Optical illusions occur when what the eyes see conflicts with what the brain expects.
75
A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second!
66
The smell of freshly cut grass is actually a plant distress call.
31
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
Scientists concluded that the chicken came first, not the egg, because the protein which makes the egg shells is only produced by hens.
11
0.3% of solar energy from the Sahara is enough to power the whole of Europe.
310
Forensic scientists can determine a person's sex, age, and race by examining a single strand of hair.
101
Stephen Hawking once tried to find potential time travellers by throwing a party and only sending out invitations after the party.
17