1. Raindrops are usually depicted as teardrops, but they are not. They are spherical.
2. In the process of sublimation, a solid substance immediately turns into a gas, bypassing the liquid state. For example, this will happen if you throw dry ice into a fire.
3. Gorillas sleep in nests - they make them from soft foliage and curved branches. Males tend to nest on the ground, while females nest in trees.
4. Champagne does not sizzle because of the carbon dioxide in it - it sizzles due to the contact of gas with dirt and dust. In a perfectly smooth glass without a single molecule of dust, champagne would not fizz at all.
5. Most of the process of digestion does not take place in the stomach, but in the small intestine. That is why a person can suffer from bulimia, while maintaining excess weight for some time.
6. The red juice that comes out of the steak is not blood. Myoglobin is a close relative of blood. By the time the steak reaches the counter, there is almost no blood left in it.
7. For those who want to contribute to environmental protection, it is better to use plastic bags rather than paper bags. The production process for the production and recycling of paper bags requires significantly more energy than the production of plastic. And in landfills, paper bags take up significantly more space.
8. The coat of polar bears is actually transparent, not white, as it seems. And the skin is black, not white. And in warm, humid environments, polar bear fur can turn greenish due to algae.
9. Allergies to pets, as a rule, are not caused by animal hair, as is commonly believed, but by particles of their dead skin or saliva. Regular thorough bathing of the animal can relieve allergy symptoms.
10. The tongue map, according to which sour, sweet, salty and bitter tastes are perceived by different areas of the tongue, is considered incorrect. This theory was debunked in 1901 by German scientists, who based their evidence on the fact that any taste is recognized by any area of the tongue, based on practical experiments.
11. Many put a shell to their ear to hear the sea. The sound you hear is actually the noise of your own blood in your veins! You can use any cup-shaped object to hear this effect.
12. While a person is alive, his brain is pink. Only after the brain dies does it turn gray. Therefore, the description of the brain as "gray matter" is a little misleading.
13. Mercury is not the only liquid metal. Gallium, Cesium and Francium are metals that are in a solid state at room temperature, but even in the hand they begin to melt from the temperature of the human body.
14. Dolphins don't drink sea water. It can make them sick or even die. They satisfy all their drinking needs through the consumption of food containing liquid.
Here are a number of interesting and surprising facts about science, which include the study of our Universe, as well as touch on the topic of the elixir of immortality and some disturbing moments.
What is so interesting about science?
The world of science has inexhaustible information, but much more information is still inaccessible to human minds. However, we strive to penetrate the secrets of the universe, which leads us to various discoveries, many of which are extremely fascinating and amazing.
What interesting facts about science of various directions can be cited as an example today, so much so that each reader finds something interesting in each of them? Let's try to talk about the most amazing and relevant.
Anatoly Brushkov, head of the department of geocryology at one of the Russian universities, introduced himself into the body of an ancient bacterium, once found in Siberia in a frozen state. As he assures, it contains the gene responsible for longevity. It was found in the region of Yakutia, whose inhabitants are distinguished by a high life expectancy.
The scientist believes that bacterial cells are endowed with special mechanisms that allow them to significantly prolong their existence. Brushkov insists that the experiment, set on itself, will be successful, which will once be confirmed by the extension of his life. Although, how can we know how long he would have lived without this bacterium?
Are we alone in the universe?
Interesting facts about science in the field of astronomy often shock the world. Some time ago, during joint research conducted by German and American scientists, it was possible to detect radio signals sent from space. Researchers have no doubt that they come from outside the solar system, and the energy of the source of these signals is conventionally equated to the energy generated by the Sun during the day.
A variety of hypotheses are being built on this basis, and the main one is the opinion that it was an attempt by an extraterrestrial civilization to establish contact with us. Or the signals are the result of certain processes occurring in space, about which nothing is known to modern science.
Scientists are also confident that the source is located somewhere within our galaxy, and not outside it, and in the near future attempts will be made to determine more accurate coordinates.
Black holes or spatial gates?
