How many bones are there in the human body? Why is the sky blue? What was Earth like during the period of the dinosaurs? The human race has spent many a millennium pondering over pertinent questions such as these and thanks to the advancement in science and technology, we have successfully answered all of these questions one by one.

pexels/Chokniti. Scientists are always hard at work to push the frontier of discovery and innovation

The history of science and technology is as old as time itself and from the objects in our universe to the cells in our bodies, scientists are always hard at work to push the frontier of discovery and innovation. In this list, we are looking at some of the most amazing scientific facts you’re probably not aware of.

Our galaxy has fewer stars than the number of trees on Earth

Official NASA figures and statistics suggest that there are close to 400 billion stars in our galaxy. While that number does indeed sound astronomical (pardon the pun) and unfathomable, did you know that there are more trees than that on Earth?

Factually speaking, the number of trees on Earth dwarfs the hundreds of billions of stars in the Milkyway Galaxy. According to a conservative estimate, the number of trees on Earth surpasses the three trillion mark. Jeez.

pexels/Pixabay. According to a conservative estimate, the number of trees on Earth surpasses the three trillion mark

The periodic table does not have this one letter

If you’re not in the early stages of your life and paid attention in class, chances are that you’re quite familiar with the periodic table. In this table, the elements found in our galaxy are classified according to their properties and their symbol is denoted by one or a group of alphabetical letters.

Despite the fact that there are only 26 letters in the English language and 118 elements in the periodic table, there is one alphabet that can not be found in the table–the letter J.

unsplash/Vedrana Filipović. The periodic table contains every alphabet of the English language–except for the letter J

Water can be frozen and boiled—all at the same time!

Most of us are familiar with the three states of matter–namely solids, liquids, and gases. In most instances, these physical properties are a result of their chemical properties and the temperature of their surroundings.

Although we are aware that water freezes at close to zero degrees celsius and at temperatures nearing 100 degrees celsius, it freezes, it is possible to both freeze and boil water at the same time. A scientific phenomenon known as the ‘triple frontier’ occurs when the temperature and pressure are in the right window for water to exist in all three of its physical states.

The Earth is a giant magnet

The Earth’s inner core is a sphere made up of solid iron. Much like the iron found on the Earth’s surface, when this element is subjected to electricity, it can become a magnet. Due to variation in temperature and density, this metallic core is electrified which account’s for the planet’s spin and its magnetic field.