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# 52 things I learned in 2025
- URL: https://www.mattrutherford.co.uk/52-things-i-learned-in-2025/
- Published: 2025-12-31T16:37:02.000Z
- Updated: 2025-12-31T16:37:02.000Z
- Description: Writing a newsletter every week helps me learn new things, here are 52 things from this year that didn't quite make it into the mailout.
- Author: Matt
- Tags: TWIL, Blog

Every week I post something new I learned whilst preparing my weekly newsletter, I've **highlighted** some of my absolute favourites from 2025\. ([2024 list here](https://www.mattrutherford.co.uk/50-things-i-learned-in-2024/))

1. Nigel Richards regularly wins foreign language Scrabble competitions, despite not speaking the languages ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/10/scrabble-star-nigel-richards-wins-spanish-world-title-despite-not-speaking-spanish?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
2. Sausage Kiosks in Vienna are being awarded UNESCO 'Intangible Cultural Heritage) status. ([Yahoo Life](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/vienna-sausage-stand-more-just-160709129.html?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
3. **Humans have toenails to aid with our sense of *proprioception,* that's our 'position in space'.** ([Mental Floss](https://www.mentalfloss.com/science/body/why-do-humans-have-toenails?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
4. Saturns Rings are going to disappear for a while, but they will be back. ([EarthSky](https://earthsky.org/space/saturns-rings-are-disappearing-march-2025/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
5. The Grand Canyon is home to a poo museum, although it looks like it is closed now. ([Poo Museum](https://poomuseum.org/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
6. Sweden is building a sustainable city of the future, made entirely from timber. ([Time Magazine](https://time.com/7207873/sweden-stockholm-wood-city-sustainability/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
7. Cooling Towers are shaped in a specific way, to aid the cooling. ([ScienceABC](https://www.scienceabc.com/pure-sciences/why-cooling-towers-are-shaped-that-way.html?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
8. Sleep is regulated by a tiny blue dot inside in all of our brains ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250131-how-the-brains-blue-dot-regulates-your-sleep?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
9. There are 350 different shapes of pasta, and even more names for them. ([Italy Magazine](https://www.italymagazine.com/dual-language/so-how-many-pasta-shapes-are-there??ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
10. The Amazon River doesn't have any official bridges. ([IFL Science](https://www.iflscience.com/the-amazon-river-doesnt-have-any-bridges-and-for-good-reason-77154?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
11. Bison are making a comeback in the UK, and its driving real biodiversity. ([Reasons to be Cheerful](https://reasonstobecheerful.world/uk-bison-rewilding-biodiversity?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
12. Our teeth are radioactive. ([YouTube](https://youtu.be/FPZuklD9eRg?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
13. There is an active 'volcano' in East London that no-one seems to be able to stop ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/04/the-rainham-volcano-arnolds-field-toxic-fires-waste-dump?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
14. Ancient Greek statues often had clothing, and smelt of perfume. ([Archaeology Magazine](https://archaeology.org/news/2025/03/17/ancient-greek-statues-smelled-of-perfume/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
15. A Swiss town is prescribing museum visits as therapy for patients ([AP News](https://apnews.com/article/museum-art-therapy-neuchatel-switzerland-55bcf5c4830261e35a3b8704671418f8?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
16. **Before the invention of the bicycle, the average distance between the birthplaces of spouses in England was ONE mile.** ([Galibier](https://www.galibier.cc/love-is-but-a-field-away/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
17. A day on Uranus is 28 seconds longer than it used to be. ([AP News](https://apnews.com/article/uranus-nasa-hubble-19a4d69e0778704a4fd01e6a6f6bd814?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
18. The Uber Lost and Found Index is a strange and mysterious place. ([Uber](https://www.uber.com/newsroom/the-2025-uber-lost-found-index?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
19. Scientists discovered a new colour. Not a favourite colour, a brand new colour that no-one has seen before. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyq0n3em41o?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
20. There is an annual competition for imitating the screech of a seagull. It is as extraordinary (and annoying) as you are imagining. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz795vx73z4o?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
21. **Cardinals don't live on the strictest of rations when they are locked in a conclave, but they have NOWHERE to hide a message.** ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250430-the-secrets-of-feeding-the-papal-conclave?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
22. People still use typewriters, every day in some parts of the world. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250321-the-people-who-still-use-typewriters?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
23. Twins sometimes have the same allergies, but not always. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250425-do-twins-become-allergic-to-the-same-things?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
24. You are statistically more likely to die on your birthday, than any other day of the year. ([The Pudding](https://pudding.cool/2025/04/birthday-effect/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
25. **A man in Norway woke up to find a container ship in his back garden.** ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy8nk279ydyo?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
26. A spacecraft has taken photographs of the Sun's 'South Pole' for the first time. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqry9ppl9o?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
27. There is a website that tracks the number of people in space right now. It's the same now, as it was when I read about it - just 10\. ([HowManyPeople](https://www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
