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Showing posts from August, 2021

The gravitational pull of the planets is visualized

Gravity is one of the fundamental forces in the universe without which life as we know it was impossible.  The gravity of the sun holds all the planets in orbit in our solar system. However, every planet, natural satellite, and asteroid have their own gravitational pull determined by their size, mass, and density. Dr. James O'Donoghue , a Planetary Astronomer at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, built an animation that clarifies this concept by visualizing the time it takes a ball to drop from one kilometer to the surface of various planets and the Earth's moon, assuming no air impedance. Interestingly, some giant planets have a pull comparable to smaller ones at the surface; for instance, Uranus pulls the ball down slower than Earth. That is happening because the low average density of Uranus puts the surface far away from the majority of the mass (hence the more minor pull). Likewise, Mars has a mass almost twice Mercury, but you can observe the surface gravity is the equiv

Entomophagy around the world

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has just published a report on the promotion of entomophagy - the consumption of insects as food. H is a practice that has been around for millennia. Aristotle having waxed lyrical on cicada many centuries ago. Not only do insects contain great nutritional values, but they have also proven to lie more environmentally friendly than raising some livestock.  The map below created by SCMP shows the who, where, what, and how of global insect consumption. Asia South Asia consumes around 150-200 species of edible insects, of which the red palm weevils are especially popular and viewed as a highly prized delicacy. Many aquatic species can be found year-round, while some nonaquatic ones are available on a seasonal basis. Migration patterns in many Asian countries help distribute the spread of present-day entomophagy, especially in Thailand, where labor workers from northeastern Thailand migrate to 10 southern parts of the country, including Bangkok, wit