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How big is the world’s largest cruise ship?

🛳 The Icon of the Seas ⬆️ is considered to be the largest cruise ship in the world at the moment.

🛳 It embarked on its maiden voyage, on January 27, 2024, from the Port of Miami.

🛳 It runs nearly 365 meters (1,200 feet) from bow to stern.

🛳 The Icon of the Seas can carry up to 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members.

🛳 The ship has:
2️⃣0️⃣ decks
6️⃣ waterslides
7️⃣ swimming pools, including the first cantilevered infinity pool at sea and the largest swimming pool at sea - the 151,416-litres Royal Bay
1️⃣ ice-skating rink, which is the largest ice arena at sea (Absolute Zero, where guests can skate or watch a performance).
1️⃣ theater
more than 4️⃣0️⃣ restaurants, bars and lounges

🛳 It is powered by six dual-fuel engines, which can be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

❗️ Some experts worry:
▪️LNG-powered ships increase methane emissions
▪️vacationers generate eight times more carbon on a cruise than they do on land.

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What is the longest and the heaviest self-propelled ship in history?

🚢 The supertanker TT Seawise Giant (also known as Oppama, Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, Knock Nevis, and Mont) is the longest and the heaviest self-propelled ship in history ⬆️.

🚢 Built in 1979 at the Oppama shipyard in Japan, it was originally delivered as the Happy Giant oil tanker.

🚢 After undergoing an extensive jumboization process in 1988-1989 in Hong Kong, the ship had
📍a capacity of 564,763 tons deadweight (DWT)
📍a length overall of 458.45 m (1,504.1 ft), longer than the height of many of the world's tallest buildings and 100 meters longer than the longest active cruise ship currently
📍a draft of 24.611 m (80.74 ft)
📍46 tanks
📍31,541 m2 (339,500 sq ft) of deck space
📍a rudder of 230 tons
📍 a propeller of 50 tons.

🚢 When fully loaded, her 25 meter/81 foot draft was too deep for the ship to safely navigate the relatively shallow waters.

The vessel was scrapped in 2010.

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What is the largest vessel ever built?

❗️ Prelude FLNG ⬆️ is the largest floating facility ever built.

📌 It is a floating liquefied natural lake gas (FLNG) platform. Despite its ship-like appearance, it is not in the strictest sense a boat as it needs to be towed to its destinations.

📌 Prelude FLNG measures 488 m (1,601 ft) long, about 30 m longer than the Seawise Giant, and 74 m (243 ft) wide.

📌 The ship has a deck longer than four soccer fields and storage tanks that would fill 175 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

📌 At full load, it displaces more than 600,000 tons.

📌 More than 6,700 Horsepower thrusters are used to position the facility and 50 million liters of water are used every hour for cooling the LNG.

📌 The Prelude is now stationed over a gas field off the north coast of Western Australia.

📌 Annually, the facility can produce enough natural gas to power annually a city the size of Hong Kong.

📌 According to analysts, its price could be up to $12.6 billion.

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What could play a unique role for the emergence of life on Earth?

🌋⚡️A new study says that lightning strikes hitting volcanic eruptions ⬆️ could play a crucial role in producing high levels of nitrogen, thereby facilitating the birth of the earliest life forms.

Nitrogen, a fundamental element for life on Earth, when combined with lightning, reacts with oxygen to form nitrogen oxide, which then gets released into the soil, creating a fertile ground for life to emerge and thrive.

The researchers analyzed samples from ancient volcanic sites and found that the substantial amounts of nitrates found were of atmospheric origin, suggesting that these essential life-giving elements were delivered by lightning, not derived from the volcanic eruptions themselves.

The phenomenon of volcanic lightning, which typically occurs at the eruption’s onset, was observed in two key areas: near the ground within ash clouds and higher up in the plume of volcanic smoke that reaches the stratosphere.

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What are the different parts of a plant?

🌱🍀🌿 Broadly, plants have 2️⃣ organ systems:

🟤 The Root System that covers the underground parts of a plant and includes the roots, tubers, and rhizomes.

