wtf fun fact

WTF Fun Fact 13145 – World Website Statistics

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While more people use the internet in Asia than anywhere else in the world, English is the predominant language of the world’s websites. According to First Site Guide (cited below): “25.9% of the internet is in English, 19.4% is in Chinese, and 8% is in Spanish.” Keep reading for more worldwide website statistics.

More world websites statistics

Asia has over 2.8 billion web users, with over 1 billion active users residing in China and 659 million in India.

Europe is the continent with the second most internet users, though they have under 700 million. The US comes in third with 307 million users (as of early 2022).

The age group with the most internet users (at least as of 2019) is 25 to 34-year-olds. They account for 1/3 of web users.

The majority of people also use Chrome as their browser. In fact, 65% of people use Chrome while the next most popular engine (Safari) is used by 16.82% of users.

According to First Site Guide: “The most connected region globally is North America, with over 75% of people having an internet connection. It is closely followed by Europe, in which over 68% of all people have internet access. The region with the least internet connectivity is Sub-Saharan Africa, with 24% of people having internet access according to internet usage statistics.”

Worldwide web searches

Google is by far the most popular search engine, holding 92.7% of the market share. In second place is Bing with just under 3%.

While DuckDuckGo is the search engine with the most privacy features, it’s used by only .5% of internet users.

And while you might think iPhones are ubiquitous, they’re also expensive. That’s probably why most mobile internet users (nearly 75%) use an Android OS.

And time spent on smartphones is rapidly increasing. 12 years ago, we spent less than an hour a day looking at the internet on our mobile devices. Today, we average about 2.8 hours. And this is only expected to increase. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Internet Statistics 2023: Facts You Need-to-Know” — First Site Guide

WTF Fun Fact 13144 – The Number of Internet Users

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In November of 2022, the world population reached an estimated 8 billion people. The number of internet users is around 5.47 billion. That’s a lot, but it still leaves a mind-boggling number unconnected (for better or worse).

More internet user stats

The 5.47 billion number refers to active internet users, so it doesn’t imply that everyone else lacks Internet connectivity altogether. However, it’s estimated that 2.7 billion people do lack access to the internet.

First Site Guide (cited below) also gathered some other eye-popping internet facts from 2022. For example, did you know that 4.32 billion people use mobile devices to access the internet? And as we walk around, we’re surrounded by an average of 26 “smart” objects connected to the internet.

When it comes to social media, the majority of internet users are on some form of it. In 2021, there were 4.2. billion active social media users. (It remains to be seen if controversies associated with Twitter and Facebook will reduce that number or send people to other sites.)

We were surprised to know that 7 million blog posts get published every day, though it’s not clear exactly what counts as a blog and if some news items (or posts that people treat as news) get counted in this. What we do know is that there are around 198.4 billion websites, so people have plenty to choose from.

Who has the highest number of internet useres

Denmark, Iceland, the UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar have the highest “internet penetration” rates in the world. In fact, over 98% of the people in these countries have internet access (and the average internet speed in the UAE is a whopping 110.90 Mbps!). However, China has the most number of internet users.

North Korea, unsurprisingly, has the least number of internet users. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Internet Statistics 2023: Facts You Need-to-Know” — First Site Guide

WTF Fun Fact 13143 – Grass Screams When Cut

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You’ll never cut your grass again without thinking of this weird fact – grass cries for help when it’s mowed. No, you can’t hear it, but scientists have discovered grass screams when cut.

How does grass scream when cut?

We’re only just beginning to understand how plants communicate with one another and the rest of the world around them (including insects).

Dr. Michael Kolomiets, a Texas A&M AgriLife Research plant pathologist, published an article in 2014 in The Plant Journal noting that the aroma of cut grass is the plant’s way of both signaling distress and attracting beneficial insects that will help it heal.

According to ScienceDaily (cited below): “When there is need for protection, the plant signals the environment via the emission of volatile organic compounds, which are recognized as a feeding queue for parasitic wasps to come to the plant that is being eaten and lay eggs in the pest insect,” Kolomiets said.

Plant communication

Grass produces a “defensive” protein when damaged. Of course, that doesn’t stop the lawnmower or insects from destroying the blades. But it appears to produce a compound that repels insects that are feeding on the damaged grass.

This compound, or one related to it, also appears to attract organisms like parasitic wasps that feed on insects like caterpillars that are destroying the grass.

Or to put it in science-speak:

“We have proven that when you delete these volatiles, parasitic wasps are no longer attracted to that plant,even when an insect chews on the leaf. So this volatile is required to attract parasitoids. We have provided genetic evidence that green leafy volatiles have this dual function — in the plant they activate production of insecticidal compounds, but also they have indirect defense capability because they send an SOS-type signal that results in attraction of parasitic wasps.”