28. A Japanese airport had to cancel some flights due to a bear on the runway. ([CBS](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bear-runway-airport-japan-flights-canceled-stalemate/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
29. All the fireworks have different names, and there are way more than I imagined. ([Keystone Fireworks](https://keystonefireworks.com/news/types-of-fireworks-effects/??ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
30. Counting a million dollars is not as easy as you would expect. ([Calvin Liang](https://calvin.sh/blog/fed-lie/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
31. There was a secret British Language which helped beat the Nazis in the Channel Islands during World War Two. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.co.uk/travel/article/20230716-jerrais-the-secret-british-language-that-was-used-to-outwit-the-nazis?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
32. **Neil Armstrong had to complete a customs form when he landed back from the Moon. For the Rocks.** ([University of Cincinnati](https://magazine.uc.edu/editors%5Fpicks/recent%5Ffeatures/armstrong/moonrocks.html?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
33. The Mizohata-Takeuchi Conjecture is a major math mystery that lasted 40 years, until a 17 year old solved it. ([Quanta](https://www.quantamagazine.org/at-17-hannah-cairo-solved-a-major-math-mystery-20250801/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
34. Keep Calm and Carry On became a phenomenon, almost 60 years after it was designed - here's why. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250805-how-keep-calm-and-carry-on-became-a-21st-century-phenomenon?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
35. A fourteen year old boy founded his own 'micronation' on the border between Serbia and Croatia. ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/19/daniel-jackson-unclaimed-land-croatia-serbia-verdis?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
36. Dogs now have their own surfing championship. ([World Dog Surfing](https://www.surfdogchampionships.com/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
37. In 1969, engineers stopped Niagara Falls from flowing for the first time in 12000 years. ([1440 Daily](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XO9P-N1O6dk?feature=share&ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
38. Norway, controversially, has it's own version of the KitKat. It might look very similar but could well taste even better. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250909-kvikk-lunsj-the-controversial-sweet-that-fuels-norwegians?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
39. **Scandal ripped through this years Internatiomal Stone Skipping Championship when 'imported/doctored' rocks made their way into competition.** ([Popular Science](https://www.popsci.com/science/stone-skipping-scandal/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
40. Rappers make raps using incredible lyricism, but also some clever patterns of repetition that give them a signature sound. ([Vox Magazine](https://youtu.be/QWveXdj6oZU?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
41. Wind Turbines have three blades for a very good reason, more or less won't do. Trust me, it's not (just) what you originally think. ([YouTube](https://youtu.be/pgqkti7yePk?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
42. A rare interstellar comet passed by Mars during 2025, and is being closely monitored. ([The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/oct/08/a-rare-comet-from-beyond-our-solar-system-is-being-closely-tracked-what-can-it-teach-us?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
43. A very rare Snow Leopard has been born in captivity at Chester Zoo. ([Nice News](https://nicenews.com/environment/first-snow-leopard-born-chester-zoo/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
44. **There was once a plan devised to slice up Europe like a Pizza, with Vienna at the middle. They even had maps made.** ([Big Think](https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/a-bizarre-peace-proposal-slice-europe-up-like-a-pie/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
45. Our bodies goe through a 'mini jet-lag' when the clocks go forward or back - in some cases, even a mild depression. ([ABC News](https://6abc.com/post/daylight-saving-time-ends-heres-what-happens-body-when-clocks-fall-back-hour/18076888/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
46. There are two places in the world that sell a honey so full of psychoactives that it is nicknamed 'mad honey'. ([CNN](https://edition.cnn.com/travel/mad-honey-deli-bal-turkey-black-sea?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
47. There is a database of the most dangerous roads in the world, you can check if there is a local one to drive. ([Dangerous Roads](https://www.dangerousroads.org/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
48. I'm lucky enough to see the sea as I write this list, but until this year I never knew the hidden maths behind waves. ([Quanta](https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-hidden-math-of-ocean-waves-crashes-into-view-20251015?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
49. Vitamin D can affect both your immune system and your heart health, and in the winter, many of us don't get enough. ([MIT Technology Review](https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/11/21/1128206/vitamin-d-bodies-bone-health-immune/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
50. **A mysterious black fungus is emerging at Chernobyl, and it looks like it might be 'eating' radiation**. ([BBC](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251125-the-mysterious-black-fungus-from-chernobyl-that-appears-to-eat-radiation?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
51. At last! A competition I'd back myself in - the World Parallel Parking Championship. ([Car and Driver](https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a69137759/parallel-parking-championship/?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))
52. There is a massive black hole, speedining at over 2 million miles per hour through its home galaxy. ([Space](https://www.space.com/astronomy/black-holes/james-webb-space-telescope-confirms-1st-runaway-supermassive-black-hole-rocketing-through-cosmic-owl-galaxies-at-2-2-million-mph-it-boggles-the-mind?ref=mattrutherford.co.uk))