Snworld

THE 10 LARGEST DESERTS 01 antarctic Desert 13,829,430km2 Though it’s largely covered with a thick coat of ice, Antarctica is actually extremely dry. Inner regions receive less than 50mm of precipitation each year – less than the sahara – and some dry valleys experience virtually none at all. 02 arctic 13,726,936km2 03 sahara 9,400,000km2 north africa 04 arabian Desert 2,330,000km2 ara bian peninsula 05 gobi Desert 1,300,000km2 China/Mongolia 06 Kalahari desert 9,00,000km2 Angola/Botswana/ Namibia/ south africa 07 Patagonian Desert 6,70,000km2 Argentina/Chile 08 great Victoria Desert 6,47,000km2 australia 09 syrian Desert 5,20,000km2 Iraq/Jordan/Syria 10 great basin Desert 4,92,000km2 usa

THE 10 HOTTEST PLACES 01 dasht-e Lut iran 70.7°C the highest surface temperature officially confirmed on earth was detected by the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (moDis) on nAsA’s Aqua satellite at Gandom Beryan in the Dasht-e lut (lut Desert) between 2003 and 2005. 02 Queensland Outback australia 69.2°C 03 Flaming Mountains Xinjiang, China 66.7°C 04 Al-Aziziyah libya 57.8°C for many years, this temperature (detected in september 1922) was the highest ever recorded. 05 Death Valley usa 56.7℃ 06 Rub’ al Khali (empty Quarter) arabian peninsula 56°C 07 Kebili tunisia 55°C 08 Timbuktu Mali 54°C 09 tirat Zvi israel 53.7°C this temperature was recorded at a kibbutz in June 1942 – at that time, the highest ever documented in Asia. 10 Dallol ethiopia 34.4°C this was the average annual temperature from 1960 to 1966.

THE 10 COLDEST PLACES 01 Ridge near Dome Fuji antarctica –93.2°C recorded in August 2010 from a remote sensing satellite. 02 Vostok Station antarctica –89.2°C the lowest groundmonitored temperature, recorded on 21 July 1983 at a russian Antarctic research station. 03 dome Argus antarctica –82.5°C 04 Amundsenscott south pole station antarctica –82.5°C 05 Oymyakon russia –71.2°C the lowest air temperature recorded in the northern hemisphere was detected at this russian village in 1926. 06 Klinck research station greenland –69.4°C 07 north ice greenland –66°C this low was recorded at this British north Greenland expedition research station in 1954. 08 Snag Yukon, Canada –63°C 09 Denali Alaska, USA -59.7°C 10 Verkhoyansk russia –45.4°C

 10 DEADLIEST VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS 01 tambora indonesia erupted: 1815 estimated deaths: 71,000 02 Krakatoa indonesia erupted: 1883 deaths: 36,417 03 Mount Pelée Martinique erupted: 1902 deaths: 29,025 04 nevado del ruiz colombia erupted: 1985 deaths: 25,000 05 unzen Japan erupted: 1792 deaths: 15,000 06 Laki iceland erupted: 1783 deaths: 9,350 07 Santa María guatemala erupted: 1902 Deaths: 6,000 08 indonesia erupted: 1919 deaths: 5,110 09 Galunggung indonesia erupted: 1882 deaths: 4,011 10 Vesuvius italy erupted: Ad 79 deaths: upwards of 3,000

THE 10 LONGEST RIVERS 01 nile 6,695km east and north africa The world’s longest river has two main tributaries: the Blue Nile, rising in ethiopia, and the longer White Nile, emerging from Lake Victoria. Figures for the river’s length vary, as the exact source is still debated; 6,650km and 6,695km are often quoted, but an expedition in 2006 claimed to have reached the true source, and subsequent figures have been as high as 6,853km. Whatever its true length, the Nile – which flows through Uganda (and also possibly the democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, depending on the accepted source), South Sudan, Sudan, ethiopia and egypt on its way to the Mediterranean, is one of the world’s mightiest rivers. 02 amazon 6,516km south america this river discharges 2,00,000m3 of water per second, fed by sources in Bolivia, colombia, ecuador, Peru and Brazil. 03 Yangtze 6,380km china chiang Jiang, a mandarin name for the yangtze, means literally ‘long river’ – it drains a...

