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What are the different types of deserts?
🏜 Based on their geographical positions, and dominant weather patterns, desert ecosystems can be divided into six types.
🔴 Subtropical Deserts
are found between 15-30 degrees both to the north and south of the equator along the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, respectively.
🟡 Coastal Deserts
are located on the coasts of the continents found between 20-30-degree latitude, and cold ocean currents contribute to their formation.
🟣 Cold Winter/Semi-arid Deserts
are located near the edges of other deserts and in the continental dry areas.
🟠 Rain Shadow Deserts
exist near the leeward slopes of some mountain ranges. Leeward slopes face away from prevailing winds.
🟤 Interior/Inland Deserts
are found in the heart of continents and exist because no moisture-laden winds reach them.
⚪️ Polar Deserts
are located in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and most of their water is locked in glaciers and ice sheets year-round.
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Who was the first human in space?
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (1934-1968) ⬆️ was a Soviet Russia pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human in space.
🚀🌐 On April 12, 1961, he orbited Earth aboard the Vostok 1 space capsule, the first-ever crewed spacecraft.
"Vostok" means "East" in Russian, as opposed to the Western world, signifying the mission's importance in the Cold War-era space race between the USA and the USSR. The crewed part of the capsule was spherical, with an inside diameter of about 2 m (7 ft). The spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
In response to a statement from ground control that everything seemed to be working fine, Gagarin famously replied "Poyekhali!" — an informal phrase meaning "Off we go!" in Russian.
As a result, he became an international celebrity and received many awards, both within and outside the Soviet Union.
Gagarin was known not only for his accomplishments but also for his charismatic personality and smile ⬆️.
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How James Webb’s discovery questioned the Big Bang Theory?
🌠 In 2023, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) discovered more than 700 ancient galaxies that could be between 370 million and 650 million years old, according to scientists, who studied the captured data. 93% of the newfound galaxies ⬆️ had never been seen before.
❗️ If the conclusion about the age of these galaxies is correct, this discovery questions and revolutionizes the Big Bang Theory and modern cosmology saying that galaxies need much more time to grow from “nothing”.
ℹ️ Some experts believe that the model of a cyclic oscillating universe may provide answers to these new questions. The main thermodynamic argument against this model has been that entropy, contained in black holes, should accumulate from cycle to cycle. But recent studies demonstrate that the continuous accumulation of entropy from cycle to cycle pertains to the surface of the big black hole without violating the second law of thermodynamics.
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What is the leading explanation for how the universe began?
💥The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation for how the universe began.
💥It is the idea that the universe began as just a single point, then expanded and stretched to grow as large as it is right now—and it is still stretching.
💥This idea belongs to a Belgian astronomer Georges Lemaître (1894-1966).
💥⚛️🌠☄️This theory says that at the very beginning the universe was just hot, tiny particles mixed with light and energy. As everything expanded and took up more space, it cooled down. The tiny particles formed atoms, which over lots of time came together to form stars and galaxies. The first stars created bigger atoms and groups of atoms. That led to more stars being born. At the same time, galaxies were crashing and grouping together. As new stars were being born and dying, then things like asteroids, comets, planets, and black holes formed.
💥According to the theory, the universe could be 13.8 billion years old.
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Why do plants have different leaves?
🍃 Everything about a leaf — from the size, the thickness, the smoothness to its vein structure and segmentation — is part of its function. Each of these characteristics is an adaptation or optimization that helps leaves fulfill its main purpose, which is photosynthesis, as well as absorb sunlight, distribute water, regulate heat loss, avoid pests, etc.
🍀 Scientists say that the two major factors that influence leaf shape are evolutionary history and environment.
🌱 Plants from the same species can have very different-looking leaves in different climates.
🌿🌐 Researchers have found correlations such as latitude and shape (closer to the equator=simpler leaves), temperature and teeth (colder climate=more teeth), and moisture and size (wetter environment=larger leaves).
☘️🧬 Scientists have also identified a genetic mechanism responsible for leaf diversity that may offer new tools to help plants withstand different climate conditions.
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What are the different parts of a plant?
🌱🍀🌿 Broadly, plants have 2️⃣ organ systems:
🟤 The Root System that covers the underground parts of a plant and includes the roots, tubers, and rhizomes.
