Fact How many active languages are there in the world? According to recent estimates, the number of actively spoken languages
in the world today is around 6,000. More than 1,400 of those languages
belong to the Niger-Congo family from Africa, and about 1,200 are in the
Austronesian family from Madagascar, Indonesia, Australia, the Pacific
Islands, and New Zealand. Most of today's active languages are spoken by
very few people, and many of them are losing speakers rapidly as the world
becomes more and more connected. Half of today's languages have fewer than
10,000 speakers, and a quarter have fewer than 1,000. Thousands of years
ago, there may have been as many as 10,000 active languages in the world.
Within the next century, thousands of languages may be lost. More about
the disappearing languages of the world http://www.sciam.com/1998/0398issue/0398scicit6.html A directory for sites about native languages around the world http://www.pitt.edu/~lmitten/natlang.html More Facts about languages http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/01/05.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/08/23.html How is glass made into perfectly flat panes? The very first flat glass was made by the Romans, who rolled partly
melted glass on a flat surface, or cast it into molds. The resulting small
panes were cloudy and uneven, but they were transparent. Through the late
1800s, flat glass was made with the Crown method in which blown spheres
were reheated, punctured, and spun into a nearly flat disc. These circular
panes had a defect at the center called the bullion. In the early 1900s,
rolled glass panes were produced by factory machines. But in 1959, a new
method made all the rest obsolete. Today, optically clear panes are made
by the "Pilkington float" method. Molten glass is poured onto the surface
of a bath of molten tin, under a chemically controlled atmosphere. The
glass spreads out into a perfectly flat layer and solidifies into a clear
pane. More about glassmaking http://www.glassonline.com/history.html http://cornucopia-of-colors.com/history.html The Corning Museum of Glass http://www.cmog.org More Facts about glass http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/10/31.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/05/10.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/09/23.html Is it bad luck to walk under a ladder? Most people walk around a ladder, because walking underneath is
thought to bring bad luck. While we don't know if the superstition is actually
true, we do know how it got started. A ladder leaning against a wall forms
a triangle with the wall and the ground. That three-pointed shape was seen
in medieval times as an example of the mystic number three, a sign of the
Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). To walk through that triangle
was thought to be a defiance of the Trinity, risking divine wrath. Of course,
it's also true that if you walk under a ladder, someone on the ladder might
accidentally drop a bucket of paint or a hammer on you. We suggest caution
in all investigations of this superstition. Thoughtful advice on how to
use ladders safely http://www.swmed.edu/home_pages/library/consumer/ladders.htm Do black cats cause bad luck? A scientific study http://www.liii.com/~nyask/cat-report2.html Who was the world's first paleontologist? The first person who conducted a detailed scientific investigation
of fossils was Nicholas Steno, physician to the Duke Of Florence. Steno
is also known as the "Father of Paleontology." In 1667, he published a
book called "The Head Of A Shark Dissected" in which he compared the teeth
of caught sharks to stones dug out of soft rocks on Malta. He concluded
that the stones were actually the teeth of extremely large sharks. Steno's
book contained the first known published illustration of a fossil. Nicholas
Steno's work is important because it helped to establish the modern scientific
view of geological history, in which Earth was formed billions of years
ago and has undergone tremendous changes since then. The changing view
of Earth's geological history (a detailed account) http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/geohist.html The former owners of Steno's huge teeth were extinct megatooth sharks http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/InNews/megatoothshark.htm A Fact about the megatooth sharks http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/10/27.html Why are cats' tongues so rough? A cat's tongue is actually a very sophisticated cleaning device,
in addition to its other functions. It is covered with tiny, hooklike,
backward-pointing extensions called papillae, something like one half of
a velcro connector. When it cleans its fur by licking with its tongue,
a cat is pulling these hooks through the fur. As the hooks pass through,
they pick up dirt and skin flakes, and more importantly, any fleas, flea
eggs, or other skin parasites that might be present. The cat swallows these
along with any loose hair, and they are killed by the strong acid in the
cat's stomach. The cat's tongue is also important for eating, of course.
