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Did you know…

Did you know“… Please enjoy this ever-growing collection that offers a variety of strange and encyclopaedic knowledge that you may never heard about, until today.

The world’s weird things…In this part of the site you can find much strange and interesting information about animals, plants, humans, energy wastage as well as our planet. In addition to these, you can find curious questions that may quizzed you in the past accompanied with their answers…

Curious&Interesting data about the animal kingdom!
Did you know that…

  • A headless cockroach can survive for weeks? The cockroach finally dies is from hunger!
  • Cucumber is the only food that cockroaches can’t eat?
  • Does a fly recycle? A fly can puke its food that ate before and eats it again!
  • The spider known as ‘black widow’ can have sexual intercourse with 25 different male spiders and then eat them all?
  • The strongest insect in the world is a beetle (Scarabaeidae) that is mainly found in the tropical zones? It has been proved that this beetle can lift 850 times its weight.
  • A maggot has 5 hearts?
  • Some warms eat themselves if they can’t find any food?
  • Mosquitoes are attracted more by the smell of persons that have eaten recently bananas?
  • Only female mosquitoes bite?
  • There are 1.400 species of mosquitoes in the world?
  • The tasty cartridges of a butterfly are found at its leg?
  • The locusts can hear through holes of their back legs?
  • The crickets hear via their knees?
  • All the termites of world exceed the weight of all the people of the world?
  • The proportion is 10:1!
  • Ants do stretching in the morning when they wake up?
  • Ant’s world population total weight is bigger than humans total population weight?
  • Ant has the biggest brain comparing its rest body?
  • Ants never sleep?
  • Aardvarks prefer to eat termites than ants?
  • A flea can jump 350 times its body height? It’s like a human jump a whole football court.
  • A kangaroo cannot jump if its tale is not touching the ground?
  • A snail can sleep 3 years continuously?
  • A snail’s reproductive organs are  found at its head?A snail has 25.000 teethes?
  • Slugs have 4 noses?
  • Carnivorous animals don’t eat an animal that has been hit by a lightning?
  • There is a being which does not need a dentist? New crocodile’s teethes replace the old ones.
  • Crocodiles are closer related to birds than reptiles?
  • A child, with height 1.20m can fit in a hippo’s mount standing?
  • A giraffe can clean its ears with its tongue?
  • Giraffes don’t have phonetic strings?
  • The giraffes give birth standing up often? This means that the baby to be born, makes a free fall from a height of about two meters!
  • The hitting from an adult giraffe is so powerful that can head off a lion?
  • The only animal that could become sunburn is the pig?
  • The pig is anatomically unable to look to the sky?
  • Millions of trees are planted by mistake squirrels that bury seeds and then forget where they have hidden them
  • Sheep buried by avalanches, can survive for up to two weeks?
  • Bats always turn left when coming out of a cave?
  • Bats do not need to see when they fly? They use sounds to help them to realize they are going.
  • More than 10,000 birds die each year from collisions with windowpanes and windows?
  • The Kiwi birds are blind and hunt by smell?
  • The penguin is the only birds that can swim but do not fly?
  • A woodpecker pecks 20 times a second?
  • Geese often mate once and only once in their life and can die, literally, from the distress when their partners die?
  • The owls are the only birds who can see the blue colour?
  • The duck’s quack does not echo? And nobody knows why!
  • The brain of the ostrich is smaller than its eye?
  • Ostriches do not sink their heads in the sand?
  • The hens can be hypnotized?
  • The longest flight of a hen lasts for 13 seconds?
  • Unlike humans, canaries can recreate their brain cells?
  • A coin is heavier than the fowl hummingbird?
  • Cat doesn’t see in absolute darkness?
  • A cat has 32 musculatures in each ear?
  • Cats hear ultrasound?
  • The urine of cats glows in the dark?
  • Cats can utter one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs 10?
  • Dogs and cats are divided into “right-handed” and “left-handed”?
  • The heart of the dog beats 40 times more than ours?
  • The footprint of a dog’s nose is used for its identification as the fingerprint to people?
  • Fingerprints of Koala and humans are identically?
  • You’re not alone as all the polar bears are left-handed?
  • On average a hedgehog’s heart beats 300 times a minute?
  • The hedgehogs float in water?
  • The elephant is the only mammal that cannot jump?
  • The trunk of the elephant has 40,000 muscles?
  • The elephant is not afraid of mice?
  • The mice are multiplied so fast that in 18 months, two mice, can give more than one million offspring?
  • Within a year, a mouse can contaminate 500 kilogram of food?
  • It takes less than a night in a dormouse to dig a tunnel 90 meters long?
  • Rats give birth on average to 2000 offspring per year?
  • The rats, the horses and the rabbits do not vomit?
  • A rat can stand longer without water than a camel?
  • The camels have three eyelids to protect them from sandstorms?
  • Camel’s milk does not coagulate?
  • Cows produce more milk when listening to music?
  • Cows hear lower and higher frequencies than people can listen to?
  • A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her life?
  • The milk of a female donkey is almost identical with human mother’s milk?
  • The placement of eyes on donkeys, allows them to see all four of their legs at the same time?
  • The chimpanzees, the dolphins and humans are the only animals that can  recognize themselves in the mirror?
  • Dolphins sleep with one eye open?
  • The largest mammal in the world, the blue whale, when is born, weighs 50 tons?
  • The heart of a whale beats only 9 times a minute?
  • The octopus when gets hungry eats a couple of its tentacles, which have the capacity to grow again?
  • The tone is the only fish that never stops moving?
  • The fastest fish is Istiophorus platypterus and the speed that develops is around 109 km per hour?
  • A starfish can turn himself inside-out?
  • The starfish has no brain?
  • The heart of the shrimp is located in its head?
  • The shrimps are the noisiest creatures in the ocean?
  • The memory of goldfish lasts for about 3 seconds?
  • The crabs walk on the side, to avoid confusing their feet? Besides, four pairs of legs and two claws would make impossible any attempt to walk straight.
  • If you place a small quantity of liqueur on a scorpion, it will go crazy and sting itself?
  • Only 15% of the world’s flora and fauna, has been recognized until 2000?

