INSpiREzine Making Waves | Page 85

1. The biggest tsunami recorded by humans occurred in Alaska's Lituya Bay, on July 9, 1958. An earthquake followed by a landslide generated a wave 100 feet high . When the wave ran ashore, it reached an elevation of 1720 feet (524 meters)!

2. When it comes to hearing, rats, owls, dogs, cats, dolphins, bats, and elephants are all capable of hearing frequencies much greater than us. Humans are limited to the range of 20 to 20,000 Hz while dogs can hear sounds up to 65,000 Hz. Dolphins up to 160,000 Hz. Bats as high as 250,000 Hz. But the Galleria mellonella, or greater wax moth, has the best hearing of all with the ability to hear frequencies as high as 300,000 Hz!

3. Garrett McNamara holds the record for the largest wave ever surfed, - 78 feet, set in 2011, in Nazare, Portugal.

4. The sky appears blue because of the scattering of visible light rays. Light at shorter wavelengths - blue and violet - is scattered by nitrogen and oxygen as it passes through the atmosphere. Longer wavelengths of light - red and yellow - transmit through the atmosphere. This scattering of light at shorter wavelengths illuminates the skies with light from the blue and violet end of the visible spectrum. Even though violet is scattered more than blue, the sky looks blue to us because our eyes are more sensitive to blue light.