This just in: science is pretty incredible. We discover so many new things about our planet and the space around it on a daily basis that can feel like your head is spinning faster than the Earth’s rotation. (Which, by the way, is about 1,000 miles per hour.) It’s easy to miss one or two things while trying to keep up.
Even if you’re the biggest science nerd out there, you probably don’t know all of these amazing facts. Let’s build our brains up, guys.
1. Scientists believed they had found a “second earth” known as Gliese 581c, but recent findings show it likely isn’t habitable.
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2. Scientists can make diamonds from tequila.
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3. Scientists used mouse skin cells to create stem cells, which were then used to create mice eggs that produced healthy baby mice. Those mice were later able to reproduce on their own.
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4. Sucralose, like Splenda, was discovered when one scientist misinterpreted his coworker saying “test this chemical.” He thought he said “taste this chemical.”
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5. In 2009, scientists used cloning to bring back an extinct species. It lived for about 7 minutes before dying due to a lung defect.
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6. Scientists are currently working on technology that will allow a road to charge electric cars as they drive on it.
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7. Scientists have demonstrated how the Egyptian pyramids might have been assembled using kites.
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8. Scientists have invented particles which would make us able to live without breathing.
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9. In 1999, scientists attached electrodes to a cat’s brain and recorded what it saw.
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10. There is a cave of natural gas in Turkmenistan known as the “Door to Hell.” In 1971, scientists lit the cave on fire expecting it to burn for a few days. It’s still burning.
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11. Harvard scientists have not only slowed down the aging process in mice, but have even been able to completely reverse it.
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12. Japanese scientists studied mosquitos to create a virtually painless syringe needle.
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13. Scientists at Cornell University created a functioning “nano guitar” which is roughly the size of a human blood cell.
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14. Many scientists believe lobsters do not die of natural causes. Basically, they’re immortal.
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15. 19, 232 new species were discovered in 2009 alone.
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16. Scientists working for the Nazi regime worked on something known as a “sun gun” — a 3.5 square mile concave mirror which they would have used to burn down entire cities.
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17. In 1952, a European scientist released a bacterium into the wild which almost eradicated the continent’s rabbit population. There was a 90% reduction in France and 95% in the UK.
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18. There is a waterfall in Minnesota called Devil’s Kettle where the water flows into a large hole made of rock. Several studies have been done and scientists still don’t know where the water ends up.
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19. In 2007, one scientist found the method for removing allergens from peanuts.
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20. Scientists are working on a substance that would give anyone the ability to walk up walls and ceilings à la Spider-Man.
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21. The man who discovered green fluorescent protein (GFP), something three other scientists received Nobel Prizes for, was working as a driver in 2008. He earned $10/hr.
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Now you’ll be able to really own the other teams at your bar’s trivia night.
