Interesting Facts About Snails

• Snails' bodies produce a thick slime. Because of this slime, they can crawl across the edge of a razor and not get hurt.

• Some snails have been known to live up to 15 years.

• Snails are hermaphrodites which means that they have both male and female reproductive organs.
  

• Snails usually travel in irregular paths, often traveling in a circle.

• Snails reply mainly on their sense of touch and smell when finding food because they have very poor eyesight.

• Snails cannot hear.

• Snails can retract one or both of their tentacles at a time.

• Because of the suction created by their slime, a snail can crawl upside down.

• Snails are nocturnal animals which means they are more active at night.

• Garden Snails mainly eat garden plants and vegetables, but they will also eat decaying plants and soil.
  

• The fastest snails are the speckled garden snails which can move up to 55 yards per hour compared 23 inches per hour of most other land snails.

• Garden snails hibernate during the winter and live on their stored fat.

• Garden snails breathe with lungs.

• Garden snails evolved from sea snails about 600 million years ago.

• The garden snail is cooked and eaten as a delicacy called escargot

• May 24th is National Escargot Day

• World's largest snail is the Australian trumpet (Syrinx aruanus), a sea species from the shores of northern and western Australia which can grow up to 77.2 cm (30 inches) in shell length, while the flesh

• weighs up to 18 kg (40lbs).

• The longest snail is Parenteroxenos doglieli, a parasite in the body cavity of the sea cucumber.

• Cymbium proboscidalis, from the shores of West Africa, grows up to 7-8 kg (15-17 pounds) and the body is so large that the shell remains like a beanie. Brought on ground, the snail's weight decreases to a quarter. Locals make from this snail a dish called tibuden, adding rice and fish. Some sea rabbits (which are sea snails lacking a shell) can be 30 cm (1 ft) long and weigh 6.5 kg (14 pounds).

• The largest snail you could see in your garden is the Giant African Snail or Tiger Snail (Achatina achatina), which can be 30 cm (1 ft) long. Giant Apple Snail (Pomacea maculata) is the largest freshwater snail, with a shell 15 cm (0.5 ft) and weighing 600 g (1.5 pounds).

• Garden snails have up to 14,175 teeth! They are all located on their tongue (radula).

• The snails Littoraria irrorata on the eastern shores of US farm! They bite the stems of sea grass to weaken them, and then they fertilize the place with their feces. This way they favor the development of a fungus on which they feed.

• French researchers discovered that the digestive secretions of the garden snail are effective against stomach ulcer. 10 mg of this powder led to a decrease by 42 % of the human stomach acidity. The product was also effective against chronic bronchitis.

• The snail slime was found by American researchers to be an excellent scaring factor. Snail slime is also used in some beauty products...

• Most ground snails are peaceful veggies (well, not exactly all), but the marine species can be top predators of the sea. They are armed with a harpoon like weapon (named toxoglossan radula, snails modified "tongue") injecting a deadly venom into their victims.

• This way, they can catch in a fraction of a second fish "for dinner". Some of these venoms are the most potent on the planet, like in the case of the predatory marine snail Conus magus, from coral reefs. They can grow up to 23 cm in length and eat from marine worms, small fish, mollusks (clams and other marine snails, including other cone snails.

• Its poison has a greater power than morphine, but it acts in an entirely different way. Some cone snails can kill a human being with their venom.

• The snail venom impairs a particular type known as N-type calcium channels, crucial in determining some kinds of pain sensations. A pharmaceutical company has developed synthetic chemicals that also inhibit N-type calcium channels, decreasing pain. These new drugs could be employed to shut off persistent acute pain where other painkillers have not succeeded, or are not recommended, like in the case of patients with cancer or other very severe conditions.

• In some areas, like New Guinea, the shells of sea snails were used for long as currency!

• Some sea snail produce sulfuric acid which they use for dissolving the shells of the clams on which they feed... No need the mentions this is the most potent acid of all.

• Because of their moist skin, common snails are most active in damp weather and at night.

• Common snails have pale grey moist skin. At the front end are four tentacles, the shorter two are for feeling and the longer pair are eye stalks. The shell of these snails is light brown with darker brown bands following the spiral of the shell. The shell colouration varies in its intensity from pale yellow to almost black.

• They are common and widespread in Britain and Europe.

• Common snails live in varied habitats. They are often found in gardens, parks, forests and dunes.

• They are herbivores and feed on decaying vegetation, algae, fungi, lichens and plant leaves. As a part of their herbivorous diet they often feed on garden plants and are considered by some to be pests. Common snails have a symbiotic bacteria in their crop that enables them to digest cellulose - they have been known to feed on damp paper and cardboard.

• Because of their moist skin, common snails are most active in damp weather and at night. When conditions become too dry, the snail will retreat into its shell and seal the entrance with a parchment-like barrier known as an epiphragm. Snails can often be found in this state under rocks in gardens or on a wall in a sheltered corner. When sealed away like this the snail goes into a state of suspended animation and can survive for several months without water.

• Common snails feed by scraping a ribbon-like tongue covered in horny teeth called a radula, over their food. This allows them to scrape algae and lichen from the surface of rocks and walls. You can sometimes see the trails they leave behind as they eat their way through the algae on a damp wall.

• Common snails, like all land snails, are hermaphrodites. This means that they possess both male and female reproductive organs. Despite this they still need to find another snail to mate with. When two snails meet during the breeding season (late spring or early summer), mating is initiated by one snail piercing the skin of the other snail with a calcified 'love dart'. The exact purpose of the 'love dart' is not fully understood but it seems to stimulate the other snail into exchanging small packets of sperm. After mating is complete the snails will produce eggs internally, which are fertilised by the sperm that has been exchanged.

• Up to about a month after mating the snail lays about a hundred small white eggs in a nest underground in damp soil. If the conditions remain suitable for the eggs, snails will begin to hatch after about 14 days. Newly hatched snails have a small fragile shell and it takes two years for them to reach maturity.

• Garden snails evolved from sea snails about 600 million years ago.

• The largest land snail ever found was 15 inches long and weighed 2 pounds!

• Snails' bodies produce a thick slime. Because of this slime, they can crawl across the edge of a razor and not get hurt.

• The largest land snail ever found was 15 inches long and weighed 2 pounds!

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Interesting Facts About Red Color

• Red also means "Beautiful" in Russian.

• The word "ruby" comes from the Latin word rubens, meaning "red".

• The color red doesn't really make bulls angry; They are color-blind.

• There are at least 23 different shades of red crayons.

• The red stripes on the United States Flag stand for courage.

• Chinese brides traditionally wear red wedding dresses for good luck.

• Seeing the color red can make your heart beat faster.

• As few as two percent of people in the United States have red hair.

• The color red is most often associated with power and passion. It is a fierce and emotionally intense color. Red symbolizes speed, sexuality, and style. Fast cars are red. Beautiful women wear red clothes and red lipstick. Red is also the color of romance and love. If you want to express your love for a woman with flowers, the flowers must be red. In all cases, whether red is worn by a woman, or used in home décor, it will always attract attention.

• Red often gives conflicting messages. Red means "stop" when used on a street light, but it means "go" when worn as lipstick or given as flowers. Red means danger when used on signs and fire extinguishers. Red means both romantic love and sexual lust. Red is the color of Communism, but it also symbolizes Christmas when mixed with the colors green, white, and gold.

• There are many variations of red: scarlet and vermilion are the shocking and extreme reds, while pink, maroon, and crimson are subtler reds.

• Fashion experts always recommend at least a splash of red when dressing for a job interview or any other important meeting, because red symbolizes power, decisiveness and leadership. In home décor, red is rarely used as a base color but often as highlights. One wall of a room may be painted red to create a feature wall that attracts attention. A sofa may be splashed with red cushions. A centerpiece of red flowers may be used for a special dinner event.

• Red is so intense a color that it doesn't suit everyone. A rule of thumb: drive a red car, but wear black. Red clothing has the effect of making a person look fuller than they really are. In all instances, red is an extreme color and should be chosen with caution.

• Light red represents joy, sexuality, passion, sensitivity, and love.

• Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine qualities and passiveness.

• Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership, courage, longing, malice, and wrath.

• Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

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Interesting Facts About J.K.Rowling

• Joanne "Jo" Rowling (born 31 July 1965), who writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author, best known as the creator of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies

• Joanne Kathleen (Kathleen is her favorite Grandma's name and is not actually her middle name) Rowling, brain behind the world famous "Harry Potter" lived in Chipping Sodbury from an early age and was born on July 31st 1965.

• JK Rowling wrote her first story at the age of six it was about a rabbit who gets the measles.

• From an early age all she ever wanted to do was write. She wrote her first book when she was 6 years old, called Rabbit but never finished anything.

• At present, she lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with her daughter Jessica, now age seven.

• She moved twice while growing up. The first move was from Yate to Winterbourne, just outside Bristol. In Winterbourne she was friends with a brother and sister whose surname was Potter. She says she always liked the name, and preferred it to her own because the children always made annoying jokes about rolling pins!

• The second move was when she was nine years old. Her family moved to Tutshill near Chepstow in the Forest of Dean. After attending Tutshill Primary School, she went to Wyedean Comprehensive School.. She describes herself as having been 'quite freckly, short-sighted and rubbish at sports'. Her favorite subject was English and foreign languages. At her school in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, she passed all her exams and was made head-girl. Her parents wanted her to be involved with foreign languages. She studied languages, more notably French, and Classics at Exeter university and became a French teacher. She still pursued her writing though in her spare time.

