Wednesday, February 08, 2006

The joke corner "ha ha ha"

1. Which one can you catch with a net; HOT or COLD?

Ans: cold, because you can catch a cold!


2. which insect can burn in the air?

Ans: fireflies!



3. (Daughter looking at mum's old photo album)
Daughter: Why didn't you bring me to your wedding?
Mum: Because you weren't born, silly.
Daughter: But when I was still in your womb, you should have let me jump out of your womb, through your throat and into your nose WHERE I COULD SEE EVERYTHING FROM YOUR NOSTRILS!!!!
4. (tongue twister!)
Say this fast for five times: Dad had a dog, the dog dug. The dog dug where dad was digging.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

15 Amazing Facts about REPTILES

1. How many species of crocodiles are there in the world?

Ans: there are 23 species of crocodiles in the world. For example, the black caiman and the American alligator

2. How many types of crocodiles are there?

Ans: there are four types of crocodiles, namely crocodiles, alligators, gharials and caimans. Crocodiles have a large tooth sticking out, but alligators do not. Caimans have teeth that curve backward while the teeth of alligators, crocodiles and gharials only curve slightly or do not.

3. What decides the sex of a baby crocodile when it is still in its egg?

Ans: The temperature of the egg! When it is colder, the baby is a female. If it is warmer, the baby is a male.

4. How long have crocodiles lived on Earth?

At least 200 million years ago! They lived long before dinosaurs.

5. Why don't crocodiles eat birds?

Ans: Because birds act as toothbrushes and toothpastes! They clean the crocodiles' mouths by eating all the food scraps or parasites there.

6. Which is the longest croc in the world?

Ans: The saltwater crocodile. It is longer and heavier than two cars parked end to end!

7. Why are crocodiles considered to be good mothers?

Ans: Because they take care of their children very carefully and guard their nests. The babies have a distress call that they produce when they are in danger. When the mother hears the call, she hurries back to her nest and carries her babies away (if they are there).

8. Which is the silliest way to catch a croc?

Ans: To use a remote-controlled car! A snare-pole is fixed on the car, and then the car is driven towards a crocodile or the water. The crocodile is lured by the car, and moves towards the car to eat it. However, the car maneuvers it so the snare-pole gets in the way of the croc and the reptile gets caught. But usually, the car becomes the crocodile's tasty dinner.

9. Why is the rattlesnake "crazy" about family gatherings?

Ans: Because they have gatherings with up to 1,000 rattlesnakes attending!

10. How many backbones do snakes have?

They can have up to 400 backbones! Most of them situated in the spine.

11. How many babies do snakes have?

The average number is 25. However, some may have up to forty eggs!

12. How do Marine iguanas keep warm?

Ans: By piling on top of one another! It is just like sleeping under tons of blankets.

How can terrapins breathe underwater?

Ans: Most swim close to the surface, with their nostrils above the water. But some terrapins have an air tube on the end of their noses, which they can use as a snorkel!

13. Do some lizards run on two legs?

Yes. In fact, a lizard called the basilisk lizard even runs on two legs across the water!

14. How do Komodo dragons kill their prey?

They spit their saliva on them! It is as poisonous as a snake's venom.

15. Which reptile can "fly"?

Ans: Both the flying lizard and the paradise tree snake can "fly". The flying lizard has wings on its body to help it "fly" while the tree snake spreads out its back, sucks in its tummy and glides through the air!

16. Why is the cobra's Chinese name "the spectacle snake"?

Ans: Because the pattern on its back and neck look like a pair of glasses!

17. How do giant tortoises relax when it is hot?

Ans: They swim into hot pools heated by underground rocks since they live in volcanic islands! It is just like soaking in a warm bath.

18. Why is the Matamata turtle called "the fishing turtle"?

Ans: Because tiny flaps of skin on its neck attract fish and crustaceans, like bait from a fishing rod. When the turtle's prey is attracted by the skin and swims near the turtle, the reptile shoots its head and mouth forwards. This causes suction, and anything unlucky enough to be in the water will be sucked into the turtle's mouth and will become the turtle's tasty dinner.

19. Which reptile is not classified into a group?

Ans: The tuatara. It is a rare, lizard-like creature that is only found in New Zealand.

20. Why do snakes have a sixth sense?

Ans: Because they have tiny holes on the sides of their faces, which pick up the warmth of animals nearby.

