Informative Facts

Facts About Banana Bread

February 18, 2020 By admin 6 Comments

Banana bread, as the name suggests is made up of bananas. This type of bread is usually sweet in taste and often used as dessert or tea-time cake. The exact origins of the bread are unknown but it became popular in America during the early 20th century.

Banana Bread with nuts
Image: Steve Johnson/Flickr

In the 1930s, baking soda and baking powder became quite common and so Banana Bread became quite popular as both baking soda and baking powder were needed to bake the bread.

The first recipe for the bread was published in Pillsbury’s 1933 Balanced Recipes Cookbook and later after appearing in the Chiquita Banana’s Recipe Book in 1950 the bread became even more popular.

Another reason for the widespread popularity of the bread was due to the Great Depression. During the Great Depression, women would use overripe bananas to make banana bread instead of just throwing them away. Bananas were expensive back then, and households couldn’t afford to waste them away.

Banana bread is a quick bread and doesn’t use yeast. Instead, it’s leavened with baking powder.

Banana bread might also be good for cardiovascular health as it contains bananas which are rich in potassium. Potassium helps to regulate blood pressure. However, there’s no decisive study to prove how effective banana bread is in reducing blood pressure.

Bananas are a quick energy source because they are rich in carbohydrates. As bananas are the main ingredient in Banana bread, one can assume that the bread is a gold source of energy.

Banana Bread with Blueberries and Walnuts
Image: Alpha/Flickr

Banana bread is made using ripe bananas, flour, baking soda and baking powder. Other ingredients are also added depending on the recipe e.g eggs, butter e.t.c. There are many recipes for Banana bread. All the ingredients are mixed together and then the bread is baked in an oven.

The bread comes in different variations. Some breads have nuts in them, other breads may have raisins, chocolate chips, cinnamon, blue berries or raspberries in them.

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Image: Jo Naylor/Flickr

Lise Meitner – The Mother of the Atomic Bomb

February 11, 2020 By admin 105 Comments

Lise Meitner was an Austrian-Swedish scientist who worked in the fields of radioactivity and nuclear physics. Meitner, Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassmann and Otto Frisch collaborated on nuclear research that ultimately led to the discovery of nuclear fission. Meitner won a number of awards for her contributions to science. Although she was nominated 19 times for the Nobel Prize in Chemistry during 1924 and 1947, and 29 times for Nobel Prize in Physics during 1937 and 1965, she never won one. It is believed by many, that Meitner was overlooked and ignored by the Nobel Peace Price Committee in 1944 when Otto Hahn alone, won the Nobel Peace Price in Chemistry for the discovery of Nuclear fission. Many scientists including Nobel laureates like Neils Bohr vouched for Meitner and believed her contribution to the discovery of Nuclear Fission was enough for her to be awarded the Nobel Prize. Even though she wasn’t awarded the Nobel Prize, Meitner was invited to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in 1962.

Lise Meitner was born on November 7th 1978 to a Jewish family in Vienna, Austria.

Meitner was the 3rd of 8 children. Her birth name was Elise Meitner but she shortened Elise to Lise and henceforth she was known as Lise Meitner.

Meitner showed a keen interest in science since a young age. She was interested to learn Maths and Physics. Meitner was home-schooled because back then women were not allowed to attend institutions of higher education.

Meitner was able to get private classes of physics because her family was somewhat rich and her parents were quite supportive.

In 1901, she graduated with an ‘externe Matura’ examination at the Akademisches Gymnasium, a school in Vienna. In other words, she passed high school by giving an exam.

Meitner continued with her higher education and started studying physics at the University of Vienna in 1901.

She graduated in 1905 and got her PhD in physics from the University of Vienna. Her dissertation was “Heat Conduction in an Inhomogenous body”.

After getting her PhD she went to Berlin in 1907, where she studied under Max Planck. A year after taking Planck’s lectures she became his assistant. Meitner later started working with chemist Otto Hahn.

In 1908, Meitner and her family converted to Christianity.

Meitner published two papers on beta radiation in 1909.

Meitner and Otto Hahn worked together for the next 30 years discovering several new isotopes.

In 1917, Hahn and Meitner were among the first to isolate an isotope that they named protactinium-231.

Hahn and Meitner also discovered radioactive recoil, a phenomenon that occurs when a nucleus emits an alpha particle and recoils with a positive charge. The positively charged nucleus could then be attracted to a negatively charged electrode. The radioactive recoil method could be used to produce elements with high purity.

