Page 27 - The 'X' Zone Book of Triviology

o Nitrogen accounts for over 75% of Earth’s atmosphere. o Temperature is not only measured in degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius, but also Kelvin. o Any color can be made from three colors: magenta, cyan, and yellow. o Laser stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. o Mayans invented the symbol for the number zero. o You can retain about seven unrelated facts at a time in your short-term memory. o While an alligator lives about 50 years, a crocodile lives about 100. o Both cat and beaver offspring are called kittens. o Both cow and elephant offspring are called calves. o A turkey gobbles, a tiger growls, and a monkey gibbers. o Blackbirds live on average 12 years, canaries average 24, but the crow can live up to age 100. o There are 85 calories in an apple but 325 in a slice of apple pie. o The Great Gippsland earthworm of Australia can grow over four yards long. o Why are aliens good at gardening? Because they have green thumbs. o You cannot hear the sound made by a butterfly’s wings because they flap too slowly. o One of the first known maps was drawn by the Greek traveler Hecataeus around 510 B.C. o A peanut is not a nut; it is a legume, more pea than nut. o Madagascar is the world’s fourth largest island and the largest island in the Indian Ocean. o Cuttlefish, monkey glands, and queen bee jelly are all thought to be aphrodisiacs. o The average elephant produces 50 pounds of dung a day. o The smallest spider, the comb-footed spider, is smaller than a pin’s head. o Spiders appeared on Earth about 170 million years before the first dinosaur. o Aluminum was once considered a precious metal and was used to craft jewelry. o The 33-mile Seikan tunnel between Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan is the world’s longest. o As many as 275 bacteria colonies are exchanged during a kiss. o The body’s largest organ is its skin. o Lindbergh was only 25 when he made the first solo transatlantic flight in 1927. o Americans toss out 25 million plastic bottles every hour. o Leonardo da Vinci conceived the idea for contact lenses in 1508. o The jugular vein is actually an artery. o The only letter missing from the periodic table of elements is J. o Whole milk is actually 87% water. o Herbert Spencer, not Darwin, came up with the phrase, “survival of the fittest.” o The screwdriver was invented in 1550 and is attributed to gunsmiths and armourers. o One out of every 2,000 infants born is born with a tooth. o Mount Everest is so cold that the temperature can drop to 40 degrees F. o In experiments, octopuses learned to unscrew jars to get the food inside. o A chest X-ray has from 90,000 to 130,000 electron volts. o The kite is the earliest form of flying machine. o Invertebrates comprise 95% of all animal species. o Jellyfish are over 95% water and have no heart, blood, brain or gills. o The largest chicken egg on record measured 12.25 inches around and weighed 12 ounces. o The most yolks ever found in one chicken egg was nine. o Some breeds of chickens can lay colored eggs. o What letter is a bird? A jay.