Anne Rooney - 1001 Shocking Science Facts

1001 Science 001-004 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:05 Page 2 1001 Science 001-004 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:05 Page 1 1001 Science 001-004 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:05 Page 2 1001 Science 001-004 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:05 Page 3 1001 Science 001-004 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:05 Page 4 This edition published in 2008 by Arcturus Publishing Limited 26/27 Bickels Yard, 151153 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3HA Copyright 2008 Arcturus Publishing Limited All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person or persons who do any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. ISBN: 978-1-84858-008-4 Printed in Singapore Author: Anne Rooney The right of Anne Rooney to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted under the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act, 1988. The author can be contacted at anne@annerooney.co.uk Goblin illustrations by Steve Beaumont Editor: Kate Overy 1001 Science 005-008 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:05 Page 5 Shocking Body Facts.......... 9 Shocking Animal Facts........ 47 Shocking Creepy Creature Facts .. 75 Shocking Living World Facts.... 95 Shocking Planet Earth Facts.... 119 Shocking Space Facts........ 143 Shocking Technology Facts..... 169 1001 Science 005-008 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:05 Page 6 Prepare to be zapped! Electricity isnt the only thing in science thats shocking. Some scientists experiment by digging around in rubbish dumps or poking through things that come out of the wrong end of animals! Others chase big, slithering worms that live inside your body or work with poisons so deadly, a single bottle could kill everyone on earth...lets hope they dont have gooey worm slime on their hands when they pick up the bottle! There are even scientists who watch dead bodies rot or send messages into space to try to talk to aliens for a living.

Its no wonder we think of mad scientists and nutty professors some of the things they get up to are truly shocking! Science helps us to explore the world and the universe around us and it uncovers some pretty weird and wonderful stuff. But if you thought scientists knew everything, think again we dont know what 97 per cent of the universe is made of! That means theres still plenty for you to discover, so get your lab coat onand get experimenting! 1001 Science 005-008 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:05 Page 7 Sports science Even extreme sports like surfing, snowboarding and skydiving are fuelled by the power of science! Here are a few free skydiving facts (not part of your 1001 total) to get your heart racing! Skydivers fall through the sky at speeds of 190 kilometres (120 miles) per hour! Its the force of gravity that pulls them back down to Earth. As a skydiver falls, super-fast wind is slowed as it enters their airways to help them breathe. Oxygen is also absorbed through their skin. Scientists developed a vertical wind tunnel that blows air upwards at huge speeds so that skydivers can have their fun indoors! A formula for fun Science really is amazing! Did you know theres a tree that cuts its own branches off? And a type of male fish that lives inside its female mate? Or that the land mammal with the most teeth doesnt actually use any of them? Do you know how long a lightning bolt is? How fast raindrops fall? Or which plant can live for 10,000 years? No? Well, youre about to find out! 1001 Science 005-008 Arc.qxd 16/4/08 17:06 Page 8 Dont do anything shocking If your hair is standing on end with excitement after reading all the electrifying facts in this book, you might feel inspired to try some experiments of your own! A word of advicestick to things like using laughter to combat your allergies, or keeping a record of whether youve eaten a cars weight in food in a year! Leave the truly shocking tests like drinking your own vomit to all the mad scientists out there 1001 Science 009-046 Ch1.qxd 16/4/08 17:07 Page 9 1001 Science 009-046 Ch1.qxd 16/4/08 17:07 Page 10 If a person is struck by lightning, they sometimes vaporize (evaporate) completely, so that there is nothing left of them at all. samples of yourdisease-fighting whiteblood cells, so that