You can't argue with the fact. But there are many misconceptions in the world, there are a huge number facts about the simplest and seemingly well-studied things, phenomena and events that seem unreal to us. It is precisely such unknowns and Interesting Facts we offer in this selection.
1. " Hell's organ»
In 1741, the outstanding Russian designer Andrei Konstantinovich Nartov (1680-1756) created the most rapid-fire gun. They called it the “Infernal Organ”; the design was a system of 44 small mortars mounted on a rotating carriage. While one part of the mortars fired a salvo, the rest were loaded, then the wheel turned and a new salvo followed.
Pugachev’s troops used these guns, so the rapid-fire system was also called the “Pugachev gun.”
2. Royal tattoo
In 1844, dignitaries prepared the body of King Charles XIV Johan of Sweden for burial. And they were amazed to see the “Death to Kings” tattoo on their body.
Here it is necessary to recall that the founder of the Bernadot dynasty, which still rules in Sweden today, was born into the family of a Béarn lawyer in the city of Pau in Gascony. Jean Baptiste Bernadotte began his military career to improve his financial situation in the Royal Infantry Regiment. Excellent military abilities and the most What he valued—experience—allowed him to advance quickly after the French Revolution. During the reign of Napoleon, General Bernadotte received command of the corps, and in 1804 he became Marshal of the Empire.
After the news of Bernadotte's humane treatment of the Swedish prisoners captured in Trava, his popularity in the country increases incredibly. At this time, the childless King Charles XIII reigns in Sweden. In fact, power belonged to the aristocrats due to the king’s dementia. Therefore, Bernadotte was chosen as heir to the Swedish throne.
In 1818, after the death of Charles XIII, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte ascended the throne under the name of Charles XIV Johan. And the question of how best to remove the tattoo did not bother him.
3. Why chamomile?
Chamomile began to be called that just a little more than 200 years ago. This name comes from Polish, and is a distortion of the Latin word romana, that is, “Roman”. The Poles called this flower “Romanov flower” back in the middle of the 16th century. “Chamomile” became a diminutive form and was first used under this name in the recipes of the late 18th century by the Russian agronomist A.G. Bolotov.
In Latin, chamomile is called Matricaria, which translates as “mother herb,” since the plant was then the most a popular remedy for women's diseases. This name was first used by the Swedish physician and botanist Albrecht von Haller, but in Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History” chamomile appears under the name Chamaemellon.
4. Arab-Israeli conflict
Interesting that there are 60 Muslim countries in the world and only 1 Jewish one. The country's main city, Jerusalem, was the Jewish capital for more than 3,000 years. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was founded here by the Crusaders in 1099. In 1187 the city was captured by Salah ad-Dinin, and Acre was the last to fall in 1291. Since 1260, Palestine came into the possession of the Mamluk dynasty. But at the same time, the city was never used by them as a capital, Islamic leaders did not visit it at all.
Interesting fact, but Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koran, but in the Jewish Tanakh it is mentioned 700 times. And it is towards Jerusalem that Jews pray, and Muslims turn towards Mecca.
If in 1854 Jews made up more than 60% of the population in Jerusalem, then in 1922 they were prohibited from settling in more than 77% of the Palestinian territory.
5. Toilet finger
The bats cute and scary at the same time, everyone perceives these night hunters differently. Everyone knows that in mice the fingers of the upper limbs have been transformed into a kind of frame on which membranes-wings are stretched. But at the same time, the thumb remained with a strong claw, which mice use when climbing. This finger also has other uses.
That's right Interesting, if mice usually hang upside down in a free position, then how do they get rid of waste? The simplest procedure turns out to be not so easy to implement. And this is where the same thumb, which is called the “toilet” finger, is used. The mouse simply clings to the surface with these fingers, turns over and performs all the necessary actions without getting its fluffy fur dirty.
6. Nutritional supplements
Natural food is virtually disappearing from our tables. Even seemingly unprocessed vegetables and fruits can contain many different elements that are unusual for them, which entered the product as a result of treatments, fertilizers, etc. What can we say about all kinds of semi-finished products and other “victims” of the processing industry. Interesting fact is that even formally harmless additives are not recommended by experts for use by children.
