25 Of The Scariest Science Facts Shared By People Online

Science is full of fascinating discoveries, from hippos secreting their own sunscreen to exploring distant galaxies. However, it can also reveal some unsettling truths. Take microplastics, for example, and their impact on our health, or the frequent oil spills that harm our oceans. These facts aren't exactly the stuff of fun trivia. One Redditor, u/DogeStonks69, recently sparked a discussion by asking about the scariest science facts unknown to the public. The responses were eye-opening, to say the least. Brace yourself for a journey into some unsettling realities that might leave you pondering our place in the universe.

#1 Scientists were trying to study the effects that microplastics have on the human body and brain but were unable to draw any reasonable conclusions because they **could not find a control group.**.

Image source: TheSpaceBornMars, Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#2 Only my grandma and I know how handsome I am.

Image source: mystical_apple05, cottonbro studio/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#3 We know that there is a string connection between pregnant mother's having viruses such as the flu during pregnancy and schizophrenia. It will be interesting what we see in 15 years post COVID.

Image source: DrAimCaf, Jonathan Borba/Pexels (not the actual phtoo)

#4 Your poor posture could lead to incurable chronic pain. Sit up straight.

Image source: MobPsycho-100, Kawê Rodrigues/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#5 By the time AIDS was first discovered in the United States in 1981, 250,000 Americans were already infected with HIV.

Image source: squid_ward_16, Towfiqu barbhuiya Towfiqu barbhuiya/Pexels

#6 The greatest chemical contributor to IQ loss and violent behaviour is Lead and it's still in millions of people's piping.

Image source: re_artist, Alchemist-hp (talk) (www.pse-mendelejew.de)

#7 Brain aneurysms can happen at any time, to anyone. No matter what age you are, or even how healthy you are, if you are currently alive, you have a chance of getting a brain aneurysm. When you do get one, there's a 50 % chance you'll just die immediately. Like, you'd be alive one minute, and then lying on the floor unconscious the next minute. Are the chances of actually getting a brain aneurysm at any random moment low? Yes, but it's still not 0.

Image source: Wales_forever, MART PRODUCTION/Pexels

#8 Insect population depletion.

Image source: abysse, Egor Kamelev/Pexels

#9

Image source: TheMagnuson, Felix Mittermeier/Pexels Take an Astronomy 101 course at your local community college. People have no idea the amount of and variety of things that exist in space, that can and do happen, that would send us back to the Stone Age, or outright annihilate life on Earth. I’m not talking asteroids, comets, and solar flares, everyone knows those, I’m talking supernovas, gamma ray bursts, wandering planets, wandering back holes, and more. And none of it do we have any ounce of control over. The good thing is the galaxy and universe are unbelievably large, so our chances of being affected by these things are, quite literally, astronomically low, but it ain’t zero.

#10 Last time i had to go under the knife i mentioned to the anesthesiologist "i read online that no one knows how anesthesia even works" and he kinda just said "yeah....".

Image source: SamURLJackson, Anna Shvets/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#11 I'm sure there are plenty of people who know this, but personally I find it terrifying af.

Image source: Traditional_Ad_6801, Alex Andrews/Pexels If the vacuum of space didn't block sound from reaching us, the sun would be as loud as a jackhammer *everywhere* on Earth. Everywhere, at all times. And because sound travels slower than light, if the sun were to go out it would take eight minutes for the light to stop but 13 years for the sound to stop. So life on a cold, dead Earth for 13 years and still hearing the jackhammer scream of our dead sun.

#12 There are millions and billions of dollars in research into how to make people buy c**p. The missus took a year of psychology and what they got the most research on is how to manipulate you and me into buying c**p we don't need. Mental illness we know a little about. Making you want the new c**p that you don't need? We know a helluva lot about how that works.

Image source: Hattkake, Negative Space/Pexels

#13 We are currently in the sixth major extinction event, where our flora and fauna are being destroyed by human activity at a fast rate. It cannot be completely stopped anymore, only mitigated, and, let’s be real… we as humans have little interest as a whole to do so.

