WHAT IS MOBILE ELBOW?
The mobile elbow results from using the mobile for long hours. Called the‘cubital tunnel syndrome’, it is also called cell phone elbow’. The problemoccurs when the ulnar nerve, which runs across the elbow, down to the ring andlittle fingers, gets over-stretched and blood supply is restricted, sparked byholding a phone to the ear for long periods.
WHY DOES STEEL GLOW WHEN IT’S HOT?
Hot steel glows red when hot because its atoms vibrate with a lot of energy.The amount of energy varies in atoms re- sulting in a range of colours.
WHAT DOES JANUARY MEAN?
The original Roman calendar had 10 named months from March to December andtwo unnamed months during winter. These two months were named January andFebruary by Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome circa 700 BC. January isnamed after Janus, the Roman ‘god of gates, doors and the beginnings’.
WHAT’S THE AAFBAU PRINCIPLE?
The physical and chemical properties of elements are determined by theatomic structure. This, in turn, is determined by electrons and the shells,sub-shells and orbitals they reside in. The rules of placing electrons withinshells is known as the Aafbau principle, which originally means ‘buildingup’.
WHAT IS CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCIES IN THE US?
A case filed under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is commonly referred toas a ‘reorganization or restructuring bankruptcy’. Chapter 11 is a part of theUS Bankruptcy Code under which an insolvent company is allowed to reorganizeand is not liquidated. It is not shut down and sold off.
WHY DOES THE JASMINE BLOOM ONLY AT NIGHT?
Like all other flowering plants, jasmine also produces a flower inducinghormone in its leaves when exposed to bright sunlight. This hormone is calledflorigen (flower-generating hormone) and it migrates from the leaves toflowering shoots during the day. It accumulates in the flowering shoots of thejasmine plant and induces flowering during the night.
WHAT IS A ROMAN CIRCUS?
It was an open air stadium used for public events in the Roman empire,empire. The events usually held in such a circus were chariot and horse racesand performances commemorating historical events. The performance space wouldbe rectangular or oval surrounded by several tiers of seats for spectators. Thecircus would be decorated with ornate columns, obelisks and statues. The firstcircus built in Rome was the Circus Maximus which also happened to be itslargest.
WHAT DOES THE PHRASE ‘CHICKEN OUT’ MEAN?
To chicken out is to stop doing something because of fear or lose couragewhile doing something. Sometimes, it is also used to ask a person, “Are youchicken?” or even as “Jack chickened out…” The chicken is a timid bird, whichalso gave rise to ‘chicken-hearted’.
WHAT IS CONTACT SCRAPING?
Social networking has brought about a new trend called contact scraping,where an online company with access to a person’s mail account goes through thecontact list and sends out an invitation to all to join the site. Once a personenters his/her credentials, like user name or password, the company sweepsthrough the contact list. The company gets free publicity and widens its userbase, but could put the person concerned in an embarrassing and annoyingsituation, especially when there are friendly mails from strangers inreturn.
HOW ARE DEEMED UNIVERSITIES DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS?
Ordinary universities are officially approved by the University GrantsCommission (UGC) of India as per the latter’s guidelines for the universities’overall supervision and administration. ‘Deemed university’ is a termindicative of status of autonomy granted to high performing institutes anddepartments of various universities. Such status enables deemed universitiesnot only full autonomy in setting course work, syllabus and research centres,but also allows it to set it’s own guidelines for admission, fee andinstructions to students. Parent universities have no control over deemeduniversities in matters of overall administration.
WHY IS SEA WATER VERY HIGH IN SALT CONTENT?
The average salinity of sea water is about 3.5%. One cubic mile of sea watercontains 166 million tonne of salt. The salts of the sea come from the breakingup of rocks and gradual wearing away of mountains releasing salts that arewashed down by rainwater. It is estimated that more than 400 million tonne ofdissolved salts are brought to the sea every year by 27,000 cubic km of water.The second source of salt is rocks beneath the ocean bed. There has been aconstant slow addition of sea salinity due to evaporation from the oceansurface, combined by discharge from land.
