I have collected the coolest science facts, questions, and stories that will blow your mind.
I also added links to credible sources to learn more about a particular fact.
Inventions and discoveries
1. Dynamite
In 1867, Alfred Nobel discovered that mixing nitroglycerin with diatomaceous Earth created a stable paste that could be sculpted into short sticks. [1]
The product was named dynamite after the Greek word dynamis, which means “power.”
Mining companies used it to blast through rock, cut canals, and build railways and roads.
Alfred Nobel died in 1896.
His will stated that most of his fortune ($265 million in today’s money) should fund prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, literature, or peace to “those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind.”
2. Gunpowder was invented in China, 850 A.D, by accident.
The chemists wanted to create a substance that could prolong life.
It was a mix of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. [2]
But, it exploded into an open flame.
Consequently, the hands and faces of the chemists and the whole house were burnt.
3. Phonograph
Edison is responsible for many great inventions, but this was his favorite. [3]
The phonograph was a machine for the mechanical recording and reproduction of sound.
The first words recorded were “Mary had a little lamb”.
Edison suggested many uses for this product- as a dictation machine, an aid for the blind, a music box, recording the voice of family members (family record)…
But there is a particular use of the phonograph, which Edison hadn’t predicted.
During World War 1, a special phonograph was created for the U.S army. And it was used to bring music to the soldiers and raise their spirits. That’s how the recording industry was born.
4. In 1886, Karl Benz patented the first gasoline-powered automobile.
5. In 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-rays.
6. On September 3, 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin when he noticed a strange mold killing the bacteria in a Petri dish.
7. The first computers were big and slow. But, in 1959, Jack Kilby’s invention of the integrated circuit allowed the development of smaller and faster computers.
He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics- in the year 2000.
8. Modern sneakers use technology that was first invented for spacesuits.
Space
9. The light travels at 186,000 miles per second. Nothing in the universe can travel faster.
10. A black hole is a very dense object in space. It has such strong gravity it pulls everything around it, even light from stars.
11. The star’s explosion that formed the Crab Nebula in 1054 CE was so bright that it was visible from Earth, 6,500 light-years away. [4] Chinese astronomers noted it.
12. While watching January’s total eclipse of the moon, observers saw a rare event. A short-lived meteorite hit the moon’s surface at 61,000 Km/h. [5]
13. Two cosmochemists at Arizona State University have the first-ever measurements of water in the samples taken from the surface of the Itokawa asteroid. [6]
The findings suggest that impacts early in Earth’s history by similar asteroids could have delivered as much as half of our planet’s ocean water.
14. Martian Cave Dwellings
In 2007, an analysis of photographs from NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter showed what appear to be cave entrances. [7] According to Scientific American, there are seven football-sized caves that can range from 330-825 feet wide and 425 feet deep. It can have primitive life forms (microbial life) and where water could exist in liquid form.
15. The worst wardrobe malfunction in the NASA history
It was July 2013, and there was a slight problem at the Space Station. [8]
Two Astronauts, Luca Parmitano (his first EVA) and Chriss Cassidy (four EVAs), were assigned to that spacewalk and fix the problem.
Because of the extreme heat created by solar radiation, spacesuits are kept cool with a system of water lines.
Parmitano was in the middle of the reach test when something went wrong in the suit, and the water started flowing into the helmet.
Due to microgravity, the water formed a huge bubble that rolled off his eyes, ears, and nostrils.
Barely without being able to see or hear, he had to feel his way back to the safety of the airlock.
He made it just before the water in his helmet reached his mouth.
NASA suspended spacewalks until the issue was resolved.
16. Arecibo transmitted this coded message into space in 1974. So far, we haven’t had a reply.
17. Aurora
If you live in the extreme northern region of the world, you might see an Aurora. A dazzling display of colored lights that flicker in the sky at night.
But what causes this phenomenon?
When large eruptions happen in the sun, high-speed particles arrive at the Earth and crash into the air molecules. Auroras can occur on other planets in our solar system (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) and probably on exoplanets.
Psychology
18. Researchers at the University of Illinois have found that alcohol exposure in early life can increase the risk of psychological problems in adulthood. [9]
19. Flynn Effect
Twenty-eight years ago, James Flynn, a researcher at the University of Otago in New Zealand, discovered an interesting phenomenon.
IQ scores have been increasing steadily since the beginning of the 20th century. Younger generations are performing better than older generations.
Flynn went on to examine intelligence test data from more than two dozen countries and found that scores were rising by 0.3 points a year. [10]
What’s causing this increase in IQ?
