Useless trivia and facts

lis

Your nails grow faster in hot summer. This is probably due to increased blood supply to the fingertips. It could also be because you’re less stressed while on holiday so less likely to gnaw away at ‘em.

lis

The Bermuda Triangle is no more hazardous than any other busy ocean route. The mystery of this patch of sea gained legendary status in the 20th century, but the number of incidents in the Bermuda Triangle isn’t significantly higher than in any other part of the ocean.

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Insects can fly up to 3.25km above sea level, at least. Alpine bumblebees have been found living as high up as 3.25km above sea level and could even fly in lab conditions that replicate the air density and oxygen levels at 9km – that's just higher than Mount Everest.

lis

There’s a planet mostly made from diamond. Called 55 Cancri e, it's around twice the size of Earth and some 40 light-years away from us within the Cancer constellation.

lis

In the deep sea, male anglerfish don’t just mate – they fuse. The tiny males bite onto a much larger female and gradually dissolve into her body, leaving behind little more than a living sack of sperm she can use whenever she wants to lay eggs.

lis

There’s a condition in which your body can brew alcohol. Auto-brewery syndrome is a very rare condition which occurs when certain bacteria and yeasts in the gut break down carbohydrates into ethanol.

lis

It’s possible for two lucid dreamers to communicate mid-dream. Inter-brain neural synchronisation has been observed between people who are both asleep.  

lis

It’s surprisingly easy to escape quicksand. Quicksand’s density is higher than that of the human body, making it impossible to sink completely. To escape quicksand, sit or lie back, try to keep your arms up and out of the quicksand, and slowly wiggle your legs side-to-side or back-and-forth.

lis

A penguin can reach depths of 550m in one dive. Typically, emperor penguins (the deepest-diving penguins) plunge to 100-200m, but the deepest penguin dive on record was more than 550m.  

lis

Animals can be allergic to humans. Animals can be allergic to our dead skin cells – dander. These allergic reactions can be just like ours, too, including breathing difficulties and skin irritation.