In the 1950s, the US government placed beer next to an atomic bomb blast to determine if it was still drinkable. The result: in the event of a nuclear war, beer is safe to drink!
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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.
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Brass doorknobs automatically disinfect themselves in about 8 hours.
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Scientists concluded that the chicken came first, not the egg, because the protein which makes the egg shells is only produced by hens.
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The weight of a carat (200 milligrams), standard unit of measurement for gemstones, is based on the weight of the carob seed.
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Scientists are attempting to create a synthetic brain by reverse-engineering the mammalian brain down to the molecular level. A cellular human brain is predicted possible by 2023. It hopes to shed light on consciousness.
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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.
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The force of a suction cup is calculated using F=AP.
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