Problem: Nicaragua is one of the most biodiverse countries in the Americas. They boast over five hundred species of birds, and thousands of species of plants. Across the pond in England the situation is completely different. Centuries of extensive farming, industrialization, and urban sprawls have made it one of the least biodiverse place on Earth. In which location the ecosystem functions would be more stable, Nicaragua or England? Hint: "There is now unequivocal evidence that biodiversity loss reduces the efficiency by which ecological communities capture biologically essential resources, produce biomass, decompose and recycle biologically essential nutrients... There is mounting evidence that biodiversity increases the stability of ecosystem functions through time... Diverse communities are more productive because they contain key species that have a large influence on productivity and differences in functional traits among organisms increase total resource capture... The impacts of diversity loss on ecological processes might be sufficiently large to rival the impacts of many other global drivers of environmental change... Maintaining multiple ecosystem processes at multiple places and times requires higher levels of biodiversity than does a single process at a single place and time."

A: Nicaragua

Problem: Tony and Greg are brothers. They are currently in the kitchen eating a snack together. Greg is eating a stalk of celery while Tony is eating out of a bowl of candy. Tony remarks that he doesn't know how Greg enjoys such a bland snack. Greg just gives Tony an angry glare before getting up to go into the living room. On the living room table, Greg finds a glass of milk and a bowl of milk. The glass of milk has started to get thick, but the bowl of milk appears to be still fresh. Greg rolls his eyes at the mess and walks away. Which container of milk has more lactic acid? Hint: Animals and some bacteria and fungi carry out lactic acid fermentation. Lactic acid is a waste product of this process. Our muscles perform lactic acid fermentation during strenuous exercise, since oxygen cannot be delivered to the muscles quickly enough. The buildup of lactic acid is believed to make your muscles sore after exercise. Bacteria that produce lactic acid are used to make cheese and yogurt. The lactic acid causes the proteins in milk to thicken. Lactic acid also causes tooth decay, because bacteria use the sugars in your mouth for energy.

A: glass

Problem: Mary is studying the seismic waves of a recent earthquake from 2 locations around its focus. She notes at point A the waves are easily detectable. at point B the waves are unable to be read at all, as if they just stopped. Which area is likely to have underground water, point A or point B. Hint: Geologists study earthquake waves to "see" Earth's interior. Waves of energy radiate out from an earthquake's focus. These waves are called seismic waves ( Figure below ). Seismic waves go different speeds through different materials. They change speed when they go from one type of material to another. This causes them to bend. Some seismic waves do not travel through liquids or gases. They just stop. Scientists use information from seismic waves to understand what makes up the Earth's interior.

A: B

Problem: Czar Nicholas was the last Romanov who ruled Russia. Al along he was in good health, but that was not the case with his son Prince Alexei. While Nicholas was free from hemophilia, a disease that devastated European royal families, Alexei was born with hemophilia. Many suggest this situation made some opportunists to take advantage of the Czar. Would Alexei have less or more risk of bleeding to death than Nicholas? Hint: Hemophilia is the name of a group of hereditary diseases that affect the body's ability to control blood clotting. Hemophilia is caused by a lack of clotting factors in the blood. Clotting factors are normally released by platelets. Since people with hemophilia cannot produce clots, any cut can put a person at risk of bleeding to death. The risk of internal bleeding is also increased in hemophilia, especially into muscles and joints. This disease affected the royal families of Europe.

A:
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