How much memory do you have on your phone? An iPhone can have anywhere from a “bare bones” 64 GB to as much as a terabyte. Do you have an external hard drive for your gaming console? If so, it’s probably got at least a terabyte or two, right? And to think, if you bought a computer in 1995 it probably had around 12 MB of RAM and a hard drive of between 500 MB and a whole gigabyte. Memory has come a long way, and it offers a lot.

Dropbox currently offers you a terabyte of storage and translates that into practical terms. One terabyte is good for about 250 full movies. Or as much as 6.5 million pages of text. So with that in mind, let’s look at some memory figures. 

10. The Human Mind May Be Able to Store Petabytes of Data

Computer memory is most easily likened to our own memories, that’s why we use the same word. Your brain can hold information and so can a computer hard drive. It’s only natural to want to compare the two.

While a computer hard drive is pretty compact, it’s not like your brain is a vast expanse of material, either. But it has to be able to hold everything you can ever know. Everything you’ve experienced is in there, all the people you’ve met, things you’ve learned, recipes you’ve mastered, stupid movie quotes, random song lyrics, it’s all in there. So how much memory does a brain hold?

No one can say with accuracy exactly how much data your brain holds because, of course, your brain doesn’t work exactly like a computer. But it’s close enough that we can have some fun speculating, especially if you’re a computational neuroscientist and this is how you literally consider brain function.

Guesses for how much data a human brain can store range from a paltry one terabyte to a staggering 2.5 petabytes. We haven’t touched on petabytes yet and they are what come after terabytes. If a terabyte is 250 movies, and a petabyte is 1,000 terabytes, and a petabyte can hold 250,000 movies. Of course, you need to multiply that by 2.5 so it’s 625,000 full movies worth of storage. Or 16,250,000,000 pages of text. Decide for yourself if your brain can manage that. 

A few years after those initial estimates, researchers tried to narrow the range down and suggested a human brain could handle about one petabyte of information. To give that some non-movie context, that was about the size of all the information available on the internet in 2016 when the data was presented. 

9. You’d Need Unbelievable Space to Store a Yottabyte

A petabyte sounds big as hell if it’s all the internet or the equivalent of a lifetime of knowledge all crammed in the meatball inside your skull but it’s not the end of the line by any means. Numbers don’t end and the metric system dares not stop at peta, oh no. Have you ever heard of a yottabyte?

Yottabytes are well beyond petabytes. After petabyte comes exabyte, and then zettabyte, and then yottabytes. It’s the largest size that has been acknowledged so far by the International System of Units and represents one quadrillion gigabytes. 

Data has to exist somewhere and if there was a yottabyte worth of data in the world, which there isn’t, you’d have to put it on hard drives. Those hard drives, to accommodate that information, would cover a space of both Delaware and Rhode Island. You’d need a full million data centers to handle it all. 

8. 278,000 Petabytes of Traffic Flowed Through the Internet Per Month in 2021

Any time you’re online streaming content, reading social media posts, or doing whatever it is you do, have you ever wondered how many other people are doing the same thing? Or, more specifically, have you ever wondered how much information is flowing through those internet tubes all the time? The short answer is that it’s a lot.

Global internet traffic, which is all the internet activity in the world, in a given month, was estimated to be about 278,108 petabytes per month in 2021. In 2016 it was only 96,054. Elsewhere, it was predicted in 2022 that global traffic would surpass a more modest 150.7 exabytes per month in 2023, or 150,700 petabytes. 

7. It Would Take 500,000 Terabytes of Data to Map a Mouse’s Brain

We touched on how much info your brain might be able to store in it, but what if we wanted to map your brain? That’s a little more complex a question to answer than you might think. Mapping your brain means understanding all the neurons, all the synapses, all those hundreds of billions of connections that are needed to make it work the way it works. To map all of that would take a hell of a lot of time and data. 

Neuroscientists would love to map a human brain but it’s a tall order. It’s been estimated that, aside from the complexity of just pulling such a thing off, storing the information mapped would require about 1.3 billion terabytes of storage space. 