So, maybe it’s not so much that grass screams when cut so much as it cries for help. Either way, freshly cut grass emits a compound that repels damaging insects and attracts insects with a protective function.

It’s just one of the many ways that plants are far more complex than we had ever previously imagined. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Mown grass smell sends SOS for help in resisting insect attacks” — ScienceDaily

WTF Fun Fact 13142 – Use of Telemedicine in the U.S.

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Telemedicine use skyrocketed during the pandemic, and now it seems poised to become a regular part of the healthcare landscape. A CDC report from October 2022 revealed just how much Americans relied on telemedicine in the previous year.

What is telemedicine?

Telemedicine is the use of electronic means (telephones, text messages, voice and video chats, etc.) to deliver healthcare to patients remotely. While it may occasionally involve in-office testing, most of the doctor-patient relationship takes place over a device like a phone or a computer.

During the COVID-19 pandemic State of Emergency, the U.S. expanded legislation to allow more providers to deliver a broader range of care options via telemedicine. Healthcare providers had been relatively limited in what they could do for patients without seeing them in person before this.

A CDC report using 2021 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data to assess the use of telemedicine provided interesting insight into just how many Americans over age 18 took advantage of what it had to offer in the second year of the pandemic.

The rise of telemedicine use

In 2021, 37% of American adults reported using telemedicine in the previous 12 months.

The report also found that the older people were, the more likely they were to use it. On some level, that makes sense since older people are more vulnerable to severe cases of COVID. However, it hasn’t often been the case that technology use increases with age in the past.

Women were also more likely to use telemedicine. 42% of women said they used it in 2021, compared to 31.7% of men. (However, women are more likely to see doctors than men.)

Other statistics

Adults in the U.S. West were the most likely to use telemedicine, and those in the Midwest were the least likely.

Telemedicine use increased with patients’ urbanization level – those living in large metropolitan areas were more likely to use it. This is interesting because the technology was initially used to reach those who lived far from hospitals and clinics. However, during the pandemic, people in urban areas may have been more reluctant to head to hospitals and seek care due to crowded public transportation and waiting rooms.

Those with a GED or higher education level were also more likely to get on the phone or computer to “visit” their doctor. As education levels go up, so does the use of this technology.

And while those with a below-average or average income are equally likely to engage with healthcare providers electronically, its use increases among those with higher incomes.

It appears that if telemedicine is going to be part of the future of medicine, it will be important to ensure a broader range of people have access to it and knowledge about its benefits. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Telemedicine Use Among Adults: United States, 2021” — CDC.gov

WTF Fun Fact 13140 – Champagne and NYE

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Have you ever wondered why champagne became associated with New Year’s Eve? Sure, popping the bubbly does seem festive, but one doesn’t suggest the other’s presence…or does it? Champagne is difficult to make, and real champagne only comes from one small region in France (called Champagne). Thanks to the association of champagne and NYE, the productionof the beverage actually shot up between 1800 and 1850 from 300,000 to 20 million bottles a year!

Why are champagne and NYE associated?

Sixteenth-century European aristocrats loved to pop the champagne. It didn’t hurt that their king Louis XIV loved it as well. Champagne was once part of religious rituals (but more on that in the next fun fact). Obviously, it became a secular celebratory mechanism.

Dom Perignon may have been a monk, but as the creator of the elite new bubbly drink all those centuries ago, we might also say he’s the father of parties. He made the bottles safer and the drink easier to produce, which also made them cheaper to create and sell.

By the 1700s, champagne could be marketed to those in the relative middle class because the price of creating it went down. And as you can imagine, people being able to afford things made them more popular. And champagne because associated with joy for all.

It’s all about the bubbles

Whether you’re drinking real champagne or sparkling wine from elsewhere in the world, that festive feeling you get from hearing the cork pop (although it’s not supposed to make a noise if you open it properly) is one that goes back centuries. The bubbles as well (although sometimes indicative of a dusty glass) feel celebratory. And so does New Year’s Eve.

As champagne production rose, exports rose. Champagne was a smashing success – even for ship christenings. This is just another way it became associated with joyous celebrations.

And if you’ve ever tried to pour a glass, chances are you’d had to struggle with those bubbles overflowing. Your cup runneth over, as they say – which is a toast to good luck and fortune for a reason. Champagne and NYE are a marketing match made in heaven. —WTF fun facts

Source: “Why everyone drinks champagne on New Year’s Eve” — Business Insider

WTF Fun Fact 13139 – Asia Is Bigger Than the Moon

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In terms of surface area, Asia is bigger than the moon.

