15 Facts That Demand Attention
![15 Facts That Demand Attention](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/5/835705_320x180.jpg)
It was an unusually hot spring day. I was eight years old, and I walked along the shoreline of the lake where my mom often took me. I passed by a park that I'd always played in before it fell into disrepair and now looked almost unrecognizable. I noticed that there were a bunch of other kids at play, and one caught my eye as she sat near what had once been a slide.
As I approached her, my heart leapt because there was something strange about her, but at the same time, it struck me like thunder through a clear blue sky. Her eyes were dark pools that looked like stormy oceans, or deep wells, yet they held no malice, just a kind of yearning sadness; they told a story only they understood; a tale of longing for a life long-since lived; an age that had faded into the history of our country's past, an era when things seemed simpler, a time where I might have been happier. I took her hand in mine, a moment that felt right to say hello. As we embraced, she began to whisper in my ear. She whispered these fifteen facts. I memorized them for twenty-seven years, and now I offer them here to you.
The bigger the balls, the bigger the horn.
![Narwhals' tusks are linked to the size of their testicles. GRAGKED.COM Not a lot is understood about the tusks of this whale; some females have them, some males have one, or two, or none. One thing that scientists can say definitively is that if a male has a bigger tusk, he'll have bigger testicles.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/5/835715.jpg)
Giant rats roamed South America.
![A bull-sized rat competed against saber tooth tigers 2 million years ago. GRACKED.COM Josephoartigasia monesi was a 3,400 pound rodent that lived in South America alongside saber tooth cats and terror birds. Luckily for smaller animals at the time, this rat ate mostly aquatic plants and fruits.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/3/835713.jpg)
The Sun is warping space around Mercury.
![Mercury has an unusual orbit because the Sun is warping space. CRACKED.COM Newton's law of motion explains the orbit of all the planets, except for Mercury. It wasn't until Einstein's theory of relativity that the answer became clear: the enormous mass of our Sun is warping the space around it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/4/835714.jpg)
Don’t sleep on starfish friends.
![Starfish sleepers are great friends, and lovers. CRACKED COM People who sleep on their backs with their arms over their heads are known as starfish sleepers, who prefer not to be the center of attention, make great friends, and are generous lovers.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/6/835716.jpg)
Giant snails are slowly destroying Florida.
![Giant African snails are terrorizing residents in South Florida. CRACKED.COM The snail, which is the largest on Earth, is becoming an invasive species in Florida. With it, the snail brings rat lungworm parasites, which burrow into humans and cause painful headaches, vomiting, a stiff neck and even meningitis.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/9/835709.jpg)
We all grow out of being a-holes.
![We all start life out as a little butthole. GRACKED.COM In the first few weeks after fertilization, the tiny group of cells called a blastula opens up, creating the first of our proto-organs called a blastopore. This miniscule anus continues to grow until it is birthed and forced to pay taxes.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/7/835707.jpg)
Dogs are empaths.
![Dogs can recognize human emotion. GRACKED.COM Dogs have the unique ability to distinguish between smiling and neutral human faces, and will use that information in their reaction to people. Dogs are the only non-primate that will communicate their needs with eye contact.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/1/835711.jpg)
A BBC camera crew had to fend off a bear.
![The camera crew for BBC's Planet Earth had to shoot a flare gun at a polar bear. CRACKED.COM While the crew was cooking up some food in their arctic cabin, they caught the unfortunate attention of the world's largest land predator: a polar bear. One crew member found a gun with blanks and flares to scare it away.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/2/835712.jpg)
You, yes you, have face mites.
![Everyone has mites on their face. CRACKED.COM Face mites, known as Demodex folliculorum, live on the human body. Looking like tiny worms with claws and scales, they can most commonly be found on the face and head where they have a large supply of food.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/7/835717.jpg)
A moon in our solar system has a huge atmosphere.
![Saturn's moon Titan has a higher atmosphere than Earth. CRACKED.COM Titan's robust atmosphere, composed of mostly nitrogen and methane, extends about 370 miles high, which makes it a lot higher than Earth's atmosphere (62 miles).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/8/835708.jpg)
Grocery stores are tricking you to think things are cheap.
![Grocery stores lower the price of food staples to make everything seem cheap. 2491 SAME A A THE لومات Lar Caulifi 2 .3 CRACKED COM People generally form an opinion on a store's value based on the price of staples like bread, milk, and eggs. Supermarkets make sure these items are competitively priced, but hike up costs on other items.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/6/835706.jpg)
Carrier pigeons follow the rules of the road better than some BMW drivers.
![Carrier pigeons fly around roundabouts before taking their exit. CRACKED.COM Carrier pigeons are trained by gradually taking them further and further away from their home to get them used to navigating their way back. They use man-made roads as a guide, sometimes so strictly that they use traffic circles.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/0/835710.jpg)
More people are immune to pain in Japan than anywhere else.
![Japan has three times the number of people who cannot feel pain compared to the U.S. CRACKED COM Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) is a rare and dangerous condition that stops a person from perceiving pain impulses. Despite having a population more than double that of Japan, the U.S. only](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/8/835718.jpg)
Going under anesthesia is more terrifying than you actually remember.
![Your body briefly panics as it goes under anesthesia. CRACKED.COM As the foreign substance starts to interfere with your normal bodily functions, your brain tries to save you by twitching, gagging, and rapidly changing your breathing and heart rate.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/1/9/835719.jpg)
The Creation Museum has interesting thoughts on Australia.
![According to the Creation Museum, kangaroos floated to Australia on driftwood. CRACKED.COM After the Flood, kangaroos jumped off the ark, grabbed onto floating trees, and drifted to land.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/2/0/835720.jpg)