Oak trees produce 2,200 acorns in a season, but each acorn only has a 1 in 10,000 chance of becoming an oak tree.
304
Columbia University has developed an artificial tree that passively soaks up carbon dioxide from the air using "leaves" that are 1,000 times more efficient than true leaves that use photosynthesis.
15
Nylon is made from coal and petroleum.
42
Scientists concluded that the chicken came first, not the egg, because the protein which makes the egg shells is only produced by hens.
11
The brain case [of Neanderthals] on the average was more than 13 percent larger than that of the average of modern man
61
Nearly 50% of the world's scientists are assigned to military projects.
71
At 15 years old, Jack Andraka invented a method of diagnosing pancreatic cancer, thus helping to save the lives of millions of people around the world. It is 168 times faster, 26,000 times cheaper, 400 times more sensitive, and has a 99% success rate.
15
Only 12,000 years ago there was a species closely related to modern humans called Homo floresiensis that had been living on an Indonesian Island. They used fire and rather advanced tools, yet were only about 3 feet tall and weighed around 25kg.
15