DIU Activities > Alumni
Sharpen Your General Knowledge
Shamim Ansary:
How Far Is It to the Center of the Earth and How Hot Is the Inner Core of the Earth?
It’s about 3,700 miles (5,957 km) to the center of the earth.
The inner core of the Earth is believed to consist of an iron-nickel alloy, and may have a temperature similar to the Sun’s surface.
The existence of an inner core that is distinct from the liquid outer core was discovered in 1936 by seismologist Inge Lehmann using observations of earthquake-generated seismic waves that can be detected by sensitive seismographs on the surface of the earth.
The temperature of the inner core is estimated by using the melting temperature of impure iron at the pressure of the inner core boundary, which leads us to a figure of 5,700 K (5,430 °C; 9,800 °F).
Shamim Ansary:
Do Continents Move?
We’ve all looked at the globe and studied the shape and position of the land masses called continents. But the size and the shape of the continents have not been the same during all of the earth’s history.
Parts of the continents were once covered with water, while parts of the sea were once dry land. And scientists are now sure that the continents themselves are moving.
The idea that continents move is called the theory of continental drift. According to this idea, the earth’s mantle, the layer between the outer crust and the core, moves either continually or in fits and starts. The movement of the earth’s mantle probably began more than 200 million years ago, and continues at a rate of about an inch a year.
Scientists who believe in the continental drift theory think that the Western and Eastern Hemispheres were once joined, and have gradually moved away from each other over the last 200 million years.
Therefore, the Atlantic Ocean has been getting bigger as the Western Hemisphere moves away from the Eastern. If this movement continues, the Western Hemisphere would move across the Pacific Ocean toward Asia, and the Pacific Ocean would someday disappear!
Shamim Ansary:
What Happened In Athens After Both Plato and Aristotle Were Gone?
Athens remained the center of philosophy until the Romans sacked it in 87 B.C.E.
Much of our knowledge of Hellenistic philosophical activity comes from the first century B.C.E. Roman writers Lucretius (99–55 B.C.E.) and Cicero (106–43 B.C.E.), and secondary medieval sources. Plato’s Academy became the New Academy, which was devoted to critical work on the thought of other schools.
This was the beginning of the skeptics. Aristotle’s Lyceum, or the Peripatos, was first led by Theophrastus in 322 B.C.E., but after 287 B.C.E., it fell into decline until the middle of the first century B.C.E.
Shamim Ansary:
What Is the Most Popular First Name for a President In the United States?
What Is the Most Popular First Name for a President In the United States?
James is the most popular presidential first name in the United States.
Six of the presidents have been Jims.
Tied for second most popular, with four presidents each, are John and William.
Shamim Ansary:
What Is Sense Knowledge?
Sense knowledge is information gathered through our senses, such as sight, touch, hearing, and so forth.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version