Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Who were the Ottomans?
Who were the Ottomans?
A Turkish dynasty of sultans who ruled one of the most powerful Muslim states in modern history. At its height, the Ottoman Empire stretched from Hungary to Egypt and from Algeria to Iraq, putting fear into the hearts of the European powers. Over time it became weaker, but managed to survive from 1301 until 1922.
When Were Medieval Times?
When Were Medieval Times?
The period after the Dark Ages (the time that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire in Europe) is called the medieval era.( also known as the Middle Ages). Trade and learning revived. The population rose and people became richer. Kings held power by granting their nobles landed estates to live on.
Who were thw Vikings?
Who were thw Vikings?
The Vikings were sailors who came from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. They began raiding places on the coasts of England, Ireland, and France just before 800 CE and later settled there as farmers and traders. Some Vikings voyaged across the Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and North America. Others travelled down the great rivers of Russia to the Black sea.
Bermuda Triangle
Bermuda Triangle
The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean, where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances. According to the US Navy, the triangle does not exist, and the name is not recognized by the US Board on Geographic Names. Popular culture has attributed various disappearances to the paranormal or activity by extraterrestrial beings. Documented evidence indicates that a significant percentage of the incidents were spurious, inaccurately reported, or embellished by later authors.In a 2013 study, the World Wide Fund for Nature identified the world’s 10 most dangerous waters for shipping, but the Bermuda Triangle was not among them
Monday, 13 October 2014
Who were the Ancient Americans?
Who were the Ancient Americans?
The Maya and Aztecs of Central America and the lncas of Peru developed remarkable cultures that were swept away by Spanish invaders in the 1500s. They were the final witnesses to the long history of human civilization in ancient America.
How old is china?
How old is china?
Chinese history traditionally begins with the Shang Dynasty, nearly 4,000 years ago, but chinese civilization goes back much further, to around 9,000 years ago, when farming started on the Yellow River in northern China. The Shang Dynasty was the first in a line of imperial dynasties that lasted until 1911.
How large was the Roman Empire?
How large was the Roman Empire?
At its fullest extend, in the 2nd century CE, it stretched 4,000 km (2,500 miles) from Spain in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east, and from Britain in the north to Egypt in the south. Of course, this didn't happen overnight-in fact, it took more than 700 years for Rome to grow from a small village to a superpower.
Who were the Ancient Greeks?
Who were the Ancient Greeks?
Ancient Greece was not a single country-the Greeks lived in seperate city-states all around the Aegean Sea and often quarrelled violently with each other. They were united by the Greek language and writing, by shared myths and legends about the gods, and by a common enemy, the Persians.
Saturday, 11 October 2014
When did the pharaohs rule?
When did the pharaohs rule?
The great ancient Egyptian civilization arose more than 5,000 years ago among farmers living on the banks of the River Nile. It lasted for 3,000 years - longer than any other civilization on Earth. What is really remarkable is that throughout this long history, the way of life and the art and sculpture of Ancient Egypt remained largely unchanged.
Who was the first Olympic champion?
Who was the first Olympic champion?
The first Olympic Games were held in Greece in 776 BCE. There was only one event-a sprint of 200 m (600 ft) in which the competitiors ran naked! The winning runner was a male cook called Koroidos. The prize for the athletes back then, along with great fame, was a wreath of olive leaves and a statue of them placed at Olympia. The modern Olympic Games take place every four years with (fully dressed) competitors from all around the world.
Friday, 10 October 2014
Who owns Antarctica?
Who owns Antarctica?
No one - it doesn't have a government. The Antarctica Treaty, signed by 46 countries, requires that the continent is used only for peaceful scientific research. Antarctica is very dry, cold, and windy, and about 98 per cent of its land surface is covered by ice. Very few plants grow there except mosses, lichens, and seaweed.
Which is the largest continent?
Which is the largest continent?
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Asia- it covers one-third of the total land area of the Earth. North to south it extends from the Arctic Circle to just south of the Equator and at its widest point it measures 8,500 km (5,300 miles). Four billion people - three out of every five of the world's population - live in Asia.
Where does Europe end?
Where does Europe end?
That's a bit of a tricky one. Europe isn't a continent on its own but is attached to the western end of Asia. It is usually said to end at the Ural and Caucasus Mountains in Russia. Europe is the second smallest continent (only Australia is smaller). It occupies just 7 per cent of the Earth's surface, but contains 25 per cent of the world's population. There are 47 countries.
Why do planes fly above clouds?
Why do planes fly above clouds?
Aeroplanes are powered, heavier-than-air aircraft with fixed
wings. Most planes are flown above cloud level because there is not as much air
resistance higher up in the atmosphere, so they use less fuel. There is also less turbulence above clouds, meaning passengers don't get thrown about so much and there is less demand for sick bags!
"RECORD BREAKER"
The largest passenger aircraft is the Airbus A380. It has a wingspan of 79.8 m (261.8 ft) and can carry 853 passengers.
Can a car run on chocolate?
Can a car run on chocolate?
It may sound ridiculous, but it's true. In 2007, two British environmentalists drove a car 7,200 km (4.500 miles) from British to Timbuktu in Mali, Africa, powered by 4,000 kg (8,800 lbs) of chocolate converted into a biofual.
Where is the Internet?
Where is the Internet?
The Internet is everywhere. It's a networks linking a millions of computers all over the world. With a computer, the right software, and a phone connection, anyone anywhere in the world can set up a website for anyone else to look at. There's no one in charge of the Internet and since there's no limit to the amount of information that can be held on it.
How do computers store data?
How do computers store data?
All the data stored in your computer- every word, picture, number, and sound- is captured as a series of electrical pulses that are either on or off. A number system called binary is used to represent these pulses with "1" meaning "on" and "0" meaning "off". A single binary digit, known as a "bit", switches a single switch on or off. By linking together these switches, the computer can carry out the complex operations we demand.
What is an element?
What is an element?
An element is a pure substance made up of only type of atom. The atoms of every element are different from the atoms of every other element. 117 elements have so far been discovered or created. Of these, 91 occur naturally on Earth. The others can be created in laboratories. The atoms of one element can combine with atoms of other elements to form compounds. For example, hydrogen and oxygen can combine to form water.
Why can't you ever take a break from breathing?
Why can't you ever take a break from breathing?
Breathing takes air in and out of your lungs, and that air contains the gas oxygen. Every one of your trillions of body cells needs a constant supply of oxygen, 24 hours a day, and oxygen is something your body cannot store - so, no break! Breathing also removes carbon dioxides from the body-a waste gas that your cells are releasing all the time.
HAVE A HEART!
HAVE A HEART!
More than 2,300 years ago,Greek philosopher Aristotle stated that the heart was the part of the body that makes us feel emotions. Today we know that brain is responsible for the way we feel but, although Aristotle's ideas are long gone, people still express their love with hearts on Valentine's day.
"Funny Bones"
Funny Bones!!!!
Your "funny bone" isn't a bone at all; it's a spot on the outer bit of your elbow that, if you hit or knock it, gives you a weird tingly pain. This is because the ulnar nerve crosses the bone at that point.
Thursday, 9 October 2014
Why do bones remain for centuries after a person dies?
Why do bones remain for centuries after a person dies?
Bones are made of two main materials: Calcium salts make bones hard, and collagen fibres make them strong but also a bit flexible. After death the collagen rots away, leaving just the durable hard parts behind. In life, the bones of a person's skeleton support the body and protect its internal organs.
Tuesday, 7 October 2014
FAST FACTS
Mammals
- There are nearly 4,500 species.
- Mammals are very diverse and include plant - eaters,insect eaters, meat-eaters, and omnivores (who eat everything).