By the year 1912, Meitner had moved to the newly founded Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin. She worked without pay in Hahn’s department of Radio-chemistry. In 1913, she got an offer to teach in Prague as an associate professor. This prompted the management at Kaiser Wilhelm Institute to offer her a permanent position so she wouldn’t leave them. Meitner accepted their counter-offer and decided to stay in Berlin. This was Meitner’s first paid job and also the first time that she became fully independent as until now her father was bearing all her expenses.

*Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn at their laboratory in Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, Berlin. (1913)*

During World War I, Meitner volunteered as a nurse. Her job was to handle X-ray equipment. She returned to Germany in 1916 to continue her research, however she found it difficult and felt ashamed that she had to carry on her research while people were suffering and dying in the war. She felt that they were wounded in need of medical help, and that she should be there to help them.

In 1922, Meitner discovered the cause of the emission of electrons with signature energies from atomic surfaces. This effect later became known as the Auger effect named after French Scientist Pierre Auger who discovered the phenomenon two years after Meitner did.

By 1917, Meitner was given her own Physics department at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute and made director of this section.

In 1926, Meitner was appointed a full time professor in the physics department at the University of Berlin. Meitner was the first woman in Germany to be appointed as a professor. In 1935 Meitner and Hahn started the “Transuranium Research” program, which would almost a decade later result in the discovery of Nuclear Fission.

The research of fission at that time was purely theoretical and scientists were in a race to prove this theory with experiments, knowing that the one who discovered the secrets behind Nuclear Fission would surely win a Nobel Prize.

Until 1938, Meitner who had Jewish ancestry was protected by her Austrian citizenship. But, once Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, her Austrian citizenship was no longer valid so Meitner no longer felt safe and decided to leave Germany. Otto Hahn helped to get her across the border into Netherlands. Hahn also gave Meitner his mother’s diamond ring to bribe the border guards with, if needed. However, it didn’t come to that and Meitner and Dutch border guards waiting on the other side were able to convince the Germans to let her cross. Meitner crossed the border on July 13, 1938 at the age of 60.

Meitner had left all her possessions behind, having only 10 Marks in her purse and the diamond ring Otto Hahn gave her to bribe the German border guards. However, the ring wasn’t used and she didn’t sell it. Eventually, Meitner’s nephew’s wife got to wear the ring.

After leaving Germany, Meitner spent sometime at physicist Derek Coster’s house in Netherlands before heading to Copenhagen and then to Stockholm, where she started working at Swedish physicist Manne Siegbahn’s Laboratory.

Since, Meitner left Germany, her transuranium research came to a stop for a while. Otto Hahn continued with the research in Berlin with his assistant, Fritz Strassmann. Hahn and Meitner continued to interact which each other through letters. Hahn would often share his research with Meitner in these letters. The two also met each other on November 10, 1938. Meitner continued with her research on the yet to be discovered nuclear fission that had stopped when she left Germany.

*Lise Meitner (~1940)*
*Photo: Library of Congress*

In December 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann performed experiments by bombarding uranium with free neutrons. Hahn discovered that a each time they bombarded uranium with neutrons, uranium nuclei absorbed a neutron and then broke up into two smaller elements. Hahn found that the element barium, was consistently being created in his uranium experiments. Hahn didn’t tell any of his fellow scientists and only shared the results with Meitner in letters. Hahn wrote to Meitner that fission was the only explanation of the presence of barium.

In light of Hahn’s results, Meitner and her nephew Otto Frisch came up with a new theory by the end of December, 1938. They discovered that during fission of uranium, the nuclei had to split up to form barium and krytpon and this process released a large amount of energy. The aunt and nephew discovered that no stable elements heavier than uranium existed naturally. Meitner and Frisch found out that Einstein’s famous equation E = mc², explained the massive energy release during nuclear fission, by the conversion of rest mass into kinetic energy. The duo published these results in a scientific journal called “Nature”. They also informed Hahn and Niels Bohr of their results.

It was due to this discovery Meitner was given the title ‘The Mother of the Atomic Bomb’, which she disliked and never approved of. She believed nuclear energy should only be used for peaceful purposes.

As the news about nuclear fission spread, scientists realised that this knowledge could be weaponized. Albert Einstein warned U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the Germans could make a lethal bomb now. This prompted the U.S. government to initiate the Manhattan project to develop nuclear weapons. Lies Meitner was invited to work on the Manhattan project but she refused to do so, saying, “I will have nothing to do with a bomb”. She was disappointed that the research was being misused.

In 1944, Otto Hahn was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of Nuclear Fission. Lies Meitner who contributed significantly to the research was completely overlooked. Neils Bohr and other notable scientists were disappointed at her exclusion. Years later, sealed records of the Nobel Committee, showed that Lies Meitner’s exclusion from the prize was a result of incompetence and ignorance of the Nobel Committee.

