10 facts about snow angels, brave people, eternal clocks, and other amazing mechanisms of humanity and nature (11 photos)

Did you know that the subconscious fear of sticking your foot out from under the covers at night could be linked to an ancient demon?





This collection of amazing facts about ingenious solutions in wildlife and human technology will help you better understand the seemingly inconspicuous connections between disparate facts about our world, as well as appreciate our past, present, and future.

1. Built-in Parental Beacon



Gould's finch chicks are born with unique beaks. The edges of their beaks are covered with pearly blue bumps that reflect light, and a pattern of glowing spots is hidden inside their mouths.

This "light" is vital because these birds nest in deep, dark tree hollows. To ensure they're not missing a feeding, parents use the bright glow of the chick's wide-open mouth as a precise targeting device. As the chicks mature, the spots on the beak disappear.

2. A Strange Evil Creature and an Effective Way to Protect Yourself from It





According to ancient Persian beliefs, the insidious demon palis prowls the night, preying on sleeping travelers. It licks the heels protruding from under the blanket with its rough tongue until they bleed, and then sucks the blood out of the traveler.

It was quite easy to trick it. When spending the night in the desert, you had to lie close together and cover yourself with a blanket. In the darkness, the demon mistook these travelers for a single, two-headed, legless man and couldn't find anything to grab onto. Confused, he wandered around until dawn, and then disappeared.

By hiding your feet under the blanket, you may simply be following an ancient technique of protection from evil spirits.

3. Involuntary Euthanasia or the Secret Custom of "Mercy Killing"



In some regions of India, there is a macabre ritual called thalaikutal. This is the practice of killing elderly people with a lethal dose of coconut water.

Although thalaikutala is banned in India, it has long been quietly accepted by society as a form of euthanasia, and police reports are rare. In some cases, families notify relatives in advance, and sometimes the victim requests it.

However, this "social acceptability" can lead to horrific abuses. In 2010, the story of an 80-year-old man who ran away from his family shocked the public. He overheard his family discussing how to divide his land and realized they were plotting to kill him.

Investigations have shown that the practice is quite common in the southern regions of Tamil Nadu. Dozens, if not hundreds, of people can be killed this way every year.

4. The Right to Self-Defense and Its Consequences



In 1977, notorious serial killer Ted Bundy found himself in a unique situation: he was acting as his own attorney. As a result, the court allowed him to remove his handcuffs and shackles during court hearings so he could freely work on documents and defend himself.

He used this freedom to make a daring escape. Taking advantage of a break in the hearing, Bundy jumped out of the second-floor courtroom window and escaped. However, his freedom was short-lived. He was recaptured a few days later. This incident became one of the most famous episodes in his dark biography and vividly demonstrated how cunning and dangerous he was.

5. Incredible Accuracy



To understand how accurate modern atomic clocks are, one fact is enough: the cesium standard clock, which officially determines the length of a second, loses one second every approximately 30 million years.

And the newest strontium optical lattice clocks are a thousand times more accurate. They will accumulate an error of one second in only 30 billion years, which is more than twice the age of the universe. Thus, timekeeping technology made an incredible leap, achieving almost unimaginable precision.

6. A Pioneer Punished for Innovation



While today considered a landmark in the history of computer graphics, the film "Tron" (1982) had a difficult and rocky road to recognition. Despite its revolutionary visual effects, the film's box office receipts were modest.

But the biggest blow came from the Academy itself. "Tron" was eliminated from the Oscar race for Best Special Effects. Academy members believed that the extensive use of computer animation gave the filmmakers an unfair advantage and amounted to cheating. Thus, "Tron" became a victim of its own innovation.

7. The Most Incredible Football Match and Score in History



In 2002, Madagascar hosted the World Cup final, which went down in history not for its skill, but for its unprecedented act of protest.

Stade Olympique l'Émyrne (SOE), robbed of their championship chances by a controversial penalty in the previous game, took to the field against Alema with one goal: sabotage.

From the very first seconds, SOE players began scoring goals against themselves. Alema's opponents stood by in disbelief, watching as the score skyrocketed. The match ended with a score of 149:0, breaking all conceivable records. On average, a goal was scored every 36 seconds.

The result of this scandal was the disqualification of the SOE coach and four players, and the match will forever remain in history as the most absurd and record-breaking match of all time.

8. Protective Snowmen and Melting Wishes



In medieval Europe, snow was believed to be a gift from angels, capable of protecting against evil spirits. Snow guardians were built near houses in the hope that evil spirits would mistake them for living people, inhabit their cold bodies, and melt away with the spring sun.

There was also a beautiful tradition associated with wish fulfillment. It was believed that melted snow returns to heaven. Therefore, people made small snowmen and whispered their secret wishes to them, believing that guardian angels would take these requests with them and fulfill them.

The very first depiction of a snowman, dating back to 1380, is kept in the Netherlands. And it's quite macabre: the poor fellow is being roasted over a fire.

9. Revenge by Mistake



In 2005, Leonardo DiCaprio was attacked at a Hollywood party. A woman, Aretha Wilson, who had entered the event uninvited, lunged at the actor and cut his face and neck with a broken bottle.

She later claimed she mistook DiCaprio for her ex-boyfriend. The attack left the actor requiring 17 stitches. In December 2010, the aggressive woman was sentenced to two years in a California state prison. The court gave the attacker a relatively lenient sentence, as she faced up to seven years in prison for the assault.

10. Refusal on principle



In the entire history of the Nobel Prize, only two people have voluntarily refused it.

French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre refused official awards on principle, in order to preserve his independence. He declined in advance, and when he was eventually chosen in 1964, he did not accept the prize.

Vietnamese politician Le Duc Tho was awarded the Peace Prize jointly with Henry Kissinger for their negotiations to end the Vietnam War in 1973. He declined the award, stating that true peace had not yet been established in his country, and therefore the conditions for receiving the award were not met.