The robot of silence

In the inventing room of Professor V. Lysees Um
There lay the robot of silence.
This neither foul nor rotten machine
Always has a quiet performance

One day the quiet machine came to say
"My precious old machinery card
Has suddenly gone away.
How can it disappear like a lump of lard?"

So there lived the robot of silence
Really with nothing much to say.
Cause the old memory card
Keeps the things he has to jibber every day.

Oh poor the robot of silence
Quiet and silence are his rules.
Shh, shh, he goes every day
Not moving like a bag of cotton wool.

Monday, February 06, 2006




The American Civil War

The American Civil War is the war with more casualties than all the other wars America had fought all together! More than a million people died in the war and a lot of cities were destroyed. It all started when Abraham Lincoln was elected president. Lincoln, who was opposed to slavery, passed a law that banned slavery in the United States. The people who lived in the southern United States were outraged by this law, because they needed slaves to help them grow crops and pick cotton. Soon, the southern people decided to form an independent country of their own, which was called the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis of Mississippi was elected president and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia vice-president. Then, to make the North even more angry after it heard that the South had declared itself independent, the Confederates(the Southern people) began to attack Union forts(the forts of the people of the North). The American Civil War had begun.

[the attack on Fort Sumter]
The first fort the Confederacy attacked was Fort Sumter. General P.G.T. Beauregard and his troops began to bombard the fort at 4:30 A.M. on April 11, 1869. Major Robert Anderson, his eighty-five soldiers and forty-three laborers fought back with forty-eight cannons. The Union surrendered after two days of fighting and the federal flag was lowered. The soldiers who defended the fort were shipped to New York were all of them were welcomed as heroes.

[recruting armies and preparing for the worst]
After the fall of Fort Sumter, the two sides began raising armies and preparing for more invasions. On April 14, 1861, President Lincoln issued a call for loyal state governors to send 75,000 militia troops to protect Washington D.C. Then, in 1862 and 1863, the Confederate and the U.S. Congress approved conscription and the drafting of men in the army. The U.S. Congress also approved of paying bounties - cash awards paid to the people who volunteered to fight in regiments. At that time, radio and television were not invented yet. So, recruiting posters were hung in places where people often gathered, like town squares and markets. Some of the people who were recruited were actually criminals or people that had been put in jail after they did something wrong. They are called bounty jumpers. They will join, receive bounty money, and then desert the army. Later they will use an alias to join the army and receive more money. Some of the most well known militias are the Lowry Rifles and the 7th New York. New York provided the most Northern soldiers while North Carolina provided the most Southern troops.

[chaos in Bull Run]
Near Washington D.C., is Manassas, Virginia. A stream nearby is called Bull Run. The fields around the stream were the battlefield of one of the largest Civil War fights. On July 21, 1896, Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard (who also attacked and captured Fort Sumter) and a 20,000-man army surrounded Manassas and threatened the Union Capital. President Lincoln sent General Irvin McDowell and 30,000 troops to defend Manassas. Many residents living near Bull Run wanted to see how the troops performed in combat, so they packed picnic lunches and went to the fields were the battle was expected. The fight started at dawn on July 21 and ended in the mid-afternoon. The soldiers on both sides were poorly trained and the battle seemed to edge towards a tie. However, Beauregard's men received reinforcements, who helped drive the Union soldiers away. As McDowell and his troops retreated, they were shelled. This frightened the people who were watching the battle, and they clogged the roads as they fled. This created a traffic jam that panicked the Northern Troops. Most of them dropped their weapons and ran for the safety of Washington's defenses and their lives.

[the siege at Vicksburg]
Vicksburg was a town on the east bank of the Mississippi River. The Confederate military greatly fortified Vicksburg and set up a lot of defenses there. For example, heavy cannons set up there could shoot any vessel passing the town. Trenches were also dug in front of the town to serve as a barrier between the town and the headquarters of the attacking army. The Union army had tried many times to invade Vicksburg. However, each attack failed. Sometimes, Union soldiers would rush at the Confederate trenches, trying to cross them and enter the town. Many of these soldiers were shot down by Confederate cannons or riflemen. They also hurled Ketchum hand grenades at the Confederates. The grenades would explode if the landed on detonation plates fixed to their "noses”. The Southerners fought back by catching the grenades in blankets and throwing them back at the attacking Union troops. After a few more failed assaults, Union commander Ulysses S. Grant maneuvered a small army behind Vicksburg. After a few small battles, Grant and his army drove Vicksburg's defenders into the town's trenches. Meanwhile, the Union navy started to shell the garrison from the Mississippi River. The town was besieged by Grants forces and no food entered in for forty days! Citizens and defending soldiers were reduced to eat rats and donkeys. Civilians lived in bomb shelters in hills. After a month of hunger, attacks and shelling from the Union army, Vicksburg finally gave in. Confederate General John C. Pemberton surrendered. The battle at Vicksburg was the first Union victory in the Civil War.

