Illustration by Jennifer Kearney

Things you've always never wanted to know

Scientists discover about 7,000 to 10,000 new insect species every year - and they believe there are between 1 million and 10 million undiscovered species.

The rate of hypertension is twice as high among blacks as whites in the United States; the rate of hypertension among men living in Vermont is also twice the national average. Women of all races are afflicted by this disorder far less than men.

In 1918 and 1919, a world epidemic of simple influenza killed 20 million people in the United States and Europe.

An average of 400 million sperm are contained in a single male ejaculation.

The hair of an adult man or woman can stretch 25 percent of its length without breaking. If it is less elastic, the hair is not healthy.

There are no penguins at the North Pole. In fact, there are no penguins anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. All 17 varieties of the bird are found below the equator, primarily in Antarctica.

Garter snakes, though reptiles, do not lay eggs. They bear live young, just as mammals do.

One of every three English males between the ages of 17 and 35 was killed in World War I.

All the planets in our solar system could be placed inside the planet Jupiter.

When astronauts first shaved in space, their weightless whiskers floated up to the ceiling. A special razor had to be developed which drew the whiskers in like a vacuum cleaner.

One million people each year suffer from animal bites in the United States. Seventy-five percent of these bites are inflicted by wild animals, and about 30,000 of the victims must be treated for rabies.

The psychology department of Dayton University reports that loud talk can be 10 times more distracting than the sound of a jackhammer. Loud, incessant chatter can make a listener nervous, irritable and even start him on the road to insanity.