1. Gravity is the force that pulls objects (like a basketball) to the ground, and it causes each thing on Earth to have a specific weight.
2. Atoms are micro- scopic, but the nuclei, or the center of atoms, are really small. If an atom was the size of a baseball stadium, its nucleus would be the size of a fly sitting in the center of the field.
3. There is a neutron star that moves roughly 3 million miles per hour (4.8 million kph). It is the fastest object in space.
4. The flavors in soda come partly from phosphoric acid, which gives bubbly water a fruity, acidic taste.
5. Water molecules in foods in your freezer can escape to a colder place in your freezer-causing "freezer burn," or dry spots and frost on your food.
6. Objects appear 30 percent larger underwater.
7. Movies are just a series of still pictures, and most are filmed at 24 frames every second,
8. The world's largest human-made hole is the Bingham copper mine in Utah, U.S.A. It covers an area the size of nearly 25,000 basketball courts.
9, The ancient Greeks thought there were four kinds of matter, or elements: earth, water, fire, and air. Today, we count more than 100 elements.
10. Scientists use Petrt dishes to grow bacteria cells, and algae. Some Petri dishes today even transmit data to a computer.
11. The whereabouts of Albert Einstein's brain remained a mystery for 20 years after his death, until a New Jersey reporter located it. sitting on the shelf of the doctor who removed it (it was preserved in ajar).
12. Scientists use tools called pipets to measure the exact volume of different liquids.
13. Albert Einstein started studying calculus when he was 12.
14. Since cold salt water is denser than warn fresh water, it sinks below fresher water and keeps the ocean currents moving. 15. Ultrasound machines used to see a baby inside a mother's womb use sonar technology adapted from submarines.
16. Tiny particles in the air all around you have weight and press down on you all the time. This is called air pressure.
17. Phycologists study algae. They even use satellites to analyze algae blooms in lakes and oceans,
18. Scientists have created a battery about the size of your fridge that can power your home, When it's time to recharge, just plug it into your solar panels or windmills.
19. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors could use only the iron they found in meteorites. Today, we produce fron by heating iron ore in a blast furnace.
20. Gamma rays, which can come from nuclear explosions, travel through most objects. Only thick lead or steel can stop them.
21. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek discovered bacteria and blood cells using lenses he had made that magnified things up to ten times better than in the past.
22. When a skater does a kick flip, the skateboard spins around its center of qravity, which is the average location of the skateboard's weight.
23. Socrates, the Greek philosopher, figured out some 2,400 years ago that by building your house to face the sun in the winter, it could be warmed by solar heat.
24. Long ago, mirrors were made of polished metal, but today they are made of glass with an aluminum coating,
25. Watches keep time by keeping 50 track of the vibrations of a quartz crystal that vibrates at 32,768 times a second.
26. Scientists can make new elements in labs, but these are unstable and last for 40 only fractions of a second.
27. Icicles usually form when melted snow drips in layers. But in 2010, a water leak and freezing temperatures created a five-story icicle in High Point, N.C., U.S.A.
28. Automobile engineers try to make cars as aerodynamic as possible so they go fast and use less gas. The most aerodynamic natural shape is the teardrop.
29. In 1870, a man who wanted a new material for billiard balls invented plastic. The balls had been made of ivory, which was becoming rare.
30. After an oil spill, people use dish soap to clean animals coated with oil. The soap works by trapping the dirt and oil so they can be rinsed away.
31. If we could harness the power of the sun, it would provide 20,00o times the energy the Earth needs.
32. Scientists who study bugs are called entomologists. An entomologist discovered a new species of wasp that is the size of a Matchbox car and has jaws longer than its legs.
33. A thermos traps air between a plastic or metal covering, which provides excellent insulation to keep your food hot or your drink cold.
34. Charles Darwin, who traveled around the world on the boat HMS Beagle and formulated the theory of evolution, suffered from seasickness.
35. Dry ice-which creates the fog that makes Halloween displays look spooky-is really carbon dioxide in solid form.
36. The most abundant element in Earth's crust is oxygen; the universe's is hydrogen.
37. Forensic scientists study how human bodies decompose on a "body farm" outside of Knoxville, Tenn., U.S.A.
38. Using x-rays, art researchers discovered a hidden picture under a painting by the Spanish artist Goya,
39. Sound travels faster in water than in air.
40. All matter is made up of atoms. The Greek thinker Leucippus first developed this idea more than 2,40o years ago.
41. Surfers ride a wave by staying in front of the wave and moving along with it. Surfers can even surf the fast current in some rívers,
42. In the future, electric wands may be used to put out fires. The wands would use an electric field to separate burning fuel from fuel that's not.
43. Galileo used a telescope to become the first person to observe Jupiter's moons.
44. When skydivers jump out of airplanes, they fall at a constant speed of around 124 miles per hour (200 kph).
45. Scientists send bottles thousands of feet down using a wire to collect water samples from deep in the ocean. The largest bottles hold 66 gallons (250 L).
46. Salt is used to produce chemicals that make soap and glass.
47. Scientists have found evidence that there was once a lake the size of England in the Sahara.
48. Bungee- jumping ropes are made out of rubber because it's stretchy and good for absorbing shocks,
49. Green lasers look brighter than red lasers of the same wattage because our eyes are more sensitive to green light than to red light.
