My Science School

Only a few people have seen the deepest place on earth. When they did they had to use artificial light because it lies in the pitch-black waters at the very bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

Beneath the oceans are mountain peaks and plunging valleys which are far higher and deeper than any on dry land. Measurements of the Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean have shown that the depth of this huge depression is eleven kilometres. It is so deep that an object dropped into it on the surface would take over an hour to sink to the bottom. Even if it were possible to go down the Marianas Trench in a fast lift, the journey would take half an hour. And if Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, stood in the Marianas Trench, its summit would still be more than two kilometres beneath the waves.

 

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As the national flag of the United Kingdom, the Union Jack is made up of united symbols from England, Scotland and Ireland. In 1606 the national flag of England was combined with the Scottish flag. That is to say, the red cross of St George on a white background was combined with the diagonal white cross of St Andrew on a blue background.

The Scots were not very happy with this new flag and it took them a hundred years to start flying it regularly.

The final addition came in 1801 when Ireland joined the union. This brought the red diagonal cross of St Patrick to the flag. You can tell if a Union Jack is being flown the right way up by looking at the top corner next to the flag-pole. The broad white band should be uppermost. This is the St Andrew's cross. The narrow white edge on the other side of the red band below it is the background of St Patrick's cross.

 

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The longest glacier in the world stretches for 400 kilometres across the frozen wastes of Antarctica. At its widest point it measures 64 kilometres from side to side. Like every other glacier on earth, this is an enormous river of ice, hundreds of metres deep. It has built up over millions of years from snow that has fallen on the mountains. As this piles up layer on layer, the snow at the bottom becomes compressed into ice. It starts moving slowly downhill too. The melting and freezing of the ice beneath the glacier helps this slow, steady movement. In a way it acts as a sort of lubricant.

When it comes to glaciers, though, slow is the word. Up in Greenland there is a glacier that outstrips all the others on earth. This clocks-up a top speed of 24 metres a day. Yes, that's one metre an hour. Still, when you consider the millions of tons of ice moving in it, that is not bad going.

 

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Because we are greedy and love pancakes - well, some of us are. But why on Shrove Tuesday in particular? The answer lies in the day that follows - Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.

Lent is the period of forty days that leads up to Easter. It corresponds to the forty days Jesus Christ spent in the wilderness. He did not have much to eat during that time and life was tough for him. So the Christian Church saw Lent as a way of letting Christians experience something of his hardship. In the past people used to go without food, and today people still give up favourite things between Ash Wednesday and Easter Day.

The time just before the start of Lent was a good opportunity for a last-minute fling. There used to be parties and games. Everyone tried to have one really good feed and that is where pancakes came in. They were not just tasty. They had religious significance as well. Pancakes are made from eggs, flour, salt and milk. The eggs were a symbol of creation. Flour represented life. Salt stood for health. And milk meant purity. Mixed together and eaten on Shrove Tuesday they were a perfect way to start Lent - as they still are, especially with sugar and lemon, or maple syrup, or honey, or jam, or golden syrup, or... well, use your own imagination.

 

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The world’s smallest country has a total area of only forty-four hectares. It is so small that it is completely surrounded by the capital city of another country. If you have not yet guessed which it is – the answer is the Vatican. This lies inside the Italian capital, Rome.

Small as it is, Vatican is still an independent country. It has a small population to match. Only a thousand people live there. Most of them are Roman Catholic clergy, who do not marry. That is why no one is born in the world’s smallest country.

 

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The clever answer is because it must get very cold at night. But why does somewhere as hot by day as the Sahara, get freezing cold at night? Strange as it seems, the two are connected.

There are no clouds over the Sahara. Therefore there is nothing to get in the way of the fierce sunlight that streams down on the desert between dawn and dusk. Temperatures can rocket to an all-time world record of 58  in the hade. Once the sun sets, the reverse happens. Since there is no cloud cover, the blazing heat of the day soon disappears because there is nothing to keep it close to ground level. Once all that hot air has gone, cold air replaces it. The temperature drops like a stone and sometimes frost forms on the ground before sunrise the next morning.

