Weekend Questions

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Question 1:

The Earth is an estimated four and a half billion years old. If geologic time were somehow compressed into a single calendar year, on what date would human beings appear?

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Well, knowing that the earth is something like 6 billion years old, and Homo Habilis is the earliest known species of the genus Homo existing from approximately 2.2 to 1.6 million years ago in east-Africa, let's do the math:

6,000,000,000 = 1 year
5,800,000,000 = how many months/days/hours?

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6,000,000,000      1
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5,800,000,000      x

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So x=5,800,000,000/6,000,000,000 = 0,9666666666666666.....

Now, a year has 356 days.
96 % of 356 = 341,76. The 341th day of the year is December 7th. Case closed.

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Question 2:

How much water can be stored in a camel's hump?

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0,0

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Question 3:

How high up do a nation's borders or airspace extend? Would an astronaut orbiting the Earth be in the U.S. when "flying over" the U.S. territorial area?

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He who first gets there and claims the country, ermmm...can claim the country.
This is similar to the question 'how deep a hole can you dig in your own backyard without breaking any rules?' In this case however, the answer is: you can dig as much as you want, as long as you don't end up in someone else's country...

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Question 4:

Why do Life Savers candy make blue sparks when you bite them?

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Static electricity... (no clue what Life Savers candy is though...)

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Question 5:

Under what special circumstances were the typewriter, carbon paper and LP record invented? Were they all just the result of blind chance?

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I'd say they were all invented by Thomas Alpha Edison... Oh, looky... they ARE all invented by Edison...circumstances? Hmmm, read any Edison-biography...

SO, if you come up with different answers than mine, I'm gonna kill you for not being honest...

Im always honest...


System_0verload

It's Sunday here... just post what you think are the answers, dude ;)

Im always honest...


System_0verload

Quote:

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Well, knowing that the earth is something like 6 billion years old, and Homo Habilis is the earliest known species of the genus Homo existing from approximately 2.2 to 1.6 million years ago in east-Africa, let's do the math:

6,000,000,000 = 1 year
5,800,000,000 = how many months/days/hours?

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You made a mistake there, you put in 200 million years instead of 2 million
The ratio is then .9996repeat
Which gives 364.8783repeat days
.878333333333 days is 21.079999999999 hours
.079999999 hours is 4.799999999 minutes

So our final answer is 9:04 pm on the 31st

Damn...yeah, what thesecretfire said...

dont mind that double post *lol*
I think I lost my mind......


System_0verload

Here are the answers...


Question 1:

The Earth is an estimated four and a half billion years old. If geologic time were somehow compressed into a single calendar year, on what date would human beings appear?

Answer...
On January 1, Earth formed out of matter surrounding the sun, then in mid-March the oldest known rocks formed, sea life sprang up in May, plants and animals emerged in late November, dinosaurs ruled in mid-December but bowed out by December 26, say Paul Hewitt et al. in "Conceptual Physical Science."

Our species Homo sapiens wouldn't make its debut until December 31 at around 11:00 PM. All of recorded history would take place in the last few seconds of New Year's Eve!


Question 2:

How much water can be stored in a camel's hump?

Answer...
It's not for water but is a mound of fatty tissue for sustenance when food is scarce, says www.Arab.net. Overtaxed, the 80-pound hump can go flaccid and hang at the camel's side. "Food and a few days' rest will return the hump to its normal firm condition."

The "ships of the desert," Dromedary (one-humped) camels can go for long distances without food or water, averaging 10 mph for 18-hour treks, downing large amounts of water when available, says "Information about Camels" site.

Reducing water loss, their kidneys can concentrate urine to be thick as syrup, with twice the salt content of sea water. Master recyclers, camels can actually extract water from their own fecal pellets, wasting nary a drop.


Question 3:

How high up do a nation's borders or airspace extend? Would an astronaut orbiting the Earth be in the U.S. when "flying over" the U.S. territorial area?

Answer...
The area of "controlled airspace" goes from 18,000 to 60,000 feet, says University of North Dakota aerospace scientist and aviation law specialist Douglas Marshall. All aircraft operating there over the contiguous 48 states or Alaska must be in contact with federal air traffic controllers.

Above 60,000 feet, where few aircraft can operate, is by international treaties anyone's airspace--the realm of orbiting satellites and manned space vehicles--but the U.S. has always claimed sovereignty to the outer limits of the atmosphere. In practice, however, says Marshall, another nation could overfly in this high zone with an aircraft and there wouldn't be a whole lot the U.S. could do about it.

"But if a hostile nation parked a spy satellite in a geosynchronous orbit above the U. S., I think that within 24 hours or so said satellite would experience some sort of mysterious failure or suddenly disappear, even though such a satellite placement would not violate international law."

As for an orbiting astronaut, he or she would not traverse U.S. territory but becomes an "ambassador for all mankind" and is entitled to land anywhere on the planet with guarantees of safe passage back to the nation of origin.


Question4:

Why do Life Savers candy make blue sparks when you bite them?

Answer...
Fist off, candy is bad for your teeth and biting them vigorously, although entertaining, is even worse - but it does make a blue spark. Wintergreen Life Savers work best although several brands of candy will do the same thing.
This phenomenon is called triboluminescence, occurs when something is crushed, the something in this case being the crystalline sugar in the Life Savers. When the sugar is smashed, electrons break free and become positively charged. Since electrons naturally want to attract, these lonesome particles dash about madly trying to find a new home. In this case, they attract to nitrogen molecules in the air and emit UV (Ultraviolet) radiation (they glow). Furthermore, the UV radiation is absorbed by the stuff that makes the Life Savers taste like wintergreen - methyl silicylate - and this emits a blue light. The moral of this story? Who needs bulky emergency flashlights scattered all over the house when a stash of yummy-tasting candy could suffice...


Question 5:

Under what special circumstances were the typewriter, carbon paper and LP record invented? Were they all just the result of blind chance?

Answer...
Blind, yes, but not at all random. The first known working typewriter was built by Pellegrino Turri in Italy in 1808 to enable his blind lover, the Countess Carolina Fantoni, to write to him, says University of Wisconsin- Madison human factors expert Gregg Vanderheiden.

Carbon paper was developed for blind people who could not use a quill but could write with carbon paper and a stylus. Later, carbon paper served as the first typewriter "ribbon."

The LP record was invented for "Talking Books for the Blind," anticipated by Thomas Edison when he filed for his patent for the phonograph in 1877 and spoke of eventual "Phonograph books, which will speak to blind people without effort on their part." ("The New York Times")

Just a few of the many cases of disability mothering invention.


Well there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the questions... If I get some good replys I will post some more in a few weeks...


System_0verload

WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO I GOT THE MOST RIGHT
I rule.

Good job GreekGoddess *Way to use your noodle* :thumbsup:


System_0verload