30 surprising facts that seem absurd at first glance (30 photos)

There are many things, concepts, and facts in this world that we have only a vague understanding of and are inclined to doubt. They seem so strange that it's easy to assume they're untrue. For example, did you know what a penguin's knees look like?







Scotland's national animal is the unicorn





The average lifespan of a Greenland shark is 272 years, and some can live up to 500 years



Moose are excellent swimmers. They are born with this ability, capable of swimming at speeds of up to 10 km/h and sustaining this pace for two hours.



The mantis shrimp can strike with the force of a speeding bullet. It has one of the fastest and most powerful strikes in nature.



Honey never spoils. It has a composition that prevents microorganisms from living in. So, no matter how old honey is, it's most likely perfectly edible.



The idea for the Guinness Book of World Records came to Sir Hugh Beaver in the 1950s, when he had a pub argument about which bird was the fastest in Europe. Unable to find an answer in any book, he decided to compile a book of facts and figures to help settle such disputes.



Any planet in the solar system could fit between the Earth and the Moon. The average distance between Earth and the Moon is 384,000 km. For comparison, the equatorial diameter of the largest planet in the Solar System, Jupiter, is 143,884 km.



A group of ferrets is called a "business." They're the spitting image of "businessmen" who are always plotting something.



There are more trees on Earth than there are stars in our galaxy. NASA estimates that the Milky Way galaxy contains approximately 100-400 billion stars. There are over 3 trillion trees on our planet.



The largest tire manufacturer in the world is Lego. The company produces 50% more tires than other manufacturers such as Bridgestone or Goodyear.



Cheetahs can't roar. Instead, they make a sound similar to a house cat's meow.



McDonald's is the largest toy distributor in the world. About 20% of McDonald's sales come from Happy Meals, which include a toy.



The IKEA catalog is as popular as the Bible and the Quran. More than 203 million copies of the IKEA catalog are distributed worldwide each year.



Nintendo was founded over 100 years ago, in 1889. This Japanese company began its operations by creating card games and gradually evolved into the video game manufacturer we know today.



Knocked-out teeth can reattach to their roots if they are replaced promptly.



The lighter was invented before the match.



People are born without kneecap bones. They develop in the first three years of a child's life.



Clouds appear weightless, but science says otherwise. The average cloud seen on a sunny day weighs about 500,000 kg.



Cashew nuts are collected from the bottom of cashew apples growing on the cashew tree.



You might not think it, but penguins have knees. The reason they're not visible is because penguins' limbs are covered in thick feathers.



Over the course of history, more than 108 billion people have lived on Earth. Today, there are over 7 billion people in the world—about 7% of the total number who have ever lived.



A glass marble can bounce higher when struck than a rubber ball of the same size.



In Italian, a single "straw" of spaghetti is called a "spaghetto."



Rhino horn is made of keratin. Like human fingernails.



The last execution by guillotine in France was carried out in 1977. The same year that Star Wars: A New Hope was released,



Peanuts are not nuts, even though they are often called that. These are legumes—like lentils, beans, etc.



Mini carrots are peeled regular-sized carrots.



Two 12-inch pizzas are smaller than one 18-inch pizza.



There are more possible card layouts in a deck of 52 cards than there are atoms on Earth. A standard 52-card deck has 8x10^67 possible card arrangements.