tidbits vernon 263 mar 18 2016 rain forest online

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Q: Why don’t monkeys play cardsin the jungle?

A: � ere are too many cheetahs there!

March 18 - 24, 2016 Issue 00263

TIDBITS® VISITS

THE RAINFORESTby Janet Spencer

As our thoughts start turning to spring, come along with Tidbits as we explore a place where there is no spring, no autumn, no winter— only perpetual summer: the jungle rainforest.

JUNGLE FACTS• Why is the jungle so diverse? 30 million years

ago, the area that is now the Amazon jungle entered a long dry period. � e tropical rain forests growing there at the time were wiped out, and only isolated pockets of jungle surrounded by vast grasslands remained. Each pocket of jungle followed its own evolutionary course over thousands of years.

• When the climate once again became warm and wet following the last ice age 10,000 years ago, the di� erent types of jungle grew together again, with each forest contributing many di� erent species of plant and animal.

• As a result, the South American forests are the most diverse in the world. Whereas many temperate forests are composed largely of just a few species of tree, in the Amazon you may have to travel a mile or more to � nd two trees of the same species.

• In any North American forest it is rare to � nd more than 15 species of tree in the entire ecosytem. In the Amazon, a � ve-acre plot may contain between 100 and 250 di� erent species.

(Continued next page)

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A wood grown in South America yields a bright red dye. � e Portuguese phrase meaning “live-coal color” or “ember” is “brazil”—and that’s how Brazil was named.

� e only continent that doesn’t have any rainforests on it.

C R A N I ATAC TA

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RAINFOREST (continued)• In the northern deciduous forests of the temperate

climates, every tree drops its leaves at the same time, triggered by the change of seasons. � us, each year the forest � oor receives a huge boon of nutritious new dead material all at one time. � is stu� gradually turns into rich soil.

• But in the tropical rainforest, no change of season occurs so no massive leaf drop ever happens. Tropical trees drop their leaves gradually over the entire year. � e unending heat and moisture of the climate spur the growth of bacteria, insects, and fungi, which consume the material and cause it to decompose quickly, converting it into nutrient building blocks.

• � e process of decomposition which takes between one and seven years in North American forests (depending on climate) takes only six weeks in the Amazon. Nutrients are immediately used again by the many growing plants. � e deep rich soil that accumulates in temperate forests never has a chance to collect in the Amazon. � e forest � oor in the Amazon is like a huge living stomach.

UNENDING RAIN• In temperate forests, it usually rains only

sporadically, but in the Amazon, it rains daily. Millions of years of daily rainfall combined with constant heat leached the nutrients from the soil, leaving it high in aluminum and iron oxides which are responsible for the soil’s characteristic red color. � e soil is highly acidic and unable to support much plant life. Without the constant fall of dead material from above, the dirt is worthless.

• So the ecosystem of the rainforest is up-side-down in comparison to other forests: the nutrients are stored not in the soil, but in the living canopy. When the forest is cut and burned, the only nutrients left are in the ashes.

• After the trees are cut down in a tropical rainforest, nutrients in the soil disappear after only a few harvests of crops, and the soil is soon lost entirely to erosion, never to be replaced. Once the forest is cleared, it is extraordinarily di� cult to reverse the damage.

THE DESTRUCTION• A forested landscape acts as a living reservoir by

trapping rainfall and releasing it slowly. In the dense jungle, the canopy is so heavy that the water from a driving rainstorm may take 10 minutes to reach the ground. Rain is caught by leaves and

trapped in hollows where it evaporates gradually. It’s sucked up by roots and it soaks into soil that acts like a sponge. Rain feeds underground springs.

• But when the land is cleared, rainfall is no longer absorbed. � ere are no leaves and branches to protect the ground from the pounding rain. Water runs o� immediately, taking the soil with it. Exposed to the sun, the ground becomes an unproductive hard-packed cement. � e small amounts of nutrients in the soil are quickly leached away.

• A 2.5 acre tract of healthy growing rainforest will lose an average of three pounds (1.3 kg) of soil through erosion annually. Cut the forest, however, and the same area can lose up to 34 tons of dirt in a year.

