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.
41
Most liquid laundry detergents are alive with living organisms that help to break down stains!
88
The weight of a carat (200 milligrams), standard unit of measurement for gemstones, is based on the weight of the carob seed.
51
Oak trees produce 2,200 acorns in a season, but each acorn only has a 1 in 10,000 chance of becoming an oak tree.
304
Nylon is made from coal and petroleum.
42
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
Out of all the senses, smell is most closely linked to memory.
146
If the chemical sodium is dropped into water it will immediately and violently explode.
67