Image source: hasturoid

#14 Alcohol increases the permeability of the blood brain barrier by unpredictable factors, which is why people die from overdose on their normal d**g dosages.

Image source: desexmachina, Mahrael Boutros/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#15 Europa even though smaller than Earth has more water than all water bodies in the world combined.

Image source: terrific_mephit325, NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill

#16 Scientific litterature conclusion on alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases in general is that the diseases start decades before the first obvious symptoms and that we need to treat them at this stage. When you exhibit obvious symptoms, it's too late, your brain is already mush.

Image source: GotPC, Matthias Zomer/Pexels (not the actual photo) If you get diagnosed with alzheimer's at 65, you had the disease since your early 40's at least. And you experienced very mild symptoms but didn't notice it. And your brain fought like hell to compensate the deficit. When you get diagnose, your brain is already very severely damaged and will never recover from the deficit.

#17 Swimming in freshwater could expose you to Naegleria fowleri — a brain eating amoeba** that is fatal 97% of the time, and is almost impossible to treat effectively.

Image source: AdventurouslyYoung, Pixabay/Pexels (Not the actual photo)

#18 The End-Permian mass extinction was the worst in Earth's history. 70-80% of species died. It was caused by volcanic activity in Siberia spewing magma for thousands of years, releasing CO2 and igniting fossil fuel deposits as it bubbled up for good measure, leading to a runaway greenhouse effect and acidifying the oceans. Species had a better chance of surviving the asteroid that k***ed the dinosaurs. Today, the global climate is heating up 10x faster than it did at the end of the Permian.

Image source: the_hip_o

#19 I'll let the others have the easy ones.

Image source: beanrush, Samad Deldar/Pexels (not the actual photo) The inevitable displacement of Mexico City due to the abuse and lack of fresh water. It will be an international incident by their own making, displacing roughly 20 million people. Half of their utilities infrastructure is faulty and the current leadership has no viable way to repair and maintain their current system. It's not a matter of if, but when the system collapses. Normal groundwater reserve use is ten percent for any major city and only under dire circumstances should it be used at all. Mexico City uses almost half of their supply from groundwater reserves annually. Current projections show a complete collapse within 15 years.

#20 An Extinction Level asteroid could hit Earth with only a few days notice. Asteroids can appear very quickly from what appears to be nowhere. There is nothing we could do to prevent it from hitting.

Image source: markydsade, Alex Andrews/Pexels (not the actual photo)

#21 In Yellowknife, NT Canada, there was a gold mine operating for 54 years, and a byproduct of that mining process was arsenic trioxide... 237,000 tonnes of it, enough to give a death sentece to everything on the planet. They figured the best thing to do was to bury it in permafrost. The problem is, it's starting to get warmer, so they have to figure out what to do with it. It's not a secret. Just no one is talking about it.

Image source: Shaveyourbread, Trevor MacInnis

#22 CO2 levels are causing the pH levels in the ocean to move towards an acidic level. No not like burn yourself acid, but just enough that it's causing an already noticeable impact to microorganisms at the bottom of the food chain. This may eventually lead to an ecological collapse. It seems to be impacting phytoplankton which is responsible for producing a good chunk of the air you breath as well. If the oceans go anaerobic the atmosphere would become toxic. A similar event has occurred during one or two of the past mass extinction events.

Image source: CodeMonkeyPhoto, Josh Sorenson/Pexels

#23 People don’t talk enough about the melting permafrost and the associated positive feedback loops that only accelerate what’s already started.

Image source: headwaterscarto

#24 If you start showing any signs of rabies, you are going to die. Or at least in 99% of cases that happens.

Image source: PurahsHero, Pixabay/Pexels

#25 Our bodies have no way of knowing that we're breathing oxygen. If I could snap my fingers and replace all the oxygen in you room with another inert gas you wouldn't notice. You wouldn't start to choke or struggle. You'd just get sleepier and sleepier until you die. That's why carbon monoxide is so dangerous. If you have any sort of gas appliance in your building, invest in a detector.

Image source: Lastalmark, Ivan Samkov/Pexels (not the actual photo)