In nature, cats use their rough tongues as efficient tools for scraping
the flesh from the bones of their animal prey. Cats, tongues, taste, and
eating http://www.cah.com/library/tastecat.html More Facts about tongues http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/02/27.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/03/05.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/09/09.html Who built the first self-propelled car? In 1769, the French military engineer Nicholas Cugnot built the
first self-propelled car, a gigantic steam-driven device to pull field
artillery. The three-wheeled vehicle could go a whopping four kilometers
an hour (about 2.5 mph) while carrying a cannon and four people. In 1784,
William Murdoch built a lighter, faster car using a Watt steam condenser
engine, but the engine was large and it was not very powerful. In 1802,
Trevithick and Evans built a car using a high-pressure steam engine, but
it was also not a success. It was not until 1804, when Trevithick put one
of his steam engines into a railroad car, that steam transportation became
practical. Steam engines then quickly replaced the horses that were used
to pull railway carriages. A history of the automobile http://www.ausbcomp.com/~bbott/cars/carhist.htm Some of the very first steam vehicles http://www.axess.com/users/sharut/sepia.html More Facts about automobiles http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/02/26.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/01/13.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/08/13.html What were the largest crocodiles that ever lived? According to the fossil record, the largest crocodilians that ever
existed were the gigantic Deinosuchus ("terrible crocodile"), which lived
during the late Cretaceous (85 to 66 million years ago). These giant semi-aquatic
predators may have grown as long as 15 meters (50 feet). During that time,
a shallow sea called Tethys covered much of what is now the central United
States. Deinosuchus lived in swamps and estuaries along the edges of the
Tethys Sea, where it was probably able to capture and devour even large
dinosaurs. Deinosuchus was a distant ancestor of modern crocodiles and
alligators. Few fossils of it have been found, but one skull is almost
six feet long (two meters). How big were they? Check out these paintings http://www.geocities.com/~lostworlds/crocs.html More about Deinosuchus http://illustrissimus.virtualave.net/dim10.html http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s20109.htm More about crocodilians http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/herpetology/brittoncrocs/cnhc.html More Facts about giant reptiles http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/02/10.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/03/03.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/07/21.html What was the first hard disk memory device? The world's first hard disk memory storage device was IBM's 350
RAMAC Disk File (Random Access Method of Accounting and Controlling), first
offered in September, 1956. The 350 RAMAC was the first storage device
with random access to large volumes of data. (Random access means that
any of the data is available in a short time.) It used fifty 24-inch (61-cm)
platters, holding 5 million 7-bit characters of data (roughly equivalent
to 4.9 megabytes). It could be leased for $35,000 per year. At the end
of 1999, it was possible to buy a 50-gigabyte (50 billion bytes) hard disk
for less than $1,600. That's more than ten thousand times as much storage
as the 350 RAMAC, and the device itself is much more reliable and much
faster. More about the 350 RAMAC and other early memory devices http://www.tcm.org/html/history/detail/1956-ramac.html http://www.disktrend.com/disk3.htm More Facts about computers and information http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/01/15.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/03/26.html Why did the Tower Of Pisa tilt to one side? On August 9, 1173, construction began of a beautiful new bell tower
at Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles), Pisa, Italy. By the time the
first meter and a half (five feet) of the base was complete, it was clear
that it was tilting. Over the next two centuries, construction was halted
and restarted several times. The upper floors of the tower were built askew,
in an attempt to adjust for the tilt. As a result, the tower bends upward,
as if trying to overcome gravity. The tower's tilt was caused by uneven
sinking of its foundation into sandy, marshy soil. It continued to lean
further every year, until recent excavations and reinforcements were made.
Work continues to ensure that the beloved Leaning Tower will never fall. More about the Leaning Tower of Pisa http://www.endex.com/gf/buildings/ltpisa/ltpisa.html More Facts about tall buildings http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/03/10.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/08/04.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/10/17.html How do transgenic crops resist pests and weed killers? Have you heard about the new transgenic crops? Some of them can
resist weed killing chemicals, and some are resistant to insect pests.
