Top 10 Scientists

10 Marie Curie1867 – 1934

“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”
Polish physicist and chemist, Marie Curie was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity, the only person honored with Nobel Prizes in two different sciences, and the first female professor at the University of Paris. She founded the Curie Institutes in Paris and Warsaw. Her husband Pierre Curie was also a Nobel laureate, as were her daughter Irene Joliot-Curie and son-in-law Frederic Joliot-Curie. Her achievements include the creation of a theory of radioactivity (a term coined by her), techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and the discovery of two new elements, radium and polonium. It was also under her personal direction that the world’s first studies were conducted into the treatment of neoplasms (“cancers”), using radioactive isotopes. While an actively loyal French citizen, she never lost her sense of Polish identity. She named the first new chemical element that she discovered (1898) “polonium” for her native country, and in 1932 she founded a Radium Institute in her hometown Warsaw, headed by her physician-sister Bronisława.

9 Alan Turing1912 – 1954

“Science is a differential equation. Religion is a boundary condition.”
English mathematician and logician, Turing is often considered to be the father of modern computer science. He provided an influential formalization of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine. With the Turing test, meanwhile, he made a significant and characteristically provocative contribution to the debate regarding artificial intelligence: whether it will ever be possible to say that a machine is conscious and can think. He later worked at the National Physical Laboratory, creating one of the first designs for a stored-program computer, the ACE, although it was never actually built in its full form. In 1948, he moved to the University of Manchester to work on the Manchester Mark I, then emerging as one of the world’s earliest true computers. During the Second World War, Turing worked at Bletchley Park, the UK’s code breaking centre, and was for a time head of Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis. He devised a number of techniques for breaking German ciphers, including the method of the bombe, an electromechanical machine that could find settings for the Enigma machine.

8 Niels Bohr1885 – 1962

“An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.”
Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr’s work helped solve the problems classical physics could not explain about the nuclear model of the atom. He postulated that electrons moved in fixed orbits around the atom’s nucleus, and he explained how they emitted or absorbed energy. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in Copenhagen. He was also part of the team of physicists working on the Manhattan Project. One of his sons, Aage Niels Bohr, grew up to be an important physicist who, like his father, received the Nobel Prize, in 1975. Bohr has been described as one of the most influential physicists of the 20th century.

7 Max Planck1858 – 1947

“We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up to now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future.”
Max Planck, a German physicist, is considered to be the founder of quantum theory, and one of the most important physicists of the twentieth century. Planck made many contributions to theoretical physics, but his fame rests primarily on his role as originator of the quantum theory. This theory revolutionized our understanding of atomic and subatomic processes, just as Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity revolutionized our understanding of space and time. Together they constitute the fundamental theories of 20th-century physics. His discoveries have led to industrial and military applications that affect every aspect of modern life.

6 Charles Darwin1809 – 1882

“I love fools’ experiments. I am always making them.”
English naturalist and biologist, Darwin demonstrated that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin’s scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology, as it provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life. His 1859 book On the Origin of Species established evolution by common descent as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He also examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. In recognition of Darwin’s pre-eminence, he was one of only five 19th century UK non-royal personages to be honored by a state funeral.

5 Leonardo da Vinci1452 – 1519

“Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory.”
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian polymath. He was an expert mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer. Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the “Renaissance man”, a man whose seemingly infinite curiosity was equalled only by his powers of invention. Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualized a helicopter, a tank, concentrated solar power, a calculator, the double hull and outlined a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were even feasible during his lifetime, but some of his smaller inventions, such as an automated bobbin winder and a machine for testing the tensile strength of wire, entered the world of manufacturing unheralded. As a scientist, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, civil engineering, optics, and hydrodynamics.

4 Galileo Galilei1564 – 1642

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.”
Galileo was an Italian physicist and astronomer. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations, and support for Copernicanism. Galileo has been called the “father of modern observational astronomy”, the “father of modern physics”, the “father of science”, and “the Father of Modern Science.” The motion of uniformly accelerated objects, taught in nearly all high school and introductory college physics courses, was studied by Galileo as the subject of kinematics. His contributions to observational astronomy include the telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus, the discovery of the four largest satellites of Jupiter, named the Galilean moons in his honor, and the observation and analysis of sunspots. Galileo also worked in applied science and technology, improving compass design. Galileo’s championing of Copernicanism was controversial within his lifetime. The geocentric view had been dominant since the time of Aristotle, and the controversy engendered by Galileo’s presentation of heliocentrism as proven fact resulted in the Catholic Church’s prohibiting its advocacy because it was not empirically proven at the time. Galileo was eventually forced to recant his heliocentrism and spent the last years of his life under house arrest on orders of the Holy Inquisition.

3 Nikola Tesla1856 – 1943

“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.”
Tesla was a Serbian engineer and inventor who is often described as the most important scientist and inventor of the modern age, a man who “shed light over the face of Earth”. He is best known for many revolutionary contributions in the field of electricity and magnetism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tesla’s patents and theoretical work formed the basis of modern alternating current electric power (AC) systems, including the polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor, with which he helped usher in the Second Industrial Revolution. Contemporary biographers of Tesla have regarded him as “The Father of Physics”, “The man who invented the twentieth century” and “the patron saint of modern electricity.” Aside from his work on electromagnetism and electromechanical engineering, Tesla has contributed in varying degrees to the establishment of robotics, remote control, radar and computer science, and to the expansion of ballistics, nuclear physics, and theoretical physics. In 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States credited him as being the inventor of the radio. Many of his achievements have been used, with some controversy, to support various pseudosciences, UFO theories, and early New Age occultism.

2 Albert Einstein1879 – 1955

“A man should look for what is, and not for what he thinks should be.”
Einstein, a German physicist, is best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, expressed by the equation E = mc2. Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. Einstein’s many contributions to physics include his special theory of relativity, which reconciled mechanics with electromagnetism, and his general theory of relativity, which was intended to extend the principle of relativity to non-uniform motion and to provide a new theory of gravitation. His other contributions include advances in the fields of relativistic cosmology, capillary action, critical opalescence, classical problems of statistical mechanics and their application to quantum theory, an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules, atomic transition probabilities, the quantum theory of a monatomic gas, thermal properties of light with low radiation density (which laid the foundation for the photon theory), a theory of radiation including stimulated emission, the conception of a unified field theory, and the geometrization of physics. Einstein published over 300 scientific works and over 150 non-scientific works. The physics community reveres Einstein, and in 1999 Time magazine named him the “Person of the Century”. In wider culture the name “Einstein” has become synonymous with genius.

