Longest Egg Drop

On August 22 1994 David Donoghue threw an egg out of a helicopter onto a golf course in the UK, from a height of 700 feet. Apparently the trick was to get the egg moving forward at the same speed it's falling, and then have it land on a grassy slope. Looks like it worked as he now has the record for the longest egg drop without breaking in the world.

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Dickin Medal

The Dickin Medal was instituted in 1943 in the United Kingdom by Maria Dickin to honour the work of animals in war. It is a bronze medallion, bearing the words "For Gallantry" and "We Also Serve" within a laurel wreath, carried on ribbon of striped green, dark brown and pale blue. It is awarded to animals that have displayed "conspicuous gallantry or devotion to duty while serving or associated with any branch of the Armed Forces or Civil Defence Units". The award is commonly referred to as "the animals' Victoria Cross".

The first recipients of the award, in December 1943, were three pigeons, serving with the Royal Air Force, all of whom contributed to the recovery of air crew from ditched aircraft during the Second World War. The most recent animal to be honoured is Treo, a black Labrador, honoured for his "heroic actions as an arms and explosives search dog in Afghanistan". As of March 2010, the Dickin Medal has been awarded 63 times.

View the complete list of Dickin Medal recipients.

Neutron Stars

A neutron star is about 20 km in diameter and has the mass of about 1.4 times that of our Sun. This means that a neutron star is so dense that on Earth, one teaspoonful would weigh a billion tons! Because of its small size and high density, a neutron star possesses a surface gravitational field about 2 x 1011 times that of Earth. Neutron stars can also have magnetic fields a million times stronger than the strongest magnetic fields produced on Earth.

The density of a neutron star is 7 x1014g/cm3. Here are some other densities for comparison.

• The Sun - 1.41 g/cm3

• White Dwarf - 2 x 106 g/cm3

• Water - 1.0 g/cm3

• Irons - 7.86 g/cm3

Neutron stars are one of the possible ends for a star. They result from massive stars which have mass greater than 4 to 8 times that of our Sun. After these stars have finished burning their nuclear fuel, they undergo a supernova explosion. This explosion blows off the outer layers of a star into a beautiful supernova remnant. The central region of the star collapses under gravity. It collapses so much that protons and electrons combine to form neutrons. Hence the name "neutron star".

More about neutron stars.

London Beer Flood

The London Beer Flood occurred on October 17, 1814 in the parish of St. Giles, London, England. At the Meux and Company Brewery on Tottenham Court Road, a huge vat containing over 135,000 imperial gallons (610,000 L) of beer ruptured, causing other vats in the same building to succumb in a domino effect. As a result, more than 323,000 imperial gallons (1,470,000 L) of beer burst out and gushed into the streets. The wave of beer destroyed two homes and crumbled the wall of the Tavistock Arms Pub, trapping teenaged employee Eleanor Cooper under the rubble.

The brewery was located among the poor houses and tenements of the St Giles Rookery, where whole families lived in basement rooms that quickly filled with beer. Eight people drowned in the flood.

The brewery was eventually taken to court over the accident, but the disaster was ruled to be an Act of God by the judge and jury, leaving no one responsible. The company found it difficult to cope with the financial implications of the disaster, with a significant loss of sales made worse because they had already paid duty on the beer. The brewery was demolished in 1922.

Continue reading.

Goldilocks Planet




Astronomers have detected an Earth-like exoplanet that may have just the right kind of conditions to support life.

Gliese 581g lies some 20 light-years away in its star's "Goldilocks zone" - a region surface temperature would allow the presence of liquid water.



An artist's impression of Gliese 581g

 Scientists say that the newly found world could also potentially have an atmosphere.

The researchers, from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) and the Carnegie Institution of Washington, have been studying the movement of the planet's parent star, a red dwarf called Gliese 581, for 11 years.

Their observations have revealed a number of exoplanets spinning around the star.

Recently they discovered two new alien worlds, so together with the previous findings; this brings the number of planets orbiting Gliese 581 to six.

But the most important new revelation is that one of those worlds might be the most Earth-like planet yet identified.

Complete news.

Live Crabs Vending Machine

The latest thing to be packaged into food vending machines could give customers a nasty bite: live crabs.

