Pine, spruce, or other evergreen wood should never be used in barbecues. These woods, when burning or smoking, can add harmful tar and resins to the food. Only hardwoods should be used for smoking and grilling, such as oak, pecan, hickory, maple, cherry, alder, apple, or mesquite, depending on the type of meat being cooked.
Who invented the catcher's mask?
Frederick Winthrop Thayer of Massachusetts, and the captain of the Harvard University Baseball Club, received a patent for his baseball catcher's mask on February 12, 1878.
How did sardines get their name?
Canned herring were dubbed "sardines" because the canning process was first developed in Sardinia, Italy.
Does Brazil have the largest?
Brazil is a land with a lot of big creatures -- it is home to the world's largest snake (the anaconda, measuring up to 35 feet in length), largest spider, largest rodent (the capybara, a sort of guinea pig the size of a police dog), and the world's largest ant.
Where can you recycle toothpicks?
Are the Himalayas growing?
The world's tallest mountains, the Himalayas, are also the fastest growing. Their growth -- about half an inch a year -- is caused by the pressure exerted by two of Earth's continental plates (the Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian plate) pushing against one another.
Koran ayats appear on body of newborn baby in Dagestan
Dagestan. Ayats of the Koran appear from time to time on the body of a newborn baby in Dagestan, when the ayats appear, the temperature of the baby reached 40 degrees. Ali was born in Krasno-Oktyabrsk village of Kizlyar region. The baby’s mother Madina Yagubova said a bruise first appeared on his jaw.
“Then we saw the word “Allah” in Arabic in the place of the bruise. The Koran ayats usually appear on the baby’s body on Mondays and Fridays, his temperature reaches 40 degrees and he cries. The writings disappear within three days and new ayats appear in their place,” she said. The parents say first they decided not to tell anyone about it, but when they saw the words “show my signs to the people”, they decided to reveal the fact.
Representative of Dagestan Muslims Department did not comment on the fact, only said they were astonished. According to Ahmadpasha Amiraliyev, chairman of Sadig Murtuzaliyev charitable foundation, the woman told doctors when she was pregnant that the baby was crying.
“The doctors also witnessed it. The gynecologist was astonished to see that the baby’s body was transparent. He said the internals of the baby were seen,” he said. Then the doctors told the Yagubovs that the baby will live two or three days. But despite this, the baby survived and is nine months old now.
How well can a cat hear?
Cats have amazing hearing ability. A cat's ear has 30 muscles that control the outer ear (by comparison, human ears only have six muscles). These muscles rotate 180 degrees, so the cat can hear in all directions without moving its head.
Where did 'hocus pocus' come from?
The magician's words "hocus-pocus" were taken from the name of a mythological sorcerer, Ochus Bochus, who appeared in Norse folktales and legends.
How do honeybees navigate?
Honeybees navigate using the sun as a compass, even when it is hidden behind clouds - they find it via the polarization of ultraviolet light from areas of blue sky.
Which human hair grows fastest?
What other cultural touchstone has Bugs Bunny managed to achieve?
In 1997, Bugs appeared on a U.S. postage stamp, the first toon to be honored, beating even the iconic Mickey Mouse. The stamp is number seven on the list of the ten most popular U.S. stamps, as calculated by the number of stamps purchased but not used. In 2002, TV Guide compiled a list of the 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time as part of the magazine's 50th anniversary. Bugs Bunny was given the honor of number one. In a CNN broadcast on July 31, 2002, a TV Guide editor explained why Bugs pulled top billing: "His stock...has never gone down...Bugs is the best example...of the smart-aleck American comic. He not only is a great cartoon character, he's a great comedian. He was written well. He was drawn beautifully. He has thrilled and made many generations laugh. He is tops."
Which Beatle was the first with a number one hit, post breakup?
George Harrison, with "My Sweet Lord," was the first Beatle to have a Number 1 hit single following the group's breakup.
What makes a penny unique?
The Penny is the only coin currently minted in the United States with a profile that faces to the right. All other coins – the silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and nickel – all feature profiles that face to the left.
Which language has the longest alphabet?
Where does cricket come from?
The name of the game “cricket” is believed to have been derived in the late 1500s from the Middle French word criquet, meaning “goalpost.”
How greedy are mosquitoes?
At one "sitting," a mosquito can absorb one and a half times its own weight in blood.
How old is Hawaii?
About 43 million years ago, the Pacific plate took a northwest turn, creating a bend where new upheavals initiated the Hawaiian Ridge. Major islands formed included Kauai, 5.1 million years old, Maui, 1.3 million years old, and Hawaii, a youngster at only 800,000 years old.
How loud can a lion roar?
