Monica Red
The Vault
useless things to know...
in case somebody asks
01
Starting in 1972, a leap second has been added to the "time" when occasionally the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) has to accommodate the difference between precise time (as measured by atomic clocks) and imprecise observed solar time (known as UT1).
This is because the Earth's rotation speed varies, and some think is slowing down, UTC leap seconds are irregularly spaced and unpredictable.
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Did you miss the last 27 leap seconds?
02
The sun is so big that some of its spots are the size of Earth.
It is so far away that it takes eight minutes and twenty seconds for the light of the sun to reach us. If suddenly it disappears, we won't know it until 8min and 20 seconds after.
Our star moves in cycles that last 22 years, during those years, there are highly active years, and not so active ones. All of them affect our planet, from our satellites to the northern lights and probably our mood!
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03
In very general terms, the universe is made of matter.
However, only 5% of it is made up of normal matter (our stuff!), 25% is dark matter (we know is there although no one has ever seen it or have contacted with it) and 70% is dark energy (even stranger).
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At leas until now... who knows when we will discover this is incorrect, or now totally correct. After all, we are still learning about our world.
Can you hold your breath for 20 minutes?
Not me! But there are some people who can.
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Most adults can hold their breath for 30 to 60 seconds, but freedivers, people who go underwater without snorkel or aqualungs, are trained differently.
They resist the urge to breathe out carbon dioxide and take oxygen. They also learn how to completely relax their bodies.
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04
Reindeer or caribou?....
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Same animal!
Coming from the same family of deer, In Europe they are called reindeer. In North America, they are called caribou if they are wild animals or reindeer if they are domesticated.
05
The common era is part of the Gregorian calendar, instituted by Pope Gregory in October 1582.
It susbtitues the leap year that under the roman calendar happened every 128 years!
Now our calender counts 366.2425 to 365.25 days, which is the reason every four years we have a leap year and add February 29th to the calendar.
Although it is the most common calendar, it isn't the only one use in our world these days.
06