Shanghai Hairy Crabs are being sold straight from machines outside subway stations in Nanjing, China. The crabs are kept in individual plastic containers at temperatures of 5°C, which puts the crabs into a state of hibernation. Any unlucky customers who happen to buy a dead crab will be reimbursed with three live crabs for free. The crabs reportedly are 30 per cent cheaper than those sold in stores, with vending machines asking anything from $A1.50 to $7.50 each, depending on size.

Complete report.

The Tallest Tree in the World

The tallest tree in the world is a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), named Hyperion after a person in Greek mythology. He is no less than 115.55 m (379.1 feet) tall! This enormous tree was discovered only in August 2006 in a remote part of the Redwood National Park, California by naturalists Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. In July 2006 some other record tall trees were discovered: "Helios" (named after the Greek God of the sun), the world's tallest known tree as of June 2006 (114.09 m), "Icarus" (113.14 m), and "Daedalus" (110.76 m).

Until July 2006 the tallest known Sequoia sempervirens was "The Stratosphere Giant" (image on the left). He is 112.83 m tall (measured in 2004, Steve Sillett) and was only discovered in August 2000 (by Chris Atkins) in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California, where a lot of these giants grow.

Read more.

The world's highest-flying paper plane

Who needs a multi-billion-dollar spacecraft to study the Earth when you can use a paper plane?

British team send homemade aircraft to the edge of space before it flies back to Earth.

Pictured here is the incredible British mission to send the plane 17 miles into the atmosphere to capture images of the curvature of the globe using a miniature camera.

The plane, which has a 3ft wing span and is made from paper straws covered in paper, was launched using nothing more powerful than a large helium balloon.

The craft soared to 90,000ft before the balloon exploded, freeing the plane to glide back down, taking photographs as it descended.

And the cost of Operation PARIS (Paper Aircraft Released Into Space)? A modest £8,000.

It was all the work of space enthusiasts Steve Daniels, John Oates and Lester Haines, who said they came up with the idea after being inspired by a project last year to send a lump of cheese into space.

The team launched the balloon from a remote spot around 50 miles west of Madrid after gaining permission from the Spanish authorities.

It took an hour-and-a-half to climb to 90,000ft before the expanding helium burst the balloon.

Look out for more about this interesting news and its pictures.

Computerized Singer

Japan has holographic concerts that feature a computerized singer. The hologram’s name is Hatsune Miku, and she is a product of Yamaha’s “Vocaloid Synthesizing Technology.” Somewhere, deep down, there is a real human vocal recording…but Miku herself is not real and her “concerts” are composed of pre-programmed light and sound.

Hatsune Miku is a singing synthesizer application and its female character, developed by Crypton Future Media. It uses Yamaha Corporation's Vocaloid synthesizing technology. Her voice is sampled from Japanese voice actress Saki Fujita. Hatsune Miku has performed onstage. Crypton released the first of their "Character Vocal Series", Hatsune Miku, on August 31, 2007.

Read more.

World’s Largest Rubber Band Ball

The ball was completed in November of 2006 by Steve Milton of Eugene, Oregon. Having begun just a year prior, Milton needed four bodybuilders to roll the 5 ½ by 19-foot monstrosity onto the scale for the official weigh-in! The ball contains over 175,000 rubber bands!!

 

 

"The rubber bands ... sometimes they'll break. That hurts," said Steve Milton, whose 4,594-pound rubber band ball was certified as the world’s largest by Guinness World Records officials.

Read more.

Dental Hygiene in China

Almost half a billion people in China never brush their teeth, according to the country's health chiefs.The Chinese Preventive Medicine Society believes that less than half of the country's 900m rural population brush regularly while just 10% of the 400m living in cities clean properly.

Officials have also found that many people are using twigs or green tea to clean teeth, either because of tradition or a lack of money.

The findings have prompted officials to launch a major health education campaign to boost oral health across the country.

More dental hygiene findings.

Sannakji: World's Scariest Food

Sannakji is a variety of hoe, or raw dish, in Korean cuisine. It consists of live nakji, a small octopus that has been cut into small pieces and served immediately, usually lightly seasoned with sesame and sesame oil. The nakji pieces are usually still squirming on the plate. It can also be served whole.

