All your hair is dead

One of the more disturbing yet interesting fun facts: All the hair on your head is dead, except for the follicles. Other than the part in the epidermis, the hair that grows out is made of dead cells. Your nails also follow the same principle — hair and nails are both made of the protein keratin.

The inventor of the television banned TV from his home

When Philo Farnsworth invented the television in 1927, he intended for it to be a learning instrument that could possibly end wars. However, once TV was commercialised, he came to regret his invention. As a result, he did not allow his household to watch television. Definitely one of the ironic yet interesting facts.

A whole orange will float on water, but a peeled orange will sink

The unpeeled orange floats on water because the peel or the skin is very porous and filled with tiny pockets of air. Even though you’re removing mass when you peel the orange, the peeled orange is denser and sinks in the water.

Ever had ‘hypnic jerk?’

We’ve all experienced being startled awake because of the feeling of falling. Scientifically, there is still no explanation for why we get hypnic jerks. However, anxiety, caffeine and physical activity close to bedtime make a hypnic jerk more likely. They are also more frequent in younger people.

The human attention span is now shorter than a goldfish’s

In 2000, the average human attention span was 12 seconds. However, scientists have since claimed that we now have shorter attention spans (of 8.25 seconds) than goldfish, who can focus for 9 seconds.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 9th, 2022