[the "crazy" fight at Gettysburg]
Gettysburg is a small town in Pennsylvania, a few miles north of Maryland. In 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee led 75,000 men north to invade Union territory. They wandered into Gettysburg, looking for supplies. There, a small force of Union cavalry met and fought them until reinforcements arrived. The commander of the reinforcements, General George Meade, led more than 88,000 men to combat the Confederates. The next day, Meade's and Lee's troops fought a large scale battle, the largest ever fought in North America. A hill called Little Round Top, a grove of trees called Peach Orchard, a farm called Wheat Farm, and a rise near a grave called Cemetery Hill were all battlefields and important spots that bordered the town. These combats were actually so immense that each was like a separate fight. On July second, two brigades from Confederate General Jubal Early's troops rushed to a number of Union soldiers gathered around Gettysburg’s cemetery. They almost succeeded in pushing Meade's men off Little Round Top. Union
reinforcements soon came and drove the Confederates away with many casualties. Next, at dusk, another Confederate General, Harry Hays, led another band of troops to try to capture Little Round Top. They were defeated. On the next day, 3rd July, Lee ordered a division commanded by General George Pickett to attack the center of Meade's battle lines. That attack was remembered as Pickett's Charge. Hundreds of thousands of Confederate soldiers ran directly at Union riflemen and cannons. A lot of Confederate soldiers were killed immediately. This disaster forced Lee to surrender. He ordered his army to retreat south on 4th July. His battle with Meade was the second Union victory in the Civil War and it marked a start for a "Union Comeback" in the war.

[how did they treat the wounded?]
If a Civil War soldier became ill or was wounded in battle, he was in serious trouble. In the mid-19th century, there were no medicines to fight infections and no one knew what a germ is. The bullets of the rifles used at that time were very heavy and powerful. They usually smashed the arm or leg bones of a victim. Doctors could not repair bone injuries, so damaged limbs were usually cut off. Whisky, ether and chloroform were the only painkillers available. A strange method to heal infected wounds was to put fly eggs on the wound. When baby flies, or maggots hatched, medical workers hoped they would eat the infected flesh. Amazingly, this cure sometimes worked. However, most wounded soldiers actually died of poor camp conditions rather than wounds or disease. Polluted drinking water gave wounded soldiers diphtheria and cholera. Moldy or infested food gave them food poisoning and intestinal diseases. At that time, the only treatment for these illnesses was narcotic opium. This drug eased a victim's intestinal discomfort and stopped him from dying of dehydration. Even with this drug, a lot of troops died of these diseases as well as measles, mumps, malaria and yellow fever. The cures of these diseases were discovered a lot of years later.

[camp life]
Civil War soldiers spent most of their time traveling. When on campaigns,
they rested in log cabins, huts or tents at night. Sometimes, they may simply lie down on the ground and sleep. They ate meals prepared by army cooks who cooked on portable ovens and kept themselves warm by burning firewood to make a fire. Burning fires also served as distress signals when someone needed help. In camp, soldiers spent their leisure time writing letters to their families, sketching, reading, taking photographs with their fellow soldiers and even gambling by playing cards. Still, they had to do chores, practice fighting and repair worn equipment and uniforms. Sometimes they cheered up themselves by listening to band music and chatting to fellow soldiers.

[war not on land but on the water]
The navies of the Union and Confederate armies played big parts in the success of the two sides in the war. On one hand, Southern ships attacked Union merchant ships all around the world and stole their cargo. On the other hand, Northern ironclads - ships covered in iron armour - blocked Southern ports and fought the Confederates on rivers and lakes. The CSS Alabama was the only sailing ship to enter the war. The first ironclad, CSS Virginia, was built from the burned remains of USS Merrimac. Then, the USS Monitor was built. Soon, many more ironclads were built, marking a new era in sea-warfare. However, iron armour is not fully protective for a warship. Shells or cannonballs fired at close range splintered the metal plates. Flying pieces on iron and wood often injured or killed the soldiers inside. Then, Confederate engineers invented mines, which threatened ships entering Southern waters. Northern engineers, however, invented mine-sweeping boats such as USS Saugus, to cope with mines. Also, submarines were invented to attack enemy
ships in harbors. American Civil War had actually started a new wave of technology to change the designs of ships, the way they battle and the defenses to cope with an attacking warship.

