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Giant Crystal Cave

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Giant Crystal Cave

Giants do not live among crystals in Giant Crystal Cave – the crystals are the giants.

  • Giant Crystal Cave is a cave located in the Naica Mine in Chihuahua’s Naica, in Mexico, in southern North America, at a depth of 300 metres (980 feet).
  • ‘Giant Crystal Cave’ is also known as ‘Cave of the Crystals’, ‘Cave of Crystals’ and ‘Cave of Giant Crystals’.
  • Giant Crystal Cave is the home to some of the largest natural crystals discovered on earth and the crystals are made of selenite, a type of gypsum.
  • The largest crystal of Giant Crystal Cave is said to reach a length of 12 metres (39 feet), a diameter of 4 metres (13 feet) and is believed to weigh approximately 50 tonnes (55 tons).
  • Giant Crystal Cave boasts very high temperatures, averaging 58°C (136°F) and has humidity above 90%, making the cave difficult and dangerous to explore.
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Part of Giant Crystal Cave
Image courtesy of Julie Rohloff/Flickr
  • Giant Crystal Cave is situated above a magma chamber, that emanates great heat, and due to the mineral rich water originally in the cave, the undisturbed environment and hydrothermal circulation, the huge crystals had the opportunity to form over thousands of years.
  • Giant Crystal Cave was first discovered in the year 2000 while drilling tunnels in the mine, although the area is to said to have been drained of water since 1975; and while it is possible that the cave may be closed in the future, doing so will allow water levels to rise and the crystals to recommence growing.
  • Giant Crystal Cave is generally only visited by scientists, such as the expedition in 2006 led by crystallographer Paolo Forti, of Italy’s University of Bologna, Europe, that required the invention of special suits.
  • There are possibly more chambers connected to Giant Crystal Cave, however access would require the destruction of numerous crystals.
  • Giant Crystal Cave is owned privately by Industrias Peñoles, a Mexican mining company that mines primarily zinc, silver and lead from the Naica Mine, and the site is not open to the public.
Bibliography:
Cave of the Crystals, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_the_Crystals
Mexico’s Cave of Giant Crystals, n.d, Crystalink, http://www.crystalinks.com/mexicocrystals.html
Naica Mine, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naica_Mine
Naica, 2014, Proyecto Naica, http://www.naica.com.mx/english/

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Can Opener

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Can Opener

How would you open a can, without a can opener?

    • Can openers are tools, typically used to open cans, usually in a culinary environments like the food industry and domestic situations.
    • ‘Can openers’ are also known as ‘tin openers’, and are often made of metal such as stainless steel, or plastic, although the cutter is generally metal.
    • While preserved food in cans dates back to the mid to late 1700s and the process became successful, patented, and popular in the early 1800s, can openers were not invented until approximately 50 years later, and were most likely not invented earlier due to the heavy thickness of the iron that the cans were made from.
    • Can openers replaced the common hammer and chisel method of opening a can, and were first invented around the 1850s with a leverage mechanism shaped like a claw.
    • Modern can openers typically involve a sharp metal rotating disc that cuts through cans when moved along the edge.

Con Opener, Metalic, Metal, plastic, White, Tool, Kitchen Culinar, Tin, Ten Random Facts, Invention

  • William Lyman, an American inventor from Connecticut’s Meriden, in the United States, is said to have invented the first can opener with a rotating wheel, in 1870, and it is this basic principal which most modern designs use.
  • Early can openers were originally quite dangerous to use, and this problem was fixed by an improved cutting technique and design.
  • Electrically operated can openers were not popular when first invented in 1931, but they were redesigned in 1956 by at least two different companies of which only one became popular.
  • Can openers often use a scissor like mechanism with two handles that pivot and close two discs onto the can, one of which rolls around the can, and the other cuts, both of which move due to the user turning a protruding handle.
  • Can openers have become less essential due to many cans now having their own ring pull lid or pull open top, that easily opens the can without a special tool.
Bibliography:
Can Opener, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can_opener
The Can Opener Wasn’t Invented Until 48 Years After the Invention of the Can, 2012, Today I Found Out, http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/06/the-can-opener-wasnt-invented-until-48-years-after-the-invention-of-the-can/

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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.

Corn Starch, White, Ten Random Facts, Thickener, Food, Culinary, Powder, Australia

  • 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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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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Zion National Park

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Zion National Park

Zion National Park is a park of many habitats.