All nutritional supplements have a certain marking. So food dyes are coded with numbers from E100 to E182. To increase shelf life, preservatives (E200 - E299) are used. Antioxidants have a similar effect, protecting products from spoilage by slowing down oxidation processes (E300 - E399). To give products a marketable appearance, stabilizers (E400 - E499) and emulsifiers (E500 - E599) are used. Another method of improving the attractiveness of a product is the addition of flavors and flavor enhancers, coded with numbers from E600 to E699.
Why wasn't a Canadian study on the effects of watching pornography on your sex life completed?
In 2009, scientists from the University of Montreal attempted to conduct a study on the impact of watching pornography on the sex lives of men aged 20 to 30 years. As part of this, 20 men were interviewed. However, the goal was not achieved, since scientists could not find a single man who had never seen porn to make comparisons.
Physicists Ralph Alpher and George Gamow, before publishing a paper on primordial nucleosynthesis - the formation of chemical elements during the Big Bang - invited Hans Bethe as a co-author only so that their surnames would form a beautiful combination of the first three letters of the Greek alphabet. For the sake of brevity, the scientific community calls this article “αβγ paper.” Some calculations for the work were carried out on a computer by Ralph Herman, who was offered to change his last name to Delter and also be included in the list of authors, but he refused.
In which institution of besieged Leningrad did employees die of hunger, having access to bread and potatoes?
Founded by Nikolai Vavilov, the All-Union Institute of Plant Growing at the beginning of the Second World War had the world's most extensive collection of seeds of more than one hundred thousand plant samples. During the siege of Leningrad, the institute’s staff made heroic efforts to preserve the collection in the absence of electricity and interruptions in heating. In the winter of 1941-1942 alone, five Virov residents died of hunger because they refused to consider the reserves of cereals and potatoes as food. And in the summer, employees managed to sow the necessary samples under artillery fire. Rats got into some boxes, and there were thefts through broken windows, but overall these losses were insignificant for the collection.
Which concept promotes the absence of conflicts between faith and the theory of evolution?
Among followers of various faiths there are many adherents of theistic evolutionism. This concept recognizes the scientific view of the origin of the Universe, the origin of life on Earth and evolution, but declares God to be the driving force behind these processes. Theistic evolutionists explain inconsistencies in religious texts (for example, the creation of the world by God in 6 days) by the fact that in the light of indisputable evidence of modern scientific theories, religious texts should be interpreted not literally, but allegorically. Of all the faiths, theistic evolutionism received the most consistent and official support from the Catholic Church: back in the mid-20th century, Pope Pius XII stated that evolution should be considered a serious hypothesis, and in 1996 John Paul II said that it is more than a hypothesis, and that between There is no contradiction between the theory of evolution and the doctrine of faith.
Which Catholic priests made scientific discoveries that contradict religious dogmas?
Among Catholics there are many scientists who have made discoveries that directly contradict religious dogmas. Moreover, they were not just believers, but also served as priests. The most famous such person is Nicolaus Copernicus, he served as a canon in the diocese of Warmia and became famous for his theory of the heliocentric system of the universe. The Catholic Church subsequently banned his teachings and censored his works. Another example from the 20th century is the Belgian Georges Lemaitre, who received the rank of abbot and worked at many universities. He became the author of the theory of the expanding universe, independently of the Soviet mathematician Friedman, and subsequently his reasoning formed the basis of the Big Bang theory.
What is being studied in the longest continuous laboratory experiment in history?
In 1927, Thomas Parnell, a professor at the Australian University of Queensland, conducted an experiment to demonstrate to students the liquid properties of bitumen tar, a substance that is solid in its normal state. After heating the resin, he poured it into a sealed glass funnel and closed the top, and three years later he cut off the bottom of the funnel, allowing droplets to form. The first drop fell in 1938, the next ones fell at approximately the same interval - a total of 9 drops have been recorded to date. This experiment is considered the longest continuous laboratory experiment in history.
Who and how proved that the exodus of Jews from Egypt described in the Old Testament is theoretically possible?
