Treasure to Trash

Did you know that the diamonds are slowly being converted to graphite? This is a very-very slow process but undoubtedly exists. Graphite is the most stable form of carbon and has no special value. Diamond is extremely valuable and the second most stable but needs high pressure to remain as it is. Diamonds on (or near) the surface are not under the pressure needed so an unnoticeably slow conversion occurs.

Diamond is the hardest natural material known having extreme resistance to scratching. But it is not tough at all so don't try your hammer on it. If you insist on destroy your diamond then the most spectacular - and nevertheless a very expensive - method is to heat it to more than 800 degree Celsius where it converts to graphite quickly enough to observe.

The largest diamond found on Earth was the Cullinan, in 1905, which weighed 3,106 carats. But this is not the largest one we know about. In 2008, scientists discovered that a star, namely the BPM 37093, which is located 50 light years away from Earth has a diamond core 2,500 mile wide weighting approximately ten billion trillion trillion carats.

Wake up early

Did you know that the first alarm clock of the United States could only ring at 4 AM? It was created by Levi Hutchins in 1787 in order to wake him for his job. The French inventor Antoine Redier patented the first adjustable alarm clock, more than half a century later, in 1847. The alarm clock was invented in the Ottoman Empire almost 300 years earlier, in 1559, by Taqi al-Din. He described it in his book The Brightest Stars for the Construction of Mechanical Clocks.

The production of the alarm clocks in the US ceased during the World War 2 as the factories were converted over to war work, but they were one of the first items to resume manufacture for civilian use after 2 years in November 1944. By that time, a severe shortage of alarm clocks had developed which caused serious problems in critical jobs due to late arrivals.

Can without opener

Did you know that the can opener was invented 48 years after the can? The first tin can was made in 1810 by a french inventor Nicolas Appert, who won the 12,000 franc reward Napoleon Bonaparte offered for a practical method of food preservation for armies on the march. He didn't think of the problem of opening it so the French soldiers had to use chisels, knives or rocks to cut out the rather thick metal.

The first cans were sealed with lead soldering which sometimes led to lead poisoning. But this was not the only drawback of early canning. The method of pasteurisation was unknown for some more 100 years therefore microbes in the food also caused diseases.

Deadly matches

Did you know that the development of the lighters was boosted by the World War I? The intense initial flash of matches made easy to locate the soldiers using them in the dark. These deadly occasions fostered the lighter industry. By the end of the War the lighters were mass produced.

The first lighter, the Döbereiner's lamp, was made by a German chemist, Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner in 1823 and stayed in production until 1880. It used zinc metal and sulfuric acid to produce hydrogen gas which was streamed through platinum to flame up. It was quite sensitive and was replaced by the liquid based lighters like Zippo which became part of the standard equipment of the American army in the World War II.

Counting only to eight

Did you know that two native American tribes, namely the Yukis and the Pames used octal (8-based) number systems? They counted using the spaces between their fingers rather than the fingers themselves so they could count only to 8 with two hands.

In 1718, the Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg developed the arithmetics of the octal number system and wrote a manuscript on how to use it. He was entrusted by King Charles XII of Sweden with developing a 64-based number system but he thought it would be too complicated for less intelligent people. His paper, the Art of Counting Which Changes at the Number 8 Instead of the Usual at the Number 10 has not been published.

Octal number system is in use in today's computer technology, for example in UNIX operating systems. Interestingly, it is used by computer specialists and software but not the machines themselves. Computer hardware use binary number systems which have only two digits: 0 and 1.

Global warming can wash away an internet domain

Did you know that one of the most threatened countries by the global warming has only Internet access but no international telephone connection? Tuvalu, located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia, is the owner of the .tv internet top level domain which makes the main income of the country after the foreign aids. Tuvalu has no international telephone connection, just a radiotelephone system working between its islands. The 12,373 Tuvaluans are one of the most vulnerable nations to the affect of the global warming since the highest point of the county is only 4.5 meters above sea level.

The smallest country of the world

Did you know that the size of the smallest officially recognized country is only 0,44 square kilometers? Vatican is located in a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has 826 citizens but the citizenship is binded to being employed by the country and is usually revoked upon the termination of the employment. There are no permanent residents, therefore.

The Pitcairn Island is definitely larger with its 4.6 square kilometers but has only 48 citizens. The official language is Pitkern which is a derivative of the 18th century English with some Tahitian influence.

Principality of Sealand's official recognition is controversial at the moment but it could win in both categories with its 550 square meters territory and 27 citizens. The UK and Germany both de facto recognized the Principality. It has its own currency, post stamps and passports which are accepted in foreign banks.

BjornSocialist Republic is a micronation, not an official country. It has only 5 square meters territory on top of a stone "that looks like a tractor". It is only recognized by Ladonia, a micronation which was declared by an artist around his two sculptures to protect them from the Swedish authorities who wished to remove them.

The longest running TV show

Did you know that the longest running TV show is a news program? After being a radio show for two years, the first television episode of NBC's Meet The Press was broadcasted on November 6, 1947. It had 61 seasons and more than 4,800 episodes and you can still watch it every week. It is the highest-rated Sunday morning talk show of America.

Being relatively young, ESPN's SportCenter was first aired only in 1979 but it holds the record of having more than 31,500 episodes.

Mobile phones forerun computers

Did you know that the Short Message Service (SMS) is the most widely used data transmission method of the World? It has approximately 2.5 billion active users, more than the internet itself which has less than 1.6 billion.

Almost the third of the global population send text messages with their mobile phones. SMS has an average global price of 0.11 USD and maintains a near 90% profit margin. Every 5th message is written in SMS language or txt which is a special set of abbreviated words and expressions.