10 things I didn't know until last week

1. The record for the longest reign as the No.1 in men’s tennis is currently held by Jimmy Connors, who occupied the top spot for 160 consecutive weeks. In February 2007, Roger Federer will break this 25-year old record.
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2. Because it serves as the test bed for theories of thinking, chess is often referred to as the ‘drosophilia (fruitfly) of cognitive science.’
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3. Although there is no official definition, a minimum height of approximately 150 meters or 492.12 feet is often used as a criterion for a building to qualify as a skyscraper.
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4. The process of preparing popcorn involves popping which occurs when the moisture inside the kernel turns to vapor and expands, thus rupturing the shell and turning the corn inside out. Engineers face a similar problem with large machinery and refer to this problem as the ‘fracture problem.’
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5. The first arrest warrant for Osama Bin Laden was issued by Interpol in 1998, at the request of Libya.
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6. In his first appearances, Superman was capable of tremendous leaps but he couldn’t fly. His ability to fly was added in the early 1940s.
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7. The punctuated equilibrium evolutionary theory proposed by Stephen Jay Gould is also known by the nickname ‘punk eek.’
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8. Dragline silk, minor ampullate silk and flagelliform silk are different types of silk produced by spiders to spin their webs.
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9. The nickname Q for the gadget expert in Bond movies actually stands for ‘Quartermaster.’
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10. The first TV remote control was marketed by the Zenith Radio Corporation in the 1950s. It was called ‘Lazy Bones’ and was attached to the TV by a cord.
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