American scientists have used a computer model to prove the theoretical possibility of the exodus of Jews from Egypt. As described in the book of Exodus, Moses led his people to a place where the waters of the sea parted. Computer calculations have shown that in one place in the Nile Delta a passage with walls of water on either side can form if the wind blows in a certain direction at a speed of 100 km/h for 12 hours.
How did Mendeleev discover the periodic law?
There is a widespread legend that the idea of the periodic table of chemical elements came to Mendeleev in a dream. One day he was asked if this was true, to which the scientist replied: “I’ve been thinking about it for maybe twenty years, but you think: I sat there and suddenly... it’s ready.”
Why is spinach overrated for its iron content?
In terms of iron content - 2.7 mg per 100 grams - spinach is not a record holder among vegetables. However, it has long been believed that spinach is exceptionally rich in iron. This misconception arose in the late 19th century from two sources. One American researcher came up with a figure of 2.9 mg, but forgot to put a decimal point, and the published study read 29 mg. Independently, a scientist from Switzerland announced an even higher figure - 35 mg, but he obtained this result based on an analysis of dry spinach. The error was discovered only half a century later.
What science is often called "the science of sophomores and white rats"?
Psychology is sometimes called "the science of sophomores and white rats" because many experiments are conducted on these two categories. Most research psychologists work in universities, so it is easiest for them to attract students for research.
Whose Nobel medals were hidden from the Nazis in dissolved form?
In Nazi Germany, the Nobel Prize was banned after the Peace Prize was awarded to the opponent of National Socialism, Karl von Ossietzky, in 1935. German physicists Max von Laue and James Frank entrusted the custody of their gold medals to Niels Bohr. When the Germans occupied Copenhagen in 1940, the chemist de Hevesy dissolved these medals in aqua regia. After the end of the war, de Hevesy extracted the gold hidden in the aqua regia and donated it to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. New medals were made there and re-presented to von Laue and Frank.
What are the dangers of using dihydrogen monoxide?
Since the 1990s, calls to ban the use of dihydrogen monoxide have frequently appeared on websites and in mailing lists. They list the numerous dangers that this substance causes: it is the main component of acid rain, accelerates the corrosion of metals, can cause short circuits, etc. Despite the danger, the substance is actively used as an industrial solvent, food additive, and nuclear power plants. stations, and enterprises dump it in huge quantities into rivers and seas. This joke - after all, dihydrogen monoxide is nothing more than water - should teach critical perception of information. In 2007, a New Zealand MP bought into it. He received a similar letter from a constituent and forwarded it to the government, demanding that the dangerous chemical be banned.
Some parents tell their child: “You are the light of my life.” But did you know that if you were light, you would fly around the entire globe 7.5 times per second! If you became sound, you could fly around the Earth in 4 hours! If we lived on Jupiter, our day would consist of only 9 hours. It’s good that on Earth a day lasts 24 hours, because we have so much to do during the day! These are just a few fun scientific facts that may interest both an inquisitive child and an adult.
What is science?
Science is an organized and sequential study that includes observation, collection of scientific facts, experimentation, testing of results, and explanation of natural and man-made phenomena. This is an area that gives us the opportunity to better understand the world around us and create good things for the benefit of man and all living beings.
Ordinary scientific facts
Now that you know what we're talking about, here are some fun scientific facts:
- If you stretch a human DNA chain, its length will be the distance from Pluto to the Sun and back.
- When a person sneezes, the speed of the air they exhale is about 160 km/h.
- A flea can jump to a height that is 130 times its own height. If the flea were a 1.80 m tall person, it could jump 230 m.
- The electric eel produces an electrical current of 650 volts. Touching it is the most powerful shock a person can experience.
- Light particles called photons take 40,000 years to travel from the Sun's core to its surface, but only 8 minutes to reach Earth.
Scientific facts about the Earth
Earth is our home. To take care of her, we need to know important information about her:
- The age of the Earth is from 5 to 6 billion years. The Moon and the Sun are about the same age.
- Our planet is composed mainly of iron, silicon and relatively small amounts of magnesium.
- Earth is the only planet in the solar system with water on its surface, and its atmosphere is 21% oxygen.
