10 amazing facts from different areas that people encounter (11 photos)

The world is full of amazing components that hide behind ordinary things: from scientific paradoxes to cultural curiosities and natural phenomena that you want to talk about.





These little-known but noteworthy facts will definitely make you look at the world from a different angle.

1. The Guatemalan Experiment



From 1946 to 1948, about 700 Guatemalans were intentionally infected by American doctors to study the effects of venereal diseases. The United States officially acknowledged the study and apologized only in 2010.

2. Botanical Confusion





These modest pink inflorescences belong to the sensitive mimosa. It got its name because when you touch the leaves, they begin to curl up. And those bright yellow inflorescences that are called mimosa and given to women on March 8 belong to the silver acacia from the Mimosa subfamily.

3. Level of development



Research by Moscow State University and the University of Iowa has shown that crows exhibit clear behavioral signs of analog thinking - the ability to solve puzzles like "a bird is air, like a fish is what?" Analog thinking develops in humans only at the age of three or four.

4. A special instrument



The lowest-sounding instrument in the orchestra is the octobass. There are very few musicians in the world who play it. The height of the instrument is about four meters. The strings are pressed not by fingers, but by special levers.

5. Amazing civilization



3,000 years passed between the first and last Egyptian pharaohs.

6. Sleep Debt and Its Consequences



"Sleep debt" is the difference between the amount of time a person sleeps and how much sleep they need each night. Lack of sleep leads to a sleep debt. It takes a person several days, weeks, or even months to recoup this debt. This can lead to vision impairment, problems with concentration, reaction time, and memory. Long-term consequences include obesity, insulin resistance, and heart disease.

7. Vampire in Feathers



The Dracula parrot (lat. Psittrichas fulgidus) is a unique bird that lives in the tropical forests of New Guinea. It is named for its unusual beak, reminiscent of fangs, and its coloring, similar to the black cloak with a scarlet lining of the literary character Dracula.

8. Changing Places



Some scientists believe that about 4 billion years ago, Neptune and Uranus may have switched places in the solar system.

9. Unexpected Peter Pan



In the original Peter Pan story, the Lost Boys grow old, even in Neverland. The reason the group is always made up of children is that unless they die in other ways (which often happens), Peter "thinns them out." The author doesn't specify whether this means they are executed or banished.

10. Modest Hawking



When Stephen Hawking was asked what his IQ was, he replied, "I have no idea. People who brag about their IQ are losers."