WHAT IS A CHEMICAL BOND? HOW IS IT FORMED?
A chemical bond is one in which atoms of different or same elements combineto become stable. There are two types of chemical bonds —electro-valent bondand covalent bond. In an electrovalent bond, a metal donates an electron to anon-metal and forms the bond. Such bonds are very strong. A covalent bond isformed between non-metals only. These are easy to break.
IS RAIN WATER COMPLETELY PURE?
Rain water is considered the purest form of water. Impurities and saltspresent in water on earth are left behind during vaporisation by the sun.However, the rain water we receive on earth is not necessarily pure, as itbrings down impurities and particles present in the atmosphere along withit.
WHAT IS ‘THE MAGIC OF SCHEHERAZADE’?
The Magic of Scheherazade is a game for the Nintendo Entertainment Systemreleased by Culture Brain in 1989. It is the translation of the 1987 Famicomgame Arabian Dream Scheherazade. The game was innovative for its time,incorporating elements of adventure and RPG styles.
WHAT IS FUNEMPLOYMENT?
‘Funemployment’ came into being with the recession, when people began losingjobs. It means unemployed individuals making use of the break to enjoy theirfree time — travel, take up physical activity and have a good time but atlittle cost. They may not have been able to do this earlier. The funemployedare young people who have few responsibilities and commitments and can afford abreak. They also use the time to find another job, but don’t spend timeworrying aboutit.
WHAT IS MEDIAWIKI?
A wiki is a web application that allows users to create and edit web pagecontent using a web browser. The term wiki also refers to the collaborativesoftware used to create such a website. Mediawiki is a wiki software packagelicensed under the GNU General Public License, making it free and open sourcesoftware. This Mediawiki software is used to run the popular web encyclopaediaWikipedia, besides all projects of Wikimedia, wikis hosted by Wikia, and manyother wikis.
WHY DON’T THE TEETH OF ANIMALS DECAY THOUGH THEY NEVER BRUSH THEIRTEETH?
According to WHO, decaying of teeth is a localized, post-eruptive pathologicexternal process, involving hard tooth tissue and formation of cavities. Thereis demineralization of teeth by acids produced in the oral environment, due toaction of oral acidogenic bacteria on carbohydrates found in cooked food anddrinks. Animals are either herbivorous or carnivorous or both, and survive onuncooked, raw food, rich in fibre, which needs a lot of chewing to digest,thereby cleansing the teeth naturally It is like brushing teeth and massaginggums the natural way But tooth decay is common in pets like dogs, which eatcooked food and junk food like biscuits etc.
WHICH IS THE BIGGEST STAR?
The biggest star found till date is Vy Canis Majoris, in the constellationof Canis Major. It is a red supergiant and one of the most luminous stars,5,000 light years away from the earth with a radius of 1,800-2,100 times thatof the sun. It is so large that its surface extends beyond the orbit of Saturn,were it placed in our solar system. Even light would take eight hours tocomplete its circumference. Though it is great, it is relatively cool, with asurface temperature of 3500 Kelvin.
WHICH IS THE WORLD’S SLEEPIEST ANIMAL?
The sleepiest animal, considered by the average number of hours of sleep aday is the koala, an arboreal animal with the scientific name PhascclarctosCinerus, found only in Australia. Though it resembles a teddy bear,scientifically it is close to kangaroos, because it carries its young in apouch. It lives mostly on eucalyptus trees, sleeping in the fork for 19-22hours a day
WHAT IS THE GOLDEN ANGLE?
The golden angle separates the florets of a sunflower. Ills anapproximation, since three golden arcs add up to slightly more than enough tomake a circle. One of the old leaves overlaps and is pushed out in a radialline. This makes space in the inner system for a new leaf to form. New leavesmove into the spaces opened as old leaves diverge.
WHO IS CALLED A DIGITAL NOMAD?
