92 May/June 2022
Astronomers in ancient
China were expected
to predict the time
of lunar eclipses.
Often, royalty had them
beheaded if their
predictions were incorrect
about events in
SPACE.In the last six decades,
more than 600 astronauts
have traveled into SPACE.In 1995, Canadian
astronaut
Chris Hadfield and
his crew were unable
to open a hatch to a
Russian space station.
Using his trusty
Swiss Army knife,
Hadfield managed to
save the mission.The Swiss Army knife has become synonymous
with multifunction knives — 10 million are made
annually (from 95% recycled steel) — but the company
that produces them (now known as Victorinox) got
its start producing surgical equipment.Surgical equipment
is one of the top exports
of Sialkot, Pakistan, but
that’s not the only thing
the city mass-produces.
Sialkot alone produces
70 percent of the
world’s soccer balls —
40 million to 60 million
per year.The origin of soccer is widely debated, but it can be
traced back almost 3,000 years to China, where cuju,
a game using balls made with leather and stuffed with
feathers, was played by imperial soldiers for fitness
training and then as entertainment for emperors.Ancient China
was one of the
great innovating
societies, contributing
to inventions
from papermaking
to gunpowder
to the earliest
clocks.By the 11th century, the Chinese had perfected water clocks,
which used a steady flow of water to measure time. One model, by
Su Song, featured a 40-foot-tall clock tower and rotating mannequins
that presented plaques corresponding to the time of day.What The Facts?
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ILLUSTRATION BY LUCY ENGELMAN