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Warm and Sunny Facts

2007-11-03T17:51:00.000-07:00

The Sun is our nearest star in the universe. Nearest, however is a very relative term because the Sun is a whopping 93 million miles away from us. In fact Sciensational reader Demandude from Missouri, United States had this Astronomy fact for us: The sun is about 149 million kms (93 million miles) from earth, yet it's 270,000 times closer than the next nearest star, which is 4.3 light years away.That nearest star, the star that is closest to us after the Sun, is a faint star known as Proxima Centauri. This star, in fact, to our naked eye, is part of a group of stars called the Alpha Centauri,...

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Picking your brain facts

2007-10-31T10:26:00.000-07:00

Where would we be without our brains, eh? Let's take a quick look at this wonderful organ. Thanks to Sciensational reader Sidd posting on our biology facts page, we know that The number of neuron cells in our brain is more than the total number of stars in our galaxy.That number is about 100 billion! What are neurons? Neurons are electrically charged little cells in our brain to make use of all the information we get from our senses, like eyes, ears, touch, etc. Without them, we wouldn't be able to make sense of anything at all! The brain is divided into several parts for study, but for...

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100% Pure Honey Facts!

2007-10-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Honey is one of the oldest food sources we know. This fascinating fluid is created by honey bees from the nectar of flowers. Let's see what sciensational stuff we have for honey and the great honey bees. Thanks to sciensational reader Ashalaya from Racine in Wisconsin, USA, we found out a really interesting chemistry fact: Honey does not spoil.This is perhaps one of the greatest properties of honey. You could place it anywhere for thousands of years and it will not spoil. In fact, edible honey was found in ancient Egyptian Pharaoh King Tut's tomb! Honey contains large amounts of fructose...

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Some Diamond Facts are Forever!

2007-09-24T08:56:00.000-07:00

Diamonds are really the most fascinating gemstones in the world. They have adorned the crowns of kings and queens throughout our history. A diamond is considered the most precious of all gemstones, and is surely justified in this role. As often claimed by people selling them, Diamonds are indeed truly timeless, because they were created by immense temperature and pressure billions of years ago, deep inside the earth and can indeed last and last. As a matter of fact, diamonds have been carbon dated to be at least 3.4 billion years old. Now that's old enough to be called 'ageless',...

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Some Prime Quality Facts!

2007-09-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

Time for some prime facts roundup, or prime numbers round up to be arithmetically exact. Take the following sciensational mathematics fact: The largest prime number is 9,808,358 digits long; more than the number of atoms in the universe.The basics first. What is a prime number? It's when a number can be divided only by itself, with no remainder, and by the number 1. You know, 1, 3, 5, 7, 11… The list literally goes on. What makes discovering a new, long prime so sciensational? Well, you have to prove that a new big Prime Suspect number is indeed a prime, by doing the simple formula of...

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Over the Moon facts

2007-09-14T08:32:00.000-07:00

The moon is our nearest universal neighbour. Some say the Moon does not deserve to be called just a satellite of the Earth at all, and should be paid more respect as a minor or sub-planet because it is the fifth largest moon in our entire solar system. So, how big is the moon? It's about 1/50th the volume of the Earth and has a diameter of 3,474 km (see a previous post to get more ideas about diameters and stuff!). So in terms of overall size, this is what our astronomy science facts says: The moon is 27% the size of the Earth.Let's look at the moon. The surface of the moon looks dark and...

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We all have some bones to pick

2007-09-11T13:04:00.000-07:00

We are all made of flesh and bones. Our bodies are held together by the skeleton, which is a piece of wonder in itself. Let's talk about them fascinating bones, shall we. There are quite a few biology facts on human body at sciensational. Let's begin with this one: The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes or stirrup bone located in the middle ear. It is approximately .11 inches (.28 cm) long.We may owe all our hearing to this wonderful little bone shaped like a stirrup, because it transmits sound vibrations through our hearing system! There are about 206 bones in a grown-up's...

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Let's Dig Some Gold Facts

2007-09-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

A sciensational chemistry fact on Gold, undoubtedly the most sought after precious metal throughout our history: An ounce of gold can be stretched into a wire 80 kms (50 miles) long.Gold is not only precious, but pure gold is also very, very soft. So soft, in fact, that a single gram can be beaten into a sheet of one square meter! If you ever get some pure gold to play with (you wish, eh?), remember the following sciensational fact: Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be moulded with the hands. So why does it feel hard as a rock? Well, that is because the Gold we're used to...

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Relax, there's no pressure now!

2007-09-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

Science trivia hunters loved this sciensational physics fact: At the ocean's deepest point, due to immense pressure, an iron ball would take more than an hour to sink to the ocean floor. This is because of pressure (hydrostatic pressure in this case.) Let's see, or rather, feel what it is. Look around. Feel anything? No? You're wrong! There is pressure! It's all about pressure. Pressure is all around us, even right now as you read this post. Our bodies, on a normal sea level ground, constantly fight a pressure of about 1 kilogram per square inch! But we don't even feel it, do we? If...

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We're not going to finish this Pi

2007-09-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

Consider the following mathematics fact on Sciensational about the value of Pi: The digits to the right of the Pi's (3.141...) decimal point can keep going forever, and there is no pattern to these digits at all.Pi, represented by π , the 16th letter of Greek alphabets, has been considered the most mysterious and fascinating number in mathematics for thousands of years! But what on earth is it? It is a number of course, and a constant value. In the simplest terms, a circle's circumference divided by diameter always gives you the same number. That number, or ratio, is the value of Pi, ie...

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Astronauts are taller upon return to Earth

2007-09-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

You must have read this little astronomy tidbit on one of our Astronomy facts pages: An Astronaut can be up to 2 inches taller returning from space. The cartilage disks in the spine expand in the absence of gravity. This is an effect of microgravity (when gravity is very little or none.) Gravity is what keeps us on the ground! Our spines, when not being compressed by gravity, are free to expand, thus making us taller. This is not only true for astronauts in space, but also us poor ordinary folks when we sleep! Why? Because the less pull there is by G forces, the happier our spine is to...

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