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Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

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Hazelnut Chocolate Spread

Spreadable chocolate and nuts is hazelnut chocolate spread.

  • Hazelnut chocolate spread, also known as ‘chocolate spread’, is a cocoa flavoured substance that is typically known by the famous brand name ‘Nutella’.
  • Hazelnut chocolate spread typically contains oil, sugar, cocoa, milk powder and hazelnuts, as well as a few other ingredients, and is usually made by extracting the cocoa and processing the hazelnuts, then mixing the items with the other ingredients, into a paste.
  • Hazelnut chocolate spread was first invented by Italian confectioner Pietro Ferrero, in Italy’s Piedmont, after World War II, to give people an affordable chocolate treat.
  • The first invented hazelnut chocolate spread was originally solid, known as ‘Pasta Gianduja’, which was first sold in 1946, and later altered so that it became spreadable, which was known as ‘Supercrema’ in 1951.
  • Hazelnut chocolate spread is commonly used on wheat-based items, such as bread, waffles, crumpets and scones.

Hazelnut Chocolate Spread, Nutella, Brown, Hoembrand, Australia, Paste, Condiment, Dollop, Ten Random Facts, Foods, Culinary

  • In 1964, ‘Supercrema’ was improved and released as ‘Nutella’, by Michele Ferrero, Pietro’s son, which is the original, and leading hazelnut chocolate spread brand.
  • Hazelnut chocolate spread has been previously marketed as a healthy item, due to the healthy hazelnuts, but generally the product actually contains a large quantity of sugar and fat.
  • Hazelnut chocolate spread was originally targeted at all ages, but later primarily at children, who are one of the main consumers of the spread.
  • Hazelnut chocolate spread is high in fat, sugar, and manganese and is a good source of vitamin E, copper and iron.
  • Although hazelnut chocolate spread originated in Italy, it entered the market in the United States of America in 1983, and it is now sold around the world under different names, recipes and brands, by different companies.

 

Bibliography:
History of Hazelnut Chocolate Spread, 2013, Nutilight, http://www.nutilight.com/#!HISTORY-ON-HAZELNUT-CHOCOLATE-SPREAD/cqpw/6136BBEF-617B-4315-9DA2-818B42B7439D
Mitzman D, Nutella: How the world went nuts for a hazelnut spread, 2014, BBC News Magazine, http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27438001
Nutella, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutella

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Door to Hell

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Door to Hell

How long can a fire burn in the Door to Hell?

  • The Door to Hell is among the largest deposits of natural gas in the world, located in the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan’s Derweze, in Asia.
  • ‘The Door to Hell’ is also known as ‘Gates of Hell’, the ‘Gas Crater of Darvaza’, ‘Derweze Crater’ and the ‘Darvaza Crater’.
  • The Door to Hell gas field is said to have been discovered by petrochemical engineers from the Soviet Union in 1971 and a drilling rig was soon established.
  • Early on, during the gas drilling stage at the Door to Hell, the site collapsed and formed a 69 metre (225 feet) diameter hole, that is 30 metres (99 feet) deep.
  • When the collapse at the Door to Hell occurred, large quantities of toxic and non-environmentally friendly methane gas were released, which to remove, was set alight.
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The Door to Hell
Image courtesy of flydime/Wikimedia
  • The original fire of the Door to Hell is said to have been burning since 1971, although at the time, it was expected that the fire would only last a few days or weeks.
  • In late 2013, adventurer George Kourounis, a Canadian, reached the Door to Hell’s base, becoming the first person to accomplish this, and he collected soil samples from within that contained extremophile bacteria.
  • To protect and allow future gas mining in the area, the Door to Hell was commanded to be closed in early 2010, by Turkmenistan’s then President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, although it was not accomplished.
  • The nearby town of Derweze is said to have had a forced population reduction from approximately 1,700 people, to 350 in 2004, by the then President Saparmurat Niyazov’s orders, to ‘protect’ the tourism industry of the Door to Hell.
  • The Door to Hell is a popular tourist attraction for those visiting the area, with people venturing onto the crater’s edges, which are susceptible to collapsing, to view the spectacular fires in the crater.
Bibliography:
Door to Hell, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Door_to_Hell
Nunez C, Q&A: The First-Ever Expedition to Turkmenistan’s “Door to Hell“, 2014, National Geographic News, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/07/140716-door-to-hell-darvaza-crater-george-kourounis-expedition/
Turkmenistan’s Door to Hell, 2013, Sometimes Interesting, http://sometimes-interesting.com/2013/07/31/turkmenistans-door-to-hell/

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Beaver

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Beaver

Do you beaver around a lot?

