What if facts

Researchers state that, for example, owls and lions rely on the darkness of night with just a bit of moonlight to hunt effectively. The moon is very close to us, so the pull of its gravity impacts our planet. Due to the loss of gravitational pull the core of our planet might shift a little bit.

This could cause any number of natural disasters like earthquakes or volcanoes. And here is why: Approximately 80 percent of all plants in the world are flowering. It means that they require pollination from insects like bees or butterflies. Sometimes the wind and animals unconsciously assist with pollination, but this is not enough and most of work is done by insects.

With no insects there is no chance for us to avoid the food chain collapse. If insects disappear, a lot of mammals and birds would disappear too. And if you don't have insects pollinating, animals eating fruits, leaves, or living in trees would also die out. Thus, step by step, it would lead to the mass extinction of life on our planet. What would happen if the world started spinning twice as fast?

The water level at the equator would rise by meters because of the centrifugal force of the Earth pulling water from the poles. Our planet's surface would change unrecognizably. Indonesia and most of the northern part of South America would be totally wiped out. And Africa would be separated into 2 islands. This high speed of the Earth's rotation would cause much more severe hurricanes. And they, in turn, would spin at increased speeds too.

The amount of water at the equator would cause a huge increase in humidity and a permanent band of fog. What would happen if you didn't shower for a year? Skipping your shower could result in dead skin cell buildup. Normally the dead skin is flaked off through normal washing, but when that stops it clumps with the body oils , especially behind the ears, on the neck, and under women's breasts. Different skin types would react differently to no cleansing for a whole year.

Could computers ever become sophisticated enough to build a convincing imitation of the real world? We look into the likelihood of a real-life Matrix. Generating realistic surround sound comes now comes from above and below.

And we thought growing up was hard…. When we look for extra-terrestrial life, we look for planets with liquid water. But are we overlooking places where life could thrive? You won't find any of these in a tree in your garden Seeds need a protective coat and a supply of food to stay alive long enough to grow into a plant.

Is Mount Everest getting taller? And what animals live in high climates? All your questions, answered. The idea of little velociraptors that can fly is a scary thought, but not too far from reality. Talk about a blast from the past. What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning? Why is a green screen green? Do animals get hiccups? It extends the fruits' post-storage quality by blocking ethylene, a colorless gas that naturally regulates ripening and aging.

Bumblebee bats , which are also known as Kitti's hognose bats, are "the smallest bat[s] in the world, maybe even the smallest mammal," Rob Meis , director of the Organization for Bat Conservation, told National Geographic. He explained that the tiny flyer doesn't even weigh two grams, which is less than the weight of a dime. In , a year-old man named Ronald MacDonald was charged with stealing money from a safe at a Wendy's fast-food restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire.

However, the Associated Press noted that there was no relation to the criminal who was caught red-handed and the red-nosed clown with the very similar name. When you hear about a blizzard, you probably envision the kind of blustery whiteout of snow that happens during the winter.

But a " black blizzard " is instead a dust storm that's so intense it blocks out the sun and throws the surrounding area into darkness. It may not seem like lettuce and sunflowers have much in common, other than the fact that they're both plants and they both have leaves.

Frankly, there are plenty of ways that they're quite different. For instance, lettuce grows close to the ground while sunflowers reach rather impressive heights. Despite those differences, lettuce is of the Lactuca genus, which is a member of the Asteraceae family , also known as the aster, daisy, or sunflower family. Who knew?!

Would you vote for a purring politician? Back in , when there weren't enough eligible human candidates up for the role, a cat named Stubbs was elected as the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska, according to CNN. He served the city in his honorary position for two decades before passing away in Several uncontested elections. Thousands of naps. We had a good run. You might think that cheese, chocolates, or cookies are the ideal food pairings for a glass of champagne.

Osselin told The Drinks Business that the saltiness and crunchiness of fries complement the acidity and bubbles in the champagne. You might have gone your entire life without knowing what urea is, but now you'll be able to tell others that it's a chemical found in human urine. It's also something that's added to some tobacco products in order to enhance their flavor, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC.

Animal lovers who are concerned about the treatment of vulnerable creatures in professional settings may be hesitant to attend a traditional circus. But if you still want to enjoy the majestic abilities of the animals without worrying about their wellbeing, you might want to get tickets to Circus Roncalli, which stopped using animals in Instead, this cruelty-free circus uses 3-D holograms of horses, fish, and elephants instead of living animals to perform crowd-pleasing tricks.

