There’s never a bad time to share a fun fact. You can easily break the ice in any conversation or lighten the mood by sharing some information that others might find amusing. But what are we supposed to do with all of those unsettling, uncomfortable and upsetting facts that are floating around inside our brains?

Today, we’re dedicating our attention to disturbing info, pandas. Redditors have recently been sharing some of the least fun facts that they know, so we’ve gathered some that you might not want to know down below. I’ll warn you right now to keep reading at your own risk, and be sure to upvote the facts you wish weren’t true!

#1

When whales and dolphins get too old they just drown.

Image credits: pilgrimz

#2

The fact that the "couple" down the street from me with 3 kids are not husband and wife. They are in fact brother and sister.

Yes I know it for fact I went to grammar school with them.

Image credits: Trailerguy13

#3

If you are properly skinned alive you can survive upwards of an hour and will die from hypothermia, not blood loss.

Image credits: Top_Tart_7558

To learn more about how this thread started in the first place, we reached out to Reddit user Ghost-5AVAGE_786, who posed the question, "What is your not-so-fun fact?” They were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and explain what inspired them to spark this conversation.

"My mind birthed this question out of my simple desire to learn broad and niche facts which pique my interest," they explained. "I have a peculiar fondness to wacky or even 'not-so-fun facts', which is why I had asked the question to one of the biggest communities on Reddit."

#4

We don't know the effects of micro plastics on the human body, partially because we can't find a control group.

Image credits: ZealousidealPotato71

#5

Horses can't throw up. If they need to throw up, they'll die.

Image credits: AdExcellent8978

We also asked the OP if they were partial to any unsettling facts. "My personal favorite not-so-fun fact is the peculiar circumstances of Cleopatra's marriage," they shared. "According to history, Cleopatra had married both her brother and father (at separate times, of course), as it was a part of some weird cultural ritual of the Egyptians. In all honesty, this fact did disgust me to quite an extent."

"However, this does showcase how bizarre and different cultures and ancient kingdoms can be," Ghost-5AVAGE_786 added. "This fact in particular, came to me from a show called Horrible Histories, which is a British Children's show to teach the odd facts of history."

#6

It's possible for rats to swim up your toilet piping. There are enough air pockets to travel all the way into your bathroom. I could have lived my whole life not knowing this, but here you go.

Image credits: Annual-Ad-3350

#7

Dental Hygienist here.

There is a type of gum disease that is caused by maggots in your gums. Literal maggots from flys laying eggs in your mouth to feed on your rotten flesh.

Image credits: DauntlessTanker

As far as why we're so drawn to these unsettling facts, the OP says, "I suppose our species in general is highly peculiar, hence it's fascination for disturbing facts, whether full of gore or just a tad bit strange."

And as far as what they thought of the replies to their post, they told Bored Panda, "The comments bombarded me with many unusual, as well as some upsetting, facts. The strangest one I had come across was where a user had commented about dolphins being able to be sexually attracted to humans, and they can or will act upon these desires when given an opportunity."

#8

You are more likely to be bitten by a New Yorker then die from a shark.

Image credits: UndyneIsCool

#9

Mummies weren’t that rare until the Victorian British ate so many of them.

Image credits: GotPC

"In conclusion, 'not-so-fun facts' are a great (as well as peculiar) way to learn about the universe in which we reside in," Ghost-5AVAGE_786 added. "In essence, we don't truly know everything, but our thirst for hunger as a species will never come to an end, as long as we exist. Who knows, maybe even after our time on Earth has ended."

#10

ER Doc here

A lot of people know when they are about to die, even if they don't know why. Just instinctual, they even say it very calmly and knowingly "I'm gonna die." Or something similar. And then they code.

Or. They say they have to go the bathroom. Then code.

I am dead serious.

Image credits: Lord_Lava_Nugget

#11

You ever use bleach without gloves, and it gets kinda slimy?

That slime isn't the bleach. It's your skin melting.

Image credits: blakeman8192

#12

Bus seats are designed so that you can't tell how dirty they are

Image credits: VanessaDoesVanNuys

#13

Old people move so slow because everything they do hurts. I’m getting old and it’s starting to happen.

Image credits: rChewbacca

#14

I was a social worker. I saw a lot.

The first three weeks, we were in a classroom doing intensive training. Every day, someone would walk out. It wasn’t out of being rude, it’s because each person has a point at which they cannot go any further. They showed us some of the worst. The deal is, they do it for very good reason. If we are so horrified that we refuse to learn about the abuse, how will we recognize it in one of our kids?

That’s what I ask of all adults. PLEASE, if you see something, don’t assume it’s impossible so you can push it out of your mind. A whole lot is possible.

