Did you know? facts!

Published April 25, 2015

Hills of ice

ICE hummocks can form when sea floes, or floating masses of ice, crush against each other and create block-like hills or ridges. They are found in both Antarctic and Arctic oceans and in freshwater bodies such as Russia’s Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest lake.


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The accidental geyser

ON a private ranch in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, the colourful Fly Geyser was created accidentally in 1964, after a geothermal power company improperly closed a test well. The bursts of escaping hot water deposited mounds of calcium carbonate that are brightly coloured by algae.


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Play-Doh – a wallpaper cleaner?

YES, Play-Doh was used as a wallpaper cleaner until the product became obsolete and they turned it into something kids enjoyed playing with.

Kutol, a soap company made the original product to clean wallpaper which became dirty quickly due to the use of coal for heating in homes. Their product was widely used until after World War II, when coal heat started to be replaced by oil and gas heating furnaces that didn’t produce too much soot.

By 1954, the company was almost shutting down when the owner’s sister-in-law, Kay Zufall, who ran a nursery, decided to give the wallpaper cleaner to the kids to play. They had fun making things with it and — viola! — Play-Doh was born! But they did remove the detergent from the dough and added an almond scent and some colouring to make it more appealing and useful.

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