1 Isaac Newton1643 – 1727

“To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.”
Newton was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, theologian and one of the most influential men in human history. His Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, is considered to be the most influential book in the history of science. In this work, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion, laying the groundwork for classical mechanics, which dominated the scientific view of the physical universe for the next three centuries and is the basis for modern engineering. Newton showed that the motions of objects on Earth and of celestial bodies are governed by the same set of natural laws by demonstrating the consistency between Kepler’s laws of planetary motion and his theory of gravitation, thus removing the last doubts about heliocentrism and advancing the scientific revolution. In mechanics, Newton enunciated the principles of conservation of momentum and angular momentum. In optics, he built the first “practical” reflecting telescope and developed a theory of color based on the observation that a prism decomposes white light into a visible spectrum. He also formulated an empirical law of cooling and studied the speed of sound. In mathematics, Newton shares the credit with Gottfried Leibniz for the development of the differential and integral calculus. He also demonstrated the generalized binomial theorem, developed the so-called “Newton’s method” for approximating the zeroes of a function, and contributed to the study of power series. Newton’s stature among scientists remains at the very top rank, as demonstrated by a 2005 survey of scientists in Britain’s Royal Society asking who had the greater effect on the history of science, Newton was deemed much more influential than Albert Einstein.
This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.
CREDIT::http://listverse.com/

Top 10 Renewable Energy Sources

10 Tidal Power

Tidal energy can be generated in two ways, tidal stream generators or by barrage generation. The power created though tidal generators is generally more environmentally friendly and causes less impact on established ecosystems. Similar to a wind turbine, many tidal stream generators rotate underwater and is driven by the swiftly moving dense water. Although not yet widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power. Historically, tide mills have been used, both in Europe and on the Atlantic coast of the USA. The earliest occurrences date from the Middle Ages, or even from Roman times. Tidal power is the only form of energy which derives directly from the relative motions of the Earth–Moon system, and to a lesser extent from the Earth–Sun system. The tidal forces produced by the Moon and Sun, in combination with Earth’s rotation, are responsible for the generation of the tides. British company Lunar Energy announced that they would be building the world’s first tidal energy farm off the coast of Pembrokshire in Wales. It will be the world’s first deep-sea tidal-energy farm and will provide electricity for 5,000 homes. Eight underwater turbines, each 25 metres long and 15 metres high, are to be installed on the sea bottom off St David’s peninsula. Construction is due to start in the summer of 2008 and the proposed tidal energy turbines, described as “a wind farm under the sea”, should be operational by 2010.

9 Wave Power

Wave power is the transport of energy by ocean surface waves, and the capture of that energy to do useful work — for example for electricity generation, water desalination, or the pumping of water (into reservoirs). Wave energy can be difficult to harness due to the unpredictability of the ocean and wave direction. Wave farms have been created and are in use in Europe, using floating Pelamis Wave Energy converters. Most wave power systems include the use of a floating buoyed device and generate energy through a snaking motion, or by mechanical movement from the waves peaks and troughs. Though often co-mingled, wave power is distinct from the diurnal flux of tidal power and the steady gyre of ocean currents. Wave power generation is not currently a widely employed commercial technology although there have been attempts at using it since at least 1890. The world’s first commercial wave farm is based in Portugal, at the Aguçadora Wave Park, which consists of three 750 kilowatt Pelamis devices. In the United States, the Pacific Northwest Generating Cooperative is funding the building of a commercial wave-power park at Reedsport, Oregon. The project will utilize the PowerBuoy technology Ocean Power Technologies which consists of modular, ocean-going buoys. The rising and falling of the waves moves the buoy-like structure creating mechanical energy which is converted into electricity and transmitted to shore over a submerged transmission line. A 40 kW buoy has a diameter of 12 feet (4 m) and is 52 feet (16 m) long, with approximately 13 feet of the unit rising above the ocean surface. Using the three-point mooring system, they are designed to be installed one to five miles (8 km) offshore in water 100 to 200 feet (60 m) deep.

8 Solar Power

Photovoltaic (PV) Solar power is harnessing the suns energy to produce electricity. One of the fastest growing energy sources, new technologies are developing at a rapid pace. Solar cells are becoming more efficient, transportable and even flexible, allowing for easy installation. PV has mainly been used to power small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to off-grid homes powered by a photovoltaic array. The 1973 oil crisis stimulated a rapid rise in the production of PV during the 1970s and early 1980s. Steadily falling oil prices during the early 1980s, however, led to a reduction in funding for photovoltaic R&D and a discontinuation of the tax credits associated with the Energy Tax Act of 1978. These factors moderated growth to approximately 15% per year from 1984 through 1996. Since the mid-1990s, leadership in the PV sector has shifted from the US to Japan and Germany. Between 1992 and 1994 Japan increased R&D funding, established net metering guidelines, and introduced a subsidy program to encourage the installation of residential PV systems. Solar installations in recent years have also largely begun to expand into residential areas, with governments offering incentive programs to make “green” energy a more economically viable option. In Canada the government offers the RESOP (Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program).

7 Wind Power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy by wind turbines into a useful form, such as electricity or mechanical energy. Large-scale wind farms are typically connected to the local power transmission network with small turbines used to provide electricity to isolated areas. Residential units are entering production and are are capable of powering large appliances to entire houses depending on the size. Wind farms installed on agricultural land or grazing areas, have one of the lowest environmental impacts of all energy sources. Although wind produces only about 1.5% of worldwide electricity use, it is growing rapidly, having doubled in the three years between 2005 and 2008. In several countries it has achieved relatively high levels of penetration, accounting for approximately 19% of electricity production in Denmark, 11% in Spain and Portugal, and 7% in Germany and the Republic of Ireland in 2008. Wind energy has historically been used directly to propel sailing ships or converted into mechanical energy for pumping water or grinding grain, but the principal application of wind power today is the generation of electricity. As of 2008, Europe leads the world in development of offshore wind power, due to strong wind resources and shallow water in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, and limitations on suitable locations on land due to dense populations and existing developments. Denmark installed the first offshore wind farms, and for years was the world leader in offshore wind power until the United Kingdom gained the lead in October, 2008. Other large markets for wind power, including the United States and China focused first on developing their on-land wind resources where construction costs are lower (such as in the Great Plains of the U.S., and the similarly wind-swept steppes of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia in China), but population centers along coastlines in many parts of the world are close to offshore wind resources, which would reduce transmission costs.

