20 Mind Blowing Facts You Won't Believe

A mantis shrimp, nicknamed the Smasher, can swing its claw at speeds up to 52 miles per hour. The strike is so fast that it boils the water around it and creates a flash of light. According to researchers in Paris, the molecular structure of a full head of human hair is strong enough to support 12 tons. To put it in perspective, that's approximately two adult Asian elephants. When we breathe through our nose, we always inhale more air through one nostril than with the other one. This nasal cycle changes about every 30 minutes. The nose has erectile tissue, like the genitals, that can become engorged with blood, which is part of the reason we get a stuffy nose. There are more possible iterations of chess games than there are atoms in the observable universe. Mathematicians estimate that all possible move variations of all games of chess equals around 10 to the 120th power, or 1 noventrigintillion. By comparison, atoms that make up the known universe is 10 to the 81st power, or 1 sesvigintillion. Today, the latest commercial satellite can distinctly view objects as small as 9 inches from its location nearly 382 miles up. That's about the size of an IKEA dinner plate. It is calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 houses per second to deliver all presents on Christmas Eve. Due to the different time zones and the rotation of the Earth, Santa's sleigh would be moving at 650 miles per second, 162 times the speed of sound. In the US, as much as 40% of produce grown is never sold or eaten because it is classified as too ugly. Grocery stores don't stock imperfect fruit and vegetables because consumers won't buy them. The world record for the longest accurate shot in archery is 230 yards. The current record holder is 33-year-old Matt Stutzman, a man born without arms. Since 1991, 60 to 80% of all rap music in the United States is consumed by white people ages 14 to 24. This includes buying CDs, going to concerts, and even iTunes downloads. In classical Athens in the 5th century BC, the punishment for sleeping with another man's wife was to be publicly sodomized with a spicy radish. This act, known as rapanidosis, was also a punishment for other sex-related crimes, such as promiscuity and homosexuality. The sun is the most perfectly round natural object known in the universe. The only thing more perfectly spherical than the sun is an artificial silicone ball, created as a standard for weight. The average American golf course uses around 312,000 gallons of water daily. Some golf courses in Palm Springs use up to 1 million gallons every day. A New Jersey woman rolled a pair of dice 154 times continuously at a craps table without losing. Her 154-roll winning streak broke a world record. The probability of this occurring is roughly 1 in 5.6 billion. When a barcode is being scanned, the black lines are not the ones being read. It's actually the white space in between. The world's smallest periodic table was carved on a strand of hair. Scientists created the complete and up-to-date table of elements by putting the strand inside an ion beam microscope. It was given to a university professor as a birthday gift. A man named Paul Hunn holds the record for the loudest burp. His booming belch was recorded at 109.9 decibels. That's as loud as a clap of thunder. Did you know that George Washington was a ginger? We usually only see pictures of George Washington with grey or white hair. But naturally, he was a redhead. Back then, many prominent men would either wear wigs or powder their hair. A ball of glass can bounce higher than a ball of rubber if they are the same size and are dropped from the same distance. The U.S. uses less water now than it did in 1970, showing a 20% decline. This is especially surprising as the U.S. population has grown by 100 million people since then. The country is now more environmentally conscious, implementing more efficient irrigation on Mosquito repellents don't actually keep mosquitoes away by repelling them. The spray blocks the bug's sensors so they don't even know you're there, making you undetectable to the pesky insects.