10 FAMOUS ASTRONOMERS galileo galilei 1564–1642 Supported heliocentricism, discovered Jupiter’s moons and developed telescopes Galileo’s support of the copernican heliocentric model saw his ideas investigated by the roman inquisition of 1615. But the italian’s own achievements were formidable, including developing telescopes enabling good views of the milky Way and Jupiter’s moons. eratosthenes 276–194BC Measured the circumference of the earth eratosthenes – born in cyrene, now in libya – used the angle of the noonday sun at different places in egypt to estimate the circumference of earth. His figure was remarkably accurate – in fact, according to some commentators, he was out by less than 2%. William Herschel 1738–1822 Discovered uranus and its moons Born in Germany Herschel moved to england as a teenager. He became famous for discovering uranus and two of its major moons, titania and oberon, as well as two of saturn’s moons. He also discovered infrared radiation. Joha...

10 IMMENSE THINGS IN SPACE 01 Biggest asteroid  ceres 950km diameter (average) Discovered in 1801, ceres makes up a third of the total mass of the asteroid belt between mars and Jupiter. 02 Biggest object in our solar system sun 1,392,000km diameter the yellow dwarf star around which we orbit comprises over 99.8 per cent of the total mass of our solar system. 03 Biggest known planet  GQ Lup b 30 times the radius of Jupiter this huge exoplanet, detected orbiting a star some 457 light-years from earth, may have a mass up to 36 times that of Jupiter and is fiercely hot – possibly 2,650 kelvin. 04 Largest structure in the universe Huge Large Quasar Group (Huge-LQG ) 4 billion light-years across in 2013, an international team detected a chain of some 73 quasars stretching so far that its existence challenges the fundamental cosmological Principle. 05 Biggest black hole   centre of ngc 1277 17 billion solar mass this supermassive black...

10 BIGGEST MOONS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 01 ganymede radius: 2,631km satellite of: Jupiter 02 titan radius: 2,576km satellite of: saturn 03 callisto radius: 2,410km satellite of: Jupiter 04 io radius: 1,821km satellite of: Jupiter 05 Moon radius: 1,737km satellite of: earth 06 europa radius: 1,561km satellite of: Jupiter 07 triton radius: 1,353km satellite of: Neptune 08 titania Radius: 788km satellite of: uranus 09 rhea Radius: 764km satellite of: saturn 10 oberon radius: 761km Satellite of: uranus

 10 LONGEST HUMAN SPACE FLIGHTS 01 Valeri Polyakov russia Mission: Mir Space Station Duration: 437 days 8 January 1994– 22 March 1995. 02 Sergei Avdeyev soviet union Mission: Mir Space Station Duration: 379 days 13 August 1988– 28 August 1989. 03 Vladimir titov & Musa Manarov soviet union mission: mir space station Duration: 365 days 21 December 1987– 21 December 1988. 04 Yuri Romanenko soviet union mission: mir space station Duration: 326 days 6 february 1987– 29 December 1988. 05 Sergei Krikalev Soviet Union/ russia mission: mir space station Duration 312 days 19 may 1991– 25 march 1992. 06 Valeri Polyakov soviet union Mission: Mir Space Station Duration: 240 days 29 August 1988– 7 April 1989. 07 Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyov & Oleg Atkov soviet union mission: salyut 7 space station Duration: 237 days 8 february 1984– 2 october 1984. 08 mikhail tyurin & michael lópezAllegria russia & usA mission: international space station Dura...

10 SPACE FIRSTS First man in orbit Yuri Gagarin Launch date: 12 April 1961 The Russian cosmonaut completed an orbit of earth during his 108-minute spaceflight aboard Vostok I. Being the first human in space, he later explained the experience of weightlessness: “You feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended.” After landing back on earth, Gagarin became an instant celebrity, touring the world to tell the adoring public about his big adventure. It was to be his only mission into space and he died in a plane crash in 1968 during a routine flight. His ashes are buried in the walls of the Kremlin in Moscow. First woman in orbit Valentina Tereshkova  16 June 1963 the russian orbited the earth 48 times during her nearthree-day spell aboard Vostok 6. First space walk Alexey Leonov  18 March 1965 Another russian cosmonaut, leonov undertook a 12-minute period of ‘extravehicular activity’ (space walk) during the Vosk...

