Change Log and Corrections

Everything that changes on this site is listed here: changes to how we check facts, facts we add, update or withdraw, and what happened to the problems readers report. Spotted a mistake? Use “Report a problem with this fact” on the fact’s page.

Changes to the site and how we check facts

• 13 Oct 2026 Open data, a facts API, a quiz and this change log
  Every published, verified fact is now free to download as a dataset under the CC BY 4.0 license, in CSV and JSON. We documented our read-only facts API, added a quiz built from published facts, and started this public change log.
• 13 Oct 2026 Topic and myth pages added, marked for editor review
  We added topic pages (Venus, the Sun, Saturn, the Moon, the deep sea) and myth pages with a verdict and quotes from the cited sources. They were drafted with AI help from those sources and carry an "AI-assisted, editor review pending" label until an editor reviews them.
• 13 Oct 2026 Four flagged facts corrected, and one "first" claim narrowed
  We corrected the four flagged facts against their sources: the Great Red Spot is now about 1.3 times as wide as Earth (JPL, Juno-era measurements), the Moon drifts about 1.5 inches a year (JPL laser ranging), sunlight takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth (Smithsonian), and the 170,000-year figure now says what NASA says: energy takes that long to get from the core to the top of the convection zone. The Colin Pitchfork fact now says it was the first murder case solved with DNA profiling, not the first criminal case.
• 13 Oct 2026 Four facts flagged for re-checking
  While writing "How we know" notes we found four facts whose wording may not match the current source exactly: the size of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, how far the Moon drifts from Earth each year, how long sunlight takes to reach Earth, and how long energy takes to leave the Sun's core. They are being re-checked against their sources.
• 13 Oct 2026 Real publish and update dates on every fact
  Each fact now shows the date it was first published and the date its text last changed. Before this, some pages showed the date the fact was imported.
• 13 Oct 2026 Stricter checks before a fact is published
  An editor now has to open each fact's source and confirm it says the same thing, one fact at a time, with at most 10 new facts a day. The confidence score is now the editor's own rating, not a grade copied from the original dataset. 1,121 unchecked claims written by AI were taken out of the review queue and will not be published as they are.
• 13 Oct 2026 Clearer description of where facts come from
  Our "How we verify facts" page and FAQ now say plainly that many newer facts come from reference works such as Wikipedia, and that AI may draft wording, which an editor checks against the source before a fact is published.

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Fact changes in the last 90 days

• 14 Oct 2026 5 facts added
  Facts added

  • Male Moth Pheromone Detection
  • Insects and the Evolution of Flight
  • Meganeura Monyi: The Giant Dragonfly
  • The Loudest Insect: African Cicada Brevisana brevis
  • Most Diverse Animal Group
• 13 Oct 2026 3 facts added, 47 facts updated
  Facts added

  • Colin Pitchfork Was the First Killer Caught Using DNA Profiling
  • The First Known Forensic Science Book Was Written in China in the 1240s
  • Alec Jeffreys Developed DNA Fingerprinting in 1984
  Facts updated

