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 – Shovelling Snow • If you live in a cold climate, you should
know that you may very well be at risk of dying by shovelling 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.
5 - Hippos • Just when you thought you were safe from
cows and sharks, there’s another animal going around butchering people, the hippopotamus.
• It is reported that these chubby predators kill more people in Africa than most of the
other top predators combined.
They sleep all day in rivers and come out at night to eat vegetation and plot revenge.
They’ve been seen dragging people into rivers, tipping over boats and straight up biting
off people’s heads.
• The 6000 pound beasts might be short sighted, but they can smell your fear all the way from
Africa.
4 – Falling Out of Bed • It might not be a long drop from your
bed to the floor, but falling out of bed can potentially be really fatal.
• In a single year, 58 Australians died from falling out of bed.
It is more likely for the elderly to be seriously injured this way, but it’s still a risk
to all of us.
Who’s to say there isn’t some creature under your bed right now waiting to yank your
exposed foot and pull you hurtling onto the ground to your death?
• Don’t worry, I’m sure there isn’t.
But seriously, don’t leave your foot off the bed.
3 - Choking • If you thought going out for a light lunch
with your old pal Debra was a nice safe activity, THINK AGAIN.
• The odds of you dying by choking on food are 1 person in every 4400.
That’s like 2000 times more likely you’ll choke on your next cheesecake than win the
lottery.
The foods that people most commonly choke on include hotdogs, hard candy, popcorn and
chewing gum.
• So if you’re eating a hotdog in bed while smoking near a hippopotamus, you’d
better watch yourself.
2 – Clothes Dryer Fires • Almost every single day in England, this
common home appliance is exploding and drastically ruining people’s lives.
• The lint in clothes dryers can very easily catch fire and explode, setting whole houses
alight and endangering, or even killing families.
The lint filter on a tumble dryer should be cleaned after every single use, otherwise
you might end up regretting it.
• Clearing the fluff from your dryer will save lives and make your laundry day much
more efficient.
1 – Fear Mongering Media • The thing you should be most scared about
is the way the media tells you to be scared about everything.
• People are more likely to read or watch things that make them scared – or things
that are sexy.
Things that are scary AND sexy are extra effective.
So the media wants you to be worried, they want your attention.
• If you want to see a great example of someone who is great at fear-mongering - google
Hitler, or Donald Trump.