  • Zion National Park is a natural park found in the area adjacent to Utah’s Springdale, in the United States of America.
  • Zion National Park covers an area of 593 square kilometres (229 square miles), and features forest, desert and riverside habitats, with sandstone canyons and steep cliffs, waterfalls and gorges.
  • ‘Zion National Park’ was originally named ‘Mukuntuweap National Monument’, issued when it was first protected in 1909, by the then president of the United States, William Taft.
  • Zion National Park’s indigenous name was changed to ‘Zion National Monument’ in 1918, as the former name was not favoured, due to Mormon folk who had occupied and previously referred to the area as ‘Zion Canyon’.
  • The highest peak of Zion National Park is named Horse Ranch Mountain, reaching a height of 2,660 metres (8,726 feet).
Zion National Park, Sunset, River, Rocks, Water, United States of America, Ten Random Facts, Flickr
Part of Zion National Park
Image courtesy of Rene Schwietzke/Flickr
  • Zion National Park has a varied climate, with snow in the winter and hot, desert-like summer temperatures, as well as storms and flash flooding.
  • Zion National Park is said to have been first visited by Europeans in 1776, by Franciscan priests Silverstre Escalante and Francisco Domínguez, while in the mid 1800s the area was explored, and in the early 1860s Mormon farmers established agriculture enterprises in the area with produce like sugar cane, tobacco and fruit.
  • Zion National Park is hit by floods each year due to high rainfall, and the water removes up to a combined total of 2.7 million tonnes (3 million tons) of earth and stone from the canyon area via the Virgin River annually.
  • Many species of animal reside in Zion National Park, like the fox, coyote, jay, deer and squirrel, and there are more than 65 mammal species, over 200 bird species, almost 30 reptile species and a number of water creatures, as well as much flora, including cacti and pine and at least a thousand other species of plants.
  • Zion National Park is visited by up to 3 million tourists annually, and rock-climbing, horse-riding, bird watching and hiking are popular activities.
Bibliography:
Zion National Park, 2014, National Geographic, http://travel.nationalgeographic.com.au/travel/national-parks/zion-national-park/
Zion National Park, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zion_National_Park
Janiskee, B, Would You Love Zion National Park As Much If It Were Called Mukuntuweap National Park?, 2008, National Parks Traveller, http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2008/07/would-you-love-zion-national-park-much-if-it-were-called-mukuntuweap-national-park
Zion: Nature and Science, 2014, National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/zion/naturescience/index.htm

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Fudge

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Fudge

Fudge! Well at least these facts aren’t messed up.

  • Fudge is a sweet confectionery food item usually with a strong sweet flavour, that is usually eaten in small quantities.
  • Fudge is typically made of sugar, butter and milk, and sometimes corn syrup, which slows the crystallisation process, and sometimes chocolate, for flavour.
  • Fudge comes in a variety of colours, often coinciding with the various flavours available, and it may contain fruit or nuts.
  • Fudge is typically made by heating the ingredients to temperatures of up to 116°C (240°F) and allowing it to partially cool; then beating the mixture until creamy and smooth and pouring it in a pan to set, before cutting.
  • Although fudge traditionally has a smooth and creamy texture, it will become brittle or hard if cooked at higher temperatures.

Fudge, Lemon Tart, Caramel, Blocks, Homemade, Sweets, Confectionery, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Fudge can be difficult to master as incorrect crystal sizes, due to imprecise cooking times; temperatures; or cooling processes; can cause more liquid or very hard solid versions of the confectionery.
  • The origin of fudge is uncertain, however it is likely a North America invention, possibly prior to 1886; and the first known instance of commercialisation of the product is said to be in 1886 (sold for 40 cents per pound), in Baltimore in the state of Maryland, in the United States.
  • The term ‘fudge’ possibly originated from the expression of annoyance typically used when something goes wrong, in this case, when making a confectionery that turned into a different substance than expected.
  • Fudge is not very nutritious as it mostly contains large volumes of sugar and a significant portion of fat, although it has a small quantity of manganese and other vitamins and minerals.
  • Fudge is commonly presented and sold in the shape of a rectangular block, and is usually available at market stalls or specialty confectionery stores.

 

Bibliography:
Fudge, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fudge
The Science of Fudge, 2011, The Big Bake Theory, http://bigbaketheory.com/2011/12/22/the-science-of-fudge/
What is the History of Fudge?, 2014, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-history-of-fudge.htm

 

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