The researchers don’t have a definitive answer. But, some factors are improvements in education and nutrition. In addition, people are reading more because of the new technology (computers and the internet).
20. Your pain is my gain
If someone in the workplace is mistreated, other employees might feel empathy or malicious joy. [11]
The second emotion often occurs in highly competitive workplaces and when their misfortune facilitates another’s goals.
21. People diagnosed with depression prefer listening to low-energy and sad music. [12]
And they are not seeking to maintain their negative feelings, but they find sad music calming and even uplifting.
22. We become more optimistic as we grow older. [13]
23. Research showed that children with religious parents have a reduced risk of suicidal behavior. [14]
24. We make more than 200 food decisions every day. Most of them are the result of manipulation we don’t even notice. [15]
25. Many studies have shown that playing video games regularly can stimulate neuronal growth and connectivity in some brain areas. [16]
Health
26. Ferid Murad, an Albanian-American physician, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine (1998) for the discovery that nitric oxide (NO) acts as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system. [17]
Since then, nitric oxide has been shown to play a crucial role in treating cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and impotence.
27. The Patient Scientist
Ralph M. Steinman graduated from Harvard Medical school in 1968. [18]
Two years later, he joined Rockefeller University in the Laboratory of Cellular Physiology.
In 1973 Steinman and Zanvil Cohn (the head of the laboratory) discovered dendritic cells. And this discovery changed the field of immunology.
In 2007, Ralph M. Steinman was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer – An unforgiving disease that kills four out of five patients within a year.
With the help of his friends, that discovery extended his life long enough to win the Nobel Prize.
He died in September 2011, three days before he got the news that he had won.
28. In 2009, scientists discovered that a drug called rapamycin could significantly extend lifespan in mice by interfering with the activity of a protein called mammalian TOR, or mTOR. [19]
It is the most compelling evidence to date that mammalian aging can be slowed pharmaceutically.
29. A study from US Agricultural Research showed that feeding orange peels to cattle, sheep, and pigs helps reduce gastric populations of Salmonella and E. Coli. [20]
The Hidden Dangers of Obesity
30– Heartburn. A 2005 study of 453 individuals found that obese adults are 2.5 times more likely to experience heartburn than normal-weight people. [21]
31– Breathing. Visceral fat surrounding internal organs presses the diaphragm from below, limiting breathing by making it harder for the lungs.
32– Depression can be a cause and result of obesity. [22]
33- Obesity might cause sexual dysfunction by 30-90% compared to individuals with normal weight. [23]
Animals
34. Octopuses have three hearts- two to pump blood to their gills and one to pump blood around the body.
35. The fastest animal is the peregrine falcon, which reaches 389 km/h when it dives on its prey.
36. The longest-lived animal is the clam. It can live for more than 400 years.
37. Sharks have a sixth sense that can help them prey in complete darkness. [24]
They can sense the fragile electric fields emitted by animals in the surrounding water, an ability few other organisms possess.
Bugs in the ice sheet
The gigantic ice sheet in Antarctica and Greenland it’s also a reservoir of ancient microbial life. [25]
When that ice melts at an alarming rate, the earth could soon see masses of bacteria that it hasn’t seen since 750,000 years ago.
Do they pose a threat to human health? Scientist says, not likely. Most of what has been identified appears related to common soil and marine bacteria.
Extinct giants
39- The tallest bird ever was the giant moa, 3.6 m tall. It lived in New Zealand and became extinct about 500 years ago due to hunting by humans.
40- The South American short-faced bear lived about 1 million years ago and weighed 907 kg on average. [26]
41- The Steppe Mammoth stood 4-5m high at the shoulder. And It lived across Euroasia 500,000 years ago. [27]
42- Argentinosaurus was one of the enormous dinosaurs, measuring 30 m from head to tail and weighing more than 77 tons. [28] It laid eggs the size of soccer balls.
43- Glyptodon was the size of a Volkswagen Beetle that became extinct around 10,000 years ago.
Credit: Pavel Riha/Wikimedia Commons
44- Megalodon is considered the largest fish that ever lived.
It would reach lengths up to 20 m and weigh over 60 tons. It went extinct 2.6 million years ago.
45- Titanoboa cerrejonensis lived around 60 million years ago. It was 14.6m long and weighed more than one ton.
More Amazing Facts
46. Wind speeds in a tornado can reach more than 318 mph, strong enough to tear down trees and send cars flying through the air.