• Half of the rain that falls comes from water evaporating from the forest below. With no forest, the land dries quickly and o� ers no moisture to be turned into more rain. When the forest is

PHOTO: Emily Blunt in “The Huntsman: Winter’s War”Photo credit: Universal Studios

HOLLYWOOD -- Emily Blunt, star of the $370 million grosser “Edge of Tomorrow,” with Tom Cruise, and the $213 million grosser “Into the Woods,” with Meryl

Streep, has been cast by director Rob Marshall to play Julie Andrews’ title role in Disney’s sequel to “Mary Poppins.” � e follow-up takes place 20 years later and is a continuation of the adventures of the Banks family. Blunt will next star as the Ice Queen in “� e Huntsman: Winter’s War,” with Chris Hemsworth and Charlize � eron, out April 22, and “� e Girl on the Train,” with Justin � eroux and Luke Evans, due Oct. 7And speaking of revivals, Shirley MacLaine has begun � lming a live-action “Little Mermaid” � lm in Georgia. � ere’s also another “Little Mermaid” � lm in production starring Chloe Grace Moretz. Neither is from Disney Studios.

Leonardo DiCaprio, fresh o� his best-actor Oscar win for “� e Revenant,” is zeroing in on his next project, which will be portraying Jack Kerouac. Kerouac was considered a literary iconoclast, and along with Allen

Ginsberg, a pioneer of “� e Beat Generation.” He died in Florida in 1969 at the age of 47, of complications from long-term alcohol abuse. Many of his works were not published until after his death. Both Kerouac and Ginsberg were portrayed in the 2013 � lm “Kill Your Darlings,” which starred Jack Huston (son of director John Huston and brother of Anjelica Huston) as Kerouac and “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcli� as Ginsberg. It made only $1.7 million in theaters.Meanwhile, Ben A� eck has been getting over his broken marriage with Jennifer Garner by working non-stop. His turn as Batman in “Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice” opens March 25. He’s also completed “Suicide Squad,” with Will Smith and Jared Leto, due Aug. 5, and “� e Accountant,” with Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons and Anna Kendrick, out Oct. 7. A� eck currently is shooting “Live by Night,” with Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning and Scott Eastwood, for a 2017 release. He’s also zeroing in on a � lm biography of Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck, best known for “� e Grapes of Wrath,” “Of Mice and Men” and “East of Eden.”

� e Chinese already are calling the science-fantasy/adventure/monster/action movie “� e Great Wall” the most expensive � lm ever made in China. � e $135 million 3D epic is the � rst English-language � lm of famed Asian director Zhang Yimou. � eir insurance policy for this one is “� e Martian” best-actor Oscar nominee Matt Damon, Willem Defoe and Pedro Pascal, who played Oberyn Martell in the fourth season of “Game of � rones.” A science-fantasy/adventure/monster/ action � lm? Sounds like they’re hedging their bets. Could they also have Godzilla waiting in the wings?(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

1. What part of the rainforest hosts the most life forms: the � oor, or the canopy?2. What is the average temperature in theAmazon region?3. What percent of the world’s fresh water is contained in the Amazon basin?4. How many di� erent languages are spoken by the various tribes in the Amazon?5. What percent of the world’s rainforests are cut down each year?

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rose, it shifted course and now runs eastward, draining into the Atlantic Ocean.

• � e Amazon River is 4,000 miles long (6,400 km) and only the Nile River is longer. It has over 1,100 tributaries

Amazing Animals

ANTS• In terms of sheer numbers of individuals, ants

are among the dominant species on earth.

• Ants, which evolved from wasps, are perhaps the most highly developed social insects. � ere are about 400 di� erent species of ant in the U.S. alone, and about 15,000 species worldwide.

• To � nd food, a typical harvester ant will go straight out from the nest for up to 50 feet (15 m), and then start wandering. When it � nds food, instead of following the round-about trail back to the nest, it will head for home in a beeline, thus refuting speculation that all ants follow a scent trail home. If the soil in front of an ant is scraped away or covered, the ant will continue its direct course. However, if the ant is placed inside an enclosure from which it is unable to see surrounding landmarks, it will lose its way until the enclosure is removed. Furthermore, if the ant is picked up and transferred to a new location, it will re-orient itself without hesitation, unless it is put down outside the area in which the ants of that colony forage, in which case it will wander about, lost.

