Knowledge is Power. Learn about Space, Health, Nature, History and other important information
Thursday, August 09, 2007
What are Mummies?
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Facts About the Moon
The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. The Moon, has been known since time immemorial. It is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun. As the Moon orbits around the Earth. I takes approximately one month to complete one rotation. The Moon is the only celestial body that humans have travelled to and landed on and have brought samples. The Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 was the first one to land on the moon on the July 20, 1959. Neil Armstrong became the first man to step onto the surface of the Moon On July 20, 1969.
By simply viewing through the naked eye one can see two major types of terrain: relatively bright highlands and darker plains. The Moon has no atmosphere. The lunar sky is always dark as the diffraction of light requires an atmosphere. Various samples obtained reveal that there are three types of Terrain on the moon, the Regolith, the maria, and the Terrae. 'Regolith is the outermost part, the relatively bright, heavily cratered highlands are called "Terrae" and the dark, lightly cratered is called "Maria".
Meteorite impacts on the moon brought a variety of "exotic" rocks to the Moon. The samples obtained produced many different rock types for study. The underlying crust was also thinned and cracked due to the impacts. Due to the lack atmosphere nor any water, the components in the soils do not weather chemically as they would on Earth. Rocks more than 4 billion years old still exist there, yielding information about the early history of the solar system that is unavailable on Earth.
The gravitational forces between the Earth and the Moon cause some interesting effects. The most obvious is the tides. The Moon's gravitational attraction is stronger on the side of the Earth nearest to the Moon and weaker on the opposite side. Since the Earth, and particularly the oceans, is not perfectly rigid it is stretched out along the line toward the Moon. From our perspective on the Earth's surface we see two small bulges, one in the direction of the Moon and one directly opposite. The effect is much stronger in the ocean water than in the solid crust so the water bulges are higher.
The Moon has no global magnetic field. But some of its surface rocks exhibit magnetism which indicates there could have been a global magnetic field early in the Moon's history. The Moon's surface is completely exposed to the solar wind and many ions form the solar wind have become embedded in the moon's Regolith.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Newton's Laws of Motion
Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws. These laws provide relationships between the forces acting on a body and the motion of the body.Newton's laws were first published together in his work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687). The laws form the basis for classical mechanics. Newton used them to explain many results concerning the motion of physical objects.
Newton's First Law of Motion:
Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.
Newton's Second Law of Motion:
The relationship between an object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors (as indicated by their symbols being displayed in slant bold font); in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.
Newton's Third Law of Motion:
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The first law is termed as the "Law of Inertia". The second law aid in quantitative calculations of dynamics. This law explains the velocity chnages that happen when a force is applied. The third law exemplifies by what happens when we bounce a rubber ball on the ground it pushes back itself witht he same force in the opposite direction.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Akshaya Trithiya
The siddhas are said to move about the universe and bless the people. Its said that its good to perform charity on this day. There are certain rituals that have to be followed on this day. One should take oil bath and worship God and do some charity. Performing libations to our departed ancestors is considred to be fruitful on this day. It is believed that wealth will increase if one keeps money in the pooja and worships on this day.
Puranas say that it was on this day that Lord Krishna bestowed kuchela with boudless wealth when he came to meet him. Astronomers say that this is the day on which the sun and the moon are the brightest. This is also an auspicious day to start new ventures and purchases. Its also believed that if a person buys small amount of gold and keeps it in the pooja and wears it on this day, it will accumulate all throught the year. Its good to gift clothes and fruits on this day.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
What is Heart Failure?
Heart failure is a condition due to the inability of the heart to pump oxygenated blood and essential substances to the body parts caused due to the weekness in its muscles. This is a serious medical illness, and requires critical care admission.
Surgical correction is required if the heart failure is due to vavular diseases. Some symptoms are Fatigue, breathlessness on exertion or swollen veins in the neck area, enlargement of the liver etc., Patients with advanced heart failure and severe pumping defect of left ventricle have to be treated with ventricular repair procedures or ventricular assist devices.
Some patients may develop a condition called stent thrombosis after agioplasty with stenting. This is due to improper dialation of stent or an uncovered dissected area where stenting was carried out. Some symptoms are chest pain and breathlessness. These patients may require hospitalisation and repeat agioplasty if necessary.
There are various types of stents available in the market. The cost of the stents depends on the brand, special features and stent designs.The cost also depends upon the older generation and newer generation manufactury.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Longest River in the world -Nile
Before the construction of the Aswan High Dam; the Nile rolled through a series of six rapids, called cataracts, between northern Sudan and southern Egypt. The construction of the dam has caused major changes in the flow of Nile. Lake Nasser is a man-made lake created by the construction of the Aswan High Dam, opened in 1971. The dam was built to regulate the flow of the Nile River.