An adult lion's roar can be heard up to five miles away, and warns off intruders or reunites scattered members of the pride.
Samoa, then Indonesia: are the earthquakes linked?
Two earthquakes within 16 hours of each other. Cause and effect, or coincidence?
American Samoa and Indonesia, the victims of two earthquakes in 24 hours, both lie on the so-called Ring of Fire. This volcano- and quake-plagued semi-circle runs for 40,000km around the edge of the Pacific Ocean and accounts for approximately 90 per cent of the World's earthquakes and 75 per cent of its volcanoes.
At 17:48GMT on Tuesday September 29, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck south of American Samoa. Just 16 hours later, at 10:16GMT yesterday, the second quake, of magnitude 7.6, hit 30 miles off the east coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. A third, smaller, earthquake struck Sumatra in the early hours of this morning. (The earthquake which caused the devastating Asian tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 was magnitude 9.1.)
So why might the Samoan and Indonesian quakes be linked? The epicentres of these earthquakes both lie near to the edge of the Australian plate, about 4,000 miles apart (see map). It seems plausible that one movement of the Australian plate caused both earthquakes. But David Booth, senior seismologist at the British Geological Survey, is not so sure.
"There are sound physical reasons for expecting one earthquake to cause another, but that is very unlikely to have happened in this case," he says. "The quakes were in different fault zones, and the chance of one earthquake triggering another by seismic waves moving up the fault line are very slight over such a great distance.
"Indonesia is one of the most seismic zones in the world - perhaps the most seismic - so it's no real surprise that a large earthquake has happened there, but the fact that it happened within hours of the Samoan one is almost certainly a coincidence."
One thing Booth is certain about is that there has been an upsurge in seismic activity in the Indonesian faultline since the 2004 Asian tsunami - and recent earthquakes in that region have only added to the likelihood of further disasters.
"As one earthquake happens, the stress in the fault changes," he explains. "The stress on unfractured segments increases, making an earthquake in that segment more likely."
This is indeed what has happened in Indonesia this morning. Sumatra was hit by a second earthquake of magnitude 6.8 at 01:52GMT. It won't be the last.
Official: Death in Indonesia earthquake hits 467
JAKARTA, Indonesia - The death toll in Wednesday's powerful earthquake on Indonesia's Sumatra island reached 467 on Thursday, a government official said.A total of 467 people were confirmed dead and 421 seriously injured in Wednesday's 7.6 magnitude quake, Tugiyo Bisri of the Social Affairs Ministry's crisis center said.
Wednesday's quake struck western Indonesia, trapping thousands of people under collapsed buildings — including hospitals, a hotel and a classroom, officials said.
The temblor Wednesday started fires, severed roads and cut off power and communications to Padang, a coastal city of 900,000 on Sumatra island. Thousands fled in panic, fearing a tsunami. It was felt hundreds of miles away in Malaysia and Singapore, causing buildings there to sway.
The undersea quake of 7.6 magnitude was followed by a powerful, shallow inland earthquake on Thursday morning with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It hit about 150 miles south of Padang at a depth of just under 20 miles.
Shallow, inland earthquakes generally are more destructive. There were reports that the second quake badly damaged dozens of additional buildings.
Hundreds of buildings damaged
In Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, the shaking was so intense from Wednesday's temblor that people crouched or sat on the street to avoid falling. Children screamed as an exodus of thousands of frantic residents fled the coast in cars and motorbikes, honking horns.
At least 500 buildings in Padang collapsed or were badly damaged, said Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono, adding that 200 bodies had been pulled from the rubble there. The extent of damage in surrounding areas was still unclear due to poor communications. Indonesia, a poor, sprawling nation with limited resources, was cobbling together an emergency aid response, and the government was preparing for the possibility of thousands of deaths.
Padang's mayor appealed for assistance on Indonesian radio station el-Shinta.
"We are overwhelmed with victims and ... lack of clean water, electricity and telecommunications," Mayor Fauzi Bahar said. "We really need help. We call on people to come to Padang to evacuate bodies and help the injured."
Hundreds of people were trapped under collapsed buildings in Padang alone, including a four-star hotel, he said. Other collapsed or seriously damaged buildings included hospitals, mosques, a school and a mall.
"I was studying math with my friends when suddenly a powerful earthquake destroyed everything around me," an unidentified boy told the TVOne broadcaster. He escaped out of the top floor just as the three-story structure, used for after-school classes, crumpled.
TVOne footage showed heavy equipment breaking through layers of cement in search of more than 30 children it said were missing and feared dead.
'High-scale disaster'
Thousands were believed trapped throughout the province, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis center.