  • Sunlight Takes More Than Eight Minutes to Reach Earth
  • Colin Pitchfork Was the First Killer Caught Using DNA Profiling
  • Energy Takes About 170,000 Years to Travel Out From the Sun's Core
  • Jupiter's Great Red Spot Is Wider Than Earth
  • The Moon Drifts About 1.5 Inches Farther From Earth Every Year
  • A Day on Venus Is Longer Than Its Year
  • Olympus Mons Is the Largest Volcano in the Solar System
  • About 1.3 Million Earths Could Fit Inside the Sun
  • Saturn Is Less Dense Than Water
  • The Ocean's Deepest Known Point Is Nearly 11 km Down
  • The Great Barrier Reef Is Earth's Largest Living Structure
  • Mercury Is the Fastest Planet in the Solar System
  • Neptune Is the Only Planet You Cannot See With the Naked Eye
  • Uranus Is Tilted Almost Completely on Its Side
  • Pluto Is Only About Half as Wide as the United States
  • About Half of Earth's Oxygen Comes From the Ocean
  • Seawater Is About 3.5 Percent Salt
  • Tsunami Waves Can Travel as Fast as a Jet Plane
  • Venus Is the Hottest Planet in the Solar System
  • Jupiter Has the Shortest Day of Any Planet
  • Saturn Has 274 Confirmed Moons, More Than Any Other Planet
  • Saturn's Rings Are Vast but Only About 30 Feet Thick
  • Mars Is Red Because Its Surface Is Rusty
  • The Moon Always Shows Earth the Same Face
  • Earth Is the Only Planet Not Named for a Greek or Roman God
  • All the Asteroids Together Weigh Less Than the Moon
  • The Pacific Holds More Than Half of Earth's Free Water
  • There Is Only One Global Ocean
  • The World's Largest Waterfall Is Under the Ocean
  • The Highest Tides in the World Are in Canada's Bay of Fundy
  • Seawater Freezes at About 28.4 Degrees Fahrenheit
  • There Is Gold Dissolved in the Ocean
  • The Greenland Shark Is the Longest-Lived Vertebrate Known
  • The Gulf Stream Moves More Water Than All the World's Rivers
  • About 91 Percent of Ocean Species Have Not Been Described
  • Less Than 0.001 Percent of the Deep Seafloor Has Been Seen
  • About 97 Percent of Earth's Water Is in the Ocean
  • Rogue Waves Are Over Twice the Size of Nearby Waves
  • Water Pressure Rises One Atmosphere Every 33 Feet Down
  • Bleached Coral Is Not Dead, but It Is in Danger
  • Kelp Forests Are Among the Most Diverse Places in the Ocean
  • One Day on Mercury Lasts Two Mercury Years
  • Pluto's Moon Charon Is So Big It Makes Pluto Wobble
  • Mercury and Venus Are the Only Planets Without Moons
  • A Comet's Tail Can Stretch for Millions of Miles
  • The Sun's Core Is About 27 Million Degrees Fahrenheit
  • The Milky Way Is More Than 100,000 Light-Years Across
• 3 Oct 2026 100 facts added, 9 facts updated
  Facts added