6 Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct waste. Small scale hydro or micro-hydro power has been an increasingly popular alternative energy source, especially in remote areas where other power sources are not viable. Small scale hydro power systems can be installed in small rivers or streams with little or no discernible environmental effect or disruption to fish migration. Most small scale hydro power systems make no use of a dam or major water diversion, but rather use water wheels to generate energy. This was approximately 19% of the world’s electricity (up from 16% in 2003), and accounted for over 63% of electricity from renewable sources. While many hydroelectric projects supply public electricity networks, some are created to serve specific industrial enterprises. Dedicated hydroelectric projects are often built to provide the substantial amounts of electricity needed for aluminium electrolytic plants, for example. In the Scottish Highlands there are examples at Kinlochleven and Lochaber, constructed during the early years of the 20th century. The Grand Coulee Dam, long the world’s largest, switched to support Alcoa aluminum in Bellingham, Washington for America’s World War II airplanes before it was allowed to provide irrigation and power to citizens (in addition to aluminum power) after the war. In Suriname, the Brokopondo Reservoir was constructed to provide electricity for the Alcoa aluminium industry. New Zealand’s Manapouri Power Station was constructed to supply electricity to the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point.

5 Radiant Energy

This natural energy can perform the same wonders as ordinary electricity at less than 1% of the cost. It does not behave exactly like electricity, however, which has contributed to the scientific community’s misunderstanding of it. The Methernitha Community in Switzerland currently has 5 or 6 working models of fuelless, self-running devices that tap this energy. Nikola Tesla’s magnifying transmitter, T. Henry Moray’s radiant energy device, Edwin Gray’s EMA motor, and Paul Baumann’s Testatika machine all run on radiant energy. This natural energy form can be gathered directly from the environment or extracted from ordinary electricity by the method called fractionation. One of the earliest wireless telephones to be based on radiant energy was invented by Nikola Tesla. The device used transmitters and receivers whose resonances were tuned to the same frequency, allowing communication between them. In 1916, he recounted an experiment he had done in 1896. He recalled that “Whenever I received the effects of a transmitter, one of the simplest ways [to detect the wireless transmissions] was to apply a magnetic field to currents generated in a conductor, and when I did so, the low frequency gave audible notes.”

4 Geothermal Power

Geothermal energy is a very powerful and efficient way to extract a renewable energy from the earth through natural processes. This can be performed on a small scale to provide heat for a residential unit (a geothermal heat pump), or on a very large scale for energy production through a geothermal power plant. It has been used for space heating and bathing since ancient roman times, but is now better known for generating electricity. Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, and environmentally friendly, but has previously been geographically limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries. Recent technological advances have dramatically expanded the range and size of viable resources, especially for direct applications such as home heating. The largest group of geothermal power plants in the world is located at The Geysers, a geothermal field in California, United States. As of 2004, five countries (El Salvador, Kenya, the Philippines, Iceland, and Costa Rica) generate more than 15% of their electricity from geothermal sources. Geothermal power requires no fuel, and is therefore immune to fluctuations in fuel cost, but capital costs tend to be high. Drilling accounts for most of the costs of electrical plants, and exploration of deep resources entails very high financial risks. Geothermal power offers a degree of scalability: a large geothermal plant can power entire cities while smaller power plants can supply rural villages or heat individual homes. Geothermal electricity is generated in 24 countries around the world and a number of potential sites are being developed or evaluated.

3 Biomass

Biomass, as a renewable energy source, refers to living and recently dead biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production. In this context, biomass refers to plant matter grown to generate electricity or produce for example trash such as dead trees and branches, yard clippings and wood chips biofuel, and it also includes plant or animal matter used for production of fibers, chemicals or heat. Biomass may also include biodegradable wastes that can be burnt as fuel. Industrial biomass can be grown from numerous types of plants, including miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum, sugarcane, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oil palm (palm oil). The particular plant used is usually not important to the end products, but it does affect the processing of the raw material. Production of biomass is a growing industry as interest in sustainable fuel sources is growing. The existing commercial biomass power generating industry in the United States produces about 0.5 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Currently, the New Hope Power Partnership is the largest biomass power plant in North America. The facility reduces dependence on oil by more than one million barrels per year, and by recycling sugar cane and wood waste, preserves landfill space in urban communities in Florida.

2 Compressed Natural Gas

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline, diesel, or propane fuel. Although its combustion does produce greenhouse gases, it is a more environmentally clean alternative to those fuels, and it is much safer than other fuels in the event of a spill (natural gas is lighter than air, and disperses quickly when released). CNG is used in traditional gasoline internal combustion engine cars that have been converted into bi-fuel vehicles (gasoline/CNG). Natural gas vehicles are increasingly used in Europe and South America due to rising gasoline prices. In response to high fuel prices and environmental concerns, CNG is starting to be used also in light-duty passenger vehicles and pickup trucks, medium-duty delivery trucks, transit and school buses, and trains. Italy currently has the largest number of CNG vehicles in Europe and is the 4th country in the world for number of CNG-powered vehicles in circulation. Canada is a large producer of natural gas, so it follows that CNG is used in Canada as an economical motor fuel. Canadian industry has developed CNG-fueled truck and bus engines, CNG-fueled transit buses, and light trucks and taxis. Both CNG and propane refueling stations are not difficult to find in major centers. During the 1970s and 1980s, CNG was commonly used in New Zealand in the wake of the oil crises, but fell into decline after petrol prices receded.

1 Nuclear Power

Nuclear power is any nuclear technology designed to extract usable energy from atomic nuclei via controlled nuclear reactions. The only method in use today is through nuclear fission, though other methods might one day include nuclear fusion and radioactive decay. All utility-scale reactors heat water to produce steam, which is then converted into mechanical work for the purpose of generating electricity or propulsion. In 2007, 14% of the world’s electricity came from nuclear power, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for 56.5% of nuclear generated electricity. There are 439 nuclear power reactors in operation in the world, operating in 31 countries. According to the World Nuclear Association, globally during the 1980s one new nuclear reactor started up every 17 days on average, and by the year 2015 this rate could increase to one every 5 days. According to a 2007 story broadcast on 60 Minutes, nuclear power gives France the cleanest air of any industrialized country, and the cheapest electricity in all of Europe. France reprocesses its nuclear waste to reduce its mass and make more energy. Reprocessing can potentially recover up to 95% of the remaining uranium and plutonium in spent nuclear fuel, putting it into new mixed oxide fuel. This produces a reduction in long term radioactivity within the remaining waste, since this is largely short-lived fission products, and reduces its volume by over 90%. France is generally cited as the most successful reprocessor, but it presently only recycles 28% (by mass) of the yearly fuel use, 7% within France and another 21% in Russia.

