25 Disturbing Facts You Really Don't Want To Know

Eww, gross. But so interesting!

By Michael Thompson /

The world is undeniably a beautiful and amazing place... filled with a bunch of disturbing realities. Stopping to contemplate the saltier facts of life can really leave you nauseated. Not all of it is disgusting either. Some things are so frightening that they chill our bones and curdle our stomach acid. For example, we can gaze in wondrous amazement how the universe continues to spin, or go insane worrying that it could all end in a second. We can explore the wild of the animal kingdom and learn so much about ourselves, while contracting horrible diseases from the creatures we study. We can be thankful for the intricate machine that is our body, or be grossed out by how disgusting it can be. We can step out our front door with a willing spirit to see the world, or stay in our homes where we are liable to not suffer horrendous deaths. Yes, the world is an amazing place, but there are plenty of things in it that can steal your sleep at night once you know them. Sometimes the price you pay for knowledge is an agonized grimace, and it is often said that ignorance is bliss. Here are twenty-five facts so disturbing that whoever coined the old cliché must have known them before saying it. Grab a bag to barf in along with the anxiety meds. It's about to get real.

25. Salt Water Takes 10 Minutes To Drown You

Everyone knows, even by instinct, that inhaling water is bad. What most of us don't know is saltwater and freshwater both drown you from suffocation, but the process on a chemical level is very different. When ocean water enters your lungs, your body attempts to regulate the high salt content. Blood will enter into the lungs and thicken because the salt cannot be absorbed into the bloodstream. The process is very different from freshwater, where the water in the lungs can be absorbed into your bloodstream. When the blood cells attempt to absorb too much water at once they burst, leading to a quick death. But what about salt water? What happens to you while your blood thickens? Well, the good news is that salt water takes longer to kill you, leaving more time to be rescued. It also means you may stay conscious up to the point when you die, about ten minutes after the moment when you first inhaled it.