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Showing posts from November, 2018

Flashback Friday - Nov. 30, 1782 Britain signs agreement recognizing US independence

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Over 230 years ago the revolutionary war was finally winding down towards its end.  On this day November 30, 1782 the British signed an agreement to recognize US independence. This also included the definition of the boundaries of the United States of America along with the British agreeing to withdraw troops from the US. However it wasn't until April 11, 1783 when Congress officially declared the end to the Revolutionary War. Here are some facts about the Revolutionary War: Involved 217,000-231,000 Colonial Troops although only about 48,000 active at any given time. At any given time Britain had about 22,000 Troops along with ~25,000 Loyalists (colonist still loyal to Britain), and about 30,000 German Troops at it's disposal The British hired professional German troops called Hessians About 6,800 US troops died in battle, however 25,000 US troops died during the war mostly due to disease. Total British casualties was about 24,000, but it is unclear how many are f

"Why Do" Wednesday - Why Do Flies Rub Their Front And Back Limbs Together?

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Have you ever seen a fly land in front of you and start rubbing their hands and feet together?  Either  they are getting ready for a tasty meal or planning something devious or both...?  So why do they do this?  Well the answer is simple, they are cleaning themselves. Flies are actually quite complex and they have many sensory capabilities.  They have very compound eyes that include thousands of individual visual receptors that all act as individual eyes.  Their antenna detect smells and the hairs on the ends of their legs act as taste buds. It's complicated business to keep all these sensors working properly.  So when they land they clean these all off.  You will see them rubbing their front and hind limbs together and rubbing their eyes and antenna.  They have to keep them all clean so they avoid predators, find food and find locations to lay their eggs. One good thing about this need for them to clean themselves is it creates the perfect opportunity to swat them with a

Fun Day Monday - Riddle Me This, Some Fun Riddles...

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Here are some fun riddle to solve... Happy Monday!  (Hint: Answers are at the bottom) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.  9. 10. Answers: Your Left Hand Lunch and Dinner A Towel Fire A Shadow An Egg Incorrectly Silence A Stamp Your Age

Flashback Friday - 1974 Arecibo Telescope Sends First Message To Space

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E.T. phone home... brings on a new meaning when we are trying to phone E.T.  Well on Nov. 16, 1974, it was the very first time humans had sent an intentional message to outer space with the intention of it reaching alien life forms.  They pointed it towards a cluster called M13.  This star cluster is roughly 21,000 light years away from us. That means it will take 21,000 years to get there...! So don't expect it to ever reach there in our lifetime.  Source:  Wikipedia So what exactly did they send?  It was a simple image of about 1,679 bits or about 210 Bytes.  To put that into perspective, a standard picture from a smart phone is 3-5 million Bytes.  So this is a very small picture.  It was transmitted at 10 bits per second. It took almost 3 mins to send.  Now days most cell phones can transmit even up to 30 million bits per second or more. I think now we can send a 3MB picture in less than 3 sec.  We've come a long way with technology! The picture they sent consi

Think About It Thursday - If You Think About Sleeping, It's Actually Pretty Weird...

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Every single human being on this planet has the need to lay down at night and sleep.  Young, old or in between we all love to catch some zzzz's at the end of a long day.  If you think about it, it is pretty strange.  We get undressed and put on some jammies (some prefer to go commando) and then we get onto a big soft pad wrapped up like a burrito.  Then we just lay there for 8 hours or more while our heads play movies for us (dreams...).  We do this every single day!  Or hopefully anyway... So why do we even need to sleep in the first place?  To start off, if we don't sleep, we will literally go crazy.  It will induce psychosis and in fact will eventually kill you.  So yes, you have to sleep or you will die...  However, no one really knows exactly why we need sleep.  There are many theories, but this is still a widely studied topic in the science community. Some theories of why we need sleep: Sleep allows the brain organize itself Allows the brain to sort memories a

"Why Do" Wednesday - Why Do Leaves Change Color In Fall?

