The goal of this blog is to create a list of super facts. Important facts that are true with very high certainty and yet surprising, misunderstood, or disputed by many. This blog aims to be challenging, educational, and fun, without it being clickbait. I determine veracity using evidence, data from reputable sources and longstanding scientific consensus. Prepare to be challenged (I am). Intentionally seek the truth not confirmation of your belief.
Super fact 111 : Russel’s Paradox is a logical contradiction discovered in 1901 that showed that the mathematical discipline of “Set Theory” was fundamentally flawed. Mathematicians had naively assumed that any definable property can be used to form a collection (or set) of items, but that is not true. An example of the Paradox is “A male barber shaves all men who do not shave themselves and only men who do not shave themselves. Does he shave himself?” Both “yes” and “no” are impossible answers. That is an example of an impossible set. Set theory needed an exclusion of such impossible sets.
Bearded client visiting barber shop. Shutterstock asset id: asset id: 1821348236 by Body Stock.
Russell’s paradox is a famous logical contradiction discovered by the philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell in 1901. To solve the contradiction, you need to remove the assumption that any property can form a set. In other words, not every set is possible. Basically, self-reference cannot be allowed.
To take the example above “A male barber who shaves all men who do not shave themselves and only men who do not shave themselves.” Is something that cannot exist. If the barber shaves himself then he is shaving someone who shaves himself, which was not allowed. If the barber does not shave himself, then he is not shaving all the men who do not shave themselves. Either way, it does not work. Such a barber cannot exist. In general, you cannot define a set anyway you like.
I consider this a super fact because it shows that contractions can be hidden even in mathematical disciplines, and it is important because you certainly don’t want contradictions hidden in a mathematical or scientific discipline. Contradictions lead to more contradictions and lots of problems.
Bertrand Russell portrait. Honourable Bertrand Russell.jpg: Photographer not identifiedderivative work: Conquistador, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A Crazy Barber Story Involving Our Children
This happened soon after the September 11 attacks in 2001. In addition to planes crashing into buildings, there were attempts at biological warfare by spreading anthrax through the postal service. This is something we paid special attention to at my work because we were making postal sorting machines. It is also the reason I do not like people who write addresses in cursive.
Anyway, my wife called me at work, and she was very upset because our daughter’s hair was falling out. She touched her hair and it just fell off. She did not know what could be causing her hair to suddenly fall out, but she thought that it might have been biological warfare. I told her to call our doctor who had the good sense of suggesting that perhaps the kids had been playing barbershop. As it turned out they had. Our son confessed to cutting off our daughter’s hair. He had realized that this was bad, so he tried to put her hair back as well as he could. Afterwards, she was walking around with loose hair on top and that’s when my wife found her.
Our son is cutting his sisters hair. The picture is generated with the help of ChatGPT.
Super fact 109 : The global number of people without electricity has halved since 2000, but it has increased in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the year 2000 1.35 billion people in the world was without electricity and in the year 2023 it was 675 million people according to Our World in Data. The dark aspect of the statistics is that the number of people without electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased from 500 million people to more than 600 million people.
The global number of people without electricity has halved since 2000, but it has increased in Sub-Saharan Africa. Access to electricity is defined as having an electricity source that can provide very basic lightning and charge a phone or power a radio for 4 hours per day. Data source: Data compiled from multiple sources by the World Bank. CC BY. The graphs come from this page from Our World in Data.
This also means that the share of people without electricity living in Sub-Saharan Africa increased from 37% in the year 2000 to 80% now. However, it is also true that the share of people in Sub-Saharan Africa with electricity has doubled, rising from 26% to 53%. What is going on is that population growth has outpaced this expansion, meaning the number of people without electricity has still risen.
For the rest of the world, it is unequivocally good news. For example, in South Asia more than 500 million people lacked electricity in the year 2000, 414 million lacked electricity in 2010, and only 27 million people lacked electricity in 2023. Another way to look at the access to energy gap is by considering how long it is possible to run an air conditioner in different countries. Click here for data and analysis. In summary, the news for Sub-Saharan Africa is complicated but for the rest of the World, it is very good news. To read more about this topic click here.
I consider this a super fact because I believe it is an important but surprising fact in two parts. First the great news for the world and secondly the mixed news for Sub-Saharan Africa.
No Relief for the Heat Down in Africa
As mentioned, four of the five regions of the world, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, MENA, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have made substantial progress. However, Sub-Saharan Africa is a complicated case. Note that MENA stand for Middle East and North Africa.
An alternative way of looking at access to electricity is to consider how much electricity is being used in each country and how that translates into the number of hours or minutes that an air conditioner could be running. Note it doesn’t mean that an air conditioner will be shut off after, let say 25 minutes, just that is much electricity one person use. What should be noted from the graph below is how dire the situation still looks like in Sub-Saharan countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is still very behind in this regard, and the fact that global warming is likely to hit Africa very hard that is not good news.
Energy Poverty: How long could the average person run an air conditioner every day? This is how many hours a typical 1000 W single-room air conditioner could be powered by the current average residential electricity use per person in various countries. Data source: Calculated based on International Energy Agency and UN World Population Prospects. OurWorldinData.org – Research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems. Licensed under CC BY by the author Hannah Ritchie. The graph is coming from this page from Our World in Data.
