5. A Saudi billionaire donated himself out of the billionaire’s club Over the course of his life Saudi bank-owner Sulaiman bin Abdul Aziz Al Rajhi has donated $5.7 billion to charity. Now you may say what about Bill Gates who donated $27 billion or Warren Buffett who has donated $21.5 billion and who promises to …
Shoelace tying calculations Let’s presume that you take around 20 seconds to tie your laces and you you take your shoes on and off twice a day, that you learnt to tie your shoelaces at the age of 5 and you live to age 85. 20×2 = 40 seconds per day40*365 days of the year …
You spend at least two weeks of your life tying your shoe laces Read More »
The Portuguese Water Dog (cão de água) was bred specifically to round up fish. It can easily be trained to herd fish into fishermen’s nets. Originating in the Steppes around 700BC it was probably brought to Portugal via the Goths. It is similar to a poodle in appearance but it has amazing fishing skills. The …
Gunpowder is comprised of 75% potassium nitrate (saltpeter), 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur. You can make explosives using three basic ingredients: Sulphur (sulphur is used in the production of fertilisers) Charcoal (like what you use in your barbeque) Saltpeter What is saltpeter? Saltpeter, also known as nitrate of potash or even ‘Chinese snow’, is the …
A rare songbird called the Ortolan is an illegal delicacy in France. Every year 300,000 Ortolans fly from the North, Baltic states, Finland and Scandinavia to warmer climes in the South. On the way they have to cross France. In France around 30,000 ortolans are hunted during their emigration. The Ortolan features on International Union …
Comet Neowise is currently passing by the Earth and will be visible with the naked eye every night until the end of July. Comet Neowise will pass the closest (103 million kilometres) to the Earth on the 23rd of July. FAQs about Comet Neowise: How often does Comet Neowise pass Earth? It has an eliptical orbit …
Teleportation of particles into space has already been accomplished and teleportation of humans is theoretically possible For many years scientists have been able to ‘teleport’ photons (particles of light. The atom itself is not teleported but the states of single atoms have been teleported, thus creating to all extents and purposes, the same atom in …
This is an offence under s 54 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839. Other offences covered by s 54 include flying kites, playing annoying games, and sliding on ice or snow in the street. Source: https://www.lawcom.gov.uk/app/uploads/2015/03/Legal_Oddities.pdf
Muscle strength in 10 year olds has fallen by 20% to 30% over the 16 year period between 1998 and 2014. Researchers from the University of Essex took a random sample of ten-year old students from students in Chelmsford, Essex in 1998, 2008 and 2014. They had the same number of boys and girls and …
Children are a third weaker than twenty years ago Read More »
The Basenji is the only type of dog that doesn’t bark. Instead it ‘sings’ to express itself. Originally from the Congo and used to chase rodents, the Basenji breed is unable to bark. But, lovers of peace and quiet, before you go and buy one bare in mind that it can still make a range …
You may have heard the saying: ‘Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight’ but does a red sunset really mean you are going to have good weather? Yes! The colour red indicates that dust particles are suspended in the atmosphere under the effect of high pressure. This mass of air coming from the west means that …
Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight (is it true?) Read More »
The average count of viruses in 1ml of surface layer water is about 10,000,000. The world’s oceans are teaming with viruses. A litre of seawater typically contains billions of viruses – the vast majority of which remain unidentified. Viruses: Essential to human existence Viruses play an essential role in the life of microorganisms like plankton. …
There are 10 million viruses in one drop of sea water Read More »
In 2001 the longest piece of music in the world began, the music will end in the year 2640. Avant-Gard musician, John Cage’s, ORGAN2/ASLSP (ALSP = As SLow aS Possible) is currently being performed in the small town of Halberstadt in Germany. The performance will last for 639 years. A specially made self-playing organ was …
What is the longest piece of music in the world? Read More »
Luke Aikins had made over 18,000 skydives in his life but in 2016 he made his first jump without a parachute. He reached speeds of 150 mph as he plummetted for two minutes, always keeping an eye out for the tiny square of net that he needed to land on. The daredevil jumper was accompanied …
A skydiver jumped 25,000 feet without a parachute, check out the video Read More »
Hamburger University is a corporate university owned by the McDonalds fast food chain. The university began with a meeting in a in suburban Chicago basement in 1961 between Fred Turner and Ray Kroc. Kroc was CEO at the time and Turner would later become CEO. During his lifetime Kroc took the franchise from 6 to …
Hamburger University is harder to get into than Cambridge, Harvard or Oxford Read More »
