Science

Humans have genes from bacteria, fungi, and viruses.

The human genome contains up to 145 genes that jumped from bacteria, fungi, and other organisms through "horizontal…

There were about 2.5 billion T. rexes on Earth.

UC Berkeley researchers estimated 2.5 billion T. rex existed over 127,000 generations, based on body size and energy…

Sound travels faster in steel than in air.

In steel, sound travels at about 5,960 m/s — almost 17 times faster than in air (343 m/s).

Diamonds can be created from peanut butter.

Scientists converted carbon from peanut butter into microscopic diamonds under extreme pressure.

Diamond is made of the same material as pencil graphite.

Both are made of pure carbon. The difference is in crystal structure: diamond has atoms arranged more compactly.

There are more atoms in a glass of water than glasses of water in the oceans.

There are countless molecules in a 250ml glass compared to the number of glasses needed to fill all the world's…

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time.

In physics and chemistry, a jiffy is precisely defined as 1/100th of a second or the time it takes light to travel…

Some metals explode in water.

Alkali metals like Cesium, Sodium, and Potassium react violently when they touch water, creating hydrogen gas and…

'Rhythm' is one of the longest words without a vowel.

Since the letter 'Y' often acts as a vowel in English, words like 'rhythm' contain no standard A, E, I, O, or U…

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…

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…

The Earth's inner core is as hot as the surface of the Sun.

Temperatures at the very center of our planet reach about 5,400°C, similar to the surface of the Sun, generated by…

The Earth's rotation is gradually slowing down, making days longer over time.

Caused mainly by the gravitational pull of the Moon (tidal friction), the length of a day increases by about 1.8…

Water expands by about 9% when it freezes, which is why ice floats.

As water freezes, its molecules form a crystalline structure that pushes them further apart, making ice less dense…

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.

This occurs because the electrons orbiting the mercury atom nucleus have weak bonds with other atoms at room…

Human DNA is so long it could go to the Sun and back hundreds of times.

If we stretched all the DNA from a single human cell, it would be about 2 meters long. Considering the 37 trillion…

The world's oceans contain about 20 million tons of dissolved gold, enough to give every person on Earth 9 pounds.

While the gold is truly there, it is extremely diluted in the vast volume of seawater, making it currently impossible…

Earth's magnetic poles have reversed hundreds of times over the last billion years.

These reversals are caused by changes in the flow of molten iron in the Earth's outer core. The last major reversal…

A vacuum can change the way light travels when subjected to extreme magnetic fields.

An international team used observations of a magnetar, a neutron star with a magnetic field billions of times…

A modern atomic clock would lose less than a second in 15 billion years.

Atomic clocks use transitions between energy levels of atoms, such as caesium, to measure time with enormous…

In 2025, scientists discovered a material with impossible thermal behaviour in a meteorite.

Inside a meteorite kept for 300 years, researchers found a material that defies traditional physics theories. The…

Scientists discovered new rules about how planarians regenerate body parts.

Researchers at the Stowers Institute found that planarian stem cells follow precise rules to rebuild a head or an…

The ANKLE1 protein is the first human enzyme capable of detecting physical tension in DNA.

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong identified ANKLE1 as the first nuclease in mammals that responds to…

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…