April 8, 2007

Visible stars
Of the billions and billions of stars in the universe, about 3,000 are visible to the naked eye under ideal conditions, with no moon. The stars that are visible to the naked eye are within 1,000 light years of us. The dimmest objects visible with the naked eye must be around a magnitude of 6.5 or bigger. We can also view five of the nine planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – with the naked eye. Technically, Uranus can be seen with the naked eye as well, but it appears as a dot of light that can be very difficult to distinguish from nearby stars. Besides our own Milky Way galaxy, there are four others – Andromeda, Large Magellanic Cloud, Small Magellanic Cloud, and Triangulum – that can be observed with the naked eye.

Beavers
Beavers are furry rodents. They live near water for protection because they have small legs and do not move well on land. They are busy creatures, spending most of their time searching for food and for trees to build their dams and lodges. They have long, sharp teeth, which are always growing. It is important for the beavers to keep them trim by continuously gnawing on trees and branches. In fact, beavers' teeth can grow as much as four feet per year. A beaver's tail is wide, hairless, and flat, and is used for steering and balancing, for storing fat, and for sending warning signals. When a beaver senses danger, it beats its tail in the water as a warning, and the sound can be heard up to 1,000 feet away. Beavers can do some damage to the environment when they build their dams. Apart from humans, no other creatures have such a dramatic effect on the landscape.

English muffins
English muffins were not invented in England but rather by an English baker, Samuel Bath Thomas, who immigrated to America in 1875 with his recipe for a specialty bread. After apprenticing at an established bakery until he could afford his own, Thomas opened up shop in New York City and began to bake his specialty bread in 1880. "Thomas' English Muffins" quickly became popular and demand grew rapidly by word of mouth. After Thomas died in 1919, his daughters and nephews expanded the company and it was eventually sold to a conglomerate. English muffins should not be sliced with a knife but split in two with a fork to retain the proper texture.

– Source: Reference.com