• Ants may use large landmarks to � nd their way home, as well as the position of the sun. If an ant is entrapped in a box in the dark for an hour, when it is released it will strike out again in a direction di� erent from the original direction by an angle equal to the number of degrees the sun has moved during the hour.

• Some species of ants do leave a scent trail to mark the way back to the food. When a forager makes

a discovery, it becomes excited and secretes an odorous substance from the abdomen as it returns to the nest. Other ants follow the trail to � nd the food.

• One researcher was able to prove conclusively that ants will follow a scent trail to food. � e scientist placed food near an anthill and covered the distance between with sheets of paper. After the � rst ant discovered the food and rushed back to the nest, he replaced the original paper with fresh sheets. When the ants swarmed out to get the food, they were unable to � nd it.

• Another naturalist devised a test that proved that ants can measure, estimate, and communicate. He chopped a grasshopper into three parts: a small section, a medium section, and a large section. He then gave each section to a di� erent ant scout from the same nest. All of the pieces were too big for a single ant to carry. Each ant measured its section with its antennae and then returned to the nest. Would each ant call out the same size crew? Would too many show up to do the work, or too few? � e naturalist was surprised

gone, the rain is gone too. Drought, erosion, and � ooding result.

• It’s been estimated that the Amazon produces half of all the oxygen generated by land plants on Earth. Without the climate-moderating e� ects of the forest, temperatures would rise. Rainfall would plummet. Loss of the Amazon could cause a change in the global environment.

THE INCREDIBLE AMAZON• Covering about 2.1 million square miles of land,

the Amazon rainforest is about two-thirds the size of the U.S. � e Amazon covers approximately 40% of the South American continent. If the Amazon were a country, it would rank 9th in size

• Around 60% of the Amazon is in Brazil; 13% in Peru; 10% in Columbia; and six other countries split the rest.

• � e Amazon comprises a little more than half of the world’s rainforest, and a third of the world’s forests overall.

• � e Amazon harbors the densest variety of life on the planet, hosting over 40,000 plant species including 16,000 kinds of trees alone, as well as 1,300 types of bird, 3,000 kinds of � sh, about 430 mammal species, and an incredible 2.5 million kinds of insects.

• Researchers estimate that they have discovered and cataloged only one-sixth of the species that live in the Amazon.

• A plot of rainforest 100 acres in size may contain as many frog species as can be found in all of North America.

• More species of � sh live in the Amazon River than in the entire Atlantic Ocean.

• Over 100 types of plants can be found growing in the branches of a single mature tropical tree, along with 1,700 kinds of bugs. Fifty di� erent types of ants may inhabit a single square yard of jungle � oor.

• � e Amazon River is the world’s largest river by volume. It originally ran westward into the Paci� c Ocean, but as the Andes Mountains

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dishwashers to many of the restaurants and other establishments with vast kitchens catering to the large crowds coming to see the Expo. Against heavy competition from around the world, her dishwasher received the � rst prize for “the best mechanical construction for durability and adaptation to a particular line of work.” One of the concessionaires using her product sent her this glowing tribute: “Your machine washed without delay soiled dishes left by eight relays of a thousand soldiers each, completing each lot within 30 minutes.”

• Cochrane continued to improve the product, producing models with revolving washing systems, a centrifugal pump, and a hose for draining into the sink. She ignored the clergy who claimed the dishwasher was immoral because it denied women the labor to which God had called them. She ignored the outcry of the servants who claimed it would put them out of business. � e company kept growing, pushed by Josephine Cochrane’s energy and ambition until her death at age 74 in 1913.

• Late in her life she said, “If I knew all I know today [I] never would have had the courage to start.”

• � e company was sold and eventually evolved into the Kitchenaid division of the Whirlpool Corporation. Still, dishwashers did not become commonplace in ordinary homes until the 1950s.

there wasn’t there a machine that would wash the dishes for her.

• She decided to invent one, setting up a workshop in her woodshed. Dishes � t into a rack; the rack � t into a wheel; the wheel � t inside a tub; the wheel turned while hot soapy water squirted up from the bottom of the tub. Shortly after she perfected the design, her husband died. She was left with little money and a lot of debt. She needed to turn her idea into a way to make a living.

• She patented her design in 1886 and her wealthy friends immediately starting ordering the Cochrane Dishwasher for their own luxurious kitchens. A Chicago machine � rm

began to manufacture them while Josephine managed the company and marketed the product. She later said that designing the dishwasher was far easier than marketing it.