10 OUTSIZED ANIMALS Largest mammal (and largest animal ever)  blue whale Balaenoptera musculus 30m, 170 tonnes Larger than any prehistoric giant, the blue whale would dwarf the largest known dinosaur, Argentinosaurus, which weighed a ‘mere’ 80 tonnes or so. Largest land mammal African elephant Loxodonta africana 7.5m, 6 tonnes Largest reptile saltwater crocodile Crocodylus porosus    6.7m, 2 tonnes Largest snake green anaconda eunectes murinus  6.6m, 70kg Largest dinosaur Argentinosaurus estimated to be 30-35m long, 80-100 tonnes Largest bird ostrich struthio camelus 2.1-2.8m, 145kg Largest insect goliath beetle Goliathus spp. 60-110mm, 100g Largest fish  Whale shark Rhincodon typus  12.65m, 21.5 tonnes Largest amphibian Chinese giant salamander andrias davidianus 2m, 30kg Largest carnivore  southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina 3m, 4 tonnes

10 SUPER FAST ANIMALS Peregrine falcon Falco peregrinus 389km/h (fastest recorded) The peregrine regular exceeds 322km/h during stoops (hunting dives) – though doesn’t come close to that speed in level flight. Marine reptile Leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea 35km/h A teardrop-shaped body gives this reptile a hydrodynamic advantage. land mammal cheetah Acinonyx jubatus 120km/h the fastest land animal on earth can maintain this speed for bursts of no longer than 60 seconds. bird flapping flight White-throated needle `tail Hirundapus caudacutus 169km/h land herbivore Pronghorn Antilocapra americana 88.5km/h this antelope-like creature can maintain speeds of 56km/h for several kilometres. Fish Indo-Pacific sailfish Istiophorus albicans 111km/h the title of fastest fish is hotly disputed; the highest estimates for this species date from the 1920s. insect horsefly Chrysops relictus 145km/h Land raptile Black iguana Ctenosaura similis 34....

10 LONGEST- LIVED VERTEBRATES 01 Aldabra giant tortoise Aldabrachelys gigantea oldest individual recorded: 255 years Adwaita was a male tortoise reputedly given to Robert Clive in the 18th century. in around 1876 it was transferred to the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata, where it lived until its death in 2006. Adwaita’s age cannot be definitively confirmed; the longestlived reptile for which an age has been verified was Tu’i Malila, a radiated tortoise reputedly given to the Tongan royal family by Captain Cook in 1777, and which died in 1965 at the age of 188. 02 Koi fish Cyprinus carpio haematopterus 226 years the oldest-known koi, called Hanako, died in 1977. 03 bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus 211 years 200-year-old spears have been found in some bowheads. 04 tuatara Sphenodon punctatus 115 years old Henry, a tuatara in new Zealand, became a father at the age of 111 in 2009. 05 blue and yellow macaw Ara ararauna 104 years churchill reputedly owned the macaw nam...

10 WEIRD PARASITES eye-inflating flatworm larvae of the greenbanded broodsac fill the eye-stalks of infected snails, making them look (and wriggle) like little caterpillars – luring hunting birds. Zombie-making wasp the female emerald cockroach wasp stings a cockroach’s brain, then lays an egg on its belly – and the wasp larva devours its host from the inside. Tongue-eating louse the sea louse cymothoa exigua feeds on blood from a fish’s tongue till it withers away, then attaches itself to the stump to feed on blood and mucus. eye worm the larvae of the nematode worm loa loa infect human eyes, and can be seen and, more horribly, felt as they squirm across the tissue beneath the cornea. Skin-boiling worm  the guinea worm Dracunculus medinensis grows up to 1m long in humans, causing a burning pain as it emerges through the skin of legs. Head-splitting fungus An ant infected with ophiocordyceps unilateralis climbs to the top of a plant and die. the fung...