The major cities that are located on the edge of the Nile and White Nile are: Cairo, Gondokoro, Khartoum, Aswan, Thebes/Luxor, Karnak, and the town of Alexandria lies near the Rozeta branch.The major dams on the Nile are Roseires Dam, Sennar Dam, Aswan High Dam, and Owen Falls Dam. Fishing is a main source of income and wealth for many who live on the banks if Nile. Each year thousands of tonnes of fish are caught. Many modern travelers to Egypt today take a Nile cruise as part of their package.
Monday, March 12, 2007
What is Metabolism?
After we consume food, the molecules in the digestive system called enzymes break proteins down into amino acids, fats into fatty acids, and carbohydrates into simple sugars. These compounds are absorbed into the blood, which transports them to the cells. After they enter the cells, other enzymes act to speed up or regulate the chemical reactions involved with "metabolizing" these compounds. During these processes, the energy from these compounds can be released for use by the body or stored in body tissues, especially the liver, muscles, and body fat. In this way, the process of metabolism is really a balancing act involving two kinds of activities that go on at the same time - the building up of body tissues and energy stores and the breaking down of body tissues and energy stores to generate more fuel for body functions.
Metabolism is a complicated chemical process. A calorie is a unit that measures how much energy a particular food provides to the body. The body stores the energy initially in form of fat. If a person consumes too many calories and his physical activity is not enough to utilise the consumed amount the excess remains as fat in the body thus resulting in increase of weight. The basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is a measure of the rate at which a person's body "burns" energy, in the form of calories, while at rest. Low calorie dieting slows your metabolism, making it progressively more difficult to lose weight and keep it off.
Anabolism or constructive metabolism, supports the growth of new cells, the maintenance of body tissues, and the storage of energy for use in the future. During anabolism, small molecules are changed into larger, more complex molecules of carbohydrate, protein, and fat.
Metabolic disorder is caused by an abnormal chemical reaction in the body's cells. Some metabolic diseases are inherited. These conditions are called inborn errors of metabolism.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
All About Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prize was initially awarded for subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Literature and Peace. Later on Economics was also added.
These prizes are awarded to individuals only except the Peace Prize and each award is awarded to minimum three people in a year.
The first Nobel prizes were awarded to
Chemistry : Jacobus H' van't Hoff
Physics : Wilhelin C Rotgen
Medicine : Emil A Von Behring
Literature : Rene F A Sully Prudhomme
Peace : Jean H Dunant Frederic Passy.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Story of Paper - Papyrus To Paper
Although Papyrus was prevalent in Egypt it did not reach Europe. The Europeans used the animal skins. This material was called parchment. This had many advantages over papyrus. The parchment was very flexible and did not crack. It could be folded and both sides of it could be cused for writing.
The Chinese official name Ts' Ai Lun made paper using a strange assortment of mulberry and bamboo fibers. This is the material we use today. The chinese guarded the secret of making paper for more than 1000 years. Unfortunately the Moors learnt this and spread it to Spain and Sicily. From there it spread throughout Europe and by the 1200 the paper mills had mushroomed in Italy.
The Paper gained its importance once Johannes Gutenberg invented the first mechanical printing press in 1455. From then on books were printed using the paper and demad for paper grew. Presently United States is the world's leading paper producer.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
What is Chlorophyll?
Chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and uses its energy to synthesise carbohydrates from CO2 and water. During this process of photosynthesis, chlorophyll produces energy, in the form of carbohydrates, which will power all of the plant's essential growth and development.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Fungi
The fungi may be single celled plants such as yeast, which is used for baking bread abd brewing beer or can be multicelled such as mushrooms. In these more advanced forms the main part of the plant is an intricate web of threads known as hyhae, the whole web is called mycelium. This often lives underground or inside the host plant on which the fungus is living. The hyphae threads run about either in or between the cells of the plant and have the power of dissolving the cellulose of the cell walls and living on the contents.
The saprophytic ones act in a similar way on dead organic material and are not generally harmful to plants or animals. The parasites on the other hand cause man a great deal of trouble and expense in trying to get rid of them. Some fungi like 'Athelete's foot attack man. With the larger fungi, the hyphae sometimes come above the ground and form a special structure which can produce spores. This is the fruiting stage of the plant and the mushroom and toadstool are examples of this.
