The official land-speed record (measured over one mile) is 1,227.985 km/h (763.035 mi/h) (Mach 1.020), set by Andy Green (UK) on 15 October 1997 in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, USA, in Thrust SSC.

Although Thrust SSC is the first car to break the sound barrier, it is alleged that Budweiser Rocket Car, driven by Stan Barrett (US), reached a speed of 1,190.377 km/h (739.666 mi/h) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, USA, on 17 December 17 1979. However, the published speed of Mach 1.0106 was not officially sanctioned by the USAF, as the Digital Instrument Radar was not calibrated or certified. The radar information was not generated using the vehicle directly but by an operator aiming aiming a dish using a TV screen.

Randy Gardner (born c. 1947) is the holder of the scientifically documented record for the longest period a human has intentionally gone without sleep not using stimulants of any kind. In 1964, Gardner, a 16-year-old high school student in San Diego, California, stayed awake for 264.4 hours (11 days 24 minutes). This period of sleeplessness broke the previous record of 260 hours and 17 minutes held by disk jockey Tom Rounds of Honolulu.^[1]

Gardner's record attempt was attended by Stanford sleep researcher Dr. William C. Dement. Gardner's health was monitored by Lt. Cmdr. John J. Ross.^[1] A log was kept by two classmates from Point Loma High School, Bruce McAllister and Joe Marciano Jr.^[2] Accounts of Gardner's sleep-deprivation experience and medical response became widely known among the sleep research community

One of the most death-defying and incredible performance artists in the world, Ronningsbakken first got into the art of balancing when he was just five years old. His interest was sparked when he saw a person do one-of-a-kind feats on TV. When Ronningsbakken was 18, he ran away to a circus and performed there for 11 years. He knew that balancing was exactly what he wanted to do.

Now in his early thirties, Ronningsbakken puts his life on the line by riding a bicycle upside down on a tightrope over a canyon and doing handstands on a bar that hangs under a flying hot-air balloon. In the video above, you can see him ride a bicycle backward down one of the curviest roads in Norway. Ronningsbakken isn’t fearless, however, admitting that he gets anxiety before some stunts. He claims that fear is part of what makes us human and that if he ever lost his sense of fear, he’d immediately quit; he’d be afraid of not being fully human.

ONE hundred and ten years ago, German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen announced his discovery of an invisible form of radiation that could make photographs of bones and organs inside a living human body. At first, many scientists called the discovery of "X-rays" a hoax, but when the skeptics put Roentgen's claims to the test, they quickly were convinced about one of the greatest discoveries in science and medicine. Indeed, just six years after his discovery, Roentgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics.

Now comes a teenage girl from Saransk, Russia, who claims to have X-ray-like vision, which lets her see inside of human bodies, to make diagnoses that often are more accurate than those of doctors. First widely hailed in Russia as "the girl with X-ray eyes," 17-year-old Natasha Demkina has a growing following of patients, doctors, journalists, and others who are convinced her powers are real.

In March 2004, the producer of a Discovery Channel documentary on Natasha asked the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) and the affiliated Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health (CSMMH) to scientifically test the young woman's claims. In response, CSICOP research fellows Ray Hyman, Ph.D. and Richard Wiseman, Ph.D., and I designed a preliminary test for judging whether her abilities warranted further, study. After Natasha, her mother, her agent, and the producer agreed to the test rules, we all flew to New York for filming the test on the City College of New York campus.

The black mamba has quite a reputation. It is one of the world’s deadliest snakes. It is the fastest land snake in the world, and “the longest species of venomous snake in Africa and the second longest in the world,” said Sara Viernum, a herpetologist based in Madison, Wisconsin. This snake’s potential danger has been the subject of many African myths and it has been blamed for thousands of human deaths.

The black mamba's reputation is not undeserved. “Black mambas are extremely toxic and very fast snakes,” Viernum said. They are highly aggressive when threatened, “known to strike repeatedly and [to] inject a large volume of venom with each strike.” Their venom is potentially lethal, and though antivenin exists, it is not widely available in the black mamba’s native habitat of southern and eastern Africa. For this reason, they are considered a top killer in a land where nearly 20,000 people die from snake bites every year, according to PBS’s Nature.

50 Cool and Weird Fun Facts that you should know

Cool and Weird facts about our everyday lives that everyone should know. Check out this collection of 50 Cool and Weird Fun Facts. Do you have any other fun facts you would like to add? Post them in our comment section! Start your day learning something you didn't know yesterday.

1. You breathe on average about 5 million times a year.
2. Months that begin on a Sunday always have a Friday the 13th in them.
3. You are born with 300 bones, by the time you are an adult you will have 206.
4. The average lead pencil will write a line about 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.
5. One fourth of the bones in your body are in your feet.
6. The average person spends 2 weeks of their lifetime waiting for the light to change from red to green.
7. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it.
8. The present population is expected to rise to 15 Billion by the year 2080.
9. The largest recorded snowflake was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick.
10. The tip of a bullwhip moves so fast that the sound it makes is actually a tiny sonic boom.
11. Native Americans used to name their children after the first thing they saw as they left their tepees after their children were born, hence the names Sitting Bull and Running Water.
12. The Matami Tribe of West Africa play their own version of football, instead of a normal football they use a human skull.
13. Coca-Cola would be green if the food colorant wasn't added.
14. During the 17th Century, the Sultan of Turkey ordered his hole harem of women to be drowned and replaced with a new one.
15. Coffins used for cremation are usually made with plastic handles.
16. "Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
17. Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
18. Cockroaches can live several weeks with their heads cut off.
19. It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. We dare you, give it a try!
20. A Ten Gallon Hat will only hold 3/4 of a Gallon.
21. Of all the words in the English language, the word "SET" has the most definitions.
22. It is against the law to burp, or sneeze inside a church in Nebraska.
23. In 1386 a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child.
24. Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
25. The world's oldest piece of chewing gum is over 9,000 years old!
26. Scientists have tracked butterflies travelling over 3,000 miles.
27. The silkworm consumes 86,000 times its own weight in 56 days.
28. If removed from the stress of the modern world, the average human would sleep about 10 hours a day.
29. To produce a single pound of honey, a single bee would have to visit 2 million flowers.
30. A colony of 500 bats can eat approximately 250,000 insects in an hour.
31. One in Five adults believe that aliens are hiding in our planet disguised as humans.
32. Travelling masseuses in ancient Japan were required by law to be blind.
33. The bloodhound is the only animal whose evidence is admissible in court.
34. James Fixx, the man who popularized jogging in America died of a heart attack while running.
35. The average American spends about a year and a half of his or her life watching commercials on television. What are you doing?! Get out and spend that year and a half doing something productive!
36. Ancient Greeks practiced a form (ineffective) of birth control that consisted of having a woman hold her breath, making her squat, and sneezing.
37. The FDA permits up to 5 whole insects per 100 grams of apple butter.
38. There are no naturally occurring blue foods, even blueberries are purple!
39. The skeleton of Jeremy Bentham is present in all the important meetings of the University of London.
40. The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump!
41. Just like fingerprints, everyone's tongue is different.
42. The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds.
43. 400 Quarter Pounders can be made from a single cow.
44. Only 38% of Americans eat breakfast every day.
45. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
46. 11% of the World is left handed.
47. A "Jiffy" is the scientific name for 1/100th  of a second.
48. A Boeing 747's wingspan is longer than the Wright brothers' first flight.
49. A broken clock is right two times a day.
50. A duck's quack doesn't echo anywhere, no one knows why.