Image credits: DecadentLife

#15

When gas was introduced into common households during the industrial revolutions, people started paying more attention to what they put on their walls, now that they were lit up. They began decorating more, and wallpaper became a much more important part of the modern home. At the time, green was a very popular colour, as it had never really been an option to decorate with that colour before. However the green colour was obtained with Arsenic (as white paints were often obtained through a lead product). After a while, wear and tear made it so that people literally started breathing in bits of their arsenic wallpapers, and feeling bad within their homes. Their doctors would then suggest they go on holiday to the sea, as the ocean air often had proven a successful remedy. But of course, it was a remedy simply because they were no longer breathing in arsenic. The companies that made these wallpapers were well aware of their nefarious effects, but it took people boycotting "en masse" for them to actually stop production, several decades later.

Image credits: pottedplantfairy

#16

If you die on Mount Everest, it's too dangerous and too expensive to move your body. So you'll be stuck there forever, and depending on where you die, other climbers might use your body as a trail marker.

Image credits: chernygal

#17

Australians' greatest enemy isn't spider, drop bears, killer roos, massive insects, or devil snakes; it's the sun.

Australia has the highest skin cancer rate in the world, and an Australian is four times more likely to develop skin cancer than any other type of cancer, and two thirds of Australian would be diagnosed with it by the time they reach the age of 70.

Image credits: ForgottenShark

#18

The number one cause of death for pregnant women is domestic violence.

Image credits: paradox-psy-hoe-sis

#19

Smell is particle based... remember that next time you go into a smelly restroom...

I gotta know it, now so do you.

Image credits: PdxPhoenixActual

#20

During the cleanup of Pearl Harbor, as the recovery crews for *USS West Virginia (BB-48)* got deeper into the ship months after the attack, they discovered bodies high in the engine room and a locked storeroom where air bubbles had kept them alive for **2 weeks** based on calendars they used to keep track of time. That was "well after" divers had made their first passes over the ship listening for sounds of survivors.

Image credits: theothermeisnothere

#21

When you're burning to death your eyes melt out of your head before you die. So you're still alive while your eyes are melting.

Image credits: AdorableSunshine02

#22

Everything you experience and perceive is just an incredibly vivid hallucination based on _very_ sparse and broadly interpreted data from our own senses.

We infer reality. We don’t witness it.

#23

There's an extremely high chance that Boeing executives contracted a hit on one of their former employees for being a whistleblower and basically the public response (other than a few angry social media posts) has been "well, yeah, that's just what happens...".

#24

That prion diseases exist, specifically fatal familial insomnia. .

Image credits: OppositeYouth

#25

A lot of people in nursing homes will die shortly after family leaves. I’ve had funeral directors tell me this is very accurate. Both my parents did. We were there, left for the night and while gone, they died. It’s like they don’t want to expire in front of anyone.

Image credits: problem-solver0

#26

Greater than half the population of the USA reads at or below fourth grade level.

Image credits: Exotic_Bumblebee_275

#27

One of the more recent things I learned about is the Paria diving disaster - where four divers got sucked up into an underwater pipe and three of them got stuck in there. The company decided to wait until they were dead instead of doing a rescue operation because money. They said they heard banging for three days until it finally stopped. Not a fun way to go, inside a dark pipe alone, cold and scared. Damn, may those souls rest in peace.

Image credits: EntertainmentPure955

#28

There is a whale called 52 Blue

that only sings at their frequency meaning it can't communicate with other whales. It is nicknamed the loneliest whale on the planet.

#29

Brain aneurysms are still a thing perfectly healthy people can drop dead from with no visible symptoms whatsoever. Pop! Dead.

Image credits: MrPuzzleMan

#30

A rare medication reaction called Stevens-Johnson Syndrome can cause your skin to blister and eventually peel off similar to a third degree burn victim. It's a horrible d**g reaction and has a very high mortality rate.

It can be caused by almost any medication, including ones you have already taken before and had no prior reaction to. The most common medications that cause it are antibiotics and anti-epileptic medications.

(Do not the Google pics unless you are not sensitive to medical trauma pics--they are extremely disturbing).

Image credits: Icy_Selection_7853

#31

There’s decent evidence that the Challenger astronauts didn’t die when the vehicle broke apart. They may have even been conscious and alert inside the crew compartment all the way to the surface of the ocean, which was like a two and a half minute fall. It’s possible they were knocked out but it’s possible they weren’t.

Image credits: kh9hexagon

#32

Mentally handicapped children are roughly three times as likely to be sexually assaulted.

Note that roughly 25% of all healthy girls and 5% of healthy boys will be the victim of CSA before they are 12.