🟢 The Shoot System that consists of parts found above the ground, such as leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits.
A typical diagram of a plant body consists of 3️⃣ parts:
🟫 Roots, that lie below the surface of the soil. The top part of a root (root apex) is covered by a covering known as root cap.
🟩 Stems, found above the ground and are structurally divided into nodes, the regions where leaves are found, and internodes, the areas in-between the nodes.
🍃 Leaves, each having specialized functions and mostly found above the ground and attached to the stem.
A flowering plant also contains:
🌷🌼🌺 Flowers, the most colorful and attractive parts of a plant,
and
🍓🫑🍅 Fruits, the ripened ovary found in flower after fertilization.
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What is the largest vessel ever built?
❗️ Prelude FLNG ⬆️ is the largest floating facility ever built.
📌 It is a floating liquefied natural lake gas (FLNG) platform. Despite its ship-like appearance, it is not in the strictest sense a boat as it needs to be towed to its destinations.
📌 Prelude FLNG measures 488 m (1,601 ft) long, about 30 m longer than the Seawise Giant, and 74 m (243 ft) wide.
📌 The ship has a deck longer than four soccer fields and storage tanks that would fill 175 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
📌 At full load, it displaces more than 600,000 tons.
📌 More than 6,700 Horsepower thrusters are used to position the facility and 50 million liters of water are used every hour for cooling the LNG.
📌 The Prelude is now stationed over a gas field off the north coast of Western Australia.
📌 Annually, the facility can produce enough natural gas to power annually a city the size of Hong Kong.
📌 According to analysts, its price could be up to $12.6 billion.
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How big is the world’s largest cruise ship?
🛳 The Icon of the Seas ⬆️ is considered to be the largest cruise ship in the world at the moment.
🛳 It embarked on its maiden voyage, on January 27, 2024, from the Port of Miami.
🛳 It runs nearly 365 meters (1,200 feet) from bow to stern.
🛳 The Icon of the Seas can carry up to 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members.
🛳 The ship has:
2️⃣0️⃣ decks
6️⃣ waterslides
7️⃣ swimming pools, including the first cantilevered infinity pool at sea and the largest swimming pool at sea - the 151,416-litres Royal Bay
1️⃣ ice-skating rink, which is the largest ice arena at sea (Absolute Zero, where guests can skate or watch a performance).
1️⃣ theater
more than 4️⃣0️⃣ restaurants, bars and lounges
🛳 It is powered by six dual-fuel engines, which can be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
❗️ Some experts worry:
▪️LNG-powered ships increase methane emissions
▪️vacationers generate eight times more carbon on a cruise than they do on land.
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What Homo species was the first that stood fully upright and cooked its food?
As the name implies, Homo erectus (also called Homo ergaster) is the first known Homo species that stood fully upright.
Homo erectus featured other, modern human proportions distinct from those of apes: shorter arms relative to the torso, and long legs adapted for walking and running, rather than climbing trees.
Scientists found campfires and hearths near the remains of Homo erectus, suggesting they were also the first humans to dabble with cooking — a uniquely human activity that gave access to easily digestible food, allowing brains and bodies to grow.
Researchers believe that Homo erectus was a very successful species that lived in Africa and in Asia between 1,89 million and 110,000 years ago, its average height was 145-185 cm (4 ft 9 in – 6 ft 1 in) and its average weight was 40-68 kg (88-150 lbs).
Look at one of facial reconstructions of Homo Erectus ⬆️.
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How many early human species existed on Earth?
The answer to this question depends on the definition of a human, the definition of a species and the degree to which you accept variation within a species.
Most experts agree that our species, Homo sapiens (Latin for “wise men”), may be the ninth and youngest human species.
H. habilis: the handyman (2.4 million – 1.4 million years ago)
H. erectus: the enduring hiker (1.89 million to 110.000 years ago)
H. rudolfensis: the stranger (1.9 million to 1.8 million years ago)
H. heidelbergensis: the hunter (700,000 to 200,000 years ago)
H. floresiensis: the Hobbit (100,000 to 50,000 years ago)
H. neanderthalensis: The Neanderthal (400,000 – 40,000 years ago)
H. naledi (335,000 to 236,000 years ago)
H. luzonensis (at least 67,000 years ago)
Some scientists say that there were up to twenty early human species.