• In 1990, at the age of 26, she moved to Portugal to teach English. She says that she loved teaching English. She taught in the afternoons and evenings, leaving the mornings free for writing. At this time she was starting work on her third novel (the first two were never finished because she says they were 'very bad'). The new book was about a boy who found out he was a wizard and was sent off to wizard school.

• While in Portugal she met and married Portuguese journalist, Jorge Artantes. Their daughter, Jessica, was born in 1993. After her marriage ended in divorce, Rowling and her daughter moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, to be close to her younger sister, Di.

• She began the first Harry Potter book in 1990, it was finished in 1995 and it was finally published in 1997. Some publishing companies would not accept it until Bloomsbury took her on. Before she tried to get the first book published she mapped out the first seven books to get an idea of the events to come. J.K Rowling has made around millions from the series and they are her only published works.

• The Scottish Arts Council gave her a grant to finish the book and, after a number of rejections, she eventually sold Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone $4,000 to Bloomsbury Publishing Company.

• The book was published in the UK by Bloomsbury Children's Books in June 1997 (at the time of writing 1st editions of this book are on the market for upwards of 12,000 UK pounds/ USA $20,000!). Thereafter the accolades began to pile up. Harry Potter won The British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, and the Smarties Prize.

• In the USA, the title of the book was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The book was published in the USA in September 1998 by Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic Press.

• In 1997 she got her big break with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which won the 1997 Smarties Gold Award. It immediately topped the British and American charts and J.K. Rowling earned enough money to quit teaching and write full-time. She then had success with the second installment of Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. This won the 1998 Smarties Gold Award. The 3rd book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was also a huge success for J.K. Rowling. The 4th book was released on July 8th 2000, and has been one of the eagerly anticipated books of the year. Records have been broke for the number of books printed and sold on the first day of release.

• The sequel, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was published in the UK in July 1998 and in the USA in June 1999. The third book Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban was published in the UK in July 1999 and in the USA in September 1999.

• By Summer 2000, the first three books had sold over 35 million copies in 45 languages and earned approximately $480 million.

• In July 2000, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire had a first printing of 5.3 million copies with advance orders of over 1.8 million.

• This book of course is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She is to produce 2 more books in the Harry Potter series, one for each of the years Harry has remaining at Hogwarts. The fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, was released on June 21st 2003 and was even more anticipated than the last. Over 200 million copies have now been sold of all the books in over 200 countries and in 55 languages. There is no release day at the moment for the sixth book.

• Rowling was first writer to become billionaire.
  

• One joy of Rowling is not the originality of her ideas -- there are plenty of other novels with boy wizards and boarding schools -- but what she does with them. This is the story of an ethnic community in which everyone knows everyone else and where enmities formed at school are still there years later. The adult characters are every bit as interesting as the young protagonists and she constantly reminds you that they, too, were once children. Apart from a few over-the-top caricatures, such as the Dursleys, most of the characters, adult and child alike, are three-dimensional. In this one, even Aunt Petunia is presented more sympathetically than usual.

• Another delight is that in the midst of Wizard World War II, there is normal teen angst -- exams, friendships, the opposite sex (Harry gets his first kiss), who's on the team, who's going out with whom.

• She will be 39 years old this July and married Dr Neil Murray on Boxing Day 2001 at their home in Killiechassie House, Aberfeldy. Seven-bed roomed Killiechasse House has an estimated value of £1.5 million, it's own library (understandably) and a self-contained house in it's west wing. Jo also owns a London property in trendy Kensignton. She has one younger sister, Di, who is her biggest fan along with her daughter, Jessica, aged 10. She previously lived with Jessica in Edinburgh, having first moved there in 1993. Jo and Neil celebrated an addition to their family, when on March 23rd 2003, Jo gave birth to David Gordon Rowling-Murray at an Edinburgh hospital.

• JK Rowling reveals that Her favorite passage from the books is the chapter on the Mirror of Erised in Philosopher's Stone and the ending of Goblet of Fire is the part that she is most proud of. Her favorite book though is Chamber of Secrets but she thought Prisoner of Azkaban was the most fun to write.

• Though the seeds of Harry had been sown as early as 1990, Rowling didn't put all of the pieces together and start writing in earnest until the mid-1990s when she was living in Edinburgh, Scotland, raising her daughter, Jessica, alone. Not able to afford even a used typewriter -- let alone a computer -- Rowling wrote the earliest drafts of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in longhand. "I knew I wanted to get published. And, in truth, writing novels is something you have to believe in to keep going. It's a fairly thankless job when no one is paying you to do it. And you don't really know if it's ever going to get into the bookshops so I really did believe in it. But I was also very realistic. I knew the odds were not on my side because, an unknown author, you know? It's tough. It's tough the first time to get published, so I persevered. I loved writing it and I felt that I just had to try."

• The author has encouragement for others who would follow her path. "My feeling is, if you really want to do it, you will do it. You will find the time. And it might not be much time, but you'll make it. Obviously if you have homework or other activities, you're not going to have huge amounts of time but if you really want to, you'll do it."

• About her own writing, Rowling says that, in some ways, she just writes what she sees in her mind. "I have a very visual imagination. I see a situation and then I try to describe it as vividly as I can. And I do love writing dialog. Dialog comes to me as though I'm just overhearing a conversation."

• In 2007, J.K. was named 'Entertainer of the Year' by Entertainment Weekly on their 'Entertainers of the Year: 25 Top Stars of 2007' list.

• In 2006, J.K. was ranked 2nd on Forbes magazine's 'Top 20 Richest Women in Entertainment' list.

• J.K. was ranked #83 on the "Greatest Briton" list in a BBC poll.

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Interesting Facts About Tsunami

• A tsunami (pronounced soo-nah-mee) is a series of waves that is very long and occurs over a long period of time.

• Tsunami are often caused by earthquakes orunder water landslides. The word ‘tsunami’ is a Japaneseword that means ‘harbour wave’.

• A tsunami can travel great distances - 17,000km or more - a tsunami can be more than 100km in length. It can also travel very fast, atabout 400 km an hour in some cases.

• Everything about the tsunami is big, fast andwide. Tsunami are not normal waves and are not tidalwaves either; they are giant waves that move separatelyfrom the tides. Tsunami can occur at any time, day ornight.

• An earthquake began in the ocean. Two parts of the earth moved and ground against each other. This caused part of the earth to drop down and all the water dropped as well. The movement caused a big wave to start. The wave as so-o-o-o big that it traveled thousands of kilometers and got bigger and bigger and wider and wider until it began to hit countries and coastlines.

• There is usually more than one wave in a tsunami. Sometimes after the first wave has hit, people think it is allover and head back to the beach; this is a dangerous thing to do. More waves will keep on a coming for a few hours.

• All low lying coastal areas can be affected by tsunami.

• A tsunami is recorded on average in Australia every two years but they are usually too small to be noticed by people.

• Tsunamis occur frequently in Japan and over the centuries, many thousands of Japanese have been killed by them. Tsunamis are sometimes incorrectly called tidal waves but have nothing to do with tides.

• A tsunami can also be generated by an enormous meteor impact with the ocean. Scientists have found traces of an asteroid-collision event that they say would have created a giant tsunami that swept around the Earth several times, inundating everything except the mountains 3.5 billion years ago. The coastline of the continents was changed drastically and almost all life on land was exterminated.

• A tsunami is not a single wave but a series of waves, also known as a wave train. The first wave in a tsunami is not necessarily the most destructive.

• When the ocean is deep tsunamis can travel unnoticed on the surface at speeds up to 500 miles per hour (800 kilometers per hour), crossing the entire ocean in a day or less. Scientists are able to calculate arrival times of tsunamis in different parts of the world based on their knowledge of when the event that generated them occurred, water depths, and distances.

• Flooding can extend inland by a thousand feet (300 meters) or more. The enormous energy of a tsunami can lift giant boulders, flip vehicles, and demolish houses.

• While a tsunami cannot be prevented; it can be anticipated by being wary about the signs. Earthquakes are the main cause of this surge, so if you are near a body of water and a strong earthquake has occurred, chances are a tsunami is already building up.

• It is a common occurrence that if a tsunami does occur, a trough, or a draw back occurs first, then a dramatic receding of the water happens in the shoreline exposing even those parts not normally seen during low tides. After this event expect a dramatic surge in the form of fast climbing of the tides to maximum heights, this is the main wave and the best way to avoid it is, to get to a higher ground.

• Today, tsunami warning devices are already in use and are constantly worked on, for improvement. The most common device in use now is the bottom pressure sensors. These are attached to buoys and measure the pressure of the water. This is an accurate device that conveys if a tsunami is really on the way or if the earthquake did not do any shift in the water to produce a tsunami.

• A number of national and international organizations cooperate to provide tsunami information and early warnings of tsunamis, including the United Nations and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

• Many communities on the Pacific Coast of the United States participate in early warning systems like the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.

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Interesting Facts About Coal

• Coal was formed about 300 million years ago.

• Coal is a combustible mostly black sedimentary rock composed mostly of carbon and hydrocarbons.