Everyone has heard about the existence of black holes in the universe. These are substances that have a large mass and energy, and absorb all matter into themselves, including any cosmic bodies. 
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking insists that these holes can act as a gateway from one universe to another. However, according to the scientist, a traveler who has entered such a gate may end up anywhere in some other universe, but he will never be able to return to this one.
Previously, black holes were considered a dead end, an element of the end of the world. Now Hawking is of the opinion that this is a one-way tunnel with a one-way ticket. Such a hypothesis is, in fact, an attempt to answer the question of scientists, where bodies and objects, including sunlight, can disappear. After all, this contradicts the earthly laws of physics and the main one: energy does not come from nowhere and does not disappear into nowhere.
endangered bees
Interesting facts about science emerge in the world of fauna. Scientists suggest that within 20 years, bees may completely disappear on our planet. Already, the process of their disappearance is dynamically progressing. For example, in Russia, the number of these insects has almost halved.
The explanation for this, the researchers call the deterioration of the environmental situation. In addition, the rapid development of telecommunication systems affects the form of radio emissions, which also makes it impossible for many species of organisms to exist on Earth.
How much is the Earth worth?
An interesting thought occurred to one American astrophysicist. He considered that the mass of the planets of the solar system and their sizes are no longer of interest to anyone, but the cost in monetary terms is new and relevant. In the course of research, GregLaughlin came to the conclusion that our planet is the most expensive of them.
Much of what we learn in school will never come in handy. Most of this large part we will never even remember. And yet, some crumbs of "useless" information will remain in memory. Paradoxically, it is thanks to them that we feel like educated people. The luxury of keeping in mind not only vital information, but also “information surplus” increases self-esteem and gives a sense of intellectual consistency.
And “unnecessary information” surprisingly turns out to be the most interesting. This interest can become for children a magical key to the vast world of science, which is often hidden behind boring formulas and incomprehensible definitions.
In this article, we have collected nine scientific facts that can be used in the lessons of mathematics, physics, geography, chemistry and biology to clearly show that science is not something abstract from real life, but situations that we face every day.
Fact number 1. On average, an ordinary person travels a distance equal to three equators of the Earth in his life
The equator is approximately 40,075 km long. Multiplying this figure by three, we get 120,225 km. With an average life expectancy of 70 years, we get about 1717 km per year, which is a little more than five kilometers per day. Not so much, but it runs for life.
On the one hand, this information has no practical application. On the other hand, it is much more interesting to measure the distance traveled not in meters, steps or calories, but in equators. And calculating the percentage of the length of the equator will draw attention not only to geography, but also to mathematics.
The following two facts may come in handy in mathematics lessons. Using the first, you can calculate the number of children in parallel or even in the entire school who were born on the same day.
Fact #2: If there are 23 random people in a room, there is over a 50% chance that two of them will have the same birthday.
And if you put together 75 people, then this probability reaches 99%. A 100% chance of a match can be in a group of 367 people. The probability of a match is determined by the number of pairs that can be made from all the people in the group. Since the order of people in pairs does not matter, the total number of such pairs is equal to the number of combinations of 23 by 2, that is, (23 × 22) / 2 = 253 pairs. Thus, the number of pairs exceeds the number of days in a year. The same formula calculates the probability of matches for any number of people. So you can estimate the number of children born on the same day in parallel or even in the entire school.
Fact number 3. The number of living organisms in a teaspoon of soil is greater than the entire population of our planet
One square centimeter of soil contains billions of bacteria, fungi, algae and other organisms. About 60 million bacteria live in just one gram of dry soil. Nematodes, or roundworms (the most famous of which are roundworms and pinworms) in the same amount of soil are much smaller - only 10 thousand. A figure that is incommensurable with the human population, but no less unpleasant for that.
Practical application of the information: Wash your hands thoroughly after taking care of your houseplants and after working in the garden. A zone of increased bacterial danger is a sandbox on any playground.
Fact #4: The average toilet seat is much cleaner than the average toothbrush
The bacteria on your teeth live at a density of about 10 million per square centimeter. The number of bacteria on the skin varies depending on the part of the body, but in any case it is much less than in the mouth.