Proponents of nuclear energy contend that nuclear power is a sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions and increases energy security by decreasing dependence on foreign oil. Proponents also emphasize that the risks of storing waste are small and can be further reduced by using the latest technology in newer reactors, and the operational safety record in the Western World is excellent when compared to the other major kinds of power plants. Critics believe that nuclear power is a potentially dangerous energy source, with decreasing proportion of nuclear energy in power production, and dispute whether the risks can be reduced through new technology. Proponents advance the notion that nuclear power produces virtually no air pollution, in contrast to the chief viable alternative of fossil fuel. Proponents also point out that nuclear power is the only viable course to achieve energy independence for most Western countries. Critics point to the issue of storing radioactive waste, the history of and continuing potential for radioactive contamination by accident or sabotage, the history of and continuing possibility of nuclear proliferation and the disadvantages of centralized electricity production.

CREDIT: http://listverse.com/2009/05/01/top-10-renewable-energy-sources/

Top 7 Wonders of the Technological World

7. iPod

This item will be the most controversial on the list I think. My reason for including it is the impact it has had worldwide on how we listen to music, how we buy music, and how we perceive entertainment as a whole. The iPod was not the first portable digital music device, but it has undoubtedly had the most effect of all. It has spawned an entire industry of supporting gadgets and accessories and it has been the basis of the only successful attempt by any company to break the Recording Industry’s hold on music distribution. For that alone, we owe Apple Corporation a big thank you.

Apple’s hardware engineering chief, Jon Rubinstein, assembled a team of engineers to design the iPod, including Tony Fadell, hardware engineer Michael Dhuey, and design engineer Jonathan Ive, with Stan Ng as the marketing manager. The product was developed in less than a year and unveiled on October 23, 2001. CEO Steve Jobs announced it as a Mac-compatible product with a 5 GB hard drive that put “1000 songs in your pocket.”
6. International Space Station

Some 60 years ago the world was plunged in to one of the greatest wars known to man. Not so many years after that we were thrown in to the cold war. Who would have believed that before the end of the 20th century, countries that were bitter enemies for the larger part of the century would join together to create a space station? The countries participating at present are the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and numerous European nations. The Space Station has enabled us to learn that we can work together peacefully, especially in the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

In the early 1980s, NASA planned Space Station Freedom as a counterpart to the Soviet Salyut and Mir space stations. It never left the drawing board and, with the end of the Soviet Union and the Cold War, it was cancelled. The end of the Space race prompted the U.S. administration officials to start negotiations with international partners Europe, Russia, Japan and Canada in the early 1990s in order to build a truly international space station. This project was first announced in 1993. The first section, the Zarya Functional Cargo Block, was put in orbit in November 1998 on a Russian Proton rocket.


5. Linux

Linux has to be on the list for the very fact that it truly opened the door to Open Source software to more people than any other open source project. The very fact that so many people can work together without meeting face to face to bring together such a complex project as an operating system – and to make it good enough to compete with the giants in the industry, is a wonder in itself. The project started as the brain child of Linus Torvalds.

In 1991, Linus Torvalds began to work on a non-commercial replacement for MINIX (another Unix-like operating system) while he was attending the University of Helsinki. With code from the GNU system freely available, it was advantageous that this could be used with the fledgling OS. Torvalds initiated a switch from his original license (which prohibited commercial redistribution) to the GNU GPL. Linux and GNU developers worked to integrate GNU components with Linux to make a fully functional and free operating system.


4. Hubble Space Telescope

Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has become one of the most significant instruments in the history of astronomy. Children of today do not need to look in to the sky and wonder – Hubble has brought the beauty of the heavens to the face of the earth. The Hubble telescope has enabled a multitude of incredibly discoveries about our universe and origins to be made. It has also provided us with some of the most beautiful images of all time. To understand the true value of this telescope, consider the Hubble Ultra Deep Field – the deepest image of the universe ever taken in visible light, looking back in time more than 13 billion years. It is impossible to look at this image and not feel a sense of awe at the technological achievement that made it possible. For your viewing pleasure, here is a full 3100 × 3120 pixel copy of the HUDF.

The history of the Hubble Space Telescope can be traced back as far as 1946, when the astronomer Lyman Spitzer wrote the paper Astronomical advantages of an extra-terrestrial observatory. Spitzer devoted much of his career to pushing for a space telescope to be developed. In 1962 a report by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences recommended the development of a space telescope as part of the space program, and in 1965 Spitzer was appointed as head of a committee given the task of defining the scientific objectives for a large space telescope. On April 24, 1990, Space Shuttle Discovery launched in Florida, taking the Hubble Space Telescope in to space.


3. Lasers

When lasers were invented in 1960, they were called “a solution looking for a problem”. Since then, they have become ubiquitous, finding utility in thousands of highly varied applications in every section of modern society, including consumer electronics, information technology, science, medicine, industry, law enforcement, entertainment, and the military. Every day virtually every person is effected in one way or another by lasers. In the medical field, lasers have revolutionized surgery and we can now restore sight to the near-blind with their help.

With its origins in the theories of scientists like Einstein, in 1960 Theodore H. Maiman created the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California. It used a solid-state flashlamp-pumped synthetic ruby crystal to produce red laser light at 694 nanometres wavelength. Later that year, Iranian physicist Ali Javan, working with William Bennet and Donald Herriot, made the first gas laser using helium and neon.


2. The Computer

There will be no controversy about this entry. The computer has changed the world so much that we could say we are now living in the computer age, having left the industrial age well behind us. Computers are used in virtually every arena of human life – including medicine, science, crime detection, entertainment, and much much more. The computer has revolutionized so many aspects of our lives that it is now hard to imagine life without it.

In 1837, Charles Babbage was the first to conceptualize and design a fully programmable mechanical computer that he called “The Analytical Engine”. Due to limited finance, and an inability to resist tinkering with the design, Babbage never actually built his Analytical Engine. Large-scale automated data processing of punched cards was performed for the U.S. Census in 1890 by tabulating machines designed by Herman Hollerith and manufactured by the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation, which later became IBM.


