Author Archives: Cris

Belgium

By | |
Leave a comment
Belgium

“Strength through Unity” – Belgium’s Motto.

  • Belgium is a country found in Europe’s west, that covers just over 30,500 square kilometres (11,700 square miles) in area, and its neighbours are Germany, France, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and the capital city is Brussels.
  • Belgium has a constitutional monarch in place; and is the only country in the world with the ‘popular monarchy’ system, and as such the king is known as the king of the people (King of the Belgians), rather than the king of the country.
  • ‘Belgium’ is also known as ‘België’ in Dutch, ‘Belgique’ in French, ‘Belgien’ in German, the ‘Kingdom of Belgium’ (its official name), and the ‘Battlefield of Europe’, referring to the country being the ground of many wars.
  • Of the 11 million people who populate Belgium, approximately 59% are Dutch speaking and 41% are French speaking, as well as a small quantity of German speaking people, causing the country to have three official languages.
  • Belgium is split into three areas, the two major areas being Flanders and Wallonia; the former mainly houses those of Flemish origin (Dutch speakers) while the latter mainly houses those of Walloon origin (French speakers) as well as the small group of 70,000 Germans that generally reside in the eastern part of the country.

Belgium, Brussel, Capital City, Birds Eye View. Aerial, Ten Random Facts, Flickr, Europe, From Atonium

Aerial View of the capital city, Brussels
Image courtesy of La Citta Vita/Flickr
  • Belgium was originally occupied by Celtic and Germanic communities until 100 BC when it was conquered by Romans and known as ‘Gallia Belgica’, which is where the modern name of the country is derived from.
  • Belgium’s politics involves the king, who is the head of state, and from 2013 was King Philippe, who allocates the position of all ministers for the federal government.
  • In 2012, Belgium had a nominal GDP estimate of $484.7 billion, with food, finished diamonds, metal, machinery, and chemicals as major exports.
  • Belgium is known for its contribution to the arts, and for its cuisine, with many famous chocolates and over 1000 different types of beer.
  • Belgium is the home of 11 or more UNESCO World Heritage Sites and many famous architectural buildings and galleries, including the Cathedral of Notre-Dam.
Bibliography:
Belgium, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgium
Belgium, n.d, European Union, http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/member-countries/belgium/index_en.htm

Amazon:     

Tapir

By | |
Leave a comment
Tapir

Tapir: A piggish elephant.

  • Tapirs are typically nocturnal and solitary pig-like mammals, that are often great swimmers, and they have strange feet with four and three toes on the front and behind respectively.
  • There are five species of tapirs; the Mountain tapir, Kabomani tapir, Brazilian tapir, and Baird’s tapir, in Central and South America, and the Malayan tapir in South East Asia.
  • Tapir’ means ‘thick’, in the Tupi language belonging to some of the indigenous Brazilians, that refers to the animal’s hide, and the scientific name is ‘Tapirus’, from the family Tapiridae, the family of tapirs, that is also related to horses and rhinoceroses.
  • Depending on the species, tapirs grow to be approximately 0.8 to 1 meter (2.6 to 3.3 feet) in height, and 1.3 to 2.4 metres (4.2 to 7.8 feet) in length, and range from 110 to 320 kilograms (242 to 705 pounds) in weight, with females being generally larger than males.
  • Tapirs are typically red-brown to grey-black in colour, although the Malayan species are part white and part black, and the Mountain species have a woolly coat.

Tapir, Baby, Brown, Black, adult, Ten Random Facts, National geographic, Melbourne Zoo, Australia

Adult and Baby
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Tapirs have a free-moving snout to poke in hard-to-get places, grip vegetation, or use as a snorkel, and it is often raised when it smells something.
  • Tapirs live on vegetation, mainly fruit, berries and leaves, and can consume 34 kilograms (75 pounds) or more in a single day, and they have an approximate lifespan of 25 to 30 years.
  • Tapirs have an interval of at least two years after every birth of one calf, and the young have sand coloured stripey and spotty markings for up to six months.
  • Tapirs are mainly preyed on by jaguars, tigers, crocodiles and anacondas, as well as humans, who hunt them for their meat and hides, and along with loss of habitat, this is causing them to be either endangered or vulnerable, depending on the species.
  • Although tapirs do not generally attack humans, they have a bite that can cause severe damage, if threatened.
Bibliography:
Tapir, 2014, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/tapir/
Tapir, 2014, San Diego Zoo, http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/tapir
Tapir, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapir

Amazon:      

Queensland Bottle Tree

By | |
2 Comments
Queensland Bottle Tree

Bulging Queensland bottle trees.