In 1947, Meitner left the Sieghban Institute. She continued her research at a new laboratory at the Royal Institute of Technology. This laboratory was specifically built for her by the Swedish Atomic Energy Commission.

She became a Swedish citizen in 1949.

Meitner retired in 1960 at the age of 80. After retirement she moved to England to be with her nephew Frisch and other relatives. She continued working part-time and also gave lectures.

Meitner suffered from atherosclerosis. In 1964, Meitner suffered a heart attack, which left her in very bad health.

In 1967, after suffering from several small strokes and a broken hip, her condition became even more worse.

*Meitner with actress Katharine Cornell and physicist Arthur Compton on 6 June 1946. Meitner and Cornell were receiving awards from the National Conference of Christians and Jews.*
*PHOTO:* Smithsonian Institution Archives

Meitner was honored throughout her life and afterwards. She received several awards and a few honorary doctorates as well. In total, she received 21 scientific honors and awards for her work which include 5 doctorates and membership of 12 scientific academies.

In 1946, while on a visit to the United States, Meitner was given the Woman of the Year title by the National Press Club. She also had dinner with American President Harry S. Truman. Meitner also gave guest lectures at Princeton, Harvard and a few other universities.

Meitner and Hahn received the Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society in 1949 and in 1955 Meitner was awarded the first Otto Hahn Prize of the German Chemical Society.

In 1957, then German President, Theodor Heuss awarded her with the peace class of the Pour le Mérite, one of the highest honors conferred by the German state.

In 1966, Hahn,Meitner and Strassmann were jointly awarded the Enrico Fermi Award by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Meitner couldn’t attend the event due to her deteriorating health.

In 1997 the element 109 was named Meitnerium in her honor.

Meitner died on 27 October 1968. She died in her sleep at the age of 80. She was buried in the churchyard of St. James Church in a small village in Bramley, Hampshire, England.

Her nephew wrote her gravestone inscription that said, “Lise Meitner: A scientist who never lost her humanity”.

*Meitner in 1946*
*PHOTO:* Smithsonian Institution Archives

Facts About Shenandoah River

January 19, 2020 By admin 1 Comment

Shenandoah River is located in the United States and passes through the states of West Virginia and Virginia. The river is 89.5km long and its main stream has an average width of 45m. The river has two tributaries, namely the North Fork Shenandoah and the South Fork Shenandoah. Both these forks are about 160km long and merge to form the Shenandoah River which itself is a major tributary of the Potomac River. The river drains an area of about 7610 km² .

View from the banks of the Shanandoah River. Taken at the confluence of the Shanandoah and Potomac.
Image: Steve Byrne / (CC BY-ND 2.0)

The river starts it course in Front Royal, Virginia where it’s formed by the joining of the North and South Forks. The South Fork of Shenandoah is 158.5km long and the North Fork is 169km long.

Shenandoah flows in a north-eastern direction through the Shenandoah Valley alongside the Blue Ridge Mountains located to its east. It flows through the borders of Virginia into West Virginia. The river drains into the Potomac river at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia ending its approximately 90km course.

The river has a total of 21 tributaries, 12 in Virginia and 9 in West Virginia.

The word “Shenandoah” has Native American origins and it means “Daughter of the Stars.”

Structural remains found near the river suggest that humans have lived in the area since as early as 9300BC. Archaeologists believe these remains to be the oldest buildings in North America.

Because of the fertile soil in the river basin, the Shenandoah Valley is major agricultural area in Virginia and West Virginia. The practice of farming along the river was started by Native Americans somewhere around the year 900 AD.

Europeans first arrived in the Shenandoah Valley in 1669 exploring the beautiful terrain, coming across abundant wildlife and Indian tribes.

By the end of the 18^th century the river had become a major trading route in the Shenandoah valley. Goods were transported along the river using special wooden boats called gundalows.

*Shenandoah River, near Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia (Photographed between 1861 and 1865)*
*Image: Library of Congress*

Shenandoah River and its tributaries are a popular destination for water sports. Visitors and enthusiasts take part in activities such as white-water rafting, kayaking, canoeing and river tubing.

Fishing is also very common in the river and is carried out as a recreational activity and for commercial purposes as well. Several species of fish live in the river such as the Largemouth Bass fish, Muskellunge, Sunfish, Crappie, Common Carp, Channel Catfish, American eel, Northern Hogsucker, White Sucker, Redhorse and Yellow Bullhead Fish.

The river is mentioned in John Denver’s famous song, “Take Me Home, Country Roads” which is also the state song of West Virginia.

