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Cliffs of Étretat

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Cliffs of Étretat

The white coloured cliffs of Étretat are very picturesque.

  • The cliffs of Étretat are numerous sea cliffs and rock formations located in Étretat, Upper Normandy, in Europe’s northern France.
  • The cliffs of Étretat are a common site visited for inspiration for both literature and art purposes; while notable visitors have included Victor Hugo, writer of ‘Les Misérables’, and famous artists like Claude Monet and Gustave Courbet.
  • The cliffs of Étretat are part of a stunning coastline along the English Channel, known as ‘La Côte d’Albâtre’, ‘The Albâtre Coast’ or ‘The Alabaster Coast’ that spans a distance of approximately 130 kilometres (80 miles), and is virtually a long wall of cliff.
  • The cliffs of Étretat are at least 70 metres (230 feet) high and are primarily coloured white to a light grey colour.
  • The cliffs of Étretat is one of the most popular tourist areas along the Alabaster Coast, as it is home to a 50 metre (164 foot) high needle-shaped rock formation, named the ‘Needle’, as well as three large natural arches and a beach area.
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Part of the Cliffs of Étretat
Image courtesy of Frenlarreo/Flickr
  • The cliffs of Étretat mostly contain chalk and limestone, as well as flint, with the chalk giving the cliffs their vivid white colour.
  • Water sports are popular at the cliffs of Étretat, and due to strong winds atop the cliffs, air gliding is a common sport performed in the area.
  • The cliffs of Étretat were formed primarily by erosion from wind, rain and ocean waves, and coastal erosion is still significant due to the soft chalk.
  • The cliffs of Étretat are the home to seagulls, and the ocean area was once a prime fishing spot and was also used for oyster farming.
  • The cliffs of Étretat are situated next to the fishing village of Étretat, which has become a popular tourist destination and tourism has become one of the main sources of income in the area.
Bibliography:
Beautiful Heights, Sea Cliffs, Etretat, France, 2014, Planet Den, http://planetden.com/nature/beautiful-heights-sea-cliffs-etretat-france
Cliffs, n.d, Etretat, http://www.etretat.net/office-de-tourisme-etretat/modules/content/content.php?page=falaises&lang=en
Étretat, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tretat
Vallois T, Normandy’s White Cliffs, 2012, France Today, http://www.francetoday.com/articles/2012/08/04/normandy_s_white_cliffs.html

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Mandrill

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Mandrill

Mandrills are bright, colourful and… unique.

  • Mandrills are the largest extant species of monkey, and are native to regions of western Africa, in mostly forest habitats.
  • Mandrills have the scientific name Mandrillus sphinx, and are from the family Cercopithecidae, the family of Old World monkeys.
  • A mandrill has a dark coloured fur coat, white underbelly, red and blue face and a brightly multi-coloured backside.
  • Mandrills typically grow to be 55 to 95 centimetres (22 to 37 inches) in length and weigh 10 to 37 kilograms (22 to 82 pounds).
  • A mandrill’s diet mainly consists of vegetation such as fruit, bark, leaves and twigs; invertebrates including insects, spiders and snails, as well as frogs, birds, rodents and eggs.
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Mandrill
Image courtesy of Heather Paul/Flickr
  • Mandrills are preyed on by leopards, as well as the occasional crown eagle and python, and they have a typical lifespan of 20 years, although it can range up to 31 years in captivity.
  • Mandrills live in troops of up to 1,300 individuals, but typically this number is closer to 600, often with a dominant male, although males often live alone.
  • Female mandrills generally give birth to a single young approximately every two years; and the mother generally takes care of the baby.
  • Mandrills can make various noises including grunts, roars, screeches and crow-like sounds.
  • Due to the illegal removal of forest habitats and the killing of the animal for bushmeat, mandrills are classified as a vulnerable species.
Bibliography:
Mandrill, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/mandrill/
Mandrill, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandrill

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Corn Starch

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Corn Starch

Do not starch these facts with corn starch!

