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Do you know it takes a year for the Earth to orbit the sun? Or that humans never shared a planet with living, breathing dinosaurs? If not, you are a symptom of Australians’ declining scientific literacy, according to researchers. A new study, conducted by the Australian Academy of Science, has found that just 59% of Australians… Continue reading Basic scientific facts eluding more Australians, report finds

The team was named by a character who hasn’t appeared in the movies When you think of the Avengers, you probably think of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. But it was another superhero who actually gave the team its name—a character that somehow hasn’t even appeared in the movies yet. We’re talking about Janet… Continue reading The team was named by a character who hasn’t appeared in the movies

Mount Everest has an estimated weight of 357 trillion pounds. The weight doesn’t include the weight of ice and snow at the peak of the mountain, so we expect it to be more or less than the estimated weight. But again, despite such a massive weight, it is nothing compared to the weight of the… Continue reading Mount Everest weighs an estimated 357 trillion pounds.

A flea can accelerate faster than the Space Shuttle A jumping flea reaches dizzying heights of about eight centimetres (three inches) in a millisecond. Acceleration is the change in speed of an object over time, often measured in ‘g’s, with one g equal to the acceleration caused by gravity on Earth (9.8 metres/32.2 feet per square second). Fleas… Continue reading A flea can accelerate faster than the Space Shuttle

Our Solar System started off as a swirling cloud of dust and gas which eventually collapsed into a spinning disc with the Sun at its centre. Because of this common origin, all the planets move around the Sun in the same direction and on roughly the same plane. They also all spin in the same… Continue reading Venus is the only planet to spin clockwise

Earth’s inner core is a sphere of solid iron, surrounded by liquid iron. Variations in temperature and density create currents in this iron, which in turn produce electrical currents. Lined up by the Earth’s spin, these currents combine to create a magnetic field, used by compass needles worldwide.

Stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve stainless steel Your stomach digests food thanks to highly corrosive hydrochloric acid with a pH of 2 to 3. This acid also attacks your stomach lining, which protects itself by secreting an alkali bicarbonate solution. The lining still needs to be replaced continually, and it entirely renews itself… Continue reading Stomach acid is strong enough to dissolve stainless steel

The atoms that make up the world around us seem solid but are in fact over 99.99999 per cent empty space. An atom consists of a tiny, dense nucleus surrounded by a cloud of electrons, spread over a proportionately vast area. This is because as well as being particles, electrons act like waves. Electrons can… Continue reading If you took out all the empty space in our atoms, the human race could fit in the volume of a sugar cube

It takes 8 minutes, 19 seconds for light to travel from the Sun to the Earth In space, light travels at 300,000 kilometres (186,000 miles) per second. Even at this breakneck speed, covering the 150 million odd kilometres (93 million miles) between us and the Sun takes considerable time. And eight minutes is still very little… Continue reading It takes 8 minutes, 19 seconds for light to travel from the Sun to the Earth

Polar bears are nearly undetectable by infrared cameras Thermal cameras detect the heat lost by a subject as infrared, but polar bears are experts at conserving heat. The bears keep warm due to a thick layer of blubber under the skin. Add to this a dense fur coat and they can endure the chilliest Arctic day.