There is also a growing debate about whether H. sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans are in fact all one species.
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What is the importance of February 28 for India?
🇮🇳🗓 Since 1986, every year in India, National Science Day is observed on February 28.
This date is related to the time period in 1928 when Indian Physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970) ⬆️ announced discovery of the Raman Effect, or the Raman scattering.
The Raman Effect is the phenomenon where light gets scattered when passed through a transparent material, leading to changes in wavelength and energy.
CV Raman also received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 due to his significant contribution in this field of science.
The day aims to raise awareness about the importance of scientific applications in our daily lives.
The day also aims to celebrate and acknowledge the efforts and achievements of scientists in human welfare.
The theme for National Science Day 2024 is - Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat.
💬✍️"Success can come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you." - CV Raman
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What happens when tectonic plates meet?
The edges where tectonic plates meet are known as plate boundaries ⬆️
There are three main types:
1️⃣Convergent Boundaries (Destructive Boundaries/Active Margins): Plates move towards each other, forming either a continental collision or else a subduction zone where one plate moves under the other⬆️. The oceanic plate always subducts beneath the continental plate.
2️⃣Divergent Boundaries (Constructive/Extensional Boundaries): Plates move apart.
3️⃣Transform Boundaries (Conservative/Strike-Slip Boundaries): Plates slide past each other along transform boundaries. The motion of the plates relative to each other is either sinistral (left side toward the observer) or dextral (right side toward the observer).
Sometimes over time it isn’t easy to define just one boundary type.
🗻Mountains form primarily at convergent boundaries.
🌋Volcanoes can occur at both convergent and divergent boundaries.
Plate boundaries also cause earthquakes.
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What are Earth’s layers interesting facts?
🔘 Inner core is at the very center of Earth.
✔️ Radius: 1,221 km (759 miles)
✔️ Temperature: About 5,200 degrees °C (9,392 degrees Fahrenheit)
✔️ Pressure: Nearly 3.6 million atmospheric pressure (atm)
✔️ State: Solid
✔️ Composition: Mostly iron and some nickel
🔁 Inner core rotates in the same direction as the surface of the planet but rotates ever so slightly faster, completing one extra rotation every 1,000 years or so.
⚫️ Outer core is sandwiched between the inner core and the mantle. The boundary between the inner and outer core is known as the Lehman Seismic Discontinuity.
✔️ Thickness: 2,300 km (1,400 miles)
✔️ Temperature: Between 4,500 degrees °C and 5,500 degrees °C (8,132 degrees F and 9,932 degrees F).
✔️ State: Fluid
✔️ Composition: Iron and nickel
🧲 The swirling motion of the outer core generates Earth's magnetic field in a process called geodynamo. Magnetism inside Earth's core is approximately 50 times stronger than it is on the surface. Eventually, the entire core will solidify and Earth's magnetic field will cease to exist. That will be bad news for our planet as the magnetic field protects us from harmful cosmic radiation. We still have a few billions of years of protection left though.
🔴 The mantle can be divided into the upper and lower mantle (also known as the mesospheric mantle), with the upper mantle containing two distinct regions: the asthenosphere and the lower portion of the lithosphere.
✔️ Thickness: Approximately 1,800 miles (2,900 km)
✔️ Temperature: 3,700 degrees °C to 1,000 degrees °C (6,692 degrees F to 1,832 degrees F)
✔️ State: Solid
✔️ Composition: Magnesium, silicon and oxygen
🌡 The immense pressure keeps this layer solid despite the high temperatures capable of softening the rocks. Though geologists are yet to agree on a definitive structure of the lower mantle.
💎 Diamonds are forged within the mantle approximately 150 to 200 km (93 to 124 miles) below the surface.
🟥 The asthenosphere is a 110 miles (180 km) thick layer of the upper mantle that sits between the lower mantle and the lithosphere.
✔️ Temperature: 1,500 degrees °C (2,732 degrees F)
✔️ Thickness: 180 km (110 miles)
🪨 Rocks in the asthenosphere are "on the verge" of melting.
🟫 The lithosphere is the outermost layer of Earth, composed of the crust and the brittle part of the upper mantle.
✔️ Depth: 8 to 32 km (5 to 20 miles)
✔️ Temperature: Range from 0 to 500 degrees °C (32 to 932 degrees F).
