Fact: The world’s oldest wooden wheel has been around for more than 5,000 years
It was found in 2002, approximately 12 miles south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and is now housed in the city’s museum. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the wheel’s age, which is somewhere between 5,100 and 5,350 years old.
Fact: Dead skin cells are a main ingredient in household dust
According to researchers at Imperial College London, humans shed around 200 million skin cells each hour—and they have to go somewhere when we’re indoors. If the idea of skin dust isn’t sitting well with you, you should know that a report from the American Chemical Society found that a skin oil called scalene naturally helps reduce indoor ozone levels by up to 15 percent.
Fact: Sudan has more pyramids than any country in the world
Not only does Sudan have more pyramids than Egypt, but the numbers aren’t even close. While 138 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, Sudan boasts around 255.
Fact: The bumblebee bat is the world’s smallest mammal
Weighing in at 0.05 to 0.07 ounces, with a head-to-body length of 1.14 to 1.29 inches and a wingspan of 5.1 to 5.7 inches, the bumblebee bat—also known as Kitty's hog-nosed bat—is the smallest mammal in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Fact: The circulatory system is more than 60,000 miles long
If a child’s entire circulatory system—we’re talking veins, arteries, and capillaries—were laid out flat, it would stretch for more than 60,000 miles, according to the Franklin Institute. By the time we reach adulthood, our bodies have become home to approximately 100,000 miles of blood vessels.
Fact: The cornea is one of only two parts of the human body without blood vessels
The cornea is the clear part of the eye that covers the pupil and other parts of the eye. Cartilage and the cornea are the only types tissue in the human body that do not contain blood vessels.
Fact: The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands
The Philippines is an archipelago, which means it’s made up of a group of islands—7,641 islands, to be exact. That figure does not include the thousands of sandbars and other landforms that emerge during low tide.
Fact: There’s enough gold inside Earth to coat the planet
Turns out, there’s quite a bit of gold on—or, really, in—our planet: 99 percent of the precious metal can be found in the Earth’s core, Discover Magazine reports. How much is there? Enough to coat the entire surface of the Earth in 1.5 feet of gold.
Fact: Japan has one vending machine for every 40 people
Japan is thought to have one of the highest densities of vending machines in the world, with one for every 40 people in the country. While most sell various types of beverages, others feature ice cream, noodles, and disposable cameras.
Fact: Lemons float, but limes sink
Because limes are denser than lemons, they drop to the bottom of a glass, while lemons float at the top.
Fact: Some fungi create zombies, then control their minds
The tropical fungus Ophiocordycepsinfects ants’ central nervous systems. Once it has been in an insect’s body for nine days, it has complete control over the host’s movements. According to National Geographic, it forces the ant to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the fungus waits until exactly solar noon to force the ant to bite a leaf and wait for death.
Fact: The first oranges weren’t orange
The original oranges from Southeast Asia were a tangerine-pomelo hybrid, and they were actually green. In fact, oranges in warmer regions, such as Vietnam and Thailand, still stay green through maturity.
Fact: Armadillo shells are bulletproof
In fact, one Texas man was hospitalized when a bullet he shot at an armadillo ricocheted off the animal and hit him in the jaw. That’s a totally true animal tidbit.
Fact: Firefighters use wetting agents to make water wetter
The chemicals reduce the surface tension of plain water, so it’s easier to spread and better soaks into objects, which is why it’s known as “wet water.”
Fact: The longest English word is 189,819 letters long
We won’t spell it out here, but the full name for the protein nicknamed titin would take three and a half hours to say out loud. While this is, by far, the longest word in English, the longest word in the Oxford English Dictionary has 45 letters, and the longest made-up word has just 28.
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