Braindrops from
The Franklin Institute


Learn more about your brain and how to take care of it

07/04/09 - Thomas Jefferson died on July 4, 1826. In his lifetime, he was the third President of the United States, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States.

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07/03/09
George Washington Carver was an American scientist, botanist, educator and inventor whose studies and teaching revolutionized agriculture in the Southern United States.
07/02/09
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. The third largest of the Great Lakes by surface area, it is bounded by the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan.
07/01/09
An intussusception is a medical condition in which a part of the small intestine has retracted into another section of intestine, similar to the way in which the parts of a collapsible telescope slide into one another.

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06/30/09
The Central American country of Costa Rica has the distinction of being the first country in the world to constitutionally abolish its army.
06/29/09
Fire ants bite their prey to grab hold and then sting from the abdomen, injecting a venom that causes a sensation similar to burning.
06/28/09
The planet Jupiter has been known since ancient times. It is visible to the naked eye in the night sky and can occasionally be seen in the daytime when the sun is low. The Babylonians, the Romans, and the Greeks all had names and associated mythologies for it.
06/27/09
A microscope is an instrument for viewing objects that are too small to be seen by the naked or unaided eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy.
06/26/09
Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world.
06/25/09
Rotavirus is a genus of double-stranded RNA virus. It is the leading cause of severe diarrhea among infants and young children worldwide. By the age of five, nearly every child has been infected with rotavirus at least once. However, with each infection, immunity develops, so subsequent infections are less severe.
06/24/09
The white cliffs of Dover are cliffs which form part of the British coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face owes its striking facade to its composition of chalk (pure white calcium carbonate) accentuated by streaks of black flint.
06/23/09
Carbonyl iron is a highly pure iron, used in many industries. Pharmaceutically, it is used to treat iron deficiency and as an iron dietary supplement.
06/22/09
The Otis Elevator Company is the world's largest manufacturer of vertical transportation systems today, principally elevators and escalators. Founded in Yonkers, New York, USA in 1853 by Elisha Otis, the company pioneered the development of the safety elevator, invented by Otis, which used a special mechanism to lock the elevator car in place should the hoisting ropes fail.
06/21/09
The Siberian tiger once ranged throughout Western and Central Asia and eastern Russia. Today, it is now completely confined to far eastern Siberia, where it is now a protected species.
06/20/09
Auroras, sometimes called the northern and southern lights, are natural light displays in the sky, usually observed at night, particularly in the polar regions.
06/19/09
A ringer T-shirt is a T-shirt in which the jersey shirt fabric is one color, but the ribbing used for the collar and the sleeve bands are of a contrasting color.
06/18/09
Peristalsis is the contraction of smooth muscles to propel contents through the digestive tract.
06/17/09
Pepperidge Farm is a commercial bakery in the USA. It was founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, who named the brand after her family's property in Fairfield, Connecticut, which in turn was named for the pepperidge tree.
06/16/09
The SPF of a sunscreen is a laboratory measure of the effectiveness of sunscreen — the higher the SPF, the more protection a sunscreen offers against UV-B (the ultraviolet radiation that causes sunburn).
06/15/09
Tang is an orange-flavored non-carbonated soft drink mix introduced in powdered form in 1959. It did not gain popularity, however, until the mid-1960s when NASA's Gemini astronauts began using it.
06/14/09
Aluminium is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust. It makes up about 8 percent by weight of the Earth’s solid surface. It has the symbol Al and its atomic number is 13.
06/13/09
The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is an automobile shaped like a hot dog on a bun that is used to promote and advertise Oscar Mayer products. It was created in 1936.
06/12/09
The radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family that was domesticated in Europe in pre-Roman times. Other examples from the Brassicaceae family are cabbage, cauliflower, and turnips.
06/11/09
Nanotechnology is the study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale.
06/10/09
A swimming pool is an artificially enclosed body of water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. The history of swimming pools dates back to the 3rd Millennium BC and were common among Ancient Greeks and Romans.
06/09/09
A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere.
06/08/09
Hair is a protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class.
06/07/09
The Commonwealth of Australia is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the mainland (which is the world's smallest continent), the major island of Tasmania, and numerous other islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
06/06/09
The Seine is a slow flowing major river and commercial waterway in France and is famous as a romantic backdrop in photographs of Paris. There are 37 bridges over the River Seine just within Paris and dozens more spanning the river outside of the city.
