Fact of the day

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<TD class=Verdana9b align=middle width=349><STRONG>What is the coldest profession?</STRONG> <!-- #EndEditable --></TD>
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<P><IMG src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/27/20020624_1564_penguin_0.jpg" align=left>The Adelie penguin, a species that inhabits Ross Island in Antarctica, ensures the survival of its species in a curious manner. Though scientists claim that this species mates for life, an exception is apparently made where nest building is concerned.</P>
<P>The female Adelie penguin, desperate to obtain the stones she uses to build her nest, visits the nests of bachelor Adelies, goes through the entire courtship routine, mates with him, and waddles off with the prized pebbles she worked for.</P>
<P>The harsh, frigid Antarctic climate makes it necessary for the female Adelie to use unconventional means to obtain the rocks she needs to build a nest for her offspring. Trees and grasses cannot survive in this climate, and the stones that the female penguin does find, are likely to be frozen solid in the ice or in the mud.</P>
<P>So rare are the pebbles the penguin needs that she sometimes even risks her neck by robbing another females' nest of the stones.</P>
<P><IMG src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/27/20020624_1564_penguin_1.jpg" align=right>This explains why the date and mate method is the one female Adelie penguins prefer. She follows the courtship ritual, which includes repeatedly dipping her head and, if the unattached male expresses interest in her, she lies flat on her back, as an invitation to mate. Once the two have mated, the female collects the stones she came for as a sort of payment, and returns home to her mate for life!</P>
<P>Sometimes, especially cunning female Adelies engage in the courtship ritual, minus the mating part, grab the rocks, and go home. According to Fiona M. Hunter of the University of Cambridge, the males of this species do not bear a grudge, and do not become aggressive when they get nothing for something. This researcher even observed one bold and masterful female make off with 62 stones from one single male in one hour, without engaging in anything but the head-bobbing ritual.</P></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE>

Why do some animals hibernate in the winter? <!-- #EndEditable -->
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<P><IMG src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/16/20040112_2543_hibernate_0.jpg" align=left>Black bears, hummingbirds and squirrels hibernate in the winter because a long, chilly season of little food and warmth is no picnic for these animals.</P>
<P>Unlike the warm seasons of spring and summer that provide an unlimited amount of food for these critters, the winter season only provides a cold, frozen ground where food is extremely scarce.</P>
<P>In addition, the wintery days are frigid and short while the hours in the dark night seem to drag on for a chilly eternity. Searching for grub often leaves the stomachs of these animals empty because by the end of their search their bodies end up burning more calories than the animals get back from the food when and if any is found. So instead of starving or freezing to death, these animals decide to pack in all in for the long haul and hibernate during the winter months. </P>
<P>Hibernation helps these animals survive in the roughest and toughest conditions. By hibernating, an animal decreases its body‘s energy needs to a bare minimum. Hibernation is a process of lowering an animals body temperature and slowing down its heartbeat into order to conserve energy during times of scarcity and stress. </P>
<P>Every animal hibernates in different ways. While squirrels can wake up every four days to grab a bite to eat and take a trip to the bathroom, black bears can stay dormant, or inactive, for up to seven months with no food, water, or visits to the bathroom. </P></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE>

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<TD class=Verdana9b align=middle width=349>Why do golf balls have dimples? <!-- #EndEditable --></TD>
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<TD class=english9 vAlign=top width="67%"><IMG src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2006-01/09/20021121_1931_golfball_0.jpg" align=right>So that they look cute? NO!
<P>Because the dimples maximize the distance golf balls travel. Dimpled balls travel up to four times farther than smooth-surfaced golf balls. </P>
<P>In the early days of golf, smooth-surfaced balls were used until golfers discovered that old, bumpy balls traveled longer distances. The science of <B>aerodynamics</B> helps explain the dimpled phenomenon. The dimples reduce the drag on a golf ball by redirecting more air pressure behind the golf ball rather than in front of it. The higher levels of pressure behind the golf balls force them to go far distances. </P>
<P>The dimples change the levels of pressure by bringing the main air stream very close to the surface of the golf ball. The dimples, or "turbulators," increase the turbulence in the layer of air located next to the surface of the ball. This high-speed air stream near the ball increases the amount of pressure behind the ball-thereby forcing the ball to travel farther.</P></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE>