• � e home model did not sell well. Few homes had electricity. Water heaters were rare. Most municiple water systems o� ered only hard water which did not make soap suds. � e price tag of $150 would be equivalent to about $4,500 today.

• Housewives often felt that soaking their hard-working hands by washing the dishes in hot soapy water was a relaxing way to end the day. Cochrane changed her sales pitch to point out that water in dishwashing machines was far hotter than human hands could stand and therefore resulted in germ-free dishes.

• � e strongest market for the dishwasher lay not in private homes, but in industries. Hotels, restaurants, boarding houses, and hospitals saw the advantage of being able to wash, scald, rinse, and dry up to 20 dozen dishes of all shapes and sizes in two minutes.

• She got her big break when she not only exhibited her dishwasher at the Columbian Expo in 1892 in Chicago, but also sold her

to see that 28 ants returned to fetch the small piece; 44 went for the medium piece; and 89 for the large piece. � e second crew was twice as big as the � rst, just as the medium piece was twice as big as the small; and the large crew was twice as big as the medium crew to move a piece that was twice as big.

• When ants � nd a puddle of fruit juices or a dollop of jelly, they will chew a leaf into a spongy mass and then place it in the middle of the food. When they return later, the leaf has absorbed the juices and the ants carry it home.

• Queen ants can live for 20 years. Female worker ants can live as long as ten years. Male ants, however, live only a few weeks. � ey die immediately after mating.

• One typical Maryland woodland was estimated to contain 1.3 million ants per acre.

• Ant blood is colorless.

INVENTING THE DISHWASHER• Josephine Cochrane was a wealthy woman who

lived in Illinois. She gave a lot of dinner parties and was very proud of her china. She collected rare and expensive dishes. However, her servants weren’t particularly careful with the priceless dishes when they washed them after each party. Pieces were broken; pieces were cracked; pieces were chipped. Josephine took to washing the dishes herself by hand while wondering why

1. How many feet of rain must fall annually for a forest to be classi� ed as a rainforest?

2. How many feet of rain fall in the Amazon annually on average?

by Samantha Weaver

* It was Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and biographer Carl Sandburg who made the following sage observation: “Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work.”

* Boon or bane? While DDT was � rst synthesized in 1874, it wasn’t until 1939 that Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller discovered its insecticidal properties. DDT was so e� ective in curbing the spread of insect-borne diseases such as malaria and yellow fever that in 1948, Muller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. However, with the 1962 publication of Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring,” the devastating environmental e� ects of widespread DDT use led to an eventual ban in the United States.

* You might be surprised to learn that, aside from his inaugural addresses, Abraham Lincoln gave only one speech during his entire presidency: the Gettysburg Address.

* In Venice at one time, every merchant who traveled to the Orient was required by law to bring back a piece of art and donate it to St. Mark’s Cathedral.

* It was all the way back in 1837 that modern multinational corporation Proctor and Gamble was founded, by candlemaker William Proctor and soapmaker James Gamble. During the Civil War, the company supplied candles and soap to the Union Army, in the process introducing its products to soldiers from all over the country.

* � ose who study such things say that there are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the known universe.

� ought for the Day: “� e hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists, who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood. � e trailblazers in human, academic, scienti� c and religious freedom have always been nonconformists. In any cause that concerns the progress of mankind, put your faith in the nonconformist!” -- Martin Luther King Jr.


1. U.S. PRESIDENTS: Who was the � rst president to be born after the United States declared independence?2. SCIENCE: What is the lowest level of Earth’s atmosphere called?3. LITERATURE: In which of Shakespeare’s plays was the line “To be or not to be” spoken?4. HISTORY: Who was the last president of the Soviet Union? 5. MATH: What is the only prime number that is also even?6. U.S. STATES: How many U.S. states are not adjacent to another state?7. ANATOMY: How many bones are in an infant’s body?8. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What would a group of bears be called?9. ASTRONOMY: How long is a Martian year?10. MUSIC: What group had a hit in 1979 with the song “Jukebox Hero”?

