Pi
NASA uses ~15 digits to navigate the solar system.
Antarctica
The driest continent; some valleys haven’t seen rain in eons.
MIT
Engineers there once measured Earth-Moon distance with lasers.
Brain
Uses ~20% of your resting calories.
Honey
Archaeologists have eaten 3,000-year-old honey, still edible.
Venus
A day there is longer than its year.
Sleep
Memory consolidation spikes in deep slow-wave sleep.
Gold
Most atoms of it on Earth came from neutron-star collisions.
Oxygen
Oceans produced most of the O₂ that let complex life explode.
Octopus
Most of their neurons are in their arms, not the head.
Moon
It’s drifting away about as fast as fingernails grow.
Speed of sound
Underwater it’s ~4× faster than in air.
Pi
NASA uses ~15 digits to navigate the solar system.
Antarctica
The driest continent; some valleys haven’t seen rain in eons.
MIT
Engineers there once measured Earth-Moon distance with lasers.
Brain
Uses ~20% of your resting calories.
Honey
Archaeologists have eaten 3,000-year-old honey, still edible.
Venus
A day there is longer than its year.
Sleep
Memory consolidation spikes in deep slow-wave sleep.
Gold
Most atoms of it on Earth came from neutron-star collisions.
Oxygen
Oceans produced most of the O₂ that let complex life explode.
Octopus
Most of their neurons are in their arms, not the head.
Moon
It’s drifting away about as fast as fingernails grow.
Speed of sound
Underwater it’s ~4× faster than in air.
Lightning
A bolt can be five times hotter than the Sun’s surface.
Coffee
Bees pollinate coffee; fewer bees mean pricier beans.
QR codes
Invented for auto parts, not restaurant menus.
DNA
You share roughly 60% of genes with fruit flies.
Haiku
Japan imported the form from older Chinese patterns.
Sahara
It was green with lakes and hippos just a few thousand years ago.
Bananas
They’re berries; strawberries are not.
Typing
Short practice bursts beat rare, long cram sessions for retention.
Oxford
Predates the Aztec Empire by centuries.
Sharks
They predate trees, and even Saturn’s rings, in geologic time.
Steel
First made cheaply in bulk during the Industrial Revolution.
Feathers
Many dinosaurs had them before birds split off.
Lightning
A bolt can be five times hotter than the Sun’s surface.
Coffee
Bees pollinate coffee; fewer bees mean pricier beans.
QR codes
Invented for auto parts, not restaurant menus.
DNA
You share roughly 60% of genes with fruit flies.
Haiku
Japan imported the form from older Chinese patterns.
Sahara
It was green with lakes and hippos just a few thousand years ago.
Bananas
They’re berries; strawberries are not.
Typing
Short practice bursts beat rare, long cram sessions for retention.
Oxford
Predates the Aztec Empire by centuries.
Sharks
They predate trees, and even Saturn’s rings, in geologic time.
Steel
First made cheaply in bulk during the Industrial Revolution.
Feathers
Many dinosaurs had them before birds split off.