↔️ The boundary between the brittle part of the upper mantle and the crust (both oceanic and continental) is known as the Mohorovičić Discontinuity (Moho), which depth varies from about 8 km (5 miles) below oceanic crust to 32 km (20 miles) below continental crust.
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How bananas may be used to fight the plastic waste crisis?
🛍 Plastic bags take up to 20 years to decompose. With very little plastic being recycled, most end up in landfills or littered in the greater environment, creating serious environmental consequences. Finding a plastic-like alternative that will decompose relatively quickly would go a long way in fighting the ongoing plastic waste crisis.
🍌ℹ️ Bananas are the fourth most grown crop in the world, trailing only rice, wheat and corn, and almost 36 million tons of banana peels are produced yearly.
🍌➡️🛍 According to a new study, banana peels may be utilized to create biodegradable films and one day replace plastic as the dominant food packaging material.
✅ A produced film was strong, transparent, and more importantly, biodegradable within 30 days at 21% soil moisture content ⬆️.
✔️ Further research will look to improve the film's flexibility and investigate the scalability and commercialization of this preparation process.
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Is Pollen always yellow?
🟨 Pollen is the fertilization agent of plants and the essential element for the survival of many plant species. It is responsible for the formation of seeds, fruit.
🟨 Pollen is a botanical term that referred to "the fertilizing element of flowers" and was first used as long ago as 1760 by Carl Linnaeus. it has come to be known as "fine, powdery, yellowish grains or spores."
🟨 🟥🟪🟫 Though pollen is associated with the color yellow, pollen can come in many vibrant colors, including red, purple, white, and brown ⬆️.
🟨 Since insect pollinators such as bees, can't see red, plants produce yellow (or sometimes blue) pollen to attract them. This is why most plants have yellow pollen, but there are some exceptions. For instance, birds and butterflies are attracted to red colors, so some plants produce red pollen to attract these organisms.
ℹ️ The scientific study of living and fossilized pollen grains is known as palynology.
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How many words for space explorers?
👨🚀👩🚀 Today, there a few terms defining space explorers/pilots, astronaut and cosmonaut being the most popular.
Cosmonaut
👨🚀🚀🌌 When the Soviet Union announced the first human’s space flight of Yuri Gagarin, the whole world got to know the word cosmonaut, which was used to differentiate him from American astronauts.
The term cosmonaut (космонавт in Russian) is derived from two Greek words: “kosmos,” meaning universe, and “nautes,” meaning sailor. A cosmonaut is therefore effectively an individual who sails the universe.
According to experts, in the 1930s this word was introduced by Ary Sternfeld (1905-1980), a Soviet space exploration pioneer of Jewish and Polish origin, who also invented the word cosmonautics.
Cosmonaut was first used in literature in a science fiction novel “The new Planet” by a Soviet Russian writer Victor Saparin (1905-1970).
Astronaut
👨🚀🚀🌠 The word astronaut is similar to cosmonaut and is in fact older. While both incorporate the word “nautes” for sailor, astronaut contains “astron,” meaning star. Thus, astronauts are known as star sailors.
It was the British writer Percy Greg (1837-1889) who coined the word in 1880. Inspired by the stories of the mythical Argonauts, in his novel Across the Zodiac: The Story of a Wrecked Record he named a spaceship the Astronaut. The novel introduces the concept of apergy, an anti-gravitational energy that powers the spacecraft. In the book, the Astronaut flies to Mars with a real astronaut on board.
👽 Another interesting fact is that the Greg's book contains what was probably the first alien language in any work of fiction. So it also provides the first the first translation from and into an alien language.
❗️ Astronaut and cosmonaut are job titles and achievements.
Taikonaut
👨🚀🚀🇨🇳 As China emerged as a significant economic and military power in Asia, it started its own space program. The Chinese space explorers are known as ‘Taikonauts’. ‘Taiko’ in Chinese means space and the literal meaning of the word ‘taikonaut’ is space sailor.
Vyomanaut
👨🚀🚀🇮🇳 India is another country with an impressive up-and-coming space program.
A person who travels in space for the Indian space program is called vyomanaut. The Greek word "nautes" for sailor is combined with the Sanskrit word for sky.
Spationaute
👨🚀🚀🇫🇷 France also sends people into space and chooses to use the French word spationaute for their title. This word is a French take on the Latin word “spatium” for space and the Greek “naut” for sailor.