• Coal takes a million years to create and therefore it belongs to non-renewable energy sources.

• Coal mining uses two methods: surface or underground mining where surface mining is more dominant method because it is less expensive than the underground mining.

• Coal is mostly transported by train.

• Coal as the other fossil fuels as well isn't ecologically acceptable because of CO2 and global warming.

• Coal is classified into four main types: lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, anthracite and the coal value is determined by the amount of the carbon it contains.

• Coal is mined in 27 US states.

• Coal is mainly used for generating electricity (more than 90 % of US coal).

• Coal usually has a negative impact on environment, mining can damage ground and surface waters and when coal burns as the fuel it releases CO2 which is the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming.

• Coal is so called "dirty" energy source because of its negative effect on environment.

• Coal could be the world's most attractive fuel in years to come thanks to the methods of coal purification which are resulting in more cleaner coal, removing sulfur and other dangerous elements.

• Coal is used on the large scale in China and USA.

• Coal can be answer for future only if technology will enable "ultra-clean" coal.

• Coal must be relatively dry before it can be burned successfully.

• World coal consumption is more than 5.3 billion tons annually of which three quarters are used for generating electricity.

• Coal was already used in the Bronze age (Britain).

• Coal's share in the total world electricity production is about 40 %.

• Coal deposits could be enough to satisfy current world energy needs for the next 300 years.

• Coal is getting more attention because of the increased prices of oil and natural gas.

• Coal can be converted like to gasoline or diesel by couple of different processes like for instance the Fischer-Tropsch process, Bergius process and Karrick process.

• Coal is the official state mineral of the Kentucky and official and the official state rock of Utah.

• Coal total reserves are approximately about 1 × 1015 kg or 998 billion tons.

• Coal is mined in more than 100 countries.

• Coal is the main reason for China's economic boost as for China's environmental problems.

• Coal is a combustible mineral formed from the remains of trees, ferns and other decayed plants that existed and died up to 400 million years ago in some cases.

• Coal has been used as an energy source for hundreds of years and was part of international trade in as long ago as the Roman Empire.

• Coal provided the energy which fueled the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century and also launched the electric era in the 20th Century.

• 37% of the electricity generated worldwide is produced from coal.

• Coal is by far the cheapest source of power fuel per million Btu, averaging less than half the price of petroleum and natural gas.

• The world's iron and steel industry depends on the use of coal.

• The value of coal produced in the United States each year is nearly $20 billion.

• Coal is directly responsible for the existence of more than 90,000 U.S. jobs and nearly one million jobs directly and indirectly.

• Coal mining has a combined direct and indirect impact of $161 billion annually on the U.S. economy. This is $596 for every U.S. citizen.

• The federal government receives more than $11 billion annually in taxes and fees from the coal industry.

• State and local governments receive nearly $9 billion each year in revenues.

• Developing countries' demand for coal will double through 2020, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

• Coal reserves are spread over almost 100 countries. Proven coal reserves are estimated to last over 200 years with current production rates. In contrast, proven oil and gas reserves are equivalent to around 40 and 60 years.

• America's coal is used primarily for the production of electricity.

• There were 315,000 Megawatts (net) of coal-based electrical generating capacity in the United States.

• Some 965 million tons of coal were consumed for the generation of electricity. This amounted to 86% of total U.S. coal production.

• Many large countries contain significant proven reserves of coal. While data quality varies widely, the countries with the greatest estimated recoverable reserves of coal are --

• United States 273 billion tons
• Russia 173 billion tons
• China 126 billion tons
• India 93 billion tons

• Australia 90 billion tons

• Coal was first discovered in what is now West Virginia in 1742 by John Peter Salley in what is now Boone County.

• McDowell County has produced more coal than any other county in West Virginia.

• The coal industry pays approximately $70 million in property taxes annually.

• The Coal Severance Tax adds approximately $214 million into West Virginia's economy.

• Twenty-four million dollars of coal severance taxes collected each year goes directly into the Infrastructure Bond Fund.

• All 55 counties, even the non-coal producing counties receive Coal Severance Tax funds.

• The coal industry payroll is nearly $2 billion per year.

• Coal is responsible for more than $3.5 billion annually in the gross state product.

• The United States produces about 20%, or 1.1 billion tons, of the world's coal supply—second only to China.

• The United States has about a 245-year supply of coal, if it continues using coal at the same rate at which it uses coal today.

• Montana is the state with the most coal reserves (119 billion tons). But Wyoming is the top coal-producing state—it produced about 400 million tons in 2004.

• Texas is the top coal-consuming state. It uses about 100 million tons each year.

• Coal ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, is used as filler for tennis rackets, golf balls, and linoleum.

• U.S. coal deposits contain more energy than that of all the world's oil reserves.

• Each person in the United States uses 3.8 tons of coal each year.

• Coal is the world's most abundant fossil fuel - more plentiful than oil and natural gas. It is second only to oil as a source of energy that we use. Coal is widely used because it's easily obtained, there's lots of it, it's well distributed throughout the world, and it has a high energy content.

• Coal has many important uses, but most significantly in electricity generation, steel and cement manufacture, and industrial process heating.

• Coal provides over 23% of global primary energy needs. It generates around 39% of the world's electricity. Almost 70% of total global steel production is dependent on coal.

• There are four main types of coal and all are found in Canada: anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite.

• There is more stored energy in Canadian coal than all the country's oil, natural gas, and oil sands combined.

• Canada exports about 28 million tonnes of coal annually to more than 20 countries.

• Canada ranks tenth in the world in total coal reserves with 4 billion tonnes of bituminous coal. That's coal covering a football field to a height of about 4,500 kilometers!

• U.S. coal deposits contain more energy than that of all the world’s oil reserves.

• Coal ash is used as filler for tennis rackets, golf balls, and linoleum.

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Interesting Facts About Nile River

• The Nile is famous as the longest river in the world. The river got its name from the Greek word Neilos, which means valley. The Nile floods the lands in Egypt, leaving behind black sediment. That's why the ancient Egyptians named the river Ar, meaning black and "Rivers of Life".

• The River Nile is about 6,670 km (4,160 miles) in length and is the longest river in Africa and in the world. Although it is generally associated with Egypt, only 22% of the Nile’s course runs through that country.

• The River Nile runs through Egypt, creating a fertile green valley across the dessert.

• It was by the banks that one of the oldest civilizations in the world began. The ancient Egyptians lived and farmed along the Nile, using the soil to produce food for themselves and their animals.

• The Nile and its tributaries flow through 10 distinct African nations: Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Eritrea and Burundi.

• The vast river system of the Nile includes two main tributaries: the White Nile (so named for its milky, silt-filled appearance), and the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile in Sudan on its way to the sea.

• The source of the White Nile is the springs of Mount Bigugu in Rwanda. The source of the Blue Nile is Sakala Springs above Lake Tana in Ethiopia, which contributes to more than 50 percent of the river’s flow. The water’s volume from the Blue Nile increases tremendously in the monsoon season, from July to September.

• The Nile flows south to north, beginning in the highlands of Ethiopia and Rwanda heading toward the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria, Egypt.

• Around 5000 B.C., the first great Egyptian civilization was founded in the northern Nile Valley. The Egyptians came to rely heavily on the Nile and its annual summer floods for irrigation, agriculture and transportation.

• The ancient Egyptians worshiped the Nile as one of their gods (the god Hapi) and made sacrifices solely for the Nile’s sake.

• The first dams were built on the Nile in 1861 in order to raise the river levels for easier navigation and increased irrigation. Major dams on the Nile today include Aswan Dam, Roseries Dam, Sennar Dam and Owen Falls Dam.

• Today the Nile remains a vital pathway that is essential to millions of African farmers. Egypt still imports 40 percent of its grain by means of the Nile.

• The entire Nile River Delta is estimated to drain an area of 1,293,000 square miles. This area is so vast that is has a number of different climate areas. North, in Egypt and Sudan, rainfall is sparse. More to the south, in and around Ethiopia, rainfall is heavy, contributing to the floodwaters that rush downstream and eventually create the wonderfully fertile soil that supports so much of life in Egypt and Sudan. Dams, the most notable being the Aswan High Dam, have been built along the route to prevent massive flooding of populated areas.

• The Nile River Delta is home to many species of animals, including crocodiles, turtles, baboons, wildebeest, and more than 300 species of birds, including fishing eagles, ibis, and the Nile Valley Sunbird.

• The people who lived along the Nile in ancient times used the river for agriculture and transportation. That hasn't changed, although the methods of agriculture and transportation have. Steam ships are still used in Egypt and Sudan, to transport goods.

• Only 22% of the river passes through Egypt, the other countries through which Nile passes are Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.

• The cities that Nile flows past are Cairo, Khartoum, Gondokoro, Aswan, Karnak, Thebes and the town of Alexandria.

• The source of the river is debatable since it is commonly known that the source of the river is Lake Victoria, which is the biggest lake in Africa, but it is observed that on the northern side of the lake there is a waterfall called Ripon Falls, which has a small opening and seemingly that is where the water in the River Nile comes from but then this cannot be held as the ultimate truth since there are many rivers that flow into Lake Victoria therefore which one of these or if all of them are the sources of The Nile. Presently River Kagera and its tributary, which is called Ruvubu whose headwaters are in Burundi, are considered to be the source of the River Nile.