1. The Internet

A visualization of the Internet

Admittedly, without computers, we would not have the Internet, but the Internet far supersedes the computer in order of importance. It is fair to say that the Internet is the new Library of Alexandria. The Internet now stores an immense portion of human knowledge and it is not just available to an elite few – it is available to every man, woman, and child in the free world. For many of us, our daily life relies heavily on the internet – not just for information gathering and research, but for shopping, entertainment, news, and communication. It allows us to speak to any person on the planet without the high costs imposed by telephone companies. The Internet has launched the careers of many great artists – people who would normally be overlooked by the mainstream industries they work in. There can be no doubt, the Internet is the greatest wonder of the technological world.

The USSR’s launch of Sputnik spurred the United States to create the Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as ARPA, in February 1958 to regain a technological lead. After much work, the first node went live at UCLA on October 29, 1969 on what would be called the ARPANET, one of the “eve” networks of today’s Internet. The first TCP/IP-wide area network was operational by January 1, 1983, when the United States’ National Science Foundation (NSF) constructed a university network backbone that would later become the NSFNet. It was then followed by the opening of the network to commercial interests in 1985. Important, separate networks that offered gateways into, then later merged with, the NSFNet include Usenet, BITNET and the various commercial and educational networks, such as X.25, Compuserve and JANET.


CREDIT: http://listverse.com/2007/12/04/top-10-worst-engineering-disasters/

10 Notable Numbers

10. -273.15

This is the temperature (in centigrade) known as absolute zero (0 Kelvin) which describes a theoretical system that neither emits nor absorbs energy. It is the point at which particles have a minimum energy, determined by quantum mechanical effects, which is called the zero-point energy. Absolute zero is also precisely equivalent to 0 °R on the Rankine scale (also a thermodynamic temperature scale), and –459.67 °F on the Fahrenheit scale. It is not possible to cool any substance to 0 K, but scientists have made great advancements in achieving temperatures close to absolute zero, where matter exhibits odd quantum effects such as superconductivity and superfluidity.

9. 31337

If you don’t know what this one means, the number does not apply to you. If you are not 31337 and want to know how to become 31337, Wikipedia has a good article on it here.

8. -40

This number is unique in temperature readings; it is unique because -40 is the only point at which the fahrenheit and centigrade scales meet. -40F is the same as -40C.

7. 3888

This is the largest number representable with standard Roman numeral notation. In Roman numerals it appears: MMMDCCCLXXXVIII.

6. 666

666 is most famous as the number of the beast in the biblical book of the Apocalypse. It is also the former number of Route 491, a brand of cough syrup, and forms part of the name of 666 Desdemona, a minor planet in the asteroid belt. A person with a fear of this number has hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia

5. 911

Before the terrorist attacks on the US, this number was also attached to a type of porsche and a trojan asteroid that orbits the sun. It is, of course, also the US, Canadian, and Argentinean emergency services telephone number.

4. Graham’s Number

Graham’s number is the largest number that has been used in a serious mathematical proof. It is too large to be written in scientific notation and is much larger than a googol, googolplex, and is even larger than Moser’s number, another very large number. Using Knuth’s up-arrow notation, Graham’s Number (G) can be depicted as in the image above.

3. e

The number e, sometimes called Euler’s number or Napier’s constant, is one of the most important numbers in mathematics. Bernoulli discovered this number when studying a problem of compounding interest. Simply put, an account that starts at $1, and yields (1+R) dollars at simple interest, will yield eR dollars with continuous compounding. The number e itself also has applications to probability theory, where it arises in a way not obviously related to exponential growth. Suppose that a gambler plays a slot machine with a one in n probability and plays it n times. Then, for large n (such as a million) the probability that the gambler will win nothing at all is (approximately) 1/e. e looks like this to 20 decimal places: 2.71828 18284 59045 23536…

2. Pi

Pi or π is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter in Euclidean geometry, approximately 3.14159. Pi is a mathematical constant and a transcendental (and therefore irrational) real number, with many uses in mathematics, physics, and engineering. It is also known as Archimedes’ constant.

1. 1.6180339887

This is the Golden Ratio. In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the same as the ratio between the larger one and the smaller. The golden ratio is approximately 1.6180339887. At least since the Renaissance, many artists and architects have proportioned their works to approximate the golden ratio—especially in the form of the golden rectangle, in which the ratio of the longer side to the shorter is the golden ratio—believing this proportion to be aesthetically pleasing. Mathematicians have studied the golden ratio because of its unique and interesting properties.

This article is licensed under the GFDL. It uses material from the Wikipedia articles: Napier’s Constant, Absolute Zero, Graham’s Number, Pi, and Golden Ratioa

CREDIT: http://listverse.com/2007/10/14/10-notable-numbers/

Top 20 facts abot sleep

1. The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.
2. It’s impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.
3. Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you’re still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.
4. Dreams, once thought to occur only during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, also occur (but to a lesser extent) in non-REM sleep phases. It’s possible there may not be a single moment of our sleep when we are actually dreamless.
5. REM dreams are characterised by bizarre plots, but non-REM dreams are repetitive and thought-like, with little imagery – obsessively returning to a suspicion you left your mobile phone somewhere, for example.
6. Certain types of eye movements during REM sleep correspond to specific movements in dreams, suggesting at least part of the dreaming process is analagous to watching a film
7. Elephants sleep standing up during non-REM sleep, but lie down for REM sleep.
8. Some scientists believe we dream to fix experiences in long-term memory, that is, we dream about things worth remembering. Others think we dream about things worth forgetting – to eliminate overlapping memories that would otherwise clog up our brains.
9. Dreams may not serve any purpose at all but be merely a meaningless byproduct of two evolutionary adaptations – sleep and consciousness.
10. Scientists have not been able to explain a 1998 study showing a bright light shone on the backs of human knees can reset the brain’s sleep-wake clock
16. Ducks at risk of attack by predators are able to balance the need for sleep and survival, keeping one half of the brain awake while the other slips into sleep mode
17. Diaries from the pre-electric-light-globe Victorian era show adults slept nine to 10 hours a night with periods of rest changing with the seasons in line with sunrise and sunsets.
18. Most of what we know about sleep we’ve learned in the past 25 years.
19. The extra-hour of sleep received when clocks are put back at the start of daylight in Canada has been found to coincide with a fall in the number of road accidents.
20. Experts say one of the most alluring sleep distractions is the 24-hour accessibility of the internet.
Source: ABC News Australia

TEN AMAZING FACTS ABOUT YOUR BRAIN

Your brain uses less power than your refrigerator light
The brain uses 12 watts of power. Over the course of a day, your brain uses the amount of energy contained in two large bananas. Curiously, even though the brain is very efficient, it's an energy hog. It is only 3 per cent of the body's weight, but consumes 1/6 (17 per cent) of the body's total energy. Most of its energy costs go into maintenance; the added cost of thinking hard is barely noticeable.


