Archive for the ‘Question of the Week’ Category

kgb_Fact of the Day: So what is Cinco de Mayo anyway?

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009
Performers at the US White House celebration o...
Image via Wikipedia

Often, our Special Agents answer questions that are so timely that they are inclined to do further research. So here is our Agents choice for question of the day:

Q:  So what is Cinco de Mayo anyway?
A:  May 5th (Cinco de Mayo) marks the victory of the Mexican Army over the French at the Battle of Puebla.

The scoop:

Cinco de Mayo serves as an important date for the Mexican and Chicano communities.  It marks the victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862.  This battles distinguishes itself as a symbol of Mexican patriotism and unity.

In actuality, Mexican independence occurred about 50 years later in 1910, but Cinco de Mayo continues to serve as that symbol of freedom.

Cinco de Mayo is more heavily celebrated in the United States than in Mexico.  Parades, mariachi music, folklore dancing and other activities are common.

As might be expected, in the face of swine flu, Cinco de Mayo celebrations are expected to be more subdued this year.

kgb_   Text your question to 542542. We answer to you.

Source: http://clnet.ucla.edu/cinco.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BfoYTwjjeQ">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BfoYTwjjeQ/0.jpg" alt="YouTube Preview Image" />
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Dallas, Fact Of The Day, Question of the Week, What Does America Really Want to Know? | No Comments »

Why is Beaver Stadium so-called?

Friday, April 24th, 2009
Beaver Stadium
Image by Steve Clancy via Flickr

Today’s Fact of the Day is a great fact from  Pennsylvania:

Q: Why is Beaver Stadium so-called?

A: Beaver Stadium is named for James A. Beaver, a former governor of Pennsylvania (1887–91) and president of the university’s board of trustees.

More details:

Beaver Stadium has a capacity of 107,282, making it the second-largest stadium in the United States and the third largest stadium in the world.  Beaver Stadium’s record crowd of 110,753 witnessed Penn State’s 40–7 victory over Nebraska on September 14, 2002.  In 2002, Penn State also set an NCAA record for largest season attendance, with 1,257,707 watching Penn State games over the course of the season.[5]

It is boasted by the Penn State community that during home games at State College the stadium is the 3rd largest city by “population” in the state. It follows Philadelphia (1,517,550) and Pittsburgh (334,563) and precedes Allentown (106,632).

kgb’s own Smart Car’s and Special Agents will be making a special appearance at the Penn State Blue & White game this Saturday.  So come on over to us (near the baseball stadium), say hi and get a free kgb T-shirt!

kgb_   Text your question to 542542. We answer to you.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Dallas, Fact Of The Day, Question of the Week, What Does America Really Want to Know? | No Comments »

kgb Fact of The Day: What Sea Has No Coast?

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

Today’s kgb fact of the day: What sea has no coast?

The Sargasso Sea is a region in the North Atlantic Ocean which has no coast. It is surrounded by ocean currents and lies roughly between Cuba and The Azores.

More details:

“Coast” is a very specific term and is only applied to that part of an island or continent that borders an ocean or its saltwater tributaries. A pelagic coast refers to a coast which fronts the open ocean, as opposed to a more sheltered coast in a gulf or bay. A shore on the other hand, can refer to parts of the land which adjoin any large body of water, including oceans (sea shore) and lakes (lake shore).

The “sea of tranquillity” is a lunar mare (Latin word for “sea”) that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on Earth’s moon. Galileo thought the dark featureless areas on the Moon were bodies of water, even though the Moon is essentially devoid of liquid water, and therefore this is a “sea” with no coastline. The term is still applied to the basalt-filled impact basins common on the face of the Moon visible from Earth.

kgb_ Text your question to 542542. We answer to you.

Sources used:

http://www.avendano.org/quiz/quiz.php?category=geography

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fact Of The Day, Question of the Week, What Does America Really Want to Know? | No Comments »

kgb Fact of the Day: Why Do People Sleepwalk?

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Q:  Why do people sleepwalk?
A:  There is a strong genetic and family link to sleepwalking.  Sleep deprivation and some medications are causes, among others. 

More details:

The medical term for sleepwalking is “somnambulism.”  It is known as a parasomnia, which is an undesirable event that occurs while sleeping. 

Sleepwalking happens when folks get up out of bed and start walking around while they are still asleep.  Sometimes sleepwalkers ease into the behavior by sitting on the bed and looking confused.  Others make a clean exit by bolting from the bed and walking or running away.  They may be trying to escape from some threat that they imagined or dreamed.  

Most of the time, sleepwalking behavior is strange or inappropriate.  Sleepwalkers might move furniture around or climb out a window.  It can be hard to wake a sleep walker up and sometimes they can become violent during the episode.  They may have no memory of the event at all or remember every detail clearly.  

Sleepwalking is more common in children, and only about 4% of adults have the disorder.  Children who sleepwalk tend to naturally lose the problem when they become teens. When sleepwalking becomes troublesome, those affected are advised to keep a sleep diary for a two-week period to share with a physician.  

Sleepwalking is often affected by other sleep problems such as sleep apnea, for which treatment is available.  

kgb_   Text your question to 542542. We answer to you. 

Source: http://www.sleepeducation.com/Disorder.aspx?id=14

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fact Of The Day, Question of the Week, What Does America Really Want to Know? | 2 Comments »

kgb Fact of the Day: What Is the Temperature in Space?

Friday, March 20th, 2009

Often, our Special Agents answer questions that are so intriguing that they are inclined to do further research. So here is our Agents choice for question of the day:

What temperature is it in space? Empty space itself cannot have a temperature as it is a vacuum (an absence of matter). An object (matter) that absorbs & emits radiation perfectly, at the Earth’s distance from Sun, will reach 7 degrees C.

More details:

If an object is shielded from the Sun but exposed to interplanetary and interstellar radiation, it reaches about 5 Kelvin. If it were far from all stars and galaxies, it would come into equilibrium with the microwave background at about 2.7 Kelvin.

Space is the unlimited expanse in which everything is located. We can say Space or Outer Space is the seemingly empty places (vacuum) between planets and stars. Space is not really empty, but the material in space is so dilute that it is really hard to detect it.

Along with the conservation of matter and energy there is a universal, fundamental truth or principle of the conservation of Space; that Space cannot be created nor destroyed. Matter, energy and Space each have an essential and indispensable role in existence.

Matter and energy are conserved in Space and, in turn, space is in every way conserved as a place where matter and energy exist. Neither being created, destroyed, nor affected in any way by energy, motion and matter, space remains.

kgb_ Text your question to 542542. We answer to you.

Sources used:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/astronomy/faq/part4/section-14.html

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Fact Of The Day, Question of the Week | 1 Comment »