Did you know? facts!

Published September 27, 2014

Teen invents trampoline

IN 1930, gymnast George Nissen, age 16, attached a canvas sheet to a steel frame to make a “bouncing rig.” When his travelling acrobatics act later went to Mexico, he learned that ‘el trampoline’ is Spanish for ‘diving board’. He added an ‘e’, and the trampoline was born!


enter image description here
enter image description here
Teenage nuclear scientist

TEEN scientist Taylor Wilson is the youngest person to build a nuclear fusion reactor -- in 2008, at age 14, in his parents’ garage! Fusion releases energy when two or more atoms join to form a new atom, as when hydrogen fuses into helium, producing the energy of the stars.


enter image description here
enter image description here
Sleepwalking secrets

KIDS are likelier to sleepwalk than adults, because kids spend more time in deep sleep, which is when this behaviour usually happens. That’s also why a person may have no memory of it. It’s okay to wake a sleepwalker and may be dangerous not to: some leave home and even drive!


enter image description here
enter image description here
Solar family car

MEET Stella, the world’s first solar-powered family car. Built by Dutch university students, the four-seater’s rooftop solar panels help it go almost 400 miles on a single charge. Since it is energy-positive (it creates more power than it uses), it can also be a source of electricity.

Opinion

Editorial

Chinese diplomacy
Updated 14 Mar, 2026

Chinese diplomacy

THERE are signs that China is taking a more active role in trying to resolve the issue of cross-border terrorism...
Fragile gains at risk
14 Mar, 2026

Fragile gains at risk

PAKISTAN is confronting an external shock stemming from the US-Israel war on Iran that few of the other affected...
Kidney disease
14 Mar, 2026

Kidney disease

ON World Kidney Day this past Thursday, the Pakistan Medical Association raised the alarm on Pakistan’s...
Delicate balance
Updated 13 Mar, 2026

Delicate balance

PAKISTAN has to maintain a delicate balance where the geopolitics of the US-Israeli aggression against Iran are...
Soaring costs
13 Mar, 2026

Soaring costs

FOR millions of households already grappling with Ramazan inflation, the sharp increase in petrol and diesel prices...
Perilous lines
13 Mar, 2026

Perilous lines

THE law minister’s veiled warning to the media to “exercise caution” and not cross “red lines” while...