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63 light-years: the distance from Earth to the blue exoplanet HD 189773b, which looks like a cozy place to live—except its surface temperature is 1,000 degrees Celsius and it rains glass. Sideways.

5.5 million square feet: the floor space of the new world’s largest building, which could fit 20 Sydney Opera Houses inside it and has its own artificial sun

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1980: the year the American Helicopter Society offered $250,000 to anyone who could build and fly a human-powered aircraft for longer than a minute. After 33 years, a team has finally claimed the prize!

23 million years: the age of this whole lizard preserved in amber, just discovered in Chiapas, Mexico

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260 feet by 260 feet: the size of 3-D printer needed to print a private jet

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Engineers at NASA are testing functional 3-D–printed parts for a rocket engine. But printing a turbofan, as rendered below, is beyond reach—for now.

100 percent: the accuracy with which this electronic pee sniffer detected bladder cancer in a recent test

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$600: the price of this eco-friendly urinal-sink hybrid

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45 percent: the amount by which this smog-eating pavement coating reduced air pollution around a neighborhood in the Netherlands during days with low humidity and high radiation

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10 minutes: the time it takes to turn a match into a tiny rocket

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2020: the year set for NASA’s next Mars rover mission, which will hunt for signs of ancient life

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