Under the Microscope: This week I present a selection of records found in the natural world, mostly culled from the Guinness Book of Records (2004 edition).
The tallest and the largest living trees in the world are giant Californian sequoia. The tallest is the "stratosphere giant" which measures 112.6 metres (369 feet, 4.8 inches). The largest tree, christened "General Sherman", stands 82.6 metres (271 feet) tall, has a trunk diameter of 8.2 metres and a circumference of 25.9 metres.
The fastest-growing plants are certain species of bamboo which can grow up to 91 centimetre (35 inches) per day. The most poisonous common plant in the world is the castor bean, whose seeds contain the protein poison called ricin. A dose of two-millionths of an ounce is enough to kill an average human adult. If you decide to grow this plant, never allow it to flower and produce seeds.
The largest land carnivore is the polar bear. Males can weigh up to 600 kilo and grow up to 2.6 metres (8 feet 6 inches) in length. The most efficient scavenger in the world is the spotted hyena. It has a digestive system uniquely capable of breaking down bones, horns, hooves and hides. The fastest land mammal over distance is the American antelope which has been measured to travel continuously at 56 kph (35 mph) for up to 6 kilometres (4 miles). The cheetah is the fastest land mammal over a short distance, capable of maintaining a maximum speed of 100 kph (62 mph) on level ground.
The largest living bird is the flightless African ostrich. Males can grow up to 2.7 metres (9 feet) tall and weigh 156 kilo (345 lb). The heaviest flying bird is the mute swan, which can grow to a weight of 18 kilo (40 lb). The heaviest bird of prey is the Andean condor. The males average 9-12 kilo (20-27 lb) in weight, with a wing span of 3 metres (10 feet).
The biggest fish in the world is the plankton-feeding whale-shark found in warmer parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The largest recorded was 12.65 metres (41 feet 6 inches) long and weighed about 20 tonnes. The largest invertebrate is the Atlantic giant squid. The heaviest recorded had a body 6.1 metres (20 feet) long and one tentacle was 10.7 metres (35 feet) long.
The desert locust is the most destructive insect in the world. It is found in dry regions of Africa, Middle East and Asia. Although only several centimetres long, a locust can eat its own weight in food every day, and even a small swarm of these insects can daily gobble enough food that would otherwise feed 500 people for a year. The most dangerous bee in the world is the African honeybee. Although its sting is no more venomous than other bees, it is remarkably persistent in attack when provoked and inflicts more stings than other bees, and this can be fatal.
The box jellyfish is considered to be the most venomous marine creature in the world. It is found in shallow water off beaches in Northern Australian and Indo-Pacific regions.
The largest lizard in the world is the komodo dragon (right), found on certain Indonesian islands. Males average 2.25 metres (7 feet 5 inches) long and weigh about 60 kilo (130 lb). Male komodos can grow up to 10 feet 6 inches in length. The largest reptile in the world is the saltwater crocodile found in tropical Asia and the Pacific. There are reports of animals up to 10 metres (33 feet) in length.
The longest venomous snake is the king cobra found in south-east Asia and India. It can grow up to 4.5 metres (15 feet) in length and can stand tall enough to look an adult human in the eye. There is enough venom in a single bite to kill an elephant.
The worst drought famine occurred in China in 1876-79, when nine to 13 million people died. The costliest natural disaster for any one country was the Kobi earthquake in Japan in 1995, which caused losses of €82 billion. The earthquake killed almost 7,000 people and injured about 27,000. The earthquake at Bam, Iran, on December 26th, 2003, killed about 43,000 people.
Mexico City is the most polluted major city in the world. France emits less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other major industrialised nation because it generates most of its electricity from nuclear power rather than burning fossil fuels.
The US is the largest consumer of oil in the world, using about 25 per cent of the world's total. The largest oilfield in the world is the Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia, stretching over 150 by 22 miles and with an estimated ultimate recovery of 82 billion barrels of oil.
Mongolia is the most sparsely populated country in the world with an average density of 1.6 people to every square kilometre. The most densely populated country is Monaco with 16,307 people per square kilometre in 2001. China is the world's most populated country. Meanwhile, Malta has the lowest average number of road deaths, with 1.6 per 100,000 population.
• William Reville is associate professor of biochemistry and director of microscopy at University College Cork