The pieces of sannakji are still moving on the plate when served, and since the suction cups are still active, care must be taken when swallowing or else the pieces can get stuck in the mouth or esophogus. The pieces must be chewed thoroughly before swallowing to prevent choking.

In Korea and other parts of Asia, sannakji is considered a delicacy and is eaten by most of the population. It is also eaten in parts of the United States, particularly Hawaii, Washington and Oregon. However, there is some controversy regarding the eating of octopus, since octopus is considered to be one of the most intelligent invertebrates, with IQs estimated to equal that of a common house cat.

Read more.

The History of Teeth Whitening

Everybody knows what a smile means. Everybody knows how important a smile is. And everybody knows that if we don’t brush our teeth, our smile won’t be so attractive. But teeth and smiles haven’t always been as bright as they are today. Way back then, people didn’t have the means that we have today to keep their teeth white. They used some pretty crude methods of teeth whitening. So let’s look back at the history of teeth whitening and find out how people did keep their teeth white.

Can you imagine people way back in 3000 BC using toothbrushes? Well, they weren’t what we know as toothbrushes today. And they didn’t call them toothbrushes, either. They called them “chew sticks”. They were actually just small branches, with one end frayed. They’d rub them on their teeth to scrape off any particles.

Now we’ll look at the history of toothpaste. Egyptians actually used toothpaste in 2000 BC, made of powdered pumice stone and wine vinegar, brushed on with a chew stick. As fowl as that sounds, it’s nothing compared to how gross the Romans’ toothpaste was. It was made from human urine! First-century Roman doctors believed that urine whitened teeth and also kept them firmly in place. Yuk!

Read more about the history of teeth whitening.

Eye Lashes of Fly Legs

A British artist is raising eye brows with her latest Fly-Lashes - fake eye lashes which are made out of fly legs. Yes, fly legs.

The freaky lashes aren't for sale, but the artist, Jessica Harrison, has actually made a bunch of really odd and unsettling fashion innovations. Check out this video of the lashes.

A look at Harrison's website shows her fascination with body parts, as she shows off an entire series of sculpted "body furniture". From a chair that sprouts wirey hair to a fleshy chest of drawers.

Capital Gate –Abu Dhabi’s Signature Tower

Capital Gate, owned and developed by ADNEC (Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company), has been certified as the ‘World’s Furthest Leaning Manmade Tower,’ by Guinness World Records.

 

 

The 160-metre, 35-storey Capital Gate tower has been built to lean 18 degrees westwards. The building leans at 18 degrees, which is nearly five times that of the Tower of Pisa, which leans at 4 degrees. The tower will house the 5 Star ‘Hyatt Capital Gate’, as well as 20,000sqm of the most exclusive office space in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Capital Gate’s distinctive futuristic design, aesthetic splendour and technical excellence make it a modern marvel and a celebration of human achievement that reflects the dynamism of Abu Dhabi. Additionally, the tower provides a historic link to the past by integrating with the grandstand at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, one of the world’s most modern exhibition venues. Capital Gate underscores the bond between the old and the new by linking to this historic grandstand through an innovative canopy commencing from level 18 of the tower and sweeping across the grandstand, creating a wave-like effect.

See amazing pictures of this leaning tower here.

Can Cats Taste Sweet?

Cats can't taste sweet things, it's an evolutionary trait that all members of the cat family have lost, and some species of monkey can't taste artificial sweeteners, but do taste natural sugars.Humans have about 8 to 10 thousand taste buds on their tongue, that usually only last about 10 to 14 days before being replaced. Other mammals have lots of taste buds, mostly on their tongue and pallet.

Herbivores like cows have around 25 thousand, omnivores like pigs around 15 thousand and carnivores generally have the fewest.

Birds have far fewer taste buds than mammals, chickens only have around 30. But parrots have several hundred, which is more than most other birds, and cockatiels can even discriminate between salt, sugar and acids.

Read more about taste buds and how they work.

Animals Taste Buds

A catfish is turbocharged with taste buds. A 6-inch catfish have over 250,000 taste buds. They cover its entire body inside and out including its fins, back, belly and tail - making it literally a swimming tongue. In comparison, humans have around 10,000 taste buds only.