Curious&Interesting data about the plant kingdom!
Did you know that…

  • The cashew nuts belong to the family of poison ivy?
  • Pistachios are one of the ingredients of dynamite?
  • The more ancient known vegetable is the pea?     
  • The apple’s cores contain cyanide?
  • Apples are more effective than caffeine to keep people quick on the uptake in the morning?
  • Strawberries belong into the family of the roses?
  • Parsley is the most used botany around the world?
  • The carrots were purple in the middle ages?
  • Because the potatoes were not mentioned in the Bible, the Scottish for many centuries, did not used to eat them?
  • The celery has “negative calories”? You consume more calories to eat it than those you gain when you eat it.
  • 2500 olive trees are required to produce a litter of refined virgin olive oil?
  • If you chew gum while peeling onions do not cry?
  • The largest flower petals reach the ½ meter long? The largest flower in the world, rafflesia arnoldi, weighs 7 kilogram and grows only on Sumatra island of Indonesia. Its petals reach the ½ meter long and 2.5 cm thick.
  • When a coffee seed is planted, it needs five years to give its first consumable fruit?
  • The growth percentage of some bamboo plants can reach three feet (91.44 million) per day.
  • The bark of trees sequoia is incombustible. If the tree gets on fire, then the fire burns only the inside of the tree.
  • The disappearance of trees and plants is currently at a rate of 10 thousand times faster than normal?
  • The plankton consists the 85% of all the living organisms on Earth?

 

