Do You Know Why are the Asteroids like Small Planets?

CREDIT: oday.ucf.edu

Asteroids are smaller than any of the planets and measuring up to 900 km (560 miles) across. Asteroids are small rocky or icy bodies that orbit the Sun.  Smaller rocks are called meteors. They are sometimes called minor planets. Most asteroids are found in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter, and more than 7,000 of them have been identified.

The term asteroid is usually applied to objects that are larger than 1.6 kilometers in diameter. One asteroid, called Ida, has a tiny moon all of its own. This is the smallest known satellite in the Solar System. Asteroids were probably formed at the same time as the planets.

Fact File:

CREDIT: cosmostv.org

Many asteroids have struck the Earth already, and many scientists believe that such an impact resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.

Do You Know Why does it Floods?

If it rains hard and long enough, low lying areas are at risk of flooding. It is a natural occurrence caused by heavy rain.  Flooding is caused by too much rain in too little time.  Human activity influences the frequency and severity of floods, but they are created by Mother Nature.

According to Frank Richards, a National Weather Service hydrologist (a water scientist), "There's more water flowing through the hydrological system than the system can draw off, A flood is an imbalance."

There are two basic  types of floods, Regular River Flood- water slowly climbs over the edges of the river. Flash Flood- when a wall of water quickly sweeps over an area.

Extra water has to go somewhere. Our creeks have a limit of how much water it can hold. When too much rain fall in  just a little time, creeks naturally overflow onto the floodplain. Floodplains are the areas along streams or rivers that are likely to experience repeated flooding. Over thousands of years, nature shaped the floodplain to hold excess water that spills over the banks. Floodplains are designed by nature to flood.

Homes and buildings were often built in floodplains because water was easily available for drinking or commercial uses, floodplain land is often flat and easier to develop than hilly land. It is important to regulate development in higher-risk areas.

Credit: Flood Factors Diagram

A number of factors can contribute to flooding:

• Heavy, intense rainfall

• over-saturated soil, when the ground can't hold any more water.

• High river, stream or reservoir levels caused by the unusually large amounts of rain

• Urbanization, or lots of buildings and parking lots

• Ice jams in rivers

• Frozen soil

• Run-off from a deep snow cover

References:

The Hows and Whys of Floods

Why does it Flood?

Why do Meteors sometimes crash into the Earth?

Credit: astro.lu.se

It is called a meteor  or a shooting star if a lump of  rock or metal burns up before it reaches the ground. It is a meteorite if a large meteor that does not burn up as it plunges through the Earth's atmosphere. As it hits the ground, it travels so fast and shatters into pieces. It causes huge shock waves as it lands. The impact crater in the picture above is to be found at Wolf Creek, Australia, and was caused by a huge meteorite or small asteroid. The amount of energy released would be equivalent to hundreds of nuclear weapons.

Credit:ircamera.as.arizona.edu

The asteroid belt lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. It is thought that this maybe the shattered remains of a planet that has been destroyed by Jupiter's enormous gravity.

Do You Know Why Turkeys are so Fascinating Bird on Thanksgiving ?

Credit: greennature.com

Time to slice up a turkey, unfasten your jeans and watch your favorite show on TV on Thanksgiving.  Whatever your family rituals is, Turkey Day traditions have profound roots in American history.  Do you ask yourself why? Why are they fascinating? Based on my research, here’s the top 10 remarkable facts about this bird. So prepare yourself to gobble! Gobble! 

1. Periscopic Vision-  the turkey  has a 360-degree field of vision by rotating its head, eyes are on the sides of its head.

2. Stones in their stomachs- its stomach is called the gizzard that contains tiny stones known as gastroliths which help in the breakdown of food for digestion, since birds do not have teeth.

3. Wild turkeys can fly- at the speed of up to 55 miles per hour (89 kilometers per hour) but commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.

4. Make you sleepy- its  meat contains tryptophan, an amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain that helps regulate sleep.

5. Sleep in the trees- prefers to sleep  on top of tree branches where it is safe from its predators. They like oak trees.

6. Do not have external ear structures- turkey have small holes in their head, very keen sense of hearing and can locate sounds from afar even miles away.

7. Turkeys have heart attacks-  dropped dead with heart attacks when the United States Air Force was doing experiment runs and breaking the sound barricade close by.

8. Female turkeys don't gobble-they talk through clucks and little, chirp-like noises.Male turkeys are called gobblers. They can be heard a mile away on a silent day.

9. They blush-when terrified, disturbed, thrilled or sick, the uncovered skin on its head and neck can change from its usual pale pink or bluish gray color to red, white, or blue.

10. Benjamin Franklin adored turkeys- he wrote a letter to his daughter and quote, “the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America. Eagles have been found in all countries, but the turkey was peculiar to ours..."

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Aves

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

Gray, 1840

Subfamily: Meleagridinae

Genus: Meleagris

Linnaeus, 1758

Species

M. gallopavo

M. ocellata

How terrific is that? Let’s gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

Sources: 
8 Terrific Turkey Facts | Turkey Bird