[the march to the sea]
Union General William T. Sherman had started a major campaign to conquer almost all of Confederate states in hope to make the Confederates surrender. The first part of his campaign was to conquer Atlanta, and soon, all of Georgia. His troops marched south from Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the summer of 1864, fighting a lot of battles with Southern forces. Sherman's troops pinned the Confederates in Atlanta, then forced them to leave. His troops rested there for roughly three months, then burned the city. Sherman and his men marched to the city of Savannah, burning homes of Southern civilians and taking their food. The Southern people he left behind were hungry and homeless. After some fighting in Savannah, Sherman and his soldiers captured the city and soon, other towns, giving the North a big boost of winning the war and giving them more hope that the Confederates would surrender.

[the surrender and the end of the war.]
Northern troops besieged Confederate forces in Petersburg, Virginia. Meanwhile, Union General William T. Sherman took over North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina. The Union troops overcame the Confederates in two major battles, leading to the fall of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's defenses. Lee's forces then retreated to Appomattox Court House, Virginia,
where Grant's troops surrounded the Confederates. On April 9, Lee surrendered in a small house beside the Court House. Many Confederate generals dropped their weapons soon afterwards. After four intense years of bloodshed and fighting, the American Civil War had finally ended.

SNEEZING YOUR HEAD OFF?

