Illustration by Natasha Allegri

Things you've always never wanted to know

• Astronomers believe that, on average, the universe contains one atom for every 88 gallons of space.

• If all the packages of cigarettes smoked by Americans each year were laid end to end, they would circle the Earth 21 times.

• Tidal waves move faster than any wheeled vehicle on Earth. On the open seas they sometimes approach speeds of more than 500 nautical mph.

• Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584), czar of Russia and one of the first Russian rulers to open relations with the west, killed his own son in a fit of fury.

• Contrary to popular belief, there are almost no Buddhists in India, nor have there been for about 1,000 years.

• Based on the total number of people tested since intelligence tests were devised, women have a slightly higher average IQ than men.

• The insulin used to treat diabetes in human beings is taken from pigs and sheep. The substance produced in these animals is exactly the same as that found in the human body and has precisely the same sugar-stabilizing effect.

• There is a club in the U.S. whose only membership requirement is that one be named Jim Smith. The club was founded by James H. Smith, of Camp Hill, Pa. Smith felt that the kidding he and others had taken for the ordinariness of their name should be combated by a show of international solidarity.

• The following is a standard test used by many psychiatrists to determine if a person is susceptible to hypnosis. The patient is told to stand in the center of a room with his eyes shut. The tester stands behind him and asks the patient to fall back into his arms without resistance. The tester assures the patient that he will not be hurt and tells him to trust the tester completely. If the patient falls back without hesitation, he will be easily hypnotized. If not, the patient won't.