  • Queensland bottle trees are Australian native trees that have a trunk shaped like a bottle and have bell shaped, creamy-yellow coloured flowers that usually appear in spring and summer.
  • The scientific name of a Queensland bottle tree is Brachychiton rupestris, and they are from the family Malvaceae, the family of mallows that includes hibiscus plants, but were originally from the archived family Sterculiaceae.
  • Contrary to popular belief, Queensland bottle trees are not hollow, but have fibrous interiors, and are bottle-shaped due to the stored water in the trunk.
  • Queensland bottle trees are usually grown from seed, and are popularly used in recreation areas and gardens, often providing good shade.
  • Queensland bottle trees have been traditionally used as shelter, rope and food, particularly by indigenous Australians.

Queensland Bottle Tree, Swell, Adult, Australia, Ten Random Facts, Plant

  • Queensland bottle trees can range from 4 to 20 metres (13 to 65 feet) in height and do not produce a bottle shaped trunk until about five to eight years of age.
  • Queensland bottle trees grow best in full sun and in temperatures of the sub-tropics and the tropics.
  • Queensland bottle trees have boat-shaped seed pods full of many seeds that have hairs on them that can irritate the skin if touched.
  • ‘Queensland bottle trees’ are also known as ‘Queensland-flaschenbaums’, ‘Narrowleaf bottle trees’, ‘Kurrajong bottle trees’ and ‘Kurrajongs’.
  • Queensland bottle trees can survive up to three months out of soil, and they are therefore commonly transported to various countries, even as a mature tree.
Bibliography:
Brachychiton rupestris, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachychiton_rupestris
Campbell C, Fact Sheet: Bottle Trees, 2008, Gardening Australia, http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2183287.htm
Cheung P, Brachychiton rupestris, 2013, AustraliaNationalBotanic Gardens, http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/interns-2005/brachychiton-rupestris.html

Amazon:  

FOXTEL

By | |
2 Comments
FOXTEL

“See something, feel something” – Slogan of FOXTEL

  • FOXTEL is a company that supplies customers with a payed television channel service; broadcasting in many Australian cities and towns.
  • FOXTEL is owned equally by Telstra and News Corp Australia, telecommunication and mass media companies respectively.
  • The name ‘FOXTEL’, was derived from a blend of ‘Fox’, from the original News Corporation’s Fox Broadcasting Company, and ‘tel’, from Telstra.
  • The most popular entertainment program broadcasted with FOXTEL is ‘The Simpsons’, with approximately 110,000 people watching the show each week night.
  • FOXTEL is the current holder of the record of the most views of a single program in one day on paid television, and set the record in 2007, 2011, and, most recently, with nearly 950,000 viewers, for the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

FOXTEL, Logo, Orange, 2012, copyright, Television, Ten Random Facts

Logo
Image courtesy of Foxtel
  • FOXTEL was formed in 1995, with 20 channels, broadcasted by Telstra, while the connections and channel negotiations were organised by News Corp.
  • In 2012, FOXTEL had over 1.68 million people subscribed to its service and 70% of homes in Australia would have been able to access the network once they had paid for the service.
  • FOXTEL was not permitted to include advertising during programs for the first two years of broadcasting, and still can not earn over 50% of its income via advertising.
  • FOXTEL broadcasts hundreds of different programs, and popular channels include entertainment, sport, documentaries and news.
  • In the 2009 to 2010 financial year, FOXTEL boasted an income of AUD$2.2 billion and a profit of AUD$258 million.
Bibliography:
Foxtel announces integration progress and earnings growth, 2012, FOXTEL, http://www.foxtel.com.au/about-foxtel/communications/foxtel-announces-progress-on-austar-integration-and-solid-ea-194907.htm
Foxtel, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxtel

Amazon:  

Hourglass

By | |
1 Comment
Hourglass

Hourglass… One of a boat captain’s saviours.