A person who works on the move is called a digital nomad. Such a worker mayor may not be on the rolls of a company, and could he a consultant/freelancer/awriter on the move. They are persons with a free spirit who like a remotelifestyle and earn as they move, and believe that with discipline and thecorrect technology, they can be as productive as a person sitting in office.This is new tribe of people and for them, the economic downturn has broughtlittle distress as companies turn to part-timers to save on costs.
WHAT IS A BLACK BLIZZARD?
During the drought of the 1930s in America, with no natural anchors inplace, the soil dried, turned to dust and blew eastward and southward in largedark clouds. They blackened the sky and reached all the way to East Coastcities such as New York and Washington DC. Much of the soil ended up asdeposits in the Atlantic Ocean, and were called ‘Black Blizzards’ and ‘BlackRollers’, and reduced visibility to a few feet. The Dust Bowl or Dirty Thirties—1930-36 and even up till 1940 — were caused by drought and decades ofextensive farming without crop rotation.
WHY DO NEWSPAPERS PRINT A COMBINATION OF FOUR DOTS —BLUE, PINK,YELLOW, BLACK— AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH PAGE
The four dots — blue (cyan), pink (magenta), yellow and black areregistration marks used during printing to help ensure the print is alignedproperly In offset printing technology which newspapers use, the inked image istransferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface.These primary colours go into printing a multi-coloured image and have separateplates. Each plate has its individual mark, like the colour dot.
ON WHAT BASIS ARE PINCODES DISTRIBUTED?
A Postal Index Number or PIN or Pincode is the post office numbering orpostal code system used by India Post. It’s sixdigits long, and was introducedon August 15,1972. There are nine PIN zones in India. The first digit of thePIN code indicates the region in which a given post office falls, the seconddigit the sub-region, the third the sorting district. The final three digitsare assigned to individual post offices.
WHO FOUNDED YOUTUBE?
Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, all early employees of PayPal,founded YouTube. Hurley studied design at Indiana University of Pennsylvania,while Chen and Karim studied computer science together at the University ofIllinois at UrbanaChampaign. It was founded on February 15,2005. In Sfovember2006, YouTube, LLC, was bought by Google me. for $1.65 billion, and is nowoperated as a subsidiary of Google.
WHAT IS DERVISH MUSIC?
Dervish word originates from the Turkish word ‘darvis’, meaning poor ormendicant. Dervish music began among Muslim religious groups, known for theirpractice of energetic dancing, whirling, chanting or singing.
WHAT IS A BOOMBURB?
Aboomburb is a booming suburb or satellite townships dreamt up bydevelopers. It gives an idea of wealth, a boom. Boomburg is a similar term.These suburbs are usually not complete towns — though they areself-sufficient.
HOW ARE ELECTRIC PYLONS PLACED ACROSS MOUNTAINS TO TRANSMITELECTRICITY?
Electric pylons are tall supports— made of galvanized steel lattice, steeltube or wood — used for power line construction. In normal terrain, they areassembled on the site. In mountainous regions, helicopters are used for powerline construction, which are efficient but expensive. In the aerialconstruction method, the entire structure is pre-assembled and shifted inhelicopters.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM ‘CASH COW’?
Management guru Peter F Drucker coined the term in the mid-1960s to describea business or product line with a large market share in a stagnant or decliningmarket. It can yield profits reliably for some years without further investmentand little maintenance. The term also has its origin in a matrix developed byBoston Consulting Group, in which enterprises have po sitions in either agrowing or shrinking market, and either a growing or shrinking total marketshare.
WHAT ARE PERSEIDES?
The word Perseides is found in Greek mythology and refers to the descendantsof Perseus — the name of a prolific meteor shower associated with the cometSwift-Tuttie. They are so called because they appear to come from theconstellation Perseus. This shower is visible from midJuly each year, with peakactivity between August 9 and 14, and is sometimes referred to as the “tears ofSt Lawrence”, as August 10 is the saint’s martyrdom.
