Fast facts
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Friday, October 15, 2004
Things you always never wanted to know
It may take more than two days for a chick to break out of its shell.
An adult sitting in a relaxed position inhales approximately one pint of air with every breath.
In order to equal the amount of energy transmitted every day from the sun to the Earth, it would be necessary to burn 550 billion tons of coal, more than could be mined in a thousand years.
Ingesting home chemicals such as detergents, solvents and paint is not the major cause of poisoning among children. Children are poisoned most frequently by eating deadly plants.
On average, 70 people a day die in home accidents in the United States. Falls account for the greatest number of deaths. Next in frequency are fire, poisoning, electrocution and choking on food.
Motor-vehicle accidents account for 50 percent of all accidental deaths in the United States.
There is one accidental death every five minutes nationwide. There is a major injury every three seconds.
If the ice floes of Antarctica were to melt, they would raise the ocean level by 240 feet, submerging a quarter of the world.
To establish how fast a railroad train moves, count the number of clicks heard in 20 seconds. This figure is roughly equal to the speed in miles per hour the train will hit you with.
A loss of 20 percent of the body's water would result in certain and painful death. Ordinarily the body cannot go more than a week and a half without water; the longest recorded time anyone has gone without water is 11 days.
In 1977, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System revealed that about 125,312 people were injured while in or around a bed. These injuries resulted from such mishaps as tripping over the bed, hurting oneself on the headboard or simply falling out of bed.