To at least broach the idea of mapping a human brain, researchers have looked at a smaller scale. Mouse brains are not as complex as humans though make no mistake they are still incredibly complicated. But mapping a mouse brain would take a lot less, at least.

Researchers are starting their task with a section of mouse brain, a tiny 10-square-millimeter segment. They expect mapping that small bit will take 10,000 terabytes of data. They’d need 50 times more, or 500,000 terabytes, for the full mouse brain. 

If the plan works as expected, all the data will show exactly how the brain works, and how all of those neurons function together to create a living, working brain.

6. In 1980, a 1 GB Hard Drive Weighed Over 500 Pounds

In your lifetime you have probably noticed how technology gets smaller as it gets more efficient. A desktop computer in the 80s barely had a fraction of the computer power that the phone you keep in your pocket holds. Memory condenses as technology improves and we can get a lot in a small space, something that keeps getting better and better with each passing year. Many people alive today have no idea what it was like forty years ago.

In 1980, IBM created a one GB hard drive. Today, a storage drive that only holds one gigabyte of data is all but useless to most people. You can store a good amount of text there, or some sound files, but you can’t fit a movie in a space that small and they haven’t made smartphones with so little memory in years. Amazon will sell you 50 one GB flash drives for just over $75, though. 

That one GB drive, when it debuted, cost $40,000. It weighed 550 pounds and was the size of a typical refrigerator. One of those 50 you can buy on Amazon will fit on your keychain. And, for the cost of the one from the 80s, you can buy over 26,600 of them. 

5. Data on Star Trek Has Less Storage Capacity Than Modern Supercomputers

When it comes to computers vs brains, artificial intelligence has to fit into the mix somewhere. And not the fake AI we have now which is just glorified text modeling, real AI. A computer that is alive and can think. So fiction, basically. Like Commander Data from Star Trek.

On the show, Data is essentially a computer in the form of a man that is capable of independent thought and understanding. He is self aware and, early in the show’s run, an episode establishes that he is alive, sentient, and not property. 

While establishing Data’s bona fides, his specs are also listed. The show was actually careful to not address a lot of specific technology about Data, especially later on, because the writers knew that what they thought was futuristic would quickly become outdated. But they still took the time to let us know Data’s storage capacity is 800 quadrillion bits. That sounds mildly impressive, but that breaks down to around 100,000 terabytes or 100 petabytes. 

100 petabytes is still remarkable, and it’s better than whatever device you’re looking at this on, but it’s not super futuristic anymore like it was back when that episode aired in 1989. The supercomputer called Aurora, which exists right here in the present, has a capacity of 220 petabytes. It’s already surpassed Data, it just hasn’t achieved sentience yet. That we know of. 

4. The Fastest Internet Ever Recorded Was More Than 7 Million Times Faster Than Average

Memory is important for any computer but so is speed. Who cares if you can store 1,000 movies if you have dial-up internet? Hey, remember dial-up? Speed is key to transmitting large amounts of data. In the US, the average internet speed is 219 Mbps download and 24 Mbps upload. 25 is considered fast, at least by the FCC, and basic is between three and 8. 

You may think 25 is not fast at all and you’re right, it’s not. It’s not even close. The fastest internet ever recorded was 319. And that wasn’t Mbps or even a basically unheard-of Gbps which you can only get with some good quality fiber service. That was Tbps—319 terabits per second. 

Japanese researchers broke the speed record in 2021 with a cutting-edge four-core optical cable. It’s so fast that, if you had it at home, you could download 80,000 movies in one second.

3. Frontier is the Most Powerful Computer Ever Built

We’ve covered a lot about memory, storage capacity, and even mentioned one supercomputer. But what is the best of all the supercomputers and what can it do? That would be Frontier, the current (but possibly replaced by the time you stumble on this list) most powerful supercomputer in history. It will always have a place in history as being the first exascale computer ever built. That means it can perform over one quintillion operations per second.

How does it do so much? It weighs nearly 270 tons, uses over 40,000 processors, and consumes more power than 15,000 houses.

