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Biting Midges

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Biting Midges

Biting midges are awful irritators – or amazing, depending on the way you look at it.

  • Biting midges are flying insects that are considered pests due to their habit of consuming human blood, and they are also known as ‘no-see-ums’, ‘midgies’, ‘midges’, ‘punkies’, and somewhat incorrectly as ‘sandflies’, although they are a technically a fly.
  • Ceratopogonidae, is the family of biting midges, while those in the Culicoides genus number greater than one thousand, and they are generally found in areas near water or in mountainous regions.
  • There are more than 200 biting midges in the Culicoides genus, the most common found in Australia, and they are native to moist, muddy or mass-vegetated habitats often in coastal areas, particularly those in northern Australia (especially the tropics), although other midges in the genus are found around the world.
  •  The size of a biting midge is extremely small, ranging from 1 to 3 millimetres (0.04 to 0.12 inches) in length and the insect consumes nectar from plants as part of its diet.
  • Some biting midges cause significant irritation in humans after biting, which is caused by chemicals in the insect’s saliva, although not all midges are human pests; and it is often thought that their urine is what creates the burning irritation on one’s skin, however this is false.
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A Biting Midge
Image courtesy of U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr
  • Blood is collected only by female biting midges, to supply adequate nutrients for egg reproduction, and for this reason, males are harmless.
  • The larvae of biting midges moult four times with the final time being the pupa stage, emerging as an adult two to three days later, with the entire process taking 3 to 22 weeks according to species, and it can also be dependent upon the moon and tide cycles.
  • Biting midges are generally most active at dawn and dusk, when the females tend to bite, but they can also be a pest during the night and occasionally in overcast weather, however, they are generally less active when it is windy, and more active around full and new moons.
  • The bites of biting midges are typically itchy and/or painful, and red swelling may be evident and grow to multiple centimetres in diameter, depending on one’s immunity, which can build over time, and unlike mosquitoes, midges in Australia are not known to spread disease among humans, though disease spread among animals and humans in other countries is evident.
  • Biting midges tend to stay low to the ground, so they are not typically a pest in high-set buildings, and humans are best protected from their bites by being fully covered by clothing, with the addition of chemical insect repellents on uncovered areas, while the consumption of vitamin B1 (as suggested by some) is ineffective.
Bibliography:
Biting Midges, 2015, Merck Manuals, http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/integumentary_system/flies/biting_midges.html
Biting Midges or “Sandflies” in the NT, 2003, Northern Territory Government, http://www.education.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/3713/BitingMidge.pdf
Biting Midges or Sandflies, 2009, Government of Western Australia, http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/cproot/2658/2/biting%20midges%20or%20sandflies.pdf
Culicoides spp., 2013, University of Florida, http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/aquatic/biting_midges.htm

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French Toast

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French Toast

French toast is a bit less simple than putting bread in the toaster.

  • French toast is a bread-based food that is prepared using eggs and the technique of frying.
  • ‘French toast’ is known by a variety of names including ‘German toast’, ‘eggy bread’, ‘French-fried bread’, ‘gypsy toast’, ‘Poor Knights of Windsor’, ‘Spanish toast’, ‘nun’s toast’, and ‘pain perdu’ which means ‘lost bread’ in French.
  • French toast is made from sliced bread that has been fried on both faces after being dipped in beaten eggs, sometimes with the addition of milk and/or spices in the mixture, and there are numerous variations of the recipe.
  • It is usually advantageous to use bread that is not fresh, in making French toast, despite its availability, as staler bread absorbs egg in a manner that renders it less flimsy, while thicker sliced bread is also less likely to break during the dipping stage.
  • The origins of French toast are uncertain, however, there is record of a recipe from the 300s or 400s AD, and the food was being cooked by Ancient Romans.
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French Toast
Image courtesy of stu_spivack/Flickr
  • A type of topping typically accompanies French toast, which can be honey, jam, butter, maple syrup, fruit, bacon or cheese, among others.
  • The French were advocates of making French toast as an efficient and practical way to consume bread that had gone stale and hard, thus limiting waste.
  • French toast is eaten in many countries around the world, and some like to make it without the crusts on the bread.
  • French toast is often eaten for breakfast, while others eat the food as a dessert, or a snack, and it is typically served and eaten while hot.
  • French toast tends to be high in protein, fat, sodium, selenium and riboflavin, and it has many other vitamins and minerals.
Bibliography:
French Toast, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_toast
Where Does French Toast Come From?,  2015, Wonderopolis, http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/where-does-french-toast-come-from
Why French Toast May Not Be As French As You Think, 2015, The Breakfast Courier, https://breakfastcourier.com/french-toast-may-french-think/

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Windmills at Kinderdijk

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Windmills at Kinderdijk

The windmills at Kinderdijk capture the essence of the past.

