Tag: Society
This animal’s blood is the most valuable on earth
When you think about the most precious liquids on Earth, you might conjure up images of petroleum, fine wines, or perhaps rare perfumes. But there's one creature out there whose unassuming blue blood is worth its weight in gold, and it's been saving human lives for decades without many of us realizing it.
These three countries are surrounded by their neighbor
Across nearly 200 countries checkering the globe, exactly three extraordinary lands claim status as fully enclaved nations - meaning completely surrounded by another country enclosing its borders on all sides. Two micro-states nestled within neighboring Italy and one mountain kingdom swallowed up inside South Africa comprise Earth's sole national entities qualifying for such geopolitical quirk of geography.
Great Lakes: 20% of the world’s surface freshwater
Along America's northern frontier sprawls an aquatic kingdom spanning 94,600 square miles - the largest surface freshwater system on Earth. Encompassing Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario, this watery realm contains over 117 trillion gallons supplying 40 million people while supporting economies from Canada to Minnesota to New York.
Caffeine: The Natural Pesticide
That morning cup of coffee jumpstarting your workday also traces back to compounds plants employ in their own daily battles - as stealth pesticides. The caffeine enriching popular beverages actually helps vegetation fend off hungry insects and destructive infestations.
Why Most Canadians Live Near US Border
Gaze north from America across the Great White North and Canada appears a boundless land brimming with rugged wilderness, sawtooth mountains and remote tundra plains. But in fact just 10% of Canada's nearly 40 million populace resides in those iconic frigid hinterlands. A full 90% instead clusters within a narrow strip along the southern border - often not far north of U.S. territory at all.
Da Vinci’s Famous Mural Once Showed Christ’s Feet
Like a lot of masterpieces from centuries past, “In Milan’s unassuming Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery, millions flock to glimpse Leonardo da Vinci’s spellbinding mural The Last Supper - Jesus’ final gathering alive with drama moments before betrayal. Though now an iconic masterpiece of the High Renaissance, it may shock tourists to learn the painting once moldered decrepit and vandalized for centuries, its innovations lost on contemporaries.The Last Supper” has undergone significant changes since it first saw the light of day. Perhaps most significantly, Leonardo da Vinci’s...