10 true facts you need to know Nerdy stuff to impress your pals, possibly
Read about this issue's cool stuff including how cow farts effect the atmosphere, the fastest man on earth, radiation horrors, unpleasant behaviour of Africa's big cats and the richest touring band on the planet
1 Paaaarp!
Farming ( cow farts mainly) accounts for as much as 41% of Britain’s harmful methane emissions
2 Danger levels
Exposure to radiation carries two types of health risk: those typically associated with low level, long-term exposure, such as cancer and DNA mutation, and those from short-term, high levels – acute exposure – including burns and radiation sickness
3 Brass in pocket
U2’s world tour made the band a wallet bulging 437.5 million pounds making it the highest paying rock band tour ever
4 Watch the waves
Widely found across the oceans, the Portuguese Man o' War has a painful though rarely fatal sting for unlucky swimmers
5 Spit keeps your teeth alive
Saliva doesn’t just help your food go down, it actively protects the teeth from the bacteria that grow in the stuff you eat. Saliva is slightly alkaline so it neutralises the acids that bacteria produce or that turn up in sugary fizzy drinks
6 Heads up
In Tanzania 500 lions and 400 leopards are killed by trophy hunters every year. Other African governments don’t release their figures
7. Fight for life
Cheetahs are the only African big cats that don’t kill the cubs of its rivals. Lions even kill their own step kids
8 Family tree
Chimpanzees are closer to us genetically than they are to the gorillas
9 Bolt action
Usain Bolt is the fastest man on the planet, hitting 27mph during his 100m sprint record of 9.58 seconds. Researchers say we’ll max out at 9.44 seconds, somewhere between 250 and 500 years from now
10 Parrot fashion
Parrots don’t actually speak like we do because they lack a voice box. The sound is generated by air vibration just above the bird’s diaphragm. The loudest parrot is the Moluccan Cockatoo, which can reach 135 decibels, about the same as a jet engine 35m away
