The goal of this blog is to create a long list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many.
Super fact 79 : Distant galaxies appear redder (redshifted) because of the universe’s expansion. The farther away the galaxy, the redder it is. This cosmological redshift is also increasing because the Universe’s expansion is accelerating. Our Universe is getting more and more red every day.
Many people are aware that the Universe is expanding but may not know that this results in a measurable redshift. The faster a galaxy is moving away from us the redder it appears. This is called the cosmological redshift. Measuring these redshifts was how we discovered that our Universe is expanding.
As the Universe expands and galaxies are moving away from each other the light will be stretched. Stretched light with longer wavelengths are more red. The phenomenon is called redshift. Shutterstock Asset id: 1180828402 by VectorMine.
At the end of the 1990’s it was also discovered that the Universe’s expansion was accelerating. This discovery came from measuring the redshifts (and apparent dimness) of distant Type Ia supernovae. I should add that measuring the increase in the cosmological redshift directly is difficult. However, it is expected to be possible when the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) starts gathering data in 2027. I can add that there are also other types of evidence showing that the Universe’s expansion is accelerating.
Another surprising aspect is, if the Big Bang was like an explosion, gravity would pull back the galaxies making the expansion slow down and perhaps eventually even reverse. However, the opposite is happening. A common explanation is that a repulsive force, a sort of anti-gravity, referred to as dark energy, is responsible for this acceleration.
I call this a super fact because this is an observed phenomenon, it is important knowledge for how we view the world, and it is surprising. Many people have heard bits and pieces of this but do not have the fuller picture.
The Doppler Effect
The cosmological redshift is an example of the so called doppler effect. The doppler effect is the change in the frequency or wavelength of a wave in relation to an observer if the origin of the wave and the observer are moving compared to each other. If an object is moving towards you, let say an ambulance, the frequency of its sound will be higher (wavelength shorter).
After it passes you and moves away from the frequency will be lower (wavelength longer). In other words, the sound changes when the ambulance passes you. The same is true for other kinds of waves, including waves on the water, and light. If a light is travelling towards you at a high speed, it will look bluer. If a light is travelling away from you at a high speed it will look redder. The latter is what is called a redshift, cosmological redshift in our case.
Change of wavelength caused by motion of the source. When an object moves toward you the wavelengths get shorter and the frequency higher. When an object moves away from you the wavelengths get longer and the frequency lower. Original: Tkarcher Vector: Tatoute, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia CommonsThe Doppler effect causes a car engine or siren to sound higher in pitch when it is approaching than when it is receding. The red circles represent sound waves. Charly Whisky 18:20, 27 January 2007, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Below is a three minute video explaining the doppler effect and redshift.
I can add that the constancy of the speed of light in vacuum changes the exact size of the doppler effect. The doppler effect remains as is for the most part but the formulas for the classical doppler effect, which you would use for sound, and the relativistic doppler effect, which you would use for light in space, are different. It is just to pick the right formula.
The classical formula for the doppler effect. There is a medium (air) but you don’t need to consider the constancy of the speed of light in vacuum. You use it for sound and water waves. Shutterstock Asset id: 2365938267 by Sasha701.The relativistic formula for the doppler effect considers the constancy of the speed of light in vacuum but there is no medium to worry about. You use this formula for the doppler effect of light in space. Shutterstock Asset id: 2416786951 by Sasha701.
Super fact 78 : A neutron star is vastly denser than the Sun, typically hundreds of trillions of times denser. In addition, the gravity on a neutron star is a few billion times stronger than on the Sun’s surface. Therefore, a cubic meter of neutron star material weighs roughly septillion times (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times) more than a cubic meter of Sun’s average density material placed on the sun’s surface.
A neutron star is the core of a collapsed supergiant star. It is the remnant of a supernova explosion of a massive star. The original star typically has a mass of 10 to 25 solar masses and the core remnant a mass between 1.4 to 2 times the mass of the sun but confined into a sphere with a diameter of on average 12 miles. That is quite small for so much mass and will result in a material so compressed that it is hundreds of trillions of times denser than our sun. A tablespoonful of a neutron star would have the same mass as Mount Everest.