  • Energy Takes About 170,000 Years to Travel Out From the Sun's Core
  • Less Than 0.001 Percent of the Deep Seafloor Has Been Seen
  • About 97 Percent of Earth's Water Is in the Ocean
  • Rogue Waves Are Over Twice the Size of Nearby Waves
  • Water Pressure Rises One Atmosphere Every 33 Feet Down
  • Bleached Coral Is Not Dead, but It Is in Danger
  • Kelp Forests Are Among the Most Diverse Places in the Ocean
  • One Day on Mercury Lasts Two Mercury Years
  • Pluto's Moon Charon Is So Big It Makes Pluto Wobble
  • Mercury and Venus Are the Only Planets Without Moons
  • A Comet's Tail Can Stretch for Millions of Miles
  • The Sun's Core Is About 27 Million Degrees Fahrenheit
  • The Milky Way Is More Than 100,000 Light-Years Across
  • An Aspen Grove in Utah May Be 16,000 Years Old
  • A Saguaro Can Weigh 80 Pounds for Every Foot of Its Trunk
  • Yellowstone's Rainbow Colors Come From Heat-Loving Microbes
  • Mars's Moon Phobos Will Crash Into Mars or Break Apart
  • More Than 150 Asteroids Have Their Own Moons
  • On Venus, the Sun Rises in the West
  • A Dead Whale Can Feed Deep-Sea Life for Decades
  • Sushi Has Been Wrapped in Seaweed for at Least 1,500 Years
  • Energy Drinks Can Hold Up to 328 mg of Caffeine per Can
  • About 400 mg of Caffeine a Day Is Fine for Most Adults
  • Sesame Became the Ninth Major Food Allergen in the U.S.
  • Food Poisoning Sickens About 48 Million Americans a Year
  • Most Adults Need 7 to 9 Hours of Sleep, Even Older People
  • School-Age Children and Teens Need About 9.5 Hours of Sleep
  • Newborn Babies Sleep 16 to 18 Hours a Day
  • More Than 1 in 5 U.S. Adults Lives With a Mental Illness
  • Earth's Magnetic Field Flips About Every 300,000 Years
  • Lightning to Thunder: Every 5 Seconds Is About a Mile
  • The Northern Lights Are Caused by the Solar Wind
  • The Human Genome Project Finished Two Years Early
  • Earhart Made the First Solo U.S. Crossing by a Woman
  • Amelia Earhart Was the First Woman to Fly the Atlantic Solo
  • The Washington Monument Is Made of Three Shades of Stone
  • The Washington Monument Was the World's Tallest Building
  • No One Died Carving Mount Rushmore
  • Pronghorn Shed and Regrow Their Horn Sheaths Every Year
  • Killer Whales Are One of the Few Species With Menopause
  • Elk Antlers Can Grow Two-Thirds of an Inch a Day
  • The Vaquita Is the Most Endangered Marine Mammal
  • The Loggerhead Turtle Is Named for Its Huge Head
  • A Pacific Bluefin Tuna Can Weigh Nearly 1,000 Pounds
  • The Steller Sea Lion Is the Largest of the Eared Seals
  • Hawaiian Monk Seals Live Nowhere Else on Earth
  • How to Tell a Dolphin From a Porpoise: Look at the Teeth
  • Belugas Can Turn Their Heads, Unlike Most Whales
  • Only South Florida Has Both Alligators and Crocodiles
  • Bats Are the Only Mammals That Can Truly Fly
  • The Statue of Liberty's Skin Is as Thin as Two Pennies
  • More Than 12 Million Immigrants Passed Through Ellis Island
  • Sea Sponges Are Animals, Not Plants
  • Fish Rest, but They Do Not Sleep the Way We Do
  • Blue Horseshoe Crab Blood Is Used to Test Medicines
  • Horseshoe Crabs Are Closer to Spiders Than to Crabs
  • Three Tiny Bones in Your Ear Make Sounds Louder
  • New Blood Cells Are Made Inside Your Bones
  • About 1 in 12 Men Have Color Vision Deficiency
  • All Humans Are 99.9 Percent Genetically Identical
  • Humans Have 46 Chromosomes, in 23 Pairs
  • The DNA in a Single Human Cell Would Stretch Six Feet
  • Your Arms and Legs Are Paralyzed While You Dream
  • Sleep May Clear Toxins From the Brain
  • Mild Forgetfulness Is Often a Normal Part of Aging
  • A Placebo May Help Even When You Know It Is a Placebo
  • Leftovers Keep for Three to Four Days in the Refrigerator
  • About 30 Percent of the U.S. Food Supply Is Lost or Wasted
  • Date Labels on U.S. Food Are Not Safety Dates
  • Frozen Food Stays Safe to Eat Indefinitely
  • Honey Is Not Safe for Babies Under One Year Old
  • Almost All of Earth's Volcanoes Are Under the Ocean
  • North America Moves About as Fast as Fingernails Grow
  • The U.S. Shoreline Is More Than 95,000 Miles Long
  • The Lowest Point in North America Is in Death Valley
  • Water Takes About Three Months to Travel the Mississippi
  • Mauna Loa Is the Largest Active Volcano on Earth
  • Most Algal Blooms in the Ocean Are Not Harmful
  • Kelp Can Grow Up to 18 Inches in a Single Day
  • Glacier National Park Had About 80 Glaciers in 1850
  • Petrified Wood Is Almost Solid Quartz
  • Giant Sequoias Can Live for More Than 3,000 Years
  • The Joshua Tree Belongs to the Agave Family
  • A Saguaro Cactus Waits Decades Before Growing Its First Arm
  • The Largest U.S. Hailstone Was 8 Inches Across
  • Bristlecone Pines Are the Oldest Non-Clonal Species on Earth
  • The Air You Breathe Is 78 Percent Nitrogen
  • The Sun Always Lights Up Half of the Moon
  • Lightning Flashes About 25 Million Times a Year in the U.S.
  • A Light-Year Is About 6 Trillion Miles
  • The Sky Is Blue Because Blue Light Scatters the Most
  • A Second Is Defined by 9,192,631,770 Ticks of a Cesium Atom
  • The Curiosity Mars Rover Is the Size of a Small SUV
  • The Voyager Golden Record Carries Greetings in 55 Languages
  • People Have Lived in Space Without a Break Since 2000
  • GPS Satellites Circle the Earth Twice a Day
  • The Space Station Is as Long as a Football Field
  • The Parker Solar Probe Travels at About 430,000 mph
  • A Helicopter Made the First Powered Flight on Another Planet
  • The Webb Telescope Orbits the Sun, Not the Earth
  Facts updated