WHAT ARE JACK-O-LANTERNS?
They are carved pumpkins with lights inside commonly seen on Halloweennight. The top of the pumpkin is cut off, the inside flesh scooped out and aface carved on its surface. These are used partly for fun and partly believingthat they represent the souls of departed elders who protect houses from evilspirits. Ac cording to an Irish folk tale, the soul of a dishonest farmercalled Jack wanders the earth burning amber inside a vegetable. TheJack-o-lantern is supposed to have been named after him.
WHAT IS QUASI-RESONANCE?
A ‘quasi-resonant’ DC to DC converter with zero-current and zero-voltageswitching includes a transformer with primary and secondary windings, andperiodic switching means connected in series with the primary winding. Thetopology of the converter is determined by selecting an input capacitor with acapacitance much lower than the output capacitor.
WHO IS AN EXCEPTOR?
An exceptor is a person who chooses to eat meat on special occasions. Avegetarian by habit, the exceptor makes exceptions for days like weddings,festivals and celebrations. After the vegan,eggetarian and flexitarian, it isthe exceptor who is basically vegetarian, but makes changes in diet to suit theoccasion.
WHAT IS THIGMOTROPISM?
Thigmotropism is the growth of a plant around a support. Tropism is aphenomena by which a plant, usually climber like money plant and ivy, respondsto a stimulus. Stems of the pea plant, for instance, are weak and havecoil-like structures called tendrils. When tendrils approach a support (stick),a phytohormone called auxin is released in the side of the tendril away fromthe support. Auxin, a growth hormone, elongates the cells of that portion andmakes it strong. The other portion, devoid of auxin, becomes weak and coilsaround the support.
WHY DO THE EYES OF SOME ANIMALS GLOW IN THE DARK?
Some animals have a special, reflective surface right behind their retinas,called the tapeturn lucidum, which helps animals see better in the dark. Whenlight enters the eye, it hits a photoreceptor that transmits the information tothe brain. But sometimes light doesn’t hit the photoreceptor, so the tapetumlucidum acts as a mirror to bounce it back for a second chance.
WHY DON’T WE FEEL THE TONES OF ATMOSPHERICPRESSURE?
Atmospheric pressure, which is about 1 kg per’sqcm of area, presses down onour body from all sides, but we don’t feel it as it is balanced by fluidpressure from inside our body We can feel the difference during rainy season orwhen we go. to places where atmospheric pressure is less, like hill stations,where due to higher fluid pressure, blood oozes out in blood vessels, makingthe skin over those pink. The reverse happens under water.
WHY DO FOOD PACKAGES CARRY KCAL WHEN THEY ACTUALLY SPECIFY CALORIESAND NOT KILO-CALORIES?
Kilocalories are commonly known as calories and abbreviated as kcal. Onecalorie (Kcal) has the same energy value as 4.186 kilojpules-(kJ), while onekilojoule is equivalent to 0.24 calories. One calorie contains the amount ofenergy that raises the temperature of one litre of water by 1 degreeCelsius.
WHAT IS SPIDER SILK?
Spider silk, also known as gossamer, is a protein fibre spun by spiders.Spiders use their silk to make webs. They can also suspend themselves using it.Many small spiders use silk threads for ballooning, the scientific term for thedynamic kiting spiderlings (mostly) used for dispersal. They extrude severalthreads into the air and let themselves get carried away with upward winds.
WHAT IS A SICK-OUT?
A sick-out is concerted action by a group of employees, who call in sick toprotest against the company and its policies. It is meant to hold the companyto ransom. In ordinary language, it is a strike to show the power they holdover the company’s working. It is a slightly more devious method than taking tothe streets openly and raising slogans. Employees hope to put pressure on thecompany and force it to meet their demands.
WHAT IS UNBREAKABLE GLASS MADE OF, AND IS IT REALLYUNBREAKABLE?
