BRAINDUMP
Is it true that all pandas belong to China?
Amazing answers to your curious questions
Not quite. In the wild, giant pandas only live in China, but captive ones have been sent to zoos around the world as gifts since the 1950s. None of those pandas are still alive though, and since 1984, almost all pandas have been given to zoos on a ten-year lease. They remain Chinese property, and so do any cubs born in captivity from the leased pandas. There are a few exceptions, however. In 2008 China gave – rather than leased – a pair of pandas to Taiwan, and in August 2013 they were successfully bred to produce a third Taiwanese panda called Yuan Zai.
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HOW IT WORKS MAGAZINE @HOWITWORKSMAG HOWITWORKS@FUTURENET.COM HOWITWORKSMAG WHICH CAME FIRST: THE APPLE OR THE PEAR?
The cultivation of apples and pears dates back to prehistoric times, so it’s very difficult to say. Apples and pears both derive from the same family of plants, known as Rosaceae, and both fruits’ origins lie in central Asia. They were most likely cultivated over a long period in the foothills of the Tian Shan mountain range, where cross-pollination gave rise to the hundreds of diverse varieties we know today.