- Mammals are found on the land, in water,and in the air.
- There are five species of egg-laying monotremes, such as echidnas.
- There are 292 species of pouched marsupials, such as the koala.
- The remainder are placental mammals (young develop inside their mother's uterus),such as hyenas and humans.
- Nearly half of all mammal species are rodents.
- Around one-fifth of all mammal species are bats.
Diary of a duck egg..
Diary of a duck egg!
Day 1
Just laid - I'm an embryo resting on a yolk food store.
Day 12
It's safe and warm in this hard shell, and at last I'm beginning to feel like a bird.
Day 20
I've been growing fast and things are a cramped in here - I'm planning to break out, but I can't find the door.
Day 21 morning
In desperation, I have begun to bash my way out with a toothy bit on my beak - I can see the light at last.
Day 21 afternoon
I'm free! My feathers have dried out, and I've found my legs and am running around. I am starting to feel a bit peckish, so will start looking for food.
What are arachnids?
What are arachnids?
This is the group of invertebrates (animals without backbones) that includes spiders, scorpions, harvestmen, mites, and ticks. There are about 65,000 species of arachnid, half of which are spiders.
Record Breaker
A spider web in Lake Tawakoni State Park in Texas, USA, covered 180 sq m (1,940 sq ft) of trees and bushes. What was once a white web web soon turned dark when hundreds of mosquitoes got caught in it.
Monday, 6 October 2014
How do mushrooms grow so fast?
How do mushrooms grow so fast?
Mushrooms belongs to a unique group of living things called fungi. They consist of a network of hair-like threads called hyphae, which spread unseen through soil.When the conditions are right, hyphae push upwards out of the soil with incredible speed to form a mushroom.
Are bacteria important?
Are bacteria important?
Bacteria are the most plentiful living organisms on the planet. They are also the smallest, each consisting of a simple, single cell. A few types of bacteria, often called germs, cause disease in humans. But most bacteria are harmless,and some are very useful, including those used in making foods and drugs.
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Dienocoous radiodurans must be the most resilient bacteria.It can withstand blistering heat, bitter cold, drying out, high radiation levels, and being doused in strong acids.
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Who ruled the world after the dinos died out?
Who ruled the world after the dinos died out?
Sixty-five million years ago, a mass extinction wiped out the dinosaurs.Mammals had been around since the Jurassic Period. Living alongside the dominant dinosaurs, they were just a small group of tiny, rodent-like creatures. When the dinos died out, so did many of the mammals,but the survivors evolved to become the most successful type of animals around.
Whats are rocks made of?
Whats are rocks made of?
Every type of rocks has its own "recipe" of one or more minerals. There are about 4,000 minerals found on Earth, each with its own unique shape and colour. Earth's rocks are like buried treasure - they are full of valuable minerals and contain metals, gemstones, fossils, and fuels, such as coal and gas.
Is a coral reef animal, vegetable, or mineral?
Is a coral reef animal, vegetable, or mineral?
It's animal, vegetable, and mineral ! A coral reef is a colony of millions of tiny animals called polyps. As they grow, each polyps produces a hard, limestone skeleton, on which the next generation of polyps grow. Corals also contain an algae, which is essential for their survival.
Will the Sun shine for ever?
Will the Sun shine for ever?
The Sun is a star – a vast sphere
of luminous gas. Its light is a by-product of gas-fuelled nuclear reactions in
its core. It shines steadily now, but in about five billion years it will swell
up before dying as a cold, dark cinder in space.
Which planet is the biggest?
Which planet is the biggest?
Jupiter is the biggest and is truly
giant. It is large enough for 11 Earths to fit across its face and 1,300 to fit
inside it. There are four giant planets in our solar system. The next biggest
is Saturn, followed by Uranus, and Neptune. They are also known as “gas giants”
because of their colourful, ice-cold gas atmospheres.
Are all stars the same?
Are all stars the same?