- The Earth's surface is made up of tectonic plates located on the mantle, a layer located between the Earth's core and the surface. This structure of the earth's surface explains earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
- There are about 8.7 million species of living organisms living on Earth. Of these, 2.2 million species live in the ocean, and the rest live on land.
- ¾ of the Earth's surface is covered with water. When astronauts first saw Earth from space, they saw mostly water. This is where the name “blue planet” comes from.
Environmental Facts
Why do the seasons change? What happens to garbage after we throw it away? What causes the weather to be hot or cool? Children learn this and much more in natural history lessons at school. Let's look at some facts that convince us of what a beautiful planet we live on.
- Plastic completely decomposes in the ground in 450 years, and glass in 4,000 years.
- Every day around the world, 27,000 trees are used to make toilet paper alone.
- 97% of all water on Earth is salty and unsuitable for consumption. 2% of the water is in glaciers. Therefore, only 1% of water is suitable for consumption.
- The meat processing industry is the biggest contributor to global warming. In second place among global problems is deforestation. About 68% of existing plant species are likely to become extinct in the near future.
- The population of the Earth is more than 7 billion people. This figure is expected to reach 8 billion by 2025.
- Unfortunately, 99% of existing species of living organisms, according to scientists, will become extinct.
Interesting facts about animals
The animal kingdom is beautiful and amazing. It contains tame otters, powerful eels, singing whales, giggling rats, oysters that change gender, and many other equally amazing representatives. Here are a few facts about animals that your child will undoubtedly enjoy:
- Octopuses have three hearts. An even weirder fact: lobsters have a urinary tract on their face, while turtles breathe through their anus.
- In seahorses, males give birth, not females.
- The kakapo parrot has a strong, pungent odor that attracts predators. That is why kakapo are in danger of extinction.
- A squirrel plants more trees than the average person in a lifetime. How can this be? The fact is that squirrels hide acorns and nuts underground, and then forget where exactly they hid them.
- It is mainly lionesses who hunt among lions. Leos only intervene when necessary.
Interesting facts about plants
Plants green our planet, produce oxygen, and make the Earth habitable. Trees and plants are probably the most useful among the living inhabitants of the Earth. Here are some interesting facts about plants:
- Like humans, plants recognize other plants of their own species.
- In total, there are more than 80,000 edible plants on Earth. Of these, we eat about 30.
- Humanity is rapidly destroying forests. About 80% of all forests have already been destroyed.
- The oldest tree in the world (sequoia) is located in the USA, in the state of California. His age is 4,843 years.
- The height of the tallest tree in the world is 113 m. It is also located in California.
- The largest tree in the world is aspen, growing in the USA, in the state of Utah. Its weight is 6,000 tons.
Facts about space
The sun, stars, planets, the Milky Way, constellations and everything that is in the Universe is located in vacuum space. We call it space. Here are some interesting facts about him:
- The Earth is tiny compared to the Sun, which is 300,000 times larger.
- The entire space is absolutely silent, because sound does not travel in a vacuum.
- Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. The temperature on the surface of Venus is 450°C.
- The force of gravity changes a person's weight on different planets. For example, the force of gravity on Mars is lower than on Earth, so a person weighing 80 kg on Mars would weigh only 31 kg.
- Since the Moon has neither atmosphere nor water, nothing can erase the traces of astronauts who set foot on its surface. Therefore, the traces will probably remain here for another hundred million years.
- The temperature of the Sun's core, the closest star to Earth, is 15 million degrees Celsius.
Facts about famous scientists
For a long time, people thought that the Earth was flat, that the change of seasons depended on the mood of the gods, and that illness was caused by evil spirits. This continued until great scientists proved the opposite. Without them, we would still be living in ignorance.
- Albert Einstein was a genius, but his talents were discovered quite late. After the scientist's death, his brain was the subject of numerous studies.
- Nicolaus Copernicus disproved the theory that the Earth is the center of the Universe. He developed a model of the solar system with the Sun at the center.
- Leonardo da Vinci was not only an artist. He was also an outstanding mathematician, scientist, writer and even musician.
- Archimedes invented the law of fluid displacement while taking a bath. The funny thing is that, according to legend, he jumped out of the bathtub shouting “Eureka!” He was so excited that he forgot that he had no clothes on.