 

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The next time you are trudging towards the North Pole remember to make the right adjustment to your compass reading. If you do not you will end up in the wrong place – and the North Pole is not the easiest part of the world to get to at the best of times.

Having two north poles is confusing, but there it is. One is the magnetic north pole. The other is the true North Pole, the one that everyone tries to reach at the top of the world. This lies at the northern end of the imaginary line drawn through the centre of the earth, around which it is supposed to spin. At the other end is the South Pole.

As the earth spins, movements in its outer core of molten rock set up a magnetic field which is concentrated at the north and south magnetic poles. Because the earth actually spins on a slightly different axis to the imaginary north-south one, magnetic north is somewhere in northern Canada, about 2570 kilometres from the North Pole. Magnetic south is the same distance from the true South Pole.

The position of the two magnetic poles varies a little each year as the earth shifts slightly on its axis. By taking this small change into account, navigators can find their way around the world with their compasses, because a compass needle always point towards the magnetic north pole.

 

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Only five countries in the world do not have airports within their borders – Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City; though all have at least one heliport. As these places are all microstates in Europe, they are near bigger countries with airports upon which they can rely.

The Principality of Andorra is located between Spain and France, remains isolated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees mountains, which surround it completely. Even though it is not as small as other countries and has a surface area which is hundred times larger than Monaco, it still doesn’t have its own operational airport/s due to its location.

The principality of Liechtenstein due to its space limitations and hilly landscapes doesn’t have an airport. The principality with an area of some 160 square km is just a few kilometres long, and its entire perimeter barely stretches to 75 km. 

From being the smallest country in the world, the Vatican with an area of just 0.44 square km is another country without an airport. Even though the Vatican City is right in the centre of Rome, there is no alternate sea or river route of transport and is among the list of few countries where access is almost on foot. 

The Principality of Monaco is connected with the rest of the world through railways running along the French coast, its large harbour receiving many of its goods and by car along rather winding roads. 

Considered as the oldest state in the world, San Marino is not far from the Vatican City and Rome. It is also completely surrounded by Italy and does even have access to the sea. It’s less than 40 km in perimeter area and does not have room for an airport.

 

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Ben Nevis near Fort William in Scotland is 1343 metres above sea-level. That may not amount to much on a world scale. Still, it makes it the highest point in Britain, and it can get very cold up there at times.

Down in South America, the city of La Paz would tower way above Ben Nevis. Yet La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, making it the country’s most important city.

 

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This is the number of stars and stripes on the Stars and Stripes today. In the past the number of stars has varied, though the number of stripes has been the same. It is all to do with American history.

When America first declared itself independent from Britain, there were thirteen colonies. Each of the stripes represents one of these. The stars stand for each of the states in the United States. And they have increased as the nation has grown. Today there are fifty states in the union and fifty stars on the flag.

 

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The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Looking at a map also shows that if you follow the direction of the sun from east to west, the Pacific lies went of the Atlantic. In that case, how can you possibly see the sun rise over the Pacific and set over the Atlantic?

Well, you can. Unlikely as it sounds, you can do just that in Panama. This is the narrowest part of Central America, down in the south where it joins South America. Panama is shaped like an ‘S’ lying on its back. Because of this the land curves round a gulf in the Pacific Ocean in the south and round a gulf of the Atlantic in the north. So at sunrise you can go to the south coast and watch the sun rise over the Pacific. In the evening you have only to cross around eighty kilometres to the north coast to watch it go down over the Atlantic.

 

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Hallowe’en falls on the last day of October. The name is an abbreviation for Ali Hallows’ Eve, or the day before All Saints’ (All Hallows’) Day. In pre-Christian times this was the last day of the Celtic year – the time when witches, ghosts and spirits were believed to walk abroad and to be seen by living people.

