The One with All the Fun Facts

I've pretty much watched Friends about a million times. It's fun, it's relatable, it's somewhat raw and it's a no brainer for when you're having a really sucky day and it just feels like: "Damn, no one ever tells you life is going to be that way." But I've found it to be somewhat educational and helpful, too. Some of these might gross you out but some will just make you question everything you ever thought you knew. These are the top three fun facts I've learned from watching Friends.

1. Breast milk tastes like cantaloupe juice

Fairly early in the show, Ross becomes a father. One thing leads to another and he ends up trying the breast milk which, he is told, tastes like cantaloupe juice. I know, I felt weird about cantaloupes after hearing that, too. But breast milk is supposed to taste real sweet and similar to, well ... cantaloupe juice. After doing my research (strictly by googling, of course) I found out some people also compare it to "vanilla ice cream" and "sugary cereal milk leftover". That is because it contains milk sugar lactose and fat. The lactose makes the milk taste sweet and the fat forms the creamy texture. No wonder that babies can't get enough of it! But of course there are many factors that affect the taste of the milk such as mother's diet, hormones, lifestyle (good or bad habits) etc.

Because of many beneficial aspects to breast milk, there are people who implement it in their daily routine even as adults. They use it as lotion, soap, acne medicine, chapstick and even make breast milk cheese and yogurt. I guess some folks take "milk it for all it's worth" quite too literal.

2. Brazil nut is not a nut

Apparently, as so-called Dr Boring states in one of the episodes, some nuts are only masquerading to be nuts and, as it turns out, Brazil nut is just one of them. In reality, the Brazil nut is actually a seed. Cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds and pistachios are also just drupe seeds. How nuts is that? Supposedly, not at all. Don't worry, there are some actual nuts left. Hazelnuts, acorns and chestnuts still have your back.

So, for anyone out there who still thinks is soooo smart and witty with their "you know, tomatoes are actually not vegetables, they're fruit" remark, it's time to step up your game! Who cares about tomatoes being fruit? Pecans are freaking seeds!

3. The gas is odorless

So, there is this episode where Ross is trying to flirt with a pizza delivery girl and in order to impress her, he provides her with a random fun fact. And while everyone around him find his flirting technique laughable, I think it's absolutely charming because, let me tell you, this one really blew my mind (pun intended)!

Interestingly enough, the natural gas is in fact odorless, but they add the smell of a harmless gas called mercaptan (which smells like rotten eggs), so we know when there's a leak. Giving the odor to the gas is called "odorization" (pretty straightforward) and it was firstly done in 1880. Unfortunately, a disastrous event had to take place in order for that to happen. There was an awful explosion at a school in Texas in 1830s due to the odorless and therefore undetectable gas leak which resulted in 295 deaths. Since then, there are natural gas odorization regulations that require every single natural gas to be odorized and in that way easily detectable by a person with a normal sense of smell for the sake of public safety.

There you go! Three fascinating facts that I never would've learned about if it wasn't for my dearest Friends. And they say TV is bad for your brain ... In all seriousness, it is. Watching too much TV can actually cause brain damage (which is also a fact). It's still way better to learn things by reading books or, you know, cool articles on the internet. But it's still good to know that every once in a while, for a split second, telling your mom you're studying while binge-watching your favourite show, you are actually telling the truth!