General facts Flashcards
earth’s circumference at the equator?
40,008 km (24,859.82 mi)
what is the term for the flattening of the earth at the equator?
Sometimes known as oblateness. The earth is classified as an oblate spheroid or ellipsoid.
what is the estimated age of the earth?
4.5 to 4.6 billion years
What is the composition of the earth’s atmosphere?
77% nitrogen 21% oxygen Traces of argon, carbon dioxide, and water
How much of the earth’s suface is covered by land?
29.2% is land 70.8% is covered by water
What is the “gravitational constant”?
The gravitational constant, denoted G, is an empirical physical constant involved in the calculation of the gravitational attraction between objects with mass. It appears in Newton’s law of universal gravitation and in Einstein’s theory of general relativity. It is also known as the universal gravitational constant, Newton’s constant, and colloquially Big G.
Do sea mammals drink saltwater?
Apparently some are known to, it is not believed to be routine. Sea-dwelling mammals can get their water through their food and the internal metabolic breakdown of food, since water is one of the byproducts of carbohydrate and fat metabolism. While some animals like seals will eat snow to get fresh water, it is not known what others, such as most whales and dolphins, do.
What is the salt content of blood and other body fluids of mammals?
Both terrestrial and marine mammals’ fluids are about 1/3 as salty as seawater.
What is the chemical composition of the earth?
- 34.6% Iron
- 29.5% Oxygen
- 15.2% Silicon
- 12.7% Magnesium
- 2.4% Nickel
- 1.9% Sulfur
- 0.05% Titanium
What is the oldest animal ever found?
An ocean quahog (clam) found in Iceland in 2006 was dated at 507 years old (originally put at 405, but revised). The clam was named Ming, after the Ming Dynasty. The dating involves counting shell layers. The researchers killed the clam when they opened it up to count the rings.
What are the longest-lived species?
There’s a koi believed to be 215 years old, and other specimens have been found to live 100-200.
A Galapagos turtle has been found to have lived 176 years.
Bowhead whales live 130 years.
What is a bivalve?
Bivalvia; taxonomic class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have a laterally compressed body enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. Includes clams, oysters, mussels, scallops and others.
What is a “dobby” fabric?
Dobby fabric is made using a dobby weave, meaning that when a fabric is sewn together,the weaves of the fabric are slightly raised instead of having a smooth finish. Shirts of this particular material therefore have more texture than a plain weave shirt. Dobby fabrics can be woven from a range of materials thus synchronizing both the durability and quality of dress shirts. Can also be dyed in more colors.
what is the oldest animal fossil found?
In June 2012, researchers found fossilized tracks of a centimeter-long, slug-like animal left there 585 million years ago.
How can you estimate time to sunset w/ your hand?
15 minutes per finger
What is phytoplankton?
Autotrophic plankton – photosynthesizing microscopic organisms (not plants) that inhabit the upper sunlit layer of almost all oceans and bodies of fresh water. They are agents of primary production: the creation of organic compounds from carbon dioxide. They’re the base of the ocean food chain.
When did Sputnik fly?
The world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik on 4 October 1957
Why does hydrogen peroxide foam when you put it on a cut?
Blood and cells contain an enzyme called catalase. When the catalase comes in contact with H2O2, it turns it into H20 and 02 gas. Catalaze is a very efficient enzyme. The bubbles in the foam are pure oxygen.
In what year did Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiere?
1937, December 21.
Will a mother bird abandon her young if touched by a human?
” Most birds have a poorly developed sense of smell ,” says Michael Mace, bird curator at San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park. “ They won’t notice a human scent .” Birds have little or no sense of smell , and will be unaware of your molestation. Besides, they will not lightly abandon their offspring.
What is the difference between potatoes & sweet potatoes?
What most people call yams are actually sweet potatoes, which are not really potatoes at all: they are storage roots (like carrots), whereas real potatoes are storage stems, or tubers. Real yams belong to another family altogether. They are rarely seen in North America; yams are pale and starchy, with scaly rough and skin. Grown in Africa and Caribean. Our common sweet potatoes are very nutritious.
Who was Johnny Weissmuller?