06/05/09
The Atlantic Ocean is the world's second-largest ocean. It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the "Sea of Atlas."
06/04/09
Venomous mammals produce venom, which they use to disable prey, or to defend themselves from predators. In modern nature, venomous mammals are quite rare. The platypus, the shrew, and the slow loris are examples.
06/03/09
The Blue-footed Booby is a Pacific seabird that is clumsy on land. This clumsiness led to its name which derives from the Spanish "bobo" that means a fool or a clown.
06/02/09
Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by slender bodies, short noses, and long tails.
06/01/09
Developed in 1935 by Charles Richter in partnership with Beno Gutenberg, both of the California Institute of Technology, the Richter Scale assigns a single number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake.
05/31/09
Sacagawea was a Shoshone woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark in their exploration of the Western United States. She traveled thousands of miles from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean between 1804 and 1806.
05/30/09
QVC is a West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA, multinational corporation, specializing in televised home shopping. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel, QVC stands for Quality, Value, Convenience, the three pillars of Segel's vision for the company.
05/29/09
In 1882, William Breyer founded Breyers ice cream company in Philadelphia. In 1928, William Dreyer founded Dreyer's ice cream company in Oakland, California.
05/28/09
The American Museum of Natural History was founded in 1869. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., the father of the 26th U.S. President, was one of the founders.
05/27/09
Pythagoras of Samos was revered as a great mathematician, mystic and scientist, best known for the Pythagorean theorem related to triangles.
05/26/09
Bermuda is a British territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about 1,030 kilometres (640 mi) west-northwest. Bermuda's first capital, St. George's, was settled in 1612 and is the oldest continuously inhabited English town in the Americas.
05/25/09
The American Civil War came to its end when General Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865, at the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House.
05/24/09
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use.
05/23/09
A Spaniel is a type of gun-hunting dog. Spaniels may have arrived in the British Isles during Caesar’s invasion (54-55 BC). It is assumed spaniels originated from Spain as the word spaniel may be derived from Hispania (Spain) or possibly from the French phrase Chiens de l’ Espagnol (Dog of Spain).
05/22/09
Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, also known as Maxfield Field, is a military airport located just outside Lakehurst, NJ. It is best known as the site of the Hindenburg disaster of May 6, 1937. Today, a plaque and a small white metal flag mark the spot of the disaster which killed 36 people.
05/21/09
Pepsi Cola was originally named "Brad's Drink," after its creator, Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist in New Bern, NC. Created in the summer of 1893, it was renamed Pepsi Cola in 1898, likely due to the digestive enzyme pepsin and kola nuts used in the recipe. Bradham sought to create a delicious drink that would aid digestion and boost energy.
05/20/09
Silt is soil or rock-derived granular material of a grain size between sand and clay. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a body of water. It may also exist as soil deposited at the bottom of a water body.
05/19/09
The Hubble Space Telescope is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the Space Shuttle Discovery in April 1990.
05/18/09
Alaska is the largest state by area in the U.S. The U.S. Senate approved the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at two cents per acre.
05/17/09
In astronomy and cosmology, dark matter is hypothetical matter that is undetectable by its emitted radiation, but whose presence can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.
05/16/09
The muskrat is a medium-sized semi-aquatic rodent native to North America. Its name comes from the two scent glands near its tail. The musky scent is used to mark territory.
05/15/09
The Schwinn Bicycle Company was founded by Ignaz Schwinn in Chicago in 1895 and became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century.
05/14/09
Crabgrass is part of the genus Digitaria which consists of 300 kinds of grass, most of which are considered lawn pests.
05/13/09
In 1898, the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) was formed when the American Biscuit Company, United States Baking Company, and New York Biscuit Company merged.
05/12/09
In the United States, the Federal government defines a felony as a crime which involves a potential punishment of one year or longer in prison.
05/11/09
Lacrosse, one of the oldest team sports in the Americas, may have developed as early as the 12th century.
05/10/09
Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.
05/09/09
Caviar is the processed, salted roe of certain species of fish, most notably the sturgeon (black caviar) and the salmon (red caviar). It is commercially marketed worldwide as a delicacy and is eaten as a garnish or a spread.
