All facts — Page 42
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2056 facts
Some migratory birds use Earth's magnetic field to navigate.
Birds such as the flycatcher and the thrush use Earth's magnetic field as an internal compass during migration…
Scorpions glow under ultraviolet light.
Scorpions have a fluorescent substance in their cuticle that glows in blue-green tones under ultraviolet light…
The bone marrow produces about 500 billion blood cells per day.
The bone marrow produces about 500 billion blood cells per day, including red blood cells, white blood cells and…
Humans lose about 100 hairs per day.
Humans lose between 50 and 100 hairs per day, on average. Hair grows about 1.25 centimetres per month and each…
Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body.
Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, with a hardness of 5 on the Mohs scale. It is made of…
Rice grows in dry fields.
Rice traditionally grows in flooded fields, where water controls weeds and provides nutrients. However, there are…
Honey can last thousands of years without spoiling.
Honey is hygroscopic, absorbs little water, and has an acidic pH, which prevents the growth of bacteria and fungi…
Lemon juice can prevent apples from browning.
Lemon juice contains ascorbic acid, which is an antioxidant. By covering cut apple with lemon juice, the ascorbic…
Reno is east of Los Angeles.
Reno, in Nevada, is about 650 kilometres northeast of Los Angeles, but its longitude is more westerly. This happens…
Lake Baikal contains about 20 percent of the planet's liquid fresh water.
Lake Baikal, in Siberia, is the deepest lake in the world, at 1,642 metres. It contains about 23,000 cubic kilometres…
The first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC.
The first ancient Olympic Games were held in Olympia, Greece, in 776 BC, in honour of Zeus. The games were held every…
The Rafflesia is the largest flower in the world and smells like rotting flesh.
Rafflesia arnoldii can measure more than a metre across and weigh up to 11 kilograms. The flower releases a strong…
The largest waterfall in the world is Niagara Falls.
The largest waterfall in the world is the Denmark Strait cataract, an underwater waterfall between Greenland and…
The Venus flytrap can count to five before closing.
The Venus flytrap closes its traps when sensory hairs are touched twice within 20 seconds. But to start digestion, it…
The human body contains about 7 billion atoms.
The human body contains about 7 octillion atoms, that is, 7 followed by 27 zeros. Most of these atoms are hydrogen…
Sound does not travel through the vacuum of space.
Sound needs a material medium, such as air, water or metal, to propagate. In the vacuum of space there are not enough…
A day on Mercury lasts almost two Mercurian years.
Mercury completes one rotation on its axis in about 59 Earth days, but one orbit around the Sun in only 88 Earth…
Saturn's moon Titan has rivers and lakes of liquid water.
Saturn's moon Titan has rivers and lakes of liquid methane and ethane, not water. Temperatures are around -180…
The black hole at the centre of the Perseus cluster emits pressure waves that can be translated into sound.
The black hole at the centre of the Perseus cluster generates pressure waves in the hot gas surrounding it. These…
A sand battery can store thermal energy for months.
The sand battery heats sand up to 500 degrees Celsius using surplus electricity from renewable sources. The heat is…
Morse code was invented by Samuel Morse in 1837.
Morse code was invented by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail in 1837 for the telegraph. Each letter is represented by a…
IBM's first hard drive had 5 gigabytes of capacity.
The IBM 305 RAMAC, launched in 1956, is considered the first computer with a hard drive. The drive had 5 megabytes of…
A brain-computer interface managed to decode speech and singing from brain waves.
A system developed by researchers uses artificial intelligence to decode brain waves into expressive speech and even…
Snakes detect the body heat of prey through sensory pits.
Some snakes, such as pit vipers and pythons, have loreal pits between their eyes and nostrils that detect infrared…