(June 2, 1904 – January 20, 1984) was an American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in films of the 1930s and 1940s (the 6th actor to portray Tarzan) and for having one of the best competitive swimming records of the 20th century. Weissmuller was one of the world’s fastest swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals for swimming and one bronze medal for water polo. He set 67 world records.
What was Mark Twain’s pen name?
Samuel Clemens
What are some of the carcinogens found in tobacco smoke?
Nicotine Benzene Formaldehyde Lead Arsenic Toluene Acetone
What is the alcohol flush reaction?
Also: Asian flush syndrome, Asian glow. Condition where a person’s face flushes or blotches as a result of the accumulation of acetaldehyde, a metabolic byproduct of the metabolism of alcohol. It was thought it’s caused by an inability to metabolize alcohol, but this not so; in fact, a high % of Asians have a variant gene for alcohol dehydrogenase that actually makes them better at metabolizing alcohol. About 50% however have a gene variant that inhibits acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, so it accumulates more.
Australia was once part of antarctica
Was watching a documentary video “Fearless Planet: Great Barrier Reef”. The fact that Australia was part of Antarctica is verified by a string of volcanoes along the coast. Apparently they are formed when the continental plate slides over a hotspot in the earth (in the mantel? crust? missed that part).
Does licking a wound help healing?
In a study in 2008 Dutch researchers found compounds in human saliva that hasten healing. While the simple proteins called histatins are well known for their ability to ward off infections, biochemist Menno Oudhoff of the University of Amsterdam discovered a subset of histatins that also prompt cells from the skin’s surface, called the epithelium, to close over a wound.
Used to prevent dog/cat from licking/biting/scratching injuries while healing.
Elizabethan Collar
Bob Metcalfe
Robert Metcalfe is an electrical engineer who co-invented Ethernet, founded 3com. He identifies the day Ethernet was born as May 22, 1973. Also known for making a lot of incorrect predictions, such as the death of open source and that wireless networking would die out in 1990s.
what is natural gas?
what we call natural gas is refined to contain almost entirely methane (CH4) plus methyl or ethyl mercaptan, the odorant. It does not contain carbon monoxide. People confuse it with “town gas” (aka coal gas), the major gaseous fuel until middle of the last century. Town gas = unrefined mix of hydrocarbons plus carbon monoxide, oxygen and carbon dioxide made by distilling coal. Sylvia Plath committed suicide by sticking her head in the oven with the pilot light out, it was the carbon monoxide in the town gas that killed her
why do we have carbon monoxide detectors?
when natural gas is burned in an oxygen-poor environment, like a malfunctioning water heater or furnace, or a heater in a closed room, some of the product is carbon monoxide (one carbon atom and one oxygen atom) instead of carbon dioxide (one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms), because there isn’t enough oxygen to make 100% carbon dioxide. This is why we have carbon monoxide detectors.
mountebank
* 1 : a person who sells quack medicines from a platform * 2 : a boastful unscrupulous pretender : charlatan
What is the largest arthropod?
The Japanese spider crab has the greatest leg span of any arthropod, reaching 3.8 metres (12 ft) from claw to claw. The body may grow to a size of 40 cm or 16 in (carapace width) and the whole crab can weigh up to 41 pounds (19 kg)
How do you count in Japanese?
Japanese and Mandarin both making extensive use of counters because most nouns cannot be counted. For example, in Japanese, you cannot say “two cars” but have to say “two dai of cars”. It is the equivalent of “two cups of water” for mass nouns in English. The counting words vary for objects. “Hon” for cylindrical things, “hiki” for many animals, “ken” for houses, and so on. More about that topic here . And, the numbers change depending on what is being counting and how much. Although one is “ichi”, you cannot say “ichi hon” for “a bottle” but “ippon”.
How do you pronounce Dirichlet?
Apparently it’s very unclear because the man’s family was Belgian French but he went to Germany, and unfortunately the difference in the “ch” between the 2 is significant. French would say “shlay” while Germans would say “klay”.
What is the Mason-Dixon line?
Demarcation line among four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania,Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (then, part of Virginia). In popular usage, especially since theMissouri Compromise of 1820 (apparently the first official use of the term “Mason’s and Dixon’s Line”), the Mason–Dixon Line symbolizes a cultural boundary between the Northeastern United States and the Southern United States (Dixie) and legality of slavery as a result