05/08/09
Historians of tattoos report that sailors used to tattoo the image of a bluebird on their chests for every 5,000 miles logged at sea.
05/07/09
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.
05/06/09
A mile is a unit of length, usually used to measure distance. In contemporary English contexts, mile most commonly refers to the statute mile of 5,280 feet (exactly 1,609.344 meters) or the nautical mile of 1,852 meters (about 6,076.1 ft).
05/05/09
The hyacinth is a perennial flower that grows from a bulb. It originated in the Mediterranean.
05/04/09
The duck-billed platypus is a semi-aquatic egg-laying mammal found in Australia and Tasmania. It has webbed feet, a broad flat tail, and a snout that looks like a duck's bill.
05/03/09
Although more common today for being show dogs, the poodle was originally bred for excellence in hunting in Europe.
05/02/09
Graphite is a soft, steel-gray to black, hexagonally crystallized allotrope of carbon with a metallic luster and a greasy feel, used in lead pencils, lubricants, paints, and coatings.
05/01/09
Mayday is an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning 'come help me.'
04/30/09
Scientists are studying modern-day alligators in an attempt to understand how dinosaurs lived in low-oxygen environments.
04/29/09
Choosing eggs for breakfast can help adults manage hunger while reducing calorie consumption throughout the day.
04/28/09
The human lungs breathe in between 2,100 and 2,400 gallons (8,000 and 9,000 liters) of air each day.
04/27/09
Many organisms use warning, or aposematic, coloration to signal their undesirability to potential predators. The highly conspicuous prey is detected sooner and aversion is learned faster by the predator.
04/26/09
Aardvarks live south of the Sahara in Africa. Their name comes from South Africa's Afrikaans language and means "earth pig."
04/25/09
Most wind energy comes from turbines, which look like giant airplane propellers on a stick. The wind spins the blades, which turn a shaft connected to a generator that produces electricity.
04/24/09
A herbivore is any organism which feeds exclusively on plants.
04/23/09
This evening at The Franklin Institute, the 2009 Franklin Award Laureates will be honored at the annual Awards Ceremony and Dinner.
04/22/09
Today is Earth Day, and marks the beginning of a two-year initiative called the "Green Generation Campaign."
04/21/09
A mountain peak rising out from and above an ice sheet or glacier is called a nunatak.
04/20/09
The scientists, programmers, and technicians who work in NASA's Astrophysics Science Division study the astrophysics of objects that emit cosmic ray, x-ray, and gamma-ray radiation.
04/19/09
The excellent eyesight of a praying mantis allows it to see movement up to 60 feet (18 meters) away.
04/18/09
Vegans are vegetarians who in addition to not eating meat, fish, or poultry, also do not use animal products or by-products such as eggs and dairy products.
04/17/09
An extrasolar planet is a planet in orbit around a star other than the Sun.
04/16/09
Fat-soluble vitamins, such as A, D, E, and K, are absorbed by the body along with dietary fats. The body stores excess fat-soluble vitamins in your liver and body fat, and then uses them as needed.
04/15/09
The goslings of Canada geese usually stay with their parents for a full year after they hatch.
04/14/09
Salmonellosis is an infection with bacteria called Salmonella, which can cause diarrheal illness in humans. The microscopic living creatures pass from the feces of people or animals to other people or animals.
04/13/09
T1 lines can carry data at a rate of 1.544 megabits per second. A T3 line is the equivalent of approximately 28 T1 lines.
04/12/09
Pumice rock is a type of igneous rock that forms when lava cools quickly above ground.
04/11/09
By recycling one glass bottle, you save enough electricity to power a 100-watt bulb for approximately four hours.
04/10/09
The Eustachian tube is a canal that connects the middle ear to the throat. Cold, flu, and allergies can irritate the Eustachian tube and cause the lining of this passageway to become swollen.
04/09/09
If something is heliocentric, it is Sun-centered.
04/08/09
Koalas have fingerprints similar to those of humans. Even with a microscope, it can be difficult to distinguish between the prints.
04/07/09
Apples contain pectin which helps to neutralize food odors. The fibers in apples also serve as a natural dental floss.
04/06/09
Camels can tolerate a 40 percent loss in body mass when food and water are scarce. A 15 percent loss would kill most other mammals.