Tsunami smashes Samoa; earthquake rocks Indonesia
09:09 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 30, 2009
APIA, Samoa – A massive tsunami hurled by a powerful earthquake flattened Samoan villages and swept cars and people out to sea, killing at least 99 and leaving dozens missing Wednesday. The toll was expected to rise.
Survivors fled the fast-churning water for higher ground on the South Pacific islands and remained huddled there hours after the quake, with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck around dawn Tuesday.
The quake was centered about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Samoa, an island nation of 180,000 people located about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii. It was about 120 miles (190 kilometers) from neighboring American Samoa, a U.S. territory that is home to 65,000 people.
Four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters) high roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile (1.5 kilometers) inland, Mike Reynolds, superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa, was quoted as saying by a parks service spokeswoman.
The same day, western Indonesia was rocked by a strong underwater quake, briefly triggering a tsunami alert for countries along the Indian Ocean and sending panicked residents out of their houses. The alert was later canceled.
The Samoan capital, Apia, was virtually deserted by afternoon, with schools and businesses closed. Hours after the waves struck, fresh sirens rang out with another tsunami alert and panicked residents headed for higher ground again, although there was no indication of a new quake.
In American Samoa's capital of Pago Pago, the streets and fields were filled with ocean debris, mud, overturned cars and several boats as a massive cleanup effort continued into the night. Several buildings in the city - just a few feet above sea level - were flattened. Several areas were expected to be without electricity for up to a month.
In Washington, President Obama has declared a major disaster for American Samoa.
In a statement issued early Wednesday, Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, "will keep those who have lost so much in our thoughts and prayers."
Hampered by power and communications outages, officials in the South Pacific islands struggled to determine damage and casualties.
Samoan police commissioner Lilo Maiava told The Associated Press that police there had confirmed 63 deaths but that officials were still searching the devastated areas, so the number of deaths might rise soon.
At least 30 people were killed on American Samoa, Gov. Togiola Tulafono said, adding that the toll was expected to rise as emergency crews were recovering bodies overnight.
"I don't think anybody is going to be spared in this disaster," said Tulafono, who was in Hawaii for a conference. He added that a member of his extended family was among the dead in the disaster.
Authorities in Tonga confirmed at least six additional people dead in the island nation west of the Samoas, New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Bill English said. He said Tongan officials told him that four people were missing after the tsunami swept ashore on the northern island of Niua.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told Seven Network in Australia that two Australians had died, including a 6-year-old girl. The British Foreign Office said one Briton was missing and presumed dead.
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi looked shaken Wednesday on board a flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to the Samoan capital of Apia.
"So much has gone. So many people are gone," he told reporters on board. "I'm so shocked, so saddened by all the loss."
Malielegaoi said his own village of Lepa was destroyed.
"Thankfully, the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground," he said. "But not everyone escaped."
Gov. Tulafono said that because the closeness of the community, "each and every family is going to be affected by someone who's lost their life." He spoke to reporters before boarding a Coast Guard C-130 plane in Hawaii to return home. The plane, which also carried officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and aid, was scheduled to arrive at about 7 a.m. local time (2 p.m. EDT; 1800 GMT). The U.S. disaster agency said it was also preparing supplies stored in Hawaii for transport to the island chain.
A New Zealand P3 Orion maritime surveillance airplane had reached the region Wednesday afternoon and had searched for survivors off the coast, he said. It was expected to resume searching at first light.
The Samoa Red Cross estimated that about 15,000 people were affected by the tsunami.
New Zealander Graeme Ansell said the Samoan beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale was leveled.
"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," Ansell told New Zealand's National Radio from a hill near Samoa's capital, Apia. "There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need 'round here."
Residents in both Samoa and American Samoa reported being shaken awake by the quake early Tuesday, which lasted two to three minutes and was centered about 20 miles (30 kilometers) below the ocean floor. It was followed by at least three large aftershocks of at least 5.6 magnitude.
The quake came Tuesday morning for the Samoas, which lie just east of the international dateline. For Asia-Pacific countries on the other side of the line, it was already Wednesday.
The dominant industry in American Samoa - tuna canneries - was also affected. Chicken of the Sea's tuna packing plant in American Samoa was forced to close although the facility wasn't damaged, the San Diego-based company said.
The effects of the tsunami could be felt nearly 5,000 miles away (7,500 kilometers) on a Japanese island, though there were no reports of damage or injuries there.
U.S. officials said strong currents and dangerous waves were forecast from California to Washington state. No major flooding was expected, however. In Los Angeles, lifeguards said they would clear beaches at about 8 p.m.
While the earthquake and tsunami were big, they were not on the same scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, said Brian Atwater of the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle. That tsunami killed more than 230,000 in a dozen countries across Asia.
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