The secret of transgenic crops is that they contain genes taken from other
life forms. For example, a new kind of corn contains a gene taken from
a bacterium that normally lives inside insects, killing them. The bacterial
gene creates a protein that poisons the insects, and when it is present
in the corn plant it creates the same protein, which kills any insects
that try to eat it. Transgenic crops are being tested all around the world,
but many people are worried about the results. There are several ways that
growing such crops might lead to ecological problems, and no one knows
what the real risks are. A good introduction to the risks and benefits
of transgenic crops http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/shorties/crop_weed.html A much more technical analysis http://www.pmac.net/miguel.htm Today's Word is transgenic http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1999/12/13.html Where are the hottest volcanoes in the solar system? The hottest known volcanoes are on Jupiter's moon, Io. The lava
that emerges from Io's volcanoes can be as hot as 1800 degrees Kelvin (1527
degrees Centigrade), about one third as hot as the surface of the Sun.
The heat of Io's volcanoes is generated by the tidal flexing of the moon
under the gravitational stress of Jupiter and two of its other moons, Europa
and Ganymede. As Io orbits Jupiter it changes shape slightly, and its interior
is heated. Although Io's interior is utra-hot, its surface is very cold.
Gas emitted from the volcanoes arcs high into the vacuum of space, where
it freezes into fine snow and falls back down to Io, coating its surface
with multicolored deposits. More about Io and its super-hot volcanoes http://www.thursdaysclassroom.com/index_07oct99.html More Facts about volcanoes http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/06/24.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/11/25.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/08/30.html Where is the longest known underground river? The longest known underground river was recently discovered in the
remote mountains of Vietnam. It's the Son Trach River, which runs underground
for an astonishing seven miles (11 km) through a gigantic cave called Hang
Khe Rhy (Grass Stream Cave). The expedition that discovered and partially
mapped the Son Trach River spent twelve days underground, plunging through
ice-cold rushing water and painstakingly mapping every curve and grotto
they found. Son Trach River and Hang Khe Rhy cave form part of the Phong
Nha massif, a geological unit that contains some of the world's most spectacular
karst limestone formations. The caves, passages, and above-ground formations
in karst areas are formed by the action of water, which dissolves parts
of the rock while leaving other parts behind. The discovery of Son Trach
River http://www.destinationvietnam.com/dv/dv29/dv29g.htm A guide to caves in Vietnam, curiously translated http://www.batin.com.vn/dbotweb/resorts/areas/caves.htm Why are pretzels shaped like knots? Traditionally, pretzels are made out of long strips of dough folded
over into a loose, trefoil knot before being baked. They have been shaped
this way since the seventh century. Thought to bring good luck and prosperity,
pretzels have been called the world's oldest snack food. Invented by monks,
pretzels carry deep, religious meanings. The folded strips of dough resemble
the folded arms of someone who is praying in the usual manner in those
days, while the three holes represent the Christian Holy Trinity. In medieval
times, pretzels were given to children as rewards for learning their prayers.
Today, they have lost the religious meanings, but pretzels are still among
the world's most popular snacks. Twist and bake your own pretzels (crunchy
or soft!) http://kidshealth.org/kid/games/recipe/pretzels.html http://www.io.com/~sjohn/pretzel.htm Visit the Pretzel Museum in Philadelphia http://www.ushistory.org/tour/_pretzel.html Today's Word is pretzel http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1999/12/15.html Are people normally radioactive? Humans are constantly bathed in a sea of nuclear radiation, from
many sources. Such radiation is measured in units called millirems (mrem),
and typically each human receives about 300-400 mrem per year. A measurable
part of that (30-40 mrem/year) comes from within our own bodies. An essential
nutrient called potassium always contains a fraction of radioactive atoms,
and these are constantly decaying in our bodies and releasing nuclear particles.
As a result, people are among the most radioactive objects in our environment.