The presence of micro cracks on the glass surface (called Griffith’s microcracks) makes glass breakable under tension or impact. Such micro cracks areunavoidable as the glass surface comes under tension while cooling from a hightemperature into various shapes. However, one can increase its impactresistance by various methods, so it can withstand even the impact of a bullet.The idea is to remove the surface micro cracks by chemical etching, or puttingthe glass surface under compression by physical or chemical toughening. One caneven laminate two such toughened glass plates with resin in-between. Theseglasses are unbreakable, but when the threshold value is very high, iteventually breaks or cracks.
WHAT IS UNIVERSAL TIME COORDINATED?
Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) is a time standard based on InternationalAtomic Time with leap seconds added at irregular intervals to compensate forthe Earth’s slowing rotation. A leap second is a positive or negativeone-second adjustment to the UTC scale that keeps it close to Mean Solar Timeat the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The difference between UTC and Mean SolarTime is not allowed to exceed 0.9 seconds, so if high precision is notrequired, the general term Universal Time may be used. Time zones are expressedas positive or negative offsets from UTC. While each day contains 24 hours andeach hour 60 minutes, the number of seconds in a minute can be 60,61 or 59.
HOW DO SENSOR DOORS WORK?
Sensor doors use motion sensors or presence sensors. The first are used toactivate the door when it detects a moving object, such as a pedestrian orshopping cart. Motion sensors can distinguish between objects moving toward thedoor or away from it. They use microwave technology and utilize the DopplerEffect principle. The sensors emit a high frequency microwave signal — when thewave encounters a moving object, it bounces back and its frequency changes inproportion to the object’s speed; Presence sensors detect both moving andnon-moving objects in the path of the door. Presence sensors use infraredtechnology — they emit an invisible pulsed light signal. The receiver looks forthe reflected signal and reacts.
WHAT IS WEISURE?
Weisure time is when work is done during leisure time. With the line betweenwork and leisure blurring thanks to online work and smartphones, a newwork-life culture has been created. Sociologist Dalton Conley coined this word,having observed that 9-5 jobs are giving way to this new lifestyle.
WHO DISCOVERED COMETS? HOW IS THE TAIL FORMED?
Comets have been known to mankind since eons, hence it cannot be said thatcomets were discovered by any single individual. A comet, like planets andasteroids, orbits around the sun — with fee orbital period varying from a fewyears to thousands of years. A comet is formed of rock, ice, dust and a fewfrozen gases like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and methane. When a comet isclose to the sun, the radiation from the sun causes the volatile matter in thecomet to vaporize and spread out into space in the form of its tail, its dustparticles and ions glowing due to sunlight falling on it.
WHAT IS HAY FEVER AND WHY IS IT SO CALLED?
Hay fever is a form of allergy belonging to a group of maladies includinghives, asthma and skin problems caused by protein sensitization.During certainseasons, many plants, grasses release their pollens into the air in largequantities. A person is said to have hay fever when he/she is sensitive tothese pollens and other substances present in the air. It is called hay feverbecause the symptoms of the disease appear during spring and fall inEngland.
HOW IS THE HEIGHT OF WATER TIDES PREDICTED?
As astronomical data is not sufficient to calculate tides, predictions arealso based on actual tidal measurements in many areas, over ah extended period.A network of tide stations is equipped to take the following measurements everysix minutes: tide levels, wind speed and direction, water current speeds,directions, air and water temperatures and barometric pressure. Stations thatprovide these daily predictions are called reference stations. Other stationsare subordinate stations, which obtain predictions by applying a specificformula to this data. The formula is derived by observing how tides at the twostations related to one another in the past.
HOW DO SOLAR CELLS CONVERT SUNLIGHT INTO ELECTRICITY?
Solar cells use photovoltaic cells to convert sunlight directly intoelectricity by converting photons (light particles) into electrons (negativelycharged particles). Photovoltaic cells are made of semiconductors and silicon,mixed with other material.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD COCKTAIL?