But there are no bacteria on the skin of frogs at all. The reason for this is the mucus secreted by the frog and contains the strongest antibiotics. This is how frogs protect themselves from the aggressive bacterial environment of the swamps in which they live.
A person in this regard is much less adapted, so toothbrushes are advised to be changed every couple of months.
Fact number 5. In the evening, a person becomes 1% lower compared to his "day" height
Under the influence of loads, our joints tend to shrink. With a normal lifestyle, by the evening a person's height decreases by 1-2 cm, which is approximately 1%. The decrease is not permanent.
The maximum decrease in height occurs after weightlifting. Changes in growth can be three or more centimeters. This is due to the compaction of the vertebrae.
Fact #6: Using very high pressure, diamonds can be made from peanut butter.
Scientists from the Bavarian Research Institute of Geophysics and Geochemistry tried to simulate in the laboratory the conditions of the Earth's lower mantle, where at a depth of 2,900 kilometers the pressure is 1.3 million times higher than atmospheric pressure. During the experiment, some innovative ways of producing diamonds were discovered. According to one hypothesis, diamonds are formed from carbon under very high pressure. Carbon is found in almost all foods. And since the researchers had only peanut butter on hand, they tried it out. Unfortunately, the hydrogen, which is bonded to carbon in peanut butter, slows the process down significantly: even a small diamond takes weeks to produce. Thus scientific thought proves that the most incredible transformations are quite possible.
Fact number 7. The height of the Eiffel Tower can change by 12 centimeters depending on the air temperature
An iron rod 300 meters long expands by 3 mm when the ambient temperature rises by one degree.
This is exactly what is happening with the Eiffel Tower, which is approximately 324 meters high.
In hot sunny weather, the iron material of the tower can heat up to +40 degrees, and in winter in Paris it cools down to about 0 degrees (great frosts are rare there).
Thus, the height of the Eiffel Tower can fluctuate by 12 centimeters (3 mm * 40 = 120 mm).
Fact #8: A conventional microwave uses much more energy to keep the built-in clock running than it does when reheating food.
While in standby mode, a modern microwave consumes approximately 3 watts per hour. Already 72 watts come out per day, and if we multiply this number by thirty days, we get an energy consumption of 2160 watts per month.
If we assume that we use the microwave every day for 5 minutes, we get 150 minutes or 2.5 hours per month. Modern stoves consume about 0.8 kW / h in heating mode. It turns out that with this use, the energy consumption directly for heating food is 2000 watts. If you buy a more economical model that consumes only 0.7 kWh, we get only 1.75 kW per month.
Fact #9. The first computer mouse was made of wood.
Sometimes it's just curious to know the fate of the items that we use every day.
The computer mouse in the design familiar to us was introduced to the world in 1984 by Apple. Largely thanks to her, Macintosh computers have become incredibly popular. But this small, but such a necessary device begins its true history 20 years earlier.
In 1964, Stanford engineer Douglas Engelbart designed a manipulator to work with the oN-Line System (NLS) operating system. Initially, the device was a handmade wooden box with two wheels inside and a button on the case. After some time, the device has a third button, and a couple of years later Engelbart receives a patent for his invention.
Next, Xerox enters the business, but its modification of a computer mouse costs about $ 700, which by no means contributes to its mass distribution. And only the company of Steve Jobs is able to develop a similar device with a cost of $ 20-30, which has become part of the daily lives of billions of people.
Among all the elements known to science under normal conditions, only two are found in a liquid state - bromine and mercury.
The Swedish chemist Karl Scheele can be called the record holder for the number of chemical elements discovered by him. Thanks to him, we learned about the existence of tungsten, barium, molybdenum, manganese, chlorine, fluorine and oxygen. Scheele is followed by his compatriots Karl Mosander and Jakob Berzelius, the Englishman Humphrey Davy and the Frenchman Paul Lecoq de Boisbaudran. Each of these chemists discovered four elements. The share of the above scientists accounts for about 1/4 of all currently known elements.
