Thousands have lived without love, not one without water– W.H. Auden. The quote engulfs the entire essence of the value of this precious liquid that seems like a pretty simple substance- a transparent fluid which is found everywhere in the world’s streams, lakes, oceans, and rain. Though common, without water, we can’t survive. It’s the water, which has become the synonym of life. Besides being the elixir of life, water has many other things worth knowing. Let’s explore some interesting facts about this universal solvent:
Vending machine for holy water!
Put a coin into the machine, and it will dispense holy water. Well, the idea doesn’t seem surprising at all. But imagine this happening back in 1st century AD. Now, this is surprising right. The first ever known vending machine dates back to the 1st Century AD, and it used to dispense holy water. Talk about innovation.
It’s more than what you think!
Remember how everybody says that we should at least drink 8 glasses of water every day. Well did you know it actually takes about 12 gallons per day to sustain a human if we include all uses for water, like drinking, sanitation, and food production?
Say no to bottled water!
Remember how we grab a bottle of mineral water every time out in the sun during summers. Just know this that 1/3 what the world spends on those bottled water in one year could pay for projects providing water to everyone in need.
You’re actually water!
We all know that a human body constitutes about 70% of water. But did you know that this keeps changing at different times of your life? A human fetus constitutes around 95% water for the first months, getting to 77% water at birth and 60-70% water in adults. There are about 42 liters of water for a 70kg person.
Heavy bombardment of water!
Did you ever wonder where all the water on earth came from? All the water on Earth arrived during a period called the Late Heavy Bombardment between 4.5bn and 3.8bn years ago in comets and asteroids. Though it’s a hypothetical event, we’d like to believe it.
Even bones are watery!
Yes, the bones are watery and contain 31% water. The skin is 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79% water and guess what 70% of the human brain is also water. Two-thirds of entire water in our body is within our cells.
Water on Saturn’s moon!
It has been found that there is a warm ocean under the ice crust of Enceladus- Saturn’s moon. Since a hydrothermal vent at the bottom of one of the Earth’s oceans is where life started on our planet, the astrobiologists think that Enceladus can be the best candidate to look for alien life.
Water in space!
It’s true! Scientists have found a big, really big pool of water (actually water vapor) just floating out there in the space. And when I say big I mean 100,000 times larger than the sun big! It has water equivalent to 140 trillion times all the water in the earth’s ocean.