- Marie Curie, the female chemist who discovered radium, was the first person in the world to win the Nobel Prize twice.
Scientific facts from the world of technology
Technology is the engine of progress. We are so dependent on technology in everyday life that it is even scary. Here are some interesting facts about the technical devices we come across every day:
- The first computer game appeared in 1967. It was called “brown box” (translated from English as “brown box”) because that’s exactly what it looked like.
- The world's first computer, ENIAC, weighed more than 27 tons and took up an entire room.
- The Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same thing.
- Robotics is one of the most relevant scientific fields today. However, back in 1495, Leonardo da Vinci drew the world's first diagram of a robot.
- “Camera Obscura” is a prototype of a camera that influenced the development of photography. It was used in Ancient Greece and China to project images onto a screen.
- There is an interesting technology that uses plant waste to produce methane, which in turn can be used to generate electricity.
Scientific facts from the engineering industry
Engineering helps create beautiful things - from houses and cars to electronic gadgets.
- The tallest bridge in the world is the Millau Viaduct in France. It is located at an altitude of 245 m, supported by beams suspended on cables.
- The Palm Islands in Dubai can be called a modern wonder of the world. These are man-made islands floating on the water.
- The world's largest particle accelerator is located in Geneva. It was built to support the research of over 10,000 scientists and is located in an underground tunnel.
- The Chandra Space Observatory is the world's largest X-ray telescope. It is also the largest satellite launched into space.
- Today the most ambitious project in the world is the New Valley in Egypt. Engineers are trying to turn millions of hectares of desert into farmland. Imagine what would happen if we could green the Earth in the same way! Our planet would regain its pristine purity!
Science is a wonderful field of study that inspires many people. All you need is to get your child interested in it. And who knows, maybe your child will grow up to be the next Einstein.
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Most of the knowledge acquired at school will never be useful to us. Most of this we will never even remember. And yet some crumbs of “useless” information will remain in memory. Paradoxically, it is thanks to them that we feel like educated people. The luxury of keeping in mind not only vital information, but also “information surplus” increases self-esteem and gives a feeling of intellectual competence.
And “unnecessary information” surprisingly turns out to be the most interesting. This interest can become for children a magic key to the vast world of science, which is often hidden behind boring formulas and incomprehensible definitions.
In this article, we have collected nine scientific facts that can be used in mathematics, physics, geography, chemistry and biology lessons to clearly show: science is not something abstract from real life, but situations that we encounter every day.
Fact No. 1. On average, an ordinary person travels a distance equal to three Earth equators in his life
The length of the equator is approximately 40,075 km. Multiplying this figure by three, we get 120,225 km. With an average life expectancy of 70 years, we get about 1,717 km per year, which is a little more than five kilometers per day. Not that much, but it adds up to a lifetime.
On the one hand, this information has no practical application. On the other hand, it is much more interesting to measure the distance traveled not in meters, steps or calories, but in equators. And calculating the percentage of the length of the equator will attract attention not only to geography, but also to mathematics.
The following two facts may also be useful in mathematics lessons. Using the first, you can calculate the number of children in a parallel or even in an entire school born on the same day.
Fact #2: If there are 23 random people in a room, then the probability that two of them will have the same birthday is more than 50%.
And if you bring 75 people together, then this probability reaches 99%. There can be a 100% chance of a match in a group of 367 people. The probability of a match is determined by the number of pairs that can be made from all the people in the group. Since the order of the people in the pairs does not matter, the total number of such pairs is equal to the number of combinations of 23 by 2, that is, (23 × 22)/2 = 253 pairs. Thus, the number of couples exceeds the number of days in a year. The same formula calculates the probability of coincidences for any number of people. This way you can estimate the number of children born on the same day in a parallel school or even in the entire school.
Fact No. 3. The number of living organisms in a teaspoon of soil is greater than the entire population of our planet.
One square centimeter of soil contains billions of bacteria, fungi, algae and other organisms. About 60 million bacteria live in just one gram of dry soil. There are significantly fewer nematodes, or roundworms (the most famous of which are roundworms and pinworms) in the same amount of soil - only 10 thousand. A figure incommensurate with the human population, but no less unpleasant for that.