In the history of chemistry, there is a list of false discoveries of chemical elements, which includes 250 names. Thus, the discovery of more than 100 rare earth elements was announced, of which only 15 correspond to the truth.
Two elements were initially detected in the solar atmosphere using spectral methods, and only after that they were discovered in terrestrial materials. We are talking about technetium and helium.
The prevalence of chemical elements on our planet differs significantly from the distribution in the Universe. For example, silicon and oxygen lead on Earth, and helium and hydrogen lead in space.
In the process of boiling, water molecules move at a speed of 650 m/s.
The service life of plastic bearings is an order of magnitude longer than babbit bearings. Plus, they're eight times cheaper, and they're lubricated with water instead of oil.
Capron is considered an excellent substitute for non-ferrous metals. Bushings made of kapron, bearings, parts for machine tools, presses and textile machines do not require lubrication, are corrosion resistant, have a low coefficient of friction, are silent, much more durable and lighter than metal counterparts. In addition, they have a relatively low cost.
Nylon thread is 10 times more wear-resistant than cotton and 2.5 times stronger than silk. The thread, whose thickness is 1 mm, is able to withstand the weight of an adult (up to 75 kg).
To produce 100 tons of natural rubber, 100 people must work on the plantation for five years.
The cost of artificial leather is 15-20 times lower than natural. Labor costs for its production are almost a hundred times less.
Chemists have created a new fiber - vinol. It absorbs moisture like cotton. Vinol thread can be used in surgery, it dissolves without a trace in the human body a few hours after surgery. Vinol will give durable tires to airplanes and cars. And the fishermen will receive strong ropes and fishing tackle. Vinol does not rot and is not afraid of moisture.
Until the second half of the 17th century, Venice threatened the death penalty to anyone who would reveal the secrets of the production of mirrors. The Venetian state had a monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors.
Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov - the creator of the theory of the chemical structure of organic compounds, a brilliant experimenter and an outstanding theorist, also known as the founder of rational Russian beekeeping. Beekeeping was not just a hobby for him. For writing the book “Bee, her life. Rules of sensible beekeeping” he was awarded a prize from the Free Economic Society. In the spring of 1882, at the All-Russian Exhibition held in Moscow, Butlerov organized an exemplary apiary, where he personally acted as a consultant-guide.
The ancient Babylonian mathematicians, who lived two millennia BC. e., there were tables for calculating volumes and areas, negative numbers, a symbol for zero and a multiplication table. In addition, they already then solved equations of the fourth degree with almost the same methods that are used now. They knew about the so-called Pythagorean theory.
The Armenian scientist, mathematician of the 6th century David the Invincible compiled the first ever textbook on arithmetic problems. One of the copies of this problem book is still preserved in the Yerevan repository of ancient manuscripts.
The first mention of the mathematical signs "plus" and "minus" is found in a textbook on arithmetic by Johann Widmann, dated 1489. Until that moment, these signs were designated by the initial letters of their names.
The idea to denote decimal fractions with a comma belongs to the French mathematician Francois Vieta.
The first mention of the famous theorem on the sides of a right triangle is found in Babylonian cuneiform texts written 1200 years before the advent of Pythagoras.
The famous French scientist Alexi Clairaut studied higher mathematics at the age of ten, made his first scientific discovery at the age of twelve, and by the age of eighteen became an adjunct at the Paris Academy of Sciences.
The eminent Italian scientist Bonaventura Cavalieri suffered from gout. During the next attack of the disease, he diligently studied mathematics, and the pain receded.
Eight centuries BC, on the sides of the imperial throne, on which Theophilus sat, golden statues of lions were installed. When the emperor ascended the throne, they stood up, growled and again fit into place. Apparently, the ancient mechanics managed to make excellent automata.
In the Roman Colosseum, they found a cavity in which a giant elevator was once installed to lift wild animals and gladiators from the dungeons to the arena. The movement of the elevator was carried out with the help of a gate, on which 60 people worked.
For 48 years, every 6 weeks, George Westinghouse patented his new invention.
In the writings of the Greek writer Philo of Byzantium, who lived more than two thousand years ago, the oldest description of a water pump was found. However, he did not describe the first, but only an improved double-acting pump.