2. Synthetic DNA Could Have 215 Petabytes of Storage Per Gram

As our ability to create more efficient storage increases, so too does the innovation in how it’s made. In recent years, the idea of using synthetic DNA as data storage has become more prevalent, in a theoretical sense. DNA holds all the information that makes up living things, after all, and it does so in microscopic packages. Lots of info, tiny space. It’s what computer dreams are made of.

If we could make synthetic DNA storage, it’s been estimated we could store as much as 215 petabytes of information in just a single gram of the stuff. 

As cool as it sounds, there are a couple of major drawbacks. One is that it takes a lot of time to read and write information to DNA storage. As in hours. No one wants to wait hours to save a file. But worse than that is cost. MIT once estimated that storing a single petabyte of data to DNA storage would cost about $1 trillion. 

1. Everything Ever Spoken Would Fill 5 Exabytes

We use outlandish examples of what data or memory represents to try to make it understandable. No one knows what a terabyte is when you just say terabyte. It’s a concept. But if you say it represents 250 movies, that makes it easier to relate to. Because you’re playing with ideas and concepts that represent big, monumental things, you can have some fun with it. You can get bigger.

How much memory would you need to record everything you have ever said in your life? It’s got to be a lot, right? But that’s still not big enough. What if we wanted to document everything anyone has ever said? Every word spoken in every language by every person who ever lived in the history of our species. How much would that be?  Best guess is 5 exabytes.

About 117 billion people have lived throughout history. At least one writer calculated that the average person, in their life, will speak 860.3 million words. Do the math on that and it’s a lot of words.

3, 7 and 13 are arguably the most recognizable numbers when it comes to superstition. Bad luck, for instance, is said to come in threes, as is death. Some who believe in superstitions, held their breath after the news broke in 2016 that actor and talk show host Alan Thicke had passed away on 13 December.

They knew that the bad news wouldn’t be over until two more celebrities had died. Their fears were confirmed when singer George Michael passed away on 25 December and Star Wars fans around the world were devastated when Carrie Fisher died in hospital on 27 December after suffering a medical emergency during a flight to Los Angeles a few days earlier.

The number 7 on the other hand is believed to bring good luck as it is a prime number and cannot be obtained by multiplying two smaller numbers. 7 can be found throughout mythology and ancient legends, bringing good fortune, healing, and even seven paths to heaven.

The number 13 usually spells horror. Whenever a Friday the 13th swings around during any given calendar year, many who are superstitious do their best to avoid crossing paths with a black cat, walking under ladders and spilling salt. Why is the number 13 unlucky though? Well, it depends on where in the world you find yourself.

On this list are more numbers either feared or revered around the world.

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10 Knock on wood with a twist

The ‘knock on wood’ or ‘touch wood’ superstition is well known in many countries. The action of knocking on a piece of wood is meant to ward off bad luck and draw good fortune towards the knocker.

In Iceland, the superstition is so common that no one even bats an eyelid when knuckles around them knock wood all over the place. Icelanders also say “sjö níu þrettán” when they do this, which translates to ‘seven nine thirteen.’

Seven is considered to be a magic number in Iceland, because it can be obtained by adding three and four. Three and Four are said to represent the spirit and material worlds. Nine is obtained by multiplying three times three, which is the number of the Holy Trinity. The number thirteen, as per the Icelandic superstition, is said to have been taken from the days of the old Roman calendar which included an extra (thirteenth) month every six years. The so-called ‘Leap Month’ was not well-received and eventually became associated with bad luck.

The phrase ‘seven nine thirteen’ is thought to ward off bad luck and bring good fortune, by ‘paying homage’ to both good and bad numbers.^[1]

9 Tuesday the 13th

Move over, Friday the 13th. In Spain, people couldn’t be bothered with you. Instead, when the 13th falls on a Tuesday, the superstitious tend to be wary of leaving the house in case bad luck befalls them.

The god of war, Mars, is said to have dominated Tuesdays and since Martes (Tuesday in Spanish) is derived from his name, the day has been connected to violence and death. What’s more, it’s believed that Constantinople fell on Tuesday April 13, 1204.

According to legend, ‘The Confusion of Tongues’ which took place after the construction of the Tower of Babel, also took place on Tuesday the 13th. And don’t forget that the 13th chapter of Revelation speaks of the coming of the Antichrist, which just makes the number even more ominous.