10 LONGEST ANIMAL MIGRATIONS 01 Arctic tern sterna paradisea 70,900km this small bird – weighing just over 100g – undertakes an incredible twoway migration each year. in August or september each bird leaves its breeding grounds in Greenland and heads south, tracing the coast of either Africa or south America and feeding in the Weddell sea for four or five months before returning to the Arctic for the northern summer. 02 sooty shearwater Puffinus griseus 65,000km these birds follow circular migration routes around the Atlantic and Pacific. 03 Northern elephant seal miroungaangustirostris 21,000km these mammals swim between californian and mexican beaches. 04 Leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea 20,000km one tagged turtle swam from indonesia to the usA across the Pacific. 05 Adélie penguin Pygoscelis adeliae 17,600km Adélis follow the ice edge from breeding colonies to winter feeding grounds. 06 Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae 16,600km the mammal ...

10 DANGEROUS ANIMALS 10 Poison dart frog (phyllobates terribilis)  Human deaths/year: Unknown living in the rainforest of colombia, this frog’s skin is coated with enough batrachotoxins to kill at least ten men. 09 Box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) human deaths: at least 60 since 1883 each of the sea wasp’s tentacles is armed with about 5000 stinging cells. 08 sloth bear (Melursus ursinus)  Human deaths/year: <2 like other bear species, sloth bears don’t predate humans, but chance encounters can result in deaths. 07 Great white shark (carcharodon carcharias)  Human deaths/year: <30 unprovoked shark attacks on humans are extremely rare – and fatalities even rarer. Great white, tiger and bull sharks are responsible for most. 06 lion (panthera leo) Human deaths/year: ≤100 lion attacks on humans often occur during harvests, but rare outbreaks of mass ‘maneating’ also occur. 05 African elephant (Loxodonta africana)  Human deaths...

10 EXTREME MATING PRACTICES Greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) Applies pink make-up It’s long been known that the characteristic pink hue of flamingos’ feathers is derived from carotenoid pigments in the shrimps and other plankton they eat. but in 2010 scientists discovered that greater flamingos actively apply pigment, secreted from a gland at their rear, to their feathers during preening – and reapply regularly to prevent it from fading in the sun. Anglerfish (ceratioidei) males are parasites, latching onto females and releasing sperm during spawning. Snails & slugs (pulmonata) many land-dwelling hermaphrodite slugs and snails fire ‘love darts’ into prospective mates during courtship. Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) A courting male will urinate over his prospective partner before mating. Bedbug (Cimex lectularius) A male pierces a female’s abdomen for traumatic insemination. Praying mantis (Mantodea) Perhaps 30% of courting male mantids are eaten ...

TEN SUPER-STRONG ANIMALS 10 brown bear (ursus arctos) five times as strong as a human Grizzly bears grow to 500kg and over, and prey on large mammals such as moose, elk and even black bears. 09 green anaconda (eunectes murinus)                 constricts at 90psi though figures are debated, the green anaconda is believed to be the world’s largest snake, and has the most powerful squeeze at a reported 90psi. 08 Ox (Bos primigenius) Pulls 150% of own weight the phrase ‘strong as an ox’ is well coined: for millennia oxen have been used for hauling heavy loads and ploughing heavy soil. 07 Asian elephant (elephas maximus) Pulls 170% of own weight But Asian elephants used in the timber industry have hauled logs weighing up to 9 tonnes – nearly twice as heavy as a large male tusker. 06 Tiger (Panthera tigris) lifts double own weight Prey varies across the ranges of the subspecies, but the largest tigers have been known to hu...

             Ten endangered languages Kaixána Where: Brazil According to reports from 2006, one named individual spoke this language – though he was 78 years old. patwin Where: USA native to northern california, by 2011 it was assumed that just one person spoke Patwin as their first language. Diahói Where: Brazil Probably fewer than a hundred members of the indigenous people who spoke this language live in southern Amazonas state; a 2006 study estimated that only one actually spoke the Diahói dialect. Apiaka Where: Brazil only a few hundred members of the Apiaká people survive in northern mato Grosso state; having adopted Portuguese, only one person is now believed to speak the language. chaná Where: Argentina/Uruguay in 2005, a man was discovered who spoke at least some words of this language, long believed extinct. Bikya Where: Cameroon in 1986, it was reported that only four people spoke this Bantoid language, only one of t...

