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📅Today's Fact•Friday 24th April 2026

A recent study found that using your phone on the toilet was linked to a 46% higher risk of haemorrhoids. The most likely explanation was not the phone itself, but the extra time people spent sitting there.

Using your phone on the loo increases your risk of haemorrhoids by 46%, not necessarily due to germs, but because it tempts you to sit there for much longer. This prolonged sitting puts extra pressure on your backside, causing veins to swell.

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Thursday 23rd April 2026

Flavour is often just smell in disguise. Your tongue can only detect a handful of basic tastes, while most of the detail in what you think of as flavour actually comes from aroma.

Most of what we think of as flavour actually comes from our sense of smell, not our taste buds, which can only detect a few basic tastes. This is interesting because it shows how much our perception of food is influenced by aromas, meaning the kitchen is truly a laboratory for the nose.

Wednesday 22nd April 2026

Studies have shown pigs are far smarter than most people assume. They can solve problems, use mirrors as clues, and even learn to play basic video games.

This fact highlights that pigs are much cleverer than we think, capable of solving puzzles, using mirrors to find things, and even playing computer games. It's surprising because it challenges our common perception of pigs and suggests they have a far richer mental life than we often assume.

Tuesday 21st April 2026

Our 60-minute hour comes from ancient Babylonian maths. Their base-60 system was so practical that it still shapes how we divide time and angles thousands of years later.

The fact that our hours have 60 minutes and circles have 360 degrees comes from the ancient Babylonians and their base-60 number system. This system was incredibly practical for dividing things up cleanly, which is why it's still used today for measuring time and angles, bridging the gap between anc

Monday 20th April 2026

The Stone Age covers roughly 99% of human history. Humans have existed for about 300,000 years, and for almost all of that time there were no farms, cities, writing, or metal tools.

This fact explains that the Stone Age, where humans lived as hunter-gatherers without writing or metal tools, makes up approximately 99% of our species' history. It's fascinating because it shows just how incredibly recent things like farming and cities are in the grand scheme of things, suggesting

Sunday 19th April 2026

Yoda's design was influenced by a photo of Albert Einstein. The designers add...

This fact means that Yoda's look was inspired by a photograph of Albert Einstein, with his wrinkles and eyes used to make the character appear wise. It's interesting because it shows how filmmakers can borrow from real-life figures to quickly communicate a character's intelligence and gravitas to th

Saturday 18th April 2026

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

Tigers really do have striped skin as well as striped fur, meaning that even if you shaved them, they'd still have their distinctive markings. This is fascinating because, unlike most animals, their stripes are part of their DNA and show up on their skin too, suggesting these patterns are incredibly