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What animals live longer than turtles?

There are at least two animals who can live longer than ๐Ÿข.

The first one is Hydra, belonging to a group of symmetrical invertebrates that includes also jellyfish, sea anemones and corals. The hydra is best-known for its unusual ability to continually regenerate parts of its body, making the creature biologically immortal.

Among vertebrates, itโ€™s the Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus)๐Ÿฆˆ who has an estimated maximum life span of 272 years.

Greenland sharks live in deep waters of the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans.

Growing very slowly, they can reach up to 7.3 meters long (24 feet).

โ„น๏ธ The exact life span of these longest-living animals with a backbone is in fact unknown. The estimations of their age made by researchers in 2016 had a margin of error of some 120 years. So it is not excluded that some sharks can live even longer than three centuries.

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How old are the first wildfires on Earth?

๐Ÿ”ฅScientists have found traces of the oldest forest fires thanks to deposits of ancient charcoal from Wales๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ and Poland๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ฑ.

๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅThey estimate that the first wildfires on our planet date back to 430 million years ago, in the mid-Silurian of the Paleozoic era.

๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅAccording to researchers, these fires could burn down very short vegetation as well as rare knee-high or waist-high plants that grew in the regions with enough humidity.

๐Ÿค“Amazing fact is that the Silurian period landscape was dominated not by plants, but by ancient fungal prototaxites. Not much is known about the fungus, but it is believed that it could grow up to nine meters (almost 30 feet) in height.

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What are active and passive vocabularies?

๐Ÿ“–๐Ÿ–‹Active vocabulary
is made up of terms already in use and understood by an individual in speech and writing. These are used on a regular basis and are fundamental to a person's address. A person can use them with no noticeable effort. The active vocabulary words in an adult is estimated as 20,000 words.

๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ”Passive vocabulary refers to terms that learners understand but are not able to use. They are words stored in the verbal memory and are partially understood, but not well enough for active use. Passive vocabulary is usually more than the active one and is estimated to be 40,000 words for an adult.

๐Ÿ”คIt is also proven that the first 25 words are used in 33% of everyday writing, first 100 words in 50% of adult and student writing and the first 1,000 words in 89% of daily writing and speaking.

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How many words are necessary to understand common texts in English?

โ„น๏ธIt makes no doubt that having a vocabulary of 40,000 words is not necessary for communicating.

โ„น๏ธโ„น๏ธAccording to experts, 3๏ธโƒฃ0๏ธโƒฃ0๏ธโƒฃ0๏ธโƒฃwords provides coverage for around 9๏ธโƒฃ5๏ธโƒฃ% of common texts (such as news items, blogs, etc.).

โ„น๏ธโ„น๏ธโ„น๏ธThatโ€™s still just 7.5% of the average passive vocabulary of a native speaker: 3,000 vs. 40,000 words in the passive vocabulary of an English-speaking adult.

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Who can be named the English vocabulary guru?

Despite the continuing expansion of the English language, the person who is considered the lord of the English vocabulary lived five centuries ago.

It is the English playwright, poet and actor William Shakespeare.

According to linguists, he had an active vocabulary of 25,000 words and 35,000 passive words.

Compared to today, Shakespeare is the English vocabulary guru of all time.

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How many words in modern English?

๐Ÿ”˜
The last updated Third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary informs that it counts 6๏ธโƒฃ0๏ธโƒฃ0๏ธโƒฃ0๏ธโƒฃ0๏ธโƒฃ0๏ธโƒฃ words.โ€ผ๏ธ

๐Ÿ”˜ It is updated on a quarterly basis, and the material added to the dictionary includes revised versions of existing entries (which replace the older versions), and ๐Ÿ†• words and entries.

๐Ÿ”˜ In the latest update as of June, 2022, nearly 700 new words, senses, and sub-entries, have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary, including ankle-biter, sharenting, and Mozart and Liszt.

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Two beers or not two beers?

The answer to this joke โ“inspired by one of the most famous quotes from Shakespeare is seriously given by scientists from NOVA University of Lisbon, and it is: one๐Ÿบ a day!

โ—๏ธIn their recent study researchers conclude that having a bottle of beer each night with dinner may actually improve gut health!

๐Ÿ“ŒThey explain that beer contains compounds like polyphenols, and other microorganisms that occur during fermentation. Itโ€™s believed they help influence gut health and lead to a more diverse microbiome.

๐Ÿ“ŒFor those who donโ€™t drink, thereโ€™s still good news: even non-alcoholic ๐Ÿบ appears to have the same benefits, as these positive effects of beer are independent of alcohol and may be mediated by beer polyphenols.

โ„น๏ธHaving a healthy gut microbiome is key for overall health. The trillions of microbes help fight off a host of life-threatening conditions. Keeping the right balance reduces the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart problems, cancer and dementia.

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What were the first beer brewings?

The first beer in the world (known as kui) was brewed by the ancient Chinese around the year 7000 BC.

However, the process now recognized as beer brewing began, according to confirmed evidence, in Mesopotamia at the Godin Tepe settlement (modern-day Iran) between 3500-3100 BC.

It is also probable that the brewing of beer in Sumer (southern Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq) was in practice much earlier.

Later enjoyed in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, beer as it is recognized in the modern day was developed in Europe.

The Germans were brewing beer (which they called ol, for ale) as early as 800 BC as is known from beer jugs, still containing traces of beer, e.g. in a tomb in northern Bavaria, near Kulmbach.

