Cuisine varies greatly around the world, but the basic ingredients that sustain humans are pretty similar. We eat a lot of corn, wheat, rice and other simple crops. Read on to find out which foods top the list of most important worldwide, listed by annual production and average yield in 2008.
Howler monkeys are widely considered to be the loudest land animal. According to Guinness Book of World Records, their vocalizations can be heard clearly for 3 mi (4.8 km). The function of howling is thought to relate to intergroup spacing and territory protection, as well as possibly to mate-guarding.
Just how loud are cicadas? Cicadas are among the loudest insects known to man, and a swarm of them can produce sounds up to 120 decibels. That's louder than a rock concert (about 115 decibels), and comparable to the noise from a chainsaw (humans start to experience pain from sound at the 110 to 120 decibel level).