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Prickly Poppy

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Prickly Poppy

This prickly poppy is not so delicate.

  • Prickly poppies are 32 species of generally prickly, herbacious plants often found in bushes, deserts and near rivers.
  • ‘Argemone’ is the scientific name of ‘Prickly poppies’ and they are also known as ‘argemony’.
  • Prickly poppies are from the family Papaveraceae, which is the poppy family.
  • Prickly poppies are native to Hawaii, North America and South America.
  • Prickly poppy flowers are often white, purple, red, or yellow in colour.

Prickly Poppy, prickle, spikey, white flower, river, Australia, Ten Random Facts

  • Prickly poppies have prickly or spiny leaves and prickly fruit that are coloured green.
  • Prickly poppy plants have been used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of conditions, and they have also been used as a drug that is smoked.
  • Prickly poppies are sometimes used as a garden plant, but they are an invasive weed in some countries.
  • The coloured sap contains latex and both the seeds and the sap of prickly poppies are potentially toxic.
  • Prickly poppies grow to 30 to 150 centimetres (1 to 5 feet) in height and generally bloom in spring and summer.

 

Bibliography:
Ownbey G, Prickly Poppy, n.d, Flora of North America, http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=102532
Prickly Poppy, 2013, Britannica Encyclopaedia, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/475859/prickly-poppy

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Yellow Chat

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Yellow Chat

Do not chat all day long with yellow chats.

  • Yellow chats are birds from the family Meliphagidae, which is the family of honeyeaters.
  • Yellow chats have yellow coloured coats and the males have a black crescent on their chest.
  • The scientific name of yellow chats is Epthianura crocea and there are three subspecies.
  • Yellow chats are native to the Australian tropics and different subspecies are exclusive to specific areas.
  • Some subspecies of yellow chats are ranked from endangered, to least concerned, and they are threatened mainly by the destruction of their habitat by various invasive plant species, wild pigs and other feral animals, and salinisation issues.

Yellow Chat Capricornia, Rare, reeds, grass, stand, alert, birds, Australia, Ten Random Facts

Photo courtesy of Val Laird
  • Yellow chats grow to be 10-12 cm (4 to 4.7 inches) long, and on average 9.3 grams (0.3 ounce) in weight.
  • Some subspecies of yellow chats have a population of approximately 50 to 500, while others are more numerous.
  • Yellow chats generally live among long grass, particularly in the wetlands or grasslands.
  • Yellow chats build cup shaped nests from grass, feathers and other vegetation, and lay 2-3 eggs that are coloured white with black/red speckles.
  • Yellow chats have a diet mainly consisting of various insects that they find in a range of habitats.
Bibliography:
Yellow Chat (Epthianura crocea), 2013, Birdlife International, http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=5391
Yellow Chat (Epthianura crocea), n.d, The Internet Bird Collection,  http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=539

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Mayonnaise

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Mayonnaise

No salad is complete without mayonnaise.

  • ‘Mayonnaise’ is also known as ‘mayo’, and became popular in France, eventually spreading to many countries throughout the world.
  • Mayonnaise is typically a condiment that has a thick, creamy texture, and is generally made of egg yolk, oil and an acidic solution such as vinegar or lemon juice.
  • Mayonnaise is usually white, cream or white-yellow in colour, and sometimes includes whole eggs, rather than just the yolk.
  • Mayonnaise is often used as a base ingredient in other condiments, a common sauce being Thousand Island dressing, which is mayo usually mixed with tomato sauce and a few other ingredients.
  • It is not certain who invented mayonnaise, or when or where, but it is considered a Spanish or French concoction, with its origin between the 15th to the 18th centuries.

mayonnaise, condiment, bowl, blue, Ten Random Facts

  • Mayonnaise is high in vitamin K and E and has a high fat content, reaching up to 85% fat in some formulas.
  • Mayonnaise became commercially available and popular in the United States in the early 1900s.
  • Raw egg was traditionally used in mayonnaise, but is now less frequently used due to possible food poisoning from salmonella bacteria.
  • Mayonnaise is often used in or on salads, as well as dressings, sandwiches and dip.
  • It is said that mayonnaise has a number of unusual uses that includes applying it like shampoo conditioner, using it for sunburn relief, and for treating head lice.
Bibliography:
Mayonnaise, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayonnaise
What are Some Uses of Mayonnaise?, 2013, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.org/what-are-some-uses-for-mayonnaise.htm

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Flashlight

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Flashlight

The handy-dandy flashlight!

  • Flashlights are portable light devices that are powered by electricity, which is created by mechanical, solar or battery sources.
  • ‘Flashlights’ are also known as ‘torches’, which is a reference to original flamed torches.
  • Modern flashlights generally contain one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs) although traditional incandescent lights are still used in some torches.
  • Flashlights have a reflector, light bulb, cover, switch and battery as well as a casing.
  • The term ‘flashlight’ comes from the early style torches, that did not project light consistently but rather were required to be flashed on and off due to the lack of power available from the battery, and the type of switched used.

