The famous Ice Hotel is located in the Swedish town of Jukkasjärvi. Every year, the hotel is built from two-tonne slabs of ice from the neighbouring Torne River. Starting from the ground up, construction of the hotel begins as soon as the cold season comes in the Arctic. Builders and artists collaborate to construct a hotel that is unique each time. And if you ever believe health and safety standards go too far, consider the proprietors of the Ice Hotel. Despite being entirely built of frozen water, the massive igloo is nevertheless necessary to have fire alarms installed!

When asked what colour is their favourite, people all over the world consistently say blue. Blue is preferred by up to 40% of those polled, with purple being preferred by around 14%. Surprisingly, mosquitoes prefer blue to any other colour; they try to bite people wearing blue more than any other colour.

In ancient Greece, killing a dolphin was deemed sacrilegious and was a capital offence. They were known as "holy fish" or hieros ichthys by the Greeks.

Bamboo has the distinction for the fastest growing plant on the planet. Certain bamboo species can grow up to 91 cm every day, or over 4cm per hour!

Chinese porcelain's raw materials are inexpensive and widely available. Chinese porcelain was made from a variety of materials, including glass, bone, ash, quartz, and alabaster. Kaolin, a clay mineral, is the primary and main raw material of Chinese porcelain. Kaolin was named after Gaoling, a small village near China's porcelain capital of Jingdezhen.

One in three carers, or around 30%, is 65 years of age or older. The majority of caregivers—2/3 of them women—are daughters of dementia patients. One further interesting aspect of Alzheimer's caregivers is that 25% of them are members of the "sandwich generation," and 66% of them share a home with a loved one who suffers from dementia. This implies that they look after their young children in addition to their elderly parents.

While there isn't a real Central Perk in New York City, the fictional cafe has inspired a few. Friends fan Du Xin opened a Central Perk replica in downtown Beijing in 2010, which quickly became extremely popular. Due to its success, Du Xin was able to replicate Joey's apartment next door. Another Central Perk opened in Liverpool in 2012.

The noise produced by a jet aircraft during takeoff is millions of times louder than the sound you normally hear. Such thunderous sounds are known as deafening sounds, and they can inflict discomfort and substantial damage to your ears.

Bronze Carriages A bronze chariot 
More than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, and 670 horses have been uncovered since the discovery of the Terracotta Army. 
In more recent pits, some birds, including waterfowl, cranes, and ducks, as well as terracotta musicians, acrobats, and concubines, have also been discovered. Emperor Qin is thought to have desired the same lavish services and treatment for his afterlife. 

Here's a rather contentious DC fact! Diana's romantic interests included both men and women when she was created in 1941. It's understandable when your identity is defined by your struggle with love and you're from an island populated entirely by women. Her creator, William Moulton Marston, was particularly inspired by his polyamorous situation. By the way, this was in 1940, when homosexuality was illegal.

Professor Charles Kao of Hong Kong is known as the "Father of Fiber Optics," the glass cables that have drastically revolutionised the way humans communicate. He also received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009.

They specifically eat dust-borne human skin cells. (They are less concerned with the dust's inclusion of dirt, soot, and pollen.) According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, you shed 1.5 grammes of skin each day (AAFA). Although it may not seem like much, that will feed a million dust mites. Yes, you read that correctly. Dust mites number one million.

Queen Victoria ruled for 63 years, and up until September 2015, was the longest reigning British monarch. The current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II—celebrating her Platinum Jubilee of 70 years on the throne—now holds the title.

Books are an interesting market in part because they offer a 100% return policy. So, if a publisher sells 50 copies of a fresh new book to, say, Target or a local independent bookshop, that company has the option of returning all 50 copies to the publishing house if they don't sell. Isn't that crazy? 50 copies aren't much, but when you get into the hundreds, you can see how this can be a difficult market to predict.

The Vieng Xai Caves, located deep in thick forests and amid limestone cliffs, were once home to almost 20,000 Laotians who hid from American bombs for more than a decade during the Vietnam War. Kaysone Phomvihane, the leader of Laos' communist movement, created this intricate network of over 450 limestone caves known as 'The City of Victory.' Homes, schools, marketplaces, a bakery, a bank, a theatre, an elephant enclosure, and even hospitals were built into the subterranean caves for its people. Today, the caves are a museum that captivates all who visit.

It costs 124% more than the average European price. A half-kilogram of beef costs around CHF 12-14. A 200-gram Kentucky rump steak costs CHF 37.50 ($38) in a Swiss restaurant near Zurich airport, while a bigger 250-gram Argentinian rump steak costs €20.90 (CHF22.90 or $23) in a steakhouse close over the German border in Singen. That is double the price in Switzerland, gram for gram. High Swiss tariffs on food and drink imports are intended to safeguard local farmers, who often have smaller farms than foreign rivals, as well as the hefty prices of Switzerland's 'high price island.'

According to the NIH, there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and obesity, but endocrinologist and director of the Bone Health Care Clinic at Boston University Medical Center Michael Holick, MD, Ph.D., says there is no evidence to support the claim that taking a vitamin D supplement will help you lose weight.

Who can forget the moment Gwyneth Paltrow sobbed her way through her Best Actress acceptance in 1999 for 'Shakespeare in Love'? Or Julia Roberts, who got the giggles and forgot to thank her movie namesake, 'Erin Brockovich'. The longer speech however goes to Actress Greer Garson who rambled on for seven minutes when she won the award for Best Supporting Actress in 1934.

Monkeypox can affect anyone. The majority of cases in Africa are among youngsters under the age of 15. Outside of Africa, the disease appears to be more common among men who have sex with men, but there have been numerous occurrences in persons who do not fit that description.

Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature.

The gastric mill is a grinding apparatus for breaking up food that looks like a set of teeth on their stomachs and is the size of a walnut in a one-pound lobster.

If you think cats can’t do tricks, then you’ll be shocked to learn this cat fact. The most tricks performed by a cat in one minute is 24! Didga completed a series of tricks from rolling over, to even jumping a bar whilst on a skateboard!

The world's first Kinokuniya bookshop is located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. You may study as much as you want about Japan and Japanese culture with the abundance of publications available here - as long as you understand Japanese! This bookshop also caters to specialised interests such as anime and provides a limited selection of English-language books.

The salt-water crocodile grows to 6m or more and has the world's highest jaw pressure: 3,000 pounds per square inch.

According to Cleary, the KRAS gene, which causes about half of all human cancers, is mutated in more than 90% of cases of pancreatic cancer. However, a medication to turn off this specific gene has not yet been developed. One of oncology's "holy grails" is figuring out how to successfully target KRAS with a drug, according to Cleary. A Nobel Prize could be given to whoever develops an efficient KRAS targeted therapy because it is so crucial to oncology.