E-Book Overview
How much do you know about . . . Obesity Sleep Meteors Aliens Bees Sperm banks Sex in space Duct tape Germs Airport security Death Ancient weapons Rats The Internet Birth Weather Milk Mosquitoes Your body Space disasters DISCOVER'S 20 Things You Didn't Know About Everything is the first book written by the editors of the award-winning DISCOVER magazine. Based on DISCOVER'S most eagerly awaited monthly column, "20 Things You Didn't Know About," this original book looks at many popular—and sometimes unexpected—topics in science and technology, and reveals quirky, intriguing, and little-known facts. Whether you're just curious or think you already know everything, this book is guaranteed to expand your mind.
E-Book Content
’
20
THINGS
You
Didn’t
KNOW ABOUT
EVERYTHING By the Editors of DISCOVER Magazine and Dean Christopher With Reporting by Jason Stahl
CONTENTS
Preface iv 1.
Airport Security, 1
2.
Aliens, 17
3.
Ancient Weapons, 38
4.
Bees, 53
5.
Birth, 68
6.
Your Body, 83
7.
Death, 103
8.
Duct Tape, 123
9.
Germs, 136
10. The Internet, 151 11. Meteors, 166 12. Milk, 180 13. Mosquitoes, 195 14. Obesity, 208 15. Rats, 223 16. Sex in Space, 239 17. Sleep, 255 18. Space Disasters, 274 19. Sperm Banks, 291 20. Weather, 306 Acknowledgments 323 About the Authors Credits Cover Copyright About the Publisher
PREFACE
F
irst off, apologies for the title. We know, it’s absurd. 20 Things
You Didn’t Know About Everything, indeed! For one thing,
there are surely many more than 20 things that you—like all of us—don’t know about any one thing. On another level, it’s obvious to anyone smart enough to read the title that no book can possibly contain even one thing you don’t know about every single thing! That way lies infinity, madness, an impossibly bulky volume. Imagine the cost of paper, ink, printing, shipping. We never meant to be taken literally, so a little slack is clearly in order. But you did pick up the book. Chances are it was for one of two reasons: (1) you’re inherently curious or (2) you want to prove us wrong, because you’re used to knowing just about everything. Either way, this book can be useful to you. Aristotle wrote that whenever our minds expand to encompass new ideas or information, they never shrink back to their original dimensions. Even if the information is faulty, even if the ideas are rejected, once stretched, consciousness tends to stay stretched. So consider this book an entertaining, relaxing way to stretch your mind. We designed it to be interesting, informative, and fun to read, whether you skip around or (for the highly structured)
v
* Preface
churn through from front to back. It’s not a textbook, not a collection of learned monographs. So if you’re a specialist in some topic listed here, seeking fresh esoterica in your particular field, you should probably put this down and buy some other book. No harm done; maybe our next book will be more up your alley. A quick word about “facts.” By the time you finish this book (depending, of course, on when you buy it and how quickly you read), some—perhaps even all—time-sensitive information may be outdated. Biggest, Fastest, Most Advanced—all those “facts” evaporate as new records are set. Planets get discovered, one “greatest disaster” supersedes another, unexpected diseases and treatments emerge, and so forth. Anyone who deals with science, technology, and the future (as Discover magazine does—see our cover) lives in a world that’s constantly being updated and reinvented by eager scientists, technologists, and futurologists who strive constantly to prove themselves (or even b