Tag Archives: America

Salar de Uyuni

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Salar de Uyuni

Salt, salt and more salt at Salar de Uyuni.

  • Salar de Uyuni is also known as Salar de Tunupa which can be translated from Spanish as ‘salt flat enclosure’.
  • Salar de Uyuni is the world’s biggest salt flat with a measurement of 10,582 km squared (4,086 miles squared), which can be found in Bolivia, South America.
  • Salar de Uyuni has a salt crust that ranges between a few centimetres up to 10 metres (32 feet) thick, that covers the area of a salt water lake that ranges from 2 to 20 meters (7-66 feet) in depth.
  • Salar de Uyuni contains a large amount of chemical metals including sodium, magnesium, potassium, and 50 to 70% of the world’s lithium resource that is extracted to make batteries.
  • Salar de Uyuni has little wildlife, but has 80 species of visiting and migrating birds, including three species of flamingos, as well as a few islands, where the main foliage is cacti, as well as hot springs and geysers.

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Salar de Uyuni
Image courtesy of Ronan Crowley/Flickr
  • Whilst some salt is extracted from Salar de Uyuni, it is estimated that the flat contains 10 billion tonnes (11 billion tons) of salt.
  • Salar de Uyuni has a train cemetery, where trains were used in mining industries until 1940, and this has become one of the most popular attractions on the salt flat.
  • Salar de Uyuni was originally believed to be completely flat, and can make photographs look distorted, but GPSs have shown it has some tiny undulations in the surface.
  • Salar de Uyuni is sometimes covered in clear water, making the salt flat also the largest natural mirror.
  • NASA uses Salar de Uyuni, since it is unmoving and easily spottable, to figure the positioning of NASA’s satellite.
Bibliography:
Salar de Uyuni, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salar_de_Uyuni>
Salar de Uyuni Facts, 2011, Travel Unearthed, <http://www.travelunearthed.com/salar-de-uyuni-facts>

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Iguazu Falls

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Iguazu Falls

Iguazú falls, the fall of the iguanas.

  • Iguazú falls is a collection of 275 waterfalls laid out in a ‘J’ or a horseshoe shape in the Iguazú/Iguaçu National Park that makes up part of the border of Brazil and Argentina.
  • ‘Iguazú falls’ is the Argentinian name of this group of waterfalls, while ‘Iguaçu falls’ is the Brazilian name, and they are also known as ‘Iguassu falls’ or ‘Iguazu falls’,and mean ‘great waters’ in the local indigenous language.
  • In 2011, the New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation declared Iguazú falls as one of the New Seven Wonders of Nature.
  • The total length of Iguazú falls measures 2.7km (1.7 miles, while the waterfalls reach anywhere from 60 to 82 meters (1097 to 269 feet) in height.
  • Argentina is the home of approximately 220 of the waterfalls of Iguazú falls, while the other 55 waterfalls can be found in Brazil.

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Iguazu Falls
Image courtesy of Patrick Nouhailler/Flickr
  • Iguazú falls has the second largest water flow of all waterfalls on Earth, second to Niagara Falls, with an average of 1,750 meters cubed (62,000 feet cubed) of water per second.
  • Iguazú falls has dry periods for a few weeks every year, where the waterflow is significantly reduced, but in the drought of 2006, the water of the waterfalls was reduced for a significantly longer period.
  • The best seasons to view Iguazú falls is during spring and autumn, which are the rainy seasons, as the waterfalls reach its greatest velocity.
  • The mist produced by Iguazú falls reaches up to 30 – 150 meters (100 – 490 feet) in height, depending on the location.
  • The power of Iguazú falls has been used to create hydroelectricity, creating 40% of the electricity need of both Argentina and Brazil.
Bibliography:
Hamre B, Iguazu Falls, 2013, About.com, <http://gosouthamerica.about.com/cs/southamerica/a/IguazuFalls.htm>
Iguazú Falls, 2013, Welcome Argentina, < http://www.welcomeargentina.com/puertoiguazu/iguazu-falls.html>
Iguazu Falls, 2013, Wikipedia, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls>

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Golden Gate Bridge

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Golden Gate Bridge

Not gold, not a gate, but a bridge.

  • Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge that is located over Golden Gate Strait between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in California, United States, and is  painted a colour known as ‘orange vermilion’ that has been nicknamed ‘International orange’, a colour that can be easily seen on foggy days.
  • Golden Gate Bridge was a replacement of the ferry that transported vehicles across the Golden Gate Strait for $1.
  • On average, more than 110,000 vehicles travel across the Golden Gate Bridge every day, and it has an electronic toll system that currently charges $5 to $42 depending on the vehicle.
  • The Golden Gate Bridge’s main designer was Joseph Strauss, an engineer who had designed other bridges at the time.
  • Golden Gate Bridge measures 2.7 km (1.7 miles) in length, has an above water height of 227.4 meters (746 feet), and 27.4 meters (90 feet) in width, has a clearance of 67.1 m (220 ft) for water traffic, and its main span length is 1,280 metres (4,200 feet) which was the longest span in the world for 27 years.

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Golden Gate Bridge
Image courtesy of Porbital/ Free Digital Photos
  • At the time, Golden Gate Bridge cost $35 million to build, financed in bonds, but to make the bridge now it would cost over$1.2 billion.
  • Construction of Golden Gate Bridge commenced on the 5 January, 1933 and the opening was on 27 May, 1937, with its first vehicles crossing on 28 May, 1937.
  • A net was mounted under the bridge during construction to prevent the death of workers, which it did fairly effectively, saving 19 men, out of 30, and the survivors were known as the “Halfway-to-Hell Club”.
  • Golden Gate Bridge is said to be the second most popular site in the world for suicides, with more than 1,200 people having jumped to their death, and a current average of one suicide every two weeks, although there has been no physical barrier installed to prevent suicides, even though it is been debated numerous times.
  • Golden Gate Bridge has been closed three times all in December and all due to high wind speeds of 111 to 121km/hour (69 to 75 miles/hour) in 1951, 1982 and 1983, although the bridge has been closed for short hours for maintenance and other purposes.
Bibliography: Bridge, 2012, Golden Gate Bridge, <http://goldengate.org/>
Golden Gate Bridge, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge>

Peanuts Comic

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Peanuts Comic

‘Good Ol’ Charlie Brown’ – Peanuts

  • Peanuts is an American comic that was distributed daily and weekly from 2 October 1950 to 13 February 2000, and it was featured in nine newspapers on its first day of being published.
  • Peanuts was illustrated and authored by Charles M Schulz, an American who was born on 26 November 1922 and died 12 February 2000, and even though he had retired from his work in December 1999 due to ill health, it was only a few hours after he died that his last Peanuts strip was published, on the 13 February 2000.
  • Schulz created 17,897 Peanuts comic strips, which have been translated into 21 languages, read by hundreds of millions of people in 75 countries and have been published in 2,600 different newspapers.
  • Peanuts comic strips and products gave Schulz an estimated income of $30-40 million each year, and Peanuts characters were featured on 20,000 new products every year, by 1999.
  • The main character of Peanuts is Charlie Brown (aka Chuck) who is a timid character and second to that is Snoopy, Charlie Brown’s pet dog, which the comic is well known by, and other characters include Lucy, Linus, Woodstock, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Sally, Pig Pen, as well as a few more.

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  • Charlie Brown of Peanuts was named after Charles Schulz’s friend from school but Schultz has a number of similarities with the comics different characters.
  • Many films have been based on Peanuts, most notably ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ and ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown’ which are among the five specials that have won Emmy Awards.
  • Peanuts was named after a ‘peanut gallery’ by the United Feature Syndicate who published Schulz’s work, which Schulz had originally named ‘Li’l Folks’, a name that the syndicate did not want to use due to its similarity to another comic, though Schulz was never happy with the name ‘Peanuts’.
  • There has never been an adult face in the Peanuts comic, although an adult sometimes speaks, represented by a speech bubble coming from the side.
  • Peanuts is considered as one of the most influential, greatest and popular comics of all time, receiving a number of awards over the years, and as a result, Snoopy became the mascot of NASA personal safety for astronauts, and along with Charlie Brown became the semi-official mascot of the Apollo 10 mission.
Bibliography:
Peanuts, 2005, The Great Idea Finder, <http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/peanuts.htm>

Peanuts, 2013, Wikipedia, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts>

White House

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White House

A very white house.

  • The White House is the home of the United States president in office and his family, in addition to being the work place of the president and his staff, and has been the home of all the presidents, since the second president and its first occupants, John Adams and his wife.
  • The White House is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, United States and sits on over 18 acres (7.3 hectares) of land, and the site was chosen by the first president, George Washington.
  • The White House was designed by Irish architect James Hoban, and building started in 1792 and was not fully completed until the early 1800s, after President John Adams had already moved in.
  • The White House is a neoclassical style mansion that was inspired by the Leinster House in Dublin, Ireland and looks very similar to parts of the Château de Rastignac in France.
  • During its history, the White House has been called the ‘President’s House’, ‘President’s Palace’ and the ‘Executive Mansion’ and was called ‘White House’ by the public due to its white painted stone exterior, which US President Theodore Roosevelt made official, by using the name on his stationery in 1901.

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White House
Image courtesy of Damian Brandon/ Free Digital Photos
  • The White House has had numerous renovations during its time, including a major rebuild when the inside was destroyed by fire in 1814, by the British in the ‘War 0f 1812’.
  • The White House has generally been open to the public in one way or another since it was built, and has included self-guided tours attracting nearly 2 million visitors a year, until budget cuts closed the popular tourist destination in March 2013.
  • The White House has taken significant security measures to protect its occupants, which has included the closure and redesign of a portion of Pennsylvania Avenue and other streets surrounding the building, which has been closed to vehicles since the Oklahoma bombing in 1995, and at other times of potential threat, has been temporarily closed to pedestrians.
  • The White House contains 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 stairs, 3 lifts, 412 doors, 6 levels and 2 wings, a bowling alley and a 42 seat movie theatre, and the grounds contain a swimming pool, a number of gardens, tennis court, basketball court and a putting green.
  • The White House is featured on the back of the US $20 note.
Bibliography:
Inside the White House, n.d., The White House, <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-white-house>
White House, 2013, Wikipedia, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House>

Prickly Pear

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Prickly Pear

Prickly monster.

  • Prickly pear is also known as ‘nopal cactus’ and ‘paddle cactus’ and comes from the genus Opuntia which contains more than 150 species.
  • Prickly pears are from the family Cactaceae, which is the family of cacti and are native to North and South America and some of the surrounding islands.
  • Prickly pears have green, flat, oval shaped leaves called pads, that have long and short prickles that break off easily and irritate human skin.
  • Prickly pears have become an invasive weed in parts of Africa, Australia and Europe, where they were introduced as ornamental plants, fences and barriers, and for stock feed.
  • Prickly pears have edible fruit known as ‘cactus fruit’, ‘cactus fig’, ‘Indian fig’ and ‘tuna’, and are mainly red in colour, although other varieties include yellowy orange and green, and are high in Vitamin C.

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  • Cochineal, a scale insect, is a common pest on prickly pear plants, and the insects are collected to make a valuable red dye called cochineal, which is used to dye fabric, cosmetics, and food.
  • The fruit and pads of prickly pears can be eaten, once the skin and prickles are removed, and the pads can be cooked like a vegetable and have been used in Mexican cooking for hundreds of years.
  • In 1788, prickly pears were introduced in Australia for the purpose of producing cochineal to dye the red coats required for the British army, however, by the 1920s prickly pears had invaded 58 million acres (24 million hectares) of land, much of it good farming land, so the cactoblastis moth was introduced to control the cactus, and was so effective, that much of the land was reclaimed.
  • The fruit of prickly pears are said to taste like a combination of bubblegum and watermelon, and can be made into candy, jam or beverages, or eaten raw, although some people do not like to eat the hard edible seeds.
  • A prickly pear can be found on the Mexican coat of arms and is said to symbolise the hard times and difficulties that have passed and will come.
Bibliography:
Opuntia, 2013, Wikipedia, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia>
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