Facts About Tsunami - strangefacts

• Tsunami is a Japanese word. "Tsu" translates to harbor and "nami" to wave. When a body of water is rapidly displaced, a series of waves are created

• In the 1940s, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale gave rise to a tsunami

• A "megatsunami" is caused by large landslides. The displaced water mass moves under the effect of gravity

• If an earthquake takes place near a body of water, it means that a tsunami will follow in a short time

• If the water along the shoreline recedes dramatically and exposes usually submerged areas it should be inferred that this is the trough of the tsunami and a crest will follow after a few seconds or minutes

• Some large animals like elephants hear the noise of the tsunami and move in the opposite direction towards inland

• Computer models can also foresee tsunami arrival and impact depending upon knowledge of the event that caused it and the shape of the oceanbed

• Where tsunami is happening there is a loud roar similar to a train or aircraft

• The maximum death toll due to tsunami has been 283,000 in 2004 in the Indian Ocean

• These waves are usually 10 meters high. The rapid displacement of the body of water takes place due to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, underwater explosions, large meteorite impacts, mass movements above or under water,nuclear weapons testing in seas
  

Facts About Alligators - strangefacts

• Lorne Green had one of his nipples bitten off by an alligator while host of Lorne Green's Wild Kingdom

• There are only two countries on earth that have alligators: the United States and China

• Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed that can exceed 30 miles per hour, though this could more properly be classified as a short fast lunge rather than a dash

• Alligators are opportunistic feeders, eating almost anything they can catch

• While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families, and are as distinct from one another as humans are from gorillas

• One generally reliable rule to distinguish between alligators and crocodiles is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped

• The East Alligator River in Australia's Northern Territory contains crocodiles, not alligators

• In Arkansas, alligators may not be kept in bathtubs

• Alligators in the wild are believed to live 35 - 50 years. In captivity their lifespan may be significantly longer, perhaps 60-80 years. Currently, there are no scientific methods of analyzing an alligators age while it is alive

• The longest recorded length for an alligator is 19' 2'. This animal was trapped in the early 1900's in the State of Louisiana. Most wild alligators do not get above 13 feet in length, and may weigh 600 pounds or more
  

Facts About Crocodiles - strangefacts

• One generally reliable rule to distinguish between alligators and crocodiles is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped

• Steve Irwin's body was fed to crocodiles at his request

• The first-known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 BC

• To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs. It will let you go instantly

• Research has shown that crocodiles really do shed tears during a meal

• Crocodile and kangaroo tail, as well as the webbed toes of a hippopotamus are all on the menu at the Beijing zoo's restaurant

• While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families, and are as distinct from one another as humans are from gorillas

• The East Alligator River in Australia's Northern Territory contains crocodiles, not alligators

• An adult crocodile can go two years without eating

• The crocodiles have a four-chambered heart like in birds (their closest relatives) and mammals, for an active life. Still, when diving, the heart behaves like a three-chambered reptilian heart, enabling them to stay more underwater

Facts About Komodo Dragon - strangefacts

• Unlike the other different types of lizards, Komodo dragons maintain a single mate throughout their lifetime

• Komodo can run at about 11 miles an hour

• It is the only lizard that hunts and kills prey larger than its body and bigger than what it can swallow whole

• To avoid being eaten by larger Komodo dragons, youngsters often roll in their own feces so that they give out a foul smell that the adult Komodos avoid

• Komodo dragons can live to be 50 years old

• The Komodo dragon is the world's heaviest lizard, weighing 150 pounds or more

• Although, babies can be born only through mating of a male and a female, there are instances when babies were born from a single Komodo without mating between individuals of different gender

• Though named as dragons, Komodo dragons are lizards. They are the heaviest lizards on Earth that can weigh upto 150 pounds and can grow as long as 3 meters

• These are natives of the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. Komodo dragon habitat is characteristically hot and dry. The environment in which they thrive is acknowledged to be one of the toughest in the world

• Komodo dragons have a large, flat head, a rounded snout and a long, muscular tail. They move on four strong but bowed legs
  

Facts About Chocolate - strangefacts

• First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt ate three chocolate-covered garlic balls every morning

• For people that are lactose intolerant, chocolate aids in helping milk digest easier

• In China, people eat a bar of chocolate for every 1,000 chocolate bars eaten by the BritishThe Dalai Lama has a weakness for chocolate chip cookies

• Approximately 71% of American chocolate eaters prefer to eat milk chocolate

• Eating chocolate three times a month helps people live longer as opposed to people who overeat chocolate or do not eat chocolate at all

• In October 1973, Swedish sweet maker Roland Ohisson of Falkenberg was buried in a coffin made of nothing but chocolate

• Adolf Hitler loved chocolate cake very much

• In the 1960 movie "Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock, chocolate syrup was used to show the blood in the shower scene

• Singer Chaka Khan came out with a line of chocolates called "Chakalates."

• The last thing Elvis Presley ate before he died was four scoops of ice cream and 6 chocolate chip cookies

Dolphins Intelligence facts - strangefacts

• Dolphins locate objects by using sound. They bounce high pitched sounds off of objects to sense where they are. This is called "echolocation" and it is the way that bats 'see' as well

• Dolphins have sophisticated hearing and navigate and hunt by using sound

• Like whales a Dolphin has a blow hole at the top of its head and must come up to breathe. So a Dolphin normally stays about 10-15 feet from the surface so it can come up to breathe often. However, a Dolphin can dive to over 500 feet if they want to

• Dolphins have a complicated system of communication using clicks and sound. They coordinate their hunting and social group using sound

• A dolphin sleeps with half of its brain shut down and one eye closed

• They have been playing and communicating with people from ancient times and still do

• Dolphins use sonar, because their eyes are on the sides of their bodies. They can't see ahead

Facts About Hydrogen - strangefacts

• The Sun is made out of 92% hydrogen, 7% helium and the rest is other low number gasses

• The odor of farts comes from small amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas and mercaptans in the mixture 

• Joseph Priestley not only discovered oxygen, but he also discovered ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, sulphur dioxide, and nitrous oxide. He was also the first person to isolate chlorine

• Most people know what pH means, but few people know that it stands for pondus hydrogenii which means potential hydrogen and that each unit is a phidron

• Hydrogen is the lightest, simplest and most commonly found chemical element in the Universe, making up around 75% of its elemental mass

The pink Glowish layer in space is composed of Hydrogen

• Hydrogen is found in large amounts in giant gas planets and stars, it plays a key role in powering stars through fusion reactions

• The chemical symbol of hydrogen is H. It is an element with atomic number 1, this means that 1 proton is found in the nucleus of hydroge

• Hydrogen is commonly used in the petroleum and the chemical industries and is also widely used for many physics and engineering applications such as welding or as coolant

• Hydrogen gas is extremely flammable. It is used as a fuel by the space shuttle main engine and was associated with the famous explosion of the Hindenburg airship
• Hydrogen compounds commonly are called hydrides