- Google: 500,000 new search terms are used in Google every day – i.e. 1/2 million words that Google doesn’t understand because they have never been used in the search engine before
- Longest piece of music: The world’s longest piece of music is being played in the St. Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, Germany. The organ music started on September 5, 2001 and is set to end in the year 2640. The piece is called Organ²/ASLSP – where the last part stands for As Slow As Possible – and is a project developed by artist John Cage
- Cat parasite: The tiny parasite Toxoplasma gondii that causes the disease toxoplasmosis in humans, can only reproduce in the stomach of cats. However, there is an even more interesting aspect of the parasite; if it infects a rat, the rat changes its behavior and becomes less fearful and shy towards cats – which of course benefits the cat
- Wealth: The combined wealth of the world’s 3 richest people is greater than the gross domestic products of the world’s 45 poorest countries. The three richest families are Bill Gates (over USD 81 billion), Carlos Slim (USD 77 billion) and Warren Buffet (USD 72 billion)
- Components of the body: 93% of humans are stardust. This is because all elements in our bodies – with the exception of helium and hydrogen – are created in the stars
The Mimic Squid (Thaumoctopus mimicus) can not only change color, but also mimic the shapes of other animals such as flatfish, lionfish and sea snakes
More interesting facts
- Blood: A small drop of blood contains 5 million red blood cells
- Uranus: 1 year at Uranus equates to 84 years here at Earth
- Cobwebs: In ancient times, doctors used cobwebs as bandages
- Eiffel Tower: On warm, sunny days, the Eiffel Tower expands with up to 18 cm on the side exposed to sunlight
- Einstein’s last words: No one knows Albert Einstein’s last words because his nurse didn’t speak German
- Deprivation: Sometimes you think you miss a person – when in reality you miss the memories and not the person
- The Moon: The last man to walk on the moon, Gene Cernan, had promised his daughter to write her initials on it. He did and her initials “TDC” will likely remain on the moon for thousands of years
Fact: Some trees can grow up to 1,000 years old and 100 meters tall
