The Universe Is Messing With Us: Weird Facts You Can’t Unknow
Reality isn’t just weird. It’s that one chaotic friend who shows up late, brings snacks, and then casually drops, “Oh, by the way, bananas are berries and strawberries are lying to you.”
Welcome to Bored Monkee’s corner of the internet where we collect the most brain-bending, share-worthy facts and then aggressively throw them at your group chat. These are the kinds of things you read once and then *cannot* stop telling people about, whether they asked or not.
Let’s ruin your sense of normal in the most entertaining way possible.
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1. Your Skeleton Is Technically Wet (And You’re Basically a Mech Suit)
You’re walking around thinking, “This is my body.” No. That’s your *pilot suit*. Inside that suit is a fully soaked skeleton just vibing in there like it owns the place.
Your bones aren’t dry like in cartoons. Living bones are full of blood vessels, marrow, water, and squishy connective tissue. They’re more like a firm jelly with structural ambitions than the chalky Halloween decorations you see at the store. Also, your skeleton is constantly being broken down and rebuilt by cells called osteoclasts and osteoblasts, meaning your bones are under constant renovation like a very slow, very intense home makeover show.
If you’re over 30, parts of your skeleton are younger than your favorite hoodie. If you’re a baby, your skull isn’t fully fused yet, which is scientifically known as “maximum squish mode.” So yes, you are effectively a slightly damp robot powered by snacks and anxiety, piloting a regenerating calcium exosuit.
You may now refer to your body as “limited-edition meat armor.” You’re welcome.
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2. Octopuses Are Basically Escape-Room Wizards With Extra Arms
If you ever feel dumb, remember: octopuses can open jars from the inside. If you ever feel smart, also remember: octopuses can open jars from the inside.
These wiggly ocean masterminds have neurons not just in their brains but throughout their arms. Each arm has a kind of semi-independent “mini brain” that can help it explore, grab, and taste things (yes, their suckers can taste). So while you’re struggling to untangle your headphones, an octopus is out there solving puzzles, walking on land for short distances, and pulling off prison breaks from aquariums like it’s rehearsing for Ocean’s Eleven: Tentacle Edition.
They recognize individual humans, can learn by watching, and have been caught rearranging tank decor just because they’re bored. One even famously kept squirting water at a light it didn’t like until it shorted out. That’s not a pet—that’s a disgruntled underwater electrician.
Next time someone calls you “multi-tasking,” just remember there’s an octopus out there running eight separate side quests at once.
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3. Bananas Are Radioactive, and That’s Somehow Normal
Bananas: adorable fruit, excellent for smoothies, low-key glowing with radiation.
Bananas contain potassium, and a tiny fraction of that is the naturally radioactive isotope potassium-40. That means, in a very technical sense, your banana is beaming out tiny bits of radiation while you calmly eat it and scroll your phone. Before you start screaming and throwing produce, this level of radiation is extremely low and totally safe—your smoke detector is scarier.
Scientists even joke about “banana equivalent dose” as a fun way to explain radiation exposure. Like, “This X-ray is worth a few hundred bananas.” Which is wild because no one warns you about “danger: may contain the spiritual power of 700 bananas” at the doctor’s office.
So if anyone calls you boring, you can say: “Actually, I’m slightly radioactive, like a polite superhero powered by breakfast.”
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4. Your Brain Can’t Tell the Future, but Your Stomach Is Already in Tomorrow
Your brain likes to pretend it’s in charge, but your gut is out here playing 4D chess.
Scientists sometimes call the gut your “second brain” because it has its own nervous system (the enteric nervous system) that can operate independently. It helps control digestion, talks constantly with your real brain, and heavily influences your mood. That “gut feeling” you get? It’s not just drama. It’s actual biochemistry throwing vibes at your decision-making system.
Even weirder: your gut microbiome—aka the galaxy of bacteria residing in your intestines—is partially responsible for how you process food, stress, and maybe even how you behave. Some research suggests those microbes can influence things like anxiety, cravings, and even social behavior. So when you say “I’m not myself when I’m hungry,” you might literally mean, “The bacteria that co-manage this body are requesting a snack.”
You are not just “you.” You are a crowd. A walking committee. A meetings-that-could-have-been-an-email organism.
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5. Space Smells Like Burnt Steak and Hot Metal (Allegedly)
Space looks majestic and silent, but according to astronauts, it smells like someone left a BBQ on inside a hardware store.
Obviously, you can’t just pop your helmet off and sniff the void unless you want to speedrun “game over.” But when astronauts re-enter their spacecraft, the smell clings to spacesuits and equipment. They’ve described it as a mix of burnt steak, welding fumes, hot metal, and seared meat. Very “cosmic cookout hosted by a welder.”
The smell probably comes from high-energy vibrations and reactions of atoms in the vacuum of space that leave behind complex molecules. When they interact with air inside the spacecraft, your nose goes, “Ah yes, delicious apocalypse.” NASA has even worked on recreating “space smell” to help train astronauts, which feels less like science and more like an oddly specific candle collab.
So next time you look up at the stars and think, “Wow, that’s beautiful,” just know the universe is up there smelling like overcooked dinner and a metal shop.
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Conclusion
We live in a reality where:
- You’re a soggy skeleton piloting meat armor
- Octopuses are one promotion away from running the planet
- Bananas are micro-dose radioactive
- Your gut is a bossy bacterial group chat
- And outer space smells like cursed barbecue
The universe didn’t have to be this weird, but it chose chaos—and honestly, respect.
Now go send this to someone who was just trying to have a normal day and let them join you in the “I can’t stop thinking about my wet skeleton” club. Bored Monkee approves this mental chaos.
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Sources
- [National Institutes of Health – Bone Health and Osteoporosis](https://www.bones.nih.gov/health-info/bone/bone-health/overview) – Explains how bones are living tissue, constantly remodeled in the body
- [Smithsonian Magazine – The Mind of an Octopus](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mind-octopus-180949341/) – Deep dive into octopus intelligence and behavior
- [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission – Facts About Radiation](https://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/radiation/around-us/calculator.html) – Includes “banana equivalent dose” and everyday radiation exposure info
- [Harvard Medical School – Gut-Brain Connection](https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/the-gut-brain-connection) – Overview of how the gut and brain constantly communicate
- [NASA – What Does Space Smell Like?](https://earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/sensing-our-planet/what-does-space-smell-like) – Discusses astronauts’ descriptions of the smell of space and the science behind it