ℹ️ The word astronautics was coined by Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1881-1957), a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist.
👏🌐 American or Russian, Astronaut or Cosmonaut, these brave man and women have been a key part in pushing the human race further into space. Many of the experiments they have conducted are contributing to learning more about space, our place in the universe and our future in the solar system.
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Why is Science and Technology Day celebrated on April 10?
🗓 👨🏻🔬🇦🇷 Since 1982, every April 10, the Day of Science and Technology is celebrated in honor of the Argentine scientist Bernardo Houssay (1887-1971) for his discoveries in Physiology and Medicine, particularly in the role of the pituitary gland in the regulation of the amount of sugar in the blood, through the metabolism of carbohydrates.
This date was established by Unesco in honor of the birth of the Argentine scientist born on April 10, 1887.
Bernardo Houssay was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1947, being the first Latin American to receive the Nobel Prize in Science.
Today, Houssay’s discoveries continue to be an example for researchers around the world to continue working on the advancement of science as a means to improve the quality of life of all human beings, since technology undoubtedly plays a fundamental role in all our societies.
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Is it possible that the Big Bang never happened?
There some alternatives to the Big Bang Theory.
☑️ The Steady State universe posits the continuous creation of matter throughout the universe to explain its apparent expansion. This type of universe would be infinite, with no beginning or end.
☑️ The Eternal Inflation theory says that after the Big Bang, the universe expanded rapidly during a brief period called inflation that never stopped. A vast complex of all universes that could have different physical laws is called the multiverse.
☑️ The Oscillating model of the universe involved an endless series of Big Bangs, followed by Big Crunches. The modern cyclic model involves colliding "branes" (a "membrane" within a higher-dimensional volume called the "bulk").
☑️ Implications found in quantum gravity and string theory suggest a universe may be a flat hologram projected onto the surface of a sphere, or a completely digital simulation running on a vast computer.
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How does a desert plant pull moisture from the air?
🔸 When it comes to eking out a living without much water, some desert plants can grow deep-reaching roots to get a drink from far underground.
🔸 But one dry-adapted plant turns to another source to gain moisture: the air.
🔸 Spindly shrubs called athel tamarisks (Tamarix aphylla) draw salty water from the soil and excrete the salt from their leaves ⬆️. Then, at night, these crystals allow them to collect water from the air.
🔸 Researchers found that this salt contained at least ten different materials, which together allowed it to pull water from the air at low humidities. One of these components was lithium sulfate, which could gather water at the lowest humidities.
🔸 These natural salts are likely to be environmentally safe, and identifying them could help engineers improve practices for pulling moisture from the air in water-strapped regions.
ℹ️ This finding is considered one of the most promising discoveries in 2023.
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What are the functions of each part of a plant?
Here are the key functions of each part of a plant.
🟤 Roots
☑️ Absorbing water and minerals from the soil
☑️ Storing food for future use
☑️ Producing plant growth hormones
☑️ Anchoring the plant firmly to the soil and providing support
☑️ Developing new plants from the roots of the old plant (vegetative reproduction)
🟢 Stems
✔️ Providing strength and support to buds, flowers, leaves, and fruits
✔️ Storing food mainly in the form of starch
✔️ Transporting food, water, and minerals to all parts of the plant body
✔️ Developing new plants from the stem of the old plant (vegetative reproduction)
🍃 Leaves
✅ Making food for the plant with the help of sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water through photosynthesis
✅ Helping in reproduction such as in Bryophyllum, a group of sprout leaf plants
✅ Helping in evaporation from the aerial parts of the plant by transpiration
Apart from these main functions, leaves of some plants are modified to form tendrils, that help in climbing (e.g., pea plant) or spines, helping in protection (e.g., cactus). Some leaves may turn fleshy to store food (e.g., onion plant).
🌺 Flowers
🔺 Helping in the sexual reproduction of plants
🔺 Stimulating pollination in plants and fertilization of the ovule
ℹ️🌸 A flower contains 4️⃣ main parts:
a) Sepals: Green parts of a flower found below the petals that protect flower buds from injury.
b) Petals: Colorful parts of a flower found above the sepals that help in pollination.
c) Stamens: Consists of an anther and a filament. They are the male reproductive part of a plant producing male sex cells or spermatia.
d) Carpel: Consists of stigma, style, and ovary. They are the female reproductive part of a plant producing female sex cells or ovules.
🥔🍓🥦 Fruits
🔸 Protecting the growing seeds
🔸 Helping in the dispersal of seeds and thus in plant reproduction
❗️ Thus although each part of a plant has its specific functions, they all work in combination to provide distinct advantages in plant growth and survival.
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What could play a unique role for the emergence of life on Earth?
🌋⚡️A new study says that lightning strikes hitting volcanic eruptions ⬆️ could play a crucial role in producing high levels of nitrogen, thereby facilitating the birth of the earliest life forms.
Nitrogen, a fundamental element for life on Earth, when combined with lightning, reacts with oxygen to form nitrogen oxide, which then gets released into the soil, creating a fertile ground for life to emerge and thrive.
The researchers analyzed samples from ancient volcanic sites and found that the substantial amounts of nitrates found were of atmospheric origin, suggesting that these essential life-giving elements were delivered by lightning, not derived from the volcanic eruptions themselves.
The phenomenon of volcanic lightning, which typically occurs at the eruption’s onset, was observed in two key areas: near the ground within ash clouds and higher up in the plume of volcanic smoke that reaches the stratosphere.
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What is the longest and the heaviest self-propelled ship in history?
🚢 The supertanker TT Seawise Giant (also known as Oppama, Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, Knock Nevis, and Mont) is the longest and the heaviest self-propelled ship in history ⬆️.
🚢 Built in 1979 at the Oppama shipyard in Japan, it was originally delivered as the Happy Giant oil tanker.
🚢 After undergoing an extensive jumboization process in 1988-1989 in Hong Kong, the ship had
📍a capacity of 564,763 tons deadweight (DWT)
📍a length overall of 458.45 m (1,504.1 ft), longer than the height of many of the world's tallest buildings and 100 meters longer than the longest active cruise ship currently
📍a draft of 24.611 m (80.74 ft)
📍46 tanks
📍31,541 m2 (339,500 sq ft) of deck space
📍a rudder of 230 tons
📍 a propeller of 50 tons.
🚢 When fully loaded, her 25 meter/81 foot draft was too deep for the ship to safely navigate the relatively shallow waters.
The vessel was scrapped in 2010.
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What humans were the first to live in cold places?
Homo Heidelbergenis (sometimes referred to as Homo Rhodesiensis) was the first early human species to live in colder climates.Their short, wide bodies were likely an adaptation to conserving heat.
It lived at the time of the oldest definite control of fire and use of wooden spears, and it was the first early human species to routinely hunt large animals and to build shelters out of wood and rock.
Researchers believe that Homo Heidelbergensis lived in Africa, in Europe and possibly in Asia between 700,000 and 200,000 years ago. The average height for males and females was 175 cm (5 ft 9 in) and 157 cm (5 ft 2 in) respectively. The average weight for males and females was 62 kg (136 lbs) and 51 kg (112 lbs) respectively.
Heidelbergensis is the latinised word for 'Heidelberg', the German city where the first fossil of this species was discovered in 1907-08.
Look at one of facial reconstructions of Homo Heidelbergensis ⬆️.
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Who was the only member of genus Homo during nearly a million years?
According to scientists, Homo Habilis lived as the only member of genus Homo for nearly a million years.
This species with a slightly larger braincase and smaller face and teeth than older hominin species is widely considered to be the first member of the genus Homo that evolved from apes. But it still retained some ape-like features, including long arms and a moderately-prognathic face.
Its name, which means ‘handy man’, was given in 1964 because this species was thought to represent the first maker of stone tools. Currently, the oldest stone tools are dated slightly older than the oldest evidence of the genus Homo.
Researchers believe that Homo Habilis lived in Eastern and Southern Africa between 2,4 and 1,4 million years ago, its average height was 100-135 cm (3 ft 4 in – 4 ft 5 in) and its average weight was 32 kg (70 lbs).
Look at one of facial reconstructions of Homo Habilis ⬆️.
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What are some surprising facts about leap years?
ℹ️ 2024 is a leap year with an extra day on February 29.
✍️ Here are some interesting facts about leap years and February 29 ⬇️.