The largest source of natural radiation is radon, a radioactive gas released
when elements in rocks decay. Radon may accumulate near the ground, and
people whose houses have basements may receive a higher radiation dose
as a result. Other natural sources of radiation include radioactive rocks
and cosmic rays. Radiation: Facts Versus Fears http://www.prioritiesforhealth.com/1102/rad.html How much radiation is considered safe? The current legal limits http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1994/jan05/33567.html More Facts about radiation http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/07/28.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/01/21.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/03/23.html What's the slowest motorized vehicle? The slowest motorized vehicles are the two Crawler-Transporters,
tractor-treaded monsters that carry the Mobile Launcher Platforms (MLP),
delivering giant spacecraft to the launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida. Each weighs 2,721 metric tons (6 million pounds). A Crawler-Transporter
travels at a maximum speed of 3.2 kilometers (2 miles) per hour, a comfortable
walking speed. It moves on a gravel track called the crawlerway, carrying
spacecraft from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad A or Launch
Pad B. When the Crawler reaches the launch pad, it sets the Mobile Launcher
Platform down on special pedestals. The MLP remains in place during the
launch. Just before ignition, thousands of gallons of water spew out from
nozzles on the MLP. The water absorbs some of the intense sound of the
rockets, protecting the payload of the spacecraft. More about the Crawler-Transporter http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/crawler.html More about Launch Pads A and B at KSC http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/nasafact/pads.htm More Facts about slow things http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/06/10.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/06/19.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/07/20.html What's the tallest island on Earth? The tallest island is New Guinea, in the southwest Pacific just
north of Australia. Its highest point is the top of Mount Djaja, at 5030
meters (16,503 feet). New Guinea wins the title hands down, towering 825
meters above the next tallest island, Hawaii. New Guinea is not only the
world's tallest island, it is also the second largest (Greenland is larger),
measuring 885,780 square kilometers (342,000 square miles). It is mostly
covered with lush tropical rainforest containing almost 9000 species of
plants and 700 species of birds. New Guinea also is the most linguistically
diverse area on Earth. Over 700 languages are still spoken by the native
Melanesians, Papuans, and Negritos. In some remote sections of the interior,
headhunting and cannibalism are still practiced. More about New Guinea http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/aust/png.htm A table of the tallest islands http://users.erols.com/jcalder/TALLESTV1.htm More Facts about islands http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/02/27.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/03/16.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/06/11.html Why does the bride stand to the groom's left? In western marriage ceremonies, the bride always stands to the groom's
left. This tradition is extremely ancient. In medieval times, humans lived
mostly in small, isolated villages, and there were not many young brides
to choose from. Men who wanted to marry sometimes had to go to neighboring
villages and do what essentially amounted to kidnapping a young maiden.
Naturally, the maiden's relatives often objected to this practice. Just
in case of trouble, the groom would keep his sword at hand, even during
the wedding itself. Since he might be attacked at any time, he kept the
bride on his left, so that his good right sword arm would be free. Want
to have a medieval wedding? Here's how to do it http://www.weddingideas.com/aug98/medieval.htm http://www.knowyourfate.com/weavercraft/costumes/ http://renstore.com/articles/medwedding.shtml Today's Word is wedlock http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1999/12/22.html More Facts about ancient traditions http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/08/17.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/08/09.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/11/01.html When were sneakers invented? The first shoes designed just for sports were Keds, available July
14, 1916, introducing a shoe category that later came to be known as sneakers.
In 1917, similar shoes from Converse Rubber Company also became available.
By today's standards, the first sneakers were very primitive. They had
rubber soles, canvas sides, and long laces to hold the whole thing together.
But they were a vast improvement over all-leather shoes, and they made
a big difference in several sports, especially basketball and tennis. Modern
sporting shoes now come in hundreds of varieties, and they are vastly more
evolved, with complex, high-tech materials. Today's sports shoes are designed
using sophisticated computer software, and are extensively tested. Visit
Charlie's sneaker pages for loads of nostalgic memories http://www.sneakers.pair.com/index.htm
Charlie's tribute to the original Keds http://www.sneakers.pair.com/old-17ke.htm
Charlie compares the Keds and Converse designs http://www.sneakers.pair.com/csm-keds.htm More Facts about clothing http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/03/04.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/09/01.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/10/15.html What mineral was used for oven window panes? The mineral muscovite, a kind of mica, forms thin, durable, flexible
sheets when its crystals are cleaved (broken apart along natural surfaces
called cleavage planes). Since these sheets are not only transparent, but
also resistant to great heat, sheets of natural muscovite mica were once
used as window panes for ovens. Muscovite crystals have alternating layers
of aluminum silicate and potassium ions. The one-atom-thick layers of potassium
ions are very easy to break apart, while the aluminosilicate layers are
tightly bonded together. As a result, extremely thin sheets of muscovite
can be easily separated, yet these thin sheets are flexible and tough.