• Nile also played an important in the building if the famous Pyramids since the blocks of stone, which were used to make these pyramids, were actually transported from the source to the site with the help of Nile.

• Its average discharge is 3.1 million litres (680,000 gallons) per second.

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Interesting Facts About Michael Phelps

• Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer and 14-time Olympic gold medalist (the most by any Olympian), who currently holds seven world records in swimming.

• Michael Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics; a total of eight, surpassing Mark Spitz

• Michael Phelps comes from a broken home in Baltimore. His policeman father Fred and school teacher mother Debbie separated when he was only seven. Elder sister Whitney, also a swimmer, has written that she used the swimming pool as a refuge from the yelling.

• When he was 10, Phelps attended the 1996 Olympic Trials to support sister Whitney. She finished sixth in the 200m butterfly final and failed to make the team. The family cried in the stands. Whitney's career was cut short by four herniated discs.

• In November 2004, at the age of 19, Michael Phelps was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Salisbury, Maryland. He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired the following month and was granted probation before judgment and ordered to serve 18 months probation, fined $250, obligated to speak to high school students about drinking and driving and had to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) meeting.

• Michael Phelps started swimming at the age of five. As a kid, Michael was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). At the age seven, he started swimming partly because he could release all that extra energy in the pool. At first, Michael was scared to even put his face in the water but before long he was swimming competitively. When he was 11,Michael Phelps met his long-time swimming coach, Bob Bowman, who knew right away that Phelps had what it took to be an exceptional athlete.

• Michael Phelps made history by qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, when he was just 15-years-old. By qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, Michael Phelps became the youngest member of the US Olympic team since 1932. Phelps finished fifth in the 200 meter butterfly and shattered the 15-16 National Age Group record. Five months after the Olympics,Phelps became the youngest world record holder in history by setting a new record in the 200 meter butterfly at the World Championships in Japan.

• When Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe said he did not think anyone could win eight races at a single Olympics, Phelps memorized the quote to motivate him for Beijing. He hung a poster of Ian Crocker above his bed after his team mate beat him at the 2003 world championships, to help motivate him for Athens.

• Overall, Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals: six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In winning these medals, he has twice equaled Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin's record of eight medals (of any type) at a single Olympics (Dityatin: Moscow 1980; Phelps: Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008). Out of his eight gold medals from Beijing, five were won in individual events, tying the record for individual gold medals at a single Games originally set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. Phelps ranks second in total career Olympic medals, after Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won a total of 18 medals (nine gold) spanning three Olympic Games.

• Michael Phelps received the 2004 Sullivan Award.

• Michael Phelps is the proud holder of 27 U.S. National Titles.

• Michael Phelps is the first male swimmer to break two world record in separate events in the same day.

• Michael Phelps is 6'4" tall and weighs 200 pounds.

• Michael Phelps' nicknames are "MP" and "Gomer".

• Michael Phelps needs to wolf down a lot of calories to have the energy for all his swimming. For breakfast, he often eats two egg-and-cheese sandwiches, a bowl of grits, a large omelet and a tall stack of chocolate chip pancakes.

• Michael Phelps comes from a family of swimmers. His sister, Hilary, swam for the University of Richmond and his sister, Whitney, swam at the 1996 Olympic Swimming Trials.

• Michael Phelps is sponsored by Visa, Speedo, PowerBar, At&T Wireless, Omega and Kellogg's.

• Micahel Phelps listens to hip hop and rap to help him get focused before a race, downloading tracks on his MP3 player. Among his favourites is American rapper Young Jeezy.

• Michael Phelps attends the University of Michigan, studying sports marketing and management.

• Phelps' international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007. Phelps has won a total of 48 career medals thus far: 40 gold, six silvers and two bronze. This includes all of theChampionships in which he has competed: The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

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Interesting Facts About Pencils

• A pencil will write in zero gravity, upside down, and under water!

• More than 14 billion pencils are produced in the world every year - enough to circle the globe 62 times.

• One pencil will draw a line 70 miles long.

• Pencils don't really contain lead.That gray matter is graphite and clay.

• Two billion pencils are made in the United States each year.

• The pencil was invented more than 400 years ago, in 1565.

• Famous novelists Ernest Hemingway and JohnSteinbeck used pencils to write their books.

• Pencils didn't have erasers on them until 100 years ago because teachers felt they would encourage children to make mistakes.

• It would cost $50 in labor and materials for a person to make a 10-cent pencil.

• One million pencils are used annually on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

• The average pencil can be sharpened 17 times, write 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long.

• A good-size tree will make about 300,000 pencils.

• In 1908 A.C. Steward developed a press that could imprint round pencils.

• Seeing a pencil in your dream indicates that you are making a temporary impact in a situation. It may also suggest that a relationship may not last long.

• Dreaming that you are sharpening a pencil, suggests that you need to be more flexible in your way of thinking.

• More than 2 billion pencils are used in the United States every year, and most of them have erasers! However, most pencils sold in Europe do not have erasers!

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Interesting Facts About Mangos

• The mango is known as the 'king of fruit' throughout the world.

• The name 'mango' is derived from the Tamil word 'mangkay' or 'man-gay'. When the Portuguese traders settled in Western India they adopted the name as 'manga'.

• Mangos originated in East India, Burma and the Andaman Islands bordering the Bay of Bengal. Around the 5th century B.C., Buddhist monks are believed to have introduced the mango to Malaysia and eastern Asia - legend has it that Buddha found tranquility and repose in a mango grove. Persian traders took the mango into the middle east and Africa, from there the Portuguese brought it to Brazil and the West Indies. Mango cultivars arrived in Florida in the 1830's and in California in the 1880's.

• The Mango tree plays a sacred role in India; it is a symbol of love and some believe that the Mango tree can grant wishes.

• In the Hindu culture hanging fresh mango leaves outside the front door during Ponggol (Hindu New Year) and Deepavali is considered a blessing to the house.

• Mango leaves are used at weddings to ensure the couple bear plenty of children (though it is only the birth of the male child that is celebrated - again by hanging mango leaves outside the house).

• Hindus may also brush their teeth with mango twigs on holy days (be sure to rinse well and spit if you try this at home - toxic).

• Many Southeast Asian kings and nobles had their own mango groves; with private cultivars being sources of great pride and social standing, hence began the custom of sending gifts of the choicest mangos.

• The Tahis like to munch mango buds, with Sanskrit poets believing they lend sweetness to the voice.

• Burning of mango wood, leaves and debris is not advised - toxic fumes can cause serious irritation to eyes and lungs.

• Mango leaves are considered toxic and can kill cattle or other grazing livestock.

• In India, a certain shade of yellow dye was attained by feeding cattle small amounts of mango leaves and harvesting their urine. Of course as stated above, this is a contraindicated practice, since mango leaves are toxic and cattle are sacred. It has since been outlawed.

• Mangos are bursting with protective nutrients. The vitamin content depends upon the variety and maturity of the fruit, when the mango is green the amount of vitamin C is higher, as it ripens the amount of beta carotene (vitamin A) increases.

• There are over 20 million metric tons of mangos grown throughout the tropical and sub-tropical world. The leading mango producer is India, with very little export as most are consumed within the country. Mexico and China compete for second place, followed by Pakistan and Indonesia. Thailand, Nigeria, Brazil, Philippines and Haiti follow in order.

• According to the Foreign Agricultural Organization, the top mango exporters reported in 1997 are as follows in order: Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Haiti, Guatemala, Venezuela, Peru, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic.

• The fruit of the mango is called a Drupe - consisting of the mesocarp (edible fleshy part) and endocarp (large woody, flattened pit).

• The mango is a member of the Anachardiaceae family. Other distant relatives include the cashew, pistachio, Jamaica plum, poison ivy and poison oak.

• The over 1,000 known mango cultivars are derived from two strains of mango seed - monoembryonic (single embryo) and polyembryonic (multiple embryo). Monoembryonic hails from the Indian (original) strain of mango,polyembryonic from the Indochinese.

• Dermatitis can result from contact with the resinous latex sap that drips from the stem end when mangos are harvested. The mango fruit skin is not considered edible.

• Every part of the mango is beneficial and has been utilized in folk remedies in some form or another. Whether the bark, leaves, skin or pit; all have been concocted into various types of treatments or preventatives down through the centuries. A partial list of the many medicinal properties and purported uses attributed to the mango tree are as follows: anti-viral, anti-parasitic, anti-septic, anti-tussive (cough), anti-asthmatic, expectorant, cardiotonic, contraceptive, aphrodisiac, hypotensive, laxative, stomachic (beneficial to digestion)....

• Mangiferin - rich in splenocytes, found in the stem bark of the mango tree has purported potent immunomodulatory characteristics - believed to inhibit tumor growth in early and late stages.

• As the mango became cultivated, as early as 2000 BCE, its flavor, size, and texture developed into the exotic, richly flavored succulent treat we enjoy today.

• Mangos are an excellent source of vitamins A and C, and for those who are physically active, whether working out or constantly on the go, mangos are a great way to replenish that lost potassium.

• An average sized mango can contain up to 40% of your daily fiber requirement. If you are eating your mango-a-day, irregularity is not a problem for you and so we'll spare the gruesome details regarding constipation, piles and spastic colon.