No, every star is unique. With the exception of the Sun,stars are all so far away from Earth that they appear as pinpoints of twinkling light to us. But even though they may look the same to the naked eye, they all have their own characteristics, differing in size, temperature, colour, and brightness, depending on how old they are.
Universe
How old is the Universe?
The universe is about 13.7 billion years old. At its beginning it looked nothing like it does today. Yet, everything in today's Universe did exist in some form back then. It all started with the Big Bang, a kind of explosion that would not only go on to produce all the matter in the Universe but also marked the start of time.
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Creation of Universe!
01. At the start, the Universe was a hot and dense ball of radiation energy.
02. In one-thousandth of a second, tiny radiation particles produced tiny particles of matter. These combined to form the first ever chemical elements, hydrogen and helium.
03. Some regions of the young Universe contained slightly more hydrogen and helium than others. These shrank to form the first stars.
04.Nuclear reactions inside the stars produced many other chemical elements, including carbon and oxygen.
05. The elements in the Universe today were produced from elements created in the Big Bang.
BATS
BATS
With almost 1,000 species bats are the second largest order of mammals after the rodents. They are the only mammals that can truly fly. The name given to their order is Chiroptera, meaning "hand wings". When bats are resting, they hang upside-down.Most bats are nocturnal. They eat a variety of food, which they find either by scent and sight, as fruit bats do, or by using sound waves,a peocess called echolocation, as insect eating bats do.
Bats are divided into two groups.These are the Megachiroptera or Megabats, which are the old world fruit bats and the Microchiroptera or Microbats, someimes called insect-eating bats.
Megabats
Fruit bats or megabats, are also sometimes called Flying foxes. They live in the tropical and subtropical parts of Africa, Asia and Australasia. Most megabats eat fruits, nectar and pollen.
Microbats
The term insect-eaing bats is a misleading name for these bats. Many feed on fruits, meat, fish, pollen, and even blood, as well as insects. Microbats live in both temperate and tropical regions, but in cooler climates they hibernate or migrate for the winter.
Animals
Animals
More than a million and a half species of animal have been identified, and there are many millions more yet to be discovered. Animals are living organisms found in nearly all of the Earth's habitats, including the depths of the oceans, the freezing Arctic, and even inside other animals and plants. The animal kingdom is divided into animals without backbones (invertebrates),such as snails and lobsters, and animals with backbones (vertebrates), such as frogs and monkeys. Invertebrates make up 97 per cent of all animal species.
Australin Lyrebirds
Australian Lyrebirds
Australin Lyrebirds are fantastic mimics. They copy not only other bird songs to attract mates, but also mobile phone ring tunes, camera shutters, chainsaws, crying babies, barking dogs, and even car alarms.
Record Breaker!!!
Ostrich
The ostrich is the biggest bird,
growing to a height of 2.7 m (9 ft). It also lays the biggest egg, up to 18 cm
(7 in) long, and is the fastest runner, reaching speeds of up to 72 kph (45
mph).
Why do birds have feathers?
Why do birds have feathers?
Feathers help to kepp birds warm and enable to fly. Their wings are equipped with stiff flight feathers to provide both lift and ,when then wings are flapped, forward thrust to propel these masters of flight through the air.Something else common to all birds is they lay eggs will hard shells.
Do snakes feel slimy?
Do snakes feel slimy?
No, their scaly skin feels cool and dry, a features snakes share with other reptiles including lizards, turtles, and crocodiles. Reptiles have backbones and are cold-blooded. This means they rely on the Sun’s heat to warm them up. Most reptiles lay eggs with waterproof shells , although some snakes give birth to live young.
Spitting Cobra
Spitting Cobra
A snake that you should
definitely avoid is the spitting cobra, which can open its mouth and squirt
venom droplets into the air from tiny oprnnings in its fangs.This venom can cover a distance of 2 m (6.5 ft), and if the venom spray hits a predator’s eyes
it can cause permanent blindness.They also bite!
