Nylon is made from coal and petroleum.
42
In Arizona, a solar wind energy tower has been proposed that would generate as much energy as the Hoover Dam.
5
It takes a photon 170,000 years to travel from the core of the Sun to the surface, but only 8 minutes to travel the rest of the way to Earth.
6
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second!
66
Scientists at the Zhejiang University in China have developed an ultra-light material known as carbon aerogel.
3
A cesium atom in an atomic clock beats over nine billion times a second.
43
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