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Sharpen Your General Knowledge
Shamim Ansary:
Why Are There So Many Craters On the Moon and What Caused the Craters On the Moon Shortly After It Was Formed?
There are hundred of thousands of craters visible on the Moon, measuring from a few feet across (craterlets) to about 150 miles across (basins or walled plains).
The craters seem to be the result of both meteorites and volcanic activity.
Most scientists agree that the Moon came under a meteorite bombardment some 4.5 billion years ago, shortly after it was formed.
Within 1 billion years, the meteorites abruptly stopped.
The Moon’s interior rapidly increased in temperature, causing massive volcanic eruptions.
While the volcanoes distorted many of the meteoric craters, they created craters of their own.
Shamim Ansary:
What Do I Do When a Client Refuses to Follow Its Part of the Agreement Such as Paying My Bills After the Work Has Been Completed?
Because you are not an employee, most of the employment laws discussed in this book will not apply to you. If your client will not adhere to a written contract that he or she has signed, you may ultimately need to sue the client in a local civil court on the issue of breach of contract.
Before you start a court fight, you should find out if the client has a problem with the services that you performed. If the issue is merely that the client feels something is still in error on your project, it may be cheaper for you to fix the problem in order to get your money. If the issue is that the client did not provide you with the proper equipment, perhaps the manufacturer is the problem or there is just a misunderstanding.
If the problem is not something that you can fix, you may want to send a certified letter to the client reminding him or her of the obligations under the contract that he or she signed, and giving a deadline to either follow the terms of the contract or deal with your attorney. You might then want to find a local attorney who handles contract breach litigation in your local court.
Many independent contractors who use contracts with clients make the mistake of not putting provisions into the contract for client problems, such as nonpayment. In order to protect yourself, these items must be addressed in accordance with your local laws.
The following are some examples of issues that should be addressed in an independent contractor’s agreement with their client.
• Each contract should be specifically tailored to detail what both the client and what the independent contractor are required to supply and the date these items will be available. There should also be some direction as to what will happen and who will be financially liable if these items are not ready on time.
• Each contract should list exactly what the independent contractor is to do in detail. This should include the goals of the project according to the client, how the client will measure or determine that the project is complete, and how the client intends to determine if the project is a success.
• Each contract should specify who will sign off on the project for the client and what steps will be taken if the client refuses to sign off. An independent contractor does not want to spend the rest of his or her career working for one very picky client who refuses to pay the independent contractor, so this must be very detailed. Some contracts may contain a clause that requires professional arbitration for disagreements that cannot be resolved in a short period of time.
• Each contract should detail the hours the independent contractor will work, location, and what happens when the contractor needs time off.
• Each contract should specify the amount of payment and how it is calculated. There should be provisions for late payments and nonpayment. Late payments may include a grace period and an interest percentage (to be exercised at the option of the independent contractor), which is added to the owed amount. For issues of nonpayment, there should be an indication that the independent contractor has the option to take the matter to court and go after the money owed, interest on that money, and the contractor’s attorney fees.
Shamim Ansary:
How Old Is the Earth?
To figure out the age of the earth, it is important to know how old the rocks on it are. Scientists can date rocks by measuring the amount it of radioactivity, or rays of energy, they give off.
All rocks contain some uranium, which causes radioactivity, and that uranium give off invisible rays of energy which slowly change the uranium into lead. Scientists know how long it takes for uranium to change into lead, so by comparing how much uranium and how much lead are in the rocks, they can determine the age of the rocks.
By this method, scientists have determined that some granite gneiss rocks found in Tanzania, East Africa, are about 3.5 billion years old!
But bits of meteors that have fallen to earth are even older. They are parts of other planets in our solar system, and seem to be 4.5 billion years old! Most scientists believe that our whole solar system started off at the same time. We can therefore figure the planet earth to be about 4.5 billion years old.
Shamim Ansary:
How Was Braille for the Blind Invented and When?
Louis Braille is a hero to millions of blind people all over the world, but not many people know that we also have Napoleon Bonaparte to thank for the invention of Braille.
Braille is a system of raised dots that can be read using touch alone. Before it was invented, there were a few books produced to teach blind people to read using embossed letters, but they were difficult and expensive to produce.
Louis Braille, who’d been blind since he was three, read some of these books when he was sent to the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris. While he was there an army officer, Charles Barbier, visited the Institute and demonstrated an invention that he called ‘night writing’.
French general Napoleon Bonaparte had had the idea of a code that could be read at night and challenged his army to invent one. So Barbier had come up with a system that allowed soldiers to communicate silently and in total darkness using a system of raised dots to represent the alphabet. Unfortunately, Barbier’s night writing was so complicated that none of the soldiers had been able to learn it.
Although Louis Braille was just 11 years old at the time, he saw the potential of Barbier’s dot system straight away. He spent the next six years simplifying it and in 1821 came up with an alphabet of raised dots arranged in rectangles that could be read quickly and easily.
After you’ve read Braille with your eyes, try to read it with your finger Familiarise yourself with the feeling of Braille and take it slowly, because if you miss one bump then a word could take on a whole new meaning or make no sense at all!
Now go and find some signs in Braille and attempt to read them.
Visually-impaired geniuses: These include Horatio Nelson (British admiral), David Blunkett (UK politician), Eduard Degas and Claude Monet (French painters), Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles (US singer/songwriters), and Cupid/Eros (Roman/Greek god of love).
Shamim Ansary:
How Is Temperature Measured In Space and Who Invented the Kelvin Scale for Temperature?
Astronomers can measure temperature in space by studying various electromagnetic radiation waves.
In the United States, the Fahrenheit (F) scale is usually used to measure temperature. Most of the rest of the world uses the Celsius (C) scale.
Scientists, however, use the Kelvin (K) scale, also known as absolute temperature.
In 1848, Lord Kelvin, also known as William Thomson, proposed the need for a scale whereby “infinite coldâ€, or absolute zero, was the scale’s null point.
On the Kelvin scale, 0°K = —273°C or —460°F. Water freezes at 32°F, 0°C, and 273°K.
A normal live human body temperature is 98.6°F, 37°C, and 310°K. Water boils at 212°F, 100°C, and 373°K. The surface of the sun measures 10,000°F, 6,000°C, and 5,800°K.
To translate °K into °F, multiply the number of °K by 1.8 and subtract 460 from the answer. To translate °F into °C, subtract 32 from the number of °F and divide by 1.8.
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