Author Archives: Cris

Tower Bridge

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Tower Bridge

Bridge of two towers.

  • The Tower Bridge is located in London, England and provides a major crossing of the River Thames.
  • The Tower Bridge is a suspension and bascule (meaning see-saw and balance) drawbridge and on average, it opens 1000 times a year, with 24 hours notice being required in writing if you wish to pass under the bridge with a vessel of 9.1 m (30 ft) or greater in height.
  • Originally the Tower Bridge was a greenish- blue colour, and at some stage it was painted brown, then in 1977 its new colour scheme became white, red and blue to celebrate Queen Elizebeth II’s Silver Jubilee Year.
  • The Tower Bridge is 244 meters (800 feet) in length, and the two towers, which are 65 meters (213 feet) high, are connected by two horizontal pedestrian walkways which were closed from 1910-1982 due to lack of use, and now house part of an ongoing exhibition about the bridge and its history and construction.
  • The motorway A100 Tower Bridge Road travels along the Tower Bridge, and on average, over 40,000 people cross the Tower Bridge daily.

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Tower Bridge
Image courtesy of Vichaya Kaitying-Angsulee/ Free Digital Photos
  • Construction on the Tower Bridge commenced in 1886, and continued for 8 years with 432 workers and only 10 fatalities, and was opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales on 30th June, 1894.
  • Over 63,500 tonnes (70,000 tons) of concrete were used for the supports, or the piers, for the towers, and over 10,000 tonnes (11,ooo tons) of steel were used to make the steel frames of the Tower Bridge.
  • At the time, the cost of the Tower Bridge construction was £1,184,000 which is now equivalent to nearly US$152 million (£100 million).
  • The Tower Bridge has used an electric and oil driven hydraulic system to raise the bascules since 1976, although it originally used two steam powered engines, with an extra one added in World War II, for backup.
  • A number of accidents and incidents have occurred in association with the Tower Bridge, which have included planes and road vehicles, and includes a near miss for a bus carrying 20 passengers, when the bascules were opening one evening in 1952.
Bibliography:
Tower Bridge, 2013, Wikipedia,  <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Bridge>

Rhaphiolepis

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Rhaphiolepis

Another pretty flower.

  • Rhaphiolepis is a flowering genus that is from the family Rosaceae, the family of roses, and the genus is a close relative to loquats.
  • Rhaphiolepis is an evergreen plant that grows as a small shrub or as big as a small tree, and are generally best grown in full sun.
  • South East Asia is the native home of Rhaphiolepis, and it can be found in southern Japan, Korea and China, as well as Thailand and Vietnam.
  • There are fifteen species of Rhaphiolepis, the most common, Rhaphiolepis indica is known as Indian hawthorn, despite being native to China, and is considered as a weed in some areas.
  • Rhaphiolepis can grow from 60 cm to 10 metres (2 to 32.8 feet) in height, depending on the species.

Flower, Pink, Raphiolepis genus, blue, berries, flower, leafs, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Rhaphiolepis has five petal flowers that are white to pink in colour, that usually have a sweet smell, and small berries, pomes, that range from purple, blue and black in colour.
  • In humid environments, Rhaphiolepis is quite vunerable to the disease leaf spot, where dark spots, caused by a fungus, form on the plant’s leaves.
  • Rhaphiolepis are commonly used as a hedging plant, and Rhaphiolepis indica makes an excellent bonsai specimen.
  • The hardiest species of Rhaphiolepis, Rhaphiolepis umbellata, is known as Yeddo hawthorn, or Japanese hawthorn, and can withstand temperatures as low as -15 °C (5 °F), strong winds and salt spray, and is native to Japan and Korea.
  • The fruit of some species of Rhaphiolepis can be cooked into jam, and the bark of the Japanese hawthorn, Rhaphiolepis umbellata is used to make a brown dye.
Bibliography:
Rhaphiolepis, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhaphiolepis>

Grater

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Grater

Grate the cheese.

  • A grater is also known as a shredder, and by pressing the food against the grater and moving the food down along it, it shreds the food into smaller pieces.
  • Graters come in a wide variety of shapes and styles, including the traditional box grater, and the plane grater, although most have a steel plate with sharp edged holes.
  • It is believed that French François Boullier invented the grater in the 1540s, due to a surplus supply of cheese, although the surplus was short lived, and so graters were very rarely used in the following centuries.
  • Due to the significant excess of cheese in the early 1500s, much of the cheese hardened due to longer storage times, so grating the cheese made it more usable.
  • Graters can cut fingers or knuckles if you strike your hand on one, so care needs to be taken while grating.