The hyhpae have another property which is important to the fungus and this is the formation of hard tuber like body called sclerotium which is capable of exsiting for a long time without growing. This stage makes it difficult to get rid of fungal infections for they can withstand all adverse treatments yet germinate at favourable conditions.
The fungi lack chlorophyll so they absorb carbohydrates from plants or animals on which they live. Like the animals they are dependent on green plants for their food and canot live without them.
What are Bryophytes?
Most liverworts can increase by sending out branches which eventually become detached from the main plant. They can also reproduce sexually and after the fertilisation of the egg a stalk is produced from the upper surface of the thallus. At the top of the stalk is a capsule containing spores which, when released to fall on a suitable place of growth, will produce a new generation of liverworts.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Calenders
The Islamic calender is a lunar calender. The lunar month is roughly the time moon takes to go around the earth. The Islamic Lunar calender is shorter than the 'Gregorian' calender by 11 days. This means that the month of Ramzan will be observed around 11 days earlier every 'Gregorian' calender.
Emperor Akbar used a combination of the Hindu and Muslim Calender. This calender counts dates begining with the birth of Christ as A.D and counts dates before the birth of Christ as B.C. These days, many modern historians use the letters C.E (common era) instead of A.D and letters B.C.E instead of B.C.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Seasons- Are they the same across Planets?
The days are shorter during winter than summer. We know the climatic conditions are reversed when we consider the northern and the southern hemispheres. This is because the earth is tilted on an axis. When we take the planets other than earth, they also do have equinoxes and a few of them do have marked seasons also. The seasonal changes depends on the how much tilt each planet has about its axis.
When we take mercury and Venus the tilt on the axis is negligible so their poles remain eternally on the verge of night. The Mars had a 25 degree tilt which is close to that of earth and hence has seasons quite similar to earth but longer than ours in duration. Mars takes almost twice the time the earth takes to go around the sun.
Jupiter has minimal tilt like Venus and hence does not experience seasonal changes. Saturn has the equinoxes like Earth but the intensity of sunlight is very less hence the effect of the seasonal changes felt is minimal although one can proclaim it has seasons.
Uranus undergoes dramatic seasonal changes. As the tilt on the axis is 98 degrees its poles face the sun for directly at a time for about 21 years. So either of the poles have the summer season for 21 years each. And for some shorter period of time the entire planet bathes in sunlight for the sun is directly on its equator. This is expected to happen sometime in May’2007.
Neptune’s seasons are pretty ineffective as Saturn. But, Pluto has a tilt of 58 degrees and each season on Pluto lasts for about 62 years. So Earth has the apt seasonal and climatic conditions for humans to survive.
Monday, November 06, 2006
All About Chocolates
The cacao plants grows in hot regions. This plant is a shady plant and often is found growing under the coconut, lemon, banana trees. The tree has very tender fragile branches and hence the flowers and the bean pods develop directly on the trunk. The flowers are half white in color. The fruit resembles a cucumber.
The beans taken from the plant are fermented, roasted and then made into a drink. This beverage made was special and was served only to the royals. Columbus brought them to Spain from America during his last trip to America. The credit of sweetening the drink goes to the Spaniards. This recipe was kept a secret for many years. Later on the secret leaked gradually and spread across the world.
Only in the early 1800s the solid chocolates were prepared. The original Cadbury chocolate was made by and English doctor named Sir Hans Sloane. Chocolates where introduced in India by the Japanese. The Biggest Chocolate bar was made in Austria in a Chocolate Festival, it measured 5m*2m in size and about 2000 kgs in weight.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Who are Pearl Divers?
However, behind all such pomp and splendor lies the hard work of the ‘Pearl Divers’ who were responsible for collecting the Oysters from the dangerous depths of the Seas. In those days when there was no technical advancement the divers were not equipped with any protective measures. They used to hold their breath all the time from the time of plunging into the sea, drown themselves with the help of weights tied to their body, scope the oysters and return.
Theses divers had to face the grave risks of shark attacks and also attacks from other dangerous aquatic creatures. And holding the breath for such longer periods is a mammoth task by itself. A momentary negligence may lead to death. These people often faced the after effects such as acute pain in the limbs.
However gradually due to scientific growth these divers were equipped adequately with helmets and air pumps. Weight distribution was made in the suits they wore so that they could travel under water. A rope was fastened to their waist and the end of the rope was held by a man in the boat. The diver could send signals of danger by tugging the rope so the he could be pulled up by the rescuer. As science advanced aqua pumps were introduced fro safe breathing and special suits were designed to ward off attacks caused by the sea creatures.
