Kopperl is a small place located in Texas in the United States. On June 15, 1960, when the clock struck 12 at night, a strange heat engulfed the area. There was a sudden heat burst and a thunderstorm fell upon the community. Hot winds swept down on the people at speeds of 75 mph. The temperature increased swiftly reaching 140 °F (60 °C) which is 20 degrees above the official previous highest temperature recorded for the state of Texas. It even exceeded the highest official temperature recorded on Earth until then.
The storm, that came to be known as “Satan’s Storm,” is now part of the local folklore. (source)
7 The number of possible combinations of a set of four Rubik’s cubes is almost same as the estimated number of atoms in the entire universe.
The Rubik’s Cube is a wonderful thing. From its invention in 1974 by Ernő Rubik, the sculpture and architecture professor from Hungary, it is still widely popular across the world and never stops to amaze people. Now, there are numerous possible ways in which the cube can be arranged. Let’s consider the classic 3×3×3 Rubik’s cube and get into some mathematics.
The 3×3×3 cube has eight corners and 12 edges which means that it can be arranged in 8! different ways which total up to 40,320 possibilities. Now, while the seven corners can be arranged independently, the eighth corner arrangement will depend on the previous seven corners. This gives 37 which amounts to 2,187. The cube has 12 edges and hence 12!/2 ways of arranging them which amounts to 239,500,800 ways. Mind it, it’s not 12! because the edges must always be in an even permutation according to the corners. Eleven of the edges can be arranged independently while the 12th edge depends on the previous edges giving additional 211 ways. Hence, the total possibilities of arranging a Rubik’s Cube are:
Now, if we consider four such Rubik’s Cubes, then the total possibilities are:
(4.3 × 1019)4 = 3.5 × 1078
Now, the total number of atoms in the universe has been estimated to be something between 1078 and 1082. This means that the total possible arrangements of four Rubik’s Cubes are almost same as the number of atoms in the universe! Bingo!(1,2)
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8 It took almost the same time for men to go from bronze weapons to steel weapons as it did to go from steel weapons to nuclear weapons.
The Bronze Age began around 3500 BCE with the Iron Age starting around 1000 BCE. It took almost 2,500 years for mankind to move from bronze to iron. This was because the limitations in furnace design that people had to face at that time. Moreover, the maximum temperature required to melt iron as well as the availability of good quality iron added to the limiting factors.
Even when men started making weapons out of iron around the 12th century BCE, bronze weapons were still superior. Most of the iron used for weapons during that time were just low-density, sponge-like iron material. But later iron weapons gained more popularity as the production of bronze, tin was required. But tin was very difficult to find. Moreover, as time passed, the furnace designs were improved and steel began to be used for weapons.
The first nuclear explosion took place on July 16, 1945, when the United States tested its first nuclear bomb. This was almost 2,500 years later than the Iron Age. (1,2,3,4,5)
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9 If you walk from North Korea to Norway, you will cross only one country on your way.
The distance from North Korea to Norway is roughly 7,513 km. If you start walking from North Korea to Norway, you might think that you will get to enjoy at least three or four countries along the way. But in reality, there lies just one country between North Korea and Norway – Russia.
Russia is one big country. Russia has an area of 17.1 million km² and is the largest country in the world. The second largest is Canada with an area of 9.985 million km², but still just about half of that of Russia. (source)
10 We all have traveled further into the future than Marty did in the Back to the Future movie series.
Remember the Back to the Future movie where a guy Marty and his crazy, but incredibly smart, scientist friend, travel to the past and the future with a time machine built from a modified DeLorean? Well, at the end of the movie, Marty travels to the future, 2015, to resolve some issues with his future kids.
So, Marty just got as far as 2015. We, on the other hand, have stepped into the glorious year of 2018 and are three years ahead of Marty in his quest for the future! Hooray! (source)