📍🗓 In his Julian calendar, Julius Caesar introduced the first leap year around 46 B.C., but this calendar had only one rule: Any year evenly divisible by four would be a leap year. That created too many leap years, but the math wasn't tweaked until Pope Gregory XIII introduced his Gregorian calendar more than 1,500 years later.
📍 All the other months in the Julian calendar have 30 or 31 days, but February lost out to the ego of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. Under his predecessor Julius Caesar, February had 30 days and the month named after him - July - had 31. August had only 29 days. When Caesar Augustus became Emperor he added two days to 'his' month to make August the same as July. So February lost out to August in the battle of the extra days.
📍 Without an extra day on February 29 nearly every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After only 100 years, our calendar would be off by approximately 24 days.
📍 People born on February 29 are called "leaplings" or "leapers".
📍 The odds of being born on a leap day are 1 in about 1500.
📍🔮 Astrologers believe people born on February 29 have unusual talents
📍🇮🇹🇬🇷🇷🇺🏴 Some countries, e.g. Italy, Greece, Russia and Scotland, consider Leap Year and Leap Day to be the unluckiest of times.
📍💍 In some countries, it's OK for a woman to propose to a man on February 29.
📍🐸 In some countries, the frog is a symbol associated with February 29.
📍🇺🇸 The twin cities of Anthony, Texas, and Anthony, New Mexico, are the self-proclaimed Leap Year Capital of the World. They hold a four-day leap year festival that includes a huge birthday party for all leap year babies. (ID required.)
📍🇫🇷 🗞 Since 1980, a special French newspaper has only been published on Leap Day. La Bougie du Sapeur is only available on February 29, and it usually outsells all other newspapers on that day.
📍🎂 Many companies don’t recognize Leap Day as a “valid day.” They make leapers choose Feb. 28 or March 1 as their birthday instead.
📍🫰💳 Most employees who are paid fixed monthly incomes will work for free on Feb. 29 because their wages are likely not calculated to include the extra day.
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Why is International Polar Bear Day celebrated on 27 February?
🐻❄️International Polar Bear Day was first initiated in 1994 by Polar Bear International.
📌This non-profit organization founded the day to coincide with the time period when polar bear moms and cubs are snug in their dens.
🐻❄️Each year, in early January, polar bear females give birth to tiny helpless cubs in a snow den where they spend several months until cubs are big and strong enough for a life in the Arctic.
ℹ️Polar bears, the largest carnivorous land animals, are considered a keystone species in the Arctic ecosystem, playing a crucial role in maintaining the balance of their habitat. However, they are facing numerous threats, primarily due to human activities and climate change.
International Polar Bear also serves
📌as a platform to promote conservation measures that can help to safeguard the future of the Arctic
📌as a reminder of the importance of collective efforts to protect this vulnerable species.
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Why is the Earth an ever-changing landscape?
🔺 The theory of plate tectonics, developed during the mid-20th century, revolutionized scientific understanding of the Earth’s dynamics. It proposes that the Earth’s lithosphere consists of several tectonic plates that float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere beneath.
🔺 There are seven major plates ⬆️⬇️
1️⃣The African Plate
2️⃣The Antarctic Plate
3️⃣The Eurasian Plate
4️⃣The Indo-Australian Plate (sometimes divided into Indian Plate and Australian Plate)
5️⃣The North American Plate
6️⃣The Pacific Plate
7️⃣The South American Plate
There are also smaller plates like the Nazca, Cocos, Scotia, Caribbean, Arabian, and Philippine Sea Plate.
🔺 The largest plates, like the Pacific and Eurasian plates, span thousands of kilometers across. Smaller plates are just a few hundred kilometers across.
🔺 Plates’ size and shape continually change over geological time due to the dynamic nature of plate tectonics.
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What is Earth made of?
🌐 Earth is made up of several layers.
🌏 Earth's layers can be assigned according to chemical composition (what they're made of) or mechanical properties (rock strength and elasticity) ⬆️.
🌍 According to chemical composition Earth's layers are
☑️ the core
☑️mantle, the largest and thickest layer, making up 84% of the planet's total volume
☑️ crust
🌎 According to mechanical properties, Earth's layers are
☑️ the lithosphere, divided into oceanic crust (primarily composed of dark basalt rocks rich in elements such as silicon and magnesium) and continental crust (made of light-colored granite rocks containing oxygen and silicon)
☑️ asthenosphere
☑️ lower mantle (also known as mesospheric mantle),
☑️ outer core
☑️ inner core
ℹ️ The term lithosphere is derived from the Greek words "lithos," meaning stone, and "sphaira," meaning globe or ball.