The Sphinx of Giza
The face of the statue represents the face of Khafre, the ruler of Egypt. The word Sphinx is a Greek word. This means the goddess with a female face with a body of the lion and wings of a bird. However the Sphinx of Giza is a small correction with a King’s face and a lion’s body. According to the Egyptians the Sphinx represents power and might of their king.
Egyptians had quarried large quantities of lime stones to build temples and tombs from a hill and the balance portion of the hill was itself converted to the Sphinx. The Sphinx as it is made of limestone deposit is susceptible to erosion. The Sphinx often remained buried under sand hills for longer periods and was restored every now and then. However, one can say the frequent burials are for good for it had prevented the statue from eroding away due to the sea breeze.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
What are Steroids?
Steroids are medically administered in acute and chronic inflammatory conditions. In certain cases of acute asthma which does not respond to ordinary drugs steroids are used as life saving drug. It is also administered for people suffering because of ‘Addisons disease’ . This is a condition where the human body stops secreting natural hormones. However, if the steroids are administered for longer periods the body tends to decrease the secretion of natural steroids.
Steroids although has some vital uses, it also has certain side- effects like ulceration of the stomach, swelling of the neck, weakening of bones, Increasing the body hair, the skin would tend to lose its texture, blood pressure levels would increase in some cases.
In spite of all these side-effects the steroids are being misused world-wide, the most common types of misuses are : To provide instant relief from body aches, fever, in cases of skin inflammations.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Comets
One of the most famous comets is Halley's comet named after the famous astronomer Edmund Halley. Halley accurately calculated its time to orbit around sun as 76 years. This comet appeared in 1910 after which it appeared 1986 after 76 years as calculated by the great astronomer. In 1985-1986, a spacecraft called Giotto visited the most famous comet, Halley, on Halley's most recent visit to the inner solar system.
Unlike the other small bodies in the solar system, comets have been known since antiquity. Comets are sometimes called dirty snowballs or "icy mud balls". Comets are invisible except when they are near the Sun. Comets are small, fragile, irregularly shaped bodies composed of a mixture of non-volatile grains and frozen gases. They have highly elliptical orbits that bring them very close to the Sun and swing them deeply into space, often beyond the orbit of Pluto. The Comet structure consists of the nucleus, coma, hydrogen cloud and a dust tail. Comet structures are diverse and very dynamic, but they all develop a surrounding cloud of diffuse material, called a coma, that usually grows in size and brightness as the comet approaches the Sun. Usually a small, bright nucleus (less than 10 km in diameter) is visible in the middle of the coma. The coma and the nucleus together constitute the head of the comet.
As comets approach the Sun they develop enormous tails of luminous material that extend for millions of kilometers from the head, away from the Sun. When far from the Sun, the nucleus is very cold and its material is frozen solid within the nucleus. In this state comets are sometimes referred to as a "dirty iceberg" or "dirty snowball," since over half of their material is ice. When a comet approaches within a few AU of the Sun, the surface of the nucleus begins to warm, and volatiles evaporate. The evaporated molecules boil off and carry small solid particles with them, forming the comet's coma of gas and dust. When the nucleus is frozen, it can be seen only by reflected sunlight.
Meteor shower sometimes occur when the Earth passes thru the orbit of a comet. Some occur with great regularity: the Perseid meteor shower occurs every year between August 9 and 13 when the Earth passes thru the orbit of Comet Swift-Tuttle.
Now we know that comets are lumps of ice and dust that periodically come into the center of the solar system from somewhere in its outer reaches, and that some comets make repeated trips. When comets get close enough to the Sun, heat makes them start to evaporate. Jets of gas and dust form long tails that we can see from Earth. These tails can sometimes be millions of miles long.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
What is Paracetamol?
Paracetamol is the most commonly used drug to treat fever. It is a mild but very effective drug. It is available in variety of names in the market. It is otherwise known as ‘Acetaminophen’. On consumption of paracetamol the body heat is reduced by sweating. Paracetamol can be used during pregnancy also as it is less toxic in nature. Sometimes high doses cause nausea, drowsiness etc., and sometimes may result in renal failure too. In such cases it is recommended to meet a doctor. Paracetamol also reduces body pain caused during fever.
It is available in the market in variety of dosages. For children it is available as syrup and in form of tablets for adults. Paracetamol injections are also available. When consumed in tablet form, on has to consume lot of water.
When being treated with paracetamol one has to restrict to the prescribed dosage. Avoid fasting while taking the tablet. Refrain from consuming alcohol during usage of paracetamol. Usage of paracetamol for children should be done only under medical advice and guidance.