Month: January 2019

Japanese Spider Crab

The Japanese spider crab, Macrocheira kaempferi, is the largest living arthropod in the world. Fully grown, it can reach a leg span of almost 13 ft (4 m), a body size of up to 15 in (37 cm), and a weight of up to 44 lb (20 kg). The crab’s natural habitat is on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean around Japan, at depths of several hundred meters. It is believed to have a life expectancy of up to 100 years. Why is catching Japanese spider crabs usually prohibited during springtime? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

round-shouldered

Definition: (adjective) Denoting a faulty posture characterized by drooping shoulders and a slight forward bending of the back.

Synonyms: hunched, stooped, crooked.

Usage: I remember those girls merely as faces in the schoolroom,…cut off below the shoulders…by the ink-smeared tops of the high desks that were surely put there to make us round-shouldered and hollow-chested.
Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Víspera de Día de los Tres Reyes (Eve of Three Kings Day)

Throughout most of Latin America and Spain, Epiphany is called el Día de los Tres Reyes (Three Kings Day). In Mexico, on the night of January 5, children stuff their shoes with hay and leave them out for the Wise Men to fill with sweets and gifts—much as children elsewhere leave their Christmas stockings out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. And just as letters to Santa are a popular custom in the United States, Mexican children often write letters to the Magi (the Three Wise Men), listing their good deeds and suggesting what gifts they would like to receive. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Siberia

Siberia is a vast region stretching from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and from the Arctic Ocean to central Kazakhstan and the borders of China and Mongolia. The area was annexed by Russia in stages during the 16th and 17th centuries, when it came to be used as a place of exile for political prisoners. It was settled after the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1905 and developed for its mineral resources after World War II. What record low temperature was recorded in Siberia? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Puffer Fish

Puffer fish, members of the Tetraodontidae family, are named for their ability to inflate their bodies with air or water to as much as three times their normal size when disturbed. Found in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, puffers are morphologically similar to the porcupinefish and have tough, usually prickly, skin. Their flesh contains tetrodotoxin, which can be fatal if ingested, yet puffers are prepared by specially trained chefs and eaten as a delicacy called fugu in what country? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Compitalia

The Compitalia were festivals celebrated in ancient Rome in early January (between the 3rd and the 5th, according to some accounts) in honor of the lares, or deities of the household farm and family. Compita were places where roads crossed each other and were considered sacred, and people would hold sacrifices there at the end of the agricultural year. Sometimes farmers would also hang a broken plough there to indicate that a job was done. The spirit of the ancient festival survived in Plough Monday, an occasion for servants to celebrate the completion of their ploughing. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Nag Hammadi Library

Nag Hammadi is an Egyptian town where, in 1945, a large cache of gnostic texts in the Coptic language was discovered. The Nag Hammadi manuscripts, dating from the 4th century, consist of 53 works, including 12 codices of tractates, one loose tractate, and a copy of Plato’s Republic. The codices include theological treatises, accounts of the life of Jesus, and predictions of the apocalypse. Why were some of the manuscripts intentionally burned after they were first discovered? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary