Tag Archives: Facts

Salt

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Salt

Can you pass the salt, please?

  • ‘Salt’ is also known as ‘table salt’, ‘common salt’, and ‘sodium chloride’, and depending on where it was sourced, ‘rock salt’  or ‘sea salt’.
  • Salt is a chemical mineral that is produced in saltwater lakes, rivers and seas (sea salt), and it can also be found in the sedimentary layers of dried-up lakes, or ‘halite’ as the mineral is called (rock salt), from where it is mined.
  • Salt is made of the elements sodium and chlorine, and when combined they make ‘sodium chloride’ or ‘NaCl’.
  • Salt is an important ingredient in a balanced diet and in human health, although the recommended daily intake is no more than a teaspoonful, or 4 g (0.14 oz), but most people who eat processed food, will consume much more than that each day.
  • Too much salt can increase the risk of heart disease or the risk of stroke, as well as increase blood pressure and can cause other health issues.

Salt, cubic, ground, white, three types, medium, large, Ten Random facts, Seasoning, Australia

  • Salt can be used as a food preserver, and was commonly used for this purpose before refrigerators were invented and before canning became popular.
  • Salt is typically small, white or clear coloured cubes, that may be tinted purple, blue or other colours due to contaminants.
  • In history, salt was a vital commodity, and essential to many communities’ survival, due to the need to preserve food to get through winter and bad seasons, and for this reason it has been used as money, and at one stage, was worth as much as gold.
  • Table salt is a popular addition to processed foods and is a popular seasoning.
  • Out of the total salt production on earth, only 6% is consumed by humans, while 68% is used in manufacturing processes, which includes the making of plastics, detergents and soaps, and numerous other products.

 

Bibliography:
Salt, 2011, Better Health Channel, http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Salt
Salt, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt

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Vegetable Peeler

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Vegetable Peeler

What would you do without a vegetable peeler?

  • ‘Vegetable peelers’ are also known as ‘potato peelers’ and ‘peelers’.
  • Vegetable peelers are a kitchen utensil, typically used to peel the skin off fruit and vegetables.
  • A vegetable peeler is typically a steel blade with a handle, that is usually made from wood, steel or plastic, some of which have ergonomic features.
  • The handles of vegetable peelers generally are straight, ‘C-shaped’,  ‘U-shaped’ or ‘Y-shaped’, with the straight peeler more like a knife, the C-shaped is like the letter C with a handle, the Y-shaped like a safety razor, and the U-shaped similar but shaped like a ‘U’ rather than a ‘Y’.
  • A vegetable peeler blade usually has a slot, that has one side that is sharp to peel the food, and the other side stops the blade digging into the food as you peel it.

Vegetable Peeler, Potato, Y-Shaped, Swivel, Stick, Long, Blade, Blunt, Steel, Plastic, Green, Yellow, Blue, Ten Random Facts

  • Vegetable peelers have been reinvented hundreds of times in history with numerous patents taken out for various styles, and in the 1800s alone, 500 peeler inventions were patented.
  • Some industrial vegetable peelers have rubber bumps that peel the skin off potatoes or other round foods.
  • Most vegetable peelers have a sharp point or other feature to remove the eyes from potatoes or gouge out other unwanted parts of the food.
  • Many vegetable peelers has a swivel blade, which allows more flexibility for following the curves of the food, making it easier to use.
  • Blunt vegetable peeler blades are more dangerous as they slip easier than sharp blades.
Bibliography:
How do I choose the best vegetable peeler?, 2013, WiseGEEK, http://www.wisegeek.com/how-do-i-choose-the-best-vegetable-peeler.htm
Peeler, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peeler

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The Hobbit

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The Hobbit

Always remember to return from your quest with The Hobbit, or There and back Again.

  • The Hobbit is a fantasy novel for children and precedes the famous sequel, The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
  • The full title of The Hobbit is ‘The Hobbit, or There and Back Again’.
  • The Hobbit was written by J.R.R Tolkien, who was a profound English author of the 1900s.
  • The Hobbit follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, who was on a quest to reclaim treasure from Smaug, a dragon.
  • The Hobbit was first published in 1937 illustrated with original art by Tolkien himself, and a number of editions were also produced.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, Book, J.R.R Tolkien, Illustrated by the author, 1993, Paperback edition, Ten Random Facts, Lord of the Rings,

  • The Hobbit is often classified as fantasy in genre, but is officially a children’s novel.
  • The Hobbit is being adapted into a film production, a trilogy released in late 2012, late 2013 and 2014: ‘The Unexpected Journey’, ‘The Desolation of Smaug’ and ‘There and Back Again’ respectively.
  • Since it was first published, The Hobbit is loosely estimated to have sold 35 to 100 million copies, and been translated into more than 40 languages.
  • Original editions of The Hobbit are worth thousands of dollars, with signed first editions selling for US$120,000 (BS£60,000).
  • Tolkien came up with some initial ideas for the story of The Hobbit in 1914, starting with the realm of Middle Earth, although the realm was never mentioned in the novel.

 

Bibliography:
The Hobbit, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, 2013, Shmoop, http://www.shmoop.com/hobbit/

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Jeita Grotto

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Jeita Grotto

Do not get lost in the Jeita Grotto!

  • The Jeita Grotto is two different but connected caverns of limestone, known as the ‘Lower Grotto’ and the ‘Upper Grotto’.
  • The Jeita Grotto complex is 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) in length.
  • The Jeita Grotto is located in the mountainous area of Lebanon, just north of Beirut, where it is the longest cave in the Middle East, and a popular tourist attraction.
  • The UpperCave of the Jeita Grotto contains many amazing formations, including the longest stalactite known to humans, with a length of 8.2 metres (27 feet).
  • The Jeita Grotto was first discovered by the modern world in 1836, by William Thomson, a missionary from America.

Jeita Grotto, Way, Walk, Path, Rail, Ten Random Facts,Cave, Upper, Complex, Ten Random Facts, Flickr

Upper Cave
Image courtesy of Anders Lofgen/Flickr
  • During 1873 and 1874, two expeditions were carried out by engineers, W Maxwell and H Huxley who worked for a local water company, and friend Daniel Bliss, who placed a ‘time capsule’ (a bottle with a written note) in one of the caves, which has since been welded into a stalagmite.
  • During the Lebanese civil war in 1978, the Jeita Grotto was publicly closed and used mainly as storage facility for equipment needed for the war, and it was reopened in 1995.
  • The Lower Grotto of the Jeita Grotto contains an important water source with rapids, and quiet, peaceful areas, and during winter, the lower sections is sometimes closed due to high water levels.
  • The Jeita Grotto was one of the finalists in the bid to be one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011.
  • During its history, the Jeita Grotto has been known as ‘Grottoes of Nahr-al-Kalb’, ‘Djaita Grottoes’ and ‘Jehita Grottoes’.
Bibliography:
Jeita Grotto, 2013, Beautiful World, http://www.beautifulworld.com/asia/lebanon/jeita-grotto
Jeita Grotto, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeita_Grotto

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Jacaranda

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Jacaranda

The flowers continuously flutter down from the jacaranda tree.

  • Jacarandas are from the family Bignoniaceae, which is the family of bignonias, and are a group of 49 flowering shrubs and trees.
  • Jacaranda mimosifolia, a tree with purplish blue flowers, is the most popular and common species, that is sometimes called ‘Black Poui’, ‘Blue Jacaranda’, or ‘the fern tree’, although it is usually just called ‘Jacaranda’.
  • Jacarandas are native to Central and South America as well as some of the islands in that region, and can now be found in many tropical areas around the world.
  • ‘Jacaranda’ is said to mean ‘fragrant’ in a native South American dialect and have blue to purple or white coloured flowers, depending on the species.
  • Depending on the species, Jacarandas can grow up to 20 to 30 metres (66 to 98 feet) in height.

Jacaranda, Purple, Blue, Flowers, Carpet, Fall, Tree, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Jacaranda mimosifolia are popular trees used in landscaping, and they line streets in a number of towns and cities around the world.
  • Jacarandas have leaves that are used by the Chinese to make purple dye and the timber of some species is used in woodwork.
  • Jacaranda festivals are held in Pretoria, South Africa, and in a number of cities in Australia, during the peak blooming period.
  • Jacarandas generally flower in spring and summer, and the flowers commonly drop, making a carpet of purple or blue.
  • Jacarandas have hard, flattened, round seed pods that contain a number of seeds.
Bibliography:
Jacaranda, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacaranda
Jacarandas, 2007, Burke’s Backyard, http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/factsheets/Flowering-Plants-and-Shrubs/Jacarandas/3083

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Hippopotamus

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Hippopotamus

Yawn like a hippopotamus.

  • A hippopotamus is also known as a ‘hippo’, and is from the family Hippopotamidae, the family of hippotamuses.
  • The term ‘hippopotamus’ comes from the words for ‘river horse’ in Ancient Greek, and its scientific name is Hippopotamus amphibius.
  • Hippopotamuses are large cylindrical-shaped mammals, with a big round body, large teeth and short legs.
  • Hippopotamuses are native to the rivers and other aquatic areas of Africa, and live for 40 to 50 years in the wild, on average.
  • In the water hippopotamuses are territorial, and are said to be the most dangerous large animal in Africa, where hundreds of people are killed by them annually.
Nile Hippopotamus, wallows, mud, many, multiple, water, Mara River, Africa, Ten Random Facts, National Geographic
Hippos
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Hippopotamuses are generally found in groups of 10-30, mainly consisting of females and children with one dominant male, but they can live in herds of up to a hundred.
  • Hippopotamuses can grow to 3.3 to 5.5 metres (11 to 17 feet) in length and weigh, on average, 1,300 to 1,800 kilograms (2,900 to 4,000 pounds), although one was recorded weighing 4,500 kilograms (9,900 pounds).
  • Hippopotamuses can run at speeds of 30 km per hour (19 mph) on land, and swim at speeds of 8 km per hour (5 mph).
  • Hippopotamuses can stretch their mouth up to 180° and they sharpen their teeth by grinding them together.
  • Hippopotamuses are generally a mix of purple, brown and black in colour, and they excrete a thick, red-pink coloured liquid through their skin to protect them from the sun.
Bibliography:
Hippo, 2013, San Diego Zoo, http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/hippo
Hippopotamus, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamus

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