Flies and butterflies can taste with their feet. These insects have the ability to taste whatever they land on. If they taste something they like, they can immediately mop it up with their tongues. Otherwise they can fly off.

The Kea, a relative of the parrot is a bird native to New Zealand and a rubber lover. Folklore abounds that this strong bird has acquired the taste for rubber and will peck away at the rubber windscreen wipers on cars - even when the cars are moving.

Here's an article that can tell you all about the animals with the best taste buds in the world.

Origin of the Words

Have you ever wondered where "name" got its name? Or what is the origin of the word “money”?

Name is an ancient word, which traces its history back to Indo-European *-nomen-. This has produced Latin nōmen (source of English nominate, noun, etc), Greek ónoma (source of English anonymous (17th c.) – etymologically ‘nameless’ – and synonym (16th c.)), Welsh enw, and Russian imja, among many others. Its prehistoric Germanic descendant was *namōn, which has evolved to German and English name, Dutch naam, Swedish namn, and Danish navn.

Similarly word money traces its history to as back as 13th c.

It’s an epithet used in ancient Rome for the goddess Juno was Monēta (derived by some etymologists in the past from the Latin verb monēre ‘advise, warn’, although this is now regarded as rather dubious). The name was also applied to her temple in Rome, which contained a mint. And so in due course monēta came to mean ‘mint’ (a sense retained in English mint, which goes back via a circuitous route to monēta), then ‘stamp for coining’, and finally ‘coin’ – the meaning transmitted via Old French moneie to English money.

Want to know the origin of any word check out here.

Triskaidekaphobia

Triskaidekaphobia is fear of the number 13; it is a superstition and related to a specific fear of Friday the 13th, called paraskevidekatriaphobia or friggatriskaidekaphobia.

The term was first used by I.H. Coriat in "Abnormal Psychology".

There is a common myth that the earliest reference to thirteen being unlucky or evil is from the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (circa 1780 BCE), where the thirteenth law is omitted.

Some Christian traditions have it that at the Last Supper, Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th to sit at the table. However, the number 13 is not uniformly bad in the Judeo-Christian tradition. For example, the 13 attributes of God (also called the thirteen attributes of mercy) are enumerated in the Torah (Exodus 34:6–7).

Ancient Persians believed the twelve constellations in the Zodiac controlled the months of the year, and each ruled the earth for a thousand years at the end of which the sky and earth collapsed in chaos. Therefore, the thirteenth is identified with chaos and the reason Persians leave their houses to avoid bad luck on the thirteenth day of the Persian Calendar, a tradition called Sizdah Bedar.

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Trinity Church in Antarctica

Trinity Church is a small Russian Orthodox Church on King George Island in Antarctica. It is the southernmost Eastern Orthodox Church in the world.

The church is a 15m-high wooden structure built in traditional Russian style. It can accommodate up to 30 worshipers. The structure was built out of Siberian Pine by Altay carpenters led by K.V. Khromov, then dismantled, taken by truck to Kaliningrad and shipped to King George Island by the Russian supply ship Academician Vavilov. It was assembled on high ground near the sea shore by the staff of Bellingshausen Station, under the general supervision of the 30-year-old Father Kallistrat (Romanenko), who was to become the church's first priest.

On 29 January, 2007 the church performed its first wedding between a Chilean and a Russian researchers.

Know more about this Southernmost Church.

Eyebrows and Eyelashes

You all know what eyebrows are. But do you know what eyebrows are for?

The main function of the eyebrow is to prevent moisture, mostly salty sweat and rain, from flowing into the eye. The arch of your eyebrows sends sweat and rain to the sides of our heads instead of directly into our eyes. This is especially important for sweat, because the salt in sweat can really sting your eyes.

Similarly our eyelashes protect the eyes from debris and provide a warning that an object such as an insect or dust mite is near the eye.

Here's more about eyebrows and eyelashes.

The Rubik's Cube

The Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik. Originally called the "Magic Cube",the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toys in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that year. As of January 2009, 350 million cubes have sold worldwide making it the world's top-selling puzzle game.