How on Earth is Asia bigger than the moon?

First, it’s useful to know that the moon is only 27% the size of the Earth. Since Asia is the biggest continent on Earth, it’s not a huge surprise that it might rival the size of the moon in terms of surface area.

The surface Asia’s surface area is 44.5 million square kilometers (4.6 million square miles) while the moon’s is 37.8 million square kilometers (17.2 million square miles).

Moon stats

While the moon is the brightest object in the night sky, it’s still only about a quarter of the size of our planet.

Here are some other interesting moon stats, according to Space.com (cited below):

  • The moon’s mean radius is 1,079.6 miles.
  • Its mean diameter is 2,159.2 miles.
  • The moon is less than a third the width of the Earth.
  • The moon’s equatorial circumference is 6,783.5 miles (10,917 km).
  • The Earth’s moon is the fifth largest moon in our solar system.

The moon appears so enormous because it is so close to the Earth. It’s our closest celestial body at around 238,855 miles away.

To put it in some very random perspective, “If Earth were the size of a nickel, the moon would be about as big as a coffee bean,” according to NASA.

It’s pretty wild to think about the size of objects in our solar system. Often, their measurements don’t mean much to us unless they’re compared to something we can more easily visualize. Still, the fact that Asia is bigger than the moon (in terms of surface area) is pretty mind-blowing. — WTF fun facts

Source: “How big is the moon?” — Space.com

WTF Fun Fact 13137 – The Snowiest City in the World

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The snowiest city in the world is in Japan. And we’re not sure why, but we really didn’t see that coming. We would have guessed someplace in Siberia or Canada. But the award for the snowiest city goes to northern Japan’s Aomori City.

More about the snowiest city in the world

Aomori City averages 312 inches (that’s about 26 feet) of snow each year! And it has a population of over 280,000 people. That’s A LOT of shoveling that needs to happen to keep a city moving.

On an island nation, you might wonder where they put all that snow. The answer is right into the bay.

If you’re interested, here’s a quite long video showing how it all goes down:

Now, there are likely snowier places on Earth, but people don’t live there. Aomori City is the snowiest place where people actually live.

Why is Aomori City so snowy?

According to CNN (cited below), “The extreme snowfall is caused by chilly Siberian winds that sweep into Japan from the northwest every November. As the cold air crosses over the warmer waters off Japan’s mountainous coastline, it gathers moisture, then rises and turns into snow.”

You may have heard of “lake effect snow,” but what Japan gets is “sea effect snow.” Since the sea doesn’t really freeze, they get thick, powdery snow until all the way up until April. And the city’s suburbs get blanketed as well.

Like so many snowy cities, residents aren’t thrilled about the snow, but they’re prepared for it. And the city makes the most of it. Things don’t close down easily, and the city takes advantage of tourism dollars from skiers and other snow-lovers. They also have amazing seafood, which is especially plentiful during the snowy months. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Aomori, Japan: Life in one of the world’s snowiest cities” — CNN

WTF Fun Fact 13136 – Snow in the Desert

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In 2011, Chile’s Atacama Desert in Chile got a rare snowfall. In fact, it received 32 inches of snow as the result of a very rare cold front from Antarctica. This wasn’t the only instance of snow in the desert, but it’s interesting and bizarre since the Atacama Desert is one of the driest places on Earth.

What caused snow in the desert?

According to the Washington Post (cited below), “The uniqueness of this event is that the Atacama Desert is a 600-mile-long plateau known to be one of, if not the driest and most sterile deserts on Earth. Because moisture is blocked from the east by the Andes mountains and from the west by the Chilean Coast Range, the average rainfall is just 0.04 per year and skies are almost always cloud-free.”

The 2011 snowfall occurred when an Antarctic cold front (the strongest in 30 years) broke through the region’s rain and snow shadow. It is wildly cold there (with an elevation of 10,000 feet), but it just doesn’t typically get moisture).

Other parts of Chile got a crippling 8 feet of snow, cutting off access to the area and stranding residents without supplies. The Washington Post quoted one regional governor as saying, “In four days we have had four months’ worth of snowfall.”

It’s so dry in this desert that Atacama’s weather stations had never even recorded rain, and “research suggests that some identifiable river beds have been dry for 120,000 years.”

What’s special about the Atacama Desert?

If you’ve heard of the Atacama desert, it might be related to any interest you have in NASA and space exploration. The desert is used to simulate Mars, and NASA uses it to test Mars mission instruments.