  • Beavers are rodents that are generally active at night, and their habitat is primarily water bodies in forest areas of North America, Europe and Asia.
  • Beavers spend significant quantities of time constructing and maintaining dams and other aquatic structures like lodges, that provide protection and housing, as well as water movement that allows resources to float, and they use trees that they cut down with their sharp teeth, as well as rocks, other vegetation and mud as their building materials.
  • Beavers have the scientific name Castor, while they are the only living members of the family Castoridae, and there are two extant species of beaver – Castor fiber which is known as the Eurasian species, and Castor canadensis, the North American species.
  • Beavers are able to move easily in water, and their diet consists of vegetation, particularly material from a variety of trees, including bark, leaves and twigs, as well as aquatic plants and sedges.
  • Beavers grow to lengths of 60 to 120 centimetres (23 to 47 inches), making them the second largest rodent on earth, and weigh 16 to 27 kilograms (35 to 60 pounds).
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Beavers
Image courtesy of flinchlake2000/Flickr
  • Beavers have beige, red-brown, brown, almost black, or grey fur; the back feet are webbed; they have see-through eyelids; and a flat tail that acts like a rudder and provides a loud warning when slapped against water.
  • Beavers live in families in their lodges that consist of as many as ten rodents, and they are preyed on by wolves, bears and lynxes, and the animal has a lifespan of 15 to 20 years, although they can live up to 24 years.
  • Beavers body parts have been used in traditional medicine; the secretions from their castor sacs or scent glands are used in the perfume industry and as a flavouring for food; and the fur coat is a commonly poached item.
  • It is illegal to hunt or kill beavers in some countries and areas, while in other places, including parts of the United States, it is legal to trap or shoot the animal.
  • When introduced without sufficient predators, beavers can overrun habitats, causing extensive forest removal, landscape change and water flow changes, as well as other problems, and they can be a pest on farms and properties.
Bibliography:
Beaver, 2013, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/beaver/
Beaver, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/beaver/
Beaver, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver

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Chisel

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Chisel

Chisels, in the wrong hands, could destroy your creation.

  • Chisels are hand tools used to carve or cut objects or materials.
  • Chisels are most commonly used in the carving of wood, metal or stone, and are commonly used by woodworkers and stonemasons.
  • Chisels are typically accompanied with a force, either hand-propelled or mechanical, such as a hammer, to complete a carving action.
  • Chisels are generally made of a metal such as steel, with a wooden, plastic or metal grip.
  • Chisels are most often used to remove small to medium sized parts in projects, including models, devices or sculptures.

Chisel, Blue, Handle, Tool, Carpentry, Marples, Steel, Metal, Ten Random Facts

  • Chisels often have a rectangular shaped piece of metal that is quite flat and very sharp on the end, with a central upwards slope, although the ends can be various shapes, including v-shaped, and different shapes are used for different purposes.
  • Chisels originate from approximately 8000 BC, initially using a flint base material, and the appearance and use has remained virtually unchanged throughout the years.
  • Chisels come in a variety of sizes, which can make the difference between a perfect or destroyed piece of work.
  • ‘Chisel’ comes from the Old French word ‘cisel’, and originally from ‘cisellum’, which is from the common form of Latin, meaning ‘cutting tool’.
  • Chisels are often incorrectly believed to be an easy tool to master, however mastering the tool can take years of practice.
Bibliography:
Chisel, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisel
Lee E, History of the Chisel, 2014, eHow, http://www.ehow.com/about_4681861_history-chisel.html
What is a Chisel?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-chisel.htm

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Dill

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Dill

Isn’t dill play-on-words fun!?

