Page 140 - Science Facts

A one-year-old boy in India has broken a world record after being born with 34 fingers and toes!

Akshat Saxena had seven fingers on each hand and ten toes on each foot, according to a spokesman for Guinness World Records. This beats the previous record of a Chinese boy born with 31 fingers and toes.

The condition is known as polydactyly and is a rare genetic condition that makes unborn babies grow extra fingers and toes, usually on the little finger side of the hand. The parents were shocked, but did not know that their baby was so unusual. A family friend finally convinced them to go on the internet and enter the data. That's when they found that their kid had broken the world record.

The boy went into surgery and after 16 hours, he now only has 10 fingers and 10 toes.

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Pickles can glow in the dark!

Pickles are full of salt water, which contains sodium ions. If you apply an electric current to a pickle, the salt water will act as a conductor and cause the pickle to glow! Another way to make them glow is with a microwave. Because microwave ovens emit waves that make the ions vibrate, it will make them glow!

Check out here for instructions and check out the video below!

If you hyperventilate, you can hold your breath underwater longer!

This is because when you hyperventilate, you are getting rid of a lot of the CO2 in your body. CO2 buildup is one of the causes for you feeling pain when you hold your breath too long. By getting rid of it, you delay the body's need to breathe for longer.

However, this can also be dangerous. Hyperventilation reduces the level of CO2 but does not particularly increase the level of Oxygen in your bloodstream. This means that you may run out of oxygen but because you don't have CO2, you won't feel the need to breathe and you may pass out!

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There is a tree so poisonous that rainwater running off it's leaves will burn your skin.

It's called Manchineel and it's a fruit tree native to Florida. However, you probably don't want to eat the fruit! The fruit looks like an apple and it is believed to cause death when eaten. In fact the spanish name for the fruit is "manazanilla de la muerte" or "little apple of death."

The tree is so poisonous that rainfall that touches its leaves will cause somone's skin to blister. Despite this, they are good natural wind breakers and they're used to prevent beaches from eroding. To prevent people from getting burnt, most trees are marked either with signs or red Xs to indicate that they're a dangerous tree.

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Don't believe the chain mails. It takes FEWER muscles to frown

Anatomy teachers think that the good ol’ "It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 muscles to smile” line is bs.

In reality only 12 facial muscles contribute to smiling and 11 to frown. Don't go around sending emails saying that it's easier to frown because of this though. First of all, it's only one more muscle. Also, just counting the number of muscles used in doing something is not a good measure of how hard it is to do. You have to take into account how much energy is used by moving each muscle. 

In any case, now you know not to believe that line if someone ever tries to use that as an excuse for making you upset!

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