Simply 8 nice facts that will brighten up your day

We don’t know about you but, right now, we’ll take every opportunity we can to try and brighten up our day. These nice facts made us smile, so hopefully they’ll do the same for you!

1. Cows have best friends.

Cows can form strong social bonds, and studies show that they often prefer to spend time with specific cows.

2. Rats laugh when they’re tickled.

Even though these high-pitched squeaks are usually too high for humans to hear, the sounds they make when tickled resemble laughter and are a sign of happiness. 

3. Cuddling can help heal wounds.

During cuddling, Oxytocin is released. This is often called the “cuddle hormone”.

4. The centre of the Milky Way (the planet not the chocolate bar) smells like rum.

A gas cloud at its centre, called Sagittarius B2, contains the chemical ethyl formate which smells like rum (and tastes like strawberries).

5. Penguins ‘propose’ using pebbles.

In some penguin species, particularly the Adelie and Gentoo penguins, a courtship ritual will be engaged where the males present the females with pebbles. The smoother the pebble the better!

6. The oldest cat in the world lived to be 38 years and 3 days old.

The cat lived in Austin, Texas and was called Creme Puff.

7. Pine trees can tell if it’s about to rain.

When humidity increases pine cones will close up which can indicate that there is rain on the way.

8. Squirrels plant thousands of trees each year.

Squirrels will often bury nuts, then forget where they’ve buried them, leading to the nuts germinating and growing into new trees.

Main image Eclipse Chasers on Pexels