1. The first man-made item to exceed the
speed of sound is the bull whip our leather whip. When the whip is snapped, the
knotted end makes a "crack" or popping noise. It is actually causing
a mini sonic boom as it exceeds the speed of sound.
2. Travelling at the speed of 186,000 miles per second, light
take 6 hours to travel from Pluto to the earth
3. A full moon always rises at sunset. Read More
4. A bowl of lime Jell-O, when hooked up to an EEG machine,
exhibited movement which is virtually identical to the brain waves of a healthy
adult man or woman.
5. If the world were tilted one degree more either way, the
planet would not be habitable because the area around the equator would be too
hot and the poles would be too cold.
6. The opposite of a "vacuum" is a
"plenum."
7. In 1980, Namco released PAC-MAN, the most popular video game
(or arcade game) of all time. The original name was going to be PUCK MAN, but
executives saw the potential for vandals to scratch out part of the P in the
games marquee and labeling.
8. Clothes that are dried outside DO smell better because of a
process called photolysis. What happens is this: sunlight breaks down compounds
in the laundry that cause odor, such as perspiration and body oils.
9. Clouds fly higher during the day than the night.
10. Dirty snow melts faster than clean.
11. Back in the mid to late 80's, an IBM compatible computer
wasn't considered a hundred percent compatible unless it could run Microsoft's
Flight Simulator, probably because of the fact that it is one of the hardest
programs to get running.
12. Some early TV screens did emit excessive X-rays, as did
computer monitors, but that was fixed long ago. Doctors suggest that at worst,
sitting too close might cause some temporary eye fatigue—the same for reading
with insufficient light—but no permanent damage, no matter what your mother
claimed.
13. A "fulgerite" is fossilized lightning. It forms when
a powerful lightning bolt melts the soil into a glass-like state.
14. STASI, the East German secret police organization, devised a
devilishly clever way to prevent someone from giving them the slip during the
Cold War: they managed to synthesize the scent of a female dog in heat, which
they applied to the shoes of the person under surveillance. Then they simply
had a male dog follow the scent.
15. Experiments conducted in Germany and at the University of
Southampton in England show that even mild and incidental noises cause the
pupils of the eyes to dilate. It is believed that this is why surgeons,
watchmakers, and others who perform delicate manual operations are so bothered
by noise. The sounds cause their pupils to change focus and blur their vision.
16. A downburst is a downward blowing wind that sometimes comes
blasting out of a thunderstorm. The damage looks like tornado damage, since the
wind can be as strong as an F2 tornado, but debris is blown straight away from
a point on the ground. It's not lofted into the air and transported downwind.
17. On December 2, 1942, a nuclear chain reaction was achieved for
the first time under the stands of the University of Chicago’s football
stadium. The first reactor measured 30 feet wide, 32 feet long, and 21.5 feet
high. It weighed 1,400 tons and contained 52 tons of uranium in the form of
uranium metal and uranium oxide. Although the same process led to the massive
energy release of the atomic bomb, the first artificially sustained nuclear
reaction produced just enough energy to light a small flashlight.
18. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up
and down continually from the bottom of the glass to the top. This is because
the carbonation in the drink gets pockets of air stuck in the wrinkles of the
raisin, which is light enough to be raised by this air. When it reaches the
surface of the champagne, the bubbles pop, and the raisin sinks back to the
bottom, starting the cycle over.
19. Bacteria, the tiniest free-living cells, are so small that a
single drop of liquid contains as many as 50 million of them.
20. The proper name of earth's satellite is Luna. The grammar
books say that "moon" (and likewise "earth" and
"sun") should be lower case, with the exception of when
"earth" is in a list with other planets. The earth is Terra; the sun
is Sol. This is where we get the words "extraTERREstrial" and
"SOLar".
21. At any given time, there are 1,800 thunderstorms in progress
over the earth's atmosphere.
22. Compact discs read from the inside to the outside edge, the
reverse of how a record works.
23. Because of the rotation of the earth, an object can be thrown
farther if it is thrown west. If measured against a fixed point in space.
24. The fastest moon in our solar system circles Jupiter once
every seven hours - traveling at 70,400 miles per hour.
25. George Ellery Hale was the 20th century's most important
builder of telescopes. In 1897, Hale built a 40 inch wide telescope, the
largest ever built at that time. His second telescope, with a sixty inch lens,
was set up in 1917 and took 14 years to build. During the 14 years Hale became
convinced that he suffered from "Americanitis" a disorder in which
the ambitions of Americans drive them insane. During the building of his 100
inch lens Hale spent time in a sanatorium and would only discuss his plans for
the telescope with a "sympathetic green elf".
26. Hale's 100 inch lens built in the early 1900s was the largest
solid piece of glass made until then. The lens was made by a French specialist
who poured the equivalent of ten thousand melted champagne bottles into a mold
packed with heat maintaining manure so that the glass would cool slowly and not
crack.
27. The shockwave from a nitroglycerine explosion travels at
17,000 miles per hour.
28. The planet Saturn has a density lower than water. If there was
a bathtub large enough to hold it, Saturn would float.
29. Earth's atmosphere is, proportionally, thinner than the skin
of an apple.
30. The first portable calculator placed on sale by Texas
Instruments weighed only 2-1/2 pounds and cost a mere $150. (1971)
31. Carolyn Shoemaker has discovered 32 comets and approximately 800
asteroids.
32. Because of the salt content of the Dead Sea, it is difficult
to dive below its surface.
33. The planet Venus has the longest day.
34. The first atomic bomb exploded at Trinity Site, New Mexico.
35. All organic compounds contain carbon.
36. Three astronauts manned each Apollo flight.
37. Out of all the senses, smell is most closely linked to memory.
38. There are 7 stars in the Big Dipper.
39. The hardness of ice is similar to that of concrete. Read More
40. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system.
41. The speed of sound must be exceeded to produce a sonic boom.
42. The nearest galaxy to our own is Andromeda.
43. Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.
44. Blood is 6 times thicker than water.
45. Dissolved salt makes up 3.5 percent of the oceans.
46. Three stars make up Orion's belt.
47. Glaciers store about 75% of the world's freshwater. In
Washington State alone, glaciers provide 470 billion gallons of water each
summer.
48. To an observer standing on Pluto, the sun would appear no
brighter than Venus appears in our evening sky.
