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Top 10 science facts we learned in 2015

From slime mould to space junk, and Botox to cow burps, Horizon journalists covered a wide range of stories in 2015 - and learned some curious facts along the way. Here are our favourites. 
Horizon covered a wide variety of EU-funded research projects over the year.

1. Six months in space can make your body seem 20 years older.

Credit: Flickr / Dan_Sai
Credit: Flickr / Dan_Sai

 

2. Each teaspoon of soil contains more bacteria than there are people on the planet.

Credit: Gratisography / Ryan McGuire
Credit: Gratisography / Ryan McGuire

 

3. By physically stopping you frowning, Botox could reduce symptoms of depression.

Credit: Flickr / Tomi Taplo K
Credit: Flickr / Tomi Taplo K

 

4. Energy is able to travel down every route in a plant at once.

Credit: Pixabay / trealon
Credit: Pixabay / trealon

 

5. Since the early 1990s, astronomers have spotted nearly 2 000 planets outside our solar system.

Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser. CC BY
Credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser. CC BY

 

6. Silk is the only material in the natural world that is spun, not grown.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Gerd A.T. Müller CC BY SA 3.0
Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Gerd A.T. Müller CC BY SA 3.0

 

7. There are 300 000 pieces of space junk larger than a EUR 1 coin in low-earth orbit.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Miguel Soares CC BY SA 4.0
Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Miguel Soares CC BY SA 4.0

 

8. A fully grown cow can release up to 500 litres of methane into the atmosphere each day.

Credit: Fotocommunity.de / Orest Shvadchak
Credit: Fotocommunity.de / Orest Shvadchak

 

9. A single-celled organism can be as good as a computer at mapping the quickest route between two points.

Credit: Gratisography / Ryan McGuire
Credit: Gratisography / Ryan McGuire

 

10. Hyraxes always wee in the same place, and their fossilised urine can be used to track climate change.

Credit: Flickr / Amihayb
Credit: Flickr / Amihayb

 

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