47. Iglesia Ni Christo (Philippines) achieved the largest firework display ever at the countdown to the 2016 New Year Celebrations. It consisted of 810,904 fireworks. [29]
48. The oldest tree in the world is located in the mountains of California. It is 5066 years old, and the exact location is kept secret. [30]
49. The great barrier reef is 1,600 miles long and is so large that it can be seen from space. [31]
50. The rarest element on Earth is Astatine. There are less than 30 grams of it in the Earth’s crust. [32]
51. The world’s strongest magnet is an electromagnet made by scientists at Florida State University.
It is 300,000 times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field.
52. When an ultra-thin magnet is hit with a laser, it suddenly becomes demagnetized. [33]
53. Four elements account for 99% of the mass of the human body: Oxygen(65%), Carbon (18.5%), Hydrogen (9.5%), Nitrogen (3.2%). [34]
54. Your eyes are the same size forever. [35]
Your ears and nose grow your entire life because they are made of cartilage.
Interesting Questions
55. Can plants die of cancer?
Viruses, bacteria, and parasites can cause cancer in plants.
But it’s not a serious illness for two reasons:
1. Cancer can’t metastasize in plants because there is no bloodstream, and each cell is held firmly in place by its cell wall. A tumor could develop, but it would stay confined to a particular area, and the rest of the organism would keep functioning normally.
2. The organs and tissues of a plant can be regenerated.
56. Who invented Dark Web?
By using the Tor Browser, the anonymous areas of the internet became accessible to anyone.
Criminals often use it for their illegal activities.
But, you may not know that the U.S. military invented it as a secure online communication.
In the 1990s, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory developed the dark web. In early 2000, the open-source project was named Tor and was passed on to nonprofit organizations in 2007.
The U.S. Government still pours millions of dollars every year into the project because the military and intelligence agencies still use Darknet.
57. How long do stars usually live?
It depends on how fast it uses up its nuclear fuel.
For example, our average-sized sun has been around for nearly 5 billion years, and it will be for another 5 billion.
Almost all stars shine due to the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium. This takes place in their cores, where the temperatures are as high as 20 million degrees.
Massive stars burn their fuel quickly; thus, their life is shorter. Most of them live for a few million years.
58. Why do stars twinkle?
Have you ever noticed how a coin at the bottom of a swimming pool seems to wobble?
This occurs because the water in the pool bends the path of light reflected from the coin.
Similarly, stars twinkle because of the effects of our atmosphere.
When their light enters our atmosphere, it is affected by winds and areas with different temperatures.
59. How can you calculate the mass of a planet?
Its gravitational effect on other bodies determines the weight of a planet.
Newton’s Law of Gravitation states that every bit of matter in the universe attracts every other particle with force proportional to its masses’ product.
So, if a planet has a moon, then it’s easier to calculate the mass. The scientists observe the time it takes for the satellite to orbit and use Newton’s equations to infer the mass.
The more massive the planet, the stronger it attracts the moon and the faster the moon moves. [36]
60. Thomas Edison vs. Nikola Tesla
This article wouldn’t be complete without including the story of the competition between the science giants Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla.
On August 6, 1890, William Kemmler was the first person to be executed in an electric chair.
It happened when America wanted to determine between using Direct Current (D.C.) or Alternative Current (A.C.).
The winner would be a major world player while the loser would simply lose.
D.C., said Edison, the inventor, and businessman who had been lighting America since the 1880s.
A.C., says Nikola Tesla, a brilliant engineer, and inventor.
In 1884, Tesla arrived in New York with only 4 cents in his pocket.
But, in the following year, he manages to sell his alternative current system to the entrepreneur George Westinghouse.
Edison’s D.C. current plant could not deliver electricity to customers more than 1 mile away. And this made it challenging to serve high-density populations in cities.
On the other hand, A.C. electricity could be transmitted over distances at higher voltages and could be stepped down to near the point of consumption.
Edison used his reputation to damage Tesla. He was against capital punishment but helped produce the first electric chair, which runs on a Teslas A.C. generator.
Although the technique was promoted as an alternative to hanging, in truth was just a cruel demonstration of the dangers of A.C. current.
Despite the bad press, Tesla and Westinghouse won the bid for illuminating the Chicago World’s Fair- the first all-electric fair in history. [37]
It opened on May 1, 1893. That evening, President Grover Cleveland pushed a button, and 100,000 lamps illuminated the building. That display convinced even the most die-hard skeptics.
Nikola Tesla in his magnificent laboratory in Colorado Springs (December 1899)
Image by Wikimedia
Sources:
Scientific American’s Ask the Experts
Image from Pexels, credit to Lee Taylor