Cheese , Grater, Shredder, Metal, Plastic, Tupperware, Handheld, White Stand, Ten Random Facts

  • Coconut graters are used as musical instruments in Jamaica.
  • The first grater was made out of pewter, a type of metal mainly made of tin, and can be seen in the Muséum du Havre in France.
  • Graters were reintroduced in the 1920s by Jeffery Taylor from Philadelphia, a cheese shop owner, after he read about Boullier’s invention, and his first grater was said to be a sharpened metal shower drain.
  • Cheese; some vegetables; citrus rinds; chocolate; and other hard, or semi hard foods can be grated, which allows them to cook or melt more quickly, or they can be used as a garnish.
  • Graters became popular in the Great Depression because grated cheese appeared to have greater volume, which was an advantage to those who could not afford large  quantities of food.
Bibliography,
Grater, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grater>
Salar, S 2007, The Cheese Grater, Magnetic Salmon and Other Little Known Facts, <http://magneticsalmon.blogspot.com.au/2007/12/cheese-grater.html>

Giant Panda

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Giant Panda

Munch, Munch, Munch… Munch, Munch, Munch…

  • Giant pandas are also known as ‘pandas’, or ‘panda bears’ and their scientific name is Ailuropoda melanoleuca meaning ‘black and white cat-foot’.
  • Giant pandas are native to China, northern Vietnam and Myanmar (also known as Burma), however they are now only found in a small area in central China.
  • Giant pandas are an endangered species, however there are many reports of growth in the panda’s numbers in the wild, partly due to the conservation and expansion of their forest habitat.
  • The giant panda’s diet consists mainly of bamboo, which makes up 99% of its diet, but sometimes they eat meat and grass.
  • Adult giant pandas grow from 1.2 to 1.8 metres (4 to 6 feet) in length, and generally weigh between 100 and 115 kg (220 to 250 lb), while females are normally 10% to 20% smaller than the males.

Giant Panda, Sitting, Flower, smell, Zoo America, National Zoo, washington DC, National Geographic, Foliage, Ten Random Facts

 

Giant Panda
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Giant pandas have one thumb and five fingers, on their front paws, and they have a tail that is 10 – 15 cm (4 – 6 in) long.
  • In their natural habitat, giant pandas live up to 20 years, although in captivity, they can live for another ten years, with the oldest panda in captivity reaching 34 years in age.
  • Giant pandas live by themselves most of the time, and they don’t hibernate like other bears that live in similar climate zones.
  • Giant pandas eat 9 to 18 kg (20 to 40 lbs) of bamboo every day, as their carnivorous style of digestive system does not convert the bamboo into significant amounts of usable energy and protein.
  • There are currently only two giant pandas that live in the Southern Hemisphere, both found at Adelaide Zoo, Australia, and both of them came from the 2008 earthquake devastated Wolong Giant Panda Research Centre in China which housed 280 giant pandas.
Bibliography:
Giant panda, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda>

Honey

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Honey

Yummy… and sticky.

  • Honey is a food made by bees, or other insects, and the main ingredient is nectar, which is processed by the insect.
  • Honey bees are the most well known honey makers and produce the most common honey, and there is evidence that this type of honey has been eaten by humans for thousands of years.
  • Honey can absorb moisture from the air, so it is best kept in a sealed container so that it does not become fermented due to the honey’s yeast content and the increased moisture.
  • Honey contains a combination of almost 70% fructose and glucose, and has about the same sweetness as cane sugar.
  • Crystallised honey melts at 40°C to 50°C (104°F to 122°F), and if honey is heated above 70°C (158 °F), it kills the yeast content of the honey, and this is called pasteurised honey.

 Honey, Glass, Clear, Yellow, dark, Crystalize, Ten Random Facts, Sweet, Australia

  • There are a few different types of honey, including creamed honey – a crystallised whipped honey mixture; raw honey – which usually contains small amounts of pollen and wax; and filtered honey – normally found in supermarkets.
  • Honey has significant nutritional and health benefits, with antiseptic, antibacterial and antioxidant properties, and has been used medicinally for at least 2,000 years.
  • Honey is often used to sweeten things such as drinks, used as a spread, or commonly used in cooking, and is the main ingredient in mead, a type of wine.
  • China, Turkey and the Ukraine produced the most honey in the world in 2012.
  • It is advised not to feed young children under the age of one, honey, as their young digestive system does not destroy the bacteria present in the honey, and this can cause botulism, a rare but fatal disease.
Bibliography:
Honey, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey>

Rock Climbing

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Rock Climbing

Scale rocks like a lizard.

  • Rock climbing is when one climbs, up, over, or down large rock faces that can be real or fake, including especially designed indoor rock walls, to challenge one’s mind and body.
  • Rock climbing competitions usually involve trying to find the quickest way to scale a rock wall.
  • Rock climbing began as a recognised sport in the 1880s in England.
  • Rock climbing has its origins in mountaineering, and was and still is, a necessary skill for reaching some of the notable summits around the world.
  • Outdoor rock climbing is usually done when the weather is dry, as it is much more dangerous and difficult to rock climb when it is wet.

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Rock Climbing
Image courtesy of Iwona Erskine-Kellie/ Free Digital Photos
  • Many rock climbers wear special, tight, rubber soled, flexible shoes to easily grip and feel the rock beneath the climber’s feet.
  • Rock climbing usually requires special equipment, which can include gloves, a helmet, climbing ropes, harnesses, carabiners and belay devices.
  • Rock climbing can be very dangerous, however, with the right equipment and conditions, most injuries are generally minor and are related to the fingers, shoulders and elbows.
  • Rock climbers are often employed to fix or maintain wind turbines, as it is usually cheaper and more efficient than using machinery to reach the turbine.
  • Rock climbers often coat their hands in chalk (magnesium carbonate), to absorb the moisture on their hands, which is said to improve their grip on the rock.
Bibliography:
Rock climbing, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_climbing>
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