Sam Shead rounds up the

stats that will make your pulse

race with fear, excitement
or downright bewilderment.
Prepare to be enlightened

THE BIGGEST…
SHARK EVER
CAUGHT
The whale shark is not only the larg-
est member of the shark family, it’s
also the largest fish in our oceans. A
12.65m whale shark was caught in
1947 off the island of Baba (close to
the Pakistani city of Karachi) – that’s
about the same length as a bus. But
if you find yourself swimming next
to one of these don’t fear – it’s a slow
moving filter-feeder so you’re in no
immediate danger. Just watch out for
the gigantic tail as it swims by!

THE WORLD’S
FASTEST… AEROPLAN
The Lockheed
and highest-fl
E
SR71 Blackbird
is the fastest
yi
of reaching sp ng manned aircraft, capable
eeds of 2200m
times the spee ph (just over th
d ree
85,000ft. The m of sound) at heights of up to
Blackbird line, os t ad va nced model with
th in th
straight from a is plane looks like it has been e
Batman movie lifted
appearance. N with its futuris
ASA, the crèm tic sci-fi
field of aerona e-de-la-crème
utic in the
off the US Air Fo s, loaned two SR71 Blackbird
rce in the 1990 ’s
for high-speed s an
/high-altitude d used them
aeronautical


research.

THE TALLEST… MOUNTAIN ON EARTH

Everest you might say? Think again. From the depths of the Pacific Ocean floor rises the giant that’s
Mauna Kea, measuring in at a colossal 10,203m. By this measurement it’s taller than Mount Everest,
which is the highest mountain above sea level. In relatively recent geological history, Mauna Kea has
penetrated the surface of the ocean and now makes up part of the island of Hawaii. Above sea level
it’s a mere 4,207m – but, of course, it’s what’s below the surface that counts.

10 September/October 2010 www.atmagazine.co.uk

 Blow your mind

THE LONGEST EVER…

JOURNEY BY TRACTOR
Vasilii Hazkevich from Russia drove 21,199km (13,172 miles) on an
unmodified tractor. He started and finished the trip, which took
just over three months, in Vladimir, Russia. I doubt he picked up
many speeding tickets on his journey!
Tractor posed by models

L ON GE ST E V ER…
THE UR N E Y ON F O OT
CONTINUOUS JO ennine W a y ? N o t
far? The P atured on page 84 shby would do
miles. The
bad – 270 ll right – 2,179
? That’s a
How far’s fe u
n Tra il , a s oper K Ba rl longest
Appalachia rmer British paratro ars into the world’s s of the
fo ye e
miles. But st. He’s 11 17,000 mil e he
re breakfa ing walked hop
those befo journey on foot, hav und the world. We
s ro
continuou it will take to walk in time for tea.
es e
36,000 mil mum he’d be hom
n’t te ll h is
did
What lies beneath?
Bubbling Yellowstone
National Park

THE BIGGEST EVER…

VOLCANIC ERUPTION
The Lake Toba eruption in Indonesia, about 74,000 years ago, goes
down as the most powerful eruption we know of. It measured in
at a category eight eruption, which is the highest on the Volcanic
Explosivity Index (VEI). The blast was on such a scale it caused the
earth to plunge into a volcanic winter and eradicated approximately
60% of the human life that was present at the time. (However, this
percentage is very rough as we can only guess how many humans
were present on earth 74,000 years ago.)
There could be an even larger eruption if the ‘supervolcano’ that
lies beneath Yellowstone National Park were to erupt. This would
lead to a global disaster never before witnessed by mankind. Where-
as the disasters that we’re familiar with today can claim thousands
of lives and destroy entire cities, it’s thought a supervolcano could
claim billions of lives and destroy entire continents. Q