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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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.
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Dr.Jonas Salk, the man who came up with the cure for polio, didn’t patent the drug. This made the drug more affordable to the general public, and he lost out an an estimated $7 billion dollars for himself.
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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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If the chemical sodium is dropped into water it will immediately and violently explode.
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In zero gravity, a candle's flame is round and blue.
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Sound travels about 4 times faster in water than in air.
408
A coal power station puts 100 times more radiation into the air than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy.
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