Tuesday has become so unpopular that a saying was born: ‘don’t marry, go on a boat, or leave your house on a Tuesday.’^[2]

8 The number of good fortune and wealth

In 2016, an office building in Sydney was sold to a Chinese developer for the price of A$88,888,888.

While that might seem like a strange number, it helped to sell the place fast. This is because the number 8 is considered to be extremely lucky in Chinese culture and features prominently in real estate, both in pricing and in the numbering of streets, buildings, and floors. This was further proven by the fact that a building at 88 Alfred St. in Sydney was sold within a few hours after being put up for sale. There are also often requests made by buyers to include an 8 in the selling price, to ensure good fortune.

Some who buy apartments and units within high-rise buildings insist on staying on the 8th floor or in an apartment with 8 in its number, wherever possible.

8 can also be found in events, airlines, automobiles, microchip tag numbers, and restaurant menus. The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing started at 8 minutes and 8 seconds past 8 pm local time on 8/8/08. The Petronas Twin Towers each have 88 floors and in 2003, the easy-to-remember phone number, +86 28 8888 8888, was sold to Sichuan Airlines for around US$280,000.^[3]

7 On the flip side

As much as the number 8 is said to bring good luck, the number 4 is frequently omitted from buildings and planes and supermarket aisles in some Asian countries. The reason being that 4 sounds similar to the word ‘death’ in many Chinese and Japanese languages, which had led to a large number of Asian companies avoiding using the number wherever possible.

The fear of the number 4 is so common that it has been given an official name: tetraphobia. In the early years of the new millennium, Alfa Romeo changed the name of their 144 model car which they were trying to sell in Singapore because of people’s fear of buying it. Nokia has long since stopped releasing phone models that start with 4, for the same reason. In Beijing, the manufacturing of license plates that include 4 has been halted. Many apartment buildings and hospitals don’t have a fourth floor either. In Japan, combining the number 4 with 9 to get 49 is considered especially bad luck because the words sound the same as the phrase “pain until death.”

Giving gifts in sets of four or multiples of four is also a big no-no and considered to spell doom for the receiver.^[4]

6 The number of the beast

666 has long since been associated with the seven-headed, ten-horned beast of the Book of Revelation, since it is called the ‘number of the beast’ in chapter 13. The numbers have become the most recognized symbols for the Antichrist/devil and has led to hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, which is the fear of the number 666.

Because of its devilish connotations, many superstitious Americans have concluded that 666 has been encoded in banking systems, social security systems, medical and personnel records as well as UPC bar codes for sinister reasons. Some refuse to live in houses that bear this number and many even drive around until their odometer turns from 666 to 667.

In America, Highway 666 has become known as the Devil’s Highway after several accidents rumored to have been caused by the highway itself. Late former US president, Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, had the number of their Bel-Air home changed from 666 to 668 after moving in.

666 is not unlucky for everyone, however. On 13 Oct 2017, which happened to fall on a Friday, Flight 666 departed on the 13th hour from Copenhagen, Denmark and landed safely in HEL. Helsinki, that is.^[5]

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5 It’s all in the numbers

In Russia, many superstitions revolve around numbers. As is the case with other countries around the world, many Russians refuse to shake hands over a threshold on a Friday that bears the 13th as a date. Doing so on any day of the year offends the local unhappy house spirit, Domovoi, but even more so on Friday the 13th.

Spitting three times over the left shoulder is not uncommon after complimenting a fellow Russian’s good looks or a baby’s good health. Some even eat their bus tickets when the sum of the left three numbers equal the sum of the numbers of the right, as this is believed to bring good luck.

Also, a newborn baby shouldn’t be paraded around strangers until the infant is at least 40 days old. And don’t give the gift of even-numbered bouquets of flowers. Even numbered flower arrangements are reserved for funerals and even numbers are considered back luck in Russian folklore.
^[6]

4 Superstition in the land of magic

Four-leaf clovers are as much a part of Ireland as St. Patrick’s Day, the country’s renowned hospitality and Riverdance. In the Middle Ages, children believed that carrying a four-leaf clover would grant them the ability to see fairies. Four-leaf clovers were also believed to grant magical protection and ward off evil.

