15 Disturbing But Fascinating Facts From Around the World

Not all fun facts are fun

Elana

• Published in Interesting
• October 23, 2019

Everyone has moments where they learn a nifty, little tidbit of information or a "fun fact" and they tuck it away in their minds, usually with the full intention of bringing it up in conversation in the future. Sometimes we learn these things from life experiences and other times we stumble on them, but one way or another we all have these little ditties in our brains and we are always eager to share given the right opportunity.

Of course these days we also have Reddit, an endless source of entertainment, education, and r/AskReddit. Not too long ago, someone turned to the Reddit community and asked: "What are some not fun facts?" In true Reddit fashion, they responded with enthusiasm... and we are shook.

Yikes.

For generations, the indigenous peoples of South American used blow darts laced with paralytic plant extract to hunt their prey.In the 1800s, English physicians who interacted with these indigenous South Americans recognized the possible uses of this paralytic agent, now known as tubocurarine, as an anesthetic agent for surgeries. Physicians noticed that animals under the influence of tubocurarine would become temporarily immobilized but would recover after a period of paralysis.

According to these physicians, this discovery would revolutionize surgery as an anesthetic agent. So confident were they in their discovery that one of the physicians volunteered to undergo surgery under the influence of tubocurarine to demonstrate its effectiveness.

Unfortunately, he failed to realize that, although the drug was an effective paralyzing agent, it did not have any effect on the sensory receptors of the body, so he felt every cut of the surgery without being able to move or do anything about it.

Oof.

Criminals that are considered unattractive usually receive a 50% longer jail time than attractive criminals.

Apocalyptic

If any apocalypse happens, anyone who takes medication daily is f*cked.

Stock up on Purell, folks.

Gingivitis is contagious.

I'm not crying... you're crying.

When another elephant dies, its pack make a little funeral for it. They pick rocks and put it around the body, and stand there for a while before they keep the way.

Here's a dose of heebeejeebees.

Male bed bugs impregnate female bed bugs by penetrating the females abdomen with his hypodermic dick.

Relatable.

There is a whale called 52 Blue who sings at such a strange frequency he is unable to communicate with other whales.

Bummer.

If you have a pneumothorax (collapsed lung), even once it’s resolved you can never go scuba diving.

Also, there’s a one in three chance it will happen again within 12 months.

But yeah, I can never, ever, go scuba diving…

Please don't do this.

If you shine a flashlight/smartphone on a newborn sea turtle for too long (which could be only minutes), it will start crawling around in circles. Known as the “Ring of Death”, it means that the turtle’s eyesight has been permanently damaged due to mistaking your lights for the moon that guides it to the sea.

By doing this, you have doomed the sea turtle to death right after birth.​

Edit: Information was given to me by the Sea Turtle Preservation Society in Indialantic, Fl during a presentation.

That's just sad.

Crabs eat their babies and sloths can die from starvation with a full stomach.

Just. Say. No.

Heroin overdose is so prevalent (and dangerous) because of how fast tolerance bounces back.

So let’s say an addict gets arrested and is in jail for a few days, weeks, whatever.

If they’re a heavy user even half the dose they last used could kill them.

Seriously, check your family history.

When it comes to heart disease, the VERY FIRST symptom in roughly 1/3 of all cases is sudden death.

Meaning you could be perfectly healthy and drop dead because you had heart disease and didn’t know it.

Check your family history people.

Well, that's just cheesy.

The smell of vomit comes from butyric acid, as does the smell of parmesan cheese.

When given a sample of butyric acid to smell, test subjects were disgusted or pleased depending on whether they were told it was puke or parm.

We're not horsin' around.

Horses can’t throw up. If they need to throw up, they’ll die.

Elana