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An 8oz glass of water weighs 1/2 a pound, an 8oz glass of gas from the center of the sun would weigh about 75 pounds.

Next time you drink a glass of water think about this: the hydrogen molecules in water are 14 billion years old, they were created at the same time as the universe.

10 percent of television 'Snow' is caused by microwave radiation from the big bang.

June 1, 1999 General Motors Corp. has a device in many of its new cars that functions like the black box recorder in airplanes: It collects data as a car crashes.
(Source: CNN)

June 2, 1999 Using laser beams like tweezers, Japanese Graduate student Yasuharu Arai has managed to tie incredibly tiny knots in strands of DNA.
(Source: CNN)

May 26, 1999 The scientists who created Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal, said the 3-year-old sheep has DNA in her cells typical of a much older animal.
(Source: CNN)

An elephant's trunk contains more than 50,000 muscles.
(Source: U.S. Humane Society)

The Panda bear is expected to become extinct by about 2040, barring a drastic change of events. Artificial insemination could delay the extinction of the giant panda by about 60 years or more, according to scientists who want to use the technique to produce more pandas.
(Source: CNN/Associated Press)

A monkey was once tried and convicted for smoking a cigarette in South Bend, Indiana.

After English, the most widely used languages on the Internet are German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Swedish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Danish, Russian, and Malay.
(Source: The Babel team)

The sky is shrinking and has been doing so for the past 40 years, scientists have discovered. About five miles of sky have been lost since 1958, and that figure may double over the next century. Researchers studying the Earth's upper atmosphere, 56 miles up, said the contraction is probably a result of the greenhouse effect.

The world's three richest people have assets that exceed the combined wealth of the 48 least developed countries, according to a recent United Nations report on global inequality.

A car is stolen every 30 seconds in the United States.

The Russian Blue is a breed of cat prone to having an extra toe. Six toed cats are so common in Boston and surrounding parts of Massachusetts that some experts consider it an established mutation.

Cats have a third eyelid, called a haw, which is rarely visible. If it is visible it could be an indication of ill health.

There is no existing photograph of Italian violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) however, a photograph that has been proven beyond a doubt to be a fake, can still be found in encyclopedias etc.

In 1996 Mexico had an estimated population of 95,772,462. Population density in the mid-1990s averaged 49 persons per sq. km. (114 per sq. mile).

Blood is composed of a yellowish fluid, called plasma, in which are suspended the millions of cells that constitute about 45 percent by volume of whole blood. In an average healthy adult, the volume of blood is one-eleventh of the body weight, or between 4.5 and 6 liters (5 and 6 qt).

The very first tools were sticks and stones picked up off the ground. Between one and two million years ago, human beings learned to improve their crude implements. Using one stone, they would hammer away at another, sharpening the sides and end. These stones could be used to cut meat, carve wood, and dig roots. The earliest tools were sharpened on just one side and were handheld. Later, stones were sharpened on both sides and attached to axe handles, spear shafts, and arrows.

On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc-"the maid of orléans"-was burned at the stake in Rouen. One of the great heroines of France, she lived at a time when the English controlled much of her country. Joan fought several winning battles, but she was finally captured by a rival French faction and sold to the English. Tried before a pliable French court, she was proclaimed a witch and executed before reaching her 20th birthday. Almost 400 years later, in 1920, the papacy canonized her as a saint.

Two-thirds of all the world's geysers are in Yellowstone National Park.

Snakes evolved from lizards 130 million years ago.

In 1949 mathematician John Von Neuman proposed the theory that computer programs could replicate. In 1950 Bell Laboratories tested the theory with a game called Core Wars in which players created programs that attacked, erased, and propagated on an opponents system.

Egyptian cats were used for sport by their owners. Attached to leashes, these animals hunted birds for the family table; a boomerang flung by the master brought the birds down and the cats, unleashed, would retrieve them.

40,000 people die each year, worldwide, from snake bites.

In Europe, doctors ride in ambulances.

From 1964 through 1969, the Beatles achieved unprecedented popularity with 30 songs reaching the Billboard magazine top-ten popular music charts.

On November 20, 1877, Thomas Edison became the first person to ever record and reproduce a sound.

Jean-Paul Sartre rejected the 1964 Nobel Prize in literature, explaining that to accept such an award would compromise his integrity as a writer.

The word technology is derived from the Greek words tekhne, which refers to an art or craft, and logia, meaning an area of study.

The causative agent of cholera, bacterium Vibrio cholerae, was discovered in 1883 by the German physician and bacteriologist Robert Koch.

In 1995 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared TB to be a global emergency, the first such designation ever made by that organization. According to WHO, a person becomes infected with TB every second, and every year 8 million people contract the disease.

In 170 BC the world's first paved streets were built in Rome. They had the advantage of being passable in all weather, but the disadvantage of increasing traffic noise. During the centuries that followed, roads of stone would link together much of the Roman Empire. By the peak of the empire, Romans had built about 80,000 km (about 50,000 mi) of roads.

