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Fact File


In the Fact File section we bring you a new collection of quick facts each week. (Click on the links below for more facts)

 
 

3261/ Kilauea on the Island of Hawaii is the world's most active volcano. Geologists estimate that it could be up to 600,000 years old with no known prolonged periods of quiesence.

3262/ The highest man-made climbing wall in the world can be found at the foot of Mount Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe at 4,807m (15,772 feet). The site is the home of the Emosson Dam which was built in the 1960s; but which in 1996 had more than 600 holds and bolts added to it in a mammoth effort which took over 600 man hours to achieve. It would take a novice climber and their guide at least four or five hours to complete the climb.

3263/ The pressure in the centre of the Earth is three million atmospheres and the temperature is 6,000 centigrade.

3264/ There is enough iron solidifying from the molten fluid in the centre of the Earth to re-lay the railways from London to Edinburgh every minute.

3265/ According to the Health and Safety Executive there are on average 41 reported drownings per year in the UK in public swimming baths.

3266/ The temperature in space is calculated as 3 Kelvin (K). This is 270 degrees below the freezing point of water (zero celsius) or just three degrees above absolute zero (-273C). The temperature of 3K accounts for the background radiation of space, coming from the planets and stars.

3267/ The Sun heats all the planets in the Solar System at 5,760K.

3268/ Of the 26 people present at the opening of the tomb of Tatanhamun, only six perished within ten years. Of the ten who had witnessed the unwrapping of Tutanhamun's corpse, none died within that period.

3269/ Antimatter is the most potent explosive in the universe: mix just one part matter, one part antimatter and every kilogram of the mix will be turned into 100 million billion joules of energy - three years of output from a nuclear power station. Unfortunately, this may be some time off. Using current technology, it would take a decade to make a billionth of a gram of antimatter.

3270/ Melarsoprol, the most commonly used drug for the treatment of African trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness, was introduced over 50 years ago. Thisarsenic derivative causes severe pain upon intravenous injection and actually kills up to 10 % of patients due to severe side effects.

3271/ The tsetse fly infests 36 African countries and a total of 9-10 million square kilometres of land.

3272/ The UK Government raises about £400 billion per year in taxes. And it spends the equivalent of £6,500 each year for every man, woman and child in the country.

3273/ When Alexander the Great was campaigning in Asia, his army cost twenty talents a day, the equivalent of half a ton of silver.

3274/ The US national debt more than doubled in eight years under Ronald Reagan, generating an annual interest bill of nearly $200 billion.

3275/ The official permitted human population of the Galapagos Islands is 16,000, and people inhabit three percent of the Islands - 11,000 on Santa Cruz alone. Their presence pre-dates the declaration of the area as a World Heritage Site and National Park. Due to people slipping through the net unofficially, the real figure may be much higher.

3276/ Halons are used in fire extinguishers and contain carbon and the halogens fluorine, chlorine, iodine and bromine. Halons are 40 times more destructive to the ozone layer than CFCs.

3277/ In January 1993, Stanley Williams, a Professor of Geology at Arizona State University, led a one-day expedition onto the Galeras Volcano in Colombia. While he was loitering at the edge of the crater, it suddenly erupted - instantly killing six of his colleagues and four tourists. Williams escaped with multiple fractures and a serious head injury.

3278/ Whales annually feeding in the Bering Sea rework at least 120 million cubic metres of seabed sediment.

3279/ The Nazca Lines in Peru became a World Heritage Site in 1995.

3280/ With the addition of the new sites inscribed by the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee, the World Heritage List now numbers 788 properties including 611 cultural, 154 natural and 23 mixed properties in 134 States Parties. You can find a list by country of World Heritage Sites here - http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31

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