All facts — Page 45

Neptune has supersonic winds reaching 2,000 km/h.

Despite being the farthest planet from the Sun and receiving little sunlight, Neptune has the most violent and…

A group of lions is called a 'pride'.

Lions are the only big cats that live in large, highly social family groups. A pride usually consists of related…

Cows do not have upper front teeth.

Instead of top front teeth, they have a tough, thick pad of skin called a dental pad, which they press against the…

Sharks can detect a single drop of blood in an Olympic-sized pool.

They possess an incredible sense of smell, capable of detecting minute traces of blood and other chemicals in the…

Lobsters taste with their legs and chew with their stomachs.

They have tiny sensory hairs on their legs to taste the water. They also have 'gastric mills' in their stomachs to…

A bear has 42 teeth.

Their teeth are highly specialized for their omnivorous diet, including long canine teeth for tearing meat and flat…

Sea otters hold hands when they sleep so they don't drift apart.

They often wrap themselves in giant kelp to anchor themselves, forming a 'raft' with other otters while resting…

The first credit card was created in 1950.

The Diners Club, the first general-purpose credit card, was created in 1950 by Frank McNamara, who forgot his wallet…

A black hole can 'burp' after devouring a star.

Astronomers observed a black hole emitting a jet of matter years after it destroyed a star. This phenomenon is…

The border between Brazil and France passes through a bridge over a river.

The border between Brazil and France, in French Guiana, is one of the most curious in the world: it passes through a…

The scorpion glows under ultraviolet light.

The exoskeleton of scorpions contains compounds that fluoresce when exposed to ultraviolet light, causing them to…

The original London Bridge is now in Arizona, USA.

In 1968, the 19th-century stone bridge was dismantled, shipped brick-by-brick across the ocean, and rebuilt in Lake…

The first computer to sing was the IBM 7094 in 1961.

The IBM 7094, at Bell Labs, was programmed to sing 'Daisy Bell (A Bicycle Built for Two)'. The feat inspired Arthur…

Hashima Island in Japan was abandoned and became a tourist attraction.

Hashima, also known as Gunkanjima (Battleship Island), was a thriving coal mining community that became uninhabited…

The '@' symbol is officially called the 'commercial at'.

Historically, it was used in commerce to mean 'at the rate of'. It only became popular for email addresses in 1971 by…

Greenland is losing ice faster than previously thought.

Recent studies indicate that Greenland's ice sheet is melting at a rate that could contribute to a sea level rise of…

Tehran, Iran, is sinking at an alarming rate.

Satellite measurements show that some parts of Tehran are sinking about 25 centimeters per year. The subsidence is…

Indonesia's Kawah Ijen volcano erupts with blue lava.

The 'blue lava' is actually sulfuric gas that combusts upon contact with air, burning with an electric blue flame at…

Static electricity shocks are often over 3,000 volts.

We don't get injured because the amperage (current) is incredibly low. You need at least 3,000 volts to feel a static…

Helium escapes Earth's gravity into space.

Helium atoms are so incredibly light and unreactive that when released into the atmosphere, they eventually float up…

Fortune cookies were invented in California, not China.

They were popularized in Japanese-American restaurants in San Francisco in the early 20th century, inspired by a…

Taste buds are completely replaced every 1 to 2 weeks.

This rapid regeneration process protects us from permanently losing our sense of taste due to minor burns or scrapes…

The body has enough carbon to fill 9,000 pencils.

Carbon is the fundamental building block of all life on Earth. The average human body is about 18% carbon by mass…

Earwax is actually a type of sweat.

It is produced by specialized sweat glands (ceruminous glands) in the ear canal, mixed with dead skin cells and hair…