Off The Record
11 Mind-blowing Facts That Will Completely Change Your Perspective On The World
1. The continents don’t look the same as you have been seeing them on your atlas!
Looking at the conventional map, you’d think Africa is quite big. In reality, it is even bigger! In fact, South America is also bigger than its depiction in the popular maps. which are a rather Western-focused version. In this version, the continents near the poles have been rather stretched.
2. Being one in a million is not as big a deal as you think it is
Let’s just say, it can be established without a doubt that you are indeed one in a million. So what? There would still be more than 7000 people who are exactly like you. This is because the total population of the world is 7 billion (possibly more) right now and thus we need to take in account the digits before declaring that you are something special.
3. It might be cheaper living in an actual castle rather than an apartment in NYC
Rent seems to be rising at an alarming rate in the New York City area. Not just at the heart of the city, but even in areas such as Brooklyn, the average rise in rent was recorded to be $3000 per month. Some castles in England come at a cheaper price than that. If you are feeling more adventurous, you can try lighthouses as well.
4. The United States might be the most powerful empire at present, but it has yet to make its mark in history
It is not even among the 50 empires when it comes to counting which lasted for the longest times. Though very powerful indeed, it is a comparatively recent phenomenon in the pages of history.
5. Literacy is not something you can take for granted
We might think that everyone, everywhere has basic education but sadly they don’t. Out of the world population, 10% still don’t know how to read and write. The actual figures might be even worse as these are the numbers provided by individual governments and might have been polished to make them look better.
6. All holidays do not originate as time for cheer
Some of your favorite festivals have a dark and gory past. Columbus Day is named after a brutal tyrant whose history is mostly a fraud. Thanksgiving is nothing but a sham – there was no peaceful union of the Natives and Pilgrims. And Labor Day was actually an attempt to get focus away from the ruthless massacre of the working people in America.
7. Your belly button is home to an entire ecosystem
Even within your teeny tiny belly button, more than 2300 species of bacteria might be living there. Or so did scientists discover.
8. Your perception of the color spectrum is severely limited
There is a common joke that where men see one color, women can see at least 5. Guess what, it seems that a chicken can see even more than that. Human bodies simply cannot process all the colors that are out in the world. Breaking down a rainbow in just 7 colors is so human, when in fact it is made up of more than 1 million.
9. A jellyfish can be immortal but you, sadly, cannot
A certain species of jellyfish, going by the name of Turritopsis nutricula has found the secret to immortality. It can actually revert back to how it was during its initial phase of life after achieving sexual maturity. So as soon as we can figure out how exactly this jellyfish does it, we might hope to live on forever. Although, with the way things are currently, it might not be such a great idea.
10. An average American spends more than a day and a half per year stuck in a jam
American spend 38 hours every year, doing nothing better than honking at the car in front of them. That is nearly an entire worth of work week. Things in Washington are a lot more worse, with the average time spent coming down at 67 hours per year.
11. Our planet is extremely insignificant in the cosmos
Sun is just one star. In reality, there are 3 trillion X 100 billion stars. That is 3 to the power of 23. So before we begin gloating about our supremacy as human beings, remember, we are just another speck of space dust.
