When the first manned satellites went into space in the early 1960s, many people felt that the wildest dreams of science fiction writers were coming true. It was only about 50 years earlier that the first aeroplanes had flown. What amazing progress had been made in half a century! But in the next 20 years events moved still faster In …
Read More »Amazing facts about animals
Amazing facts about animals — A captive, great brown bear of Alaska, a close relative of the fabled grizzly bear, weigh about 650 kilograms! The female Emperor penguin comes to the land, lays one egg on bare ice, then immediately returns to the ocean. The male keeps the egg warm for two months until it hatches, by rolling it onto …
Read More »Accidental discovery
During World War I a metallurgist called Harry Brearley tried mixing chromium with steel to make a stranger gun barrel. It didn’t work. The barrel shattered. But the metal pieces he threw away outside stayed bright and didn’t rust. Quite by accident, the secret of making stainless steel had been discovered.
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