Amongst the world’s oldest cultivated plants that are used primarily for products such as clothing and medicine is the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). It was first cultivated in China 5,000 years ago; indeed the earliest documented example is a 6,000 year-old piece of cloth, made from hemp fibre and discovered amongst ancient human habitat sites in Asia. Hemp fabrics dated to the 8th century BC have also been unearthed in Ankara, Turkey. The hemp culture of, mainly eastern Asia, saw the cannabis fibre being used Continue reading →

The oldest fossilised embryos date back around 500 million years. Around 100 embryos, of Markuelia hunanensis – an extinct species of worm, were discovered in Hunan, southern China by a team from Bristol University, Bristol, UK, and Beijing University, Beijing, China. Their results were announced in the journal Nature in January 2004.

The oldest olympic canoeing medallist is Josefa Idem (Italy) (b.23 September 1964) aged 43 yr 335 days when she won a silver medal in the K1 500 m flatwater at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, on 23 August 2008. A certificate was presented to Josefa Idem on the set of Lo Show Dei Record, in Milan, Italy, on 18 April 2009.

On 9 August 2008, 41-year-old Dara Torres defied the years to earn a silver medal for the Americans in the pool at the Beijing Olympics, swimming the anchor leg in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay. The ageing Torres was already the oldest female swimmer to win an Olympic medal, having taken gold in the medley relay at Sydney 2000, but with her Beijing performance she became the oldest Olympic swimming medallist outright, beating the century-old record set by William Robinson (UK), aged 38, Continue reading →

The oldest panda ever in captivity was Dudu, who was born in 1962 and lived for most of her life in Wuhan Zoo, Chengdu, China, until her death on 22 July 1999 aged 37 years. The average lifespan of Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is 18-20, in the wild, and 30 in captivity. Wild pandas were once found all over southern and eastern China and well into Myanmar and Vietnam. However now they are considered one of the world’s most endangered animals, with a population of Continue reading →

Dilong paradoxus, the oldest known ancestor of Tyrannosaurus Rex, lived between 128 and 139 million years ago – some 60-70 million years before T-Rex. It measured some 1.5 m (5 ft) in length, stood on two legs, and had longer arms than T.Rex. There is also evidence that this creature had hair-like protofeathers on its jaw and the tip of its tail. Dilong paradoxus was discovered in the famous fossil beds of Liaoning Province, China, by a team of Chinese and American palaeontologists, and announced Continue reading →

The smallest remote-controlled model helicopter is the Nano Falcon by Silverlit Toys Manufactory Ltd. (China) which measures 8.11 cm (3.19 in) long, 5.09 cm (2.00 in) high, 2.24 cm (0.88 in) wide and has a rotor size of 6.98 cm (2.75 in). It was measured in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, China, on 13 March 2013. The helicopter flew for 5 minutes 15 seconds during the test flight performed on 13 March 2013. It weighs 10.43 grams.

4:46.983 Eun-Ju Jung (South Korea) Harbin, China 15 March 2008

4.32.646 Hyun-Soo Ahn (Korea) Beijing, China 7 December 2003

The world’s tallest herba cistanches (Cistanche deserticola) measured 1.95m (6 ft 4 in) on 15 August 2006. It was collected from the desert of Inner Mongolia, China, by Yongmao Chen and identified by the College of Life Sciences of the Inner Mongolia University, China.