Termites are being researched as a possible renewable energy source as they can produce up to 2 litres of hydrogen from ingesting a single sheet of paper, making them one of the planet’s most efficient bioreactors.
24
The use of emoticons affects our corresponding brain areas and can actually trigger emotions.
21
Stephen Hawking once tried to find potential time travellers by throwing a party and only sending out invitations after the party.
17
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
Cold water weighs more than hot water.
93
If you are locked in a completely sealed room, you will die of carbon dioxide poisoning first before you will die of oxygen deprivation.
117
The weight of a carat (200 milligrams), standard unit of measurement for gemstones, is based on the weight of the carob seed.
51
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