From deadly apple seeds to fear-mongering journalism, we count 10 things you should be scared about.
10 – Apples
- An apple a day will keep the doctor away, but too many apples in one day will straight up kill you dead.
- Apple seeds contain minute amounts of sugar-cyanide, which means if you ate about 20 apples and chewed up all their seeds, you could potentially die of cyanide poisoning. Swallowing the seeds whole is a better way to avoid unleashing the toxin, but don’t worry if you accidentally crunch a seed or two, the dose is not high enough to kill you.
9 – Shoveling Snow
- If you live in a cold climate, you should know that you may very well be at risk of dying by shoveling snow.
- Cold weather can constrict your blood vessels, endangering your vital organs. If you haven’t exercised in years, or you have high blood pressure or diabetes – you’re statistically more likely to have a heart attack or stroke while clearing heavy snow from your driveway.
- So the next time your old folks ask you to go shovel the snow for them, you might be saving their lives.
8 – Cows
- You know which deadly animal you should be very, very afraid of? The dreaded killer cow.
- In a study of American deaths over a twelve year period, it was shown that sharks, alligators and bears killed an average of one person per year. Cows however, killed twenty people per year on average.
- These people were mostly killed on cattle-farms, but others were killed by cows that infiltrated society by disguising themselves as regular humans, only to unleash their bovine revenge on unsuspecting meat-eaters.
7 – Smoking
- This may shock you to hear, but did you know that smoking is like, really really bad for you?
- We are a species that sent twelve people to walk on the moon in space, yet some of us still think that sucking on a stick of fiery tar and chemicals and blowing out smoke is still a great idea. There’s literally nothing good about smoking, and for some reason 6 million people kill themselves doing it every year.
- We’re so scared about things like terrorism, but we’re already killing ourselves from the comfort of our own homes.
6 – Noise
- Loud neighbours are seriously the worst people in the world, but loud noises can actually really harm you.
- Okay so you would need to be standing next to a jet aircraft as it’s taking off, or be somewhere near a huge explosion, but scientists reckon anything over 185 decibels can make your eardrums and your lungs literally explode. Being exposed to loud noises frequently can drastically affect your hearing ability, so maybe turn those speakers down a notch.