[All you should know to live with your nose]
Do you sometimes keep on sneezing until you feel that your head is about to fall off? Well, most people have experienced a runny nose and a constant "Atishoo". But have you ever wondered what makes you go crazy with your nose? Actually, the nose is divided into two parts, and the runny stuff that comes out when you sneeze accumulates in the inner part or internal nose first, before running out to the outer part or external nose and out of your nose. In the internal nose, there are two membranes, which are separated by a ridge of bone, called the nasal septum. Most people have a slightly curving nasal septum, and that doesn't pose a problem. However, some of the nasal septa in some people are bent, and that blocks air from coming out and getting in your nose. And that can stop a person from breathing!
The interior of the external nose is mostly bone and cartilage. But there are some spaces for air to pass through. The bone in the external nose is located at the very top, or root, of the nose. That's why the top of your nose is very hard. In the middle and lower parts of the nose, there are two pieces of soft cartilage, which are supported by two smaller pieces, called accessory nasal cartilage.
[Sneeze, sneeze, but why?]
When most people sneeze, it's mostly due to allergy. There are many kinds of allergy, but the most common is allergic rhinitis. Rhinitis is the medical term used to describe symptoms like a runny nose, sneezing, congestion, etc. People suffering from allergic rhinitis also have these symptoms. Allergic rhinitis also refers to three types of allergic disorders: Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis, Perennial Allergic Rhinitis, and Occupational Allergic Rhinitis. Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis is caused by pollens inhaled into the nose. Tree pollens, grass pollens and plant pollens are the most commonly inhaled pollens. Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis is most common in spring, when most plants "send" out their pollen grains. That is why most people usually catch the illness when it's warmer, when plants begin to pollinate.
Perennial Allergic Rhinitis, on the other hand, is not spread by pollen. Instead, dust, mites, mold spores and fur cause Perennial Allergic Rhinitis. It is easier to catch Perennial Allergic Rhinitis indoors then outdoors, because dust accumulates indoors more easily. There are also other concerns, like feathers and the hair in the mane of a horse. But people catch Perennial Allergic Rhinitis more often from dust and fur then these rarer causes.
Occupational allergic rhinitis refers to nasal symptoms caused by exposure to a particular agent in a particular place. There are two forms of occupational rhinitis; office rhinitis and nonoffice rhinitis. In office rhinitis, symptoms occur in a certain office or working place while in nonoffice rhinitis, symptoms only occur in a particular place. Occupational rhinitis can affect a broad range of workers, for example, the president, the secretarial staff, the janitor(s) and the gardener(s) of the company.
Office rhinitis is actually occupational rhinitis caused by something in the office environment. Dust mites, fabrics, gas ranges, furnaces and insecticides all can cause office rhinitis. A lot of experts agree that a wider office or working space can reduce the chance of office rhinitis because when the working space is larger, there is more ventilation and agents can "float away" more easily to other spaces. In nonoffice rhinitis, the symptoms only appear in a special place and occurs only if the person goes to the place again. That is why nonoffice rhinitis is rarer than office rhinitis. Glue, body fluids, dust and stainless steel frames can all cause nonoffice rhinitis.
Apart from allergy, a cold or influenza is the most common cause of a sneeze. The symptoms of a cold and flu are similar to those of allergic rhinitis because they are all part of the "rhinitis group", which will be mentioned later. A cold and flu are caused by the invasion of hundreds of thousands of microscopic viruses. Viruses, like bacteria, are microscopic organisms. However, viruses are smaller than bacteria, and, unlike most bacteria, they are only capable of reproducing inside a living cell. Hence, they live in our cells like tiny, dirty parasites. A cold and influenza usually begins with a sore throat, then, more symptoms like a runny nose and nasal congestion begin to develop. Then, fever may come, and the sufferer may lose appetite. After taking some medicine, the fever may go down, but the patient has not fully recovered yet. It takes at least a week to "fight off" the illness. Other causes of a sneeze include irritant rhinitis, reflex rhinitis, rhinitis medicamentosa and vasomotor rhinitis. These causes are all in the "rhinitis group", that means that the symptoms and cures of these illnesses are similar to those of allergic rhinitis
[Prevent, prevent]
1. Pollen
Pollen is the cause of seasonal allergic rhinitis. The best prevention is to go to places where there are fewer flowers in spring, the most active time of seasonal allergic rhinitis. If you really want to see the plants, try not to go too close. But this is not a full prevention of seasonal allergic rhinitis, and the best way is to, as mentioned before, simply do not stay close to flowering plants.
2. Dust and dust mites
Dust and dust mites are one of the main causes of Perennial Allergic Rhinitis. Most dust and dust mites are found in the bedroom of a house, where dust can easily accumulate under a blanket or on a bed. The closet is also a key place for dust and dust mites to "live in". A bedroom should be cleaned at least once a week, from top to bottom. Also, store not frequently used clothing in an air-tight zipper bag. That way, when those clothing are used, they would not be dusty.
3. Smoking
Smoking is one of the main causes of occupational allergic rhinitis. If you have a chronic rhinitis problem, DO NOT SMOKE. If your family members suffer from it, DO NOT SMOKE. Smoking when you or your family members have rhinitis problems may lead to asthma, bronchitis and other illnesses associated with the lungs. If you are smoking, TRY TO QUIT. Smoking is bad for your nose and lungs, and it can lead to illnesses such as brain tumor. It also has some effects on your body, like hair-loss. If you are not smoking and you see someone smoking close to you, stay away. You may still suffer from the effects of smoking if you inhale the smoke. Smoking can be bad for the noses and lungs of everybody else too. That is why if you smoke, try to quit.

Having a constant sneeze and running nose is frustrating. Knowing more about sneezing and other illnesses can help when you really have the illness. Also, do frequent exercise and have a balanced diet so your body can become strong and healthy.

Sunday, February 05, 2006



THE RETURN OF THE LYNX

[Do you know]
THE LYNX IS A kind of wild cat, which lives in the snowy forests of the Yukon-British Columbia border. It is about as big as a sand cat and it's prey includes rodents, rabbits and other small animals.

[a cat in a muddle]
Scientists have launched a project to capture a whole bunch of lynxes and bring them to Colorado, which is in America. There, it will be warmer and more food. A three-year-old female lynx named Chilkat was one of those cats who will be transported to Colorado. She had been caught in a trap, and then driven to her new home. After a checkup, the vet noticed that she had a puncture wound and amputated her left leg but apart from that, she was healthy. Next she was radio-collared and released into the wild.
[mating time, cat]
After a few years, the scientists discovered that Chilkat had mated. Her mate was another lynx from Canada, named Larry. Soon after mating, Chilkat gave birth to four kittens, but two soon died, probably killed by coyotes or plague. But the other two survived.
Then, next summer, Chilkat gave birth to four more kids. However, many obstacles remain for the Colorado lynx. For example, development, poaching, traffic, etc. The people of Colorado and also, the people of our planet, should work together to protect and preserve this amazing animal.