The mica group includes not only transparent muscovite, but also black
biotite, pink lepidolite, green fuchsite, and about twenty other minerals,
all of which share the same flat, thin, sheetlike crystal form. Beautiful
pictures of muscovite mica http://www.d.umn.edu/geology/coursehtmls/missrocks/mus.html More about mica minerals http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/micas.htm More Facts about minerals http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/03/31.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/07/17.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/08/05.html Where are the brightest auroras in the solar system? Auroras (or aurorae) are glowing displays produced when charged
particles stream down into a planet's atmosphere from space. The brightest
auroras in the solar system are those of Jupiter, the largest planet, whose
auroras are 1,000 times brighter than those of Earth. Jupiter's auroras
are made by particles from its highly active moon, Io. Volcanoes on Io
spew electrons and other particles into the region around Jupiter, and
they are funneled into Jupiter's polar regions by the planet's enormous
magnetic field. Recent studies have shown that Jupiter's auroras are connected
to many other fascinating phenomena. There are mysterious "electrojets"
of charged particles that race around the planet's poles faster than the
speed of sound, and a strange "skirt" of particles that rotates with the
planet. Pictures of Jupiter's auroras, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980123.html More Facts about auroras http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/07/10.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/01/19.html More about Io http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/08/27.html What kind of galaxy has a bright ring of stars? When two spiral galaxies collide, sometimes they pass right through
each other. If they collide head-on with just the right speed and angle,
one of them may develop a bright ring of newly-born stars around its central
core, millions of years later. Stars are formed in galactic collisions
because the gas and dust in the colliding galaxies crashes together, heating
up and condensing into whirlpools. These whirlpools can form into stars
if they are large enough. Galactic collisions take hundreds of millions
of years. Astronomers suspect that large galaxies like our Milky Way were
formed over billions of years by the collisions of many smaller ones. The
Cartwheel Galaxy, a beautiful example of a ring galaxy http://library.advanced.org/12659/interactive/caption/cartwheel.jpg.html http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950702.html More Facts about galaxies http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/11/09.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/01/12.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/06/02.html Why are dalmatians often seen with firemen? Dalmatians are among the most ancient breeds of dogs. Once known
as coach dogs or carriage dogs, they ran alongside moving coaches, protecting
them from robbers by raising an alarm, and keeping stray dogs from interfering
with the horses. It is thought that the modern strain of the breed originated
in a part of western Yugoslavia called Dalmatia. Bred for endurance and
reliability, coach dogs could run long distances without tiring. They had
a natural affinity for horses, and their black and white spots made them
easy for the horses to distinguish from other dogs. When horse-drawn fire
wagons were invented, dalmatians were the natural choice to run alongside,
protecting the horses from other animals and sending out their distinctive
barks to help warn people that the fire brigade was coming. More about
dalmatians http://www.sparky.org/dalmatian/about/about.htm http://www.k9web.com/dog-faqs/breeds/dalmatians.html http://www.thedca.org/redbook.html Sparky, spokesdog for the National Fire Protection Association http://www.sparky.org/ More Facts about dogs http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/07/09.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/06/26.html What minerals are like molecular sponges? Minerals in the group called zeolites have unusual crystal structures
that contain many nanoscopic (molecule-sized) holes or channels. Many zeolites
have channels large enough to admit molecules like water or ammonia. Some
of these are useful as "molecular sponges" to soak up various substances,
which become trapped in the channels. Zeolites are silicate (SiO4) minerals
that also contain aluminate ions (AlO4). The silicate and aluminate ions
form cage-like structures that surround and define the pores. Most natural
zeolite crystals form within cavities in volcanic rock. There are about
45 natural zeolite minerals, and more than a hundred synthetic zeolite
compounds, with more being discovered all the time. More about zeolites
http://mineral.galleries.com/minerals/silicate/zeolites.htm Today's Word is zeolite http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1999/12/27.html More Facts about minerals http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/04/09.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/07/30.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/05/07.html What place has the largest variety of snakes? Of all the natural sites ever surveyed, the most different kinds
of snakes have been found at Tam Dao ("Three Islands"), a mountain range
in northern Vietnam. So far, 108 kinds of snakes have been found in the
wet jungle there, and it is likely there are many more. Just 32 miles (52
km) from Hanoi, Tam Dao is one of the newest national parks in Vietnam,
a country whose rich natural heritage is only beginning to be discovered.