The Greek mathematician Euclid published Elements Around 300 BC, which set forth the principles of Euclidean geometry. Elements is said to be one of the most frequently translated and studied books in the world. Euclid's geometry includes postulates subsequently learned by students for more than 2,000 years.

The oldest surviving printed book in the world is the Diamond Sutra, a book made in China in 868. It contains a collection of Buddhist prayers and is richly illustrated.

The ancient Greek language, which was the source of many English words, was in existence by 1000 BC.

Ice cream was invented in China about 2000 BC.

The wheel was invented by Sumerians in Mesopotamia about 3500 to 3000 BC.

Viruses can be found in virtually all forms of life, including humans, animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria. Viruses are between 20 and 100 times smaller than bacteria.

Duke University Medical Center researcher indicates that people who drink four or five cups of coffee a day may have higher blood pressure -- and therefore a higher risk of heart disease or stroke -- than people who drink just one cup of java a day.

Officials estimate that foodborne pathogens -- such as E. coli, salmonella and others -- contribute to an estimated 9,000 deaths and 33 million illnesses in the United States each year.

The World's population in 1900 was 1.6 billion, in the year 2000 it will be 6.0 billion.

Fossils discovered in Kenya in 1995 are from the earliest known ancestor of man to walk erect -- more than four million years ago, a group of scientists said. Tests on volcanic material from the area confirm the fossils' age at between 4.07 million years to 4.12 million years, pushing the emergence of walking on two legs back more than 500,000 years.

A survey released by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment suggests up to 17 percent of U.S. citizens aged 60 and older are addicted to substances. Most commonly alcohol, tobacco, prescription drugs, and over-the-counter medicine.

The $100 dollar bill accounts for approximately 80% of U.S. currency in circulation abroad.

More than a decade after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the peaks of the Alps still contain radiation from the world's worst nuclear accident.

Researchers say they have discovered how anthrax destroys cells and causes rapid death. A protein in anthrax toxin, called Lethal Factor or LF, disrupts a pathway over which signals are sent into a cell. When that happens, a cell "is cut off from the world" and can no longer divide. LF also causes the massive release of a protein which causes inflammation and the destruction of immune system cells called macrophages, causing rapid shock and death.

Aggressive driving is the leading cause of urban area accidents and results in 8,000 deaths and more than one million injuries a year.

One police officer is killed every 54 hours.

Solar storms during the last sunspot peak in 1989-91 caused power failures in Canada and Sweden, made some computers crash and destroyed or damaged several satellites.

April 27, 1998 as many as 20,000 people logged in to chat with Koko the gorilla who answered questions in what was called the first ever "interspecies chat" on the Internet.

Consumers buy about $5 billion worth of dietary supplements -- pills, herbs, teas -- each year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about 15 million Americans have asthma, a 75 percent increase since 1980.

Every minute, five people worldwide between the ages of 10-24 are infected with HIV.

The 13th-century tower of St Peter's Church has the largest clock face in Europe.

California's Mount Whitney, at an elevation of 4418 m (14,494 ft), is the highest peak in the lower 48 states.

The Native Americans of North America are believed to be descendants of the Mongoloids, early hunters and gatherers who migrated from Asia to North America around 30,000 BC. These Stone Age peoples crossed an ice-age land bridge across what is now the Bering Strait during the Pleistocene epoch.

Chimps in the wild live about 40 years and many in captivity live over 50 years.

Writing was introduced by the ancient city-states of the Middle East around 3000 BC.

Over 19,000 plant species and 5000 animal species around the globe are classified as endangered, and many thousands more become extinct each year before biologists can identify them.

By the year 900 polyphony (two or more melodies taking place at the same time) had become a common musical form in Europe.

San Francisco was founded in 1776 by Spanish officer Juan Bautista de Anza. Originally the settlement consisted of a mission and a fort (presidio), both of which are still standing today. Half a century later the civilian population began when an Englishman built a shack with four pieces of redwood and a ship's sail on the shore of Yerba Buena Cove. The city was occupied by Americans in 1846 during the Mexican War and annexed California in 1848.

In 387 Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the institution often described as the first European university.

Early Greek calculations had determined that pi is approximately 3 1/7. In 190 the Chinese calculated pi to five places: 3.14159. Modern computers have calculated pi to more than 100 million decimal places.

92% of pay cable tv programs contain violence.

Adverse reactions to prescription and over-the-counter medicines kill more than 100,000 Americans and seriously injure an additional 2.1 million each year.

Socrates was sentenced to death in 399 BC for allegedly corrupting the youth of Athens and neglecting the gods of the state. He fulfilled his sentence by drinking a concoction made with the poisonous plant hemlock.

The first historical trace of tame cats comes from Egypt around 2500 BC.

The first metallic money in the world appeared between 2000 and 1800 BC. Prior to that time, cattle had been used for currency, as they still are in some parts of our world.

The word angel is derived from the Greek word angelos, which means "messenger."

Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection that attacks the soft tissue, usually in an extremity following minor trauma. This bacteria actually eats the flesh and is better known as the "flesh eating bacteria."

Coloring foods to make them attractive used to be a deadly business. During the 18 & 19th centuries pickles often owed their appetizing green color to copper sulfate, a poison which killed unknown numbers of consumers.