Frequent jet lag can damage memory
Jet lag is not simply annoying; in repeated doses it can be dangerous to your brain's health. People who often cross many time zones can experience brain damage and memory problems. This probably results from the stress hormones released during jet lag that are known to damage the temporal lobe and memory. You probably don't need to worry because, unless you work for an airline, few people fly across multiple time zones more often than every two weeks. Shift workers are more likely to be at risk. Like repeated jet travel, frequent drastic changes in working hours are likely to cause stress on the body and brain.


Why you can't hear phone conversations in a noisy room

Talking on your mobile phone in a noisy place can be difficult. Your mobile makes the brain's task harder by feeding sounds from the room you're in through its circuitry and mixing them with the sound it gets from the other phone. This makes it a harder problem for your brain to solve because your friend's transmitted voice and the room noise are tinny and mixed together in one source. Cover the mouthpiece when you're trying to hear your caller and you'll stop the mixing.


Shoot-'em-up video games can help you to multitask
Sustained multitasking increases your ability to pay attention to many things at the same time. A significant source of practice is playing action video games where the aim is to shoot as many enemies as possible before they shoot you. These games make you distribute attention across the screen, and quickly detect and react to events. Playing Tetris (an early puzzle-based video game) doesn't have the same effect, perhaps because you have to concentrate on only one object at a time, rather than multitask. Does this mean that you should encourage your kids to play shoot-'em-up action games? We wouldn't go out of our way to expose kids to violent images, but at least you can take heart that video game-playing has positive effects.


The brain has a joke centre
Humour is hard to define, but we know it when we see it. One theory suggests that humour consists of a surprise - we don't end up where we thought we were going - followed by a reinterpretation of what came earlier to make it fit the new perspective.
To make it a joke instead of a logic puzzle, the result needs to be a coherent story that isn't strictly sensible in everyday terms. Some patients with damage to the frontal lobe of their brain, particularly on the right side, don't get jokes at all. Typically, this is because they have trouble with the reinterpretation stage of the process. For instance, given a joke with a choice of punchlines, they can't tell which one is funny.


There's a reason you remember those annoying songs
Having a song or, more often, part of a song stuck in your head is incredibly frustrating. But sequence recall has a special and useful place in our memories. We constantly have to remember sequences, from the movements involved in signing our name or making coffee in the morning, to the names of the exits that come before the motorway turn-off we take to drive home every day.
The ability to recall these sequences makes many aspects of everyday life possible. As you think about a snippet of song or speech, your brain may repeat a sequence that strengthens the connections associated with that phrase. In turn, this increases the likelihood that you will recall it, which leads to more reinforcement.
You could break this unending cycle of repeated recall and reinforcement - which may be necessary for the normal strengthening and cementing of memories - by introducing other sequences. Thinking of another song may allow a competing memory to crowd out the first one: find another infectious song and hope that the cure doesn't become more annoying than the original problem.
 Sunlight makes you sneeze
Many people sneeze when they look into bright light. Why would we have such a reflex and how does it work? The basic function of a sneeze is fairly obvious: it expels substances or objects that are irritating your airways. The sneezing centre is located in the brainstem, in a region called the lateral medulla; damage to this site means that we lose the ability to sneeze.
Sneezing usually is triggered by news of an irritant that is sent through brain pathways and into the lateral medulla. This information gets to the brain from the nose through several nerves, including the trigeminal nerve, which carries a wide variety of signals from the face into the brainstem. It's a really crowded nerve, which might explain why bright light could induce a sneeze. A bright light, which would normally be expected to trigger pupil contraction, might also spill over to neighbouring sites, such as nerve fibres or neurons that carry nose-tickling sensations.
Bright light isn't the only unexpected sensation that is known to trigger sneezes; orgasm can also trigger sneezes in men. Fundamentally, a crossed-wire phenomenon, like the photic sneeze reflex, is possible because the circuitry of the brainstem is a jumbled, crowded mess.


You can't tickle yourself
When doctors examine a ticklish patient, they place his or her hand over theirs to prevent the tickling sensation. Why does this work? Because no matter how ticklish you may be, you can't tickle yourself.
This is because your brain keeps your senses focused on what's happening in the world; important signals aren't drowned out in the endless buzz of sensations caused by your actions. For instance, we are unaware of the feel of a chair and the texture of our socks, yet we immediately notice a tap on our shoulder.
To accomplish this goal, some brain region must be able to generate a signal that distinguishes our touch from someone else's. The cerebellum, or “little brain”, may be the answer. It is about 1/8 of our total brain size - a little smaller than our fist - and weighs about 4oz (113g). It is also the best candidate that scientists have for the part of the brain that predicts the sensory consequences of our own actions.
The cerebellum is in an ideal location for distinguishing expected from unexpected sensations. If a prediction matches the actual sensory information, then the brain knows that it's safe to ignore the sensation because it's not important. If reality does not match the prediction, then something surprising has happened - and you might need to pay attention.


Yawns wake up the brain
Although we associate yawning with sleepiness and boredom, its function appears to be to wake us up. Yawning expands our pharynx and larynx, allowing large amounts of air to pass into our lungs; oxygen then enters our blood, making us more alert. Many vertebrates do it, including all mammals and perhaps birds. It also has been observed in human foetuses after just 12 weeks of gestation. In non human primates, it is associated with tense situations and potential threats.
Think of yawns as your body's attempt to reach full alertness in situations that require it. They are contagious, as anyone who has attempted to teach a roomful of bored students knows. No one is sure why, though it might be advantageous to allow individuals quickly to transmit to one another a need for increased arousal. They are not contagious in non primate mammals, but the ability to recognise a yawn may be fairly general: dogs yawn in response to stressful situations and are thought to use yawning to calm others. You can even sometimes calm your dog by yawning.


Altitude makes the brain see strange visions
Many religions involve special visions that occurred at great heights. For example, Moses encountered a voice emanating from a burning bush on Mount Sinai and Muhammad was visited by an angel on Mount Hira. Commonly reported spiritual experiences include feeling and hearing a presence, seeing a figure, seeing lights (sometimes emanating from a person) and being afraid.
Similar phenomena are reported by mountain climbers, a group generally not thought to be very mystical. Could it be something about the mountains? Acute mountain sickness occurs above altitudes of 8,000ft (2,400m). Many of the effects are attributable to the reduced supply of oxygen to the brain. At 8,000ft or higher, some mountaineers report perceiving unseen companions, seeing light emanating from themselves or others, seeing a second body like their own, and suddenly feeling emotions such as fear. Oxygen deprivation is likely to interfere with brain regions active in visual and face processing, and in emotional events.