Today there are many more superstitions in Ireland, above and beyond four-leaf clovers. This includes the one of the magpies, and why you should wave at them if their numbers are unfavourable. As the rhyme says:

“One for sorrow, two for joy
Three for a girl and four for a boy
Five for silver, six for gold
Seven for a secret never to be told.”

Should you happen upon one lonely magpie, you must salute it, to break any curse that may settle on you.

Also, if a funeral procession passes you by in Ireland, don’t count the cars. If you do, you will know the exact amount of years you have left to live.
^[7]

3 Friday the 17th

Friday doesn’t have to include 13 for it to be unlucky. In Italy, whenever a Friday the 17th rolls around, they refer to it as a ‘black day’ because 17 is considered bad luck while the number 13 is actually regarded as a good luck charm. It is thought that the negativity around the number 17 was helped along by the belief that the Great Flood took place on the 17th day of the second month. Friday is believed to have been the day on which Jesus was crucified, which led to Fridays also being considered bad luck or cursed.

November 2nd is All Soul’s Day, following on from All Saint’s Day on November 1st. When Friday the 17th falls in November, it is considered the unluckiest day of all and November is then referred to as the ‘month of the deceased.’

Italians are known to carry lucky charms on Friday the 17th, including red horn pendants, horseshoes or the image of an old hunchbacked man and telling the sceptics: “Not on Friday, nor on Tuesday one marries, one leaves, or one starts something.”^[8]

2 13 – Unlucky for some

New Zealanders have some of the most unique superstitions in the world, especially when it comes to new homes. Not only is it customary to walk through each room of a new house, carrying a loaf of bread and salt, guests who arrive at the new house should bring salt and coal with them. In order to avoid the disaster of a fire in the house, the shirt of a virgin should be tucked inside a jar and buried in the garden (this is now a rare occurrence due to the lack of virgins in New Zealand).

But before any of these superstitious rituals can be performed, a new house must first be bought, and it is during this process that the number 13 rears its unlucky head. Data compiled in 2016 revealed that 13 seemed to be unlucky for homeowners trying to sell. In Mission Bay, Auckland, homes with No 13 for an address were valued at $390,000 less than their counterparts. In Orakei, houses sporting the number 13 were valued at $350,000 less than the total median.

In other areas such as Glendowie and Northcote, however, 13 seemed to be a good luck charm as here, houses with this number were valued higher than the total median.^[9]

1 What’s up with the number 23?

Ever heard of the 23rdians? It is a Facebook group for people who are fascinated with the number 23 and who post pictures of the number popping up in their daily lives.

It is alleged that the obsession with the number 23 began with William Burroughs who claimed to have met a sea captain whose ship sank the same day he had bragged about never having had an accident at sea in 23 years. Later that night Burroughs also claimed that he had heard a news report over the radio about a Flight 23 that had crashed in Florida. The pilot had the same name as the sea captain: Clark. Both died. Burroughs became obsessed with the number 23 after these incidents and passed it on to several people including John Forbes Nash Jr, the Nobel Prize-winning mathematician who apparently claimed that 23 was his favorite prime number.

23 is considered to be an unlucky number, often alluding to tragedy and death wherever it pops up. For instance, the Twin Towers were attacked on 9/11/2001 (9+11+2+0+0+1 = 23). Julius Caesar was allegedly stabbed 23 times. Kurt Cobain was born in 1967 and died in 1994. 1+9+6+7= 23, 1+9+9+4 = 23.
^[10]

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At a certain point numbers begin to lose meaning. The human mind isn’t good with large numbers and the vastness of large numbers and what they represent becomes too diffuse and too vague for us to conceptualize. That’s part of the reason why guessing how many jellybeans are in a jar is such a reliable game. People will vastly miscalculate large numbers. But the sheer number of all sorts of things, and not just jellybeans, are around us all the time. And many things exist in some surprising numbers. 