10 incredible human Records Longest time breath held  in 2012, stig severinsen of Denmark held his breath underwater for a remarkable 22 minutes. Longest tooth extracted  A tooth measuring 3.2cm long was removed from loo Hui Jing in singapore in 2009. Longest nose  mehmet Özyürek of turkey has the world’s longest nose. in 2010, his proboscis measured at 8.8cm from bridge to tip. Longest fingernails  in 2009, American melvin Boothe’s fingernails were measured at having a combined length of 9.85m. Longest tongue  englishman stephen taylor’s tongue measures at 9.8cm (from the tip to the middle of his closed top lip). Largest hands  American robert Wadlow, the tallest man ever, also holds the record for largest hands – 32.3cm from wrist to fingertip. smallest waist  cathie Jung of the usA has the world’s smallest waist. it measures 38.1cm corseted – and just 53.34cm even without a corset. Longest legs  svetlana Pankra...

the 10 most Widely spoken languages 01Mandarin Chinese speakers: 848m 02 Spanish Speakers: 406m 03 english  Speakers: 335m 04 hindi Speakers: 260m 05 arabic  Speakers: 223m 06 Portuguese  Speakers: 202m 07 Bengali  Speakers: 193m 08 russian  Speakers: 162m 09 Japanese  Speakers: 122m 10 Javanese (Indonesia)  Speakers: 84.3m

Top 10 invented languages esperanto  created by: Ludwik Lazarus Zamenhof in 1887 An international auxiliary language devised with the aim of promoting peace and understanding across the world. solresol  created by: François sudre in 1827 in the language of solresol, words can be communicated using hand gestures, colours and musical notes as well as verbally. Universalglot  created by: Jean pirro in 1868 An early – and unsuccessful – attempts at an international auxiliary language drew on vocabulary from a number of existing dialects. blissymbols  created by: charles K Bliss in 1949 using symbols, this written language was adopted for signs in places like airports in canada and sweden. Slovianski  created by: a team of language experts in 2006 An interlanguage designed to improve communication between slavic peoples. it’s now spoken by around 2000 people. Sambahsamundialect  created by: olivier simon in 2007 this new tongue...

10 organs human can live without it Lung you might be a little short of breath, but living with one lung is perfectly possible. in 1931, rudolph nissen, who operated on Albert einstein, was the first surgeon to successfully remove a patient’s lung. Kidney if illness, injury or poison prevents your kidneys from filtering your blood, they need to be removed. you can cope quite well with just one, but if you lose both, you’ll need to use a dialysis machine. stomach A gastrecomy – surgery to remove your stomach – can be required to treat cancer or ulcers. A total gastrectomy results in your oesophagus being connected directly to your intestine, which will have a long-term effect on diet and digestion. gallbladder sitting just below your liver, the gallbladder stores bile to break down fat in food. Gallstones caused by high cholesterol can require removal of the gallbladder. intestines  there are about 7.5m of small and large intestine wrapped up in your abdomen an...

Heaviest organs in the body 1. Skin: 4,535g  function: Protects against pathogens; provides insulation; synthesizes vitamin D; regulates temperature; provides sensation  2. Liver: 1,560g  function: Breaks down toxins; produces hormones, proteins and digestive biochemicals; regulates glycogen storage 3. Brain: 1,500g  function: Drives executive functions such as reasoning; coordinates responses to changes in environment   4. Lungs: 1,300g  function: supplies oxygen to be distributed around the body; expels carbon dioxide that is created around the body   5. Heart: 300g  function: Pumps oxygenated blood from lungs around the body; pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs   6. Kidneys: 260g (pair)  function: remove waste products; regulate sodium and water retention; filter blood; produce urine and hormones  7. Spleen: 175g  function: filters blood; holds a reserve supply of blood; recycles iron; synthesizes an...