Practical application of information: Wash your hands thoroughly after taking care of your indoor plants, as well as after working in the garden. An area of increased bacterial danger is the sandbox on any playground.
Fact #4: The average toilet seat is much cleaner than the average toothbrush.
The bacteria on your teeth live at a density of about 10 million per square centimeter. The amount of bacteria on the skin varies depending on the part of the body, but in any case it is much less than in the mouth.
But there are no bacteria on the skin of frogs at all. The reason for this is the mucus secreted by the frog and containing strong antibiotics. This is how frogs protect themselves from the aggressive bacterial environment of the swamps in which they live.
A person is much less adapted in this regard, so it is recommended to change toothbrushes every couple of months.
Fact No. 5. In the evening, a person becomes 1% shorter compared to his “daytime” height
Under load, our joints tend to compress. With a normal lifestyle, by the evening a person’s height decreases by 1-2 cm, which is approximately 1%. The decrease is short-lived.
The maximum reduction in height occurs after weightlifting. Changes in height can be three or more centimeters. This is due to compaction of the vertebrae.
Fact #6: Diamonds can be produced from peanut butter using very high pressure.
Scientists from the Bavarian Research Institute of Geophysics and Geochemistry tried to simulate in the laboratory the conditions of the Earth's lower mantle, where at a depth of 2,900 kilometers the pressure is 1.3 million times higher than atmospheric pressure. During the experiment, some innovative ways of producing diamonds were discovered. According to one hypothesis, diamonds are formed from carbon under very high pressure. Carbon is found in almost all foods. And since the researchers only had peanut butter on hand, they tried it. Unfortunately, hydrogen, which is bound to carbon in peanut butter, slows down the process significantly, taking several weeks to produce even a small diamond. Thus, scientific thought proves that the most incredible transformations are quite possible.
Fact No. 7. The height of the Eiffel Tower can change by 12 centimeters depending on the air temperature
An iron rod 300 meters long elongates by 3 mm when the ambient temperature increases by one degree.
This is exactly what happens with the Eiffel Tower, which is approximately 324 meters high.
In hot sunny weather, the iron material of the tower can heat up to +40 degrees, and in winter in Paris it cools down to approximately 0 degrees (severe frosts are rare there).
Thus, the height of the Eiffel Tower can fluctuate by 12 centimeters (3 mm * 40 = 120 mm).
Fact #8: A typical microwave oven uses much more energy to keep its built-in clock running than it does to reheat food.
While in standby mode, a modern microwave uses approximately 3 watts per hour. Already 72 W per day comes out, and if we multiply this number by thirty days, we get an energy consumption of 2160 W per month.
If we assume that we use the microwave every day for 5 minutes, we get 150 minutes or 2.5 hours per month. Modern stoves consume about 0.8 kW/hour in heating mode. It turns out that with this use, the energy consumption directly for heating food is 2000 W. If you purchase a more economical model that consumes only 0.7 kW/hour, we get only 1.75 kW per month.
Fact No. 9. The first computer mouse was made of wood
Sometimes we are just curious to know the fate of the objects that we use every day.
A computer mouse in our usual design was introduced to the world in 1984 by Apple. Largely thanks to her, Macintosh computers became incredibly popular. But this small but such a necessary device begins its true history 20 years earlier.
In 1964, engineer Douglas Engelbart from Stanford developed a manipulator to work with the oN-Line System (NLS) operating system. Initially, the device was a handmade wooden box with two wheels inside and a button on the body. After some time, the device appears with a third button, and a couple of years later Engelbart receives a patent for his invention.
Then Xerox comes into play, but its modification of the computer mouse costs about $700, which does not at all contribute to its mass distribution. And only Steve Jobs’ company is able to develop a similar device with a cost of 20-30 dollars, which has become part of the everyday life of billions of people.
Among all the elements known to science, under normal conditions only two are found in the liquid state - bromine and mercury.
