Do You Know we have plenty of new facts just for you?Share your newfound knowledge with your friends and family. You can find more of our Do You Know Series, here.
Rust Eating Bacteria!
A newly-discovered species of rust-eating bacteria will have consumed the wreck of the Titanic within 20 years.
Although The Titanic had space for 64 lifeboats, it only left port with 20. The first lifeboat took 28 people, but could’ve held 65.
The average ocean depth is 2.5 miles (4 km).
If we captured just 0.1% of the ocean’s kinetic tidal energy, we could satisfy the current global energy demand five times over.
About 29,000 rubber ducks were lost at sea in 1992. They are still being found, furthering our understanding of the oceans.
Feathered and Fabulous
Duck feathers are so waterproof that even when they are immersed, the downy underlayer of feathers right next to the skin stays completely dry.
Different feathers have different purposes. Straight, stiff feathers allow birds to fly. Tail feathers help steering, balance, and braking. Small, fluffy feathers, or down, keep out the cold and water.
The world’s oceans contain nearly 20 million tons of gold.
The most valuable trove ever found was on the wreck codenamed Black Swan, discovered by Odyssey Marine Exploration in 2007 off Gibraltar. The salvage team found an estimated 17 tons of coins valued at $500 million – an “unprecedented” amount.
The most famous discovery in Britain was the 7th century Staffordshire Hoard of ￡3.3 million worth of Anglo-Saxon items, including four kilos of gold.
From Bullets to Buried Treasures
The Staffordshire Hoard sas found by metal detector enthusiast Terry Herbert using a metal detector he had bought for ￡2.50 at a car boot sale.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the first patented metal detector. Although created to locate bullets in President James Garfield’s body after his assassination attempt, it marked the beginning of modern metal detecting.
Bell is also credited with being the inventor of the telephone since his patent and demonstrations for an apparatus designed for “transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically… causing electrical undulations” were successful.
Your brain uses 20% of the total oxygen and blood in your body.
More gold is recoverable from a ton of personal computers than from 17 tons of gold ore.
Why Your In-Flight Meals Don’t Take Off
You can spell the word “typewriter” using the top line of letters on a computer’s keyboard.
When you work on a computer, your hands can travel 20 kilometres a day!
The most visited countries in the world are France (89.4million), Spain (82.7million), and the US (79.6million).
Lower air pressure and dryness in the plane cabin reduce your taste buds’ sensitivity to sweet and salty foods by 30%. This is why food tastes different when flying.
Bulgarians shake their heads from side to side to mean “yes” and nod up and down to say “no”.
Monaco is smaller than Central Park in New York. Yet, nearly one in three people who live there are millionaires.
All characters on The Simpsons have just four fingers on each hand, except for one with five.
In 2002, 51-year-old electrician Mike McDermott won the lotto TWICE in one year… using the same numbers!
Michigan couple Jay and Kateri Schwandt had 14 sons in a row before they finally had a daughter.