Curious&Interesting data about humans!
Did you know that…

  • If someone wants to see a rainbow, then must has turned his back to the sun?
  • Morning- after pills that women get are also effective for the female gorillas?
  • The average man takes out about one kilogram of beard in thirty years?
  • Over 1 billion people have been killed by marmots?
  • Our heart makes more than 100,000 beats per day?
  • Each time you salivate a stamp you consume 1 / 10 of calories?
  • Our eyes always have the same size since the time we have been born but our noses and ears grow constantly?
  • The mutation of a gene in the brain of one man, 10,000 years ago resulted in speech and mental disorders?
  • Half of those who sit 27 hours a week in front of a computer screen, suffer from at least one personality disorder?
  • The food that will eat in your whole life will be equal with the weight of six elephants?
  • Just like a fingerprint, the footprint of the tongue is unique for each person?
  • We are born with 300 bones, but when we get adults we only have 206 bones?
  • When we run, there is so much pressure on the joints of the femur as much as a glass accepts if we put a car on it?
  • Women blink their eyes almost twice than men?
  • They are born about 200 babies every minute on our planet?
  • Fingernails grow nearly four times more than the nails of our legs?
  • Your eyes blink more than 10.000.000 times a year?
  • The average person laughs 13 times a day?
  • The air that comes out from your nose when you sneeze, has a speed of about 100 miles per hour?
  • Most people walk 185,000 km during their lifetime. Four and a half  times around the world?
  • By the seventh month of life, a baby is able to breathe and swallow at the same time? An adult cannot do that!
  • When we sneeze, our heart and lungs do not work for a second?
  • Nobody can lick his elbow? It is impossible to touch it with your tongue.
  • The human organ that can increase its length about 20 times is the daughter of the eye?
  • The right-handed live on average nine years longer than left-handed?
  • It is impossible to sneezes with your eyes open?
  • Every time we laugh, we consume 3 1 / 2 calories?
  • When you asked someone to tell a colour, 3 of 5 say red?
  • It 90 degrees below zero the breath freezes and falls to the ground?
  • Every second, about 15 million blood cells are produced and destroyed in the human body?
  • The human heart creates so much pressure on blood that it could fled from the heart bouncing to a height of 10 meters?
  • Chocolate contains the same substance –phenylethylamine– that the human’s brain produces when a man falls in love?
  • The fattest man in the world weighed 620 kilos?
  • The human body has 45 miles nerves?
  • The average man makes 1460 dreams a year?
  • The possibilities for a mother to have twins are 90 to 1?
  • The smile in humans is the result of cooperation of 17 face muscles?
  • The inarticulate shouts of the very young babies, are the same in all languages of the world?
  • Each one of us has lived for about 30 minutes as a unicellular organism?
  • In the human body 3 million cells die every minute?
  • The amount of cuprum contained in the human brain, is enough to build a computer’s sound card (6mg)?
  • The weight of our body is less in the morning when we wake up?

 