Swedish chemist Karl Scheele can be called a record holder for the number of chemical elements he discovered. Thanks to him, we learned about the existence of tungsten, barium, molybdenum, manganese, chlorine, fluorine and oxygen. Following Scheele are his compatriots Karl Mosander and Jacob Berzelius, the Englishman Humphry Davy and the Frenchman Paul Lecoq de Boisbaudran. Each of these chemists discovered four elements. The above scientists account for about 1/4 of all currently known elements.
In the history of chemistry, there is a list of false discoveries of chemical elements, which includes 250 items. Thus, the discovery of more than 100 rare earth elements was announced, of which only 15 are true.
The two elements were initially identified in the solar atmosphere using spectral methods, and only then were they discovered in terrestrial materials. We are talking about technetium and helium.
The distribution of chemical elements on our planet differs significantly from the distribution in the Universe. For example, on Earth the leaders are silicon and oxygen, and in space they are helium and hydrogen.
During the boiling process, water molecules move at a speed of 650 m/s.
The service life of plastic bearings is an order of magnitude longer than that of Babbitt bearings. In addition, they are eight times cheaper, and they are lubricated with water, not oil.
Nylon is considered an excellent substitute for non-ferrous metals. Bushings, bearings, and parts for metal-cutting machines, presses and textile machines made from nylon do not require lubrication, are resistant to corrosion, have a low coefficient of friction, are silent, and are much more durable and lighter than their metal counterparts. In addition, they have a relatively low cost.
Nylon thread is 10 times more wear-resistant than cotton thread and 2.5 times stronger than silk. The thread, whose thickness is 1 mm, can withstand the weight of an adult (up to 75 kg).
To produce 100 tons of natural rubber, 100 people must work on the plantation for five years.
The cost of artificial leather is 15-20 times lower than natural leather. Labor costs for its production are almost a hundred times less.
Chemists have created a new fiber - vinol. It absorbs moisture as well as cotton. Vinol thread can be used in surgery; it dissolves without a trace in the human body a few hours after surgery. Vinol will provide long-lasting tires for airplanes and cars. And fishermen will receive strong ropes and fishing gear. Vinol does not rot and is not afraid of moisture.
Until the second half of the 17th century, the death penalty was threatened in Venice for anyone who revealed the secrets of mirror production. The Venetian state had a monopoly on the manufacture of mirrors.
Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov is the creator of the theory of the chemical structure of organic compounds, a brilliant experimenter and outstanding theorist, also known as the founder of rational Russian beekeeping. Beekeeping was not just a hobby for him. For writing the book “A Bee, Her Life. Rules of intelligent beekeeping" he was awarded a prize from the Free Economic Society. In the spring of 1882, at the All-Russian Exhibition held in Moscow, Butlerov organized an exemplary apiary, at which he personally acted as a consultant and guide.
The ancient Babylonian mathematicians who lived two millennia BC. e., there were tables for calculating volumes and areas, negative numbers, a symbol for zero and a multiplication table. In addition, they were already solving equations of the fourth degree using almost the same methods that are used now. They knew about the so-called Pythagorean theory.
The Armenian scientist and mathematician of the 6th century, David the Invincible, compiled the first textbook on arithmetic problems in history. One of the copies of this problem book is still preserved in the Yerevan repository of ancient manuscripts.
The first mention of the mathematical signs “plus” and “minus” is found in a textbook on arithmetic by Johann Widmann, dated 1489. Until then, these signs were designated by the initial letters of their names.
The idea of denoting decimal fractions using a comma came from the French mathematician François Viethe.
The first mentions of the famous theorem about the sides of a right triangle were found in Babylonian cuneiform texts, written 1200 years before the appearance of Pythagoras.
The famous French scientist Alexi Clairaut studied higher mathematics at the age of ten, made his first scientific discovery at the age of twelve, and by the age of eighteen he became an adjunct at the Paris Academy of Sciences.
The outstanding Italian scientist Bonaventura Cavalieri suffered from gout. During the next attack of illness, he diligently studied mathematics, and the pain subsided.
Eight centuries BC, golden statues of lions were installed on the sides of the imperial throne on which Theophilus sat. When the emperor ascended the throne, they stood up, growled and lay down again. Apparently, ancient mechanics managed to make excellent machines.
