• Twenty-seven percent of Americans between the ages of 12 and 55 are proficient in the use of chop sticks.

• Approximately 147,512 tons of peanuts are used in preparing Asian cuisine each year.

• Thirty-eight percent of Cambodians have never used a fork.

• Even after accounting for its larger population, China consumes 558 times more chile peppers than Mexico, measured by weight.

• Koreans consume more cabbage per capita than the next three highest countries combined.

• Researchers at UC Berkeley have taught rats to play "Hot Cross Buns" on a specially-made piano.

• The average book about computer software takes eight months to write, edit and publish. The average piece of software has a major update every 14 months.

• In an average year, three people die in accidents involving particle accelerators.

• Apollo 11 used 129 cubic meters of fuel to fly to the moon and back. This gives it a fuel efficiency comparable to a large SUV or pickup truck.

• 71 percent of consumer grade rulers are more than five percent longer or shorter than their markings suggest.

• In 1970, the average adult American signed his or her name 3.4 times per week. As of 2005, the average had risen to 12.2 times per week. The increase is mostly due to the rise in the number of credit card transaction. The rise in the number of health forms the average person has to sign is mostly offset by the reduced number of checks signed.

• The average park bench in New York City's Central Park, has 4.7 pounds of bird excrement removed from it each year.

• Master Woodworker Norm Abrams of This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop has cut in excess of 7,500 dados in his career.

• The autopsy on drummer Keith Moon of The Who revealed he suffered from a mild case of elephantiasis.

• Witchita, Kansas, has the highest percentage of homes protected by electronic security systems of any city over 101,501 residents.