The ancient 14th century Chinese developed the first tinted glasses. The honorable, inscrutable judges wore glasses tinted with smoke to conceal their emotions during trials.

It is estimated that only 5-10% of the worlds information has been digitized.

Helmets are about 29 percent effective in preventing motorcycle deaths and about 67 percent effective in preventing brain injuries. An unhelmeted rider is 40 percent more likely to suffer a fatal head injury, compared with a helmeted rider.

The composer Gioacchino Rossini, probably best known for his piece "Barber of Seville," also composed pieces with titles such as "Anchovies," "Radishes," and "Hors d'oeuvres."

Approximately 40,000 Americans are sickened by salmonella bacteria each year.

It is estimated that the kidneys of 10,000 executed Chinese prisoners have been sold since 1990.

The guillotine was last officially used as recently as September 10,1977 by the French.

Two-thirds of the people in the world have not made a phone call.

Between the Korean and the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army obtained cadaver legs and heads from the Baltimore medical examiner's office for field tests. Army experimenters used the legs, dressed in government issue pants, socks and boots, to test the effects of land mines. The heads were put into newly designed helmets to see if they provided adequate protection during combat.

Alternative feeds now being used by some cattle ranchers are much cheaper than hay and grain but what they contain can be unsanitary. One is chicken manure, which often contains campylobacteria and salmonella bacteria that can make a person sick. Intestinal parasites, veterinary drug residues and heavy toxic metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury are also present in the waste. Until a recent ban, slaughterhouse remains of bone, blood and scraps of flesh were used.

In 1996 there were 3,909 automobile fatalities in California, 60% of which were not related to alcohol and nearly the same amount in 1995.

Americans consume 4,848 cups of coffee per second, 24 hours a day.

The United States executed 74 death-row inmates in 1997, the highest number since 76 were put to death in 1955.

The most destructive flu epidemic of modern times, that of 1918, is estimated to have caused 20 million deaths worldwide.

In the United States there is one birth every 8 seconds and one death every 14 seconds.

Dr. Robert White, Professor of Neurosurgery at the Case University in Cleveland, Ohio, more than 20 years ago successfully transplanted the head of one monkey on to the body of another. The monkey could see and his eyes followed you around the room. He could eat,and if you were to put your finger in his mouth, he would have bitten it off. Unfortunately, the monkey could not move and was paralyzed from the neck down.

A sneeze leaves your body at 40 miles per hour.

A cow produces 200 times more gas a day than a person.

In India it costs less to have sex with a prostitute than it does to buy a condom.

In the past 100 years only 12 people have been attacked by mountain lions in the state of California. Five died and two of those were because of rabies in 1909.

Heroin was first synthesized in 1898 from morphine (a drug derived from opium). Bayer the company known for manufacturing aspirin gave its version of the new product the name Heroin and began an intense, though brief, marketing campaign near the end of the 19th century. It was included in such medications as cough suppressants.

One of the reasons J.S. Bach chose to write the Coffee Cantata is that coffee used to be considered a wicked vice. All sorts of laws were passed against it, some places even had spies roaming the city, sniffing the air trying to catch people in the act of roasting coffee beans.

Heroin is derived from the opium poppy, Papaver Somniferum, which means "the poppy that brings sleep."

1992 persons per square mile : U.S. 70.4, Mexico 121, China 315, India 700, Rwanda 806

In 1530 the Veronese physician Girolamo Fracastoro gave syphilis its modern name in his famous poem, known in Latin as Syphilis sive morbus gallicus. Fracastoro told the tale of a shepherd from Hispaniola who contracted a dreadful disease as a punishment for being disrespectful to the gods. In the poem, the shepherd was called Syphilis, and he lent his name to the disease from which he died so horribly.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death.

W.A.Mozart kept a pet starling for 3 years because it learned to whistle a tune from one of his concertos.

The oldest domestic cat (with reliable documentation) was a female tabby named "Ma" that lived to be 34 years old.

4.1 million people visited Yosemite National Park in 1996.

The Anopheles mosquito, which carries the malaria parasite Plasmodium is responsible for half of the human deaths in history, outside of war and accidents, since the stone age.

J.S.Bach had 20 children, 7 with his first wife and 13 with his second.

In 1993 there were an estimated 64 million cats in the United States.

In the 1880's Sigmund Freud created a sensation with a series of papers praising cocaine's potential to cure depression, alcoholism and morphine addiction.

The snake that is responsible for the most human deaths is the saw-scaled or carpet viper which resides from West Africa to India.

Cats possess an image intensifying device at the rear of their eyes. This is a light-reflecting layer called the tapetum lucidum, which acts like a mirror behind the retina, reflecting light back to the retinal cells. With this, the cat can utilize every scrap of light that enters its eyes. This is what causes cats eyes to glow at night.

The Anatomy Museum of the University of Tokyo Medical School has a collection of over 100 preserved tattooed human skins.

The Guillotine, invented in April 1792, was originally designed as a humane way to execute prisoners condemned by the Revolutionary French National Assembly.

George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach were both born in 1685.