Learn Something New Today

The world around us is so vast and complex yet so diverse and annoyingly interesting. There is so much to learn, discover and invent so why don't you learn something new today? Avatar credits: http://www.cteconsultingservices.com

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9th August - International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples

First pronounced in the UN General assembly in December 1994, the International day of the World's Indigenous People aims to protect and promote the rights of Indigenous people all around the world. Additionally, it also attempts to recognise the many achievements by the various indigenous communities such as those in the field of ecological conservation. 

For more information on the day visit - http://www.un.org/en/events/indigenousday/

To watch the live telecast of the program at the UN Office visit - http://webtv.un.org/

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Mauna Kea: The "Tallest Mountain" in the world.

Contrary to popular belief, the tallest mountain in the world is not in fact Mount Everest (Nepal) but Mauna Kea (Hawaii, USA). 

This controversy stems from a simple misinterpretation of the term tallest. Measuring the height of the mountain from it's base gives us the actual height of the mountain. In the case of Mauna Kea is over 10,000 meters tall as compared to 8,848 meters for Mount Everest. 

However, Mount Everest is the highest peak or altitude in the world, Altitude being the height of the mountain above sea level . Since quite a bit of Mauna Kea is submerged under water, it fails to reach altitudes comparable to Mount Everest. 

Source: http://geology.com

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Fact #1 - Tumblr users are equally divided between men and women.

Unlike other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest where the majority of users are women, Tumblr as an equal number of male and female users. Guess all the campaigning for equality did pay off (at least on Tumblr). Interestingly enough, it's the men that are more likely to use Twitter than women. I wonder why that is...

Source: http://www.pewresearch.org