Nuclear power prevented an average of over 1.8 million deaths between 1971-2009 as a result of lower air pollution from reduced coal usage according to NASA.
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Scientists are attempting to create a synthetic brain by reverse-engineering the mammalian brain down to the molecular level. A cellular human brain is predicted possible by 2023. It hopes to shed light on consciousness.
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Oak trees produce 2,200 acorns in a season, but each acorn only has a 1 in 10,000 chance of becoming an oak tree.
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Only 12,000 years ago there was a species closely related to modern humans called Homo floresiensis that had been living on an Indonesian Island. They used fire and rather advanced tools, yet were only about 3 feet tall and weighed around 25kg.
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One barrel of petroleum holds 42 gallons.
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Termites are being researched as a possible renewable energy source as they can produce up to 2 litres of hydrogen from ingesting a single sheet of paper, making them one of the planet’s most efficient bioreactors.
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The weight of a carat (200 milligrams), standard unit of measurement for gemstones, is based on the weight of the carob seed.
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