04/05/09
Diastolic blood pressure is the bottom number of a blood pressure reading. It indicates the lowest pressure in the blood vessels, between heartbeats when the heart is at rest.
04/04/09
Systolic blood pressure is the top number of a blood pressure reading. It indicates the peak pressure in the blood vessels, when the heart contracts and circulates blood throughout the body.
04/03/09
NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle is currently being designed to take humans back to the moon by 2020.
04/02/09
To cut down on waste, buy household items such as detergent and cleaning supplies in concentrated forms so that you get more product per package.
04/01/09
Earthworms' bodies are made up of ring-like segments called annuli.
03/31/09
Frostbite can be superficial or severe. If severe, the person will likely suffer tissue damage, which means that skin has actually died. In extreme cases, fingers, toes, hands, or feet may need to be amputated.
03/30/09
The whale shark is the world's largest fish. It measures up to 50 feet in length, and estimates suggest it weighs over 13 tons.
03/29/09
In forestry, a snag is a dead tree that is still standing. Snags provide important food and cover for a wide variety of wildlife species.
03/28/09
At the end of March, Venus passes from the evening sky into the morning sky. Along the way it passes between Earth and the Sun. A telescope can pick out Venus in the daytime as an ultra-thin crescent sitting just above the Sun.
03/27/09
Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water.
03/26/09
Gallstones are hard, pebble-like deposits that form inside the gallbladder. Some stones form when there is too much cholesterol or bilirubin in the bile. Other stones form if there are not enough bile salts or if the gallbladder fails to empty properly.
03/25/09
Ticks are commonly thought of as insects, but they are actually arachnids like scorpions, spiders, and mites.
03/24/09
A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye, making it difficult to see. Most cataracts are related to aging.
03/23/09
When a software program is open source, it means the program's source code is freely available to the public.
03/22/09
Narwhals are pale-colored porpoises found in Arctic coastal waters and rivers. They have two teeth; in males, the more prominent tooth grows into a sword-like, spiral tusk up to 8.75 feet (2.7 meters) long.
03/21/09
A new study finds that temperatures rise, rather than drop, with altitude on Pluto. Methane, the second most abundant gas in the dwarf planet's atmosphere, is warmer at higher elevations than at the icy surface. As a result, Pluto's upper atmosphere is about 90 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) warmer than the planet's surface.
03/20/09
An "exotic" fish is one not native to an area, but introduced either by accident or design.
03/19/09
A lightning flash is composed of a series of strokes with an average of about four. The length and duration of each lightning stroke vary, but typically average about 30 microseconds.
03/18/09
Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, which were discovered in 1877 at the U.S. Naval Observatory.
03/17/09
An antipyretic is a substance that can lessen or prevent fever.
03/16/09
Brain Awareness Week takes place March 16-22, 2009, and is an international campaign dedicated to advancing public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research.
03/15/09
Did you know that harbor seals are capable of diving 1,000 feet to feed on squid?
03/14/09
Karst topography is a landscape created over time by the dissolving action of water on carbonate bedrock such as limestone. This creates land forms such as shafts, tunnels, caves, and sinkholes.
03/13/09
A noctilucent cloud is a rare cloud form, probably composed of ice crystals and meteoric dust. The clouds occur at a higher altitude than any other cloud form--about 50 miles (82 km). Noctilucent clouds are silvery or bluish white and visible mostly on spring and summer nights in high latitudes.
03/12/09
Lemurs are prosimians, or primitive primates, found naturally only on the island of Madagascar and some smaller surrounding islands.
03/11/09
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is a tool used by medical professionals to evaluate the degree to which a person is conscious or comatose. The GCS operates on a scale of 3 to 15, in which higher scores indicate higher levels of consciousness.
03/10/09
Nicotine leaves brownish deposits on teeth, which slowly soak into the tooth structure and cause discoloration over time.
03/09/09
Deforestation is the removal of trees from a habitat dominated by forest.
03/08/09
There are four cavities inside the heart that fill with blood. Two of these cavities are called atria; the other two are called ventricles.
03/07/09
A glovebox is a sealed container with built-in gloves. Astronauts do small experiments and test hardware inside of it.
03/06/09
Badgers belong to one of the largest carnivore families--the mustelid. This group includes skunks, otters, minks, polecats, wolverines and badgers.
03/05/09
Experts recommend waiting at least three days, and up to a week, before introducing a new cereal or food to a baby, to make sure that he or she tolerates it well and is not allergic.
03/04/09
Nasal congestion refers to a stuffy nose. It is a common misconception that a nose gets congested from too much thick mucus. Rather, a nose becomes congested when the tissues lining the nose become swollen due to inflamed blood vessels.
03/03/09
There are 26 known species of barracuda, including the great barracuda, which grows to over 6 feet in length.
03/02/09
In 1609, Galileo first aimed his telescope at the sky. To commemorate 400 years of exploring the universe, 2009 has been designated the International Year of Astronomy.
03/01/09
Nails grow all the time, but their rate of growth slows down with age and poor circulation.
02/28/09
Agrostology is the science or study of grasses.
02/27/09
Cheetahs can run at speeds of up to 70 miles per hour; they cover 20 to 22 feet (6 to 6.7 meters) in one stride -- about the same distance as a racehorse.
02/26/09
Submarine canyons are similar to those on land in shape and form, but are cut by currents on the ocean floor.
02/25/09
Temperatures on Mercury's surface can reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius). But because the planet has no atmosphere to retain the heat, nighttime temperatures on the surface can drop to -280 degrees Fahrenheit (-170 degrees Celsius).
02/24/09
The sympathetic nervous system starts in the brain and branches out from the spine across the body. It is this system that controls your body's response to stress.
02/23/09
Floods do about $6 billion worth of damage and kill about 140 people every year in the United States.
02/22/09
Red-tailed hawks make stick nests high above the ground, in which the female lays one to five eggs each year. Both sexes incubate the eggs for four to five weeks, and feed the young from the time they hatch until they leave the nest about six weeks later.
02/21/09
In 1874, an all-volunteer Franklin Institute Committee on Science and the Arts began selecting Franklin Institute Award recipients. The Franklin Institute Awards are among the oldest and most prestigious science awards in the world.
02/20/09
Discovered by a meteorology undergraduate student at China's Sun Yat-Sen University in July 2007, Comet Lulin is expected to make its closest approach to Earth on February 24. Comet Lulin will be difficult to see with the unaided eye.
02/19/09
Your voice box, or larynx, is a hollow tubular structure connected to the top of your windpipe. Inside the voice box are two bands of tissue that form vocal cords. When you speak or sing, muscles pull the cords together. The air passing through the cords makes them vibrate, and you hear these vibrations as sounds.
02/18/09
A fjord is a narrow, deep, U-shaped valley with steep walls that was carved by a glacier and now occupied by the sea.
02/17/09
All reptiles are covered in scales. Scales are made of keratin and they provide protection and prevent water loss.
02/16/09
The term cosmonaut refers to professional space travelers who are members of the Russian space program.
02/15/09
Your body has approximately 300 million skin cells. Every minute, you can shed up to 40,000 of them.
02/14/09
Pacemakers are used to treat heart rhythms that are too slow, fast, or irregular. These abnormal heart rhythms are called arrhythmias.
02/13/09
An elephant's gestation period is very long; it takes about 630 days to two years from conception to birth. After a successful birth, an elephant won't conceive again for another 4 to 5 years.
02/12/09
February 12 is Charles Darwin's 200th birthday. More than 300 birthday celebrations are planned in Britain alone.
02/11/09
Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen and helium. Very fast winds, combined with rising heat from the planet's interior, cause the yellow and gold bands that are visible in the atmosphere.
02/10/09
Cell growth needs to be regulated strictly in order for the body and its organs to function properly. Cancer cells, however, divide and multiply at their own speed, forming abnormal lumps or tumors.
02/09/09
Lakes and ponds are bodies of water that are surrounded by land, whereas rivers and streams are the arteries that move fresh water from land--such as mountain peaks--to oceans.
02/08/09
About 80 percent of all the planet's earthquakes occur along the rim of the Pacific Ocean, called the "Ring of Fire" because of volcanic activity.
02/07/09
Sloths are so sedentary that algae actually grows on their fur. They are the world's slowest mammal.
02/06/09
The composition of Jupiter's atmosphere is similar to that of the sun--mostly hydrogen and helium.