In order to unravel the mystery of the electromagnet, Faraday had to constantly carry a model of an electromagnet in his pocket for nine years and give it different positions, concentrating on the solution.
Mu is an Indian unit of distance, meaning the limits of audibility of a cow's lowing.
In some cases, the sound can not only be heard, but also seen. So, one Englishman, standing on a hill, happened to see a long narrow shadow moving towards him through the whole valley. As soon as she reached him, the Englishman felt a strong push and heard a powerful explosion. Subsequently, it turned out that a few miles from where he was standing, there was an explosion of a gunpowder warehouse. The blast wave compressed the air so that it began to cast a shadow.
In 1500, a Chinese official named Wang Hu decided to use a rocket for human flight for the first time. The aircraft he invented looked like a seat that two huge dragons had to carry with the help of 47 firework rockets. This attempt was unsuccessful and ended in the death of its inventor.
The term rocket appeared in the 19th century and comes from the word "rock-ketta", which in Italian means a tube, a spindle.
During the time that a passenger of a modern high-speed aircraft lights a cigarette, he will have time to fly through the air 6 km, and during a three-course meal - about 800 km.
In the tenth book of Vitruvius, dated to the 1st century BC. e., there is a description of "taxi". After passing a certain distance, a mechanism connected with the axis of the carriage dropped a pebble into a bronze bowl. The distance traveled was determined by the number of pebbles. Such carriages were put into practical use among the population of that time.
On many ancient Greek and Roman roads, traces on which carriages traveled, and arrows on which oncoming vehicles could pass have survived to this day.
In an ordinary wristwatch, there are parts, a thousand pieces of which weigh only 1 g.
The first nylon watches were made in England. Their gears, axles and springs are not afraid of shaking and dampness. New watches are not inferior in accuracy to ordinary, metal ones.
In 1761, the mechanic Garrison received a huge bonus of 10,000 pounds from the British authorities for being able to bring the accuracy of the chronometer to 30 seconds per day. To date, such accuracy is characteristic of ordinary wristwatches, mass-produced by watch factories.
For the first time blotting paper was invented in the middle of the last century. This invention is accompanied by a curious story. A worker in one of the English paper mills forgot to add glue to the paper pulp. For his oversight, he lost his job. But later it turned out that non-glued paper perfectly absorbs moisture. The enterprising owner of the factory did not fail to take advantage of this property and converted the entire factory production to the production of blotters, which found a large market. Unglued paper replaced the sifted sand, which was sprinkled over everything written in ink.
To compare two different calculation methods, a computer machine calculated the number pi to a hundred thousandth decimal place. This smart machine spent about 8 hours. It would take a person about 30 years to do the same job.
Inventor Emil Berliner produced the world's first record in 1888. The first record is still kept in the National Museum in Washington. In the center of the records of that time there were two holes, they were played from the middle to the edges. It was possible to record only on one side of the disc, and the name was on the reverse side. In the first half of the 20th century, chocolate records were sold.
The flame temperature of an ordinary primus stove can reach 2000 degrees.
About a century and a half ago, match heads were made from a mixture of glue, sugar and bartholite salt. Similar matches were lit by dipping them in a container with sulfuric acid.
While you strike a match on the box, the match head heats up to 200 degrees.
The metallic flint used in lighters does not contain a single gram of flint. 70% of its composition is cerium and 30% is ordinary iron. Cerium provides the appearance of sparks that ignite a wick moistened with gasoline.
At the tip of the needle of a conventional sewing machine, a pressure of about 5000 atm develops.
In Peru, on the ruins of one of the ancient palaces, they found a telephone, which is about a thousand years old. It was made from two gourd flasks tied with tight twine.
In the Beijing Temple of Heaven there is a wall erected in 1530. It is interesting because at the opposite end of the wall you can clearly hear everything said into it. The length of the wall is about 200 m and the height is 6 m.
Newborns usually have about 270 bones, most of which are very small. This makes the skeleton more flexible and helps the baby move through the birth canal and grow quickly. As we grow older, many of these bones fuse together. The skeleton of an adult consists of an average of 200-213 bones.