CREDIT: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article3639884.ece

Top 10 Amazing Facts About Dreams

10. Blind People Dream

People who become blind after birth can see images in their dreams. People who are born blind do not see any images, but have dreams equally vivid involving their other senses of sound, smell, touch and emotion. It is hard for a seeing person to imagine, but the body’s need for sleep is so strong that it is able to handle virtually all physical situations to make it happen.
 9. You Forget 90% of your Dreams

Within 5 minutes of waking, half of your dream if forgotten. Within 10, 90% is gone. The famous poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, woke one morning having had a fantastic dream (likely opium induced) – he put pen to paper and began to describe his “vision in a dream” in what has become one of English’s most famous poems: Kubla Khan. Part way through (54 lines in fact) he was interrupted by a “Person from Porlock“. Coleridge returned to his poem but could not remember the rest of his dream. The poem was never completed.
8. Everybody Dreams

Every human being dreams (except in cases of extreme psychological disorder) but men and women have different dreams and different physical reactions. Men tend to dream more about other men, while women tend to dream equally about men and women. In addition, both men and women experience sexually related physical reactions to their dreams regardless of whether the dream is sexual in nature; males experience erections and females experience increased vaginal blood flow.
7. Dreams Prevent Psychosis

In a recent sleep study, students who were awakened at the beginning of each dream, but still allowed their 8 hours of sleep, all experienced difficulty in concentration, irritability, hallucinations, and signs of psychosis after only 3 days. When finally allowed their REM sleep the student’s brains made up for lost time by greatly increasing the percentage of sleep spent in the REM stage. [Source]
6. We Only Dream of What We Know

Our dreams are frequently full of strangers who play out certain parts – did you know that your mind is not inventing those faces – they are real faces of real people that you have seen during your life but may not know or remember? The evil killer in your latest dream may be the guy who pumped petrol in to your Dad’s car when you were just a little kid. We have all seen hundreds of thousands of faces through our lives, so we have an endless supply of characters for our brain to utilize during our dreams.


continue from yesterday ^^

5. Not Everyone Dreams in Color

A full 12% of sighted people dream exclusively in black and white. The remaining number dream in full color. People also tend to have common themes in dreams, which are situations relating to school, being chased, running slowly/in place, sexual experiences, falling, arriving too late, a person now alive being dead, teeth falling out, flying, failing an examination, or a car accident. It is unknown whether the impact of a dream relating to violence or death is more emotionally charged for a person who dreams in color than one who dreams in black and white. [Source]

4. Dreams are not about what they are about

If you dream about some particular subject it is not often that the dream is about that. Dreams speak in a deeply symbolic language. The unconscious mind tries to compare your dream to something else, which is similar. Its like writing a poem and saying that a group of ants were like machines that never stop. But you would never compare something to itself, for example: “That beautiful sunset was like a beautiful sunset”. So whatever symbol your dream picks on it is most unlikely to be a symbol for itself.

3. Quitters have more vivid dreams

People who have smoked cigarettes for a long time who stop, have reported much more vivid dreams than they would normally experience. Additionally, according to the Journal of Abnormal Psychology: “Among 293 smokers abstinent for between 1 and 4 weeks, 33% reported having at least 1 dream about smoking. In most dreams, subjects caught themselves smoking and felt strong negative emotions, such as panic and guilt. Dreams about smoking were the result of tobacco withdrawal, as 97% of subjects did not have them while smoking, and their occurrence was significantly related to the duration of abstinence. They were rated as more vivid than the usual dreams and were as common as most major tobacco withdrawal symptoms.” [Source]

2. External Stimuli Invade our Dreams

This is called Dream Incorporation and it is the experience that most of us have had where a sound from reality is heard in our dream and incorporated in some way. A similar (though less external) example would be when you are physically thirsty and your mind incorporates that feeling in to your dream. My own experience of this includes repeatedly drinking a large glass of water in the dream which satisfies me, only to find the thirst returning shortly after – this thirst… drink… thirst… loop often recurs until I wake up and have a real drink. The famous painting above (Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening) by Salvador Dali, depicts this concept.

1. You are paralyzed while you sleep

Believe it or not, your body is virtually paralyzed during your sleep – most likely to prevent your body from acting out aspects of your dreams. According to the Wikipedia article on dreaming, “Glands begin to secrete a hormone that helps induce sleep and neurons send signals to the spinal cord which cause the body to relax and later become essentially paralyzed.”


Bonus: Extra Facts

1. When you are snoring, you are not dreaming.
2. Toddlers do not dream about themselves until around the age of 3. From the same age, children typically have many more nightmares than adults do until age 7 or 8.
3. If you are awakened out of REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, you are more likely to remember your dream in a more vivid way than you would if you woke from a full night sleep.

credit: http://listverse.com/2007/11/14/top-10-amazing-facts-about-dreams/

100 interesting science facts

1/ The speed of light is generally rounded down to 186,000 miles per second. In exact terms it is 299,792,458 m/s (metres per second - that is equal to 186,287.49 miles per second).

2/ It takes 8 minutes 17 seconds for light to travel from the Sun’s surface to the Earth.

3/ October 12th, 1999 was declared “The Day of Six Billion” based on United Nations projections.

4/ 10 percent of all human beings ever born are alive at this very moment.

5/ The Earth spins at 1,000 mph but it travels through space at an incredible 67,000 mph.

6/ Every year over one million earthquakes shake the Earth.

7/ When Krakatoa erupted in 1883, its force was so great it could be heard 4,800 kilometres away in Australia.

8/ The largest ever hailstone weighed over 1kg and fell in Bangladesh in 1986.

9/ Every second around 100 lightning bolts strike the Earth.

10/ Every year lightning kills 1000 people.

11/ In October 1999 an Iceberg the size of London broke free from the Antarctic ice shelf .

12/ If you could drive your car straight up you would arrive in space in just over an hour.

13/ Human tapeworms can grow up to 22.9m.

14/ The Earth is 4.56 billion years old…the same age as the Moon and the Sun.

15/ The dinosaurs became extinct before the Rockies or the Alps were formed.

16/ Female black widow spiders eat their males after mating.

17/ When a flea jumps, the rate of acceleration is 20 times that of the space shuttle during launch.

18/ ——-

19/ If our Sun were just inch in diameter, the nearest star would be 445 miles away.