In the Roman Colosseum, a cavity was found in which a giant elevator was once installed to lift wild animals and gladiators from the dungeons to the arena. The movement of the elevator was carried out using a gate, which employed 60 people.
For 48 years, George Westinghouse patented his new invention every 6 weeks.
The oldest description of a water pump was found in the writings of the Greek writer Philo of Byzantium, who lived more than two thousand years ago. However, he described not the first, but only an improved double-action pump.
To solve the mystery of the electromagnet, Faraday had to constantly carry a model of the electromagnet in his pocket for nine years and give it different positions, concentrating on the solution.
Mu is an Indian unit of distance indicating the range of audibility of a cow's moo.
In some cases, the sound can not only be heard, but also seen. So, one Englishman, standing on a hill, happened to see a long narrow shadow moving towards him across the entire valley. As soon as she reached him, the Englishman felt a strong push and heard a powerful explosion. It subsequently turned out that a gunpowder magazine had exploded a few miles from where he was standing. The blast wave compressed the air so that it began to cast a shadow.
In 1500, a Chinese official named Wang Hu decided to use a rocket for human flight for the first time. The flying machine he invented was in the form of a seat that was supposed to be carried by two huge dragons with the help of 47 fireworks rockets. This attempt was unsuccessful and ended in the death of its inventor.
The term rocket appeared in the 19th century and comes from the word “rocketta”, which translated from Italian means tube, spindle.
During the time it takes for a passenger on a modern high-speed aircraft to light a cigarette, he will have time to fly 6 km through the air, and during a three-course lunch - about 800 km.
In the tenth book of Vitruvius, dated 1st century BC. e., there is a description of a “taxi”. After passing a certain distance, a mechanism connected to the axis of the carriage dropped the pebble into a bronze bowl. The distance traveled was determined by the number of pebbles. Such crews found practical use among the population of that time.
On many ancient Greek and Roman roads, tracks on which carriages drove, and arrows on which oncoming traffic could miss each other, have been preserved to this day.
An ordinary wristwatch contains parts, a thousand pieces of which weigh only 1 g.
The first nylon watches were made in England. Their gears, axles and springs are not afraid of shaking and dampness. The new watches are not inferior in accuracy to ordinary metal watches.
In 1761, the mechanic Harrison received a huge bonus of 10,000 pounds from the English authorities for managing to increase the accuracy of the chronometer to 30 seconds per day. Today, such precision is characteristic of ordinary wristwatches mass-produced by watch factories.
Blotting paper was first invented in the middle of the last century. This invention comes with an interesting story. A worker at one of the English paper mills forgot to add glue to the paper pulp. For his mistake, he lost his job. But later it turned out that unglued paper absorbs moisture perfectly. The enterprising owner of the factory did not fail to take advantage of this property and converted the entire factory production to the production of blotters, which found a large market. Unglued paper replaced sifted sand, which was sprinkled on everything written in ink.
To compare two different calculation methods, the computer calculated the number pi to the hundred thousandth decimal place. The smart machine spent about 8 hours on this. The same work would take a person about 30 years.
Inventor Emil Berliner produced the world's first gramophone recording in 1888. The first record is still kept in the National Museum in Washington. The records of that time had two holes in the center; they were played from the middle to the edges. You could only record on one side of the disc, and the title was on the back. In the first half of the 20th century, chocolate records were sold.
The flame temperature of an ordinary primus stove can reach 2000 degrees.
About a century and a half ago, match heads were made from a mixture of glue, sugar and bertholite salt. Similar matches were lit by dipping them in a container of sulfuric acid.
When you strike a match against a box, the match head heats up to 200 degrees.
The metal flint used in lighters does not contain a single gram of flint. 70% of its composition is cerium and 30% is ordinary iron. Cerium produces sparks that ignite a wick moistened with gasoline.
At the tip of the needle of a regular sewing machine, a pressure of about 5000 atm develops.
In Peru, in the ruins of one of the ancient palaces, a telephone was found that is about a thousand years old. It was made from two pumpkin flasks tied with tight twine.
There is a wall in the Beijing Temple of Heaven that was built in 1530. It is interesting because at the opposite end of the wall you can quite clearly hear everything said into it. The length of the wall is about 200 m and the height is 6 m.