Curious and interesting data about energy wastage!
Did you know that…

  • Every year we use more than 9 million tonnes of paper and wood?
  • For each person are required two trees per year in order to cover his needs in paper and wood?
  • Every year, we use billions of tissues? Just think how many trees are cut in order to construct them!
  • If you try to make paper bags from a fifteen-year-old tree, you wouldn’t be able to make more than seven hundred?
  • The paper bags mentioned above are given by the employees of a large supermarket in less than a week?
  • While the average European consumes, 330 litters of fuel per year, the average American consumes more than 1600 litters, at the same time!
  • Fifty to one hundred hectares of tropical forest are destroyed every minute?
  • By recycling one glass bottle, you save as much energy as needed for a TV for 3 hours?
  • If deforestation continues at the same pace, in one hundred years there will be no trace of tropical forests?
  • By recycling one tonne of paper we save seventeen trees?
  • If one million people do not receive unnecessary correspondence we could save 1.5 million trees?
  • In some parts of the world no forests have remained in order to create paper? Thus, the people there have found other ways of shopping. Instead of paper or plastic bags, put their shopping in fabrics bags that always carry with them.
  • By recycling a glass bottle and by making from it a new glass pot instead of build it from scratch, we save as much energy as  an electric power 100W light bulb needs for four hours?
  • By recycling glass, paper, batteries, engine oil and aluminium cans, we contribute in the reuse of these materials and at the same time we reduce the quantity of waste to be incinerated up to 70%.
  • The energy saved by recycling glass in a developed country can cover the energy needs of a city for a whole year?
  • Using recycled glass to manufacture new items, reduces air pollution by 20% and the contamination of water by 10%?
  • One ton of recycled glass saves 30 gallons of oil, which will be spent if the glass was made from raw materials?
  • A developed country with 50 million inhabitants uses about 6 million glass bottles and pots, corresponding to approximately 1.5 million tons of glass, within a year?     
  • Each year in Cyprus are produced around 400,000 tonnes of waste?
  • The per capita waste production in Europe has increased by 36% from 1980 until today!
  • The paper consists the 20% of the total garbage? From this, more than 90% is packing paper. The tragic thing is that for this the paper, which usually ends up in landfills, 5.3 million trees are cut every year.
  • Of all the known forms of animals that have ever lived on Earth, only 10% still exists up to today?
  • Although the exact number is impossible to determine, scientists estimate that about 150-200 species of life disappear from the earth every 24 hours?
  • More than 60% of world population is directly dependent on plants for medicine?
  • The global temperature has risen by an average of 0,6 ° C. This small increase has led to the melting of ice and to the raise of the sea levels?
  • A single drop of engine oil can make 25 gallons of water undrinkable?
  • According to recent studies, 70% of the marine species globally are endangered?
  • Each ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil?
  • More than half the world’s tropical forests have been lost. Each year, are destroyed more than 63,000 squarely miles?
  • A dripping tap can waste 13 litters of water per day?
  • Universally, one in six mammals is endangered?
  • The batteries produce 50 times less energy than the energy that is needed so as to be created?
  • By making a shower instead of a bath, we can save up to 25 litters of water. However a highly pressure shower could waste even more water than a bath?
  • The inflation of your car’s tires could save you up to 5% of fuel costs?
  • Reducing your thermostat by 1 ° C, you save 10% of your fuels cost?
  • The 10 warmest years of the last 130 years occurred after 1978?
  • With simple measures, most companies can reduce their energy consumption by at least 10%?
  • The required time for decomposition:
    • of plastic is 45 years
    • of iron is 100 years
    • of aluminum is 200-250 years
    • of paper is a few weeks
    •  of wood is a few months
    • of glass is unknown
  • The required time for decomposition in the sea:
     

    • for a glass bottle  is 1 million years
    • for a plastic bottle is 450 years
    • for an aluminium box is 80-200 years
    • for a rubber sole is 50-80 years
    • for a plastic cup is 50 years
    • for  a box of cans 50 years
    • for one nylon fabric is 30-40 years
    • for  a plastic bag is 10 to 20 years
    • for a cigarette filter is 1-5 years
    • for  a woollen garment is 1-5 years
    • for one piece of plywood is 1-3 years
    • for a milk carton packaging is 3 months
    • for an apple core is two months
    • for newspaper is 6 weeks
    • for an orange peel is 2-5 week
    • for a paper tissue is 2-4 weeks

 

Curious and interesting data about our planet!
Did you know that…

  • The speed of rotation of the Earth around the Sun slowly decreases?
  • The sun is 330,330 times bigger than the earth?
  • There are more than 50,000 earthquakes each year on this planet?
  • Around 6,000 lightnings strike the earth every minute?
  • An average iceberg weighs 20 million tons?
  • Each year the sun loses 360 million tons?
  • Each day, around 10 tonnes of stellar dust fall to Earth?
  • Sound travels 15 times faster through steel than through air?
  • A lightning strikes at such a speed that would make the rotation of the Earth eight times in one second?
  • Each day is 55 billionths of a second longer than the previous day?
  • Venus is the only planet in the solar system that rotates clockwise?
  • Every drop of seawater contains approximately 1 billion atoms of gold?
  • The highest recorded temperature is 57.8 degrees Celsius? Indeed, there was recorded twice: on September 13, 1922, in Al Aziza, Libya, and on August 11, 1933, in St. Louis, Mexico.
  • The lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth is -89.2 degrees Celsius (Antarctica 1983)?
  • There are 1500 active volcanoes worldwide, including 500 on the surface of the Earth? About 550 volcanoes have erupted so far.
  • The Earth weighs around 6,588,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 tons
  • On Earth every minute we have about 6000 lightnings?
  • Gold is the only metal that does not rust even when buried beneath the earth for thousands of years?
  • Light does 8 minutes to reach Earth from the sun?
  • 50% of world population, lack access to clean and drinking water?

Curious and Interesting Questions and Responses!

