10 Unbelievable Things That Happen Every 60 Seconds

3. Nike Makes A $36,505

While every minute, someone working at a Nike factory in Vietnam makes $0.0014. Quite a difference, indeed. Nike has faced huge tides of public shaming for its sweatshops, to the point where "Just Don't Do It" became louder and louder as their sales and image tarnished. However, the company made a massive turnaround: posting regular corporate social responsibility reports, where they've outlined excessive overtime and "fair wage" as a problem they're tackling. This being said, it was only last year that thousands of workers in Cambodia and Indonesia protested, seeking a £9-a-month rise. Nike's low wages, of course, leave money in the bank to spend on it's hefty marketing campaigns. Without it, they wouldn't be rolling in $36K a minute.

2. The Universe Has Expanded 2766.4 Miles

The most frustrating question in astronomy: how far away is everything? Space is stretching, every single minute, and it's done so less than a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang. Bouncing radar pulses from planets as well as probes can help scientists measure the distance of everything from the Moon, to stars about a thousand lightyears away. But for distant galaxies, it can get a little trickier. The same goes for measuring how fast the universe is expanding. Even good old Einstein's head was once scrambled trying to figure out whether we were coming or going, literally. Thanks to a pretty little spiral galaxy named "NGC 3021"- we can now answer these questions. The cosmic beauty contains stars called Cepheid variables, which pulsate in size and brightness. If you measure the time it takes to pulsate, and compare that to the brightness of the star, then BOOM! You have the distance. This type of star, with the addition of Type I supernovae (exploding stars) and quasars (bright galaxy cores) shine as powerful beacons for astronomers. So there you go - the mammoth energy at which the universe is growing, figured out by the mere brightness of some stars. Science is awesome.
 
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Human woman. Content Manager at What Culture. Lover of many "ologies", punk rock and cats. My god is Ilúvatar. Follow me on Twitter: @nina_cresswell