It takes a photon 170,000 years to travel from the core of the Sun to the surface, but only 8 minutes to travel the rest of the way to Earth.
6
The Earth sees about 760 thunderstorms every hour, scientists have calculated.
185
According to a study by the National Science Foundation, only half of Americans believe in evolution, and one in 4 don't know that the Earth orbits the Sun.
14
If Earth's life was compressed into 1 year, then humans would have been around for only 2 seconds.
15
The North Atlantic gets 2.5 centimetres (1in) wider every year.
119
In 1859, the largest known geomagnetic storm struck the Caribbean, causing an aurora and telegraphs could even operate without a power source.
25
Ants make up 1/10 of the total world animal tissue. The total biomass of all the ants on Earth is about equal to the total biomass of all the people.
85