🟢 The Shoot System that consists of parts found above the ground, such as leaves, stems, flowers, and fruits.

A typical diagram of a plant body consists of 3️⃣ parts:

🟫 Roots, that lie below the surface of the soil. The top part of a root (root apex) is covered by a covering known as root cap.

🟩 Stems, found above the ground and are structurally divided into nodes, the regions where leaves are found, and internodes, the areas in-between the nodes.

🍃 Leaves, each having specialized functions and mostly found above the ground and attached to the stem.

A flowering plant also contains:
🌷🌼🌺 Flowers, the most colorful and attractive parts of a plant,
and
🍓🫑🍅 Fruits, the ripened ovary found in flower after fertilization.

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What are the different parts of a plant? 🌱🍀🌿 Broadly, plants have 2️⃣ organ systems: 🟤 The Root System that covers the underground parts of a plant and includes the roots, tubers, and rhizomes. 🟢 The Shoot System that consists of parts found above the…
What are the functions of each part of a plant?

Here are the key functions of each part of a plant.

🟤 Roots
☑️ Absorbing water and minerals from the soil
☑️ Storing food for future use
☑️ Producing plant growth hormones
☑️ Anchoring the plant firmly to the soil and providing support
☑️ Developing new plants from the roots of the old plant (vegetative reproduction)

🟢 Stems
✔️ Providing strength and support to buds, flowers, leaves, and fruits
✔️ Storing food mainly in the form of starch
✔️ Transporting food, water, and minerals to all parts of the plant body
✔️ Developing new plants from the stem of the old plant (vegetative reproduction)

🍃 Leaves
Making food for the plant with the help of sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water through photosynthesis
Helping in reproduction such as in Bryophyllum, a group of sprout leaf plants
Helping in evaporation from the aerial parts of the plant by transpiration
Apart from these main functions, leaves of some plants are modified to form tendrils, that help in climbing (e.g., pea plant) or spines, helping in protection (e.g., cactus). Some leaves may turn fleshy to store food (e.g., onion plant).

🌺 Flowers
🔺 Helping in the sexual reproduction of plants
🔺 Stimulating pollination in plants and fertilization of the ovule
ℹ️🌸 A flower contains 4️⃣ main parts:
a) Sepals: Green parts of a flower found below the petals that protect flower buds from injury.
b) Petals: Colorful parts of a flower found above the sepals that help in pollination.
c) Stamens: Consists of an anther and a filament. They are the male reproductive part of a plant producing male sex cells or spermatia.
d) Carpel: Consists of stigma, style, and ovary. They are the female reproductive part of a plant producing female sex cells or ovules.


🥔🍓🥦 Fruits
🔸 Protecting the growing seeds
🔸 Helping in the dispersal of seeds and thus in plant reproduction

❗️ Thus although each part of a plant has its specific functions, they all work in combination to provide distinct advantages in plant growth and survival.

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Why do plants have different leaves?

🍃 Everything about a leaf — from the size, the thickness, the smoothness to its vein structure and segmentation — is part of its function. Each of these characteristics is an adaptation or optimization that helps leaves fulfill its main purpose, which is photosynthesis, as well as absorb sunlight, distribute water, regulate heat loss, avoid pests, etc.

🍀 Scientists say that the two major factors that influence leaf shape are evolutionary history and environment.

🌱 Plants from the same species can have very different-looking leaves in different climates.

🌿🌐 Researchers have found correlations such as latitude and shape (closer to the equator=simpler leaves), temperature and teeth (colder climate=more teeth), and moisture and size (wetter environment=larger leaves).

☘️🧬 Scientists have also identified a genetic mechanism responsible for leaf diversity that may offer new tools to help plants withstand different climate conditions.

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How does a desert plant pull moisture from the air?

🔸 When it comes to eking out a living without much water, some desert plants can grow deep-reaching roots to get a drink from far underground.

🔸 But one dry-adapted plant turns to another source to gain moisture: the air.

🔸 Spindly shrubs called athel tamarisks (Tamarix aphylla) draw salty water from the soil and excrete the salt from their leaves ⬆️. Then, at night, these crystals allow them to collect water from the air.