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Why does paper turn yellow?
The paper contains a special substance (lignina) which removes its natural colour during its treatment, thanks to the chemical reactions. Over time, the process that the paper has accepted loses its activity. So the substance (lignina), if exposed to light, it reflects the wavelength of the spectrum making the yellow colour visible.

Why the interior of Earth is fluid after all these years in the frozen space?
Before 150 years the opponents of the theory of Darwin believed that they had found the answer to this question. Thus, they argued that the Earth was created relatively recently, and as result in its interior there were high temperatures. One of them, the Victorian doctor Lord Kelvin, attempted to calculate the age of Earth based on the time needed to stabilize the volatile substances within so as to gain temperature analogous to that prevailing in a deep mine. He found that Earth is 98 million years old, a very wrong calculation as the Earth is 4.54 billion years old. Apparently Lord Kelvin had overlooked something important: the effect of radiation in the formation of Earth’s temperature. Today, geologists know that inside the Earth there is a small amount of radioactive substances such as uranium, thorium and potassium. During their cleavage a significant amount of heat is emitted and as a result the process of cooling and solidification of the Earth’s interior is impossible. 

Why does bread get spoiled, while the biscuits not?
Bread, biscuits and cakes vary considerably in their composition; therefore, behave differently when they come into contact with air. Cookies contain 2-3% water, because the recipe requires the presence of large quantities of sugar that pulls water. The bread, however, contains a predetermined amount of water, approximately 30% for less than a kilo and up to 40% for pieces more than a kilo. The absence of sugar as well as the high water amounts contained means that the bread loses its water easily and gets dry. The bread gets spoiled even when is kept in conditions where it doesn’t loses its water. This is due to changes in the structure of the starch present in the raw meal.

Why do you balance the bike easier moving than stopped?
One of the reasons is the rotation of the wheel. If a disk rotates rapidly around an axis then resists into the direction of orientation towards the same axis. This means that when the bicycle wheels spin, they tend to resist to the decline of the bicycle or to the loss of balance. However, the more important reason is the following. Let us imagine that we are on a bike in a straight path. If we look carefully at our path, we will see that in reality our path is not completely straight. In contrast our path takes place with small turns, others to the left and others to the right, thanks to which we remain in balance. Indeed, when we tend to lose our balance to one side, the bike leans to the opposite side. In this way, the centrifugal force brings us back on track whenever we turn. These turns are due either to the independent movement of the bike or on our instinctive reaction. Indeed, the cyclist, by shaking the steering wheel contributes into the creations of small turns.


An object thrown high returns to the Earth with the same speed?
If there was no wind resistance then any object thrown would return to the Earth at the same speed due to the force of gravity. However the wind slows partially the orbiting of object, which collides with the molecules that compose the atmosphere. Friction converts a part of the object’s kinetic energy that the object has when thrown into heat. As a result when the object returns to the Earth has lost energy and develops a lower speed. The heat generated by the friction can be so intense, especially at high speeds to cause dramatic events such as shooting stars or flaming meteors. In extreme cases tragic events also occur like the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia, which was destroyed during its re-entrance in the atmosphere because it didn’t stand the high temperatures caused by the friction with the air molecules.

Why we should not swim immediately after lunch or dinner?
After each ingestion of food, soft bites travel from the oesophagus into the stomach. There, the muscular walls convert the food through spasms into a semi-liquid substance which passes into the small intestine and so enters the main digestion. The whole process, although automatic, is quite tedious, since it involves not only the gastrointestinal tube but many other organs also (glands, liver, gall bladder, etc.). The digestion is therefore a function that causes enough stress on the heart, requiring a high concentration of blood in the gastrointestinal system. Swimming immediately after a lunch or dinner causes even more stress on the heart and the contact with the cold water causes vasoconstriction and a significant redeployment of the blood volume. Swimming after eating is like a shock to the cardiovascular system, thereby increasing the risk of heart attack. So it is better not to swim until three or four hours have passed after eating.

