You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Lee Stewart]

Have you ever stopped to think where oxygen comes from? Your first thought may be a rainforest, but here's a cool science fact for you: We can thank plant-based marine organisms for all that fresh air, according to the National Oceanic Service. Plankton, seaweed, and other photosynthesizers produce more than half of the world's oxygen.

[Lee Stewart]

Lost land animals may not be able to find their way home, but sea animals might. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), "there is evidence that some animals, like sea turtles and salmon, have the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field and can use this sense for navigation." Though that may sound like science fiction, it's actually science fact

[Lee Stewart]

Your childhood dreams of floating on a weightless cloud may not withstand this science fact: The average cumulus cloud can weigh up to a million pounds, according to the USGS. That's about as heavy as the world's largest jet when it's completely full of cargo and passengers.

[Lee Stewart]

Here's a cool space fact (and an Earth fact) we bet you didn't know: NASA experts believe there could be anywhere from 100 billion to 400 billion stars in the Milky Way. However, a 2015 paper published in the journal Nature estimated that the number of trees around the world is much higher: 3.04 trillion.

[Lee Stewart]

We like to think of humans as being superior to other living creatures, but the reality is, our genome consists of as many as 145 genes that have jumped from bacteria, fungi, other single-celled organisms, and viruses, according to a study published in the journal Genome Biology.

[Lee Stewart]

The atmospheres in Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn have such extreme pressure that they can crystallize carbon atoms and turn them into diamonds, American Scientist reports. How do we know this science fact? Researchers were able to create the correct conditions in a lab to prove this occurs on Neptune and Uranus. Separately, other researchers speculate that it may rain as much as 2.2 million pounds of diamonds on parts of Saturn every year.

[Lee Stewart]

Humans have been marveling at the size of T. rexes ever since first putting a full skeleton together. Now, thanks to research published in April 2021, scientists have a better idea of exactly how many of them once called Earth their (temporary) home. According to the team at the University of California, Berkeley, approximately 2.5 billion of these dinosaurs existed across more than 127,000 generations. They reached this estimate by taking into account the dinosaur's body size, sexual maturity, and energy needs.

[Lee Stewart]

Believe it or not, while humans do not currently produce venom, technically, we could. In fact, all reptiles and mammals have that capability, according to an article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Basically, we have all the tools we need, and it's up to evolution to get us there.

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

My favorite restaurant in NYC: World Yacht. A three hour dinner cruise around Manhattan at night. Good food, dancing to a live band and THE best views of NYC.

I did a deal with Marine Midland Bank that was very profitable. To thank them, my partner and I took the entire department out on the World Yacht for a Friday night dinner cruise. 20 people. I believe the cost was around $3000 plus drinks which was another $1000. Peanuts to the $250,000 we made on the deal.