  • Lindbergh's New York to Paris Flight Took 33.5 Hours
  • Chimborazo, Not Everest, Is Farthest From Earth's Center
  • Earth's Longest Mountain Range Is Mostly Under the Ocean
  • The Hottest Air Temperature on Record Was in Death Valley
  • Webb Has the Largest Mirror Ever Launched Into Space
  • General Sherman Is the World's Largest Tree by Volume
  • A Coast Redwood Can Grow 367 Feet From a Tiny Seed
  • Lightning Is About Five Times Hotter Than the Sun's Surface
  • Only Two of Apollo 11's Three Astronauts Walked on the Moon
• 2 Oct 2026 100 facts added
  Facts added

  • Sunlight Takes More Than Eight Minutes to Reach Earth
  • Jupiter's Great Red Spot Is Wider Than Earth
  • The Moon Drifts About 1.5 Inches Farther From Earth Every Year
  • A Day on Venus Is Longer Than Its Year
  • Olympus Mons Is the Largest Volcano in the Solar System
  • About 1.3 Million Earths Could Fit Inside the Sun
  • Saturn Is Less Dense Than Water
  • The Ocean's Deepest Known Point Is Nearly 11 km Down
  • The Great Barrier Reef Is Earth's Largest Living Structure
  • Mercury Is the Fastest Planet in the Solar System
  • Neptune Is the Only Planet You Cannot See With the Naked Eye
  • Uranus Is Tilted Almost Completely on Its Side
  • Pluto Is Only About Half as Wide as the United States
  • About Half of Earth's Oxygen Comes From the Ocean
  • Seawater Is About 3.5 Percent Salt
  • Tsunami Waves Can Travel as Fast as a Jet Plane
  • Venus Is the Hottest Planet in the Solar System
  • Jupiter Has the Shortest Day of Any Planet
  • Saturn Has 274 Confirmed Moons, More Than Any Other Planet
  • Saturn's Rings Are Vast but Only About 30 Feet Thick
  • Mars Is Red Because Its Surface Is Rusty
  • The Moon Always Shows Earth the Same Face
  • Earth Is the Only Planet Not Named for a Greek or Roman God
  • All the Asteroids Together Weigh Less Than the Moon
  • The Pacific Holds More Than Half of Earth's Free Water
  • There Is Only One Global Ocean
  • The World's Largest Waterfall Is Under the Ocean
  • The Highest Tides in the World Are in Canada's Bay of Fundy
  • Seawater Freezes at About 28.4 Degrees Fahrenheit
  • There Is Gold Dissolved in the Ocean
  • The Greenland Shark Is the Longest-Lived Vertebrate Known
  • The Gulf Stream Moves More Water Than All the World's Rivers
  • About 91 Percent of Ocean Species Have Not Been Described
  • Lindbergh's New York to Paris Flight Took 33.5 Hours
  • Chimborazo, Not Everest, Is Farthest From Earth's Center
  • Earth's Longest Mountain Range Is Mostly Under the Ocean
  • The Hottest Air Temperature on Record Was in Death Valley
  • Webb Has the Largest Mirror Ever Launched Into Space
  • General Sherman Is the World's Largest Tree by Volume
  • A Coast Redwood Can Grow 367 Feet From a Tiny Seed
  • Lightning Is About Five Times Hotter Than the Sun's Surface
  • Only Two of Apollo 11's Three Astronauts Walked on the Moon
  • Jellyfish Have No Brain, Blood or Heart
  • Yellowstone Has More Than Half of the World's Geysers