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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 fact 62 : Facts exist in science; a scientific “fact” is an observation of a natural phenomenon that has been repeatedly confirmed by independent observers and is accepted as true for all practical purposes.
Outside of mathematics and logic nothing is ever the final truth, not in science, and not anywhere else. However, there are facts that have been so well confirmed and are so basic that there is no reason to doubt them. Earth is not flat like a pancake, and the sun is a star, are two examples of astronomical facts. Most dogs have four legs is another fact. The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers is a fact in physics that is surprising if you didn’t know it before. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by experiments or other means. It is possible that we are all living in a virtual reality, like in the movie The Matrix, and that Earth is really flat like a pancake after all, because all of reality is a dream. However, for all practical purposes, it is not the case.
This blog, super facts, deal with facts that are surprising, strange, or disputed by non-experts, and yet true because they have been verified, for example, in the case of scientific facts, by repeatable careful observation. Anyone is free to object if you think I am wrong about a fact.
My next super fact is going to be “Evolution is a fact”. Evolution is also a scientific theory, but it means something different from when you say evolution is a fact. Moreover, a Scientific Theory is not a guess, as commonly but incorrectly assumed. I am bringing this up because many people who are typically unaware of the evidence behind a fact will use arguments such as “science does not know everything”, “it is just a theory”, etc., in efforts to dismiss a well-supported claim.
I should say that this post is inspired by a Facebook post by “The Credible Hulk”, a Facebook page managed by a group of anonymous scientists opposing misinformation around vaccines, global warming, evolution and GMOs. I did not save the post, but it went something like this:
One of the commentors said : “Calling evolution a “fact” defeats your argument. The Theory of Evolution is by definition a theory not a fact. It’s the currently agreed upon hypothesis but not a fact”
What the commentor did not realize is that “Theory” in the context of science does not mean what he thought it did. I am using past tense because he got “schooled”. To his credit he did not respond with insults and neither did the Credible Hulk, which does not seem to be standard on Facebook. However, his comment illustrates something that drives scientists like those who created “The Credible Hulk” nuts, and that is the widespread lack of understanding of the difference between a guess, a hypothesis, a scientific fact, theory as used in common language and used when talking about a scientific theory.
Rather than having this discussion over at my upcoming “Evolution is a fact” post, I am making a separate post about it. I consider “There are Scientific Facts” a super fact because it is true, and yet the confusion around it and what a Scientific Theory pertains is massive, and it is an important topic.
What is Science?
Science is the process of learning about the world through systematic observation and experimentation to gain knowledge about how things work. It involves observing phenomena, forming testable ideas (hypotheses), systematic studies, conducting experiments, and collecting evidence and facts that support or refute those ideas, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of general truths and natural laws. If an idea/hypothesis correctly predicts and explains facts, it becomes a theory, which is something that is very different from a guess.
The process of making observations, formulating testable hypotheses, conducting experiments, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions to understand phenomena and solve problems is referred to as the scientific method, and there are different types of scientific methods. Some involve experiments, other involve analysis historical artifacts or existing data. Objectivity, reproducibility, falsifiability, and predictive power or problem solving are essential.
Aspects of scientific research include analysis, data collection, sometimes surveys, development, establishing facts, creating knowledge, and data entry so that others can repeat it and verify results. Shutterstock Asset id: 1100776715 by Trueffelpix
What is a Scientific Theory?
When people hear the phrase “evolution is a theory,” many mistakenly assume it means evolution is just a guess or speculation. In science, however, a theory is far more than a guess. A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the natural world that can be or that has been repeatedly tested and has corroborating evidence in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocols of observation, measurement, and evaluation of results. In other words, it is a well-tested, comprehensive explanation of natural phenomena, supported by an extensive body of evidence.
Conceptual Illustration of Scientific Method and Knowledge Acquiring. Notice, not all scientific methods necessarily include experiments. Some include surveys, or testing of ancient artifacts, etc. Shutterstock Asset id: 2139402875 by TarikVision
The evidence for evolution is both vast and compelling. It is not just the massive fossil record, it is in DNA, anatomy, there’s geographic evidence, and evidence from dozens of other scientific fields, not to mention that evolution is directly observable. There is a Theory of Evolution, that is the well supported explanation for evolution, or evolution by natural selection. There is also “Evolution is a fact” referring to, for example, the fact that we can directly observe it. It is true for all practical purposes, and that does not mean that evolution stops being a scientific theory as well as a fact.
Afterword
Even though science is constantly evolving and our knowledge is evolving and sometimes our understanding and scientific theories on a topic needs to be updated, scientific facts exist. Some scientific facts are extremely unlikely to change. For example, Jupiter has multiple moons, galaxies exist, global warming is real and is caused by us, and evolution is a fact. Before you decide to dismiss such a fact make sure you know what “theory” means in science, and most importantly educate yourself on the relevant evidence. There might be a whole lot more than you imagined, and you may discover that the evidence you thought was contrary is not evidence.
You often hear “science does not know everything”. That’s true. If science knew everything it would stop. However, the collective knowledge created by science is enormous and as individuals we know next to nothing. So be humble and learn from scientific evidence presented by reliable sources.
Super Facts 