Random facts.
July 1, 2026
Pink is the most popular boot color at the World Cup.
The world’s oldest living land animal, a tortoise named Jonathan, extended his record to 194 years and was officially named a Guinness World Records Icon.
Astronomers discovered two planets the size of Jupiter but lighter than cotton candy. They are likely composed primarily of helium and hydrogen.
Bangladesh has six seasons: grishmo (summer), borsha (rainy), shorot (fall), hemanta (cool), sheet (winter), and boshanto (spring).
A new study shows that fog droplets harbor millions of living bacteria that can grow and break down atmospheric pollutants such as formaldehyde.
BBC News is cutting 550 jobs and axing “The World Tonight”—a 56-year-old radio show; 1,800 to 2,000 cuts are expected over the next three years.
Honeybees emit a teeny “whoop!” noise when they bump into each other.
Humans consistently show a preference toward moving counterclockwise, a study reveals. The phenomenon holds true across variations in environment, age, gender, culture, and handedness.
Internet traffic from bots have passed human traffic on the web for the first time.
Scientists found that for every 5 kilogram drop in adults’ grip strength, it raised the risk of death by 16%. Grip strength, the research found, was a stronger predictor of cardiovascular death than systolic blood pressure.
While on vacation, writer Mary Shelley was inspired by a challenge from British poet Lord Byron to write the novel “Frankenstein.”
The United States generates more municipal solid waste per capita than any other nation on Earth: roughly 292 million tons per year, or about 4.9 pounds per person per day.
A “Super Mario Bros.” video game cartridge sold for $3M at auction.
China’s Ministry of State Security claimed that foreign intelligence agencies are using fish, turtles, and other large sea creatures to conduct surveillance operations against the country.
A recent survey suggests kids today are more likely to dream of being YouTubers than astronauts.
Scientists have discovered a new species of walking shark off the coast of Papua New Guinea.
The impressionist painters—the 19th-century group that included Monet, Renoir, Cassatt, and more—got their name from a critic who used the term in a negative review, claiming they were unable to paint more realistic scenes.
Portugal’s west coast is home to the biggest waves in the world.
Mississippi ranks as the most religious state in the US, with 50% of adults identifying as highly religious, while Vermont ranks as the least religious, with 13% of adults identifying as highly religious.
Pneumonia is the commonest infectious cause of death worldwide
The first-ever global map of underground fungal networks—which nourish plants and absorb carbon—suggests that, if laid out in a straight line, these networks would span about 68 quadrillion miles. That’s nearly a billion times the distance from Earth to the sun.
The war in Ukraine has now gone on longer than World War I.
In the early 2000s, the average color of the universe was determined by averaging the visible light from 200,000 galaxies, yielding a light beige dubbed “cosmic latte.”
Serbian donkey cheese is the most expensive in the world, with prices sometimes reaching up to $600 per pound.
Recent studies show that targeted, ultrasmall fluorescent silica nanoparticles directly kill aggressive prostate cancer cells and remodel the body’s immune response to be highly active against tumors.
Humans and giraffes have the same number of neck bones.
A new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis provides evidence that younger generations are indeed aging faster biologically than their older counterparts.
China began operations at the world’s first wind-powered, underwater data center.
Astronomers have discovered a third galaxy lacking dark matter, challenging the assumption that dark matter is an invisible glue needed to hold galaxies together.
Mosquitoes are the world’s deadliest animals.
Paul McCartney said the song “Helter Skelter” was about a playground slide; Charles Manson said it was about a race war.
The 1,200-year-old Major Oak, a tree linked to legendary bandit Robin Hood, appears to have died. The Sherwood Forest tree failed to produce leaves this spring, and the root system appears to be strangled.
Nomophobia is the fear of being without your phone.
Watch a pinecone transform into a pine tree.
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