🔸 Researchers found that this salt contained at least ten different materials, which together allowed it to pull water from the air at low humidities. One of these components was lithium sulfate, which could gather water at the lowest humidities.

🔸 These natural salts are likely to be environmentally safe, and identifying them could help engineers improve practices for pulling moisture from the air in water-strapped regions.

ℹ️ This finding is considered one of the most promising discoveries in 2023.

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What is the leading explanation for how the universe began?

💥The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation for how the universe began.

💥It is the idea that the universe began as just a single point, then expanded and stretched to grow as large as it is right now—and it is still stretching.

💥This idea belongs to a Belgian astronomer Georges Lemaître (1894-1966).

💥⚛️🌠☄️This theory says that at the very beginning the universe was just hot, tiny particles mixed with light and energy. As everything expanded and took up more space, it cooled down. The tiny particles formed atoms, which over lots of time came together to form stars and galaxies. The first stars created bigger atoms and groups of atoms. That led to more stars being born. At the same time, galaxies were crashing and grouping together. As new stars were being born and dying, then things like asteroids, comets, planets, and black holes formed.

💥According to the theory, the universe could be 13.8 billion years old.

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Is it possible that the Big Bang never happened?

There some alternatives to the Big Bang Theory.

☑️ The Steady State universe posits the continuous creation of matter throughout the universe to explain its apparent expansion. This type of universe would be infinite, with no beginning or end.

☑️ The Eternal Inflation theory says that after the Big Bang, the universe expanded rapidly during a brief period called inflation that never stopped. A vast complex of all universes that could have different physical laws is called the multiverse.

☑️ The Oscillating model of the universe involved an endless series of Big Bangs, followed by Big Crunches. The modern cyclic model involves colliding "branes" (a "membrane" within a higher-dimensional volume called the "bulk").

☑️ Implications found in quantum gravity and string theory suggest a universe may be a flat hologram projected onto the surface of a sphere, or a completely digital simulation running on a vast computer.

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How James Webb’s discovery questioned the Big Bang Theory?

🌠 In 2023, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) discovered more than 700 ancient galaxies that could be between 370 million and 650 million years old, according to scientists, who studied the captured data. 93% of the newfound galaxies ⬆️ had never been seen before.

❗️ If the conclusion about the age of these galaxies is correct, this discovery questions and revolutionizes the Big Bang Theory and modern cosmology saying that galaxies need much more time to grow from “nothing”.

ℹ️ Some experts believe that the model of a cyclic oscillating universe may provide answers to these new questions. The main thermodynamic argument against this model has been that entropy, contained in black holes, should accumulate from cycle to cycle. But recent studies demonstrate that the continuous accumulation of entropy from cycle to cycle pertains to the surface of the big black hole without violating the second law of thermodynamics.

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Why is Science and Technology Day celebrated on April 10?

🗓 👨🏻‍🔬🇦🇷 Since 1982, every April 10, the Day of Science and Technology is celebrated in honor of the Argentine scientist Bernardo Houssay (1887-1971) for his discoveries in Physiology and Medicine, particularly in the role of the pituitary gland in the regulation of the amount of sugar in the blood, through the metabolism of carbohydrates.

This date was established by Unesco in honor of the birth of the Argentine scientist born on April 10, 1887.

Bernardo Houssay was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1947, being the first Latin American to receive the Nobel Prize in Science.

Today, Houssay’s discoveries continue to be an example for researchers around the world to continue working on the advancement of science as a means to improve the quality of life of all human beings, since technology undoubtedly plays a fundamental role in all our societies.

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Who was the first human in space?

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (1934-1968) ⬆️ was a Soviet Russian pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human in space.

🚀🌐 On April 12, 1961, he orbited Earth aboard the Vostok 1 space capsule, the first-ever crewed spacecraft.