20/ The Australian billygoat plum contains 100 times more vitamin C than an orange.

21/ Astronauts cannot belch - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomach

22/ The air at the summit of Mount Everest, 29,029 feet is only a third as thick as the air at sea level.

23/ One million, million, million, million, millionth of a second after the Big Bang the Universe was the size of a …pea.

24/ DNA was first discovered in 1869 by Swiss Friedrich Mieschler.

25/ The molecular structure of DNA was first determined by Watson and Crick in 1953.

26/ The first synthetic human chromosome was constructed by US scientists in 1997.

27/ The thermometer was invented in 1607 by Galileo.

28/ Englishman Roger Bacon invented the magnifying glass in 1250.

29/ Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1866.

30/ Wilhelm Rontgen won the first Nobel Prize for physics for discovering X-rays in 1895.

31/ The tallest tree ever was an Australian eucalyptus - In 1872 it was measured at 435 feet tall.

32/ Christian Barnard performed the first heart transplant in 1967 - the patient lived for 18 days.

33/ The wingspan of a Boeing 747 is longer than the Wright brother’s first flight.

34/ An electric eel can produce a shock of up to 650 volts

35/ ‘Wireless’ communications took a giant leap forward in 1962 with the launch of Telstar, the first satellite capable of relaying telephone and satellite TV signals.

36/ The earliest wine makers lived in Egypt around 2300 BC.

37/ The Ebola virus kills 4 out of every 5 humans it infects.

38/ In 5 billion years the Sun will run out of fuel and turn into a Red Giant.

39/ Giraffes often sleep for only 20 minutes in any 24 hours. They may sleep up to 2 hours (in spurts - not all at once), but this is rare. They never lie down.

40/ A pig’s orgasm lasts for 30 minutes

41/ Without its lining of mucus your stomach would digest itself.

42/ Humans have 46 chromosomes, peas have 14 and crayfish have 200.

43/ There are 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body.

44/ An individual blood cell takes about 60 seconds to make a complete circuit of the body.

45/ Utopia ia a large, smooth lying area of Mars.

46/ On the day that Alexander Graham Bell was buried the entire US telephone system was shut down for 1 minute in tribute.

47/ The low frequency call of the humpback whale is the loudest noise made by a living creature.

48/ The call of the humpback whale is louder than Concorde and can be heard from 500 miles away.

49/ A quarter of the world’s plants are threatened with extinction by the year 2010.


50/ Each person sheds 40lbs of skin in his or her lifetime.


51/ At 15 inches the eyes of giant squids are the largest on the planet.

52/ The largest galexies contain a million, million stars.

53/ The Universe contains over 100 billion galaxies.
54/ Wounds infested with maggots heal quickly and without spread of gangrene or other infection.

55/ More germs are transferred shaking hands than kissing.

56/ The longest glacier in Antarctica, the Almbert glacier, is 250 miles long and 40 miles wide.

57/ The fastest speed a falling raindrop can hit you is 18mph.

58/ A healthy person has 6,000 million, million, million haemoglobin molecules.

59/ A salmon-rich, low cholesterol diet means that Inuits rarely suffer from heart disease.

60/ Inbreeding causes 3 out of every 10 Dalmation dogs to suffer from hearing disability.

61/ The world’s smallest winged insect, the Tanzanian parasitic wasp, is smaller than the eye of a housefly.

62/ If the Sun were the size of a beach ball then Jupiter would be the size of a golf ball and the Earth would be as small as a pea.

63/ It would take over an hour for a heavy object to sink 6.7 miles down to the deepest part of the ocean.

64/ There are more living organisms on the skin of each human than there are humans on the surface of the earth.

65/ The grey whale migrates 12,500 miles from the Artic to Mexico and back every year.

66/ Each rubber molecule is made of 65,000 individual atoms


67/ Around a million, billion neutrinos from the Sun will pass through your body while you read this sentence.

68/…and now they are already past the Moon.

69/ Quasars emit more energy than 100 giant galaxies.

70/ Quasars are the most distant objects in the Universe.

71/ The saturn V rocket which carried man to the Moon develops power equivalent to fifty 747 jumbo jets.

72/ Koalas sleep an average of 22 hours a day, two hours more than the sloth.

73/ Light would take .13 seconds to travel around the Earth.

74/ Males produce one thousand sperm cells each second - 86 million each day.

75/ Neutron stars are so dense that a teaspoonful would weigh more than all the people on Earth.

76/ One in every 2000 babies is born with a tooth.

77/ Every hour the Universe expands by a billion miles in all directions.

78/ Somewhere in the flicker of a badly tuned TV set is the background radiation from the Big Bang

79/ Even travelling at the speed of light it would take 2 million years to reach the nearest large galaxy, Andromeda.

80/ The temperature in Antarctica plummets as low as -35 degrees celsius.

81/ At over 2000 kilometres long The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth.

82/ A thimbleful of a neutron star would weigh over 100 million tons.

83/ The risk of being struck by a falling meteorite for a human is one occurence every 9,300 years.

84/ The driest inhabited place in the world is Aswan, Egypt where the annual average rainfall is .02 inches.

85/ The deepest part of any ocean in the world is the Mariana trench in the Pacific with a depth of 35,797 feet.

86/ The largest meteorite craters in the world are in Sudbury, Ontario, canada and in Vredefort, South Africa.

87/ The largest desert in the world, the Sahara, is 3,500,000 square miles.

88/ The largest dinosaur ever discovered was Seismosaurus who was over 100 feet long and weighed up to 80 tonnes.

89/ The African Elephant gestates for 22 months.

90/ The short-nosed Bandicoot has a gestation period of only 12 days.

91/ The mortality rate if bitten by a Black Mamba snake is over 95%.

92/ In the 14th century the Black Death killed 75,000,000 people. It was carried by fleas on the black rat.

93/ A dog’s sense of smell is 1,000 times more sensitive than a humans.

94/ A typical hurricane produces the nergy equivalent to 8,000 one megaton bombs.

95/ 90% of those who die from hurricanes die from drowning.

96/ To escape the Earth’s gravity a rocket need to travel at 7 miles a second.

97/ If every star in the Milky Way was a grain of salt they would fill an Olympic sized swimming pool.

98/ Microbial life can survive on the cooling rods of a nuclear reactor.

99/ Micro-organisms have been brought back to life after being frozen in perma-frost for three million years.

100/ Our oldest radio broadcasts of the 1930s have already travelled past 100,000 stars


credit:http://www.offbeatenough.com/2006/04/22/100-interesting-science-facts/