Shenandoah River in autumn
Image: Virginia State Parks / (CC BY 2.0)

Facts About Chimichurri Sauce

October 27, 2019 By admin Leave a Comment

Chimichurri is a popular uncooked sauce from South America. The green colored sauce originally originated in Argentina but has become popular all around the world. Another version of the sauce is red in color. The green version is more commonly used so when people talk about Chimichurri, they’re generally referring to the green one.

*Chimichurri Sauce*
Image: Foodista/Flickr / (CC BY 2.0)

Chimichurri is very widely consumed in Argentina and Uruguay. It’s also used in other parts of South America.

The red version of Chimichurri is prepared in the same way, but require the addition of tomatoes and red bell pepper as well.

Chimichurri may be applied to meat during cooking to keep it moist.

It’s also used as a table condiment with meat and vegetable dishes such as cooked beef, chicken and fish.

The sauce is often used with grilled meat in cooking and as a side condiment.

Ingredients:

Chimichurri is made up of parsley, garlic, olive oil, oregano and red wine vinegar.

Preparation:

Chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and red wine vinegar are mixed together and blended in a food processor.

2 tablespoons of Chimichurri contain about:

51 Calories
5 g Fat
1 g Fiber
1 g Carbohydrates
1 g Pprotein
23 µg Folate
1,310 IU Vitamin A
20 mg Vitamin C
23 mg Calcium
1 mg Iron
149 mg Sodium
89 mg Potassium

Chimichurri with chicken
Image: Katherine Lim/Flickr / (CC BY 2.0)

Facts About Rhode Island Red

October 22, 2019 By admin 118 Comments

Rhode Island Red is a breed of chicken from America. The bird was developed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in 1854. It is raised commercially and non-commercially primarily for laying eggs, and occasionally also for its meat. The bird is also kept as a pet by some people because of its friendly and affectionate nature. It is further divided into two categories, namely the heritage breed and the industrial breed.

Rhode Island Red (Rooster)
Author: Vitag / (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Rhode Island Red was developed by cross breeding a variety of other chicken breeds such as Malay, Java, Cochin and Shanghai with brown Leghorn birds from Italy.

Previously in its early days these chickens were also known as John Macomber fowls or Tripp Fowls. John Macomber and William Tripp were the first people to breed the Rhode Island Red.

Its current name, The Rhode Island Red, was given to it by Isaac Wilbour, a poultry owner who had bought some birds from Macomber and Tripp and performed his own cross breeding of the bird with other chicken fowls to improve the breed.

Rhode Island Reds are red colored with hard feathers(inherited from Malay and Java breeds). The bird’s color is usually Mahogany Red but sometimes the tail is dark red to almost black in some breeds. This chicken’s red color fades over time due to sun exposure.

Eye color is orange-red. Its comb, wattles and ear-lobes are also red. The skin color is yellow.

Roosters weigh around 3.9kg while hens weigh about 3kg. Bantam males weigh about 0.96kg while females weigh around 0.85kg. Bantam breeds are miniature breeds developed from the original breed.

A Road Island Red named Amber Bock.
Photo: Erica Zahn

Rhode Island Reds were initially developed for their eggs and meat, but nowadays the breed is usually raised only for eggs. This Is because the bird has remarkable egg laying capabilities and can lay around 200-300+ eggs an year.

They can start laying eggs at about 16-24 weeks of age. Heritage Rhode Island Reds lay fewer eggs then industrial strains of the chicken.

Eggs are brown in color. The size of the eggs increases over the years as with other chicken breeds.

An egg laid by a Rhode Island Red Hen.
Photo: Garrett Heath/(CC BY 2.0)

Because of its high egg production, the Rhode Island Red has been cross bred with many breeds to create more modern hybrid breeds.

The breed is considered healthy and adaptable. It can survive in any kind of weather and this is one of the reasons this chicken is found all over the world.

These chickens are considered very energetic, curious, friendly and affectionate in general. They make good family pets because of their friendly nature. Roosters can sometimes be a bit aggressive though.

This one is named Ruby Redbird.
Photo: Garrett Heath/(CC BY 2.0)

Rhode Island Red is also the state bird of Rhode Island. In honor of the bird the state has two statues of the bird, one in Adamsville and the other in Little Compton. Both these statues are located at places where the bird was first bred and developed in the nineteenth century.

Most of the Rhode Island Red breeds we see today are modified breeds of the heritage(original) breed. The heritage Rhode Island Red is vanishing. It is estimated that globally only 10000 heritage breeds are left and 25% of these fowls are in USA.