"Vostok" means "East" in Russian, as opposed to the Western world, signifying the mission's importance in the Cold War-era space race between the USA and the USSR. The crewed part of the capsule was spherical, with an inside diameter of about 2 m (7 ft). The spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

In response to a statement from ground control that everything seemed to be working fine, Gagarin famously replied "Poyekhali!" — an informal phrase meaning "Off we go!" in Russian.

As a result, he became an international celebrity and received many awards, both within and outside the Soviet Union.

Gagarin was known not only for his accomplishments but also for his charismatic personality and smile ⬆️.

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Who was the first human in space? Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (1934-1968) ⬆️ was a Soviet Russian pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human in space. 🚀🌐 On April 12, 1961, he orbited Earth aboard the Vostok 1 space capsule, the first-ever crewed spacecraft.…
How many words for space explorers?

👨‍🚀👩‍🚀 Today, there are a few terms defining space explorers/pilots, astronaut and cosmonaut being the most popular.

Cosmonaut
👨‍🚀🚀🌌 When the Soviet Union announced the first human’s space flight of Yuri Gagarin, the whole world got to know the word cosmonaut, which was used to differentiate him from American astronauts.
The term cosmonaut (космонавт in Russian) is derived from two Greek words: “kosmos,” meaning universe, and “nautes,” meaning sailor. A cosmonaut is therefore effectively an individual who sails the universe.
According to experts, in the 1930s this word was introduced by Ary Sternfeld (1905-1980), a Soviet space exploration pioneer of Jewish and Polish origin, who also invented the word cosmonautics.
Cosmonaut was first used in literature in a science fiction novel “The new Planet” by a Soviet Russian writer Victor Saparin (1905-1970).

Astronaut
👨‍🚀🚀🌠 The word astronaut is similar to cosmonaut and is in fact older. While both incorporate the word “nautes” for sailor, astronaut contains “astron,” meaning star. Thus, astronauts are known as star sailors.
It was the British writer Percy Greg (1837-1889) who coined the word in 1880. Inspired by the stories of the mythical Argonauts, in his novel Across the Zodiac: The Story of a Wrecked Record he named a spaceship the Astronaut. The novel introduces the concept of apergy, an anti-gravitational energy that powers the spacecraft. In the book, the Astronaut flies to Mars with a real astronaut on board.
👽 Another interesting fact is that the Greg's book contains what was probably the first alien language in any work of fiction. So it also provides the first translation from and into an alien language.

❗️ Astronaut and cosmonaut are job titles and achievements.

Taikonaut
👨‍🚀🚀🇨🇳 As China emerged as a significant economic and military power in Asia, it started its own space program. The Chinese space explorers are known as ‘Taikonauts’. ‘Taiko’ in Chinese means space and the literal meaning of the word ‘taikonaut’ is space sailor.

Vyomanaut
👨‍🚀🚀🇮🇳 India is another country with an impressive up-and-coming space program.
A person who travels in space for the Indian space program is called vyomanaut. The Greek word "nautes" for sailor is combined with the Sanskrit word for sky.

Spationaute
👨‍🚀🚀🇫🇷 France also sends people into space and chooses to use the French word spationaute for their title. This word is a French take on the Latin word “spatium” for space and the Greek “naut” for sailor.

ℹ️ The word astronautics was coined by Robert Esnault-Pelterie (1881-1957), a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist.

👏🌐 American or Russian, Astronaut or Cosmonaut, these brave man and women have been a key part in pushing the human race further into space. Many of the experiments they have conducted are contributing to learning more about space, our place in the universe and our future in the solar system.

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What are the different types of deserts?

🏜 Based on their geographical positions, and dominant weather patterns, desert ecosystems can be divided into six types.

🔴 Subtropical Deserts
are found between 15-30 degrees both to the north and south of the equator along the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, respectively.

🟡 Coastal Deserts
are located on the coasts of the continents found between 20-30-degree latitude, and cold ocean currents contribute to their formation.

🟣 Cold Winter/Semi-arid Deserts
are located near the edges of other deserts and in the continental dry areas.

🟠 Rain Shadow Deserts
exist near the leeward slopes of some mountain ranges. Leeward slopes face away from prevailing winds.