The neutron star is so compressed that it has the density of an atomic nucleus. The extreme pressure causes the electrons and protons in normal matter to combine into neutrons. If the core remnant would be a bit more than 2.2 times the mass of the sun it would turn into a black hole. In that sense a neutron star is the last stop before a collapsing giant star becomes a black hole.
Let’s do the calculation. Let’s say the density of a neutron star is 200 trillion times that of the Sun, and the gravity is 5 billion times stronger (100 billion to 200 billion times stronger than Earth’s gravity). That results in the matter on a neutron star weighing a septillion time (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times) more than the same volume of matter of the average density of the sun on the sun’s surface. I should say I asked ChatGPT to make this calculation using its own numbers, and it got roughly the same answer.
I can add that the average density of the sun is 1.4 grams per cubic centimeter which is less than that the average density of the earth, which is 5.5 grams per cubic centimeter. On the other hand, the gravity on the Sun’s surface is about 28 times stronger than on Earth, so if you make these comparisons with Earth instead of the sun the numbers get seven times worse, or seven septillion (7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). I can add that even though neutron stars are extreme they are not rare. NASA estimates that there are a billion of them in our Milky Way Galaxy.
I consider this a super fact because it is true, and it is somewhat important to be aware of the extremes of the Universe. It tells us about who we are and our place in the Universe. A septillion times more weight, for the same volume and densities hundreds of trillions of times larger than the Sun or the Earth are surprising and shocking numbers.
Neutron star on a black background. Superdense remnant of a star in space. A small star with a huge mass. ShutterstockAsset id: 2369752833 by Nazarii_Neshcherenskyi
To watch a two minute video about Neutron stars, see below.
Different Types of Neutron Stars
Neutron stars are extreme stars. They are small super dense stars with extreme gravitational fields. They are in a sense like a gigantic atomic nucleus. Perhaps it is not surprising that they are extreme in other ways as well. There are pulsars, neutron stars which emit twin beams of radiation from their magnetic poles. Those poles may not be precisely aligned with the neutron star’s rotation axis, so as the neutron star spins, the beams sweep across the sky, like beams from a lighthouse. To observers on Earth, this can make it look as though the pulsar’s light is pulsing on and off.
There are magnetars, neutron stars with extremely powerful magnetic fields trillions and quadrillion times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field at the surface. If one were to get close to Earth, at the distance about the same as the moon, you would see a small new star in the sky, as cars and other metallic objects lift from the ground and the magnetic strips of credit cards and computer hard drives are erased.
There are additional classes of neutron stars such as black widow pulsars, blasting a nearby star with radiation thus killing the star, soft gamma repeaters, magnetars emitting short burst of X-rays and gamma rays in irregular repeating patterns. There are binary neutron stars (two neutron stars orbiting each other) and they sometimes merge, collide, emitting detectable gravity waves. Click on the link to see a video visualization.
Magnetar – neutron star in deep space. For use with projects on science, research, and education. 3D illustration. Shutterstock Asset id: 1138434620 by Jurik PeterCourtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons
Robbie Cheadle posted my guest post on Scandinavian Folklore on LatinosUSA a wonderful online magazine/blog featuring poetry, stories and all kinds of interesting content from around the world. She also included a wonderful review of my Leonberger book Le Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle.
Super fact 77 : The TV series Landman portrays several falsehoods about clean energy. Since these claims are mostly unchallenged, appear to be information, and are also very easy to look up and debunk, they are deliberate lies.
“Lies” may be a strong word but if you make a very one sided presentation and you don’t fact check your claims even though that would take less than 30 seconds to do, especially since you are a large company with lots of resources, then you are clearly intentionally deceiving your audience, which is lying. I consider the claim above (in bold) a super fact because it is true, and it is important because it is a popular series and based on the reaction the Landman series has deceived a lot of people.
I got the idea for this super fact yesterday as we were watching a few episodes of Landman. Since I know a little bit about this topic the misinformation was obvious to me. The Landman series is fiction but the way the information was presented made it appear as facts. It appeared as if it was trying to teach us something rather than being the delusional rants of an oilman.
