naure.com

All facts — Page 40

The complete ONAURE library, newest first. Every fact has an explanation and a source you can check.

2056 facts

Animals

Turtles do not breathe by moving ribs.

The rigid shell prevents rib expansion, they use neck muscles.

Animals

Cicadas spend 17 years underground before emerging.

They feed on root sap during this long period.

Animals

The octopus has nine brains.

It has a central brain and a mini-brain in each tentacle.

Animals

The hyena's laugh is a sound of submission or excitement.

This vocalization indicates stress or competition for food.

Human Body

The body loses 600,000 skin particles per hour.

This continuous process contributes to most household dust.

Human Body

Stomach acid dissolves razor blades.

Hydrochloric acid has a pH between 1 and 2, corrosive enough for metals.

History

Pope Urban VII reigned for only 13 days in 1590.

Elected in September 1590, he died of malaria before he could be crowned.

History

The first computer virus, Creeper, was created in 1971.

This experimental program was designed to move through the ARPANET, without causing actual damage.

History

The first mobile phone call was made in 1973 by Martin Cooper.

A Motorola engineer, Cooper made the call to a rival at Bell Labs, using a heavy prototype.

History

The first commercial cell phone, the Motorola DynaTAC, cost nearly 4,000 dollars in 1983.

Nicknamed "the brick", this device offered only 30 minutes of talk time and took 10 hours to charge.

Nature

The coldest recorded temperature on Earth was -89.2 degrees Celsius in Antarctica.

This record was measured at the Vostok Station in 1983, representing extreme conditions where air can cause instant…

Science

The total mass of the Earth's atmosphere is approximately 5 quadrillion tons.

This enormous amount of air exerts significant pressure on the planet's surface, being essential for life and…

Science

The pH of human blood is strictly maintained between 7.35 and 7.45.

Any deviation from this narrow range can lead to severe conditions such as acidosis or alkalosis, so the body uses…

Space

The Sun accounts for 99.86% of the total mass in the entire solar system.

This mass dominance means that the Sun's gravity is the force that keeps all planets, asteroids, and comets in orbit…

Animals

Spider silk is stronger than steel by weight.

Spider dragline silk has a tensile strength greater than steel at equivalent weight. It is also very elastic, able to…

Animals

The cheetah roars like the lion and the tiger.

The cheetah cannot roar. It belongs to the subfamily Felinae, whose members have a rigid hyoid bone that prevents…

Human Body

It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

Sneezes are involuntary and involve a muscular contraction that includes the eyelid muscles. This neurological…

Human Body

The human body emits as much heat as a 100-watt incandescent bulb.

At rest, the human body produces about 100 watts of thermal power, equivalent to a 100-watt incandescent bulb. This…

Food

Apples float in water.

About 25 percent of an apple's volume is air, which makes its density lower than that of water. That is why apples…

Food

Cherry pits contain compounds that release cyanide.

Cherry, plum and apricot pits contain amygdalin, a compound that releases small amounts of cyanide when ingested and…

Geography

Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world.

Lake Titicaca, between Peru and Bolivia, is at an altitude of 3,812 metres and is the highest navigable lake in the…

Geography

Canada has about 62 percent of the world's lakes.

Canada has about 62 percent of the world's lakes, with more than 3 million registered lakes. It is estimated that the…

History

The warship Vasa sank on its maiden voyage.

The Vasa, a Swedish warship, sank on 10 August 1628, minutes after setting sail, due to instability and a gust of…

History

In 1919, a molasses wave flooded streets of Boston.

On 15 January 1919, a tank of 8.7 million litres of molasses burst in Boston harbour. The molasses wave reached…