When was the compass invented? The compass was invented in China in the 4th century BC. However, it wasn’t used for navigation until over a thousand years later, also in China. A compass works because our planet has a magnetic field. The magnetic field is generated by the spinning ball of iron at the center […]
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What caused the US dust bowl? The dust bowl was caused by a combination of factors including bad farming practices, drought, high winds, and the economy. The dust bowl was named in 1935 by a reporter called Robert Geiger, but it was a phenomenon that had started in 1930, with causes going back long before
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Why are there only the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal? There are only the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal because they are at the two points in the world where shipping distances can be greatly reduced. No other canal would make enough of a difference to be worth the price of building it.
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Why are deserts cold at night? Deserts get so cold at night because sand doesn’t retain heat, the air is very dry, there is no cloud cover, and deserts are not usually close to any large bodies of water. Deserts are obviously famous for being extremely hot and if you are lost in a desert,
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Why do Monarch butterflies migrate so far? Monarch butterflies migrate for thousands of kilometers because they can’t survive the cold winters. We know that many species of birds navigate when the weather gets too cold. We are familiar with seeing different bird species in the summer and the winter where we live and we know
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Why are there so many camels in Australia? There are so many camels in Australia because they were shipped over to make exploring the interior and laying telegraph lines easier. When you think of camels, you probably think of hot African desert countries, probably around the Sahara Desert. Well, you are not wrong. The country
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What is a supervolcano? A supervolcano is a volcano that has had an eruption, or has the potential of an eruption, that is an 8 on the volcanic explosive index. We have scales to measure the size of hurricanes, the strength of earthquakes, and many other things. Well, there is a scale to measure the
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Why can warm air carry more moisture? Warm air can carry more moisture because more water evaporates when the air is warm and there is more space between the water molecules to hold that moisture. Saying that warm air “holds” more water is a little bit inaccurate because the air doesn’t actually hold the water.
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Why are the White Cliffs of Dover white? The White Cliffs of Dover are white because they are made of white chalk, which is a type of limestone. The White Cliffs of Dover are a very famous symbol of the UK. During the Second World War they were often sung about because when pilots crossed
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Is category 5 the strongest a hurricane can be? A category 6 hurricane is possible, but not with the current method of measuring hurricanes. The hurricane category system is called the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. As the name suggests, it was invented by two people called Saffir and Simpson. Herbert Saffir was a civil engineer and
#1102 Is category 5 the strongest a hurricane can be? Read More »