#33

There's a very concerning number of nuclear warheads that are unaccounted for.

Image credits: BigAlsSmokedShack

#34

There’s a relatively good chance that you already own the clothes that you’ll die in.

*To clarify, I’m not threatening you, haha.

#35

Many lullabies are about plagues or a hanging.

#36

Dolphins can be sexually attracted to you and will definitely try to do something about it

#37

Vulture bees - the bees that eat meat! (Do not eat the meat honey).

#38

That you are not immune to propaganda, and that chronically online children and adults alike are manipulated to becoming violent extremists .

#39

It’s incredibly common for people to be eaten by their pets if they die alone. However, it is WAY more likely in cats than in dogs. Cats will pretty much eat you as soon as their food runs out, if they have any. Some of them will eat you even before their food runs out. Dogs are different, they will only eat you out of necessity, if they’ve exhausted all previous foodstuffs that they can get to and if they can’t escape from the property and it will be days before that happens.

There is a reason for this. Dogs are omnivores. They will primarily eat meat but can eat vegetables. They can survive without meat. Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they HAVE to eat meat. There’s a specific protein that they can only get from meat and it’s essential for their organs to operate properly, otherwise, they will die and it’s not a quick, quiet death either. So given the absense of meat, your pet cat will eat your soft squishy bits first. Usually the face.

Source-used to be an RVN.

#40

Chainsaws were invented for medical use, largely for cutting into the pelvis during childbirth in a process called a pelviotomy. And from about 1940 to 1987, approximately 1,500 women were given one in Ireland without their consent, way after they should have switched to C-sections, often to perfect the surgery for use in Africa.

A 2012 study found that many of the victims say the Catholic Church "encouraged, if not insisted upon, symphysiotomies."

It took until 2012 for people to begin getting any compensation and the first woman to receive it was subjected to the procedure *post cesarian.* However, they dropped the ball so hard on addressing it afterwards that the survivor's group of these women had to go to the UN Committee Against Torture to get anything else done.

Some babies were also killed in the process.

#41

If it wasn’t for your stomach lining, your stomach would eat you from the inside out.

Image credits: ChickenNugsBGood

#42

That Munmorah power plant in Australia was allowed to operate for decades with a significant diesel leak in an underground reservoir that contaminated the water table. When demolishing the plant you could light the sand that surrounded the tank on fire (about 50 meters each way), and if you dug lower than the sea level anywhere within a I guess about a 1km radius you could smell diesel.

It's a high fishing surfing area. That was far from the only contaminant. Pfas, Pfos, chromium, etc. People live very close to it. People eat the fish for years from the hot water outlet. (Was a super popular "secret" fishing spot)

Also during the demolition there was lots of contaminated water collected - This was sent through a filtration process and pumped into the ocean. It had multiple sediment filters and a water/oil separator. I do not believe it was adequate filtration before it was sent back into the sea.

No one seems to know. I only know because I was part of the works post operation.

Makes me wonder how many heavy industrial entities got to do who knows what and get away with it.

#43

Apparently, you can go swimming in a southern US lake and an amoeba might just swim up your nose and eat your brain.

#44

That one in five men will leave their wives when they get extremely sick or have to care for them in some manner.

#45

The number of lives that have been saved by inventions made for and during wars is greater than the number of lives lost in wars. As far as human lives are concerned, wars have a net-positive effect. If this isn't disturbing, I don't know what is.

#46

"Died instantly on impact" in a car crash is anywhere up to 30 minutes, which is about how long it takes to extract your body from a crushed car in a deadly wreck. They don't bother trying to find out how long it actually took you to die, and the family doesn't really want to know.

#47

At some point the number of yesterdays you’ve had will be greater than the number of tomorrows you’ve got left.

#48

There is a condition in which damaged tissue is replaced by bone. People with this condition are slowly consumed by their own skeleton and have to choses which position they want to spend the rest of their life in after a certain point

#49

Living a healthy lifestyle, eating right and exercising buys you the slowest rate of death possible, at best. I work with the elderly and a 95 yo woman mumbled that “this is what I get for being healthy…stiiiiiillll here.”

#50

Your immune system basically ignores your eyes. If for whatever reason your immune system becomes aware of the existence of your eyes, it can attack them and potentially cause severe damage.

(This is quite simplified, but if you’re interested look up ocular immune privilege. It’s fascinating stuff.)

#51

We've lived half of our subjective experience of life by the time we're 18 years old. It's why our childhoods felt so long and time feels like it goes by faster as we get older.

#52

Horses have 350° vision they have a 5° gap at the front of their sight and a 5° gap at the back of their sight. If you stand directly behind them they don't see you. And that is what triggers the kick reaction