In addition, the misinformation is not minor. It consists of big bold whoppers. Imagine a movie promoting us taking Greenland from Denmark claiming that the Danes attacked Pearl Harbor, acquired a nuclear bomb, and used chemical weapons on Los Angeles. Whatever your opinion on the Greenland situation is, these big whoppers would likely make it harder for you to watch the movie, at least if you know some history. If most people’s knowledge of history was so bad that they’d believe it, then it would also create problems. There is a lot of confusion and misinformation regarding clean energy, and it is a poorly understood topic, so telling big lies does damage.
Wind turbines from pexels.com
It may come as a surprise to many that Paramount plus would deliberately mislead their audience. However, clean energy, climate science, evolution, vaccines, and any science that is inconvenient to some people have been undermined by false information for quite a while. It is just more of it than usual right now. That the executive branch is at war with clean energy might have something to do with it.
Misleading information about clean energy is often spread on social media via fake memes, non-reputable sources, comments by people who do not know what they are talking about, conspiracy theories, small groups of contrarian agenda driven scientists making youTube videos with false information, bots, deep fakes, etc., but now it has also shown up in a major Hollywood Production.
It is more important than ever to be skeptical of claims you hear, especially if they seem to support your own political, ideological, religious, or philosophical views, because that’s how you get bamboozled. Questioning other people’s views does not require much effort. I speak from experience. Intentionally seek the truth not confirmation of your belief. Verify all claims before you take them seriously. Be a realist.
Truth: Windpower and Solar are Much Cleaner than Fossil Fuels
The false claim in the series is that “there is nothing clean about clean energy, that renewables require too much fossil fuel to build to be considered clean.” I am using the true statement as the title of this section because our memories often mix up the false and true statements as time goes by, so highlighting the true statement helps.
Manufacturing, transporting, and building infrastructure for wind power currently involve fossil fuels and so do fossil fuel plants. However, this is only an initial stage. Once wind and solar facilities are built, they generate power without direct emissions, unlike fossil fuel plants which continue to burn fuel and emit CO2 during their entire operational lives. For example, the lifetime emissions of gas-powered generation are estimated to be around 20 to 40 times higher than those of renewables. You can read more here or here.
This is a 3 minute video
Truth: Wind turbines typically offset their carbon footprint within a year
The demonstrably false claim is that “wind turbines do not offset their carbon footprint within their lifespan.” According to energy researchers, for example, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a wind turbine typically offsets the carbon emissions from its manufacturing, transport, and installation within six months to one year of operation. In other words, wind turbines offset their carbon footprint quickly. The average lifespan of a wind turbine is over 25 years.
Truth: Solar and Wind Are Cheaper than Gas, Coal and Nuclear
The false claim in Landman is that “solar and wind energy are significantly more expensive than natural gas.” While wind and solar can have higher upfront installation costs, their operational costs are very low as they do not require fuel. Therefore, they can provide electricity very cheaply, making them competitive with and often cheaper than natural gas over their full lifespan.
However, all energy sources are subsidized, and fossil fuels have a long history of government subsidies. Below is the average unsubsidized levelized cost of energy in the United States according to Lazard. Levelized means that construction costs, land rent, and other costs not directly caused by electricity generation are taken into consideration. Notice how cheap wind is (blue line). This is for the United States not just Texas. I don’t have any numbers, but I’ve heard that for Texas solar is the cheapest .
Average unsubsidized levelized cost of energy. Notice that the light blue line indicates that wind power is pretty cheap. Mir-445511, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
The free market based Texas (my state) grid ERCOT provides an excellent example of how wind and solar effectively compete with other energy sources. ERCOT provides a minute by minute update for the fuel mix percentages. This is a fun website.
Truth: Fossil Fuels are Worse for the Environment than lithium batteries and solar panels
The false claim in Landman is that “Lithium batteries and solar panels are worse for the environment than fossil fuels.” Solar panels typically offset the emissions from their production and installation within 1 to 4 years. Battery technology is continuously improving, and current systems are highly recyclable (90-95%). While the mining of materials like lithium has environmental impacts, the overall lifetime emissions of renewables and associated storage systems are vastly lower than those of fossil fuels.