50. The largest radio telescope is located in Puerto Rico. It's wider than the length of 12 tennis courts (1,000 feet, or 310 m).
51. 0nly two elements are liquid at room temperature (70°F or 25°C)-bromine and mercury.
52. A spinning top slows down because of friction, the force that exists whenever objects come in contact with each other. Without friction the top could spin pretty much forever.
53. A ball sitting on the seat of a car will appear to move forward and fall off the seat if the driver stops suddenly. In truth, the ball just kept moving forward when the car slowed,
54. The Earth travels more than 5,000 miles (8,047 km) in 5 minutes.
55. Pure water freezes at 32°F (0°C). If you add salt to the water it lowers the freezing point, so the water will freeze at temperatures below zero.
56. Many plastic water bottles have a curve at the center, which helps make the bottles stable and lets the manufacturer use thinner plastic.
57. In 1996, Dolly the sheep became the first cloned mammal.
58. Anything that gives off heat also gives off infrared waves; these waves are what night-vision goggles pick up and make visible.
59. Rotten eggs float in water because they are lighter than fresh eggs.
60. The pistol shrimp makes a "clicking" sound that is louder than a blue whale's call.
61. If you weigh 100 pounds (45 kg) on Earth, you'd weigh 236 pounds (107 kg) on Jupiter.
62. Hot water will turn into a frozen mist almost instantaneously when thrown into supercold air at -30°F(-34°C) or below.
63. The energy we get from food is measured in calories.
64. The element helium was named after the Greek word for the sun.
65. The sun is always behind you when you see a rainbow.
66. Sticky substances called epoxy resins have been used to stick cars to billboards.
67. The word "engineer" comes from the Latin word for cleverness.
68. Windmill power can be used to grind grain or produce electricity.
69. The only diamond mine in the United States is in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. It is owned by the U.S. government.
7o. Fiber optic cables transmit information using light. They even stretch under the sea to connect continents.
71. Artists create sculptures in bronze because it doesn't rust. "The Thinker," a sculpture by Rodin that was featured in the movie Night at the Museum, was made out of bronze and marble.
72. Inventor Thomas Edison liked to take catnaps during the day-including on his lab table.
73. Botanists, scientists who study plants, have collected seeds and stored them in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on a remote island in the Arctic. The collection can store 2.25 billion seeds,
74.Water under high pressure can cut through metal.
75. All animals-that încludes you get energy from eating plants or by eating animals that have eaten plants.
76. Scientists who study birds are called ornithologists.
77. It takes the same amount of gas to fill a car's gas tank as it does to make chemicals to produce three plastic trash cans or ten polyester shirts.
78. Power stations don't always produce the same amount of power. Engineers can vary the amount depending on how much energy is needed.
79. Iron melts at a temperature that is 15 times hotter than boiling water: 2795"E(1.535°C),
8o. A man in New Hampshire, U.S.A., made an alarm clock in 1787, but it only rang at one time: 4 a.m., when he wanted to wake up.
81. When you rub a balloon against your body, you can then stick it to the wall using electrostatic force, or słow-moving electrical charges.
82. Only three countries in the world don't use the metric system of measurement: the United States, Liberia, and Myanmar (Burma).
83. The first scientific journal was published more than 340 years ago, in 1665.
84. Scientists created an airbag that could be used by skiers during an avalanche to help keep them near the top of the racing snow.
85. When famous physicist Stephen Hawking was nine, he was one of the worst students in his class,
86. Miners work THearly 2.4 miles (3.9 km) underground in the TauTona mine in South Africa digging for gold.
87. The grandfather clock got its name from a song titie. "My Grandfather's Clock"
88. Gum can be removed from your hair by using peanut butter. The oils in the peanut butter get in between the gum and hair and work to make the gum less sticky.
89. If you sprinkle pepper in a dish of water and put your finger in the water, the pepper will gather around your finger. If you put dish soap on your finger and do the same thing, the pepper scatters. That's because the dish soap changes the surface tension of the water,
90. Pickles are cucumbers soaked in salt water, which lets bacteria eat the cucumbers' sugars. This makes the pickles taste tart.
91. You get shocked wher an electric charge has built up on the surface of something, like a light switch or a pet rubbing itself on a carpet, and you touch it.
92. The Chinese invented the first compass more than 2,000 years ago by magnetizing iron needles. These needles always pointed north when floated in water,
93. Glowsticks work because a chemical reaction creates light when you break the tubes inside the stick.
94. Driving fast on the interstate may get vou to vour destination faster, but it burns more gas.
95. In the 16th century, people mailed descriptions of the animals they observed to the Swiss naturalist Konrad von Gesner. He published them in a book, and some oddities were included, like a giant sea serpent,
96. It can be hard to make a soapy lather if you are using "hard" water. That's water with dissolved chemicals from rocks it came in contact with,
97. The sound ä whip makes when it "cracks" comes from the tip when it's moving faster than the speed of sound.
98. The big spinning globe outside of Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A., spins in the wrong direction.
99. Stunt glass Invented for mavie props is mostly made of plastic so that it breaks easily but looks realistic.
100. A TV remote control uses infrared light to change channels and adjust the volume:
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