10. Beetles Make Up About a Quarter of All Identified Life on Earth

In 2011, scientists estimated there were about 8.7 million different species living on Earth. Of those, around 1.5 million species have been identified and given a name. And of those, beetles make up 25%. That means, of 1.5 million species, around 350,000 to 400,000 of them are just beetles. 

From an evolutionary standpoint, this makes sense. Most beetle species have been around since the Jurassic period, meaning they’ve achieved success in part because they are very adaptable and well suited to live in all kinds of conditions as they are. They hit the evolution jackpot, so to speak.

9. There Are Over 120,000 Kinds of Rice

You could make a strong case that rice is the most popular food in the world. In 2021/2022, 520 million metric tons of rice were consumed worldwide. Americans eat about 20 lbs of rice per person every year. If that seems like a lot, compare it to Asia where the average person eats 220 lbs per year. So a lot of rice is being eaten, that’s a given. But the sheer variety of rice is even more remarkable.

Most of us know things like arborio rice, jasmine rice, basmati rice and a few others. There are, however, over 120,000 kinds of rice in the world. The International Rice Genebank holds genetic material from 132,000 different kinds of rice and related genera.That means you could eat a new kind of rice every single day for over 360 years. If you wanted to fit it all into your lifetime, you’d probably need to try about 6 different kinds a day, then you’d only have to spend 60 years on the job. 

8. Sign Language Is Not Universal, There are Hundreds of Variations

Communication is a cornerstone of civilization and there are over 7,000 spoken languages in the world.  That means, sometimes, communication can be difficult if we’re not all on the same page. 

Some people may think that this is less of an issue for those who have hearing loss as sign language can bridge that international language gap by allowing people from any culture to communicate but that’s not the case. While not as diverse as spoken languages, there are still over 300 kinds of sign language used in the world. 

Interestingly enough, the differences in sign language don’t follow the lines of spoken language. American Sign Language is different from Auslan sign language in Australia and British Sign Language in the UK, even though verbal communication is mostly all done with the same language in those three places.

7. There Are Over 1,800 Kinds of Cheese

If you’re a cheese fan you probably already know and enjoy an abundance of varieties. Most grocery stores will offer up a few dozen cheese varieties from cheddar to emmental to gouda and havarti and more. But even cheese speciality shops that have hundreds of varieties available still fall short of showing the whole picture. Around the world you can find over 1,800 varieties.

You can search through databases of them based on country of origin, the milk used to make them or even the texture of the finished product. 

6. Apples Come in About 7,500 Varieties

Google “best apples for making pie” and you’ll find plenty of articles offering up dozens of different options. It’s probably been an ongoing debate since apple pie was invented. There are plenty of options which people choose for reasons ranging from sweetness to tartness to firmness and more. But throughout all of those articles, you’ll probably just find a few dozen different apples at most. And that’s kind of odd considering there are actually 7,500 different kinds of apples to choose from.

Of course most of us only know a couple dozen at most which is why the range is so limited, even though 2,500 of those numerous apples are grown in the US alone. It’s just that consumers are accustomed to a limited variety and introducing new ones tends to take time and some marketing before people get on board. Also, while there are a huge variety of apples grown in America, many are grown only in limited areas or small farms so the whole supply for a second may be extremely limited. Without larger farms giving space to new crops, most people will probably never get to try them.

5. There Are Over 30 Types of Screw Drivers 

Have you ever been working on a project with someone and they ask you for a screwdriver? And then you have to go through what type of screwdriver they mean? A few of them are fairly well known like Phillips, slot or Robertson. But what do you call a six-pointed star? That’s a Torx of some kind, though there are sub-varieties. And ones that look like an hourglass? That’s a clutch. 

There are over 30 types of screws and drives that are in popular usage, though obviously some are more popular than others. Wikipedia has a page that aggregates most of them if you ever come across something and don’t know what you’re looking at. 

Why so many kinds? Some are proprietary. Some, like Torx, prevent cam out. Tri-wing let you apply more force. Phillips itself was designed to be better managed with screwdrivers than previous types. 

