Macdonald Guy - Even more childrens miscellany: smart, silly, and strange information thats essential to know

The strangely pleasant feeling of desperately needing the toilet

The feeling of disappointment you get when you receive the same present twice

An itch that you can get rid of only by scratching another part of your body

The shock of hearing your own name spoken during a daydream in class

The extra-delicious taste that food has when you can have only one mouthful

The faraway feeling you get in your head when you read something out loud in front of lots of people

The love you feel for someone (usually a brother or sister) that can be expressed only by annoying them

The shame of being told off by a friends parent

Outer space begins 62 miles (100 km) above Earths surface. The line where outer space begins is called the Krmn line.

A billion seconds ago, your parents were children.

A billion minutes ago, the Roman Empire was booming.

A billion hours ago, Neanderthals lived in Europe and Asia.

A billion months ago, dinosaurs ruled Earth.

A billion years ago, primitive life evolved.

Has dimpled skin that peels off easily. Smaller than an orange, but heavy for its size. The name comes from Tangier, a port in Morocco, from where the first tangerines were shipped to Europe.

Sweet, seedless, and smaller than an orange. The skin can be peeled easily. First exported from Satsuma Province in Japan, where satsumas are called mikan.

Smooth, glossy, vibrant orange skin that is thin and easy to peel. They separate easily into 8 to 12 juicy, sweet-tasting segments.

Thought to be a cross between a pomelo (a pale-green fruit bigger than a grapefruit) and a tangerine. (A grapefruit is a cross between a pomelo and an orange.)

Resembles an orange, but is shaped like a flattened sphere. It comes in several varieties, including the tangerine, satsuma, and clementine.

A cross between a mandarin and an orange. Thin, easy-to-peel rind and pale-orange pulp that tastes spicy and tart.

Vieux Boulogne Pont lvque Munster Camembert Gammelost Limburger Brie de Meaux Roquefort Reblochon Livarot Banon Gorgonzola poisses de Bourgogne Stinking Bishop

Sonic weapons are weapons that use sound waves to deter or injure the enemy.

INFRASONIC SIREN

Modern cruise ships have experimented with infrasonic sirens to repel enemies at sea. The low-frequency sound can make concrete walls crumble and humans violently ill.

ANTI-FROGMAN WEAPON

A ship can sound its ordinary navigation sonar to deter enemy scuba divers. The sound waves disorient divers, who either panic and drown or are forced to the surface.

SONIC BULLETS

These high-power beams of ultrasound can measure up to 145 decibels. The sound waves stop people in their tracks.

INFRASONIC GUN

In the 1950s, the first infrasonic gun was immediately classified as almost lethal when it made the internal organs of the test subjects bleed. The gun made the laboratory shake violently, even on low power.

Chewing-gum packets Airplane sick bags

Potato-chip bags Rubber ducks Matchboxes

Subway tickets Four-leaf clovers Fruit sticker-labels

Human teeth Buttons Ballpoint pens

Fridge magnets Soft-drink cans

On average, the Moon takes 29 days to complete one orbit around Earth. This is known as a lunar month. During this time, the Moon goes through a complete cycle, from new Moon to full Moon and back again. The phases are:

In the Southern Hemisphere, the above is reversed so that a waxing-crescent Moon is seen as the left side of the Moon, and a waning-crescent Moon is seen as the right side of the Moon.

Paraguay is the only country in the world whose national flag has two different sides.

Deadly nightshade Hemlock Holly Death cap mushroom Mistletoe Iris Yew

1. Try to write in your diary regularly, even if it is not every day.

2. Find a quiet place where you wont be disturbed while writing.

3. Write the date, time, and place at the beginning of each entry.

4. Keep mementos such as photos, movie tickets, and party invitations in your diary.

5. Be as honest as you can about your thoughts and feelings.

6. Find a good hiding place for your diary. You could disguise it by covering it with a dust jacket belonging to a boring book and putting it on your bookshelf.

7. If youre still worried about someone finding it, write a few dull entries in a decoy diary and leave it somewhere obvious.