02/05/09
The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain, accounting for 85 percent of the organ's weight.
02/04/09
Vibrantly colored birds named resplendent quetzals live in the mountainous, tropical forests of Central America where they eat fruit, insects, lizards, and other small creatures.
02/03/09
Calibration is correcting a measuring instrument by measuring values whose true values are known.
02/02/09
Rainsplash is soil erosion caused by the force of impact of raindrops.
02/01/09
The speed of light is equal to 299,792,458 meters/second (186,000 miles/second).
01/31/09
A captive reptile in New Zealand has unexpectedly become a father at the age of 111. Eleven tuatara babies were hatched on January 26 at the Southland Museum and Art Gallery--good news for the endangered species.
01/30/09
The tailbone, or coccyx, is made of several vertebrae fused together.
01/29/09
A stroke is the death of brain tissue that occurs when the brain doesn't get enough blood and oxygen.
01/28/09
Manatees never leave the water; however, like all marine mammals, they must breathe air at the surface.
01/27/09
The Earth moves at approximately 18.5 miles (29.8 kilometers) a second in its orbit around the Sun.
01/26/09
Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1979 following a successful vaccination program. In the 20th century alone, the disease had killed about 300 million people globally.
01/25/09
An avalanche can reach speeds of 60 to 80 miles per hour within five seconds after it fractures.
01/24/09
The optic nerve transmits electrical impulses from the retina to the brain.
01/23/09
It is rare for thunder and lightning to occur during a snowstorm, but when it does, it is a phenomenon called thunder snow.
01/22/09
The stripes of an individual zebra are as unique as fingerprints, although each of the three species of zebra has its own general pattern.
01/21/09
Emoticons are icons that represent emotions.
01/20/09
A comet's nucleus is a mass of ice and frozen gases. The cloud of gas that surrounds the nucleus is called the coma. As a comet nears the sun, parts of the nucleus begin to vaporize, forming a long tail.
01/19/09
Icthyology is the branch of science that studies fish.
01/18/09
On a chessboard, the queen is the most powerful and versatile piece. Each side has only one queen, and she may move in any direction from the square where she starts--forward, backward, to each side, or diagonally.
01/17/09
Graduation marks are the markings on a flask, beaker, measuring cup, or any other vessel used in measuring volume.
01/16/09
Angiosperms are plants that produce flowers and develop fruit around their seeds. Cereal grains like wheat, oats, barley, and corn are angiosperms, as are apples, oranges, and bananas.
01/15/09
Every cell in the human body is enclosed by a cell membrane. It maintains the integrity of a cell and controls passage of materials into and out of the cell.
01/14/09
Approximately one-third of all U.S. garbage consists of packaging materials.
01/13/09
The four main directions (North, South, East, and West) found on a compass or map are called cardinal points.
01/12/09
Insertion and suit technicians are members of the closeout crew that assists NASA astronauts on launch day; they help to outfit the astronauts in their launch and entry suits and ensure that all gear is properly fitted and functioning.
01/11/09
Brown bear cubs don't come out of their birthing dens until they are about four months old. They stay with their mothers until they are two to three years old.
01/10/09
Up to 50 percent of the average household's energy consumption is used for heating and cooling the home. Checking that your windows are properly sealed will help insulate your home and reduce energy consumption.
01/09/09
Acid rain refers to any form of precipitation with high levels of nitric and sulfuric acids.
01/08/09
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 99 percent of the people who die from rabies worldwide contract the disease from rabid dogs.
01/07/09
Mars' geological characteristics include the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons.
01/06/09
Did you know that Albert Einstein's brain was slightly smaller than the average human brain?
01/05/09
Green anacondas can grow to more than 29 feet (8.8 meters), weigh more than 550 pounds (227 kilograms), and measure more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) in diameter, making the South American snake the largest in the world pound for pound.
01/04/09
To date, no one has survived with an artificial heart longer than 602 days, or just over 20 months.
01/03/09
Eaten in moderation, unsaturated fats can actually help lower the amount of cholesterol in your blood. Many nuts and seeds contain unsaturated fats.
01/02/09
In geology, permafrost or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years.
01/01/09
Cloud-to-ground lightning is a common phenomenon; about 100 bolts strike Earth's surface every second.