Unfortunately, its fabulous ecosystems are threatened by human activities,
including casual visitors and poachers. The 108 species of snakes at Tam
Dao represent four percent of the total number of snake species in the
world. Hopefully, most of those species will be preserved as Vietnam enters
the next millennium. Take a trip to Tam Dao Hill Station http://www.destinationvietnam.com/dv/dv13/dv13a.htm Tam Dao is part of Vinh Phu province http://home.vnn.vn/english/map/vinh_phu/ What is the longest work of literature in verse? The world's longest poem is the Mahabharata, an epic containing
100,000 couplets in some 18 books. Composed thousands of years ago in India,
the Mahabharata was recently made into a TV series that became a smash
hit in modern India. The epic poem describes events that took place around
5,000 BC in a place called bhaarata. It describes the appearance and adventures
of Lord Krishna, a Hindu diety also known as the eighth incarnation of
Vishnu, preserver of the universe. The climax of the story is a gigantic
battle lasting 18 days. The Mahabharata is a powerful and important religious,
spiritual, and historical document that contains many of the most fundamental
concepts of modern Hinduism. It continues to have a profound effect on
Hindu philosophy and culture. A talk about the Mahabharata, with interesting
selections http://wmblake.com/stories/mahabharata/ More Mahabharata pages http://homepages.go.com/homepages/a/n/e/aneesh33/Mahabharata.htm http://www.indiaheritage.com/creative/litra/mhabarat.htm Who was first to recognize Saturn's rings? Although Galileo Galilei was the first to see the rings of Saturn,
his telescope did not provide a very good view and he did not correctly
interpret them. He thought he was seeing two smaller planets just touching
the central planet. When the rings became edge-on to Earth, Galileo was
confused by the sudden disappearance of the two "side planets." For many
years, Saturn was a mystery. The strange side protruberances came to be
called ansae (handles), but no one could explain what they were, or why
they sometimes disappeared. The first correct interpretation of Saturn's
rings was by the Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens [KRIS-chan HOW-kenz]
in 1656. For some time, Huygens kept his discovery a secret, while he finished
other projects. Finally, in 1658 he revealed the secret, then explained
it more fully in his 1659 book, "Systema Saturnium." More about Huygens
and Saturn http://www.sil.si.edu/DigitalCollections/HST/Huygens/
huygens-introduction.htm More Facts about Saturn http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/06/27.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/10/22.html How did the football huddle get started?When players of American
football want to talk about the next play, they form a "huddle" in which
they all face inward in a tight group. But the huddle has not always been
part of the game. Prior to the 1890s, football players just stood around
discussing the play, far enough away from the other team that they could
not be overheard. The huddle was invented by Paul Hubbard, quarterback
for Gallaudet University's Bisons. Gallaudet was a university for deaf
people, and the players used sign language to discuss strategy. The tight
huddle was a way to hide the sign language from anyone on the opposing
team who might be able to understand it. More about Paul Hubbard and the
Gallaudet Bisons http://www.gallaudet.edu/~sports/bisonbeat/huddle.html The Gallaudet Bisons still play today http://www.gallaudet.edu/~sports/football.html What kind of mushrooms melt into black ink? When they reach maturity, several kinds of mushrooms in the genus
Coprinus begin to deliquesce, or dissolve into black, inky fluid. After
a few hours, all that's left is a patch of dark moisture. These mushrooms,
called inky caps, have evolved this strange trait as a way of spreading
their spores. When rain falls, the black fluid (which contains billions
of spores) is diluted and carried away. As the rain and fluid soaks into
the ground, the spores are carried with it. Coprinus mushrooms include
the common, edible shaggy mane mushroom (Coprinus comatus), which is often
seen in lawns in the autumn, as well as other smaller mushrooms that inhabit
decaying wood or dung or pop up in flowerpots. (Warning: do not eat wild
mushrooms! Many wild mushrooms are poisonous, and resemble edible species.)