Truth: Fossil fuels kill a lot more birds than Wind Power per Giga Watt
Tommy Norris (played by Billy Bob Thornton) implies in a rant that “Wind turbines are a major ecological disaster for birds, disrupting patterns and causing mass deaths.” While wind turbines kill some birds it is minor compared to the impacts of the oil and gas industry or other common human activities. This study estimates that wind farms and nuclear power stations are responsible each for between 0.3 and 0.4 fatalities per gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity while fossil-fueled power stations are responsible for about 5.2 fatalities per GWh. These articles from MIT provide additional information and reiterate that fossil fuels are lot more deadly to birds than wind power stations. You can read more on this topic here, here, here or here.
From Wikipedia: Universiteit van Nederland, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia CommonsAn alternative graph taken from Hannah Richie / Our World in Data, using alternative sources essentially showing the same thing. Sources: Loss et al. (2015), (2013), US Fish and Wildlife Service; Subramnayan et al. (2012), American Bird Conservancy (2021).
Truth: There is no evidence that Offshore Wind Kills Whales
The false claim in Landman is that “offshore wind development, including site characterization surveys, is responsible for a spike in whale deaths”. The primary cause of human-caused threats to large whales are vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear but not offshore wind. According to NOAA there are no known links between large whale deaths and ongoing offshore wind activities. You can read more on this topic here, here, or here.
I started this blog, superfactful, in August of 2024. The goal of my blog is to create a list of facts that are important, not trivia, and that are known to be true yet surprising, shocking or disputed by large segments of the public. I determine what is true by evaluating the evidence I find in reliable reputable sources and if a longstanding scientific consensus is available that certainly helps. In some cases, I have expertise in the subject myself, which also helps. Whether a fact is important and surprising or disputed is a judgment call. In some cases, there are polls to help me determine how surprising or disputed the fact is. I am trying to avoid trivia and click bait, and I am only focusing on what is true, important and mindboggling.
It is a project I hope to learn a lot from, and I hope others will also learn something from reading it. We are all drowning in misinformation, false beliefs and unsubstantiated assumptions. We often know and understand less than we think. I have been bamboozled in the past and I am pretty sure you have too. If this blog can spread a little bit of light, I am happy.
In 2024 I posted 25 super facts and in 2025 I posted 53. I am hoping to one day to have collected 200 super facts. I have also made 64 other kinds of posts on this blog such as book reviews for educational books as well as other fact related posts. Below are ten selected super facts from 2025. To read the full post click the links.
That Earth is round was well known long before Columbus
Super fact 28: That Earth is round, or spherical (or closely spherical) had been known for at least a couple of thousand years by the time Columbus set sail. Columbus did not set sail to prove that earth was round, and he knew it was round.
I’ve realized that this comes as a surprise to some. To read the post click here.
Columbus thought earth was smaller. He did not know about the Pacific Ocean. Earth Pacific Ocean view Stock Illustration ID: 1617553012 by Matis75
EV Cars Indeed Emit Less Carbon Pollution
Super fact 29: EV Cars emit less pollution than Internal Combustion Engine, even considering manufacturing, disposal and EV Cars being charged by dirty grids.
There is a lot of misinformation about EVs including that EVs are not better for the environment. To read the post click here.
Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions comparison of average gasoline car and 300 mile range EV. Feedstock and fuel include the generation of electricity for EVs.
Scientists Agree that Global Warming is happening and that we are the Cause
Super fact 34: Climate Scientists agree that Global Warming or if you call it Climate Change is happening, and that it is caused by us primarily because of our burning of fossil fuels. There is a long-standing scientific consensus on these two facts because the evidence is conclusive. Typically, studies show an agreement of at least 97% or 98% among climate scientists.
Polls show that most American are unaware of the consensus among climate scientists. To read the post click here.
There is almost total agreement among climate scientists that global warming, or climate change, is happening and is caused by us. To understand why, you need to know a little bit about the impressive evidence, which for all practical purposes is conclusive. Take a look at this post “Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us”
The green graph corresponds to “most scientists think global warming is happening (%).” The black graph corresponds to “there is a lot of disagreement among scientists (%)”. The yellow graph corresponds to “Most scientists think global warming is NOT happening (%)”. Graph taken from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Time Dilation Goes Both Ways
Super fact 38 : If two observers are moving compared to each other both will observe the other’s time as being slower. In other words, both observers will observe the other’s clocks as ticking slower. Time slowing down is referred to as Time Dilation.
