Ever wondered why your dog can't eat grapes, who paints the Eiffel Tower, or what the numbers
on airport runways mean? I've got the answer to these and a ton of other questions!
- Your pooch can't have grapes or raisins because these products contain a substance
that's super toxic for dogs.
- The cardboard holder you put around your takeaway cup has an official name. It's called
"zarf." It goes back centuries ago when it was made from metal, wood, or coconuts.
- When domains first appeared, many people bought them only to sell later at a hefty
price. Some of them cost from 3 to 90 million bucks.
- The smallest possible size is the Planck length, which has even made it to the Guinness
World Records. This length is a millionth of a billionth of a billionth of a billionth
of a cm across. See? No? oh well.
- A Canadian study found that the woman's heart beats 2.3 hours ahead of the male's
heart. While the average male's heart beats around 70 times a minute, a woman's heart
rate goes up to 80 beats.
- Honeybees have three million hairs and 5 eyes. The large eyes on the sides of their
head have tiny hairs on them. It's believed they can detect wind direction.
- A group of dolphins is called a pod, a group of rhinoceroses is a crash, and a group of
ferrets is called a business. Hmm, I think I worked for some ferrets once.
- The human eye is so sensitive that if Earth did not have a curve, and it was completely
dark, you'd be able to see a candle from dozens of miles away.
- 71% of the Earth's surface is covered with water. Almost 97% of this water is in the
oceans. Lakes and rivers hold only a tiny percentage.
- Scientists believe nothing in the Universe travels faster than the speed of light, just
ahead of gossip on Twitter. At the same time, they admit the Universe may be expanding faster
than the speed of light.
- The center of a comet is called a nucleus. It's made of rock, dust, and frozen gases.
Which reminds me...
- There are around 6,600 known comets. But scientists believe there're more than a trillion
of them in our Solar System alone.
- Until 1909, naturalists believed that hippos were related to pigs. Later, it was discovered
that their closest living relatives were dolphins, whales, and porpoises.
- Airport runway numbers are connected with compass directions. Runway 9-27 is oriented
east-west. And runway 18-36 goes from the south to the north.
- Even though chocolate isn't healthy for your teeth, pure cocoa beans can prevent tooth
decay. The chemicals in these beans help get rid of harmful bacteria.
- April 12th is the official Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. And the first Saturday of September
is International Bacon Day. October 1st is known as International Coffee Day. Now I need
some breakfast.
- It takes 7 to 8 trees to provide enough oxygen for a person. Around 27,000 trees are
cut every day to meet the world's toilet paper demand.
- The butterflies you get in your stomach is actually your body's reaction to stress.
It starts to produce more adrenaline in the flight-or-fight response.
- Unlike modern reptiles, dinosaurs shed their skin gradually. By the way, scientists are
still trying to figure out how these animals reproduced. I’m guessing dinner and a movie,
but uh…
- Scientists have proved reindeers can see UV light - unlike other mammals.
- It took only 410 days to build the Empire State Building. It was completed in April
1931 – 12 days ahead of schedule.
- If you keep fish in a tank without any light source, they'll lose their color.
- Your foot is the same length as your forearm from your wrist to the crook of your elbow.
The first person who documented this fact was Leonardo da Vinci.
- The seeds of stone fruits, such as cherries, plums, peaches, and apricots, contain a substance
that can break down into hydrogen cyanide. It's poisonous in large quantities.
- The first spacecraft that successfully orbited Mars was Mariner 4. It flew past the planet
in 1965 and made the first close-up photos. It stayed in orbit for 3 years.
- Your brain uses up to 20% of the entire body's oxygen supply.
- Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. The giant could hold 11 Earths inside
of it. But the Sun is way more massive - the star is as big as 1.3 million Earths.
- There are around 16 million storms on Earth every year. And 2,000 of them are happening
right at this moment!
- Pound cake got its name because it contained 1 pound of each ingredient – butter, flour,
eggs, and sugar. Wait -- wouldn’t that be a four pound cake? Anyway, the original recipe
dates back to the early 1700s. But nowadays, there are many other variations.
- A bookworm is any insect that munches its way through books and creates holes in their
pages. The most famous (or should I say infamous?) one is the booklouse. It feeds on the mold
that grows in old books.
- Double rainbows appear when two reflections happen inside the same drop of water. That's
also the reason why the second arc has its colors reversed.
- Red pandas have no close living relatives. Their nearest family members lived around
3 – 4 million years ago.
- There's an island in the Bahamas known as the "Pig Beach." It's populated entirely by
pigs, a few stray cats, and some goats.
- There is melanin in the human iris. It builds up and gives eyes different shades. The darker
your eyes are, the more melanin you have. The most common eye color is brown - up to
79% of people all over the world have brown eyes. And only 2% of the population have green
eyes.
- The only window that can open in a presidential car is the one on the driver's side. The vehicle
also has no keyholes, and just a few people know how to open it.
- Until 1912, the Olympic Gold medals were made of solid gold. Now, they're made of silver
and only 6 g of gold.
- Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt. There's a total of 255 pyramids in Sudan. It's about
twice the number of Egyptian pyramids.
- Red tomato, green basil, and white mozzarella on top of the "Pizza Margherita" represent
the Italian flag. The pizza itself goes back centuries ago when a Neapolitan pizza maker
prepared the dish to honor the Queen consort Margherita.
- When dogs are born, they're entirely blind and deaf – that's because the nerves in
their eyes and ears aren't fully developed. Puppies usually open their eyes 1 to 2 weeks
later. During this time, the only sense that fully functions is touch.
- The most abundant element in the Universe is hydrogen – it makes up 74% of all matter.
It's followed by helium and oxygen. The rest is trace elements.
- Neutron stars are so dense that just a teaspoon of their material would weigh a billion tons.
These heavy guys can also spin up to 43,000 times per minute.
- Snow is made of ice crystals. It means it can be classified as a mineral. The only problem
is that snow can't keep its form at room temperature.
- Animals like horses, zebras, and donkeys have only 1 toe on each leg. But some of their
extinct ancestors had 3 to 4 toes.
- Your tongue has 2,000 to 4,000 taste buds. It's also the only muscle in your body that's
attached only at one end.
- There are 12,000 known species of grass on Earth and 30,000 to 1 million species of
algae.
- The Eiffel Tower is painted by hand every 7 years. All the paint that's accumulated
on the tower over the years weighs almost as much as the Space Shuttle.
- The great pyramid of Giza has 8 sides, not 4. Even though it has a square in its base,
each side has a split going from its base to the tip. This creates small indentations
curved inward.
- The term biweekly has two meanings: happening twice a week or taking place every two weeks.
- Bulls don't really see red - they're color-blind. What angers them is the movement of the dancing
fabric.
- shhhhhh! The quietest room in the world is at Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond,
Washington. The background noise there is close to the absolute zero of sound.
- Scientists from the University of Georgia estimate there are 5 million trillion trillion
bacteria on Earth. In case you’re interested, that's 5 followed by 30 zeros.
- The most expensive coin in the world was sold for $10 million in 2013. It was the first
dollar coin issued in the US. It was minted between 1794 and 1796.
- In 2011, National Geographic found out that the most typical person is right-handed, makes
not more than $12,000 a year, and has a cell phone but no bank account.
- Finally, when Neil Armstrong sent his application to become an astronaut, it arrived too late.
Luckily, one of his friends managed to slip in the form along with the others.