ℹ️ The term asthenosphere originates from the Greek "asthenes" meaning weak.
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What are some fascinating facts about pollen?
🟡 Not All Pollen Types Trigger Allergies
Pollen is an allergen and plants that release it into the air, such as ragweed, oaks, elms, maple trees, and grasses, are most often responsible for triggering allergy in humans, having a hypersensitivity to this type of pollen. However, because most plants that flower transfer pollen via insects and not via the wind, flowering plants are not typically the cause of allergic reactions.
🔴 Plants Use Trickery to Spread Pollen
Flowers that have white or other light colors are more easily seen in the dark by nocturnal insects like moths. Plants that are lower to the ground attract bugs that can't fly, such as ants or beetles. Some plants also cater to insects' sense of smell by producing a rotten smell to attract flies. Still, other plants have flowers that resemble the females of certain insects to lure males of the species.
🟠 Plant Pollinators Can Be Large or Small
When we think of pollinators, we usually think of bees. However, a number of insects such as butterflies, ants, beetles, and flies and animals such as hummingbirds and bats also transfer pollen. Two of the smallest natural plant pollinators are the fig wasp and the panurgine bee. The female fig wasp, Blastophaga psenes, is only about 1.55mm ( in length. One of the largest natural pollinators happens to be the black and white ruffed lemur from Madagascar.
🟤 Pollen is the Primary Source of Protein for Bees
The protein content of pollen varies between 2.5% and 61%, depending on the plant species. For context, beef is approximately 26% protein.
🟣 Pollen Contains the Male Sex Cells in Plants
Pollen is the male sperm producing gametophyte of a plant. A pollen grain contains both non-reproductive cells, known as vegetative cells and a reproductive or generative cell. In flowering plants, pollen is produced in the anther of the flower stamen. In conifers, pollen is produced in the pollen cone.
⚪️ Pollen Grains Must Create a Tunnel for Pollination to Occur
In order for pollination to occur, the pollen grain must germinate in the female portion (carpel) of the same plant or another plant of the same species. In flowering plants, the stigma portion of the carpel collects the pollen. The vegetative cells in the pollen grain create a pollen tube to tunnel down from the stigma, through the long style of the carpel, to the ovary. Division of the generative cell produces two sperm cells, which travel down the pollen tube into the ovule. This journey usually takes up to two days, but some sperm cells can take months to reach the ovary.
🟢 Pollen Is Required for Both Self-Pollination and Cross-Pollination
In flowers that have both stamens (male parts) and carpels (female parts), both self-pollination and cross-pollination can occur. In self-pollination, sperm cells fuse with the ovule from the female part of the same plant. In cross-pollination, pollen is transferred from the male portion of one plant to the female portion of another genetically similar plant. This helps in the development of new species of plants and increases the adaptability of plants.
🔵 Some Plants Use Toxins to Prevent Self-Pollination
Some flowering plants have molecular self-recognition systems that help prevent self-fertilization by rejecting pollen produced by the same plant. Once pollen has been identified as "self", it is blocked from germination. In some plants, a toxin called S-RNase poisons the pollen tube if the pollen and pistil (female reproductive part or carpel) are too closely related, thus preventing inbreeding.
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Why is February 15 important for science?
📌 February 15 is important for modern science as it is Galileo Galilei’s birthday.
📌 Galileo (1564-1642) ⬆️ was an Italian natural philosopher who made several major contributions to scientific progress.
📌 Before Galileo, science was not considered a profession. Typically, people who did ‘science’ were considered natural philosophers and held positions as medical doctors, mathematicians or priests with extra time on their hands.
📌 Galileo was one of the first to express the belief that the basic laws of science could be broken down into mathematics.
📌 🔭 He studied speed and gravity to predict paths of projectile motion. He was among the first to take a closer look at the skies above with a telescope.
📌 His life is generally used as the beginning point of the history of modern science.
📌 His philosophy of observing first, explain second and then observe some more would become the foundation of the modern scientific method.
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