Rhode Island Red monument in Little Compton, Rhode Island. Author: Swampyank / (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Facts About Volgograd, Russia

July 26, 2019 By admin Leave a Comment

Volgograd is a city located in the eastern part of Russia. The city is more famously known as Stalingrad because it was home to one of the greatest and most intense battles of the World War II. The city was almost completely destroyed and reduced after the war ended. It was rebuilt from scratch in the years following the war. Today Volgograd serves as an important industrial city, and its rich history can be found in the various war memorials, monuments and museums in the city.

Volgograd’s skyline at night
Photo: Michael Pagliaro / (CC BY 2.0)

Volgograd is located on the western bank of the Volga River in south eastern Russia. It’s part of the Volgograd Oblast(district).

The city has an approximate area of 565km² and is about 90km in length, making it the longest city in Russia.

Because of the heroism and bravery of the soldiers who fought in the city during the battle of Stalingrad, it is also sometimes called the Hero-City.

The city was formed in 1589 as a military fortress and was named Tsaritsyn at the time. It soon became an important trading settlement and military outpost.

For the next few centuries the city suffered several rebellions and enemy raids. At the start of the 20th century the city underwent rapid industrialization.

A painting showing Tsaritsyn under attack

During the Russian Civil War(1917-1922), the White Army(Pro-Communists) and the Red Army (Anti-Communists) fought for the city’s control because of its industrial wealth.

The Red Army eventually defeated the Whites and took control of the city. The city was renamed to Stalingrad in 1925 in honor of Joseph Stalin who played an important part in defeating the White Armies in the civil war.

Leaders of the White movement at a parade in Tsaritsyn(Volgograd) after capturing it in 1919. The city was captured later by the Red Army in 1920.

In August 1942 during World War II, The Germans invaded Russia and attacked the city in what became known as the Battle of Stalingrad. The battle lasted for more than 5 months. It is remembered for being one of the greatest battles in history and also the turning point of the World War II which eventually led to allied nations winning the war.

During the battle, the saw city saw intense and bloody fighting in its streets and buildings. Strategic points across the city were captured and recaptured several times by Russians and Germans. The city’s railway station changed hands 13 times.

Soviet soldiers of the 62nd Army in action in the ruins of Stalingrad.

At one time the Nazis took control of over 90% of the city. Eventually the Red Army launched its counteroffensive after receiving reinforcements and encircled the German 6th Army division which was in control of the city. The Germans eventually surrendered after their commander Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus was captured by the Russian Army in February 1943.

The battle is regarded as the most bloodiest in history. More than 2 million lost their lives including German and Russian soldiers and civilians as well.

More than 1 million bombs were dropped on the city during the war. The battle reduced most of the city to debris and rubble. At the end of the war the city’s population was reduced from half a million to only 35000.

After the war, the city was completely rebuilt. Most of the city’s older buildings were destroyed and much of the present architecture in the city is post World War II era.

A partially destroyed mill from the Battle of Stalingrad.
Photo: Anna Novikova / (CC BY 2.0)

In 1961, Nikita Khrushchev(Soviet Premier at the time) renamed the city to its present name, Volgograd. He did it as part of his de-Stalinization reforms to remove Stalin’s ideology from Russian politics.

Volgograd has a population of over 1 million people. The city’s economy is mainly driven by its industrial sector. Industries in the city include ship building, oil refining, aluminium, steel production and automobile manufacturing.

Photo: **justphotos.ru** / (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Volgograd has a slightly cold weather. The city’s average annual temperature is about 8.3 °C. The warmest month is July when the temperature is an approximate 24.3°C , while the coldest month is January when temperature drops to an average low of about -7.5°C.

Average rainfall in the city is about 380mm per year and average snow received is 27.1 inches per year. Snowy season starts from October and ends in April.

Volgograd has a lot of memorials and monuments including an 86m tall statue named “The Motherhood Calls”. The statue is built over Mamayev Kurgan, a hill that was one of the main battle grounds during the Battle of Stalingrad.

The Motherhood Calls
Photo: Alexxx Malev / (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The statue was built to commemorate the Stalingrad Battle and Russian Victory. 35000 soldiers are buried in the monument’s grounds including the famous Russian sniper Vasily Zaitsev who killed 225 enemy soldiers during World War II.

The Motherhood Calls at night
Photo: Alexxx Malev / (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Some buildings survived the destruction partially or completely and are now considered part of the city’s heritage.

The city also has a number of museums that have stories about the Battle of Stalingrad and other remnants from the battle, paintings and also a lot of stuff from the Russian Civil War.

Another memorial, Rossoshka Memorial Cemetery holds the graves of more than 80000 soldiers. 60000 Germans, 20000 Russian and 2000 Romanian soldiers who died in the Battle of Stalingrad are buried in this cemetery.