Fun with Science and Technology

1) When were plants first recorded as being dried and pressed in order to study them later?
Luca Ghini (1490-1556), an Italian herbalist, is the first botanist to do so in order to preserve them in herbariums for further research and study.

2) Who invented the condom?
Gabriele Fallopius (1523-1562) claimed to have invented the sheath (condom), but this is questionable since a variety of types were in use for hundreds of years. The term ‘condom’ was not recorded until after the Renaissance. Throughout history, various materials have been used as a condom is today : sheep intestines, linen cloth, oiled silk paper, sausage casings, and a hard material developed by the Japanese that not only prevented conception, but also aided the impotent. However, it was not until Charles Goodyear discovered how to vulcanize rubber that his company produced the first modern latex condoms in 1844.

Krebs, Roberts E. Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2004.

3) What’s with the American Chestnut tree?
The great North American Chestnut exemplifies a critical concern about importing exotic species. First recorded in 1904 in New York City, a disease from Asian Chestnuts spread rapidly through the American Chestnut, and almost completely wiped out the species by killing the bark and girdling the tree. As a result, American chestnut trees have typically been excluded from landscaping plans.

4) What is the most common tree disease in North American?
Bulldozer blight.

Sternberg, Guy, with Jim Wilson. Native Trees for North American Landscapes: From the Atlantic to the Rockies. Portland, OR : Timber Press, 2004.

5) Have all the species of animals and insects been discovered?
No. New invertebrates (insects, etc.) are still being discovered regularly, but it is rare to encounter previously undocumented mammal species. You can imagine the surprise when, in 1994, the forests of Southeast Asia yielded three new species of small deer known as muntjacs.

6) Besides their pouches, do female marsupials have any other reproductive difference than most mammals?
Featuring two uteri and two vaginas, the internal anatomy of female marsupials differs markedly from that of placental mammals. In addition, male marsupials differ from other mammals; they have a forked penis, which directs semen into both vaginas. Once a female becomes pregnant, she develops a third vagina as a canal for the birth of her young.

Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide. Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, 2004.

7) Why haven’t any probes or satellites landed on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, or Neptune?
These planets, known as the gas giants, have little or no solid mass. They are made up of gasses and liquids. One space probe that was sent out traveled right through Jupiter’s “surface” and into the core of the planet before it disintegrated due to the pressure and temperature.

8) What is the closest star to the sun?
The star nearest the sun is Proxima Centauri, at 4.2 light years away from the sun.

Scagell, Robin. Children’s Night Sky Atlas. New York : DK Publishing, 2004.