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Bananas Are Naturally Radioactive
Bananas contain potassium-40, a naturally occurring radioactive isotope. You would need to eat roughly 10 million bananas at once to die of radiation poisoning from them.
Why It’s Fascinating
Scientists actually use the 'banana equivalent dose' as an informal unit to communicate radiation exposure to the public. It shows that radiation is everywhere, and dose is what matters.
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Your Body Produces Light You Can't See
Human bodies emit bioluminescent light that is 1,000 times weaker than what the human eye can detect. This faint glow fluctuates throughout the day, peaking in the late afternoon.
Glass Is Neither a Solid nor a Liquid
Glass is an amorphous solid — its molecules are disordered like a liquid but rigid like a solid. The myth that old cathedral windows are thicker at the bottom due to flowing is false; that was just medieval glassmaking technique.
Water Can Boil and Freeze at the Same Time
At a specific pressure and temperature known as the triple point, water exists simultaneously as a solid, liquid, and gas. This occurs at 0.01 degrees Celsius and 611.73 pascals.
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