  • Corn starch is a thickener used in cooking, that is extracted from the endosperms of corn or maize kernels and the product is said to have been originally used for starching laundry.
  • ‘Corn starch’ is also known as ‘cornstarch’, ‘maize starch’, ‘maizena’ and ‘corn flour’, although in some countries, wheat starch is sometimes labelled as ‘corn flour’.
  • Corn starch is often used to increase the thickness of soup, sauce, custard and other condiments, as well as the mixtures of bakery items.
  • Pure corn starch is gluten free, and it can be replaced with arrowroot effectively, typically by the same ratio.
  • Corn starch is extracted by softening and lightly fermenting the corn kernels, then the starch is removed and later dried.

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  • Corn starch, when mixed with water in the correct ratio, produces a substance named Oobleck with properties that deflect fast moving forces but not slow-moving forces.
  • Corn starch is typically white in colour, and is almost always in a very smooth powdered form, and when cooked, it typically loses its colour, becoming transparent, unlike flour that the starch often replaces.
  • When corn starch is added to liquid for thickening purposes, it is best to heat the mixture to a temperature of 100°C (212°F), to produce the most satisfactory thickened result.
  • The United States business, Colgate and Company are said to be the first to produce corn starch, in 1844, and soon after, Thomas Kingsford, an employee who is said to be the inventor, began a factory in New York to produce the substance.
  • Corn starch is very high in carbohydrates and has small quantities of selenium and other minerals.
Bibliography:
Corn starch, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_starch
Cornstarch, 2010, Cooksinfo.com, http://www.cooksinfo.com/cornstarch
The History of Cornstarch, n.d, Eye-on New Media, http://www.eyeon-newmedia.co.za/schweizer/docs/Reports%20-%20General/The%20History%20of%20Corn%20Starch.pdf
What is Cornstarch?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-cornstarch.htm

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Pipe Cleaner

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Pipe Cleaner

Pipe cleaners were once a cleaner and now a craft.

  • A pipe cleaner is a long, narrow cleaning utensil that has an abundance of absorbent fibres attached.
  • Pipe cleaners are also know as ‘chenille stems’ and ‘chenille sticks’.
  • Pipe cleaners are most commonly used for cleaning narrow, hollow objects or used in craft projects, and they come in a variety of shapes and thicknesses, with the typical shape being cylindrical.
  • Pipe cleaners are commonly coloured in various bright colours and they can be bicoloured or metallic, while the colours are sometimes used to categorise different things or used for craft purposes.
  • Pipe cleaners are generally made of a few pieces of wire that secure numerous short strands of cotton, viscose, nylon, polyester or polypropylene, that form short bristles.

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  • Pipe cleaners were originally invented to clean tobacco pipes, but they can be adapted and used to clean many other items.
  • Many different pipe cleaners were invented in the 1800s, although most of them do not resemble modern style ones, although a pipe-stem cleaner, as it was called, with similar qualities, was patented in 1896 by Fredrick Frick, from Rochester, New York, in the United States.
  • Pipe cleaners typically range from 15 to 50 centimetres (6 to 20 inches) in length, depending on their purpose, with shorter lengths often used for cleaning, and longer lengths generally used for craft purposes.
  • The invention of the modern, chenille style pipe cleaner, is often credited to Charles Angel and inventor John Stedman, who was also from Rochester, New York, in the United States, in the early 1900s.
  • The BJ Long company was possibly the first to mass-produce modern style pipe cleaners, since the company was sold rights to Angel’s and Stedman’s design.
Bibliography:
Foster G, John Harry Stedman: His Busy Life and Weird Inventions, n.d, University of Rochester, http://www.lib.rochester.edu/IN/RBSCP/Epitaph/ATTACHMENTS/31_3.pdf
Frick, F 1896, ‘Pipe-stem Cleaner’, US566570, 25 August, p. 1, Google Patents, Google
I Raise my Pipe to the Humble Pipe Cleaner, 2013, rebornpipes, http://rebornpipes.com/tag/history-of-pipe-cleaners/
Pipe Cleaner, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_cleaner

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Panjin Red Beach

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Panjin Red Beach

Panjin Red Beach is bright and beautiful.

