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Granny Smiths

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Granny Smiths

Apples for Grannies!

  • One of the many apple cultivars is the Granny Smith apple, which is crisp and crunchy, and ripens to a bright green colour.
  • Granny Smiths were first grown in a Sydney suburb, Eastwood, in Australia in 1868 and were named after the first grower of the apples, Maria Ann ‘Granny’ Smith, who had migrated from Sussex, England to New South Wales, Australia.
  • Maria Smith discovered Granny Smith apples growing near a creek on her farm, after she threw out some French crab apples, that originated in Tasmania, in the spot.
  • Granny Smiths are believed to be a hybrid of the French crab apple from the Malus family of crab apples, but like other hybrid mutation plants, the seeds of Granny Smiths will produce a different type of apple, thus all Granny Smiths grown today are cuttings from the original Granny Smith apple tree.
  • The New South Wales Government started growing Granny Smith apples in 1895, and began promoting them as a good export apple due to their ability to be stored for long periods.

Granny Smith Apple Normal, One, Shiny, Plain, stalk, good, Ten Random Facts, Australia, Three

  • Granny Smith apples have a juicy tart and sweet taste, and are often eaten raw or in desserts, cider or salads.
  • Granny Smith apples are particularly high in antioxidants, compared with some other apples, while containing many other beneficial vitamins and minerals.
  • Granny Smiths are said to be the best apples to use in cooking, as they do not change their natural shape once cooked due to the high acid content.
  • Once cut, Granny Smiths are slow to turn brown, so the apples are often used in salads.
  • Granny Smiths were a major Australian export after World War 1, eventually becoming one of the most popular apples grown in Australia, and are now grown in countries around the world including New Zealand, Europe, South America and the United States.
Bibliography:
Granny Smith, 2013, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granny_Smith

 

Granny Smith Apples, 2013, Specialty Produce, < http://www.specialtyproduce.com/produce/Granny_Smith_Apples_2021.php>

 

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Conjunctivitis

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Conjunctivitis

These facts are as contagious as conjunctivitis.

  • Conjunctivitis is also known as ‘pink eye’ and ‘madras eye’.
  • Conjunctivitis is redness and swelling of the clear tissue that covers the eye, the conjunctiva, and the inside layer of the eyelids.
  • There are four main types of  conjunctivitis, bacterial conjunctivitis; viral conjunctivitis; allergic conjunctivitis; and chemical conjunctivitis.
  • Along with eye redness and swelling, bacterial conjunctivitis usually includes a combined mucous and pus discharge, which can cause crusting around the eye, and a gritty or scratchy feeling in the eye, that usually affects both eyes, although it may begin in one.
  • Virus caused conjunctivitis is usually a result of an infection from a common cold, and generally includes itchiness and a watery discharge from the eye, and may affect one or both eyes, and is usually left untreated.

 

Conjunctivitis, Disease, virus, red, eye, one, illness, sickness, Ten Random Facts, Flickr

Conjunctivitis
Image courtesy of Lone Primate/Flickr
  • Allergy based conjunctivitis has similar symptoms to viral conjunctivitis, with eye itchiness and a watery discharge, but it is generally accompanied by other symptoms, like an itchy nose and sneezing, as in hay fever, or other symptoms associated with an allergy, and is usually treated with antihistamines if deemed necessary.
  • Chemical induced conjunctivitis is cause by chemicals that enter the eye, which can include airborne chemicals like smoke and fumes, as well as chlorine from swimming pools and other chemicals that may have splashed in the eye, and flushing of the eye with water to remove the chemical is usually helpful.
  • Bacterial and viral conjunctivitis is highly contagious and so extra care with hand washing and isolation from other people is important.
  • Antibiotics can be used to treat bacterial conjunctivitis if the eye has not healed within five days, however they are not useful in treating other forms of conjunctivitis.
  • Children under five years of age are most susceptible to getting conjunctivitis.
Bibliography:
Conjuctivitis, 2010, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, < http://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Conjunctivitis/>
Conjunctivitis, 2013, Wikipedia, < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunctivitis>

Tongs

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Tongs

Pass the tongs and the facts.

  • Tongs are tools used to handle items, and generally move the item from one place to another, or turn things, like a piece of meat on a barbecue.
  • Tongs usually have flat ends to pick up items without damaging them and to grip onto the items easily, however, some tongs have claws or toothed ends to grab more bulky and slippery items.
  • Tongs are used mainly for handling food or hot items.
  • Modern tongs are usually made from plastic, metal, stainless steel, or other material, depending on their purpose.
  • Originally, tongs were probably wood sticks that eventually became metal sticks around 3000 BC to handle hot items in a fire.

Tongs, Green, metal, white, Plastic, Steel, Cooking, Barbeque, Small< large, lots, collection, 5, open, closed, Ten Random Facts

  • Tongs are used to extend the hand or as a replacement handler for potentially dangerous items.
  • Tongs usually have a sprung end so that the operator is required to squeeze the middle of the tongs to grab hold of an item, or they have a pivot which requires the user to squeeze the handles at the end to grip onto items, these being more effective at holding heavy items due to the extra force able to be applied.
  • There are many types of tongs including barbecue tongs, salad tongs, blacksmith tongs, crucible tongs, ice cube tongs, sugar cube tongs and fire tongs.
  • Tongs are often called ‘a pair of tongs’ and the word comes from the Old English, ‘tange’ or ‘tang’, meaning ‘that which bites’.
  • There is evidence of Egyptians using metal rods and tong like tools to hold objects over fire, in around 1450 BC.
Bibliography:
Garcia C, 2013, Who Invented Tongs?, EHow,  <http://www.ehow.com/about_4743519_who-invented-tongs.html>

Cypress Vine

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Cypress Vine

A dainty vine.

  • Cypress vines are also known as ‘morning glories’, ‘star glories’, ‘cupid flower’s’  ‘cardinal creepers’, ‘cardinal vines’, and ‘hummingbird vines’.
  • Cypress vines are from the family Convolvulaceae, the family of morning glories, and the scientific name of Cypress vine is ‘Ipomoea quamoclit’.
  • Cypress vines are native to Central America, the northern tropics of South America and Mexico.
  • Cypress vines are perennial vines, though they are usually grown as annuals as they do not generally survive cold winters since the vine does not tolerate the cold very well.
  • Cypress vines grow from 1 to 9 meters (3 to 30 feet) high, and usually need a vertical support to grown on.

Cypress Vine, Morning Glory, red Trumpet Shaped Flower, Spikey Leaves, buds, droop, pretty, fern, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • Cypress vines have a trumpet like flower, which can be red, pink or white in colour, which grows to 3 to 4 cm (1 to 1.5 inches) long.
  • Cypress vines can be an invasive pest and are an environmental weed in some parts of Australia and other warm temperature areas in the world.
  • Cypress vines have green ferny leaves that grow to become 2 to 9 cm (0.8 to 3.5 inches) in length, and all parts of the plant are poisonous.
  • Cypress vines attract butterflies, bees and birds, most notably hummingbirds.
  • Cypress vine flowers usually bloom from late spring, through summer and autumn, and are easily grown from seed.
Bibliography:
Ipomoea Quamoclit, 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipomoea_quamoclit>
PlantFiles: Cypress Vine, Star Glory, Hummingbird Vine, Ipomoea Quamoclit, 2013, Dave’s Garden, <http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/93/>

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.

Golden Gate Bridge, Red, Orange, Misty, fog, Blue, Sea, Water, Suspension, Long, San Franisco, Car, United States, Ten Random Facts, Free Digital Photos

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.

Peanuts Comnic, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, colour,Black and White, Snoopy Snaps, Book, Lots, six, Peanus for everyone, Lucy, Ten Random Facts

  • 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>

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