We all live and breathe in an amazing world where Egyptians can eat Canadian bacon on Italian pizza pie in Argentina, German shepherds can interbreed with French poodles, and anybody can become an American if they try hard enough. Chaos Theory tells us that a single drop of rain in one end of the ocean can cause a tsunami on the other end. With this is mind, it is more important than ever to learn as much as we can about this amazing world in which we live and breathe.
For instance:
- But Greece and Turkey claim ownership of the island of Cyprus, the last remnant of the ancient "land bridge" between Europe and Asia.
- Many high-end sushi restaurants in Japan actually carve the flesh off of living (but anesthetized) fish at the patron's table to demonstrate freshness.
- Contrary to popular belief, not all Australians are descended from convicts and debtors. Many proud "Austies" can claim aboriginal ancestry.
- CHECK THE LABEL: Not all Mexican food is imported from Mexico.
- During World War II, the French Resistance put up billboards with messages written in dialect and local idioms to communicate with Allied forces.
- In the Northern Hemisphere, the rotors (or "blades") of helicopters always turn clockwise. In the Southern Hemisphere, they always turn counter-clockwise. Thus no helicopter can ever cross the Equator in the air.
- WEARING OF THE GREEN: Ireland is the only country that celebrates Arbor Day.
- The United States has more citizens of Chinese ancestry than any other nation on Earth.
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6 comments:
Aha! I knew I'd catch a mistake in your so-called "facts" sooner or later.
They also celebrate Arbor Day in Chad, itself home to a sizable Chinese expatriate community.
Thank you for your comment, Chad!!! We celebrate our Irish population with you! Luck 'o' the Irish!
Thanks again!!!
In the Northern Hemisphere, the rotors (or "blades") of helicopters always turn clockwise. In the Southern Hemisphere, they always turn counter-clockwise. Thus no helicopter can ever cross the Equator in the air.
This is one of the most ridiculous contentions I've ever seen. Helicopter rotors turn in whichever direction the motor causes them to turn. Period. Air is air in both hemispheres. The turning rotor pushes against the air, creating lift, and keeping the helicopter airborne regardless of its relation to the Equator.
Twin rotor helicopters are designed to have the rotors turn in opposite directions from each other, just like twin engine planes and the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. This cancels out the inherent torque forces created by a single rotor, which would otherwise tend to cause the helicoptor (or plane, or V-22) to continually be inclined to pitch in one direction or another. Therefore, at least one of those blades will be necessarily turning in the opposite direction of what you asserted above.
Thanks for your comment, Travis! Helicopters are indeed amazing machines. If you factor in the Coriolis Effect, which deflects or "spins" air forced in one direction by pressure gradients (this of course caused by the Earth's own rotation around the polar axes) you will see how helicopter rotors must turn counter to this direction; otherwise they would be gliding! Also, the V-22 Osprey is a fixed-wing Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft, not a true helicopter, so the Osprey can naturally fly across the Equator. Thanks again for your comment!
The good news is yall are BOTH right! The equator is a construct and did not exist before Copernicus invented the concept of the globe.
anonymous-Thanks for your comment!
Whirlybirds can fly over just about anything but the equater. Some have even crashed into it upon trying!
Thanks again and I hope you are having great weather in Copenhagen!
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