Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Does a millipede really have 1000 feet?

                          Does a millipede really have 1000 feet?

Since it is rainy season , I see a lot of millipedes moving in our backyard. We call it as " cherante " in Tulu. They walk slowly but will cover a large distance in a small span of time. When touched, they wrap themselves making a "chakkuli".
Millipede , name does mean 1000 footed . Some millipedes actually do have 1000 feet. But not all. Some millipedes have more than 1000 feet ,and some have less
Millipedes eat decaying leaves and other dead plant matter.
Due to their lack of speed , millipedes primary defense mechanism is to curl into a tight coil - protecting their delicate legs. 

Monday, August 19, 2013

Lioness's compassion

                           Lioness's compassion

In a forest, there lived a family of lion. The family comprised of father lion, mother lion and their cubs. Father lion was going out and bringing the preys after hunting, His family was living on that. Parents were seeing that everything must be available to their children.
But once, father lion didnt get anything while hunting. Father lion was tensed , thinking that , that day his whole family must starve.
That time itself, he saw a tiny rabbit. It was very small and was looking for his parents. Seeing lion, it came closer thinking that he is the father.
Lion just carried him to his house. He told his wife that he could not find anything except tiny rabbit. He said they must have it as dinner.
By seeing the rabbit, motherhood of lioness awakened and she didnt agree to kill it. She said let the rabbit grow up with their own children.
Likewise , rabbit was with lion cubs , playing. Soon it had developed a feeling that he is also a lion cub. Once, an elephant cub was walking on forest.
By seeing him alone, lion cubs planned to attack. But rabbit opposed the idea saying that they all may get hurt in the fighting.
He started arguing with lion cubs. Meanwhile, small elephant ran away from the place. Lion cubs complained near their mother against rabbit.
Mother  lion realized it is a time to reveal the truth. She called tiny rabbit and told him that he is the rabbit and not a lion. She showed him other rabbits too. 
Tiny rabbit understood what lioness trying to say and joined with his own fellows.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Rain.. Rain..

                              Rain.. Rain..

It is raining heavily in my place ( i.e. coastal area ). It is raining so much that we have not seen Sun in past 3 days !
It is so chill here and also environment is moist. The chilling effect is not only to humans . I will list out who are facing chilling effect ---

1. It is our desktop computer. Not getting booted up. After I switch on the monitor, it takes 1/2 an hour to get open . Something is always better than nothing !
2. It is my father's scooter. It is covered with plastic cover too. But also , chilling effect it is experiencing is so much that it is not getting started. Finally , when rain had stopped , it had made to stand in open space. After that , it recovered and obeyed to kicking.
3. It is our tube light . Anyway , tube lights take lots of time to get switched on. . But this fellow, no sign of flickering too ! Now he has realized ( and we too ) that if not operated frequently, we must loose him ! Now everything is normal.
I had read in news paper that there is a depression in Bay of Bengal. Rain is because of that. I always wonder why there is no depression in Arabian sea?
Arabian sea is the quietest of all the seas. Besides, sea erosion . it is not giving any other problem. ( according to my knowledge ).

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Area 51

                              Area 51

Just now I have read about area 51. Curious to know what it is, I came to know that people were thinking that it as a alien spaceship landing point.
US Government imposed secrecy over the site. But now it is revealed that " Area 51 " is a testing range for the Government's spy plane during cold war. They were using the aircraft to spy on Soviet Union at high altitude.
High altitude testing of the aircraft soon give rise to the reports of findings of Extra Terrestrial  Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO s).
The area was then given the name as " area 51 ".

Friday, August 16, 2013

Why do carbonated drinks bubble more in plastic cups?

                  Why do carbonated drinks bubble more in plastic cups?

Its the plastic cups made of PET ( Poly Ethylene Terephthalate ) . It causes the carbonated drinks to bubble more .
PET is a strong polymer. It has the ability to contain Carbon dioxide , and is material of choice for carbonated drinks container.
Carbon dioxide is the gas which is responsible for bubbling effect. By producing bubbles, there is a creation of barrier layers , which prevents the loss of carbonation.
The containers made of PET , prevents the leakage of carbon dioxide and oxygen from entering . Hence , the drinks will be colder and fizzier.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Change of mind , thanks to monkeys !

                              Change of mind , thanks to monkeys !

Our garden is targeted by monkeys. Last Sunday was the nagara panchami festival. People here , worship serpents.
On the festival day , we offer tender coconuts, jaggery , poddalu ( tulu word , dont know equivalent word in english ) etc to idol of serpent. ( not the real one )! By seeing real one, everyone will flee.
As our coconut trees have grown taller , we cant make out the tree having tender coconut. As it is rainy season and slippery , laborers are difficult to fetch.
But on the previous day of festival, monkeys had attacked our garden. They had tried to fetch and drink tender coconuts.
Some of tender coconuts had fallen to ground. We collected all those. The ones which are not damaged, were offered on festival.
Otherwise, we had to buy tender coconut costing Rs 25 each.
That's why our mentality towards monkeys is changed.
Now we wait for monkeys to fetch tender coconuts . It is free of cost too !

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Think positively !

                            Think positively !

A company decides to manufacture clocks. In the beginning , clocks had only 2 hands : one is to represent hour and the other one for minutes.
Now the company decides to manufacture the clocks with seconds hand too. Hence , a clock has 3 hands together.
But seconds hand was unhappy with this. It thought : " I only must work. For every minute , I must complete 60 rounds. For every hour, it would be 3600 rounds. The other fellows ( minute and hour hand ) just look at me when I am taking rounds without moving from their place !"
Hour hand came to know of it. It wanted to talk with seconds hand. Hours hand said " Dont think that you are overworking. With  completion of your tiny steps , you remind us to move a step further. Your work is essential for both of us to work ".
By hearing that , seconds hand saw a new light by thinking positively.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

The origin of word " Fanta "

                                   The origin of word " Fanta "

We all know about the carbonated drink " Fanta ". It is of Coca- Cola company. It is a drink which does not contain any fruit syrup.
The origin of Fanta dates back to World War 2. The word Fanta derived from the German word " Fantasie ", meaning fantasy or imagination.
As a result of war, coca - cola syrup was not available in Germany. So , Fanta was produced as an alternative . 

Monday, August 12, 2013

Why do moths attracted to light?

                              Why do moths attracted to light?

It is because of phototaxis.

What is phototaxis?

It is an organism's automatic movement toward or away from light. Toward the light is termed as positive phototaxis and away from the light is negative phototaxis.
Moths are positively phototaxis.
They get attracted towards light. But they fly in circle around the light. The reason is if the light reaching their eyes, is not the same for both the eyes, they turn to that direction of light through which they are getting more light to eye.
They think that they are flying straight. But in all direction , their both eyes are getting different amount of light. This way, they start circling around the light.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Proud Alexander , learnt the lesson

                              Proud Alexander , learnt the lesson

It was Alexander , the great. He had conquered almost every part of world. He was named as invincible. This made him little proud.
He returned to his place. People were thronging to meet him. There was a philosopher. He was staying in the outskirts of city.
He was not interested in meeting Alexander. Fellow people tried to take him with them. But he didnt agree. This news spread.
Alexander too , came to know of it. He was very eager to meet the philosopher. Likewise, he went to his house.
That time, philosopher had sat infront of window and was enjoying the sunrays of morning Sun. Alexander stood infront of him.
Referring to philosopher , Alexander said " I am Alexander , the great. I heard that you didnt come to meet me after my return. Tell me, what do you want ? I have money , jewels everything. You ask  and you will definitely have it. "
Philosopher looked at Alexander . He said " Can you move a little? You are blocking the sunrays coming through window. That's all I want ".
Alexander was very humble after hearing this. He realized there is something else too in the life, than money . Money is not everything.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Why do they use salt to melt ice?

                          Why do they use salt to melt ice?

I have seen in TV that in western countries, if the road is covered with ice ( as snow fall is common there) , they are spreading salt over it.
Salt lowers the melting point of water .This means that if we sprinkle salt on ice, we can melt it. The salt dissolves into the liquid water in ice and lowers its freezing point.
We know that water attains solid form or becomes ice when the temperature reaches 0 degree Celsius  When we add salt , that temperature drops.
Now the mixture of salt and ice have the freezing temperature at -16 degree Celsius. Or we can say water now will attain the solid form at -16 degree Celsius instead of 0 degree Celsius.  So, till that temperature, water will be in liquid form. Thus , we can melt ice by adding salt.

Why are man hole covers , round?

                               Why are man hole covers , round?

We always see manholes near the road side. Their covers usually will be in round shape. I must say always. Now the question comes , why not other shape?
The round man hole cover can not fall through its circular opening, whereas a square manhole cover may fall in , if it were inserted diagonally in the hole.
A round man hole cover has a smaller surface than the square one. Thus less material is required to manufacture , resulting in less cost.
Circular covers do not need to be rotated to align in the manhole. they will be naturally heavy , so that  traffic passing over them can not lift them.
Circular covers are easy to roll , so they can be easily moved from one place to another.


Thursday, August 8, 2013

Who is responsible?

                               Who is responsible?

There was a robber. His only duty was robbing the innocent pedestrians who are passing through forest. Everyone were scared because of this.
One day it was getting dark. Saint wanted to pass across the forest. All the people who have come to know of this, begged him to cancel his program.
But saint was firm in his decision. Likewise, he started to pass across the forest. As he was expecting, robber came infront of him in the mid forest.
Saint was cool. By seeing the robber , he was smiling. Robber was surprised. He ordered saint to give away all the goods he is having.
Saint agreed and gave all of his belongings. Finally. he asked the robber " For  whom are you doing the robbery ?"
Robber said " For his wife and children" .Saint asked the robber " You are doing the bad job. Just ask your wife and children whether they are ready to face the consequences that will arise because of your work ?"
Robber was very hopeful that his family will take the share. He is doing all this work , just because of them. He asked saint to stay there till he go and ask his family.
Saint agreed and robber soon reached his home. His wife was disappointed by seeing his empty hand.She started asking questions.
Robber asked her whether she will share the consequences of the job he is doing with him? Wife firmly said " Its your duty to look after family. Good or bad , you are  solely responsible for the consequences of the job , you are  doing ".
Robber was shocked by the answer. His own people are not ready to share the consequences. He returned to forest and met saint and told him all what had happened. He wanted to change himself. Soon robber started chanting name of God and became Valmiki .

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Where does a man go after death?

                             Where does a man go after death?

Little Rahul was very much disturbed because of death of his grand father. Rahul was told by elders that his grandfather has gone near God.
Rahul wanted to go to the place where his grandfather has gone , without telling his grandson Rahul ! Seeing Rahul's disturbance , his mother called him near her.
Rahul innocently asked near his mother that where did his grandfather go ? Mother asked him to bring a lamp as it was getting dark.
Rahul brought the lamp. Mother asked him to light the lamp. Rahul used a match stick and match box and lit the lamp. Now it is bright everywhere.
Mother asked Rahul where did the darkness go? Rahul replied that he had lit the lamp , because of that there is light and darkness had vanished.
Mother asked Rahul from where the light come? Rahul replied that because of oil and also the fire that he had lit .
Then suddenly mother blew off the lamp ! Now again darkness in the room. Mother showed darkness to Rahul and said " Darkness again has come. Likewise , man too had come as God had asked him. Work is over and he has gone near God. "
Rahul understood.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

First Indian who was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously...

          First Indian who was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously

Lal Bahaddur Shastri , was the second prime minister of India. He was also the leader of Indian National Congress.
He was also the first railway minister of India. He became a national hero following the victory of India- Pakistan war in 1965.
His popular slogan was "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan ". The war was formally ended in the Tashkent Agreement . He died the following day due to heart attack.
People allege conspiracy behind his death. Vijay Ghat memorial was established in his memory. He was awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1966.

Monday, August 5, 2013

ಚಾಕೊಲೇಟ್ - ಬನಾನ ಪುಡ್ಡಿಂಗ್

                                  ಚಾಕೊಲೇಟ್ - ಬನಾನ ಪುಡ್ಡಿಂಗ್ 

ಇದನ್ನು ಟಿ .ವಿ.  ಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿದೆ .

ಬೇಕಾಗುವ ಸಾಮಗ್ರಿಗಳು --

ಹಾಲು - ೧ ಕಪ್
ಸಕ್ಕರೆ  - ೩-೪ ಚಮಚ
condensed  milk   - ೧/೨ ಕಪ್
ಕಸ್ಟರ್ಡ್ ಪೌಡರ್
ಡಾರ್ಕ್  ಚಾಕೊಲೇಟ್
ತುಂಡರಿಸಿದ ಬಾಳೆಹಣ್ಣು  --
ತುಪ್ಪ
ಬ್ರೆಡ್ ಪೀಸ್

ಮಾಡುವ ವಿಧಾನ ---

ಮೊದಲಿಗೆ ಹಾಲನ್ನು ಕುದಿಯಲು ಇಡಬೇಕು . ನಂತರ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಕ್ಕರೆಯನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಿ ಕುದಿಯಲು ಬಿಡಬೇಕು . ಈಗ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ condensed milk  ಸೇರಿಸಬೇಕು . ನಂತರ ಕಸ್ಟರ್ಡ್ ಪೌಡರ್ ನ್ನು ನೀರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕರಗಿಸಿ ಸೇರಿಸಬೇಕು
ಈಗ ಇದನ್ನು ಪಕ್ಕಕ್ಕಿಟ್ಟು ಬ್ರೆಡ್ ಪೀಸ್ ನ್ನು ತುಪ್ಪ ಹಾಕಿ ರೋಸ್ಟ್ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಹೀಗೆ ಸಿದ್ಧವಾದ ಬ್ರೆಡ್ ಚೂರುಗಳನ್ನು ತ್ರಿಕೋನ ಆಕೃತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕತ್ತರಿಸಬೇಕು .
ಈಗ ಮತ್ತೆ ಹಾಲಿನ ಬಟ್ಟಲಿಗೆ ಡಾರ್ಕ್ ಚಾಕೊಲೇಟ್ ಮತ್ತು ಬಾಳೆ ಹಣ್ಣಿನ ಚೂರು ಸೇರಿಸಿ , ಈ ಹಾಲನ್ನು ರೋಸ್ಟ್ ಮಾಡಿದ ಬ್ರೆಡ್ ಪೀಸ್ ಮೇಲೆ ಹಾಕಬೇಕು .

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Brother of Jatayu

                                       Brother of  Jatayu

Jatayu was the vulture , who tried to stop Ravan when he was kidnapping Sita by cheating her. Ravan had killed Jatayu when he tried to stop Ravan.
Sampati was the brother of Jatayu. . Jatayu and Sampati , in their young days had planned a competition that who will fly higher?
Likewise, both started to fly. Jatayu flew higher that he was about to get closer to Sun. Sampati sensed the danger and quickly he flew higher and had spread his wings above his brother. Jatayu was spared but Sampati's wings were damaged.
Sampati lived his entire life wingless after that. When Sampati came to know of death of his brother , by Ram's monkey army , he had dropped his plan of eating them and gave them the news that Ravan had kidnapped Sita.
Likewise, Ram reached Lanka.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Effect of solar wind on earth

                                  Effect of solar wind on earth

Solar wind has charged particles which are emitted from Sun's corona area. It has clouds called coronal mass ejections : make their way to Earth in 3-4 days.
They collide with the magnetic field of Earth . The particles leak into Earth's atmosphere , particularly near the south and north poles.
At that time, on polar atmosphere we can see these particles . These will be in the form of patterns produced by fire crackers.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Why does an injured region swell up?

                      Why does an injured region swell up?

Last month, I had tooth ache. On consulting a dentist , she recommended to undergo for a root canal treatment. As the procedure tales a lot of time, soon my mouth swollen up in that particular area of  tooth. Today's article is on reasons for swelling.
When ever body tissues sustain injury, earliest response is the narrowing of the blood vessels followed by the dilatation of these blood vessels.
Gaps start to appear in these vessels through which liquid part of blood leaks into the surrounding areas which swell up due to extra ( excess ) fluid.
But I was treated by antibiotic tablets. Soon dentist cleaned that area and swelling had reduced.