Answers1. Martin Van Buren2. � e troposphere3. “Hamlet”4. Mikhail Gorbachev5. 26. Two -- Alaska and Hawaii7. About 300, because some bones haven’t yet fused together. Most adults have 206. 8. A sleuth or sloth9. 687 Earth days10. Foreigner

(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

Cherry Fruit SaladAn old-time salad with a healthy makeover for

your Easter table.

1 (20-ounce) can Lucky Leaf no sugar added cherry pie � lling1/2 cup Splenda Granular1 cup Cool Whip Lite1 cup (1 medium) diced banana1 (8-ounce) can pineapple tidbits, packed in fruit juice, drained1 cup miniature marshmallows

1. In a large glass bowl, combine cherry pie � ll-ing, Splenda and Cool Whip Lite. Add banana and pineapple. Mix gently to combine. Fold in marshmallows.2. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Gently stir again just before serving. Serves 8.

HINTS: 1) To prevent banana from turning brown, mix with 1 teaspoon lemon juice or sprinkle with Fruit Fresh. 2) If you can’t � nd tidbits, use chunk pineapple and coarsely chop.

* Each serving equals: 105 calories, 1g fat, 0g protein, 24g carb., 11mg sodium, 5mg calcium, 2g � ber; Diabetic Ex-changes: 1 Fruit, 1/2 Starch/Carb; Carb Choices: 1 1/2.(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.


* Don’t store prescription medications in the bathroom. � e humidity is not good for pills, even with an exhaust fan.

* “For natural-looking garden markers, write the names of plants and � owers on � at stones. � en just set the stones by the base of the plant. � is has been very handy for me, as my mother and I planted a lot of � owers, and I like to know the names.” -- A.A. in Florida

* “Keep a small bag with colored pencils and a roll of paper or a small notebook in your purse if you have small kids -- or even if you have big ones. � ey come in handy during down time to keep the little ones occupied or to write reminders and such.” -- T. in Oregon

* Use these tips in the kitchen to clean as you go: Wipe down surfaces and clean up spills with past-their-prime face cloths. Get a stack of drying cloths from the store and keep them handy for drying anything. Designate a “garbage bowl” to toss food scraps in, a la Rachael Ray.

* “To get your refrigerator clean and fresh-smelling, just use a damp rag dipped in baking soda to scrub walls and surfaces. You can even use it to clean glass, since it is nonabrasive. Wipe clean with water and then leave the unused baking soda in the box, open on a shelf. Clean, deodorized and no chemical smell or taste!” -- I.C. in Kentucky?

* “Be sure to clean out bird feeders with a good scrubbing before re� lling. It keeps algae from taking over, and the birds do appreciate it.” -- R.L. in Alabama.(c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

Litter-Box ProblemsDEAR PAW’S CORNER: Lately, two of my three cats seem to be “missing” the litter-box on their visits to it. I mean, they’ll use the box, but they spray the wall it backs up to or go on the

edge. My third cat has no problem. How can I stop the other two? -- Amy, via email

DEAR AMY: In my experience, many litter box problems occur in homes with more than one cat. � ese problems include spraying or defecating outside the box, even when the cat are standing inside of it. Some cats also eliminate away from the litter box.Your third cat may have no problem because in the kitty pecking order, it is “top cat.” � e others may be intimidated -- especially if it hangs around the litter box, giving them “the look.” Your cats also might be too large for the box or su� er health problems, including disease or obesity.Try these methods � rst, and see if the spraying problem is curtailed.* Buy four litter boxes: one for each cat, plus one extra. Keep one where the original box stood, and place the others in quiet, easily accessible areas, on every � oor of your home.* Make sure the litter boxes are big enough for your cats to sit or crouch in them comfortably. If you buy covered boxes, make sure the cats � t through the opening.* Use unscented litters, and forgo plastic liners; many cats don’t like them.* Scoop the boxes daily, and wash them with soap and water monthly.If these steps don’t stop the spraying problem, take all three cats to the vet to rule out possible medical conditions. (c) 2016 King Features Synd., Inc.

“I used to worry that all the trees in the jungle would be cut down to make paper for their reports on how to save the rain-forest.” -Nick Birch


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1. To be called a rainforest, at least 5 feet (1.5 m) of rain

must fall each year2. � e Amazon averages about 9

feet (2.7 m) of rain annually.

tidbits vernon 263 mar 18 2016 rain forest online

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