In a classic Rubik's Cube, each of the six faces is covered by nine stickers, among six solid colours (traditionally white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow). A pivot mechanism enables each face to turn independently, thus mixing up the colours. For the puzzle to be solved, each face must be a solid colour. Similar puzzles have now been produced with various numbers of stickers, not all of them by Rubik. The original 3×3×3 version celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in 2010.

But ever wondered in how many moves the Rubik's Cube can be completed.

Every position of Rubik's Cube can be solved in twenty moves or less. With about 35 CPU-years of idle computer time donated by Google, a team of researchers has essentially solved every position of the Rubik's Cube, and shown that no position requires more than twenty moves.

One may suppose God would use a much more efficient algorithm, one that always uses the shortest sequence of moves; this is known as God's Algorithm. The number of moves this algorithm would take in the worst case is called God's Number. At long last, God's Number has been shown to be 20.

You can read more on the Rubik's Cube and its moves.

Mosquito Bites

Only female mosquitoes are able to bite. Yes, it’s true. The female mosquito needs a blood meal to obtain the protein necessary for the development of her eggs. After a blood meal is digested and the eggs are laid, the female mosquito again seeks a blood meal to produce a second batch of eggs (hence the frequent biting). The male mosquito does not take a blood meal, but may feed on plant nectar. He lives for only a short time after mating.

So next time when a mosquito bites you, it means she has bitten you not he.

This article explains how mosquitoes live.

Detecting explosives with honeybees

Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a method for training the common honey bee to detect the explosives used in bombs. Based on knowledge of bee biology, the new techniques could become a leading tool in the fight against the use of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, which present a critical vulnerability for American military troops abroad and is an emerging danger for civilians worldwide.

By studying bee behaviour and testing and improving on technologies already on the market, Los Alamos scientists developed methods to harness the honey bee's exceptional olfactory sense where the bees' natural reaction to nectar, a proboscis extension reflex (sticking out their tongue), could be used to record an unmistakable response to a scent. Using Pavlovian training techniques common to bee research, they trained bees to give a positive detection response, via the proboscis extension reflex, when they were exposed to vapours from TNT, C4, TATP explosives and propellants.

Find out more about the research.

Facts about Pancakes

Pancakes are eaten all around the world throughout the year but in some countries special days are reserved such as Shrove Tuesdays, Easter and lot more. The tradition of eating pancakes on Shrove Tuesday in almost 1000 years old. Pancakes are thin cakes made of batter of milk, flour, sugar, butter and eggs baked in a griddle or fried in a pan. At times buttermilk is used in place of milk to make the cake more fluffy and soft.

 

Pancakes have a long history, dated back to the times of Ancient Romans and it was believed in medieval times that the first three pancakes cooked were sacred. They were each marked with a cross before being sprinkled with salt and then set aside to ward off evil.

Different places carry different tales with the pancakes. In Newfoundland people add items to the batter and use them to tell future of the family members before cooking the pancake. In France people make a wish, touching the handle of the pan keeping a coin in one hand while tossing the cake. One man was so fond of the pancakes that he ran a race, tossing the pancakes.

Here are some of the most interesting facts about pancakes.

Earthquake Facts

Earthquakes are the nature's most dangerous calamity. Earthquakes can hit any place, at any time and at any extreme level. The earthquake is caused due to movement of tectonic plates below the Earth's crust when they are pushed, pulled or jostled against each other. When the pressure of this movement becomes unbearable the rocks crack and shifts and the waves of energy produced is an earthquake.

Before electronics allowed recordings of large earthquakes, scientists built large spring-pendulum seismometers in an attempt to record the long-period motion produced by such quakes. The largest one weighed about 15 tons. There is a medium-sized one three stories high in Mexico City that is still in operation.

The largest recorded earthquake in the world was a magnitude 9.5 (Mw) in Chile on May 22, 1960. The largest recorded earthquake in the United States was a magnitude 9.2 that struck Prince William Sound, Alaska on Good Friday, March 28, 1964 UTC.

More about earthquakes.

Chirping Crickets

Crickets, family Gryllidae are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers, and more closely related to katydids or bush crickets. They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. There are about 900 species of crickets. They tend to be nocturnal and are often confused with grasshoppers because they have a similar body structure including jumping hind legs. Crickets are harmless to humans.

