Didn't want to know?! Fascinating and scary trivia & fun facts

In pink coloring, such as for strawberry milk, insects are used.

Have you heard of an insect called the cochineal scale? The female is shaped rather like a pill bug, while the male looks like a cross between a wasp and a fly, with even a long tail that gives it a somewhat elaborate form.

As far back as the days of the Maya and Inca empires, it was already being cultivated and used mainly as a dye for coloring.

And today, that insect is used to make the pink coloring that many of you consume regularly.

The strawberry hue in ice cream, the cute pink seen in red-and-white fish cakes—those colors can actually come from insects! That’s a shocking fact for anyone who dislikes bugs.

There’s a study showing that the chance of dying on your birthday is 13.8% higher than on other days.

A birthday celebrates the day you were born.

However, there’s research that makes us reflect more deeply on life, showing that the risk of dying is higher on one’s birthday than on other days.

According to the findings, the mortality rate on birthdays is 13.8% higher than on other days, and when broken down by age, an increase in mortality was observed among those aged 60 and over.

While the exact reasons remain unclear, one hypothesis suggests that psychological factors associated with reaching a milestone might play a role.

It’s a bit of trivia that seems to suggest it may be important for our physical and mental well-being not to fixate too much on birthdays and to spend the day as calmly as possible.

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Responding to someone’s sleep talk lowers the quality of their sleep.

Some people talk in their sleep so clearly that it sounds like a normal conversation, possibly influenced by the dreams they’re having.

It’s said that even if you hear sleep-talking next to you that seems to be calling out to you, you shouldn’t respond.

This might conjure up superstitious, occult-like ideas such as “their soul will be taken to the other side,” but even from a scientific standpoint, it’s better not to answer sleep-talk.

The reason is simple: the moment the sleep-talking turns into a conversation, the brain responds, sleep becomes lighter, and the quality of sleep declines.

In that sense, the superstition isn’t entirely wrong, since poor-quality sleep can affect one’s health.

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If there are 35 sheets or fewer of toilet paper, E. coli can pass through and get on your hands.

You might choose thick toilet paper or try to layer it as much as possible, using it with hygiene in mind.

Here’s a depressing bit of trivia that undermines those efforts.

It may seem like toilet paper prevents E.

coli from getting on you, but in fact, it would take as many as 36 layers to completely block bacterial transfer.

And it’s not just during wiping—bacteria are present on various parts of the restroom, such as the toilet lid and the flush lever—so it’s essentially impossible to avoid contact with germs in the bathroom.

Along with the unsettling reality that toilet paper doesn’t fully protect you, this also underscores the importance of thoroughly washing your hands after using the restroom.

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Eating too many ginkgo nuts can cause toxic symptoms.

Do you like ginkgo nuts? In places with rows of ginkgo trees, you can also enjoy gathering the nuts, which really gives off that quintessential autumn vibe.

However, eating too many ginkgo nuts can make you feel unwell.

Ginkgo nuts have a property that suppresses the function of vitamin B6, which in turn interferes with the body’s ability to produce GABA properly.

As a result, they can cause diarrhea and nausea, and in some cases lead to poisoning symptoms such as convulsions.

It’s a bit scary for something as cute-looking as ginkgo nuts, isn’t it? As the saying goes, “too much of anything is bad.” Please be careful not to overeat them!