  • ‘Hourglasses’ are also known as ‘sandglasses’, ‘sand timers’, ‘egg timers’, ‘sand watches’ and ‘sand clocks’.
  • Hourglasses are usually made from blown glass that has a bulb at each end, joined by a ‘neck’, that is housed in a frame, enabling it to stand vertically, while the bulbs contain many fine grains, which drop from one bulb to another through the neck.
  • Hourglasses are used for time measurement, from minutes to hours, and even a year, and when the top bulb is empty, time is up.
  • The time an hourglass measures can be altered by changing the grain type, the grain amount, size of the bulb, size of the neck and the quality of the grains.
  • Hourglasses were most likely invented in Medieval Europe, possibly in the 700s by Luitprand, a monk in France, although evidence of the invention is not depicted until 1338.

Hourglass, Blue, Grain, Three minute, Water, Ten Random Facts, Sand timer

  • Hourglasses replaced waterclocks, as they did not spill in sudden movements or evaporate, condensate, or freeze, at certain temperatures like the waterclocks (clepsydra) were prone to do.
  • Hourglasses were favoured on ships, due to their ability to keep accurate time, despite the rocking of the vessel, and churches and households, for timing of events and cooking respectively.
  • The first versions of hourglasses had bulbs that did not attach with a neck, but instead were joined together by cord and wax.
  • Hourglasses in the modern era, are more commonly used for decorative purposes or timing something, such as cooking eggs or tasks in a board game, that do not need exact time measurements.
  • Hourglass ‘sand’ is often not real sand, but rock dust, marble dust, silica or fine glass beads, and the grains flow better when they are completely round, so angular grains are avoided.
Bibliography:
A History of the Hourglass, n.d, Online Clock.net, http://blog.onlineclock.net/history-of-the-hour-glass/
Hourglass, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hourglass

Amazon:      

Cocoa Powder

By | |
Leave a comment
Cocoa Powder

No cocoa, no chocolate… that would be the end of the world.

  • ‘Cocoa powder’ is also known as  ‘cocoa’, ‘cocoa solids’ and ‘cacao’.
  • Cocoa powder is processed from cacao beans, that grow in pods on Theobroma cacao trees that are native to south and central America.
  • Cacao beans, when fermented, dried and ground, contain a mix of 50 to 60% cocoa butter and 40 to 50% cocoa solids, and the latter is generally sold as ‘cocoa powder’.
  • Cocoa powder, combined with cocoa butter, is the main ingredient of chocolate, so therefore it is also used in many chocolate flavoured products like cakes, biscuits, flavoured dairy products, and chocolate syrup.
  • Cocoa powder is coloured in many shades of brown, from light brown to red-brown to dark brown.

Cacoa Powder, Brown, Cacoa, Chocolate, Solid, Food, Flavour, Ten Random Facts

  • Cocoa powder is very high iron, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus, with 100 grams (3.5 ounces) making up over 100% of the recommended dietary intake, and it is high in zinc.
  • In 1828, the Dutchmen Casparus van Houten, a chocolate factory owner, made an hydraulic press to separate cocoa powder and cocoa butter.
  • Cocoa powder is said to be the food with the highest content of flavonoids, which may positively affect the cardiovascular system.
  • Cocoa powder was originally processed to easily make beverages of hot chocolate, that had become popular in the 17th and 18th centuries, which can be quite healthy without extra sugar or the like.
  • Cocoa powder contains a number of chemicals that can make people feel happy and promote positive feelings.
Bibliography:
Cocoa Solids, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocoa_solids
Some like It Hot: Best Hot Chocolate Mix & Cocoa Mix, 2014, The Nibble, http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/beverages/cocoas/hot-chocolate-overview.asp
Teta K, Cocoa: Benefits for Health, Fitness & Fat Loss, 2011, Metabolic Effect, http://www.metaboliceffect.com/cocoa/

Amazon:       

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...