  • Panjin Red Beach is a beach located in the southern area of Liaoning Province, in northeast China.
  • Panjin Red Beach is covered in flora, notably the brightly coloured and edible Suaeda salsa plants from the family Amaranthaceae, the family of amaranths.
  • ‘Panjin Red Beach’ is also known as ‘Red Seabeach’, ‘Red Beach’ and the ‘home of the cranes’.
  • Panjin Red Beach is part of the 100 square kilometre (38.6 square mile) Red Beach Scenic Area, as well as the Panjin wetlands, that is the home to 260 birds and 399 other fauna, including rare and endangered species of crane.
  • Panjin Red Beach became a protected area as part of the Panjin wetlands in 1988, and was declared a ‘National Nature Reserve’, and it has since become a popular tourist destination.
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Part of Panjin Red Beach
Image courtesy of Free York
  • Panjin Red Beach is named due to the Suaeda salsa plants that change from the colour green, to orange, pink and eventually a stunning bright red.
  • Panjin Red Beach wetlands area is the home to many species of reed, which are commonly used to make paper, and large sections of the Panjin wetlands have been cultivated for this purpose.
  • While the area is vast, the area of Panjin Red Beach that can be visited by the public is small, and the best time to visit is in mid September through to mid October, when the colour is at its best.
  • The nearest city to Panjin Red Beach by distance is Panjin City, approximately 30 kilometres (19 miles) away.
  • The soil of Panjin Red Beach has a high content of alkaline, which causes soil to be unsuitable for most plants, although the saline loving Suaeda salsa grows prolifically.
Bibliography:
Panjin Red Beach, China, 2011, Amusing Planet, http://www.amusingplanet.com/2011/11/panjin-red-beach-china.html
The Red Beach in Panjin, China, 2014, Where on Earth, http://whenonearth.net/red-beach-panjin-china/
Red Seabeach, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Seabeach
Wang, L, On the Countermeasures of Panjin Coastal Wetland Protection in Liaoning Province, 2010, Canadian Center of Science and Education, http://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/download/5675/4592
Red Beach, 2014, Baidu, http://baike.baidu.com/view/83704.htm

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Axolotl

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Axolotl

Axolotls are unique but a little bit creepy.

  • Axolotls are amphibians that live permanently in water habitats, and they are native to Central America’s Mexico.
  • ‘Axolotls’ are also known as ‘Mexican salamanders’ and ‘Mexican walking fish’, and they typically grow to be 15 to 45 centimetres (6 to 18 inches) in length, and weigh 60 to 200 grams (2 to 7 ounces).
  • Axolotls have the scientific name Ambystoma mexicanum and are from the family Ambystomatidae, the family of mole salamanders, and while they are from the salamander family, they do not progress beyond the larval stage.
  • An axolotl has a large head, miniscule teeth and no eyelids, as well as external gills that appear like a frill around its neck, and a long fin running down its back.
  • Axolotls are generally black or brown in colour, although they can be gold, grey, pale pink or almost white.
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Axolotl
Image courtesy of Ruben Undheim/Flickr
  • The diet of axolotls generally consists of worms, insects and little fish, and after they have seized their food, it is pulled into their body by an internal suction.
  • Axolotls are known for their regenerating properties, regrowing limbs, as well as organs, and they can also adapt and use another’s body part.
  • Axolotls are critically endangered due to the expansion of Mexico City and the pollution it causes and remaining suitable habitats are also threatened by introduced species of fish.
  • An axolotl can lay 100 to 1000 eggs at one time and the eggs become attached to surrounding natural objects that protect them, due to their adhesive nature.
  • Axolotls can move up to speeds of 17 kilometres per hour (10 miles per hour) and live approximately 10 to 20 years, and while their predators are birds and fish, they are not often preyed upon.
Bibliography:
Axolotl, 2013, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/axolotl/
Axolotl, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl

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