It’s also been a movie set because it simply doesn’t look like Earth. For example, it was used in Space Odyssey. —WTF fun facts

Source: “Rare snowfall on Earth’s driest desert in Chile” — Washington Post

WTF Fun Fact 13135 – The Blizzard of 77

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Have you heard the lore of the Blizzard of 77? Maybe you even lived through it. If so (and you’re like my family), no other storm could ever be like it again. (Meanwhile, we played a board game called The Blizzard of ’77 with glee as kids.) So what happened, exactly, during that storm?

There’s no need to make light of this storm – it was deadly and heartbreaking to many families. At least 23 people died as a direct result of the blizzard. That’s part of the reason it holds such a solid place in the memories of those who felt it.

The Blizzard of ’77 hit Western New York and Southern Ontario at the end of January. The snowfall during the storm was minimal, but the winds blowing off the frozen Lake Erie blew around the 60 inches of snow already on the ground to create snowdrifts.

Where did the blizzard happen and how bad was it, really?

The Blizzard of 77 happened around the Great Lakes in the U.S., and more specifically the western side of Lake Erie. Western New York and Southern Ontario felt the brunt of its wrath. But most people associate the city of Buffalo, NY with the notorious blizzard.

If you dislike snow (or even if you do like it, just not when it’s in your driveway/on your car), you know even 4 or 5 inches can be enough to wreck your day. But the blizzard brought 100 inches to some places in Western New York. Just not from the sky. More on that in a minute.

Some stories that came out of the event are endearing, others tragic.

Kids gleefully climbed snowbanks to stand on the roof of their houses (back in a time when parents would still kick you outside during the day). Many parents regretted the roof damage that was wrought, especially since if you were going to climb the roof, chances we you were taking the top of the trash can to use as a sled.

Two reindeer at the Buffalo Zoo decided to prance out onto the huge snowdrifts. They waltzed out of their pens and the zoo itself. Maybe they thought they had finally made it home.

On the other hand, nine people were found buried in their cars. Others had heart attacks while trying to shovel the snow. Car accidents took even more lives (there was a travel ban, but not all workers got a day off). The storm cost the area economic losses in the neighborhood of $221 million. That includes $36 million in lost wages for city residents.

Buffalo became known as the city of snow mostly because of the images people saw on the nightly news.

Buffalo’s notorious blizzard of 77

Buffalo made the news around the world because of the photos that resulted from the storm. Of course, most people had to wait to see the photos because you still had to take your film to be developed at the store. And there were no cell phones to check on your family.

People were stuck on roads for hours (which is terribly dangerous if snow covers your tailpipe because you may end up dying from carbon monoxide poisoning, as some do during these types of storms). Babies were delivered at home because emergency vehicles could not get down the streets. The power went out in homes across the area. Families huddled together for warmth (no matter how mad you were at your siblings).

Buffalo and their “southtowns” (like Hamburg and Orchard Park) often get loads of lake-effect snow early in the year. This can be annoying and plentiful, and this snow is the result of the lake not yet being frozen and adding more moisture to the air.

However, during Buffalo’s Blizzard of ’77, the lake had frozen. And that was even worse because it helped the snowdrifts blow across areas where shoveling and plowing could be undone in a matter of minutes with the right (or wrong) gust of wind.

Prior to the first day of the blizzard, it had snowed just about every day since Christmas, so Mother Nature had a lot of ammo to work with. Buffalo had 33-59 inches of snow (depending on where you were) already on the ground before the blizzard even began. That made the snow even harder to move because it was densely packed. Construction equipment wasn’t enough to move some of it. There was no place to put the snow after a few hours.

The Blizzard was a regional event and not the worst blizzard

The Blizzard of 77 in Buffalo was one of the first to be broadcast around the world. This made it memorable to people well outside the region. And other regions got walloped as well.

The Blizzard of 78 was actually worse in some ways. 100 fatalities were recorded, and that nor’easter spread out farther. It affected New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. Plenty of people felt it in the Midwest as well!).

Part of what made the Blizzard of 77 so memorable is the help that came from around the country in its aftermath. The National Guard set up a post in the city of Buffalo. Equipment came from as far as Colorado to help with the clean-up.

Only around 12 inches of new snow fell during the blizzard itself. But the winds of nearly 70 mph were enough to maim and kill. So were the Arctic temperatures (the wind chill made it feel like −60 °F).

Extreme weather is a fact of life, but some events stand out in people’s memories more than others. The Blizzard of 77 is one of them. — WTF fun facts

Source: “On this day 45 years ago, the Blizzard of ’77 struck – stories from the storm” — WIVB