While some scholars contend that beer was discovered accidentally through grains used for bread-making which fermented, others claim that it preceded bread as a staple and was developed intentionally as an intoxicant.

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What are some other interesting facts about beer?

๐ŸบNowadays, beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage worldwide.

๐ŸบThe English word `beer' takes its name from the Latin `bibere' meaning `to drink'.

๐ŸบThe Spanish word for beer, โ€˜cerveza' comes from the Latin word `cerevisia' for `of beer', giving some indication of the long span human beings have been enjoying the drink.

๐ŸบThe Slavic word โ€˜pivoโ€™ for โ€˜beerโ€™ comes from the old Slavic verb โ€˜pitiโ€™ also meaning โ€˜to drinkโ€™ and originally meant โ€˜any drinkโ€™.

๐ŸบIn ancient times, beer was highly appreciated in Mesopotamia and Egypt where the beverage was even prescribed for medical purposes, but the Greeks and Romans considered beer a low-class drink of barbarians, favoring wine.

๐ŸบAccording to some evidences, Queen Cleopatra VII (c.69-30 BCE) lost popularity toward the end of her reign more for implementing a tax on beer (the first ever) than for her wars with Rome, which the beer tax went to help pay for.


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What is the link between coffee and shopping?

According to a recent study, having a โ˜•๏ธ before shopping may cause you to spend more money ๐Ÿ’ธ!

Researchers set up a pop-up cafรฉ at the entrances of stores in France and Spain. They offered shoppers coffee, decaf, or water. Half of the shoppers ordered a coffee that contained about 100 mg of caffeine while the others went for the safe option of decaf or water. After leaving the store shoppers shared their receipts with the researchers.

๐Ÿ”นShoppers who opted for caffeine ended up spending 50% more and bought an extra 30% more items than those who chose decaf options.

๐Ÿ”นCoffee drinkers also spent more money on non-essentials like candles and perfumes. While non-caffeinated shoppers stuck to the items they had their sights set on when they entered the store.

Scientists explain that being a powerful stimulant and leading to a higher energetic state, caffeine enhances impulsivity and decreases self-control.

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What is a galaxy and what kinds of galaxies are there?

๐Ÿ”ญ Galaxies are vast cosmic islands of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter held together by gravity.

๐Ÿ”ญ Astronomers classify galaxies into three major categories: elliptical, spiral and irregular.

๐Ÿ”ญ These galaxies span a wide range of sizes, from dwarf galaxies containing as few as 100 million stars to giant galaxies with more than a trillion stars.

๐Ÿ”ญ Aside from these three classic categories, astronomers have also identified many unusually shaped galaxies that seem to be in a transitory phase of galactic development.

๐Ÿ”ญ Researchers also divide galaxies into normal and active.

In a normal galaxy (like our Milky Way):
๐Ÿ”˜ most light comes from stars
๐Ÿ”˜ intensity of the light peaks at visible wavelengths
๐Ÿ”˜ light is distributed throughout the galaxy

In an active galaxy:
๐Ÿ”˜ most light comes from gas
๐Ÿ”˜ intensity of the light peaks at radio wavelengths
๐Ÿ”˜ the nucleus is highly luminous

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What are the main features of elliptical galaxies?

โœ”๏ธEllipticals
, which account for about one-third of all galaxies, vary from nearly circular to very elongated.

โœ”๏ธThey possess comparatively little gas and dust, contain older stars and are not actively forming stars anymore.

โœ”๏ธThe largest and rarest of these, called giant ellipticals, are about 300,000 light-years across. Astronomers theorize that these are formed by the mergers of smaller galaxies.

โœ”๏ธMuch more common are dwarf ellipticals, which are only a few thousand light-years wide.

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How astronomers describe spiral galaxies?

๐ŸŒ€Spiral galaxies appear as flat, blue-white disks of stars, gas and dust with yellowish bulges in their centers.

๐ŸŒ€These galaxies are divided into two groups: normal spirals and barred spirals.

๐ŸŒ€In barred spirals, the bar of stars runs through the central bulge.

๐ŸŒ€The arms of barred spirals usually start at the end of the bar instead of from the bulge.

๐ŸŒ€Spirals are actively forming stars and comprise a large fraction of all the galaxies in the local universe.

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What do we know about irregular galaxies?

โ–ซ๏ธIrregular galaxies, which have very little dust, are neither disk-like nor elliptical.

โ–ซ๏ธAstronomers often see irregular galaxies as they peer deeply into the universe, which is equivalent to looking back in time.

โ–ซ๏ธThese galaxies are abundant in the early universe, before spirals and ellipticals developed.

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How does a galaxy pair look like?

This breathtaking Hubble image shows IC 4271, a pair of superimposed spiral galaxies.

IC 4271, also known as Arp 40, LEDA 47334 and IRAS 13271+3740, is located approximately 800 million light-years away in the constellation of Canes Venatici.

The smaller galaxy in IC 4271 is superimposed on the larger one, which is a type of active galaxy called a Seyfert galaxy.

โ„น๏ธ Seyfert galaxies are named for astronomer Carl K. Seyfert who, in 1943, published a paper about spiral galaxies with very bright emission lines.

Today astronomers know that about 10% of all galaxies may be Seyfert galaxies. They belong to the class of active galaxies โ€” galaxies that have supermassive black holes at their centers accreting material, which releases vast amounts of radiation.

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