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To: ~digs who wrote (205)	7/28/2001 8:50:28 PM
From: ~digs	Respond to of 6763

-Miscellaneous Facts- ---------------- Marine Iguanas What is the only sea-going lizard in the world? The marine iguana of the Galapagos Islands is the only lizard that uses the ocean as a feeding ground. They feed on marine algae and small crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp. Female and juvenile marine iguanas feed in the inter-tidal zone and reefs that are exposed at low tide. Large male marine iguanas are often seen swimming and diving offshore. They can dive as deep as 40 feet (12 m) and stay underwater for 5 to 10 minutes. Because they have so much salt in their diets, they have special salt glands to remove excess salt from their bodies. These glands are located above their eyes and connected to their nasal cavities. Excess salt is removed by frequent sneezing. Marine iguanas, like other reptiles, are cold-blooded. They bask in the sun until their bodies reach a temperature of 96 F (35.5 C). When their body temperature is high enough, they enter the chilly ocean waters in search of food. While in the water feeding, their body temperature may drop more than 20 degrees F (11 degrees C). After feeding, they again bask in the sun to raise their body temperature. At dusk, marine iguanas pile together in a heap to conserve heat. To learn more about marine iguanas, visit birminghamzoo.com ---------------------- Sunspots What are sunspots and how do they form? Sunspots are dark areas on the surface of the sun. They form where magnetic fields become compressed into fountainlike shapes, so that the magnetic field lines come straight up out of the sun. The hot plasma within the sunspot can't move as freely as the plasma elsewhere on the sun's surface, because it is kept pinned in place by the magnetic field. It cools off, making that part of the sun look darker. Like the magnetic fields that cause them, sunspots have north and south poles. Once created, they last for days or weeks as they move gradually from the polar regions towards the solar equator. Sunspots appear with varying frequency, their numbers waxing and waning on an eleven year cycle. An introduction to sunspots: solar-center.stanford.edu Sunspots and the solar cycle: sunspotcycle.com ----------------------- Master Clock What clock keeps time for the whole planet? The source clock for the planet is the US Naval Observatory's Master Clock. It's a network of dozens of extremely accurate clocks located all over the planet. These clocks communicate by electronic messages every 100 seconds. Together, they make a very stable time standard. Their time signal is used for many purposes, including the satellite-based Global Positioning System and many kinds of electronic navigation systems. Self-setting clocks receive a radio signal that originally comes from the USNO Master Clock, and reset themselves as needed. USNO's Master Clock web site: tycho.usno.navy.mil American Watchmakers-Clockmakers Institute: awi-net.org ------------------------- Best Artificial Vacuum What's the best vacuum ever achieved artificially? The best artificial vacuum is created behind the Wake Shield, a four meter (13 feet) disk, dragged several miles behind the Space Shuttle as it orbits the Earth. The experiment is designed to produce a super vacuum to test new manufacturing processes. Behind the Wake Shield, the average distance between atoms is one millimeter (the width of a rice grain). That's ten times larger than the best vacuum we can make on Earth. That's still much denser than interstellar space, where atoms are about a centimeter (under half an inch) apart, or intergalactic space, where they can be ten meters (thirty three feet) apart. More about the Wake Shield: spacehab.com -------------------- Fastest Sea Bird What's the fastest sea bird? Frigate birds are not only the fastest, but also the most acrobatic ocean-going birds. Able to fly as fast as 93 miles per hour, they can steal food from other birds while in flight, and snatch flying fish right out of the air. Specialized for flight, they are unable to land on the water and are awkward on land. They build crude nests under low bushes, and lay only one egg at a time. The male frigate bird has a bright red pouch on the underside of his neck, which he can inflate to attract females. When inflated, the pouch can be seen for great distances. Pictures and descriptions of frigate birds: horizon.fr --------------------- Copyright (c) 2001, The Learning Kingdom, Inc. learningkingdom.com