• Research has shown that dietary fiber has a protective effect against degenerative diseases, especially with regards to the heart; may help prevent certain types of cancer, as well as lowering blood cholesterol levels.

• The Mango is one of the finest and most popular tropical fruits and has been cultivated in India since 2000 BC or earlier. There are over 400 varieties of Mango throughout the world.

• Mangoes are available late December through August.

• Mangoes should be eaten when soft, and will ripen at room temperature.

• Only 10 percent of all mangoes are grown in the United States.

• To choose a Mango gently squeeze the 'nose' of the fruit. If there is slight give then the mango is ripe. Color is not the best indicator of ripeness.

• A Mango stored at 55 degrees will last for up to two weeks. Do not refrigerate.

• The two most widely available varieties of Mango in the UK are 'Kent' - a green fruit with a red blush and a rich, sweet flavour and 'Keitt' - a green Mango with a non fibrous flesh and a mild, sweet flavour.

• Over 20 million tons of mangoes are grown in the tropics and sub tropics.

• Top Mango exporters are India, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, Israel, South Africa and Peru.

• Mangoes can range from 2 - 10 inches in length.

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Interesting Facts About Hitler

• Born on the 20th of April, 1889, in Brannau, a town in Austria, Adolf Hitler was the 4th child of Klara Hitler and Alois Schickelgruber.

• Adolf Hitler’s early life was spent in Austria. He liked drawing; however, he was unsuccessful in passing the examination at the academy of arts. He then went to Munich and joined the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment of World War I, wherein he was gassed and wounded, and was also given an award for bravery in action.

• It was in 1919, after the end of the war, that Hitler joined what was known as the German Workers Party, which he later renamed as the National Socialist German Workers Party, which in turn was abbreviated to the Nazi Party. Soon, he took charge of the propaganda of the party and by the year 1921 he was made the leader.

• It was in 1923 that the National Socialist German Workers Party, led by Adolf Hitler tried to seize power, from the ruling German Weimar Republic, in the famous Beer-Hall Putsch. However, Hitler was unsuccessful and was imprisoned.

• It was during the nine months that he spent in prison that Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, or My Struggle, his autobiography as well as his manifesto. He then emerged from prison and became a populist spokesman for nationalistic and poor Germans.

• After that, in 1932, Hitler tried to become the chancellor by challenging Paul von Hindenburg in the election that was held, but could not succeed.

• Later, after the death of Hindenburg, Adolf Hitler became the Fuhrer and Chancellor, or Reichskanzler, in 1934. He at once set about establishing an absolute dictatorship, enforcing his newly formed rules with the help of the Gestapo, the brutal secret police. Concentration camps were set up for the organized killing of Jews, political opponents, and Gypsies.

• He then went about invading and annexing as much territory as he could in Europe, such as the Sudetenland and Austria, in 1938, and then invading Poland on the 1st of September, 1939, whereupon France and Britain declared war on Germany on the 3rd of September, thus beginning World War II.

• In the initial years of the war, Adolf Hitler, using the might of the German infantry and tanks to unleash a Blitzkrieg, had remarkable success, sweeping through large parts of Western Europe, with nations falling one by one to the great German war machine.

• Hitler attacked the U.S.S.R. in 1941, ignoring a non-aggression pact he had earlier signed with them in 1939. After initial victories, Hitler’s forces suffered crushing defeats, first at Moscow in December 1941, and then later in Stalingrad, in the winter of 1942 to 1943.

• It was in the month of December in 1941 that the United States of America entered the war. The Allies began their invasion of occupied Europe by landing on the French coast at Normandy Beach, in 1944. Then German cities began being bombed and destroyed and the allied troops entered Germany and made their way to Berlin by 1945. In the meantime, Italy, under the rule of the Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, who was an ally of Germany, also fell.

• During the war, many high ranking Nazis became desperate, and a number of attempts were made to assassinate Hitler, all of which were unsuccessful. In the meantime, the forces of the Soviet Union were also closing in on Berlin, which was the place Hitler had his headquarters.

• As it became quite apparent that the war was lost, and his hand-picked lieutenants went against his orders, on realizing the futility of continuing, Adolf Hitler committed suicide on the 30th of April, 1945. However, on the night before, he married Eva Braun, his long-term mistress, who also committed suicide with him. Thus came to an end both the war as well as Nazi rule.

• The official name of the Nazi regime was the Third Reich, which Hitler had bragged would last 1000 years, but it collapsed within a week after the death of Hitler.

• However, it can be said the Hitler was the one who was responsible for three of 20th century’s most climactic events: 1) World War II; 2) The Holocaust; and 3) The Cold War, which followed World War II. Plus, Israel would not have come into existence in the Middle East if the holocaust had not taken place.
  

• Adolph Hitler had a half brother named Alois Hitler, he owned a bar in Germany that was frequented by prominent Nazi officials. Alois would never share his opinion on Adolph because he was afraid Adolph would revoke his liquor license!

• Adolf Hitler had some Jewish heritage in him. His great great grandmother was Jewish who was a maid.

• Hitler ordered tanks to be made in Michigan and told the company to not worry about sending them to Germany, he'd 'pick them up on his way through Detroit.

• "Quisling," which is used to describe a traitor, was the name of Vidkun Quisling, a Norwegian fascist and supporter of Adolf Hitler, who was appointed Führer of Norway in World War II. Arrested in 1945, Quisling was so despised, Norway broke with their centuries-old policy against capital punishment and executed him.

• Hitler's 3rd grade report from his teacher remarked that Hitler was...'bad tempered and fancied himself as a leader.'

• Adolf Hitler was fascinated by hands. In his library there was a well-thumbed book containing pictures and drawings of hands belonging to famous people throughout history. He liked particularly to show his guests how closely his own hands resembled those of Frederick the Great, one of his heroes.

• The NY phone book had 22 Hitlers before WWII. The NY phone book had 0 Hitlers after WWII.

• Hitler was voted Time Magazines man of the year in 1938

• Adolph Hitler kept a framed photograph of Henry Ford on his desk and Ford kept one of Hitler on his desk in Dearborn, Michigan. Hitler had used in 'Mein Kampf' some of Fords anti-semitic views, and he always welcomed Ford's contributions to the Nazi movement.

• Hitler never allows anyone to see him while he is naked or bathing. He refuses to use cologne or scents of any sort on his body

• No matter how warm he feels, Hitler will never take off his coat in public

• In 1923, Nazi press secretary Dr. Sedgwick tried to convince Hitler to get rid of his trademark mustache or grow it normally. Hitler answered: "Do not worry about my mustache. If it is not the fashion now, it will be later because I wear it!"

• While dining with the others, Hitler will allow the conversation to linger on general topics, but after a couple of hours he will inevitably begin one of his many monologues. These speeches are flawless from start to finish because he rehearses them any time he gets a moment.

• His favorite topics include: "When I was a soldier," "When I was in Vienna," "When I was in prison," and "When I was the leader in the early days of the party."

• If Hitler begins speaking about Wagner and the opera, no one dares interrupt him. He will often sermonize on this topic until his audience falls asleep.

• Hitler has no interest in sports or games of any kind and never exercised, except for an occasional walk.

• He paces frequently inside rooms, always to the same tune that he whistles to himself and always diagonally across the room, from corner to corner

• Hitler’s handwriting is impeccable. When famous psychologist Carl Jung saw Hitler’s handwriting in 1937, he remarked: "Behind this handwriting I recognize the typical characteristics of a man with essentially feminine instinct."

• Hitler loves the circus. He takes real pleasure in the idea that underpaid performers are risking their lives to please him.

• He went to the circus on several occasions in 1933 and sent extremely expensive chocolates and flowers to the female performers. Hitler even remembered their names and would worry about them and their families in the event of an accident.

• He isn’t interested in wild animal acts, unless there is a woman in danger

• Nearly every night Hitler will see a movie in his private theatre, mainly foreign films that are banned to the German public. He loves comedies and will often laugh merrily at Jewish comedians. Hitler even liked a few Jewish singers, but after hearing them he would remark that it was too bad he or she wasn’t Aryan.

• Hitler staff secretly made films for him of torture and execution of political prisoners, which he very much enjoyed viewing. His executive assistants also secured pornographic pictures and movies for him.

• He loves newsreels - especially when he is in them.

• He adores gypsy music, Wagner’s operas, and especially American college football marches and alma maters.

• To excite the masses, he also uses American College football-style music during his speeches. His rallying cry - "Sieg Heil!" - was even modeled after the cheering techniques used by American football cheerleaders.

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Interesting Facts About Silver

• Silver has been coined to use as money since 700 BC.

• The term 'sterling silver' in reference to the grade .925 silver emerged in England in the 13th century.

• In ancient Egypt and Medieval Europe, silver was often more valuable than gold.

• Words for silver and money are the same in at least fourteen languages.

• Silver iodide has been used in attempts to seed clouds to produce rain.

• Most mirrors are backed with aluminum. For a superior quality finish, silver is used because of its high quality reflectivity.

• Because of its ability to take the highest polish, silver has a greater reflectivity than even gold!

• Mirrors are coated with silver because it reflects nearly all light.

• Of all the metals in existence, silver is the best conductor of electricity.Silver is what makes photography possible. Silver halide crystals are present in unexposed film.

