ShaKno

Curiosity didn't kill the cat !

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Antarctica is a desert

Antarctica is considered a desert because the region receives little rain and snowfall.

Antarctica is the fifth largest continent on Earth, with more land area than both Europe and Australia, it is approximately 5.5 million square miles in land area. 

What defines a desert?

A very dry area that did not receive any rain for a minimum of 12 straight months or

An arid area that receives less than 10 inches of rain every year

Other than lack of rain, another reason for aridity is due to high evaporation and transpiration rates. 

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Hydrogen oxide

The simple systematic name for water, H2O.

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Apple + Pear = Nashi

Nashi pear [Pyrus pyrifolia] is a species of pear tree native to East Asia.

The tree's edible fruit is known by many names, including: Asian pear, Chinese pear, Korean pear, Japanese pear, Taiwanese pear, and sand pear.

The fruits are not generally baked in pies or made into jams because they have a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture, very different from the European varieties.

The fruit tends to be quite large and fragrant, and when carefully wrapped, it can last for several weeks or more in a cold, dry place.

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Pineberries

Pineberry is an albino strawberry cultivar with a pineapple-like flavor, white coloring, and red seeds.

The first commercial cultivation occurred in 2010 in the Netherlands and Belgium.

A pineberry is smaller than a common strawberry, measuring between 15 to 23 mm (0.6 to 0.9 in). When ripe, it is almost completely white, but with red "seeds" (achenes).

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Max Volume = 194dB

The loudness of a sound we hear is determined by the amplitude of the pressure waves and is limited by the fact that eventually, the low pressure point hits zero pressure ---> at 194dB.

We often measure loudness using a unit called the decibel (named after Alexander Graham Bell).

Louder sounds have a larger oscillation between the low and high pressure sections of the wave (loud sounds have higher high-pressure and lower low-pressure parts than quiet sounds).

For sounds through the air on Earth’s surface, the average of the high-pressure and low-pressure parts of the wave is our normal atmospheric pressure (what we call 1 “atmosphere” of pressure). So a sound wave might have a high pressure component of 1.0001 atmospheres and a low pressure component of .9999 atmospheres, and a louder sound might be 1.01/.99 instead—but in both cases, the average of the two is 1 atmosphere.

Depending on where you are, sound has a hard maximum. The reason is that sound isn’t a thing in itself (it’s a pressure wave moving through a medium). And since the average of the high and low pressure points of a sound wave has to be the normal pressure of the medium, loudness is limited by the fact that eventually, the low pressure point hits zero pressure. The wave alternates between double the normal atmospheric pressure and no air at all, a vacuum, not something you want to be present for ). Since the low pressure can’t go any lower, that’s the max amplitude of a sound wave on the Earth’s surface and the loudest a sound can be here.

One thing to keep in mind is that with decibels, each increase of 10 dB multiplies the sound intensity, or the power, of the wave by ten. But a 10x increase in power only sounds about 2x as loud to our ears, so for our purposes, the 2x increase is more relevant. So 20 dB is twice as loud as 10 dB, 30 dB is four times as loud as 10 dB, and 80 dB is 128 times louder than 10 dB.

(Source)

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Hungarian origins in Siberia

It is thought that Hungarian language separated from its Ugric relatives in the first half of the 1st millennium b.c.e., in western Siberia, east of the southern Urals.

Source_1 and Source_2

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Vitamin K

Without Vitamin K, blood coagulation is seriously impaired, and uncontrolled bleeding occurs.

Vitamin K [german: Koagulationsvitamin] is a group of structurally similar, fat-soluble vitamins the human body requires for complete synthesis of certain proteins that are prerequisites for blood coagulation and which the body also needs for controlling binding of calcium in bones and other tissues. 

Vitamin K1 was identified in 1929 by Danish scientist Henrik Dam.

Low levels of vitamin K also weaken bones and promote calcification of arteries and other soft tissues. 

Vitamin K1 - directly involved in photosynthesis - is synthesized by plants, and is found in highest amounts in green leaves, and dark green leafy vegetables such as romaine lettuce, kale and spinach.

Supplemental vitamin K (for which oral dosing is often more active than injectable dosing in human adults) reverses the vitamin K deficiency caused by warfarin, and therefore reduces the intended anticoagulant action of warfarin and related drugs.

The action of vitamin K requires two to five days after dosing to have maximum effect, and doesn’t show much effect in the first 24 hours after it is given.

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Voltage is a difference in electrical potential energy, per unit of charge, between two points.

Afrotechmods

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Cat Bunting

Why do cats bump their heads against you? Well, that unexpected butting of her head is commonly called head bunting, and there’s a perfectly good reason for it.

This feline behavior is, at heart, your kitty’s way of bonding. She may head bunt with you as well as with other humans — or even dogs or other cats. Bunting is a cat’s communication method of showing affection for others. By rubbing this body part against one of yours, she is identifying you as one of her friends.

It’s a Scent Thing Too

Cats’ sense of smell is an important tool in their day-by-day living. They use this sense for social interaction, marking territories and communicating. And get this: Scent glands are located on many parts of the feline body — forehead, tail, cheeks, chin skin, lips and paw pads.

Scent communication is not only kitty’s way of marking her territory — it also provides her with  a comforting familiarity to her surroundings. Cats often scent-mark things that are most important to them.

(source: http://www.petful.com/behaviors/why-cats-bump-their-heads-against-you/)   

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