Flashlight, Torch, keyring, food, green, blue, mini, booklight, Ten Random Facts

  • The first flashlights were invented in the mid to late 1890s, by David Misell, an English inventor who started working for the American Electrical Novelty and Manufacturing Company, which later became the American Eveready Company, owned by Conrad Hubert, a Russian living in the US who also patented some of his own flashlight inventions.
  • The very first flashlights included a light, battery and reflector in a paper cylinder and after significant improvements in a twenty year period, the electric torch had become quite popular, due to their safety factor (compared to candles and kerosene lamps) and ease of use.
  • The flashlight principle has been used in headlamps, penlights and keyrings.
  • Flashlights are often made of plastic or aluminium, but materials have included steel, copper, silver, rubber, leather, wood and brass.
  • Beside household use, flashlights are used by campers and miners to see in the dark.
Bibliography:
Flashlight, 2007, The Great Idea Finder, http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/flashlight.htm
Flashlight, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashlight

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Mario Franchise

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Mario Franchise

“It’s-a me, Mario!” – Mario from the Mario franchise.

  • The Mario franchise is the most popular video game franchise ever, and is produced by Nintendo, featuring the main hero, Mario.
  • The main series from the Mario franchise is Super Mario (from 1985), which involves the player to venture through the setting, ‘Mushroom Kingdom’.
  • There are more than 200 games that are based or derived from the Mario franchise, and together the number of copies sold is over 865 million.
  • Spin-offs of the Mario franchise include Mario Party (from 1999) and Mario Kart (from 1992), which are some of the longest running series.
  • The first release in the Mario franchise was Donkey Kong in 1981, designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, involving the player known as ‘Jumpman’ (later known as Mario) to jump over objects and save ‘Lady’.

Mario Franchise. Games, Nintendo 64, Wii, New Super Marios Bros Wii, Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 OLympic Games, Mario Party 8, Mario Tennis, Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64

  • Hudson Soft, another video game publisher, has been responsible for producing some of the Mario franchise games, including Mario Party until 2012.
  • The Mario franchise has released anime, comics, an unsuccessful film, and manga as well as general items such as shirts or pens.
  • The Mario franchise is mainly a platform genre, but other games in sport, racing, puzzle, party and role-play have also been published.
  • The common logo of the Mario franchise features a red ‘M’, on a white circle, which is in a red square, and is usually featured on the character Mario’s hat.
  • The first 3D game of the Mario franchise was Super Mario 64, featuring a camera that follows the path of Mario, for the Nintendo 64 console.
Bibliography:
Mario Franchise, 2013, Giant Bomb, http://www.giantbomb.com/mario/3025-1/
Mario (Franchise), 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_(franchise)

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                     Mario Franchise Games

Gray Wolf

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Gray Wolf

The boy that called ‘gray wolf’.

  • The scientific name of the gray wolf is canis lupus, and they are largest in the family Canidae, which is the family of dogs, wolves, foxes and other similar animals, and they can have the spelling ‘grey wolves’, while the females are known as ‘she-wolves’.
  • Gray wolves have a lifespan, in the wild, for about seven to eight years and are native to North America, North Africa and Eurasia, but are now mainly found in Alaska, Canada, North America, Russia, Eurasia.
  • Gray wolves have a diet that consists of mainly of medium to large hoofed animals but sometimes they consume other small animals, fruit, vegetation and other food they can find.
  • As the name suggests, the furry coat of gray wolves is generally grey, but they can be brown, black, white or red in colour.

 

Gray Wolf, White, Grey, Alaska National Park, Adult, Glow, Grass, Rock, Ten Random Facts, National Geographic Stock

 

Gray Wolf
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Gray wolves range from 36 to 45 kilograms (79 to 99 pounds) in weight, and can reach speeds up to 60 kilometres per hour.
  • Gray wolves have large, sharp teeth that, with enough pressure, can crush bones, and in a single meal, they can consume and digest food equal to 15 to 19% of their own weight.
  • Gray wolves can control their body-heat by quickening or slowing their flow of blood and while their sense of smell is not as advanced as some others in the canine family, they make it up with good tracking skills and nocturnal eyesight.
  • Gray wolves usually live in packs of 5-11 wolves and generally pair for life, usually having a litter of 5 to 6 pups each year.
  • Gray wolves can make a very loud howl to communicate with each other, to signal a gathering, to locate or to warn, that can be heard 130 kilometres (50 mile) away, and they can also make whimpers, growls, barks, snarls, yelps and whines.
  • Gray wolves do not often attack humans, particularly since they have a fear of humans embedded by hunters who killed one third of the original population.
Bibliography:
Gray Wolf, 2013, Defenders of Wildlife, http://www.defenders.org/gray-wolf/basic-facts
Gray Wolf, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_wolf

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