Only the male crickets chirp. A large vein running along the bottom of each wing has "teeth," much like a comb does. The chirping sound is created by running the top of one wing along the teeth at the bottom of the other wing. As he does this, the cricket also holds the wings up and open, so that the wing membranes can act as acoustical sails. It is a popular myth that the cricket chirps by rubbing its legs together.

There are four types of cricket song: The calling song attracts females and repels other males, and is fairly loud. The courting song is used when a female cricket is near, and is a very quiet song. An aggressive song is triggered by chemoreceptors on the antennae that detect the near presence of another male cricket and a copulatory song is produced for a brief period after a successful mating.

You can tell the temperature by listening to the chirping of a cricket. The frequency of chirping varies according to temperature. The relationship between temperature and the rate of chirping is known as Dolbear's Law. Using this law it is possible to calculate the temperature in Fahrenheit by adding 40 to the number of chirps produced in 14 seconds by the snowy tree cricket common in the United States.

More about chirping crickets.

Tetraphobia

Tetraphobia is an aversion to or fear of the number 4. It is a superstition most common in East Asian regions such as mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

The Chinese word for four sounds quite similar to the word for death. Similarly, the Sino-Japanese and Sino-Korean words for four, shi (Japanese) and sa (Korean), sound identical to death in each language.



An elevator in a residential apartment building in Shanghai
 floor numbers 4, 13, 14 are missing



Special care is taken to avoid occurrences or reminders of the number 4 during festive holidays, or when a family member is sick, especially in Chinese culture. Similarly, 14, 24, etc. are also to be avoided due to the presence of the digit 4 in these numbers. In these countries, these floor numbers are often skipped in buildings, ranging from hotels to offices to apartments, as well as hospitals.

Table number 4, 14, 24, etc. are also often left out in wedding dinners or other social gatherings in these countries. In many residential complexes, building block 4, 14, 24 etc. are usually replaced with block 3A, 13A, and 23A.

In Hong Kong, some apartments such as Vision City and The Arch skipped all the floors from 40 to 49. Immediately above 39/F is 50/F, leading many who are not aware of tetraphobia to believe that some floors are missing.

Porcupines

Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills that defend them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about 25–36 in (63–91 cm) long, with an 8–10 in (20–25 cm) long tail. Weighing between 12–35 lb (5.4–16 kg), they are rounded, large and slow. Porcupines come in various shades of brown, grey, and the unusual white.

The common porcupine is a herbivore. It eats leaves, twigs and green plants and in the winter it may eat bark. It often climbs trees to find food. It is mostly nocturnal, but will sometimes forage for food in the day. Porcupines have become a pest in Kenya and are eaten as a delicacy.





Porcupines' quills, or spines, take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin, and they are embedded in the skin musculature. The average porcupine has about 30,000 quills or specialized hairs, which it uses as a defensive weapon. Quills are released by contact with them, or they may drop out when the porcupine shakes its body, but cannot be projected at attackers. New quills grow to replace lost ones. From ancient times, it was believed that porcupines could throw their quills at an enemy, but this has long been refuted.


You can learn more about porcupines here.

The Longest Running Television Shows

The world's longest running TV cookery show is Channel 4's Hasta La Cocina (Mexico) which has been broadcast each weekday since December 1, 1960. It has been presented continually by Mrs Zarate (Mexico) and is owned by Televisa Guadalajara Co., Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. . That makes for a total of 11,232 episodes as of January 2010.

The world's longest running TV variety show is Sábado Gigante (Univision Television Network, USA), which has been broadcast every Saturday evening since 8 August 1962. The show was created and has been continually hosted by Mario Kreutzberger (Chile) or 'Don Francisco' as he is known. These shows also hold the Guinness world record.

Check out the list of the longest running television shows by category.

Earth’s Magnetic Field Flips

Just like Sun magnetic field flips, Earth’s magnetic field also flips, but with less regularity. Consecutive reversals are spaced 5 thousand years to 50 million years apart. The last reversal happened 740,000 years ago. Some researchers think our planet is overdue for another one, but nobody knows exactly when the next reversal might occur.

Learn more on this.