All facts — Page 58
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2056 facts
The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia becomes the world's largest natural mirror when it rains.
With more than 10,000 square kilometres, the Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt flat on the planet. When a thin layer…
Point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean is the closest point to land on the planet.
Point Nemo is the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, the point in the ocean farthest from any land. It lies about 2,688…
The Taal volcano in the Philippines contains an island within a lake, which is itself on an island.
The Taal volcano is located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. Inside the volcano's crater, Lake Taal formed…
The University of Oxford was founded after the Aztec Empire.
There is evidence of teaching at Oxford as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking…
The Hundred Years War actually lasted 116 years.
The conflict between England and France began in 1337 and ended in 1453, totalling 116 years. The name is a later…
Albert Einstein's brain was donated by his family for scientific research.
During Einstein's autopsy in 1955, pathologist Thomas Harvey removed the brain without authorisation and kept it for…
Some plants, such as cycads, can heat themselves up to 15 degrees above ambient temperature.
Cycads, ancient plants that coexisted with dinosaurs, produce heat through a metabolic process to attract pollinating…
The rocks that move by themselves in Death Valley are pushed by the wind.
At Racetrack Playa in Death Valley, rocks slide over the clay surface. The mystery was solved in 2014: when it rains…
The Atacama Desert in Chile is covered in flowers after unusual rainfall.
The Atacama is one of the driest deserts in the world. In years with exceptional rainfall, more than 200 species of…
The plutonium-244 found on the ocean floor was produced by underwater nuclear explosions.
Scientists found atoms of plutonium-244 in a crust from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, nearly 5,000 metres deep…
There is a type of ice that can burn, called methane hydrate.
Methane hydrate is a crystalline structure of water that traps methane molecules. It forms under conditions of low…
Mercury is a metal that is in a gaseous state at room temperature.
Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at normal temperature and pressure. It is a dense, toxic element…
The Voyager probes carry a gold-plated copper disc with sounds and images from Earth.
Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and 2 carry the Golden Record, a message for possible extraterrestrial civilisations. The…
Astronomers have discovered a cosmic object that is a star made entirely of black holes.
Using the James Webb telescope, astronomers at MIT identified a never-before-seen object: a star powered by a black…
Comet 2I/Borisov came from outside the Solar System and brought clues about the formation of other worlds.
2I/Borisov is the second known interstellar object to visit the Solar System. Its chemical composition, rich in…
NASA s Lucy probe found an asteroid with signs of liquid water on its surface.
NASA s Lucy probe visited a small peanut-shaped asteroid that rotates unusually. Its surface shows signs of…
Jupiter s Great Red Spot is a storm larger than Earth.
The Great Red Spot is a giant anticyclone in Jupiter's atmosphere, observed for over 350 years. With a diameter that…
The first message sent over the internet was a complete Shakespeare quote.
The first message sent over ARPANET, the predecessor of the internet, was LO on 29 October 1969. The researchers…
The first electronic computer, ENIAC, weighed about 30 tonnes.
Built between 1943 and 1946, ENIAC occupied a room of 167 square metres and weighed approximately 30 tonnes. It used…
A new species of archaea was discovered living in fumaroles at nearly 100 degrees Celsius in Antarctica.
Brazilian researchers found the archaea on Deception Island, an active volcano where fumarole water reaches…
A species of cicada builds clay towers mixed with urine.
The cicada Guyalna chlorogena, from the Amazon, builds small towers of clay mixed with urine when emerging from the…
A network of microchannels has been discovered in the human skull that may play a crucial role in brain health.
A CSIC team described a network of tiny channels on the inner surface of the skull that connects bone marrow to the…
Giant DNA has been discovered hiding in the human mouth.
Three-quarters of people may host a new type of genetic material called Inocles, which could impact research on oral…
Scientists have recreated an ancient yoghurt made with live ants.
A team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen and chefs from the Noma restaurant recreated an ancient…