Ask Me

2022-03-28 13:10:06 Why snowflakes are so different and maybe each of them is even unique?

Snowflakes are all made of the same hydrogen and oxygen atoms, so they are all the same on the atomic level.

But one of the determining factors in the shape of an individual snowflake is the unstable air temperature around it.

Changes in temperature as the snowflake falls determines different shapes of the six arms or the dendritic structure of the crystal.

Most of experts agree that it is almost impossible for two snowflakes to form their complicated designs in exactly the same way.

To reinforce this hypothesis, scientists claim that that there are up to 10^158 snowflake possibilities.

That’s 1070 times more designs than there are atoms in the entire Universe!

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment

2022-03-27 12:37:15 How snowflakes are forming and how big they can be?

When the air is colder than 0° Celsius (32° Fahrenheit), snow crystals begin to form from water vapor high in the atmosphere.

As more water vapor condenses and freezes on these crystals, they form the beautiful shapes we call snowflakes!

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest snowflake in the world was 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick. This was recorded on January 28, 1887 by Matt Coleman at Fort Keogh, Montana. He said that the snowflake was “larger than a milk pan”.

While many have doubted such reports and pointed out the lack of corroborating evidence, scientists now claim there’s nothing to stop flakes growing that big.

As flake size isn’t part of the meteorological measuring designations for snow, these massive flakes may well be out there, but just unreported, unseen or broken up by wind currents as they descend.

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment

2022-03-26 11:35:39 What color is the snow?

It’s spring time in the Northern hemisphere and fall in the Southern, but in some parts of our planet one can still, already, and even always find snow.

Dreaming of Christmas, one's mind usually comes up with pictures of the white color of snow.

But this vision isn’t strictly accurate as snow is in fact translucent.

It’s the reflection of light that makes it appear white. Many planes of snowflakes scatter the light in many directions, diffusing the entire colour spectrum.

Snow can also demonstrate a wide variety of spectacular hues. Dust, pollution or cryophilic (cold-loving) fresh-water algae can colour it black, orange or blue.

Pink or “watermelon snow”, caused by algae containing astaxanthin, a chemical similar to the one found in carrots, was mentioned in the early writings of Aristotle.

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment

2022-03-25 13:24:45 When the last ancient pyramids were built?

According to scientists, the last pyramid in ancient Egypt was built between 1550 and 1525 B.C., during the rule of Pharaoh Ahmose.

The pyramid was discovered in Abydos, one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, located near the modern day Egyptian towns of El Arabia, El Madfuna and El Balyana south of Sohag.

The construction, which was in fact part of a whole pyramid complex, was likely dedicated to Queen Tetisheri, the grandmother of Ahmose.

In the Americas, that contain more pyramid structures than the rest of the planet combined, ancient Mesoamerican civilizations kept building pyramids until circa 1500 AD, when conquistadors arrived in those lands.

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment

2022-03-02 16:03:23 How many continents in the world?

In fact, the answer to this question is unequivocal, and there are 5 popular models.

7 continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, North America, South America. Most popularly accepted model, commonly taught in English-speaking countries, China, India, and Pakistan.

6 continents version 1 (Asia and Europe united): Africa, Antarctica, Australia/Oceania, Eurasia, North America, South America. The model is most commonly taught in Western Europe.

6 continents version 2 in (one big America): Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, America. This model is popular in Eastern Europe and Japan.

5 continents: Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Pacific. Antarctica is omitted due to its lack of permanent habitation. This model is used by international organizations.

4 continents: Afro-Eurasia (Old World), America (New World), Australia/Oceania and Antarctica. The idea here is that all continents are landmasses divided by ocean.

Subscribe- t.me/askme Open / Comment

2022-03-01 15:18:37 Why Antarctica has its name?

By the beginning of the 19th century the search for a southern continent had been going on for several centuries.

In 1820 — a few years after Australia became Australia — an expedition from Russia spotted mainland Antarctica for the very first time.

Looking at maps throughout the 19th century, you can find a few different names for the southern continent, including “Ultima” and “Antipodea.”

John George Bartholomew, a Scottish cartographer, is believed to be the first person to use “Antartica” to refer to the continent.

The name was taken from the existing word “antarctic” or “antarctique” in French, as the French held a colony in Brazil below the equator which they named France Antartique.

Antarctica comes from the Greek word “antarktike,” which literally means “opposite to the north”, this last discovered continent being home to the southernmost point on Earth.

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment

2022-02-27 17:16:32 Why Australia is not New Holland?

Terra Australis Incognita means “the unknown land in the south” in Latin, and rumours of the continent’s existence dated back to Ancient Roman times.

The first person from Europe to find a land that could possibly fit this description was Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon, who went there in 1606. In 1644 the future continent was given its first name: New Holland, but the Netherlands didn’t attempt to lay any real claims to the land.

In the 1770s, British explorer James Cook sailed to the continent and decided to claim the entire east coast for England.

The British colonized the continent, and it was Matthew Flinders who pushed for the use of “Australia” from 1804.

Though “Australia” was used unofficially for several years, Governor Lachlan Macquarie petitioned for its official adoption in 1817.

It wasn’t until 1824 that the name was officially given to the continent.

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment

2022-02-26 13:30:00 Why “America” for the continent discovered by Columbus?

After Christopher Columbus sailed west in 1492 and reported his findings to Europe, other people took it upon themselves to find out about the land they’d been previously unaware of.

One of these people was the Italian merchant and navigator Amerigo Vespucci, who traveled to the “New World” in 1501 and realized that Columbus hadn’t made it to India, but in fact had gone to an entirely different continent.

Vespucci wrote about his travels and his books were published in 1502 and 1504.

In 1507, a German cartographer, Martin Waldseemüller, made a new map that included the new world and decided to give the credit for this “discovery” (not a physical discovery) to Vespucci.

Since both Europe and Asia got their names from women (see our posts above ) Martin Waldseemüller chose the name of “America”, or the Land of Americus Vespuccius – the Latin form of Vespucci’s name.

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment

2022-02-26 07:30:00 Why do we call the African continent “Africa”?

The origins of the name “Africa” date back to the Ancient World and can be explained by several versions.

One theory is that it was named for a native tribe there—the Afri, with “Africa” then being the feminine form of “Africus”, literally meaning “land of the Afri”.

An alternate theory is that Africa comes from the Phoenician word “afar”, which means “dust”, put together with the Latin suffix –ica. So the name could mean “a land of dust.”

According to a third version the Arabic afar meant “earth” itself and was used by Romans who called their new province “Africa”, which was only a small part of the whole continent.

As Europeans continued exploring and discovered the breadth of the continent, the name that the Romans had originally used for their small province stuck, and the entire continent became known as Africa.

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment

2022-02-25 13:30:00 Why do we call the Asian continent “Asia”?

We inherited the word “Asia” from the Ancient Greeks who already divided the world into Europe and Asia.

This view of the world is in fact what created the very idea of continents.

The theory that sees Europe coming from the Akkadian erebu, also says that Asia comes from asu, the Akkadian word for “to rise” (as the sun does in the east).

The same Phoenician word asu could mean “east”.

In reference to the sun, Asia would be then “the land of the sunrise.”

Subscribe- t.me/askmenow Open / Comment