‘Scientists: What’s something we know is true but people don’t realise how crazy it is?’ – 22 facts so freaky you won’t believe they’re real

Despite what certain sections of the internet would have you believe, science is an incredible discipline and we are incredibly lucky to have so many brilliant minds discovering amazing things. In fact, some of those things are so incredible or bizarre that they’re hard to believe, when you really learn about them.

They’ve been discussing this on the AskReddit page after user IndependentTune3994 asked this:

Scientists of Reddit: What’s something we know is true but people don’t realise how crazy it is?

Lots of people had thoughts on some of the marvels of the universe, like these…

1.

‘Mushrooms are closer to animals than to plants. In fact, in our current phylogenetic classification, fungi are even closer to animals than to slime moulds.’
–AztraChaitali

2.

‘About 99.86% of all the mass in the solar system is inside the sun. Everything else combined – all the planets, moons, asteroids, comets, kuiper belt objects, oort cloud objects – is a rounding error compared to the sun.

The Earth has about 0.0003% of the solar system’s mass. We are decimal dust.’
–PerpetualMotion81

3.

‘Charles Keeling had a team at Mauna Loa Observatory taking twice-daily samples of the air since 1958, specifically to test for CO2. As you can imagine, this was was done by a dude bringing a jar out, holding their breath, opening the jar, waving it around, putting back on the lid, then resuming their breathing. Every day, twice a day.

The technology for testing these samples for the different isotopes and exact measurements that are actually useful was invented and brought to the island in 1978. Let that sink on. They collected jars of air for 20 years before they actually had a way to test them properly, and did it every day, twice a day.

All good scientists are mad scientists, the crazier, the better.’
–Newsmemer

4.

‘The earth is only about 20 galactic years old. Meaning it has only completed 20 full orbits around the galaxy.’
–big_redwood

5.

‘For decades we have known that two tricks to help you lucid dream are looking at your hands or trying to read text because dreams don’t do hands or text well and can be clue that you are in a dream.

Why the fuck are dreams and Ai suffering from the same glitch?!’
–crujones43

6.

‘The amount that your body’s microbiome affects you. Studies have shown that reduced cravings for alcohol were achieved after fecal transplants.’
–Useful-Passion8422

7.

‘I’m personally a big fan of relative size of things. If you were to stretch out all of the DNA in a single cell, it would measure two meters or 6.5 ft! On a more macro scale, the surface area of human lungs is equivalent to a tennis court.’
–missprincesscarolyn

8.

‘Plain old water has one of the highest heat capacities in chemistry. It also has one of highest heats of vaporisation of most liquids. This allows water and steam to be carriers of vast amounts of energy.’
–UniqueAd7770

9.

‘Coal exists because the fungi and bacteria that digest trees did not evolve until much later.’
–Expert_Cheesecake695

10.

‘Sharks are older than trees, and jellyfish are older than sharks.’
–CaptainFartHole

11.

‘Your brain can’t feel pain. Surgeons can operate on it while a patient is awake.’
–Cautious-Sail-7068

12.

‘Your stomach lining regenerates every few days. Otherwise stomach acid would literally digest your own organs. You’re constantly saving yourself from yourself.’
–ButteryMashedPotaton