amazing facts

here are some amazing facts that i would like to share with...
· Chocolate kills dogs! True, chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces are enough to kill a small dog. source: Amazing Facts www.indianchild.com/amazing_facts13.htm

· Insect control -- The 20 million Mexican free-tail bats from Bracken Cave, Texas eat 250 tons of insects nightly. source: Amazing Facts http://www.coopsjokes.com/amz/amzbat.htm

· Maximum sparks -- A Positive Giant is a lightning strike that hits the ground up to 20 miles away from the storm. Because it seems to strike from a clear sky it is known as "A Bolt From The Blue". These Positive Giant flashes strike between the storm's top "anvil" and the Earth and carry several times the destructive energy of a regular lightning strike. source: Amazing Facts http://www.coopsjokes.com/amz/amzlight.htm

· Oldies but goodies? -- Scientists have successfully revived some bacterial spores that were found enclosed in amber. The spores were at least 25 million years old.source: Life on the Edge, Amazing Creatures Thriving in Extreme Environments; Plenum Publishing Corporation

· Many died -- In 1918 a flu epidemic killed 548,000 people in the United States. Worldwide over 20 million people died. About half of the deaths were of people between 20 and 40 years old.source: Fun and Amazing Facts http://home.earthlink.net/~stcarr/facts.html
and Encyclopedia Britannica

· Huge leaves -- The plant with the largest leaves is a kind of palm tree called raffia (RAF-ee-uh). It has leaves that are up to 65 feet (20 m) long. That's about as long as two school busses parked end to end.source: Ranger Rick Magazine January 1998

· Big chill -- 1816 has been called the "Year Without Summer." Canada and the northeastern U.S. experienced cold and snow throughout the summer months. Dust from a volcano in the Dutch East Indies blocked part of the sun's warmth. source: Fun and Amazing Facts http://home.earthlink.net/~stcarr/facts.html

· A lot in a little space --The surface area of the lungs is roughly the same size as a tennis court.source: A Look Inside the Human Body, Andrew McGann

· Some like it hot -- There are microbes whose optimal growth temperature is above 100 degrees C(the boiling point of water).source:Life on the Edge,Amazing Creatures Thriving in Extreme Environments, Plenum Publishing Corporation

· Good hearing-- A dog can hear sounds that are 100 times fainter than the faintest sounds that a person can hear. If a person can just hear a noise that is coming from 10 feet away, a dog could hear that same noise from 100 feet away.source: Highlights Activity Books

· Oil use--The amount of oil that is used worldwide in one year is doubling every ten years. If that rate of increase continues and if the world were nothing but oil, all the oil would be used up in 400 years.source: The Dick and Rae Physics Demo Notebook

· A lot of beats-- A person's heart beats about 100,000 times a day. About 9000 quarts of blood move through the heart every day.source:Usborne Facts and Fun About Animals and Science

· Woodchuck -- A woodchuck hibernates to survive the winter when food is scarce. Its heartbeat slows to 4 beats a minute. Breathing slows to just one breath per minute. Its body uses so little energy that its body fat is enough chemical fuel to last through the winter.source: Usborne Facts & Fun about Animals and Science

· Glow creatures--In the ocean it is totally dark at depths greater than 600 meters. About half the animals found below that depth glow. The light serves to attract prey and mates.source: Usborne Facts & Fun about Animals and Science

· A whole lot of shedding--A person sheds about 50 million dead skin cells every day. In about 4 years a person sheds their own body weight in skin cells.

· Heavy air -- An average size room contains about 90 pounds of air.

· Much unknown--Biologists estimate that somewhere between 500,000 and 5,000,000 marine species have yet to be discovered and described.source: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/efacts/efacts.htm

· Nature's violence--The U.S. has the world's most violent weather. In a typical year, the U.S. can expect some 10,000 violent thunderstorms, 1000 tornadoes and several hurricanes. In a 24 hour period on April 3-4, 1974, a record 148 tornadoes tore through the midwest killing 309 people and injuring five thousand.source: http://pao.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/earth/efacts/efacts.htm.

· Extreme abundance -- One square mile of rainforest has more types of butterflies than all of North America.source: http://www.foote.pvt.k12.ct.us/faculty/LTC/facts.htm

· Fast burn -- If water, instead of fuel, were pumped by the three space shuttle main engines, an average family-sized swimming pool could be drained in 25 seconds.source: http://www.rdyne.bna.boeing.com/propul/SSMEamaz.html

· Capillaries -- Capillaries are tiny blood vessels(tubes) that carry blood to all parts of the body. The human body contains about 60,000 miles of capillaries. That's enough to reach around the earth 2 1/2 times.source: Usborne Facts and Fun About Animals and Science

· Fast grass -- Bamboo is a type of grass. It can grow as fast as 3 feet in a day.

· Part offer -- Some lizards and starfish when attacked can loose a body part and later the missing part will grow back. The predator may be distracted by getting the part and allow the lizard or starfish to escape.source:Usborne Facts and Fun About Animals and Science

· Whole lotta ice -- If all the ice in Antartica melted the level of the oceans would rise 200 feet. About one fourth of the land area of the world would be flooded.source: Beakman's World: a visit to the hit tv show

· Sole match -- If a sole(a type of fish) lays upon a chess board it can change the coloring of its body to match the pattern of the chess board. The sole takes about 4 minutes to make the change. source:Usborne Facts and Fun About Animals and Science

· Fast production -- The human body makes about two million red blood cells every second.source: Whelmers, Science Demonstrations That Spark Your Imagination, Steven L. Jacobs

· Only 3 phaser -- Water is the only material that exists naturally in three states- liquid, solid and gas(water vapor).source: H2O Science, Jean Stangl