What causes a drought? At its simplest, a drought happens when an area has less water than it normally needs, often because of a lack of precipitation. Some droughts are meteorological, meaning there is not enough rain. Some are agricultural, meaning the soil is too dry for crops. Some are hydrological, meaning rivers, lakes, reservoirs, […]
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What was the Zimmerman telegram? The Zimmerman telegram was the device the US used as an excuse to join World War 1. World War 1 started in 1914 and lasted until November of 1918. The German forces moved quickly, but very soon, both sides were bogged down in trenches and it became a war of
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Why do some animals live in groups and others don’t? Prey animals that live in groups tend to do so for safety. Predators that live in groups tend to do so because it makes them better hunters. Some animals might also live in groups to keep warm, or because it makes it easier to find
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How does a revolving restaurant work? Only the outer dining platform rotates. The central core stays still. Revolving restaurants are usually located on the roof of buildings or at the top of towers. Diners can sit at tables around the outside of the restaurant and enjoy their meal as it slowly rotates. This allows them
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Are all birds waterproof? No, not all birds are waterproof in the same way. Some birds are extremely waterproof, some are only water resistant, and some have feathers that are partly wettable because that helps them dive. Birds that live on water usually need very good waterproofing. Ducks are a good example. Ducks can fly
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What causes a beer belly? A beer belly isn’t so much caused by beer as it is caused by excess calories, along with hormones and genetics that dictate where your body stores the fat. Our bodies have evolved to store any excess calories that we consume as fat. We are not the only animals to
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What was the Cadaver Synod? The Cadaver Synod was the trial of the deceased pope, Formosus, in Rome in 897, demonstrating the level of corruption and politics that existed in the Roman Catholic church at the time. The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic and resides in the Vatican City. Today, he is
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What are electrolytes? Electrolytes are essential minerals that can carry an electric charge when they are dissolved in water. Our bodies need electrolytes because they serve a number of functions and the lack of those functions would shut us down. Electrolytes manage the flow of water in and out of cells to prevent dehydration or
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Why do we use so many Latin abbreviations in English? These abbreviations didn’t begin as English, but were abbreviations used in Latin writing to save time. They gradually took on meanings of their own and entered the English language. Today, a lot of people (myself included) don’t know what the original Latin expression was or
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How do sailing ships sail against the wind? To sail against the wind, sailing ships use a combination of techniques. They angle themselves to increase aerodynamic lift, they use an underwater keel, and they use a zigzag motion called tacking. No one knows when sails were discovered, but the earliest known image of a sail
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