Monday, November 27, 2006

Meteorite

A meteorite is an extraterrestrial body that survives its impact with the Earth's surface without being destroyed. While in space it is called a meteoroid. When it enters the atmosphere, air resistance causes the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball, also known as a meteor or shooting star. The term bolide refers to either an extraterrestrial body that collides with the Earth, or to an exceptionally bright, fireball-like meteor regardless of whether it ultimately impacts the surface.
More generally, a meteorite on the surface of any celestial body is an object that has come from elsewhere in space. Meteorites have been found on the Moon and Mars.Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transitted the atmosphere or impacted the Earth are called falls. All other meteorites are known as finds. As of mid-2006, there are approximately 1050 witnessed falls having specimens in the world's collections. In contrast, there are over 31,000 well-documented meteorite finds.
Meteorites are always named for the place where they were found , usually a nearby town or geographic feature. In cases where many meteorites were found in one place, the name may be followed by a number or letter.Meteorites have traditionally been divided into three broad categories: stony meteorites are rocks, mainly composed of silicate minerals; iron meteorites are largely composed of metallic iron-nickel; and, stony-iron meteorites contain large amounts of both metallic and rocky material. Modern classification schemes divide meteorites into groups according to their structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Oat

The Oat is a species of cereal grain, and the seeds of this plant. They are used for food for people and as fodder for animals, especially poultry and horses. Oat straw is used as animal bedding and sometimes as animal feed.
Oats are often served as a porridge made from crushed or rolled oats, oatmeal, and are also baked into cookies together with wheat flour. As oat flour or oatmeal, they are also used in a variety of other baked goods and cold cereals, and as an ingredient in muesli and granola. Oats may also be consumed raw, and cookies with raw oats are quickly becoming popular. Oats are also occasionally used in Britain for brewing beer. Oatmeal stout is one variety brewed using a percentage of oats for the wort.
Oats also have non-food uses. Oat straw is also used in corn dolly making, and it is the favourite filling for home made lace pillows. Oat extract can be used to soothe the skin conditions, e.g. in baths, skin products, etc.
A now obsolete Middle English name for the plant was haver , surviving in the name of the livestock feeding bag haversack. In contrast with the names of the other grains, "oat" is usually used in the plural.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Bahrain

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a borderless island nation in the Persian Gulf . Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway , and Qatar is to the south across thePersian Gulf. The Qatar–Bahrain Friendship Bridge, currently being planned, will link Bahrain to Qatar as the longest fixed link in the worldBahrain is the smallest, in terms of population, Arab nation in the world, and the smallest Arab member of the United Nations. It is also the least populous country in mainland Asia .

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Mountain

A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally higher and steeper than a hill, but there is considerable overlap, and usage often depends on local custom.
Mountains cover 52% of Asia, 36% of North America, 25% of Europe, 22% of South America, 17% of Australia, and 3% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earth's land mass is mountainous. Also, 1 in 10 people live in mountainous regions. All the world's major rivers are fed from mountain sources, and more than half of humanity depends on mountains for water.
The adjective montane is used to describe mountainous areas and the things associated with them.