A neutron star is so dense that one teaspoon of its material would have a mass over 5,500,000,000 tonnes (5.5 billion), about 900 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza (often cited as 5.9 million tons / 5.3 million tonnes). At the extraordinarily
400 million years ago, in the Devonian period, cartilaginous fishes such as primitive sharks became more numerous. The first tree dates to about 385 million years ago, and the Dinosaur Age started 252 million years ago, making sharks older than trees and dinosaurs. One galactic year (the duration of time
Evidence is mounting that loggerhead turtles use a form of navigation termed Magnetoreception. This allows them to sense the Earth’s magnetic field. It has been observed that young loggerhead turtles inherit a magnetic map and magnetic compass sense that guides their first transoceanic migration. The turtles change their migration
The electric eel can stun their prey by delivering a shock of up to 860 volts. According to one study, the shocks from leaping electric eels are powerful enough to drive away animals as large as horses by activating the nociceptor sensory neurons in the horse. The electric eel stacks
Lightning can heat the air it passes through to temperatures of about 30,000 °C (54,000 °F). That is regarded as 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun. The discharge process, or return stroke, of the lightning is the most luminous part where the electric current moves
In the 17th century, Isaac Newton discovered that prisms could split up white light into a spectrum of colors. He also showed that the spectrum could be recombined to recreate white light. Newton was the first to use the word spectrum in describing his experiments. Today we call the band
Neptune's winds in the equatorial region have speeds of around 1,200 km/h (750 mph), with some storm systems having wind speeds that reach up to 2,100 km/h (1,304 mph) making them near-supersonic. For comparison, the fastest wind gust ever recorded on Earth
If you look at a gram of soil under a microscope, you will find that it can contain billions of organisms. Most of the organisms are microbial and unexplored by science. Some of the bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen, while some fungi extract phosphorus and increase good carbon levels in the
TON 618 is often cited, but the central supermassive black hole of the Phoenix Cluster (Phoenix A) is potentially the most massive black hole in the observable universe. Scientists use a unit of measurement called a Solar Mass to compare the mass of the black hole with our sun. A
Archaeopteryx is an extinct genus of bird-like dinosaurs. Even though they were small, with broad wings, and had an inferred ability to fly or glide, they had more features in common with other small Mesozoic dinosaurs than with modern birds. Archaeopteryx shared dinosaur features such as jaws, sharp teeth,
The fastest-spinning neutron star known is PSR J1748−2446ad, rotating at a rate of 716 times per second or 42,960 revolutions per minute, it’s equator is spinning at approximately 24% of the speed of light, or over 70,000 km per second. As the star got compressed
Our Milky Way galaxy is estimated to contain between 100–400 billion stars. A detailed study observed over six years by the Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork (PLANET) collaboration found that the Milky Way galaxy contains a minimum of 100 billion planets. According to the study there is one planet for
space
Black hole time dilation is when the closer an object is to a black hole, the slower time passes relative to someone far away. This effect can also be seen to a much lesser degree on Earth. Physicists at NIST have tested this effect using clocks separated at different altitudes
space
Space is big, really really big. Let’s do some math: Earth has a diameter at the Equator of 7,926 miles. If one astronomical unit (AU) is 92,955,807.3 miles, and the distance between the Sun and the Heliopause is about 123 AU, that’s 11,433,
space
Our Moon is drifting away from the Earth at approximately 3.8cm per year. Scientists know exactly how fast because of the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment. This effect is due to tidal interactions between the Earth and the Moon. The ocean closer to the Moon actually bulges toward it. Because
genetics
How much DNA do humans really share with bananas? It is often repeated that humans share 60% DNA with bananas, but what is the important nuance of this statistic that gets left out? Genes, which are regions found in DNA that code for proteins, only make up less than 2
biology
3,000-year-old honey found in Egyptian tombs is still edible. This is because honey contains about 80% sugars with close to no free water. It contains hydrogen peroxide released slowly by the glucose oxidase enzyme. It is also acidic, with a pH between 3.2 and 4.5