Fun Facts and Trivia
FUN FACTS AND TRIVIA
Here are few fun facts and trivia listed below about different topics.
Earth
- The earth is the third planet from the sun and one of the most special in the solar system. It is approximately 149,597,890 km away from the sun and is the only planet known to sustain life.
- The earth consists of 70% water, which is only 0.25% of the total mass of the planet. 8% of the earth consists of volcanoes, 11% is fertile land used to grow crops, 10% is covered in ice, and a fifth of the earth’s surface is desert lands.
- The axis of the earth is tilted at an angle of 23 degrees. This causes us to have four seasons in a year.
- Very strong earthquakes on the ocean floor cause deadly waves known as Tsunamis. Volcanic eruptions in and around the ocean can also cause tsunamis.
Human Body
- The nose can detect a trillion smells.
- A quarter of your bones are in your feet.
- Human teeth are as strong as shark teeth.
- Your blood is as salty as the ocean.
- Not only does everyone have unique fingerprints, humans also have unique tongue-prints.
- The average brain weighs about 1.4 kilogram.
- Your nose and ears never stop growing.
Animals
- Dogs have two different air passages, one for breathing and another for smelling. This allows them to store scents in their nose, even while they are exhaling.
- Cats do not have collar bones, and their backbones are very flexible. When a cat walks, its back paws step in almost exactly the same place that its front paws previously were, allowing them to make less noise and leave fewer track marks.
- Killer Whales, also known as Orcas, are not whales at all, and are actually a type of dolphin. They are the largest breed of dolphins in existence.
- Hummingbirds are the only birds in the world that can fly sideways, backwards, up and down, and even hover in mid-air. They can beat their wings up to 200 times per second.
- Ostriches can run faster than horses, and male ostriches can roar like lions.
- The largest living animal is the blue whale, which can measure as much as 100 feet.
Amazing Space
- The Moon is very hot (224 degrees Fahrenheit/106.667 degrees Celsius, average) during the day but very cold (-243 degrees Fahrenheit/-152.778 degrees Celsius, average) at night.
- Venus spins clockwise. It’s the only planet that does this.
- One million Earths could fit inside the Sun.
- Even in an airplane, a trip to Pluto would take about 800 years.
- It takes 8 minutes and 19 seconds for light to travel from the Sun to Earth.
- The footprints on the Moon will be there for 100 million years.
- Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in the solar system (it only takes about 10 hours to complete a full rotation on its axis).
Technology
- The internet and the World Wide Web is not the same thing. The internet is a network of other smaller networks that link computers together all over the world. The World Wide Web is a collection of linked pages that can be used with the help of the internet and a web browser.
- Over 3.8 billion people use the internet today, which is 40% of the world’s population.
- Electronic computers were developed around the 1940s and were the size of a large room. Today, computers have gotten so small that they have been embedded into other things like microwaves, toys, cell phones, automotives, etc.
- In 1495, Leonardo da Vinci sketched out designs for a humanoid robot. Today, there are many robot prototypes being made.
- There are more than 300 million photos uploaded to Facebook every day, 800 million likes per day, and 175 million love reactions per day.
- 250 million hours of TV shows and movies are watched daily via Netflix.
- More than 56 million hours of music is streamed daily.
- 10 years ago (2007), Apple launched its first iPhone, over 2.3 billion people now own an iPhone now.
- Candy Crush earns more than $1.74 million per day and over USD 636 million per year.
Engineering
- Out of the Ancient Wonders of the World, the Great Pyramid of Giza, is the oldest and the one that remains mostly intact.
- The way engineers solve practical problems is through mathematical and scientific knowledge. The word Engineer itself comes from a Latin word, which means “cleverness.”
- The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are joined by the Panama Canal, which was one of the most difficult and dangerous engineering projects of all time.
- The tallest wind turbine has rotor tips measuring over 656 feet above the ground.
- Telecommunications satellites, and other satellites that need to maintain their position above a specific place on the earth, must orbit at 35,786 kilometres and travel in the same direction as the Earth’s rotation.
Food
- The world’s longest French fry is 34-inches long.
- Garlic bulbs are full of Vitamin C, iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc and more. It also has 17 amino acids.
- The strawberry is the only fruit that bears seeds on the outside.
- Ice cream was once called “cream ice.”
- Apples float because they are one quarter air.
- Cabbage is 91% water.
- Carrots were originally purple in colour, changing in the 17th Century to orange with newer varieties.
- Chocolate is a particularly good source of magnesium, potassium and calcium. It also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. On the down side it contains caffeine and has a high fat level.
Nature
- The world’s largest reef system is found in Queensland, Australia. It is called The Great Barrier Reef.
- Pineapples take 2 years to grow.
- There is an area around the Pacific Ocean where tectonic plates meet, called the Pacific Ring of Fire. It holds around 75% of the volcanoes on Earth.
- A lightning strike can reach up to 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit (30,000 degrees Celsius). This is around six times hotter than the surface of the sun. While a lightning bolt may look huge, its actual size is only as long as that of a ballpoint pen.
Reference/Citation/Source
- 50 Spellbinding Science Facts for Kids
https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/50-spellbinding-science-facts-for-kids/ - 81 Amazing Facts Every Kid Should Know
https://redtri.com/quirky-facts-and-trivia-for-kids/slide/1 - 35 Technology Facts and Stats
https://orleansmarketing.com/35-technology-facts-stats/ - 30 fun facts about engineering, science and technology
https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/17159/30-fun-facts-about-engineering,-science-technology - Food Trivia – fun food “facts”
https://foodsafetyplus.com.au/food-trivia-fun-food-facts/