Various kinds of inky cap mushrooms http://www.mykoweb.com/BAF/species/Coprinus_comatus.html http://www.cinenet.net/users/velosa/newpages/Coprinus_plicatilis.html http://www.mykoweb.com/BAF/species/Coprinus_micaceus.html http://www.kwic.com/~pagodavista/inkcap.html Today's Word is deliquesce http://www.cool-word.com/archive/2000/01/06.html More Facts about mushrooms http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/01/26.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/08/17.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/09/10.html What's the world's northernmost capital city? The northernmost capital city in the world is Iceland's capital,
Reykjavik, which is also one of the world's newest capitals, incorporated
in the late 19th century. Reykjavik means "smoky bay," but the city is
no longer smoky. Like the rest of highly volcanic Iceland, Reykjavik is
now almost entirely powered by hydrothermal energy, provided by hot rock
just under the city. The city's points of interest include the Hallgrimskirkja,
a church designed to look like a gigantic pile of lava, named after Iceland's
favorite poet, Hallgrimur Petursson. Also in Reykjavik is a theater called
the Volcano Show, featuring fascinating programs about the local geology.
More about Reykjavik and Iceland http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/eur/ice.htm Reykjavik's own home page http://www.rvk.is/ More Facts about Iceland http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/03/02.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/05/02.html How old is the practice of branding livestock? The practice of branding animals (permanently marking them by applying
a heated tool) is ancient indeed. The earliest clear evidence of branding
comes from Egyptian tomb paintings 4,000 years old, but the practice probably
began much earlier than that. Cave paintings 7,000 years old show bison
with markings on the flanks, possibly to indicate ownership. When humans
first began to herd animals, it became worthwhile to identify the ownership
of each animal. The first prehistoric brands were probably made by nomadic
herdsmen with burning wooden sticks. Later, red-hot iron tools were used
to draw or stamp the designs onto the animals. When Spaniards began to
colonize the New World, they brought the practice of branding with them,
and developed it further. Ranch cattle brands evolved into a complex language
with technical terminology and multi-symbol phrases that carried specific
meanings. More about livestock brands http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/CC/auc1.html http://www.barbwiremuseum.com/cattlebrandhistory.htm Today's Word is brand http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1999/01/08.html Why is there no "Q" or "Z" on many telephones? The telephone's pad of twelve buttons reflects its history. There
are three letters on most buttons, except for zero, one, octothorp (#)
and the star symbol (*), which have no letters. "Q" and "Z" are usually
missing from the list. Why? Instead of twelve buttons, telephones used
to have circular plates with ten holes numbered from zero to nine. To make
phone numbers easier to remember, the phone companies assigned letters
to the numbers, so people could remember mnemonics like "Charleston" for
C-H instead of the first two digits of a number. Of the ten digits, zero
was already used to dial the operator and one was used for internal phone
company signals. That left eight numbers to which letters could be assigned.
Three letters per number took care of 24 of the alphabet's 26 letters,
and the least common letters "Q" and "Z" were left out, but not forever.
Many telephones now show "Q" on the seven button, and "Z" on the nine button.
Early work on dial telephone systems http://www.privateline.com/Switching/EarlyWork.html The history of the telephone http://www.privateline.com/TelephoneHistory/History1.htm Today's Word is asterisk, another name for the star symbol http://www.cool-word.com/archive/2000/01/02.html Octothorp is also a Word http://www.cool-word.com/archive/1999/08/04.html What are the oldest seeds that sprouted? The oldest known viable seeds were found in 1954 in a lemming burrow
in Canada's frigid Yukon. The burrow, which was buried in silt and sediment,
had been frozen since the last ice age. The arctic tundra lupine seeds
(Lupinus arcticus) were found with lemming remains that were at least 10,000
years old. When they were placed in favorable conditions, several seeds
sprouted within 48 hours. One of the plants later bloomed. Other cases
of extremely old seeds that sprouted include a 3400-year-old bean from
the tomb of Tutankhamun and water lily seeds that were found with a canoe
that had been buried in a bog near Tokyo for more than 3000 years. A page
about the ancient lupine seeds http://www.nature.ca/notebooks/english/arclupin.htm More about Canada's arctic lupine, a beautiful wildflower http://rbcm1.rbcm.gov.bc.ca/nh_papers/nativeplants/lupinus.html More Facts about very old living things http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/03/31.html http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/07/03.html