2. The Eiffel Tower grows 15 centimeters in summer
The huge structure is built with temperature expansion joints, thanks to which the steel can expand and contract without any damage.
When steel is heated, it begins to expand and takes up more volume. This is called thermal expansion. Conversely, a decrease in temperature leads to a decrease in volume. For this reason, large structures such as bridges are built with expansion joints that allow them to change in size without being damaged.
3. 20% of oxygen comes from the Amazon rainforest
Flickr.com/thiagomarraThe Amazon rainforest covers 5.5 million square kilometers. The Amazonian jungle produces a significant portion of the oxygen on Earth by absorbing huge amounts of carbon dioxide, which is why they are often called the lungs of the planet.
4. Some metals are so reactive that they explode even on contact with water.
Some metals and compounds - potassium, sodium, lithium, rubidium and cesium - exhibit increased chemical activity, therefore they are able to ignite with lightning speed upon contact with air, and if they are lowered into water, they can even explode.
5. A teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh 6 billion tons.
Neutron stars are the remnants of massive stars, consisting mainly of a neutron core covered with a relatively thin (about 1 km) crust of matter in the form of heavy atomic nuclei and electrons. The cores of stars that died during a supernova explosion were compressed under the influence of gravity. This is how superdense neutron stars were formed. Astronomers have found that the mass of neutron stars can be comparable to the mass of the Sun, despite the fact that their radius does not exceed 10–20 kilometers.
6. Each year, Hawaii moves closer to Alaska by 7.5 cm.
The earth's crust consists of several huge parts - tectonic plates. These plates are constantly moving along with the upper layer of the mantle. Hawaii is located in the middle part of the Pacific Plate, which is slowly drifting in a northwesterly direction towards the North American Plate, on which Alaska is located. Tectonic plates move at the same speed as human nails grow.
7. In 2.3 billion years, Earth will be too hot for life to exist.
Our planet will eventually become a vast desert, similar to today's Mars. For hundreds of millions of years, the Sun has been heating up, getting brighter and hotter, and will continue to do so. In about two billion years or more, temperatures will become so hot that the oceans that make Earth habitable will evaporate. The whole planet will turn into an endless desert. As scientists predict, in the next few billion years, the Sun will turn into a red giant and completely swallow the Earth - the planet will definitely come to an end.
Flickr.com/andy999 Thermal imagers are able to identify an object by the heat it radiates. And polar bears are experts at keeping warm. Thanks to a thick layer of subcutaneous fat and a warm coat, bears are able to endure even the coldest days in the Arctic.
9. It takes light 8 minutes 19 seconds to travel from the sun to the earth.
It is known that the speed of light is 300,000 kilometers per second. But even with such dizzying speed, it will take time to overcome the distance between the Sun and the Earth. And 8 minutes is not so much on a cosmic scale. It takes 5.5 hours for sunlight to reach Pluto.
10. If you remove all the interatomic space, humanity will fit in a sugar cube
In fact, more than 99.9999% of an atom is empty space. An atom consists of a tiny, dense nucleus surrounded by a cloud of electrons that proportionally occupy more space. This is because electrons move in waves. They can only exist where the crests and troughs of the waves add up in a certain way. The electrons do not stay at one point, their location can be anywhere within the orbit. That is why they take up a lot of space.
11. Gastric Juice Can Dissolve Razor Blades
The stomach digests food thanks to caustic hydrochloric acid with a high pH (hydrogen index) - from two to three. But at the same time, the acid also affects the gastric mucosa, which, however, is able to quickly recover. The lining of your stomach is completely renewed every four days.
Scientists have many versions of why this happens. The most likely: due to huge asteroids that have affected its course in the past, or due to the strong circulation of air currents in the upper atmosphere.
13. A flea can accelerate faster than a space shuttle.
Flea jumps reach breathtaking heights - 8 centimeters per millisecond. Each jump gives the flea an acceleration that is 50 times the acceleration of the spaceship.
What interesting facts do you know?