🟤 Interior/Inland Deserts
are found in the heart of continents and exist because no moisture-laden winds reach them.

⚪️ Polar Deserts
are located in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and most of their water is locked in glaciers and ice sheets year-round.

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What are the different types of deserts? 🏜 Based on their geographical positions, and dominant weather patterns, desert ecosystems can be divided into six types. 🔴 Subtropical Deserts are found between 15-30 degrees both to the north and south of the equator…
What are some key characteristics of different deserts?

🔴 Subtropical Deserts are the hottest of all deserts.
Temperature: Reaches above 50°C during the day, which decreases very sharply during the night, owing to low humidity.
Yearly rainfall: Quite scarce, as the weather could be so extreme that raindrops evaporate before reaching the ground. Inland areas of Sahara receive less than 1.5 cm rainfall, which is one of the driest places on the planet.
Soil type: Coarse-textured and rocky with no subsurface water.
Plants that grow here: Mainly shrubs and small trees which are adapted to prevent loss of moisture; examples include creosote bush, mesquite tree, yuccas, ocotillo, sotol, ephedras, and agaves.
Animals found here: Nocturnal, and mainly carnivorous, animals here hide during hot daytime hours, becoming active during the night-time when it gets colder. Examples include mammals, insects, reptiles, arachnids.
Examples of subtropical deserts: Sahara desert in Africa is the largest of all subtropical deserts. Some other deserts of this group include the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa, and the Tanami Desert of Northern Australia.

🟡 Coastal Deserts are characterized by cold winters and relatively long and warm summers.
Temperature: Between 13-24°C during summer, with maximum range being about 35°C. During winter, it stays around 5°C or lower.
Annual rainfall: About 8-13 centimeters, which is more, compared to both the subtropical and coastal deserts.
Soil type: Fine-textured with a high content of salt and other nutrients.
Plants that grow here: Those growing here have roots that are close to the surface to absorb rainwater. Examples include saltbush, buckwheat bush, little leaf horsebrush, black sage, and Chrysothamnus.
Animals found here: Mammals, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and insects.
Examples of coastal deserts: The Atacama Desert in South America (driest place in the planet), the Namib Desert, and The Western Sahara desert of Africa.

🟣 Cold Winter/Semi-arid Deserts are characterized by long dry summer and mild, wet winters.
Temperature: Between 21-27°C in summer, which can go up to 38°C; evenings are cooler by about 10 degrees. During winter, the temperature ranges between 2-4°C, which can go down to 40°C.
Annual rainfall: Between 2-4 cm in average.
Soil type: Sandy, fine-textured with loose rock fragments and low salt content
Plants that grow here: Mainly, cactus, as well as creosote bush, bur sage, whitethorn, mesquite, lyceums, and jujube. The leaves of cacti are transformed into spines to reduce loss of water.
Animals found here: Mammals, insects, reptiles and birds. During day time, these animals hide in the shadows of shrubs or in the burrows to protect themselves from intense heat.
Examples of cold winter deserts: Gobi desert in Central Asia, Patagonian desert in Southern America.

⚪️ Polar Deserts are characterized by long cold winters and short warm summers. Winter witnesses relatively higher rainfall than summer.
Temperature: Ranges between 21-26°C (during summer), and between 2-4°C in winter.
Yearly rainfall: Between 15-26 cm in average
Soil type: Salty and contains silt. Soil is porous, where the alluvial fan is found.
Plants that grow here: Mostly algae, lichens, and some fungi. Short grasses, birches, willows, and mosses might grow in moist areas.
Animals found here: Mammals, birds, few amphibians, reptiles and insect species.
Examples of Polar deserts: The Antarctic, which covers 14.2 million square kilometers (5.5 million square miles), is the world’s largest polar desert and the world's largest desert.
The second-largest polar desert is the Arctic.

ℹ️ Deserts are arid ecosystems that receive fewer than 25 centimeters (10 inches) of precipitation a year.

ℹ️ Deserts cover about one-fifth of the total land area on earth.

ℹ️ Gobi desert can be also classified as a rain shadow and an inland desert.

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