  • North America's Tallest Mountain Is 20,310 Feet High
  • Crater Lake Is the Deepest Lake in the United States
  • Teenagers' Sleep Hormone Runs on a Later Schedule
  • The Brain Keeps Maturing Until the Mid-to-Late 20s
  • Bacteria in Food Can Double in Just 20 Minutes
  • The U.S. Supreme Court Ruled That Tomatoes Are Vegetables
  • Brazil Nuts Contain a Small Amount of Radium
  • The Human Body Has More Than 650 Muscles
  • You Are Born With About 10,000 Taste Buds
  • Your Kidneys Filter About 150 Quarts of Blood a Day
  • About 90 Percent of People Struck by Lightning Survive
  • Every Snowflake Has Six Sides
  • Earth's Tilt, Not Its Distance From the Sun, Causes Seasons
  • Magellan Named the Pacific Ocean for Its Calm Water
  • Paul Revere Was Captured Before He Reached Concord
  • The Pony Express Lasted Only 18 Months
  • The Liberty Bell's Famous Crack Is Actually a Repair
  • The Only Surviving Viking Helmet Has No Horns
  • The Emancipation Proclamation Did Not End Slavery Nationwide
  • The Declaration of Independence Was Not Signed on July 4
  • The Great Wall of China Is Not Visible From the Moon
  • Some Humpback Whales Migrate 5,000 Miles
  • Elephant Seals Spend About Nine Months a Year at Sea
  • The Giant Manta Ray Has a Wingspan of Up to 26 Feet
  • Pronghorn Can Sprint at 45 to 50 Miles per Hour
  • The Bison Is the Largest Land Mammal in North America
  • The Green Turtle Is Named for Its Fat, Not Its Shell
  • The Fin Whale Is the Second-Largest Whale on Earth
  • Gray Whales Migrate About 10,000 Miles Every Year
  • A Narwhal's Tusk Is Actually a Tooth
  • Bowhead Whales May Live for More Than 200 Years
  • Astronauts on the Space Station See 16 Sunrises a Day
  • The Hubble Space Telescope Circles Earth Every 95 Minutes
  • Sperm Whales Are the Largest Toothed Whales
  • The Leatherback Is the Largest Turtle in the World
  • The Killer Whale Is the Largest Dolphin
  • Male Seahorses Get Pregnant and Give Birth
  • Starfish Are Not Fish and Have No Blood
  • Corals Are Animals, Not Plants
  • The Grand Canyon Is 278 River Miles Long and a Mile Deep
  • Mammoth Cave Is the Longest Known Cave System in the World
  • Skin Is the Biggest Organ of the Human Body
  • The Human Brain Weighs About Three Pounds
  • Your Heart Is About the Size of Your Fist
  • The First Flight Faster Than Sound Was on October 14, 1947
  • Thunder Can Be Heard Only About 10 Miles Away
  • People Spend About a Third of Their Time Asleep
  • Everyone Dreams for About Two Hours a Night
  • Decaf Coffee Still Contains Caffeine
  • The Blue Whale Is the Largest Animal Ever to Live
  • A Cheetah Can Go From Zero to 45 mph in 2.5 Seconds
  • An Octopus Has Three Hearts
  • The Wright Brothers' First Flight Lasted Just 12 Seconds
  • Voyager 1 Is the Farthest Human-Made Object From Earth
  • Bananas Are Slightly Radioactive
  • Babies Are Born With About 300 Bones, but Adults Have 206

“Updated” means the fact’s text or category changed. Each fact page also shows its own last-updated and last-verified dates.