When Christianity became established, the first of November was changed from the beginning of the Celtic year to All Saints’ Day. Hallowe’en was given a new name, but its primitive traditions survived. They are going strong today. People still dress up as witches and demons. And evil faces are cut out of turnips and pumpkins, which are turned into lanterns by lighting candles inside them.

 

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In post-revolutionary Russia, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation (divided in 1936 into the Georgian, Azerbaijan, and Armenian republics). Also known as the Soviet Union, the new communist state was the successor to the Russian Empire and the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

During the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent three-year Russian Civil War, the Bolshevik Party under Vladimir Lenin dominated the soviet forces, a coalition of workers’ and soldiers’ committees that called for the establishment of a socialist state in the former Russian Empire. In the USSR, all levels of government were controlled by the Communist Party, and the party’s politburo, with its increasingly powerful general secretary, effectively ruled the country. Soviet industry was owned and managed by the state, and agricultural land was divided into state-run collective farms.

In the decades after it was established, the Russian-dominated Soviet Union grew into one of the world’s most powerful and influential states and eventually encompassed 15 republics–Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belorussia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved following the collapse of its communist government.

 

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The Kingdom of Sikkim was founded by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century. It was ruled by Buddhist priest-kings known as the Chogyal. It became a princely state of British India in 1890. Following Indian independence, Sikkim continued its protectorate status with the Union of India after 1947, and the Republic of India after 1950. It enjoyed the highest literacy rate and per capita income among Himalayan states. In 1973, anti-royalist riots took place in front of the Chogyal's palace. In 1975, after the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok, a referendum was held that led to the deposition of the monarchy and Sikkim joining India as its 22nd state.

Roughly three-fourths of Sikkim’s residents are Nepalese in origin; most speak a Nepali (Gorkhali) dialect and are Hindu in religion and culture. About one-fifth of the population consists of Scheduled Tribes (an official category embracing indigenous peoples who fall outside the predominant Indian social hierarchy). The most prominent of these tribal groups are the Bhutia, the Lepcha, and the Limbu; they all speak Tibeto-Burman languages and practice Mahayana Buddhism as well as the indigenous Bon religion. There is a notable Christian minority in Sikkim, as well as a tiny community of Muslims. A small fraction of Sikkim’s people belong to the Scheduled Castes (an official term designating those peoples who traditionally have occupied a low position within the Indian caste system).

The great majority of Sikkim’s population is rural, living in scattered hamlets and villages. Gangtok is Sikkim’s largest settlement. Other notable towns include Singtam, Rangpo, Jorethang, Naya Bazar, Mangan, Gyalshing, and Namchi.

 

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Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers on 6 April 1941. In 1943, a Democratic Federal Yugoslavia was proclaimed by the Partisan resistance. In 1944 King Peter II, then living in exile, recognised it as the legitimate government. The monarchy was subsequently abolished in November 1945. Yugoslavia was renamed the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, when a communist government was established. It acquired the territories of Istria, Rijeka, and Zadar from Italy. Partisan leader Josip Broz Tito ruled the country as president until his death in 1980. In 1963, the country was renamed again, as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY).

After the breakup, the republics of Montenegro and Serbia formed a reduced federative state, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), known from 2003 to 2006 as Serbia and Montenegro. This state aspired to the status of sole legal successor to the SFRY, but those claims were opposed by the other former republics. Eventually, it accepted the opinion of the Badinter Arbitration Committee about shared succession and in 2003 its official name was changed to Serbia and Montenegro. This state dissolved when Montenegro and Serbia each became independent states in 2006, while Kosovo proclaimed its independence from Serbia in 2008.

The concept of Yugoslavia, as a single state for all South Slavic peoples, emerged in the late 17th century and gained prominence through the Illyrian Movement of the 19th century. The name was created by the combination of the Slavic words "jug" (south) and "slaveni" (Slavs). Yugoslavia was the result of the Corfu Declaration, as a joint project of the Slovene and Croatian intellectuals and the Serbian Royal Parliament in exile and the Serbian royal Kara?or?evi? dynasty, who became the Yugoslav royal dynasty following the foundation of the state.

 

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