In 1963, the US Military created an artificial ring around Earth, similar to that of the planet Saturn. The ring was made of copper needles and was used for worldwide communications in the case that the Soviets disabled all other methods of communication.
26
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
The North Atlantic gets 2.5 centimetres (1in) wider every year.
119
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 United States has paved enough roads to circle the Earth over 150 times.
72
In 1859, the largest known geomagnetic storm struck the Caribbean, causing an aurora and telegraphs could even operate without a power source.
25
If Earth's life was compressed into 1 year, then humans would have been around for only 2 seconds.
15
According to a 2011 poll, 32% of Russians believe that the Sun orbits Earth.
11