  • The windmills at Kinderdijk are a set of 19 windmills that are located in South Holland, in the Netherlands, in Europe.
  • The UNESCO World Heritage Convention listed the windmills at Kinderdijk as a World Heritage Site in 1997, as part of the mill network at Kinderdijk-Elshout.
  • The windmills at Kinderdijk were built to manage the water levels, that are below sea level, and drainage of soil near the Lek River and Noord River, after a failed attempt using canals.
  • Almost all of the windmills at Kinderdijk were constructed from 1738 to 1740, and depending on the windmill, they are mostly made from various combinations of stone, brick, wood and thatching.
  • Stations that are run by diesel fuel have since replaced the windmills at Kinderdijk for pumping water, although the windmills are kept in working condition for backup purposes and for tourism.
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Windmills at Kinderdijk
Image courtesy of kkmarals/Flickr
  • The uppermost section of the windmills at Kinderdijk can rotate in a full circle, to catch wind at maximum efficiency.
  • The windmills at Kinderdijk were in proper operation during World War II, when fuel was too scarce to be used in the stations.
  • As of 2015, more than 450,000 visitors came to view the windmills at Kinderdijk each year, and they are operated during the summer for the sake of the tourists.
  • The windmills at Kinderdijk ran into financial difficulty in 2012, due to the costs incurred in running the mills and renovations that were being undertaken, while tourism is the main income generating activity for the mills.
  • There are various ways of seeing the windmills at Kinderdijk, and these include walking, cycling, and cruising on the water; and there is a mill museum which is open to the public.
Bibliography:
Jeff Titelius, Whimsical Windmills of Kinderdijk in the Netherlands-UNESCO Site, 2012, EuroTravelogue, http://www.eurotravelogue.com/2012/05/whimsical-windmills-of-kinderdijk-in.html
UNESCO World Heritage: Windmills of Kinderdijk, n.d, Kinderdijk, https://www.kinderdijk.com/area/unesco-world-heritage-windmills-kinderdijk
The Windmills of Kinderdijk, 2014, Amusing Planet, http://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/11/the-windmills-of-kinderdijk.html
Windmills at Kinderdijk, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windmills_at_Kinderdijk

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Mastermind

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Mastermind

Mastermind is the greatest tool to master the mind.

  • Mastermind is a game that involves guessing a code, and the game is also known as ‘Master Mind’, while another name for a different brand of the game is ‘Secret Code’.
  • Mastermind is often considered a commercialisation of a similar game named Cows and Bulls, which is playable using paper and pens, and is known to have been played in the 1960s, but possibly as early as the late 1800s.
  • Two players are typically required to play a game of Mastermind – one devises the code, and the other cracks it over a number of steps, through the skill of deduction.
  • Mastermind was invented by an expert in the telecommunications field in Israel, Mordechai Meirovitz, in 1970.
  • Mastermind is played by making a code using supplied coloured pegs, and the opponent must correctly determine the correct position and colour of the pegs.

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  • Smaller black and white pegs are typically used to convey the accuracy of each guess – white to signify if a correct colour was used but incorrectly positioned; black if a correct colour was used and is in the correct position; or left blank if none of the code colours were used in the guess.
  • There is a 1 in 1296 chance of correctly guessing the code in Mastermind on the first attempt, with a four peg code and six available colours.
  • The average amount of turns taken to break a Mastermind code is four to five, while algorithms have been designed to crack a code in the most efficient process possible.
  • The original Mastermind featured six colours and a four slot code, while these numbers vary across versions today, and variations have included letter or number pegs, rather than colours.
  • It is not uncommon for a Mastermind variant to be programmed as a computer program, particularly due to its successful one person participation against a computer.
Bibliography:
Mastermind, 2015, Delphi For Fun, http://www.delphiforfun.org/Programs/Mastermind.htm
Mastermind, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game)

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Nail (Invention)

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Nail (Invention)

Will you nail these facts into your head?