It's well known that Venice is sinking, but Indonesia's capital of North Jakarta might also be going under. Due to rising sea levels and sinking land, which is a result of climate change , 95 percent of the area might be submerged by , according to a report by Wired. Norway once made a king penguin a knight. Deemed Nils Olav, the bird was followed by a second penguin who took over the name and rank before a third bird came onto the scene and in was promoted from honorable regimental sergeant major to honorary colonel-in-chief.

For years, there have been rumors and reported sightings of the ghjattu-volpe, or " cat-fox ," on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Unfortunately, no one could confirm whether the creature was real or simply a myth circulated by fearful farmers if you're wondering, these kitties are not friendly. That changed in when a genetic analysis proved that a wildcat from the area may be of a previously unrecognized species. The cats are bigger than the typical house cat, have large tails, and "highly developed" canine teeth.

You might think that all bananas are pretty much the same—yellow, long, slightly curved, and oh-so-sweet—but there are more than different kinds of bananas. While you might not spot a lot of wild pigs roaming around your particular neighborhood, they still cause quite a problem. These problematic hogs cost the country well over a billion dollars every year to control and deal with the damage they've done.

There's a reason why it's nearly impossible not to laugh when someone is tickling you—and it has nothing to do with the situation being overwhelmingly funny. Instead, your body is likely employing a natural defense mechanism. Scientists from the University of Tuebingen in Germany found that when we're being tickled , the part of the brain that anticipates pain is triggered.

Because our brain thinks we're in trouble, we might strike at whoever is tickling use or we might laugh, which is a sign of submission. The people behind Cards Against Humanity, the game responsible for hours of fun with your family and friends, are the founders of Hawaii 2, a private island in the middle of Maine. In , the company announced that the , folks who contributed would receive a "deed, a map, and a small flag" to recognize their partial ownership. In the Lord of the Rings stories, Mordor is where the villain Sauron resides.

And while J. R Tolkien 's Middle Earth was merely a fantasy, Mordor is a real place. Although it's not the base of evil power in our realm, it is instead a dark and mysterious place on Charon, one of Pluto's moons , that sometimes appears to be the color of a dried bloodstain, according to USA Today.

And yes, the spot was named after the book, not the other way around. We tend to think of waves occurring in the ocean. But there are actually clouds that look like waves of water.

In June , some lucky people in Roanoke, Virginia, witnessed what are called Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds when they appeared in the sky above Smith Mountain. The formation can occur on windy days, "when there is a strong vertical shear—meaning the wind is blowing faster at upper levels in the atmosphere compared to the wind at lower levels, causing the clouds to look like rolling waves ," according to ABC News.

Why did the chicken cross the road? Because it could do so safely, of course. The harnesses even feature snazzy bowties for fancy fowl. All Rights Reserved. Open side menu button. Smarter Living. A panorama of many images stitched together from V2 rockets from flights in The first images If you leave Earth's surface, it's impossible not to see the true shape of the Earth, as it's been unavoidable since we first traveled high enough to observe our planet's curvature.

From high altitudes, or even from space, the true shape of the Earth can easily be seen. Its dimensions can be measured; its radius of curvature in all directions can be calculated; the imperfections and departures from sphericity are directly observable by our instruments.

If you travel far enough away from Earth, you can observe an entire hemisphere at once, even watching the planet rotate on its axis in real time. At right around 12, kilometers 7, miles in diameter, our world is undoubtedly a sphere. But what if you had never been to space, or high enough up to see the Earth's curvature yourself? What if you had never circumnavigated the globe , done the Eratosthenes experiment , or heard about the Shaquille O'Neal experiment that anyone can perform?

Believe it or not, there are still a number of simple observations you can make that wouldn't occur if the Earth were flat. Here are the top five simplest ones. The two ways Earth could cast a circular shadow on the Moon: by being a spherical object bottom or Note that, however, if it's a disk, the disk must be face-on to the Sun-Moon plane, or the shadow of the Earth won't appear circular.

Lunar Eclipses don't occur only at midnight. Take a look at the shape of the Earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse, particularly during a partial phase. Do you notice how the Earth's shadow always appears to be a piece of a near-perfect circle? If the Earth were a flat disk, that means there's only one possible orientation that the Sun-Earth-Moon alignment can take place in to create a circular rather than elliptical shadow: with the Earth's "disk" perpendicular to the Sun-Moon plane.

This means the Sun would need to be at the "midnight" position relative to the night side of Earth, and yet lunar eclipses occur at all different times depending on where you are on Earth.

The flat Earth can't explain that.