they are the results are not segregated by sexes (so if the results are different, it's not visible) and dosage are made for male body.
As a result, meds can be more or less effective or with higher negative effects. Some meds could have been flag as infective but could have been great on women's body, etc. (Also not even talking about the effect of hormones and hormonal fluctuations on the results).
From a quick Google search for example, I've found that a recent study from last year noticed that beta blockers prescribed after heart attacks aren't effective on women.
As a result, meds can be more or less effective or with higher negative effects. Some meds could have been flag as infective but could have been great on women's body, etc. (Also not even talking about the effect of hormones and hormonal fluctuations on the results).
From a quick Google search for example, I've found that a recent study from last year noticed that beta blockers prescribed after heart attacks aren't effective on women.
19points
#15
Yellowstone is a supervolcanic caldera that could blow apart much of the American West, bury the US under ash, destroy crops and infrastructure, darken the skies, cool the planet, and cause worldwide famine if it erupts at full force.
Yellowstone last erupted about 640,000 years ago. Given that supervolcanoes like this blow every 600,000 years or so, there's no telling how close we are for the next one.
This was from A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
Yellowstone last erupted about 640,000 years ago. Given that supervolcanoes like this blow every 600,000 years or so, there's no telling how close we are for the next one.
This was from A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.
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17points
#16
Your brain can “edit” memories without you knowing. Every time you recall something, your brain can slightly rewrite it so some of your strongest memories may not be fully accurate anymore.
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17points
#17
I mean some people know this, but it’s not common knowledge: **alcohol causes cancer**. The World Health Organization has it in the same category as tobacco and asbestos. I think technically it’s not the alcohol itself that causes cancer, but it’s the substance that our bodies turn alcohol into, that does it. The way I understood it is that that stuff damages DNA, which means that when the cells rebuild, they can become cancerous.
17points
#18
Ever hear of rogue planets? They are planets that are zooming around the Milky Way independent of a star system.
It's hard to get an accurate number due to the random nature, but they have an estimate: in the Milky Way alone, rogue planets outnumber the stars 7 to 1.
What's even more wild, rogue planets weren't discovered until the year 2000. (Or late 1999) Not only are they hard to track and study, we've only been recording data about them for a little over 25 years.
It's hard to get an accurate number due to the random nature, but they have an estimate: in the Milky Way alone, rogue planets outnumber the stars 7 to 1.
What's even more wild, rogue planets weren't discovered until the year 2000. (Or late 1999) Not only are they hard to track and study, we've only been recording data about them for a little over 25 years.
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16points
#19
Gamma Ray Bursts can sterilize a planet in an instant and we see evidence of them striking targets trgularly. One could be on its way to us right now and we would never know unti.
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16points
#20
In the unlikely event that we’re in a “false vacuum”, at any time a “real vacuum” could spontaneously form somewhere in the universe and begin expanding at the speed of light until it reaches us and everything would end instantaneously. No warning, no time to even realize what’s happening, just *poof*.
15points