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<TD class=Verdana9b align=middle width=349>How is New Year's Day celebrated around the world? <!-- #EndEditable --></TD>
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<TD class=english9 vAlign=top width="67%">Celebrating New Year's Day is one of the oldest and most-exciting customs around the world.
<P><IMG src="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-12/28/20030130_2064_newyear_0.jpg" align=right>Ringing church bells, <B>tooting </B>horns and ear-piercing shrieks echo throughout the world on this festive day.</P>
<P>Whether visiting relatives or watching New Year's Day parades at home on the TV, welcoming the New Year is always a time of entertainment, celebration and resolution.</P>
<P>Since this festival marks the beginning of the year, New Year's Day is thought of as a perfect time for a "clean start" or New Year's resolutions. People worldwide resolve to act better in the year just beginning than in the year just ended. </P>
<P>No day has ever been observed on so many different dates or in so many different ways. All over the world, countries have their own special beliefs about what the New Year means to them.</P>
<P>While many people in the United States observe New Year's Day on January 1st by throwing parties late into the night on the eve of December 31st, people in China celebrate this holiday for several days between January 17th and February 19th, at the time of the new moon. The Chinese called this time of feasting and celebrations Yuan Tan. Lanterns illuminate the streets as the Chinese use thousands of lanterns "to light the way" for the New Year. The Chinese believe that evil spirits roam the earth at the New Year, so they let off <B>firecrackers </B>to scare off the spirits and seal their windows and doors with paper to keep the evil demons out.</P>
<P>In Scotland, the New Year is called Hogmanay. In the villages of Scotland, barrels of <B>tar </B>are set afire and then rolled down the streets. This<B> ritual </B>symbolizes that the old year is burned up and the new one is allowed to enter.</P>
<P>New Year's Day is also the Festival of Saint Basil in Greece. Children leave their shoes by the fireside on New Year's Day with the hope that Saint Basil, who was famous for his kindness, will come and fill their shoes with gifts.</P>
<P>The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. It is a holy time when Jews recall the things they have done wrong in the past, and then promise to do better in the future. Special services are held in the synagogues, children are given new clothes and New Year loaves are baked to remind people of harvest time.</P>
<P>Iran's New Year's Day, which is in March, celebrates not only the beginning of the new year according to the solar calendar, but also bahar, "the beginning of spring."</P>
<P>On New Year's Day in Japan, everyone gets dressed in their new clothes and homes are decorated with pine branches and bamboo--symbols of long life.</P>
<P>In European countries such as Italy, Portugal and the Netherlands, families start the New Year by first attending church services. Afterwards, they visit friends and relatives. In Italy, boys and girls receive gifts of money on New Year's Day.</P></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE>

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<TD class=Verdana9b align=middle width=349>What was the first prepaid, adhesive postage stamp? <!-- #EndEditable --></TD>
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<P><B>Philatelists</B> describe<B> prepaid postage</B> tokens <B>dating as far back as</B> 1653. These included printed paper letter wrappers, special "postal paper" endorsed with ink stamps, and even black feathers embedded in wax seals, but none of these early tokens were adhesive paper stamps. </P>
<P>The first known <B>adhesive paper stamps</B> were printed in Greece in 1831, but they were probably not used for prepaid postage. These 40-lepta denominated stamps may have been charity receipts for a fund supporting Greek refugees from<B> Crete</B>, although some collectors believe they were postage due labels. </P>
<P>The earliest<B> documented</B>, prepaid adhesive postage stamps were England's "Penny Black" stamps, designed by Rowland Hill and <B>brought into service</B> in 1840. Millions were printed and used, and many are in collections today. Within three years, similar adhesive stamps were used in Brazil, and soon they were in use worldwide. </P></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE>

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<TD class=Verdana9b align=middle width=349>What airplane can land using a parachute?<!-- #EndEditable --></TD>
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<P>The<B> SR20 light aircraft </B>from<B> Cirrus Designs</B> can land safely, even from <B>a full spin</B>, by <B>popping out</B> <B>a built-in emergency parachute</B>. It's the f irst airplane designed to make a parachute landing that has been licensed by the US Federal Aviation Administration. </P>

<P>When the pilot pulls a lever in the cockpit, a rocket shoots out of the rear of the plane, trailing the parachute. To prevent the<B> chute</B> from <B>ripping to shreds</B> if the plane is moving at a high speed, a cloth slider moves down the cables, opening the parachute slowly. </P>

<P>Once the parachute is open, the plane settles to the ground at about 17 miles per hour (27 kph). When it touches down, the <B>landing gear </B>is destroyed, punching up through the wing, but the people in the plane will not be injured.</P></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE></TD></TR></TABLE>