  • Dill is a leafy herb that reaches heights of 40 to 60 centimetres (16 to 24 inches) and the plant is grown as an annual in full sun.
  • Dill is native to Europe’s east, Russia’s south, Africa and the Mediterranean, and it is the only species in the Anethum genus; its scientific name is Anethum graveolens.
  • Dill is from the family Apiaceae, that is also known as the Umbelliferae family, and it is the family of celery, parsley and carrots, and other hollow stem plants.
  • ‘Dill’ is derived from the Norse word ‘dilla’, meaning ‘to lull’ or the Old English word ‘dile’, and the names are a reference to the plant’s medicinal purposes.
  • Dill leaves are often used in seafood or soup dishes, as well as pickled items like cucumbers, and the seeds are used as a spice for flavouring.
Dill, Food, Seeds, Culinary, Spice, Brown, Bowl, Many, Flavour, Ten Random Facts, AustraliaSeeds
  • Oil can be obtained from the dill plant, which can be used to produce soap.
  • Dill has been used for thousands of years, and in England in the 5th to 11th centuries it was used to treat headaches, stomach illness, boils and nausea, and other sickness.
  • Fresh dill leaves are delicate and feathery and are typically coloured a bright green, while seeds are mustard to brown in colour.
  • Dill has a taste described typically as mild and warm, with a slight anise flavour, and the leaves have a milder flavour than the seeds.
  • Dill leaves are a very good source of vitamin C and vitamin A, and they contain many other vitamins and minerals, while the seeds are high in calcium.
Bibliography:
Dill (Anethum graveolens), 2014, Gourmet Garden, http://www.gourmetgarden.com/en/herb/252/dill
Dill, 2014, The World’s Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=71
Dill, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dill

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Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

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Lençóis Maranhenses National Park

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park has water in a ‘desert’ – who knew?

  • Lençóis Maranhenses National Park is a national park in northern Brazil’s state of Maranhão, in South America.
  • Lençóis Maranhenses National Park is a sandy area with sloping dunes that incorporates lagoons, and while it appears to be a desert, due to the lack of any obvious vegetation across much of the area, it receives too much rain to be classed as one.
  • Lençóis Maranhenses National Park covers an area of 1550 square kilometres (600 square miles) and includes approximately 70 kilometres (43.5 miles) of coastline and stretches as far as 50 kilometres (31 miles) inland.
  • Lençóis Maranhenses National Park became a national park in 1981 and in 2014, it was managed by the Brazilian Chico Mendes Institute for Conservation of Biodiversity (ICMBio – Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade).
  • Lençóis Maranhenses National Park cannot be entered by any vehicle type except 4-wheel drives, and tours are available for a fee.
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Part of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park
Image courtesy of Danielle Pereira/Flickr
  • The blue-green freshwater lagoons of Lençóis Maranhenses National Park are formed by the 1194 to 1524 millimetres (47 to 60 inches) of rain that falls each year.
  • Lençóis Maranhenses National Park is a popular tourist destination, and the best time to visit is said to be from July to September when the lagoons are full, and during this time, fish inhabit the ponds, including the mud-dwelling wolf fish.
  • Even though Lençóis Maranhenses National Park receives significant rain, due to persistent winds it has only small quantities of vegetation in certain areas.
  • Fisherman, during the wet season, fish in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, but work in agricultural sites during the dry season, when most of the lagoons have dried up.
  • Lençóis Maranhenses National Park sand dunes can reach heights of 40 metres (131 feet), and there are no public facilities like toilets and food outlets in the park.
Bibliography:
Geiling N, How Do Thousands of Clear Blue Lagoons End Up In These Brazilian Sand Dunes?, 2014, Smithsonian, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/Lencois-maranhenses-brazil-thousands-clear-blue-lagoons-in-sand-dunes-180951756/?no-ist
Tours in Lencois Maranhenses, n.d, Parque Lençóis, http://www.parquelencois.com.br/english/lencois_maranhenses_passeios.php
Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len%C3%A7%C3%B3is_Maranhenses_National_Park
Murano G & Wilkinson J, Coastal Dunes, Lençóis Maranhenses, Brazil, 2014, Coastal Care, http://coastalcare.org/2011/06/coastal-dunes-lencois-maranhenses-brazil/
National Park of Lençóis, n.d, ICMBio, http://www.icmbio.gov.br/parnalencoismaranhenses/guia-do-visitante.html

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