Here's a stream of random thoughts and observations:The smell of rain on hot pavement has a name—petrichor—derived from oils plants release during dry periods. Speaking of plants, bamboo can grow up to three feet in a single day, which seems impossible until you remember that fungi can appear overnight after rain. Mushrooms are strange: neither plant nor animal, closer genetically to humans than to vegetables.Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood. Their arms contain two-thirds of their neurons, meaning each arm can essentially think for itself. They can squeeze through any opening larger than their beak, which is the only hard part of their body. If reincarnation exists, coming back as an octopus might be fascinating or terrifying.The plastic tips on shoelaces are called aglets. Most people tie their shoes incorrectly their entire lives without realizing there's a stronger method. Velcro was invented after a Swiss engineer noticed burrs sticking to his dog's fur during a walk. So many inventions stem from simply paying attention.Honey never spoils. Archaeologists have found edible honey in ancient Egyptian tombs thousands of years old. Bees visit approximately two million flowers to make one pound of honey, which puts that grocery store jar in perspective. Meanwhile, a cloud can weigh over a million pounds despite floating effortlessly overhead.The shortest war in history lasted between 38 and 45 minutes—the Anglo-Zanzibar War of 1896. By contrast, the Hundred Years' War actually lasted 116 years. Names are rarely accurate. Buffalo wings aren't from buffalo and contain no buffalo meat. They're from Buffalo, New York.Your brain uses about 20% of your body's energy despite being only 2% of your body weight. It's mostly fat and water, yet it generates all your thoughts, dreams, and memories. You can't tickle yourself because your brain predicts the sensation. Schizophrenia patients who hear voices sometimes can tickle themselves, suggesting the voices might be their own thoughts their brain doesn't recognize as self-generated.Bananas are berries, but strawberries aren't. Botanically speaking, a berry must develop from a flower with one ovary. Raspberries and blackberries are actually aggregate fruits. Nothing makes sense once you look closely enough.There are more possible iterations of a chess game than atoms in the observable universe. A deck of cards shuffled has likely never been in that exact order before in human history. The number of possible arrangements—52 factorial—is incomprehensibly large.Cleopatra lived closer in time to the moon landing than to the construction of the Great Pyramid. Human history compresses strangely when you examine it. We think of ancient Rome as impossibly distant, yet it had apartment buildings, fast food restaurants, and traffic jams.The voice you hear in your head when reading has no sound, yet you hear it clearly.