Parasitic worms of multiple species can infect you by penetrating through intact skin and often don't even lead to a rash. They then develop for months and the adults or their eggs cause disease. Also pin worm eggs can be airborne and can survive machine washing with detergent.
— Molecular Worm Dude® (@JRHagerty) December 31, 2020
Harvard professor Michael Baym asked Twitter users to share an "uncomfortable" fact that they know because of their professional expertise. Since many of his followers are academics, we have a lot of cringeworthy facts in the replies.
Jesus christ I'm stunned that didn't happen in 2020
— Doctor TAS (@tas997) January 1, 2021
While it's nice to know how the world works, some of these bits of knowledge explain the old adage that ignorance is bliss. As a commenter at Metafilter put it, "Seems like most of them boil down to, there are no adults in the room, and you are far less safe from nature than modern living leads you to believe."
About 2 degrees Celsius of our body heat comes from the metabolism of microorganisms helping us digest our food.
— Rob Young (@DoubtTheWorm) December 30, 2020
Read a lot more of these facts (and they aren't all science-related) in the Twitter thread. -via Metafilter