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…

Liquid helium can climb up the walls of a glass.

When cooled to extreme temperatures, helium becomes a superfluid — it flows without friction and can escape through…

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.

Hot water freezes faster than cold — Mpemba Effect.

Discovered by a Tanzanian student in the 1960s, the phenomenon is still not fully explained by science.

Hot water can freeze faster than cold water.

Known as the Mpemba effect, this counterintuitive phenomenon can occur due to evaporation, convection, and different…

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…

Sound does not travel in space.

Sound waves are mechanical and need a medium (like air) to vibrate. Since space is a vacuum, there is no sound.

There are more possible iterations of a game of chess than atoms in the universe.

After just 4 moves by each player, there are 288 billion different possible positions on the board.

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…

A single bolt of lightning can power a 100-watt light bulb for 3 months.

A typical lightning flash contains about 1 billion joules of energy, which is substantial but notoriously difficult…

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…

Sound travels about 4 times faster in water than in air.

Water molecules are packed closer together than air molecules, allowing the vibrations of sound to transfer between…

If you shuffle a deck of cards properly, the exact order has likely never existed before.

There are 52! (52 factorial) ways to arrange a deck, which is a number so astronomically large (8 followed by 67…

The pleasant smell of rain has a scientific name: 'petrichor'.

It is caused by the release of oils from plants and a compound called geosmin (produced by soil bacteria) that is…

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…