• In 2003, the UK minted half a million ounces of silver into coins and medals.Silver bearings are used in jet engines because they provide superior performance.

• Silver is used in long life batteries. Billions of silver oxide-zinc batteries are in use everyday powering everything from quartz watches to digital cameras.

• Silver possesses, it's working qualities similar to gold but can achieve the most brilliant polish of any metal. To make it durable for jewelry, however, pure silver (999 fineness) is often alloyed with small quantities of copper. In many countries, Sterling Silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper) is the standard for Jewelry and has been since the 14th century.

• The copper toughens the silver and makes it possible to use silver 925 for decorative and fashionable jewelry.

• Throughout the ages, silver jewelry has been associated with magical powers; believed to promote healing, bring good luck and for warding off evil spirits to the wearer.While these beliefs are not part of mainstream thinking today, some people still hold them true.

• Silver has always been held in high esteem and displayed as a status symbol since it was mined approx. 4,000 BC in Asia Minor.

• By the 18th century, things began to change in Europe and a new fashion fad surfaced: silver buckles appeared on shoes where laces had always been. Although today we generally consider shoe buckles to be functional items, back in the 1700's, they were a form of jewelry.

• Silver jewelry was a significant indicator of status until the very end of the 18th century, because it was limited to a privileged few. It was the Industrial Revolution, through mass manufacturing, which finally made jewelry available to the general population.

• Silver's melting point is 1761 degrees F or 960 degrees C

• Silver is being put into paper used in medical professions because of its antibiotic-like characteristics.

• Silver is a dental alloy and used to be used in cavity fillings. Now dentists have clear fillings that do not contain silver.

• Silver can be eaten, although it is not advised.

• Silver was mentioned in the book of genesis (bible)

• The name silver came from the old english word seolfor.

• In India, food can be found decorated with a thin layer of silver, known as Varak.

• The crystal structure of silver is cubic.

• Silver is harder than gold, but softer than copper.

• Man learned to separate silver from lead as early as 3,000 B.C. Silver has been mined and prized for its beauty and durability for at least 6,000 years.

• Silver has superior bactericidal qualities. Small concentrations of silver orsilver salts kill bacteria by chemically affecting the cell membranes, causing them to break down. Bacteria do not develop resistance to silver, as they do to many antibiotics.

• Silver is the best conductor of heat of all elements. Its uses in solar panelsand automobile rear window defoggers take advantage of this quality.

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Interesting Facts About Hydrogen

• Hydrogen was discovered in 1766 by English physicist and chemist Henry Cavendish.

• The name Hydrogen comes from the Greek words Hydro and Gen which mean water generator.

• The element Hydrogen is colorless, odorless, gaseous, nonmetallic element. The relative atomic mass of Hydrogen is 1.00797 making Hydrogen the lightest of all the elements. When combined with Oxygen, Hydrogen forms water.

• Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe.

• When Hydrogen is subject to a pressure 500,000 times greater than that of the earth's atmosphere, hydrogen becomes a solid with metallic properties.

• Hydrogen is commonly used in hardening of oils and fats by hydrogenation.

• The two isotopes of hydrogen , deuterium and tritium are used in nuclear weapons.

• About 7.8 million metric tonnes (17.2 billion pounds) of hydrogen are produced in the United States today, enough to power 20-30 million cars or 5-8 million homes. Nearly all of this hydrogen is used by industry in refining, treating metals, and processing foods. Most of this hydrogen is produced in just three states: California, Louisiana, and Texas.

• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the primary user of hydrogen as an energy fuel; it has used hydrogen for years in the space program. Liquid hydrogen fuel lifts the space shuttle into orbit. Hydrogen batteries—called fuel cells—power the shuttle’s electrical systems. The only by-product is pure water, which the crew uses as drinking water.

• Hydrogen fuel cells (batteries) make electricity. They are very efficient, but expensive to build. Small fuel cells can power electric cars. Large fuel cells can provide electricity in out of the way places with no power lines.

• Because of the high cost to build fuel cells, large hydrogen power plants won't be built for a while. However, fuel cells are being used in some places as a source of emergency power to hospitals and to wilderness locations. Portable fuel cells are being sold to provide longer power for laptop computers, cell phones, and military

• Hydrogen occurs in the free state in volcanic gases and some natural gases. Hydrogen is prepared by steam on heated carbon, decomposition of certain hydrocarbons with heat, action of sodium or potassium hydroxide on aluminum electrolysis of water, or displacement from acids by certain metals.applications.

• The cost of hydrogen depends on a number of factors, such as how the hydrogen is manufactured, but generally speaking, the cost of generating hydrogen fuel from clean, renewable electricity is initially in the range of $4.00-5.00 per equivalent gallon of gasoline. However, as volume increases and the technology is refined, the cost of hydrogen will be reduced over time. In contrast, oil and other fossil fuels are increasing in cost as global supplies are impacted by geopolitical events and are exponentially consumed.

• The hydrogen fueling infrastructure is growing quickly. Both California and Illinois have launched “Hydrogen Highway” initiatives that will ultimately result in a network of fueling stations along major highways and interstates. Currently there are 13 stations in California, mainly clustered around the San Francisco Bay and the South Coast areas; an additional 17 stations are anticipated in the next year or so. The California “Hydrogen Highway” is envisioned to have 170 stations operating by 2010. The option of generating hydrogen at home is also becoming increasingly available. Stuart Energy Systems has developed a Personal Energy Station (PES), which is about the size of a washer/dryer and uses existing electricity and water supplies to generate hydrogen fuel that can then be used for vehicle fuel or as stationary power.

• The hydrogen bomb involves a nuclear reaction, whereas the process of electrolyzing water involves a simple transfer of electrons, which also occurs when one makes a cup of coffee or metabolizes the food they eat. A hydrogen bomb cannot be made with ordinary hydrogen, nor can the conditions that trigger nuclear fusion in a hydrogen bomb occur in a hydrogen accident; they are achieved, with difficulty, only by using an atomic bomb.

• There are currently about 200 hydrogen-fueled vehicles in the United States – mostly in California. Most of these vehicles are buses and automobiles powered by electric motors. They store hydrogen gas or liquid on board and convert the hydrogen into electricity for the motor using a fuel cell. Only a few of these vehicles burn the hydrogen directly (producing almost no pollution).

• Hydrogen has great potential as an environmentally clean energy fuel and as a way to reduce reliance on imported energy sources. Before hydrogen can play a bigger energy role and become a widely used alternative to gasoline, many new facilities and systems must be built. We will need facilities to make hydrogen, store it, and move it. We will need economical fuel cells. And consumers will need the technology and the education to safely use it.

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Interesting Facts About Phoenix Bird

• The phoenix bird symbolizes immortality, resurrection and life after death. In ancient Greek and Egyptian mythology, it is associated with the sun god.

• According to the Greeks, the bird lives in Arabia, near a cool well. Every morning at dawn, the sun god would stop his chariot to listen to the bird sing a beautiful song while it bathed in the well.

• Only one phoenix exists at a time. When the bird felt its death was near, every 500 to 1,461 years, it would build a nest of aromatic wood and set it on fire. The bird then was consumed by the flames.

• The phoenix never existed. It was a large bird, much like an eagle, written about in Greek mythology and based on ancient Egyptian legends.

• Only one phoenix was said to have lived at a time. This gold and red bird, always a male, lived in Arabia. Each phoenix lived for exactly 500 years, and when it was about to die, it gathered twigs and spices and built a nest. Then the phoenix sat on the nest and waited patiently for a ray of sun to set the nest on fire.

• The bird never tried to escape its fiery death, for from its ashes a worm would come crawling out. This worm became a new, beautiful little phoenix, who immediately set to work gathering its father's ashes into a ball of incense.

• The phoenix then flew with these ashes to the Egyptian city of Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, and buried the ashes in the temple of the sun god. Then it flew back to Arabia to live for 500 years, when the cycle would be repeated.

• Because of the phoenix's rebirth from its own ashes, it became a symbol of immortality. Even today, a person who makes a comeback after suffering a great defeat is called a "phoenix."

• Some myths claim that each phoenix lived, not for 500 years, but for 97,200 years!

• Due to the legend attached to the Phoenix bird, it makes for a good example for anything to with survival, strength, patience, and to a large extent, even victory in popular culture. It has been an important character in many modern and ancient legends. In the US, it is prominently seen on the flag of County and City of San Francisco. It is also seen in the flag and seal of the City of Atlanta.

Ancient Phoenix of Egypt (Benu, Bennu):

• The ancient Egyptians linked the myth of the phoenix with the longings for immortality that were so strong in their civilization, and from there its symbolism spread around the Mediterranean world of late antiquity. The Bennu bird was usually depicted as a heron. Archaeologists have found the remains of a much larger heron that lived in the Persian Gulf area 5,000 years ago. The Egyptians may have seen this large bird only as an extremely rare visitor or possibly heard tales of it from travelers who had trading expeditions to the Arabian Seas.

• It had a two long feathers on the crest of it's head and was often crowned with the Atef crown of Osiris (the White Crown with two ostrich plumes on either side) or with the disk of the sun.

• The Bennu was the sacred bird of Heliopolis. Bennu probably derives from the word weben, meaning "rise" or "shine." The Bennu was associated with the sun and represented the ba or soul of the sun god, Re. In the Late Period, the hieroglyph of the bird was used to represent this deity directly. As a symbol of the rising and setting sun, the Benu was also the lord of the royal jubilee.

