Every day, plants convert sunlight into energy equivalent to six times the entire power consumption of human civilization.
9
Columbia University has developed an artificial tree that passively soaks up carbon dioxide from the air using "leaves" that are 1,000 times more efficient than true leaves that use photosynthesis.
15
MIT has developed a camera that captures the speed of light at a trillion frames per second.
20
If the chemical sodium is dropped into water it will immediately and violently explode.
67
Cellophane is not made of plastic. It is made from a plant fiber, cellulose, which has been shredded and aged.
44
Pumice is the only rock that floats on water.
14
Scientists are attempting to create a synthetic brain by reverse-engineering the mammalian brain down to the molecular level. A cellular human brain is predicted possible by 2023. It hopes to shed light on consciousness.
10
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