How quickly are the continents moving apart? Our continents are moving apart at a rate of 2.5 cm every year. The surface of Earth is divided up into 15 tectonic plates. There are seven major plates and eight minor ones. The major plates are named after the continents that are on them: African, Antarctic, Eurasian, […]
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Why is New York called New York? New York is called New York because it was named in honor of the British Duke of York. Before European people colonized the Americas, the Algonquian speaking Native Americans lived in the area where New York is now. The Algonquian speaking people were the largest indigenous group in North
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When were latitude and longitude invented? Latitude in about 600 BC and longitude in AD 1736. Latitude are the horizontal lines that measure your distance to the north or the south of the equator. Longitude are the vertical lines that measure your distance to the east or west of 0, which has been set as
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Why do we say north, east, south, and west? The cardinal directions north, east, south, and west came about because of the position of the sun in the sky. Nobody has any idea when the idea of cardinal directions came about. Early civilizations would have had no need for directions such as north and south
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How did the Polynesians navigate? They used star compasses, maps of waves made using sticks, clouds, the color of the sky, and birds. From about 5,000 years ago, groups of people started to spread out from Taiwan into South East Asia. These were the people we call Polynesians. By 1200 AD, they had spread across
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Why are diamonds so expensive? Because we believe they should be expensive, not because they are rare. We think that diamonds are expensive because they are rare, but they are not as rare as we think. Diamond is a structure made of carbon atoms that are arranged in a crystal structure. Diamond is one of
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How do fossils form? They form when the bones of an animal are turned to mineral. A fossil forms when an animal dies in water or falls into water. This water is more commonly an ocean or a lake because for a fossil to form, the sediment at the bottom of the water has to
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Can we cover the Sahara Desert in solar panels? Technically, yes. Practically, no. The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert in the world. It covers 9.2 million km2, which would make it the fifth largest country in the world, if it were a country. It is one of the most exposed areas on Earth
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How long has the Sahara been a desert? Possibly for 4.6 million years, but maybe as long as 7 million years., The Sahara goes through a 41,000-year cycle. The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert on Earth. The largest deserts are actually the Antarctic and the Arctic deserts. The Sahara is 9.2 million square
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Where did the names of the continents come from? Generally, from Greek and Latin. There are seven continents and one continent that is almost completely underwater. In order of size, the continents are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia. The submerged eighth continent is Zealandia. The only part of Zealandia that
#313 Where did the names of the continents come from? Read More »