Clocks slow down as you travel at high speeds. However, the person travelling think they are standing still. It is the other person who is travelling. This is confusing. To understand it click here.
In this picture Amy is traveling past Alan in a rocket. Both have a laser. Both measure the speed of both laser beams to be c = 299,792,458 meters per second. The speed of light is a universal constant.
Emissions of ozone-depleting gases have fallen by 99 Percent
Super fact 41 : Largely thanks to the Montreal Protocol in 1987 the emissions of ozone-depleting gases have fallen by more than 99%, 99.7% to be exact, according to Our World in Data. This has resulted in halting the expansion of the ozone holes and the reduction in emissions of ozone-depleting gases is saving millions of lives every year.
A gigantic victory for the environment that few are aware of. To read the post click here.
The phase out of six ozone depleting gases. Data source UN Environment Program (2023).
Sulfur dioxide pollution has fallen by 95 percent in the US
Super fact 44 : Sulfur dioxide pollution in the US has fallen by approximately 95% since the 1970s. This significant reduction is primarily due to regulations like the Clean Air Act. Global sulfur dioxide pollution has also fallen but not as much.
Another big victory for the environment that we seldom hear of. To read the post click here.
US sulfur dioxide pollution since 1800. Data Source: Hoesly et al (2024) – Community Emissions Data System (CEDS). This graph is taken this page in Our World In Data. US Emissions peaked in 1973.
I should mention that by clicking this link you can visit the graph above Our World in Data and select different countries and regions and play around with the settings.
We Exploded Thousands of Nuclear Bombs
Super fact 48 : Since 1945 we have set off more than 2,000 Nuclear Bombs corresponding to a yield of an estimated 42,000 times that of the Hiroshima Bomb.
That we have exploded these many nuclear bombs was a surprise to me and perhaps to you too. To read the post click here.
This is an illustration of the Tsar Bomba explosion by by mbafai Shutterstock Asset id: 2208486661. To see a photo of the actual Tsar Bomba explosion click here (it is copyrighted).
The Euler Number Math Magic
Super fact 53 : The Euler number denoted e, is an irrational number, which like the number pi is extremely important in mathematics. In addition, the relationship between the Euler number and pi; seemingly unrelated numbers, is quite amazing, especially if you throw the imaginary number: i = square root of -1 into the mix. Euler’s formula e^ix = cos(x) + isin(x), where x is degrees expressed in radians, is mind blowing to say the least. Radians means that 180 degrees is replaced by pi, and 90 degrees is replaced by pi/2, etc. A simpler special case, but equally amazing is Euler’s identity e^ix = -1, or e^ix + 1 =0. This is amazing math assuming you understand it.
One of the most amazing math facts explained. To read the post click here.
Euler’s formula in cyber space with grid 3d illustration, Asset id: 1636161301 by Giggle2000
The Bermuda Triangle the Big Non-Mystery
Super fact 56 : The Bermuda Triangle mystery is a myth. There is not a higher risk of disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. To be specific, disappearances do not occur in the so-called Bermuda Triangle, or Devils Triangle, with any higher frequency than in other comparable regions of the ocean. The “mystery” of the Bermuda Triangle is largely a manufactured one, perpetuated by sensationalized accounts that often misrepresent the facts and downplay the role of natural hazards like storms.
A surprise to the people who are convinced that there really is a mystery. To read the post click here.
The Bermuda Triangle: It is approximately defined as a triangle Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. There is no exact definition. Alphaiosderivative work: -Majestic-, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Evolution is a Fact
Super fact 63 : Evolution is both a fact and a scientific theory. It is a fact that life has changed over time. This is supported by overwhelming evidence, while the theory of evolution provides a comprehensive scientific explanation for these changes, using processes like natural selection.
Yes, there are scientific facts, and that evolution is happening is an observed scientific fact. To read the post click here.
The fossil record is a lot more solid and much less problematic than the creationist books I have read claimed. Shutter Stock Photo ID: 1323000239 by Alizada Studios
Super Facts 