• This Egyptian phoenix was also associated with the inundation of the Nile and of the creation. Standing alone on isolated rocks of islands of high ground during the floods the heron represented the first life to appear on the primeval mound which rose from the watery chaos at the first creation. This mound was called the ben-ben. It was the Bennu bird's cry at the creation of the world that marked the beginning of time. The bennu thus was the got of time and its divisions -- hours, day, night, weeks and years.

• The Bennu was considered a manifestation of the resurrected Osiris and the bird was often shown perched in his sacred willow tree.

• At the close of the first century Clement of Rome became the first Christian to interpret the myth of the phoenix as an allegory of the resurrection and of life after death. The phoenix was also compared to undying Rome, and it appears on the coinage of the late Roman Empire as a symbol of the Eternal City.

Arabian Pheonix:

• The Arabian phoenix was a fabulous mythical bird, said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a melodious cry. Making it's home near a cool well, the Phoenix would appear at dawn every morning to sing a song so enchanting that even the great sun god Apollo would stop to listen.

• It was said that only one phoenix existed at any one time, and it is very long-lived with a life span of 500 years, 540 years, 1000 years, 1461 years or even 12,994 years (according to various accounts). As the end of its life approached, the phoenix would build a pyre nest of aromatic branches and spices such as myrrh, sets it on fire, and is consumed in the flames. After three days the birth -- or as some legends say a rebirth -- the phoenix arises from the ashes. According to some sources, the phoenix arose from the midst of the flames.

• The young phoenix gathers the ashes of its predecessor into an egg of myrrh and takes it to Heliopolis, the city of the sun, to deposit it on the alter of the sun god.

• A symbolic representation of the Death and rebirth of the sun. It is also described as being either eagle like or heron like. It lives on dew, killing nothing and crushing nothing that it touches. Generally considered the king of birds. It has alternatively been called the bird of the sun, of Assyria, of Arabia, of the Ganges, the long-lived bird and the Egyptian bird. The earliest reference to the Phoenix was made by Hesiod in the 8th century B.C., but the most detailed account is by Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the famous Greek historian in 5th century B.C.

Chinese Phoenix (Feng Huang)

• In Chinese mythology, the phoenix is the symbol of high virtue and grace, of power and prosperity. It represents the union of yin and yang. It was thought to be a gentle creature, alighting so gently that it crushed nothing, and eating only dewdrops.

• It symbolized the Empress usually in a pairing with a dragon (the dragon representing the Emperor), and only Empress could wear the phoenix symbol. The phoenix represented power sent from the heavens to the Empress.

• If a phoenix was used to decorate a house it symbolized that loyalty and honesty was in the people that lived there. Jewelry with the phoenix design showed that the wearer was a person of high moral values, and so the phoenix could only be worn by people of great importance. The Chinese phoenix was thought to have the beak of a cock, the face of a swallow, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish.

• A common depiction of the Feng Huang was of it attacking snakes with its talons and its wings spread. In fact images of the phoenix have appeared throughout China for well over 7000 years. Often in jade and originally on good-luck totems. Although during the Han period (2200 years ago) the phoenix was used as a symbol depicting the direction south shown as a male and female phoenix facing each other. It carried two scrolls in its bill, and its song included the five whole notes of the Chinese scale (I don't exactly know how it could sing with its mouth full). Its feathers were of the five fundamental colors: black, white, red, green, and yellow and was said to represent the Confucian virtues of loyalty, honesty, decorum and justice. Depictions of the phoenix were placed on tomes and graves.

Japanese Phoenix (Hou-Ou/Ho-Oo)

• The Ho-Oo is the Japanese phoenix, the Ho being the male bird and the Oo being the female. Introduced to Japan in the Asuka period (mid 6th to mid 7th century AD) The Hou-Ou greatly resembles the Chinese Phoenix the Feng-Huang in looks.

• The Ho-Oo is often depicted as nesting in a paulownia tree and was thought to only appear at the birth of a virtuous ruler and was said to mark a new era by decending from the heavens to do good deeds for people only to return to its celestial abode to await a new era. In other traditions, the Hou-ou apears only in peaceful and prosperous times -- which are rare indeed.

• The Ho-Oo has been adopted as a symbol of the royal family, particularly the empress. It is supposed to represent the sun, justice, fidelity and obedience. It was used in a wide veriety of items including mirrors, lacquerware, textiles and chests.

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Interesting Facts About Sugar

• sugar was one of the first pharmaceutical ingredients used, as it still is today, to mask the bitter taste of medicines

• In 1899, the very first carton was used to pack sugar? This revolutionized the sugar business, greatly improving upon the crude wooden barrels from which sugar was originally scooped for customers.

• In the late 16th Century, a mere teaspoon of sugar cost the equivalent of five dollars in London

• Sugar is the only taste humans are born craving

• A can of Coke has 39 grams of sugar and a can of Pepsi has 41 grams of sugar. That is about seven teaspoons or 13 lumps of sugar per can!

• Lemons contain more sugar than Strawberries.

• When the sun explodes, it will compress itself and become so dense that a piece of it the size of a sugar cube will weigh the equivalent of 1 ton.

• The trick to curing hiccups is to get the nerves that regulate breathing synchronized by taking a teaspoon of granulated sugar.

• Sugar hardens asphalt. It slows the setting of ready-mixed concrete and glue.

• Sugar is used in leather tanning, printers' inks and dyes and even in textile sizing and finishing

• Chemical manufacturers use sugar to grow penicillin.

• 'Sure' and 'Sugar' are the only two words in the English language that are spelt 'su' and pronounced 'sh'

• Some people believe that dry swallowing 1 teaspoon of sugar can cure the hiccups.

• Sugar is 100% natural with no fat.

• Sugar is one of the oldest cooking ingredients, dating back to 326 BC.

• Sugar cane was introduced to the New World in 1493 by Christopher Columbus.

• In 2001, scientists discovered sugar in outer space.

• Before 1899, sugar was crudely sold from barrels. The sugar industry was revolutionized when it was first packed in cartons.

• Sugar has many uses outside of the kitchen: it's one of the most important components of medicine, it's used to slow down the setting of cement, it plays a role in leather tanning and paper dying, and prolongs the life of fresh cut flowers.

• sugar contains no additives or preservatives

• one teaspoon of sugar contains only 15 calories

• refined sugar is better for you than raw sugar

• In the 1500s, the cost of a teaspoon of sugar was equivalent to $5

• sugar makes a good preservative

• A grain of sugar under the microscope is a translucent crystal, reflecting light from its 14 facets like a jewel

• Candy Bar has the same amount of sugar as 10 apples.

• The average American consumes 175 pounds of sugar per year. That is 300,000 calories per year, 800 calories per day.

• Fruit drinks, fruit beverages, fruit punch contain anywhere from 1-40% of fruit juice but also contain loads of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.Whether fresh squeezed or store-bought an 8 ounce glass of juice has 8 teaspoons of sugar.

• Sugar creates the demand for more sugar, which raises insulin levels. This signals the body to store fat.

• Sugar can even feed cancer cells.

• Sugars also trigger a mineral imbalance in the body. For example, chromium and zinc are often depleted when largeamounts of sugar are consumed.Depleted zinc makes your tastebuds become dull.

• Sucrose, dextrose, fructose, lactose, dextrin, maltose, monosaccharides,disaccharides and syrup are the other names of sugar

• Look at labels, even if it say NO Sugar, it still may have these other types of sugars.

• Sugar is also in canned vegetables, ketchup, salad dressing (tomato sauce cannot be sold as “catsup” if not sugared). That is why fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables are the best for you to eat.

• fruits are high in sugar. However, the best way to consume fruits without affecting your insulin level is to consume them in whole form, with skin on.

• Honey is the Substitute for Sugar.

• Stevia is also a great substitute for sugar. It does not affect insulin levels. It can be found in most health food stores.

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Interesting Facts About Swimming

• Swimming started in the 1st century.

• Over 50% of world-class swimmers suffer from shoulder pain.

• Swimming has been a part of the Olympics since 1896.

• Some people think swimming started when a person fell into the water and panicking, he started to swim in a way we call today dog paddle.

• Egyptians made a picture or symbol for swimming as far back as 2500 A.

• Peanuts are a source of energy for swimmers.

• Drags slow you down in swimming because they are not skin tight.

• The shorter your hair is the more chance you have for swimming faster because there is less friction.

• Swimming can be done for competition and it is helpful in survival.
  

• An hour of vigorous swimming will burn up to 650 calories. It burns off more calories than walking or biking.

• Swimming strengthens the heart and lungs

• Swimming works out all of the body’s major muscles

• Swimming help reduce stress

• Water’s buoyancy make swimming the ideal exercise for physical therapy and rehabilitation or for anyone seeking a low-impact exercise.

• Swimming is a great cardiovascular exercise because you are moving against the water’s resistance, which is over ten times that of the air.

• You can swim for exercise no matter what your age. Some people teach their infants and toddlers how to swim so that they will learn to love and respect the water at a very early age. I also know people well into their eighties who swim regularly to stay in shape.

