三个英语冷知识(英语冷门小知识)

Tit
le 1: The Etymology of "Pencil" Have you ever wondered why we call a writing instrument a "pencil"? The word actually comes from the Latin word "penicillus," which means "little tail." This refers to the small brush used by scribes in Ancient Rome to make corrections on their manuscripts. Over time, the penicillus evolved into a pointed stylus made of lead, which was called a "pencell." In the 16th century, this term was anglicized to "pencil," and it has stuck ever since. Title 2: The Blackest Substance on Earth Did you know that there is a substance so black, it absorbs 9
9.96% of light that hits it? Vantablack, developed by British company Surrey NanoSystems, is made up of carbon nanotubes that are so tightly packed together, they create a surface with virtually no reflectivity. This makes it look like a void, as though you are looking into infinite space. Vantablack is used in various applications, such as in astronomy to prevent stray light from entering telescopes, and in military and defense technology to increase the effectiveness of infrared cameras. Title 3: The Oldest Footprints in the World In 2020, scientists announced that they had discovered the oldest known footprints in the world, dating back approximately 23,000 years. The footprints were found on the shore of a lake in the Nefud Desert in Saudi Arabia and are believed to have been made by several individuals, including teenagers and children, as they walked along the now-dry lakebed. These footprints provide valuable insights into the behavior and movement of ancient humans, as well as the environmental conditions they lived in. The discovery also challenges previous theories about the migrations of human populations out of Africa and into other parts of the world.