4. There Are Over 350 Pasta Shapes

Americans eat nearly 6 billion pounds of pasta per year. Safe to say it’s a popular food item. And one of the most fun things about pasta is that you can change the shape and change the dish even though, technically, the ingredients are the same. Certain pasta shapes are better suited to certain toppings, sauces or preparations. Some are just kind of fun to eat. 

Spaghetti and macaroni are two hugely popular varieties and there’s penne, rigatoni, fettuccine and so many others. How many exactly? Over 350. You can find a lot of them in online databases but they are still not fully exhaustive. Even the Wikipedia page for pasta only covered so many, though it has more than most. 

Part of the problem is that many pasta shapes are variations of pre-existing ones, the way spaghettini is just a thinner version of spaghetti,for instance. And other types get different names from region to region so keeping track of everything can become difficult. Not to mention novelty pasta shapes, like the kind you might find in cans of Scooby Doo pasta at the grocery store. 

3. There are 15 Kinds of Electrical Outlets Around the World

One thing people will always tell you if you’re going to travel internationally is to buy an adapter for your electronics because plugs in Europe or Asia or wherever you’re going are different. And the way it’s explained makes it sound like there are two kinds of plus in the world and that’s it. But there are actually about 15 types of electrical outlets in common usage in the world, depending not just on where you are but what the outlets are for.

In America alone there are multiple types even if we don’t always think of it. There’s Type A which features your standard two prongs but also Type B with a third prong for the ground wire. Both are 120V, typically. You’ll also find larger 3 and 4-pronged outlets for appliances like clothes dryers.

When you go international, you get into Type C, which is not grounded and found in Europe, Asia and South America and is up to 240V. Type D is from India, while H is in Israel and Type L is found in Italy and Chile. 

2. There Are 19 Kinds of Ice

If someone asked you what kind of ice you like, chances are you’d consider the difference between cubed and chipped. But in science there are 19 recognized kinds of ice. The 19th kind was created in a lab back in 2021. These are 4-sided crystals and require super low temperatures and very high pressure. 

The various other kinds of ice all exist in conditions you won’t find outside on a winter’s day. They can be made in labs or found out in space on other worlds under extreme conditions. They require extreme temperatures and pressures and form different crystalline structures that differentiate them from the ice we know here on earth. Ice 17, for instance, can be made at room temperature by squeezing water between 1 nanometer layers of graphene with pressures at about 10,000 atmospheres.

1. There Are Multiple Types of Twins

Most people likely either know twins or have at least come across twins at some point in their life. There are fraternal twins and identical twins and many parents like to make a big deal about dressing them alike or giving them similar names when they have the opportunity, at least when it comes to identicals. 

Fraternal twins are also known as dizygotic twins. This occurs when two eggs are released and fertilized at the same time, so two babies grow together in the mother’s womb. Identical twins are monozygotic twins. That happens when one fertilized egg splits in two and essentially the same person from a genetic standpoint grows twice in the womb.

Those two types of twins are not the only ones, however, and it’s been proposed that there are a number of other twins that can occur.

Mirror image twins occur when the egg splits late, more than a week after conception occurs. The twins will develop as mirror images so that instead of being 100% identical, they are identical but opposite. So a mole on one twin’s left cheek would be on the other’s right.

Semi-identical twins, so rare that only two cases have been identified in the past, occur when a single egg is fertilized by two sperm. Technically, it’s supposed to be impossible. But it’s not. After fertilization, the egg splits the three sets of genetic material into two subsets and each develops separately. The result in one case was twins, a boy and a girl, developing as identical twins should have, but sharing only 84% genetic material. 

Superfetation is another condition where something technically impossible still happens. In this case, the woman gets pregnant and then gets pregnant again. Your body is supposed to prevent this from happening naturally, but in some cases where assistive technology has been used to increase chances of becoming pregnant, the body’s natural defense against this was bypassed and a double pregnancy occurred. The children are technically not twins but the pregnancy works much the same for obvious reasons. 

Superfecundation occurs when twins are born to two different fathers. It’s more common in animals but can happen in humans if a woman releases two eggs in a short amount of time and has sex with two different men to fertilize both in the same cycle. This can result in twins who look significantly different.

There are other potential twin types that have been proposed beyond these as well.