  • A nail is an invention used to secure multiple objects together; or used for ornamental purposes; or to hang items, especially on a wall.
  • Typically, nails are a thin cylindrical shape with a point at one end and a flat head at the other, although some versions are without a head.
  • Hammers are most often used to drive nails into objects, although specially engineered air guns are also used.
  • Nails are secured in objects by the laws of friction, and they can bear a secured object’s force due to their sturdiness.
  • The Ancient Egyptians crafted nails of bronze around 3400 BC, while copper ones were also used in ancient history, and at a later stage they were created from iron.
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  • Originally, nails where individually handmade, generally built from a rectangular iron piece, made by families primarily for themselves and also by blacksmiths for commercial purposes.
  • Attempts to mass produce nails via the use of machines took place from the 1790s, although they only became an efficient, commercially viable option in the late 1800s with the introduction of ones made from wire, rather than ‘cut’ ones made from iron rectangular shaped rods.
  • Various metals can be used to make nails, from bronze, brass, aluminium, iron, and copper, and the steel ‘wire’ method of making them is now the most frequently used material and process.
  • The most commonly available nails range from 1 to 7 millimetres in diameter (0.04 to 0.28 inches) and 2 to 21 centimetres (0.8 to 8.3 inches) in length, and there are a wide variety of different types which are used for various and specific purposes.
  • Nails are extremely popular in the construction of many objects, including wooden houses and frames, which use 20,000 to 30,000 per house.
Bibliography:
Fourshee P, A Two-Bit History of Nails, 1992, Fourshee, http://www.fourshee.com/history_of_nails.htm
Nail, 2015, How Products Are Made, http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Nail.html
Nail (Fastener), 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nail_(fastener)

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Kangaroo

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Kangaroo

Any person could attribute a kangaroo to Australia.

  • Kangaroos are marsupials that are very symbolic of Australia, their native home, and the animal even features in the country’s coat-of-arms.
  • Macropodidae is the family of kangaroos, while the scientific name of the animal is Macropus, however, the smaller animals in the genus are called ‘wallabies’, and some are known as ‘wallaroos’.
  • There are four species in the Macropus genus called ‘kangaroos’ –  the ‘Red’ (Macropus rufus); ‘Western Grey’ (Macropus fuliginosus); ‘Eastern Grey’ (Macropus giganteus); and the lesser known ‘Antilopine’ (Macropus antilopinus) which is sometimes called a ‘wallaby’ or a ‘wallaroo’; while the ‘tree kangaroo’ belongs to a different genus.
  • The diet of kangaroos consists of a variety of vegetation including grasses, flowers, fungi, seeds and shrubs, which is often chewed multiple times as cud; and they have fur that ranges from brown, tan, red or grey in colour, which varies according to the species, and the common names of the various species is generally indicative of the colour of their fur.
  • Kangaroos range in height from 0.8 to 2.1 metres (2.6 to 6.9 feet) in height and have a weight that ranges from 18 to 90 kilograms (40 to 200 pounds), while those in the ‘red’ (rufus) species are the largest extant marsupials.

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Kangaroo
Image courtesy of Val Laird
  • Kangaroos are notable for having feet and a tail of significantly large size, which are useful for keeping the animal stable, especially when they move, and they can jump distances that can reach 8 metres (24 feet) in length and 2 metres (6.6 feet) in height, and can move at speeds up to 60 kilometres per hour (37 miles per hour).
  • Kangaroos may fight for dominance or simply for entertainment, fighting somewhat like a boxer or kicking with their potentially dangerous feet, and they will use these movements as defence against predators like dingoes.
  • The young of a kangaroo, known as a ‘joey’, spends around two thirds of a year in the pouch of its mother, where it grows as a neonate, poking its head out after about six months.
  • Kangaroos are mostly nocturnal and as a result, are particularly susceptible to being startled by vehicle noises and headlights, and they often jump in front of vehicles in confusion, which can be fatal for the animal and sometimes the occupants of the vehicle.
  • The meat of kangaroos has traditionally been eaten by indigenous Australians, and it is becoming quite popular among others, especially for its high protein and low fat properties.
Bibliography:
Kangaroo, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo
Kangaroo, 2015, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/kangaroo/
Kangaroo Facts, 2015, Outback Australia Travel Guide, http://www.outback-australia-travel-secrets.com/kangaroo-facts.html

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