What is the difference between a forest, a wood, and a copse? These days, the difference is in the size, but it wasn’t always that way. Let’s look at all three of them. What is a copse? These days a copse is defined as a small group of trees. There is no defined size or […]
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What are runes? Runes were a series of alphabets used by the Germanic peoples between approximately AD 150 and the 17th century. The word “rune” comes from the Proto-Germanic word “runo” and means “secret, mystery, secret conversation”. This name possibly comes from the legend that the ability to read runes was given to the Norse
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Why do cars only have five gears? They actually don’t. Some cars have 4 and some cars have 6 or 7. Modern cars have an infinite number and electric cars don’t have any. Most manual cars have five gears, but that doesn’t mean all cars have five. However, five is the most common number because
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How high can a plane and helicopter fly? The world record for the highest a plane has managed to fly after taking off from the ground is 123,523 feet, or 37,649 meters. (The record stipulates taking off from the ground because planes that have flown higher than this are basically rockets with wings that have
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How is sewage treated? There are several different methods, but sewage generally goes through four steps before the water is safe enough to drink. Sewage isn’t only the wastewater from our toilets. It can be other wastewater from our houses, containing soaps and household products. It can also be industrial wastewater, containing chemicals and other
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How does a speedometer work? By translating the speed of the wheel’s rotation into a magnetic field. These days, electronic speedometers are becoming more common, but mechanical ones are still the norm. Let’s look at mechanical ones first. The mechanical speedometer has a dial that sits in the dashboard and miles or kilometers around the
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Why is a strike called a “strike”? Because sailors in 1768 struck their ships. To strike a ship means to take off its topsail, making the ship incapable of movement. The word “stricken” comes from the same place. As in, the ship was stricken on the rocks. On a ship, the command to take down
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What is an anchorite? An anchorite or an anchoress were people who were walled into a small cell built into a church so that they could carry out a life of prayer and religious contemplation. Anchorites were men and anchoresses were women. The great majority of anchorites were actually women. Studies of the archives have
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How does a naval mine work? There are several different kinds of mine that are intended for different targets and there are several different detonation mechanisms depending on the age of the mine and the cost. Naval mines have existed since explosives were discovered. The first naval mines were used in China in the 14th
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Why does the USA use the dollar? Because, in the early days of the American colonies, the Spanish dollar was more prevalent than the British pound. There are twenty countries around the world that have a dollar as their currency. The symbol for the majority of them is the $ sign with possibly letters before
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