Scientific cool facts are usually quite surprising. The more scientists learn about life, the more questions they have. In this way, science becomes a continuing adventure of discovery. Scientists study the earth, animals and plants, and they study the farthest parts of the universe. They look at the largest things and the smallest ones, and everything in between.
All that is needed to have the mindset of a scientist is to be curious. An exploration in science starts with learning what others already figured out about a subject and then taking the next steps to learn more.
Science gives us these super cool facts
- The speed of light is 299,792 458 meters per second (186,000 miles per second). Going around the circumference of the earth at this speed takes only 0.13 second to circle the earth. It takes 8 minutes and 17 seconds for light to travel the 149,600,000 kilometers from the Sun to the Earth. The Earth spins at 1,000 miles per hour, yet travels through space at 67,000 miles per hour.
- When a flea jumps, it accelerates twenty times faster than a rocket launch. A flea can jump one-hundred thirty times their height. If people could do this, they could jump over seven-hundred feet into the air.
- Smaller animals and insects perceive time faster, so that makes humans appear to go into slow motion when observed by flies.
- If it was possible to drill a tunnel through the earth and then jump in, it would take 42 minutes and twelve seconds to come out the other side. This is not possible because the pressure and the heat in the center of the earth are too great for a tunnel to be made.
- The deepest hole ever drilled was the Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia. At its deepest point, it is 12.262 kilometers deep (7.6 miles). The rock temperature at this depth was 180°C (356°F). This temperature made the rock more like a liquid so it was not possible to continue to drill further.
- A hoax was created that was published in tabloid newspapers saying that scientists had recorded people screaming, which became known as “The Well to Hell.”
- In just one bolt of lightning, there is enough energy to toast 100,000 pieces of bread.
- Every second 100 lightning bolts hit the Earth.
- Each lightning strike discharges up to one hundred million volts of electricity and 30,000 amperes of power at a temperature of 30,000°C (54,000°F), which is six times hotter than the sun.
- About one thousand people per year are killed by lightning strikes.
- The Earth is 4.56 billion years old. The universe is 13.8 billion years old.
- In five billion years, the Sun will run out of fuel and turn into a Red Giant, while everything on Earth freezes solid.
- Scientists have been able to revive a flower from a seed found in a fruit that stayed frozen in the permafrost for over thirty-two thousand years.
- On average, a person eats by accident over four hundred insects each year.
- Over a lifetime, a person sheds about forty pounds of dead skin.
- There are more microorganisms living on a single person’s skin that there are people living on earth.
- There are more germs transferred from one person to another by shaking hands than kissing.
- Self-service soda machines in fast food restaurants have more germs than toilet seats.
- The most dangerous creature in the world is the housefly because it transmits more disease than any other insect.
- Wounds that are full of maggots heal more quickly without spreading gangrene.
- The world’s largest volcano is located in the ocean near the Japanese coast. It is the size of the state of New Mexico.
- The largest living organism is a fungus that is 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles). It is growing in the Blue Mountain region of the state of Oregon, USA.
- The largest living structure on Earth is the Great Barrier Reef near Australia, which is over 2,000 kilometers long.
- The universe consists of over one-hundred billion galaxies. There are between one hundred billion and one trillion stars in the average galaxy. Earth and the solar system is part of only one galaxy called “The Milky Way.”
- Traveling at the speed of light would take two million years to reach the nearest galaxy, which is the large galaxy called Andromeda.
- The weight of a spoonful of a neutron star is over one hundred million tons.
Cool Random Facts
Random cool facts can be about anything. Here are some surprising cool facts:
A Bear Fit for a King
In the year of 1251, the King of Norway gave a polar bear to King Henry III of England. King Henry II kept the polar in the Tower of London, secured with the help of a long chain so that the bear could take a swim in the Thames river when it needed to cool off.
If it was possible to use all the Lego blocks that have been manufactured and stick them all together to make a single tower, it would be as high as ten times the distance to the Moon.
The tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun affect not only the oceans, but also the land. At the equator, the land mass goes up and down by about fifty-five centimeters (21 inches) each day.
Babies become right or left-handed while still in the mother’s womb.
When a person farts, they lose a tiny amount of weight, about 0.0371 of a gram.
It is Chirping Hot
It is possible to estimate the outside temperature in Fahrenheit by counting the number of chirps made by a cricket during fourteen seconds and then adding forty.
Poor Dumb Things
- Starfish do not have brains, but they can turn their stomachs inside out.
- Emus and kangaroos are not able to walk backwards.
- An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.
- The animal with the largest brain in relation to its size is the ant and they never sleep.
- Crocodiles swallow rocks to be able to dive deeper.
- A cockroach is able to live for many weeks without a head.
Cool Facts For Kids
- One cool fact is that butterflies stand on food to taste it because they have taste buds in their feet.
- A hippopotamus is able to run faster than a human being.
- It is impossible to sneeze with the eyes remaining open.
- Both parrots and rabbits can see what is behind them without moving their heads.
Cool Facts About Dreams
When dreaming, we enter a state of alternative consciousness. Sometimes dreams seem so real. They can even be very scary. A few people have dreams about things that are going to happen in the future. These are prophetic dreams. Research suggests that between 18% and 38% of people have dreams that predict the future.
About 90% of all dreams are never remembered. Blind people, who became blind after birth, are able to see images in their dreams. Those who are born blind have vivid dreams based on senses other than sight. Before color television, it was more common for people to dream in black and white. During the first half of the 20th century, up to about the 1950s, the majority of people dreamed in black and white. Nowadays only about 4% of those under the age of twenty-five dream in black and white.
Animals also dream. Many times when a dog is sleeping, their paws start moving like they are running or chasing something in their dreams, or they may start whimpering if they are having a scary dream.
I Cannot Move While Dreaming
Dreams happen during a time of sleep that is characterized by Rapid Eye Movement (REM), which lasts for up to 90 minutes per night, allowing for up to ten dreams. During REM sleep, the body is paralyzed so it cannot move in response to the dreams. The most common emotion in dreams is anxiety and there are more scary dreams than nice ones for most people.
More interesting cool facts about dreaming can be found on these webpages:
- 20 Amazing Facts About Dreams that You Might Not Know About
- 23 Most Interesting Facts About Dreams That Will Give You Goosebumps
Enjoy learning more cool facts by checking out these websites: