Tag Archives: Facts

Shanghai Tower

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Shanghai Tower

Shanghai Tower is nothing short of spectacular.

  • Shanghai Tower is a skyscraper of an extreme height, located in China’s Shanghai, Asia, in the Pudong district, situated on what was once a golf driving range.
  • Shanghai Tower reaches a height of 632 metres (2,073 feet), and in 2015 it had the status of being the second tallest tower on earth and the tallest in China and Asia.
  • The 133 floors of Shanghai Tower, five of which are underground, include a total area of 420,000 square metres (4,520,842 square feet).
  • The construction of Shanghai Tower commenced in late 2008, and was completed in late 2015, and it was built as the last and tallest of a group of three Chinese skyscrapers situated in Shanghai, which began early development in 1993.
  • Gensler, an American architect company, in cooperation with Jun Xia, a Chinese architect, were the creators of the design of Shanghai Tower.
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Shanghai Tower as of May 2015
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
  • Shanghai Tower twists at an incline of 120 degrees, and the exterior is double-layered, which provides a buffer zone to the building, helping to insulate it, and as a result is said to save millions of dollars in energy related costs over a period of time.
  • The curvature of Shanghai Tower allowed for 25% less steel material to be used in construction than typically required, reducing the cost by millions, and it reduces the impact of wind on the tower by 24%.
  • A variety of government financing, loans and shareholder investment contributed to the financing of Shanghai Tower, which reached a total cost of approximately 2.4 billion USD.
  • Shanghai Tower can generate its own energy through wind turbines on the top levels, and it exploits the earth’s heat for use in cooling and heating components.
  • Up to 16,000 individuals can inhabit Shanghai Tower, with more than 25 floors designated specifically as hotel accommodation, while other floors include office space; and there are eight atriums, known as ‘sky lobbies’, which contain eateries, gardens and shops, that promote community behaviour in the building.
Bibliography:
Hewitt D, A Look At The Shanghai Tower, The Newest And Tallest Symbol Of China’s Rise [PHOTOS], 2015, International Business Times, http://www.ibtimes.com/look-shanghai-tower-newest-tallest-symbol-chinas-rise-photos-1944507
Shanghai Tower, 2016, The Skyscraper Center, http://skyscrapercenter.com/building/shanghai-tower/56
Shanghai Tower, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Tower

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Japanese Spider Crab

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Japanese Spider Crab

You may only spot a Japanese spider crab if you look up!

  • Japanese spider crabs are large crabs native to Japan’s coastal ocean habitats.
  • The scientific name of a Japanese spider crab is Macrocheira kaempferi and it is from the family Inachidae, a family of crabs.
  • The leg span of Japanese spider crabs can reach up to 3.8 metres (12.5 feet) – a length greater than any extant anthropod, and the older crabs generally have longer legs than the younger ones.
  • Japanese spider crabs are the second heaviest extant anthropod, at 19 kilograms (42 pounds) in weight, and it is believed that they can live up to 100 years.
  • Japanese spider crabs live in the caverns and rock hollows of the ocean, between 50 metres (164 feet) and up to a maximum of 600 metres (1969 feet) deep.

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  • The diet of Japanese spider crabs consists primarily of aquatic flora and small marine animals, including molluscs and other invertebrates, but they also consume deceased matter.
  • Japanese folk catch and eat Japanese spider crab, however this is rare in spring months, as the catching of the crabs during breeding season is illegal, which enables the crabs to successfully reproduce.
  • Information of the Japanese spider crab was first collected by German botanist Phillip von Siebold, which was then provided to Dutch Coenradd Temminck, a zoologist, who gave a descriptive analysis in 1836.
  • Japanese spider crabs are coloured a combination of white and orange – white being its base colour, which is splattered with a pattern of orange to red.
  • A female Japanese spider crab can release eggs numbering up to 1.5 million in one breeding season, and they hatch into minuscule larvae, floating helplessly like plankton and growing over a period of 7.5 to 10.5 weeks, however most eggs or larvae will not survive.

 

Bibliography:
Giant Japanese Spider Crab, 2016, Tennessee Aquarium, http://www.tnaqua.org/our-animals/invertebrates/giant-japanese-spider-crab
Japanese Spider Crab, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_spider_crab
Macrocheira Kaempferi, 2011, Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Macrocheira_kaempferi/

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Condensed Milk

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Condensed Milk

Condensed milk is as compact as they get.

  • Condensed milk is a liquid used as a cooking item, produced from milk that has had the majority of the water content evaporated through a vacuum and heating process.
  • The phrase ‘condensed milk’ typically refers to ‘sweetened condensed milk’, while the term ‘evaporated milk’ usually refers to the unsweetened variety.
  • Sweetened condensed milk consistency is thick and oozing, rather than the typical flowing behaviour of milk, and it has a very sweet, creamy taste, while the unsweetened version is more like milk in flavour and viscosity.
  • The Tartar people of Europe and Asia, are said to be the first people known to remove water from milk to increase volume per container, and would add water to use it at a later stage – a practice observed by Marco Polo, on his travels in the 1200s.
  • Condensed milk is typically sweetened through the addition of sugar, after the milk has been evaporated; and the product is commonly sold in either tin cans or tubes, and is readily available in supermarkets.

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  • American Gail Borden Jr. was the first to invent condensed milk that was commercially viable, in the 1850s, though attempts had been made as early as 1809, by Nicolas Appert of France.
  • To make sweeten condensed milk, roughly eleven parts of sugar are added to nine parts of evaporated milk, meaning that the product consists of 45% sugar, or sometimes more.
  • Sweetened condensed milk is most often used in desserts, such as chocolate dishes, pies, cakes and sweets, as well as coffee.
  • As a ration included in American soldier packs by the mid-1800s, condensed milk began to rise in public popularity, as war veterans returned home with knowledge of this new food.
  • Sweetened condensed milk has high quantities of protein, riboflavin, calcium, phosphorous, selenium and fat, and it has many other vitamins and minerals.

 

Bibliography:
Condensed Milk, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensed_milk
Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences 2nd Edition, Four-Volume set, 2011, Academic Press, Google Books, https://books.google.com.au/[…]
Gail Borden, 2016, Today in Science History, http://todayinsci.com/Events/Patent/CondensedMilk15553.htm

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Carpet

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Carpet

Carpets can be petted with one’s foot. Probably.

  • Carpet is an invention made of a layer of textiles, that is used to cover a floor.
  • ‘Carpets’ are also known as ‘rugs’, although this term is generally used in reference to movable versions.
  • Generally, carpets are made of a nylon, polyester, wool, acrylic, sisal or polypropylene fibre.
  • Carpets are commonly used for ornamental and decorative purposes, to protect feet from cool floors, for comfort purposes, or to hide floor anomalies.
  • Carpets can be made through weaving, knitting, felting, tufting or hooking, often on a loom, and are made by hand or machine.

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  • Cotton, polyester, nylon, or sisal bindings are generally used on a carpet edge to seal the edges, and thus assist in preventing unravelling.
  • The origin of carpets dates from 1000 to 2000 BC or beyond; with the oldest discovered one dating back to 400 to 300 BC, found in 1949 in Siberia, Russia.
  • A machine, known as a ‘power loom’, used to produce carpets, was invented in the 1830s by American, Erastus Bigelow, which immediately increased production.
  • It is typical for a carpet to feature two layers – the top layer of fibres, and a backing affixed to the fibres.
  • If the carpet is to be secured to the floor, a soft underneath layer known as ‘underlay’ is added to enhance its properties and increase its life.
Bibliography:
Carpet, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpet
Carpet History, 2009 Carpet & Rug Pedia, http://www.carpetandrugpedia.com/Carpet-History.htm
Early U.S. Carpet has Woven Wool, n.d, The Carpet and Rug Institute, http://www.carpet-rug.org/About-CRI/History-of-Carpet.aspx

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Australian Native Violet

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Australian Native Violet

Even Australia gets their very own Australian native violets.

  • Australian native violets are small, perennial flowering plants, native to mostly eastern areas of Australia.
  • ‘Australian native violets’ are also known as ‘native violets’, ‘ivy-leaved violets’ and ‘Australian tufted violets’.
  • The scientific name of an Australian native violet is Viola hederacea, from the Violaceae family, the family of pansies and violets.
  • The flower of Australian native violets is a combination of purple and white in colour, and it generally sits above the plant on a thin stalk.
  • Australian native violet plants reach a height of 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 inches) and grow approximately 30 cm (12 inches) in diameter.

Australian Native Violet, Plant, Vegetation, Flower, Violet

  • The blooms of Australian native violets are roughly 1 to 2 centimetres (0.4 to 0.8 inches) in diameter, while the leaves are 0.5 to 3 centimetres (0.2 to 1.2 inches) across, and are shaped as a semi-circle or like a kidney.
  • Australian native violets bloom mostly during summer and spring months, and the flowers are edible and are sometimes used in salads.
  • Australian native violets can be grown in gardens or in pots, and they grow in shade, partial shade or sunny areas, and prefer moist soil.
  • Australian native violets are commonly used ornamentally, in hanging baskets, as a ground cover, and can also be used as an alternative lawn, although it is less popular plant than some other violet species, as the flowers are somewhat pale in colour compared to others.
  • Australian native violets grow in clumps that can be readily divided, and they tend to spread via runners, that new plants are formed from.
Bibliography:
Australian Native Violet – Plant of the Week, n.d, Burke’s Backyard, http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/fact-sheets/in-the-garden/flowering-plants-shrubs/australian-native-violet-plant-of-the-week
Viola Hederacea, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_hederacea
Viola Hederacea, 2016, Gardens Online, http://www.gardensonline.com.au/GardenShed/PlantFinder/Show_1052.aspx
Viola Hederacea, n.d, Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants, http://keys.trin.org.au/key-server/data/0e0f0504-0103-430d-8004-060d07080d04/media/Html/taxon/Viola_hederacea.htm
Viola hederacea Labill., n.d, PlantNET, http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Viola~hederacea

 

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Hashima Island

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Hashima Island

Hashima Island is a mining ghost town… with a twist.

  • Hashima Island is a small deserted, Japanese island that is found near the large southern island of Kyushu, in the Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan, Asia.
  • Hashima Island covers an area of 0.063 square kilometres (0.024 square miles) or 6.3 hectares (15.6 acres), and measures approximately 480 metres (525 yards) in length and 150 meters (164 yards) wide; and the island is surrounded and protected by a high sea wall made of concrete, construction of which finished in 1907.
  • ‘Hashima Island’ is also known as ‘Gunkanjima’, translated from Japanese as ‘Battleship Island’, referring to the similar appearance of the island to a battleship, in part due to its sea wall, and the island is also sometimes referred to as ‘Ghost Island’.
  • In the early 1800s, coal was found on the uninhabited Hashima Island, and in 1887, a mine was constructed to extract the resource, however, it was only three years later, in 1890, that it was purchased by Mitsubishi, though mining continued until 1974.
  • The UNESCO World Heritage Convention designated Hashima Island as part of the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining World Heritage Site in 2015, due to its infrastructure and industrial significance for Japan.
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Hashima Island
Image courtesy of Japanexperterna/Flickr
  • Once a developed underwater coal mine, Hashima Island was abandoned when the demand for coal waned in the late 1960s to the early 1970s, and the mine and island closed early 1974.
  • The number of residents living on Hashima Island in 1959 was 5259 individuals, the greatest number in its history, and its population density broke records, with 1,391 people per hectare (563 per acre) in the residential area, or 835 people per hectare (338 per acre) taking into account the whole island.
  • Hashima Island once contained buildings up to nine storeys high, and the community had a hospital, two schools, shops, a temple and shrine, restaurants and other facilities, most of which now sit in ruins.
  • Between the 1930s and 1940s, Korean and Chinese folk that had been conscripted, or captured by the Japanese during World War II, were forced to work on Hashima Island due to labour shortages.
  • Early in the 21st century, Hashima Island became more prominently known due to media attention, and this led to restoration of some areas for the safety of tourists, before it was opened to visitors in 2009; and in 2013, some of the streets and buildings were recorded in a 360° panorama by Google, allowing for virtual exploring.
Bibliography:
Burke-Gaffney, Hashima – Ghost Island, 2002, Cabinet Magazine, http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/7/hashima.php
Gunkanjima, 2016, Japan Guide, http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4414.html
Gunkajima Island, 2015, Atlas Obscura, http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gubkanjima-island
Hashima Island, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashima_Island

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