What shape is the Earth? The Earth is not a perfect sphere, it is an irregularly shaped ellipsoid. Another word for ellipsoid that is often used is oblate spheroid. An ellipsoid, or an oblate spheroid, is a sphere that is slightly wider along one of its axes than another. If you are blowing glass and […]
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How does a two-way mirror work? There is a screen on one side of the mirror that reflects most of the light but allows some of it to pass through. Two-way mirrors were invented in 1903. We often see them used in police movies, where the detectives are watching a criminal on the other side
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Are big leaves better than small leaves? It depends on where the plant is, the temperature, the amount of water, the altitude, the amount of UV light, and several other factors. Not all plant leaves are green, but all plants have leaves. Those leaves can be big, small, long, short, fat, thin, and many other
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When did diplomatic immunity start? Diplomatic immunity was recognized in law from 1709 in Britain, but some sort of immunity has existed since the beginning of civilization. Diplomatic immunity is recognized by almost every country in the world, at the moment. It was enshrined in international law at the Vienna Convention in 1961. This convention
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What is the fastest insect? The fastest flying insect is the dragonfly and the fastest running insect is the Australian tiger beetle. The Australian tiger beetle is the fastest insect on land. It can run at 2.5 m per second, which works out to 9 km/h. That doesn’t sound terribly fast and most of us
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Why does the corpse plant smell so bad? They produce the scent of rotting meat to attract insects that feed and lay their eggs on decaying animals as pollinators. “Corpse plant” is just a nickname. The flower’s real name is Amorphophallus titanium, which is made up of the three Greek words “amorphos” (misshapen), “phallos” (phallic),
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When did people first use mirrors? People have been using mirrors since 8,000 years ago, but the modern mirror that we use today was invented in 1835. The first mirrors that people used were presumably puddles of water. Other than water, there are not really any natural mirrors. If we want to use a mirror,
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Why doesn’t honey spoil? Honey doesn’t spoil because it has almost no water in it, because it is a little acidic, and because it has antimicrobial compounds in it. When food spoils, it is usually because microbes like bacteria or fungi start to feed on it. The only goal bacteria have is to reproduce themselves
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How do snakes use their tongues? They flick them in and out to pick up chemicals off the ground and from the air. Snakes are not the only reptiles that use their tongues to detect things. Lizards have the same kind of tongue that they use to monitor the environment around them. A lot of
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How big could a plane or helicopter be? Theoretically, there is no limit so long as there is a strong enough material and enough thrust can be produced. Practically, there are no materials strong enough to make planes or helicopters much larger than they already are. The largest helicopter in the world at the moment
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