It is true that migratory birds do not eat for several days? 
Migratory birds eat more than the usual before starting their journey in order to obtain energy supplies that will consume during the flight. The particular structure of the intestine of birds provide more storage space for the required energy. If it is necessary, the gut increases the number and size of the cells that is consisted of so it can store more nutrients. Indeed, when the birds travel eat very little. The food is not guaranteed and at the same time they should be prepared to face several weather adversities. Their digestive system functions in conditions of partial or temporal atrophy in order to save energy by not wasting it on the digestion process. Partial atrophy allows migratory birds to feed on with insects when they make stops. When they arrive at their destination, they have lost much weight. Even then, however, they eat very little in relation to their needs until their digestive system gets restored back to its normal functions.

Is it true that aspirin is bad for the cats?
Indeed, aspirin is harmful to cats. This is because pets are not producing a specific enzyme necessary for their metabolism when the body takes this specific painkiller. For example, the cat can take only the one twentieth of a simple aspirin. The above quantity can lead to hepatitis, stomach disorders and to respiratory problems. Aspirin, however, can be used in adult animals in very small doses. Approximately 10 mg per kilogram of their total weight every 48 hours is sufficient.

How do spiders jump from tree to tree?
They throw in the air a thread, and afterwards a second thread and so on, until the tip of the thread, which is sticky, is glued to the desired position. The spider moves like a rope dancer on the “bridge” of construction to reach its destination. There are spiders hooked on their threads or rolled up with them and leave themselves transported by the air. The webs that they weave consist of a sticky substance, a protein secreted by glands presented in their stomach. The thread solidifies when it comes into contact with the air and is extremely lightweight with great elasticity and strength. With the help of this silk thread produced in seven different types, depending on the use intended, spiders capture their prey, wrap the eggs and move from one tree to another.

How do the swallows manage to return always to the same nest? 
The swallows always return to the same nest because they know that will find there the ideal conditions for breeding. To find their nest, when they return during spring after their autumn migration to warmer climates they use some reference points: geographical, astronomical, geomagnetic, but mostly the sun compass. They have an internal clock synchronized with the movement of the sun during the day and thus they hold a steady path, based on time and exact location of the star. Another tool is the magnetic compass. Each latitude is characterized by a specific value of the magnetic field. Swallows can identify it and maintain a steady path. When the birds are close to where they were bred, some local points of reference as a river are also helpful to them. Swallows also use smell to identify sites.

Why do flocks of birds fly in formation “V”?
A bird flies at the top of the formation in the shape of “V” and all the others follow it constructing with their bodies of a double wing, in which each bird flies in a parallel position relative to the previous, slightly shifted outwards. The formation is adopted, either during short trips or during migration and is selected for aerodynamic reasons. Only in this formation every member of the flock is able to exploit part of the penetration rate of air compared with those at the front. The bird opening the formation gets more tired than others and for this reason a periodic switch in the role of the driver is made. This type of flight is typical only for the ducks and cormorants. The passerines that are smaller and lightweight birds fly loosely or fly in groups though they are classified in those that cover longer distances during migration.

Why bee hives are made of hexagonal cells;  
The bees have invented the best way to save first material, and more specifically wax, and space in the hive. Of all the geometric shapes that have equal perimeter, the smallest volume responds to the cycle, followed by polygons with fewer sides. For example, the hexagon takes up less volume than the heptagon, the heptagon below the octagon, etc. If the bees were making individual cells, the ideal shape would be round, because the same amount of wax would save more space. However, each cell consists of numerous cells, which are next to each other. If the cells were round to where the rounds would not touch and then it would remained unused space. The hexagon is the right balance for the bees. It requires the minimum candle as the sides of each cell are common for the neighbourhood cell. Moreover, it occupies the smallest possible volume compared to other polygons as it has an excellent ratio between perimeter and surface.


How does a tree become bonsai? 

Bonsai was born in China before 2,000 years. The art comes from the technique of pentzingk (penjing), the composition of miniature landscapes with mountains, rivers and trees. Etymologically the word means “plant on a disk” and is related with th cultivation of ornamental plants-dwarf. Bonsai initially appeared both in arid zones and in areas with very low temperatures, where the success of the plant was not easy. Soon, their cultivation was developed by implementing techniques such as pruning the roots and the foliage. The aim was to develop them in a small space vessel. Finally, the trim of the foliage gave to the bonsai its characteristic shape.