Facts about.. anything.

I figured I’d make a discussion on here for everyone to share fun (or not so fun) facts about any topic of their choice. You don’t have to stay on the same topic either, feel free to do a variety.

I have really no limit on the length of your fact either - you could write an essay on it and share it if you really want to.

Also feel free to have discussions here based on what facts have been said!

I think a lot of people are familiar with Chernobyl, and when there’s a nuclear incident there’s generally radiation left behind.

When the incident happened, there was wind, which blew it to other countries. Now a lot of people tend to think of Ukraine being an affected country which is correct, but my home country, Belarus also got a lot of it due to the wind patterns that happened back then.

(FYI I didn’t live anywhere near most of the zones, the closest was an unnamed zone I think; I just lived in the area of Minsk.)

Now while effects are still seen today, fun fact: you shouldnt worry about radiation if you go to Belarus at all, unless you’re of course directly aiming to go there. Most foods and waters are safe to eat/drink, just avoid tap water (it’s not radiation, our tap water just isn’t filtered enough.)

Expect a lot of Belarus facts (from me at least)

Apparently rabbits eat their own poop. Don't worry, they do poop it out again, but…

ACTUALLY

most rodents eat their own feces, including guinea pigs and rats. While it might seem disgusting to us, it’s actually very important for their functions. Because rodents are grazers and most owners neglect to feed them enough hay to actually supply needed nutrients, rodents will depend on their poos which is very high in fibre to begin with. Like I said, it might seem so disgusting, but it’s super important. When you own one of these rodents, you just sort of accept it. Like I own a pair of guinea pigs, and we also happen to have a few financial troubles. I feed them as much hay as I can, but when I run out and cannot get more, I know they’d be okay on pellets and poo for a while. It makes me feel bad, but they live. People who completely neglect feeding hay would have their rodents lost without this method, without them knowing it.

Also sick rodents can make a ‘poop soup’ from a healthy rodent’s poo to make the antibiotics in their stomach righten. So actually, rodents eating their own poo is very important for the way their digestive track moves, so this is especially true in guinea pigs, which is why I know this.

lmao sure it isnt. I honestly just know a lot about rodents and how they work because guinea pigs are very adorable and cuddly and I want to take care of them well.

COROT-7b is an exoplanet about twice the size of Earth and known for its unusual weather cycle, where it gets so ridiculously hot that instead of raining water evaporated into the sky, it rains molten lava/pebbles.

There’s a planet where it rains glass.

Sideways.

Yep. HD 189733 b. quite fascinating really

It evaporates
forms clouds
does the big rain
but with rock or glass instead of water

The sideways thing is just cause of wind

Here are some Belarus facts for you:

In Belarus, most of us don’t actually speak much Belarusian. We actually speak Russian more there.

Minsk, the capital of Belarus was completely destroyed during the Second World War. Of course, they rebuilt it, though originally the plan was to rebuilt it 30 km away from the original spot which they decided against and built it in the same place. Speaking on being destroyed..it has been destroyed many many times in history but has been rebuilt each time. Because of this, it’s earned a nickname, hero city since it comes back every time.

Again about Minsk, it’s one of the safest cities in Belarus.

Minsk is older than Moscow (Russian capital)

A lot of people tend to mistake Belarus to be a region of Russia. (I guess because of the ‘Rus’ in its name? I don’t know…)

The highest mountain is Mount Dzyarzhynskaya at 346 m in height.

Belarus is the only European country where death penalty is legal.

Us Belarusians love potatoes - we even make pancakes out of them. Belarusians have at least 300 recipes that include potatoes.

The green stripe on Belarus’s flag represents our forests. 40% of it is covered in forest.

Belarus has a lot of Nobel Prize winners.

In cities in Belarus, you’ll find there’s at least one street named after Lenin.

Belarus’s oldest city is Polotsk, which has been around since 862 AD.

About a quarter of Belarus is uninhabitable. Like seriously. Don’t go to the uninhabitable parts.

The first settlements date back to 100,000-35,000 years ago.

Belarus is also known as White Russia. That’s what it means, actually.

Alexander Lukashenko is the first and only president of Belarus. There is also a Prime Minister, appointed by the president but the president has a lot of power.

The average annual rainfall is more than 700 mm. For comparison, in London it is 584 mm.

WW2 took 25% of the lives away in Belarus.

Some of our biggest problems in Belarus are chemical and nuclear pollution. Around 2 million are effected by it.

There are about 6,000,000 internet users in Belarus.

After WW1, we briefly declared ourselves as a republic but were invaded by the red army.

The government often views rock music as politically inappropriate.

Belarus has been described as Europe’s last dictatorship.

Dziady is a festival celebrated that honours ancestors.

There is a 99% literacy rate in Belarus (or around there)

As of 2018 Belarus has a population of 8 million.

The Belarusian Dead Zone is the most restricted zone around Chernobyl. Compared to the one of Ukraine..Ukraine allows tourists, while this one allows none.

Basically Chernobyl, the nuclear incident that occurred decades ago created a Dead Zone. In Ukraine you can’t go there unless with special permissions, sometimes they take tourist groups in there. With Belarus you don’t really go in there, but I think a youtuber got special permissions to go in there.

The Dead Zone is also known as the Exclusion Zone. Public access and inhabitation is restricted there. This is because of high levels of radioactive contamination.

Wow..that’s an experience I don’t want to have hopefully.

Belarus is a..I guess somewhat safe country? You can walk around and be safe as long as you’re not near the exclusion zone I mentioned (in which why would you be near it anyways? Getting your daily dose of radiation?) It’s got bad property laws though, the death penalty is still active and Belarus is nicknamed Europe’s last dictatorship..because it actually kind of is. Personal rights are low, and you can’t always express your political views. Wouldn’t recommend protesting either, could get locked up. There’s also a lot of discrimination going on.

On the bright side, cost of living is cheap in Belarus (compared to some more developed countries.) the average income is low, but if you have some money with you already made and you go to Belarus, your quality of life will improve. So there’s another fun fact!

People in Belarus are generally friendly as well. Transportation, even in Minsk is good, traffic jams aren’t too common. Cost of transportation is ridiculously cheap. E.G. taking the bus for two hours in the UK would cost you maybe 50 dollars…in Belarus, it’s 3 dollars.

Healthcare is pretty good as well, we’ve got paid and free healthcare (so you can choose one or the other.)

Also there’s a lot of activities in Belarus and they’re actually affordable! Woo-hoo!

The Great Emu War of 1932. I know just about everything about it, so if you guys have questions, just ask lol because it's too much to go into right now.