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This is one of the most beautiful things on earth!  When I was going to college there was a canyon called Sardine Canyon near by that had all kinds of colors.  It was one of the most most beautiful things to see. So why do these leaves change from green to all these amazing colors?  Well to answer that, lets first discuss why leaves are green.  The purpose of tree leaves are to gather nutrients for the tree.  They do this by absorbing CO2 from the air and gathering sunlight to change that CO2 and water into carbohydrates to feed the tree. The thing that makes this possible is called chlorophyll, a green pigment that does the magic of absorbing sunlight and gathering all that energy.  But along with this pigment, the leaves also have other pigments that range in colors from orange, yellow purple, red etc... These are masked in the spring and summer by the green chlorophyll.  When the days get shorter and colder, the green stuff dies off and the others start showing through until

Fun Day Monday - Some Funny Stories To Start Your Week Off

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Here are some funny stories I found to start your week off with a laugh.  Enjoy! #RookieGuru #GiveMeMore

Flashback Friday - 1906 Theodore Roosevelt Is 1st US President To Visit Another Country

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It is pretty interesting to think that the country had been founded for over 130 years before a sitting president traveled to another country on official business.  So why did he leave the country?  Well, he was heading on a 17 day trip to Panama and Puerto Rico to check on the progress for the Panama Canal. Why did no other presidents before him travel internationally on official business? Because up until this point, it was considered socially taboo for a president to go on any international travels and exchange bows or mingle with other "Royals."  Can't say I blame this mentality, since they had not too long before won independence from such a royal overbearing government. Although I must disagree with many of Roosevelt's political views, this trip opened the door to a whole new era. Roosevelt had spent time in central america before he had become president while he served as Secretary of the US Navy.  It was his wish to make Puerto Rico an autonomous cou

Think About It Thursday - Crying Is Pretty Weird If You Think About It

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When we get sad, hurt, or when we laugh too hard, for some reason our eyes start leaking water (or saline)...  That is pretty freaking weird if you really think about it!  Why does the body have a need to cry for feeling sad or hurt? Women cry an average of 50 times a year and men cry and average of 10 times a year. The body actually has 3 kinds of tears: basal, reflex and psychic. Basal Tears:  Keep your cornea (the transparent front of your eye) nourished and lubricated so your eyes don’t dry out. Reflex Tears:  Help you to wash out any irritations to your eyes from foreign particles or vapors Psychic Tears: Tears produced in response to that strong emotion you may have from stress, pleasure, anger, sadness, laughing, and physical pain All these different types of tears even look different under a microscope!  They are made up of different kinds of molecules.  I can understand the tears to keep eyes moist or to flush out a foreign object, but what makes me wonder and cont

"Why Do" Wednesday - Why Do Some Men's Button Up Shirts Have A Loop On The Back?

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Have you ever wondered why some men's button up shirts have that little loop on the back?  Well today you will have the answer.  Short answer is it is used to hang it on a hook to prevent wrinkles.  But when did that start? Well many say it all started with sailors.   When you are crammed on a small ship, they don't exactly give you a walk in closet or even a closet for that matter.  You may be lucky to have a little locker.  So they improvised and put these hooks on the back of their shirts so they didn't need hangers.  They could simply hang the shirt in their locker. This trend later became mainstream in the 1960's when many companies started putting them on their shirts.  They called them locker loops.  Businessmen and the elite could go work out and hang their shirts in the locker to keep them nice an wrinkle free. Later on these loops even evolved into a dating symbol.  A guy would cut them off to show he was going steady with someone.  It even got so cra

Flashback Friday - Nov. 2nd 1947 The Spruce Goose, First And Last Flight

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This one holds a special place in my heart since I have walked through the Spruce Goose in the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.  It was an amazing experience and fun to see. Spruce Goose Nov.2 1947 Flight Howard Hughes Howard Hughes was quite the character, but it was that character that led him to try something pretty nuts and very fascinating!  The Spruce Goose is the largest aircraft ever built.  It's wingspan is longer than a football field (320 ft)!  So what is so crazy about this plane?  Well it was made out of wood, Laminated Birch and Spruce to be precise.  Even more it was a plane that could take off and land on water, hence the name the "Spruce Goose". So why make this thing out of wood?  Well during wartime steel was all but available since it was used to produce weapons and machines for war.  So Hughes decided to try to make it out of wood.  So he framed it out of wood and laminated it with plastic and fabric.  It was designed

Think About It Thursday - Clapping Hands

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There are many things in life that if you really think about it are pretty weird and strange...  Take for example clapping hands to show approval.  Where did this social norm even come from?  Someone does something we like and we slap our hands together like goofy seals. Pretty freaking strange! So where/when did this behavior start?  Well, no one really knows.  It goes far back to the Romans who would snap fingers, stomp feet and clap hands.  Other cultures and old Christian churches waived linens to show applause.  So where the heck did clapping come from and why do so many cultures around the world do it? One interesting thing is that babies start at a young age to do this to show excitement.  Did they learn it from the parents or is it just inherent?  Many animals clap when excited.  Some theories suggest it stems from early humanity when they would sit around a fire and clap rhythms.  Perhaps it started there.  However, the farthest back documented clapping is the