Top five most deadly snakes!
Top five most deadly snakes!
If you want to aviod the snakes with the deadliest poison, don't go to Australia !
01.Taipan
(Australia)The
most poisonous snake in the world , prey is paralyzed the instant it is bitten.
02.Brown Snake
(Australia)Though less
poisonous, the brown snake is
more common than the taipan.
03.Tiger Snake
(Australia)Just to confuse
you,this snakes sometimes
has stripes, but often does not.
04.Beaked Sea Snake
(Arabian sea to
coast of northern Australia)Will attack
and bite divers if disturbed.
05.Malayan Krait Snake
(Southeast Asia
and Indonesia) This snake is slow to
strike, but its poison can be fatal.
Facts!
Facts!
6,000: The number of lightning flashes around the world each minute
21: The number of people killed by the same lightning bolt when
it struck a hut in Zimbabwe in 1975.
730: The average number of tornadoes each year in the USA,
casuing more than 100 deaths annually.
44,000: The number of storms that can rumble over the Earth each
day.
190 km: (120 miles) The length of the longest lightning bolt ever recorded.
Fast Facts: Clouds
1.
Clouds form when warmair rises.
2.
High in the sky, invisible water vapour in the
warm air cools and turns into water droplets.
3.
High-level clouds float at 12,000 m (40,000 ft)
,while clouds that touch the ground create fog and mist.
4.
An average cloud weights as much as a jumbo jet,
but luckily this weight is spread out over a large area!
Global Warming
Global Warming
v
Earth’s climate is heating up faster than ever
before.
v
Most scientists believe this is due to a
build-up of gases in the atmosphere.These are gases produced by power stations,
factories, and cars that trap heat around the Earth.
v
If the polar ice caps melt on a large scale, sea
levels will rise, putting at risk islands such as the Maidives, which lie only
1 m (3.2 ft) above sea level.
v
Global warming may also cause more extreme
weather, such as storms, droughts, and hurricanes.
Five Ways to Predict the Weather!
Five Ways to Predict the Weather!
In the past, farmers and sailors used natural signs to predict the weather...
- Hang a piece of dry seaweed up - when rain is on the way it will feel sticky.
- Your hair is longer on a damp day bacause it takes in water from the air and expands!
- Look out for the storm petrel, a sea bird that flies inshore when a storm is on its way.
- Oak and maple trees have leaves that curl when the humidity is very high and the wind is blowing strongly, both signs that a storm is coming.
- There's a saying that,
Because, wooden chair's absorbs moisture from the air, causing them to squeak.
Why does the wind blow?
Why does the wind blow?
The Earth's weather is casued by the Sun heating the atmosphere, oceans , and Earth's surface. The hot air rises, and the cool air sinks and all this activity gets air moving across the globe. The Sun also eavporates water in lakes, rivers, and seas to make clouds and rain.
Forest Fires
Fires can sweep through forests causing huge devastation to trees,plants,and animals life.However they can also help regenerate a habitat by clearing the area for new growth and leaving a layer of rich ash where new seeds will flourish.The main causes of forest fires are these:
- Human activity or deliberate fire-starting (arson).
- Lightning.
- Excessively hot and dry conditions help the fire spread.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
Deforestaion
The clearing away of trees, known as deforestation, affects our planet in a variety of ways.
- It destorys forest habitsts and kills the animals living there.Two-thirds of all species on Earth need forests for shelter or food.
- The lower number of trees to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen contributes to global warming.
- Trees give off water vapour,so the fewer trees there are, the less water there is in the atmosphere.
- Without tree roots to hold the soil together, there is an increased chance of soil erosion, flooding, and landslides.
Types of Forest...
- RainForest
Lush tropical forests are found in hot regions with high rainfall,usually around the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
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- Tropical Dry Forest
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- Coniferous Forest
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- Temperate Forest
trees that lose their leaves in
the winter months.
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