• An estimated 65 thousand people in the United States alone do not know how to swim. Many of them learned as young children but never go to a pool, lake, river, or ocean anymore and have forgotten how to swim over the years. Others were never taught and continue to avoid the activity altogether. It was once thought that knowing how to swim was important for safety reasons, but now it is pretty much left up to the individual.

• Swimming in extremely cold water can be very dangerous. People with heart conditions or other ailments, as well as elderly people, should avoid swimming in water that is too cold. Cold water cools down the human body 25 times faster that cold air does, so swimming in water that is below about 15 degrees Celsius should never be undertaken. This can lead to thermal shock, hypothermia, and eventual death.

• Swimming is also a very safe form of exercise because it is considered to be low impact and easy on the bones and joints. You can do exercises in the water using floats and weights and enjoy a good workout without worrying about serious injury. This is especially true if you have arthritis or other types of physical limitations.

• It really is true that you shouldn't swim for about an hour after eating. This is primarily because your body is digesting your food and you may get a cramp during the time right after you eat. Allow your body to rest after eating and then go into the water.

• Swimming is a good way to lose weight. This form of exercise will stimulate your entire body and could lead to an increase in metabolism over time. If you are trying to lose weight, swim for at least twenty minutes three or four times each week.

• Going swimming is very relaxing and has been compared to yoga and meditation in terms of its soothing effect on the mind and body.

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Interesting Facts About Antarctica

• Antarctica is the coldest continent on earth, as the lowest temperature recorded here was -89o C. On an average, it is 17 degrees colder than Arctic in the north.

• It is the driest continent on earth, as it hardly receives 2 inches of rainfall annually. The ‘Dry valley’ region on the continent is supposed to be bereft of rainfall since 2 million years.

• The continent of Antarctica is buried under 1 mile of ice sheet and snow. If the ice melts, the continent would spring back 500 m, in around 1000 years.

• If Antarctica's ice sheets melt, the level of the world’s oceans would rise by 60 to 65 meters (200 - 210 ft).

• Antarctica is the ideal place to find meteorites, as they are easily visible on the white sheets of ice. They do not get covered by vegetation and even get trapped into the ice.

• Antarctica is one and a half times the size of United States.

• At the deepest point, the ice in Antarctica is around 3 - 4 km thick.

• The largest animal living on the continent is midge, which measure less than a half inch long.

• Antarctica is the windiest continent on earth. It experiences frequent wind storms, which at times speed over 300 knots at the sea coast.

• The water of the Antarctica is so cold that nothing can rot here.

• Owing to the chilly water in Antarctica, codfish have antifreeze in their blood to save them from freezing.

• The ice cap at Antarctic contains 29 million cubic kilometers of ice. This constitutes nearly 90% of all the ice on the planet and between 60 - 70% of all of the fresh water in the world.

• Only 0.4 percent of Antarctica is not covered by ice.

• Antarctica is the highest continent in elevation.

• Snow and ice cover almost the entirety of the continent. It is estimated that the level of the sea would rise by as much as 200 feet if all the ice in Antarctica were to melt.

• The ice stretches across right up to the ocean, where it is called an Ice Shelf. The Ross Ice Shelf, which is the largest sized ice shelf, covers 208,000 square miles, is larger in size than Texas.

• The falling snow is what forms the ice, since it does not melt when it falls. And every year, as more snow collects, the snow below gets compressed into ice. It is said that 70 percent of the Earth’s fresh water is contained in the ice of Antarctica.

• Antarctica is the driest, windiest, and coldest continent. The lowest recorded temperature in the world, -128 degrees F, was in Antarctica at the Russian Vostok Station.

• Antarctica is divided into two areas, East Antarctica and West Antarctica. East Antarctica, covering 7,770,000 sq km, which is the largest part of the continent, is a high plateau, covered with ice. West Antarctica, covering 6,475,000 sq km, comprises of an archipelago made up of mountainous islands, each of which are connected by ice. The two parts of the continent are divided by a mountain range.

• Antarctica has two active volcanoes, which are known. There could be more, however, these are the only two that have their peaks above the surface of the ice. Mount Erebus is the highest of them, which is located on the Ross Ice Shelf, in East Antarctica.

• There is very limited plant life in Antarctica, consisting mostly of moss and lichen, as well as some floating plants in the seas inland. The mite is the largest land living animal of Antarctica, being just big enough to be seen without using a microscope. It manages to survive by producing chemicals that are akin to the anti-freeze used in cars in the winter.

• Comprising of 80 percent of the bird population, penguins are the most common birds in Antarctica. While some of them live on land, others live on the ice floes. The Emperor penguin, for instance, never comes into the land, spending almost its whole life out in the ocean. The female Emperor lays her eggs on ice floes, where they are incubated by the male.

• The marine mammals that exist in Antarctica mostly comprise of seals and whales, with the tooth whale and the baleen whale being the two chief types of whales. The sperm whale and the killer whale are the two types of tooth whales, while the baleen whales are blue whales, humpback whales, and occasionally minke whales.

• Antarctica has no native or indigenous population. However, these days, a few thousand people live there in the summer in weather and research stations. Only a few scientists stay back for the winter there.

• Antarctica is considered to be the best laboratory on Earth, and scientists from all parts of the world converge here to study various things, such as: what consequences climate change will have on Earth; the unique organisms that inhabit this unspoiled ecosystem; and clues about the universe’s origins.

• If Antarctica's ice sheets melted, every one of the worlds oceans would rise by 60 to 65 metres

• Antarctica is pushed into the earth by the weight of its ice sheets. If they melted, it would "spring back" about 500m (1 625 ft). Scotland and Scandinavia are still rebounding today after the last ice age - at the rate of half a meter a century in the Northern Baltic - the fastest place.

• The cold and dry conditions in the "Dry Valleys" region of Antarctica are so close to those on Mars that NASA did testing there for the Viking mission. It has not rained in the dry valleys for at least 2 million years.

• One of the biggest icebergs ever (maybe the biggest) broke free from the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica in 2000.It was 295km long and 37km wide, with a surface area of 11,000 sq km (4,250 square miles) above water - and 10 times bigger below. Its size is equivalent to that of the Bahamas, or Connecticut.

• During the feeding season in Antarctica, a full grown blue whale eats about 4 million krill (shrimp-like creatures) per day , that's 4 tons - every day for 6 months. What they eat daily would feed a human for 4 years!

• Antarctic fish have lived at between +2°C and -2°C for 5 million years (-2°C is the freezing point of sea water, below zero because of the salt).

• The freezer at your house runs at about -20°C. The mean summer temperature on the great East Antarctica icecap is -30°C and mean winter temperature around -60°C. The lowest ever temperature recorded was at the Russian Vostok station: - 89.6°C

• When the Antarctic sea-ice begins to expand at the beginning of winter, it advances by around 40,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometres) per day, and eventually doubles the size of Antarctica, adding up to an extra 20 million square kilometres of ice around the land mass. That's 1.5 USA's, 2 Australia's or 50 UK's worth of ice.

• Snow falling at the South Pole takes about 100 000 years to "flow" to the coast of Antarctica before it drops off the end as part of an iceberg.

• The Antarctic ice cap has 29 million cubic kilometres of ice. This is 90% of all the ice on the planet and between 60 and 70 % of all of the world's fresh water. Only about 0.4 percent of Antarctica is not covered by ice.

• Antarctica has a peculiar group of fish called the ice fish. These have no haemoglobin. The temperature is very low and oxygen dissolves better in cold temperatures, so there's no need. They just have a larger volume of clear blood instead and this gives them an unusually ghostly white color, particularly their gills. They have antifreeze in their blood so they don't accidentally get frozen solid!

• The largest land animal in Antarctica is an insect, a wingless midge, Belgica antarctica, less than 1.3cm long.

• Samples of ice known as ice cores are regularly drilled through the ice in Antarctica by scientists. They are removed as a long cylinder of ice that gives an indication of the past going back tens of thousands of years. The properties of the ice, of dust trapped in the ice, and even of air bubbles trapped in the ice give valuable information about the earth's climate at various times in the past. Now you know exactly where you can get a drink of water that was frozen during the life of Christ.

• Antarctica is the coldest and windiest of all the continents.

• To the surprise of many, Antarctica is also the driest of all the continents receiving a mere sprinkling of rain and snow once or twice a year.

• 3. Antarctica gets its name from the Greek language. In a bit of deviousness, the term because it means opposite the Arctic.

• The continent was discovered in 1820 by a Russian expedition, but was not further explored to any serious extent for another 100 years.

• No permanent human residents are known to have ever lived on the continent and even today only temporary scientific communities exist.

• 6. Antarctica, not the Sahara Desert, is technically the biggest desert in the world, but the desert is ice instead of snow.

• 7. The ice sheet covering the continent is approximately 1.6 miles thick on average and holds 90 percent of the fresh water on the planet in the form of ice.

• The ice sheet was melting dramatically. In 2002, over 1,000 square miles broke off the continent. In recent years, unusual amounts of snow fall have resulted in a thickening of the ice contrary to global warming concerns.

• The continent is the only natural habitat of the Emperor Penguin, immortalized in the movie March of the Penguins. The penguin, however, also is found on the shoreline of some southern continents from time to time.

• The continent has no government and is not owned by any country. Many countries have claimed the continent at one time or another. Currently, a treaty exists that grants the continent its independence from any such claims.

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