Thursday, February 02, 2006














Seals and other Marine Animals
[Pinnpeds with no ears]
SEALS ARE ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING sea-creatures in the world. They live in a group of animals called pinnpeds, which means "fin footed". Other members of the pinnped family include sea-lions and walruses. The pinnpeds are powerful swimmers, and they are superbly adapted to life in the sea.
[two types and their differences]
There are 34 species of seal, which are divided into two groups: the true seal or the earless seal, and the eared seals or sea lions. True seals also cannot turn its hind flippers, so it can't climb very well on land. However, it can move surprisingly fast in the ocean, and it uses it hind flippers for swimming, The eared seal meanwhile, uses its front flippers for swimming, and it also has longer limbs than true seals, and is more agile on land. The true seal is also more suited to life in cold places then the eared seal.

[a day in a life of a seal]
A seal's day is spent doing lots of caring, hunting, and of course, eating. In the early morning, seals usually go for a swim. Next, they go to catch their breakfast. After eating, seals go for a sun-bath. Then, at about noon, the seals go back into the water for lunch. After that, adult seals go to play with their children, or older kids go out to play by themselves. They race in the water, jump and play about on the beach, and, if the seal is not careful, get eaten by a great-white shark or a killer whale! But 60% have a chance of escape. At the evening, they eat again another meal and then relax. Finally, they go to sleep, at about eleven o’ clock.

[the hunters and dangers]
The seal has a lot of hunters, including killer whales, great white sharks, and "other species of itself", like the leopard seal. But humans are actually killing more seals then any other animal. Their hunting almost led to the extinction of the northern elephant seal. The earliest people to hunt seals were the Inuit people, which usually harpooned the animal from a boat. Seals were hunted for their skin and meat. When the Europeans arrived to North America, they found out that walruses and seals had oil-which was useful at that time-in their bodies. So, they started hunting them. A huge number of pinppeds were shot from boats at that time. Nowadays, seals are hunted on the spot, usually being clubbed or shot. If the seal was not dead after being clubbed, the seal-hunter would use a pick to kill the seal with a quick blow on the head.
Humans have caused a great decline in seal population. They even continue to hunt seals today, even when there are anti-poaching laws. Tougher laws should be put in place, and reserves should be created to breed seals. Seals are very amazing animals, and humans shouldn't drive this animal into extinction.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

WHERE WAS ATLANTIS?

[what was Atlantis?]
Atlantis is a very well known mystery. It was first mentioned by the Greek philosopher Plato, and soon the myth was known all around the world. It was said that Atlantis was a very big continent, which was even bigger than Asia and Africa put together! It had a powerful empire, and a lot of beautiful cities. But one day, an enormous wave swept the whole continent away. Nowadays, scientists are searching for clues and proposing many theories, to answer these two questions: what had caused Atlantis to disappear, and where exactly was it now?
[a load of theories]
Scientists have proposed a lot of theories, for example, some think that a huge continent called Mu was actually Atlantis. Their theory comes from stone tablets which were found in Mexico, which had a lot of details about Mu. However, I'll show that this theory is wrong. Another theory is that a long stretch of land connected Africa to Madagascar and Asia. Maybe Atlantis was the name of this land. This theory comes from an animal, called lemur. These animals were found in Madagascar, but where also found in South Africa and parts of Asia. The stretch of land
[the theory of Discovery Magazine]is now called Lemuria. But I don't support this theory as well.
I also have a theory of my own. I think the people of Atlantis were actually the Minoans or the Mycenaeans. Their empires were huge, and were as big as Greece or even bigger. However, it couldn't ever be bigger than Asia and Africa put together, nothing could. I believe that Plato emphasized Atlantis' size too much, for even the Pacific Ocean wasn't so big. So, Atlantis couldn’t have disappeared in the sea if it was as big as Plato described it was. The Minoan empire also had evidence left by its people that an enormous tidal wave had destroyed part of it or made part of it disappear.
[dumb theories? Why?]
I think that the theory that Atlantis was Mu is wrong because records from early humans didn't mention Mu, and also, the stone tablets were found in a Mayan temple, but the Maya had no record of traveling beyond Mexico. I also don't support the theory about Lemuria, because why didn't the other strange animals of Madagascar go to South Africa, and also why didn't the exotic cultures of the people of Madagascar spread to Africa or Asia.
Although there are a lot of theories and evidence, the disappearance of Atlantis still remains a mystery……