Science News
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It all comes down to a thing called the water cycle. Rain, which is fresh water, falls from clouds onto the land and finds its way into lakes and rivers, and also through the g... |
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The Medical Research council has released a study concluding what many of us have probably suspected already: regularly eating junk food can increase your risk of weight gain a... |
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Steaming produces the healthiest cooked vegetables, and microwaving produces the least healthy vegetables, according to Spanish researchers. Cristina Garcia-Viguera and her tea... |
| Fact or Fiction
Scientists have invented a computer that is the size of a piece
of DNA
 
![]() It's True – Researchers in Israel have made the
world’s smallest biological computer and it’s in fact powered
by DNA. The machine calculates by breaking and re-forming bonds in the
DNA helix to release energy. The scientists estimate that a spoonful of
their solution holds 15,000 trillion DNA computers.
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The European Space Agency are planning to launch a fleet of
small satellites to help defend the earth against attacks from space
![]() It's False , but they are planning to launch a flotilla of ‘microsatellites’,
each measuring just 60cm across, that can visit near-earth objects larger
than 400m across – like asteroids – to help scientists to
judge the risk they pose to the earth.
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The first computer was invented over 150 years ago
![]() It's True
– Charles Babbage designed the difference engine, a vast mechanical
calulator, in 1830. Although it was never built in his lifetime, it earned
him the title of “forefather of the modern computer”. [There’s
a working model in the science museum in London]
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The world record for consecutive loop-the-loops in an aeroplane
is 2368
![]() It's True – in 1986, David Childs achieved a
record-breaking 2368 loops in a specially modified acrobatic aircraft.
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On a clear day, a person with good eyesight can see almost 100
miles
![]() It's False – you can easily see 93 million miles
– which is how far away the sun is from Earth
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A hummingbird flaps it wings 200 times a second which is why
you hear them producing a high pitched humming noise
![]() It's False
– bees and house flies flap their wings about 200 times a second,
but hummingbirds flap their wings about 70 times a second.
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A housefly has about 4000 lenses in it eyes
![]() It's True
– insects like house flies have multi-faceted compound eyes and
each contains over 4000 individual lenses.
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Most monkeys have evidence of broken bones caused by falling
out of trees !
![]() It's True - Researchers in Japan studying the skeletons
of macaques killed by local farmers because they were raiding their crops
found that half of the monkeys had healed fractures with the males having
the most. Since these monkeys rarely fight, and there were no signs of
bite marks, the researchers conclude that the injuries must have been
sustained by falling out of trees ! Not quite the aerial acrobats we thought
they were !
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Mosquitoes can smell carbon dioxide
![]() It's True –
They use their ability to detect carbon dioxide to home in on you for
a meal.
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When the space shuttle re-enters Earth’s atmosphere it
is doing over 18,000 miles per hour
![]() It's True – the
friction generated by the air heats the outside of the shuttle to a scorching
2200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is why it needs special protective tiles.
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