The word cocktail was used in 1806 and is of American origin. Bartenderswould drain the dregs of all the barrels and mix them together, serving theresultant muddle at a reduced price. Cock was another name for spigot, andtailings is the last bit of alcohol, so this drink was called cock-tailings,quickly shortened to “cocktail”.
WHAT IS A CUSHION ACCOUNT?
It is an account a person sets aside which has no demands of monthlyexpenses on it, and is used as an emergency or luxury fund. A few businesspeople set aside cushion funds to help their business grow, and for stability.The word ‘cushion’ is used as it gives a certain level of comfort to theperson.
WHAT IS MAGIC SAND?
Magic sand is water-repellent sand available in blue, green and red colours.When this sand in powder form is sprinkled on water, it sinks and forms a solidsubstance. This property is used to separate oil floating in the oceans — itcan be sprayed on oil spills to enable it to mix with oil and take solid form.It is also used by utility companies in Arctic areas as it never freezes.
IF LEAVES GET THEIR COLOUR FROM CHLOROPHYLL, WHAT GIVES FLOWERSTHEIR COLOUR?
Plant cells have cell organelles known as plastids, which are colouringagents. There are three types of plastids — chloroplasts (contain green pigmentchlorophyll), leucoplasts (white or colourless plastids) and chromoplasts(contain other pigments). All cells have varying proportions of these. Flowershave a majority of the third type and get their colours from these.
HOW IS A MOCKTAIL DIFFERENT FROM A COCKTAIL?
Cocktail is a style of mixed drinks, and usually contains one or more typesof liquor and mixers, such as bitters, fruit juice or herbs. Mocktail is anon-alcoholic cocktail. Mocktail is also know as ‘virgin cocktail’.
WHAT IS A MINSKIAN PONZI DEAL?
The Minskian Ponzi deal was a theory propounded by American economistMinsky, in 1986. Such deals are both unsustainable and hazardous. In Minsky’sview, periods of economic and financial stability lead to a lowering ofinvestors’ risk aversion and a process of releveraging. Investors borrowexcessively and push asset prices excessively high. In this process, there arethree types of investors/borrowers. First, sound or hedge borrowers who canafford to pay on their own. Second, speculative borrowers who can only serviceinterest payments out of their cash flows. Finally, there are Ponzi borrowerswho can service neither interest nor principal payments, and need to keep onrefinancing their debts.
WHAT DOES THE MONTH OF RAMZAN SIGNIFY?
Ramzan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Muslims fast forthe entire month. They are obliged to abstain from all food, drink, tobacco andconjugal relations from dawn till sunset. The spiritual aspects includerefraining from gossiping, lying, slandering and all such traits of badcharacter. The month of Ramzan is a time for spiritual reflection, prayer,recitation of the Quran, doing ‘Zikr’, endurance and selfdiscipline, to trainthe soul and body to be able to exercise self-restraint.
WHO IS A SEXER?
A sexer is a professional in a hatchery who can tell a male chick from afemale. Also known as chick sexers, they are employed to separate the gendersas hatcheries have different feeding programmes for them: females are reared tolay eggs and males are bred for their meat. Big hatcheries sex chickens as theyhave no use for male birds who are killed almost immediately. A sexer istrained to tell the chicks apart by their physical appearance and vents.
WHAT IS A SINKING FUND?
It is a fund set aside as a means to repay funds borrowed through a bondissue. The issuer makes periodic payments to a trustee who retires part of theissue by purchasing the bonds in the open market. Rather than the issuerrepaying the entire principal of a bond issue on the maturity date, anothercompany buys back a portion of the issue annually, and usually at fixed parvalue or at the current market value of the bonds, whichever is less. From theinvestor’s point of view, a sinking fund adds safety to a corporate bond issue:with it, the issuing company is less likely to default on repayment.
WHY IS A SWINE FLU MASK CALLED N95? Respirators or N95masks can block 95% small particles that contain the H1N1 virus, which causesswine flu. These are expensive and can be used only for a single day. Thesemasks are made of three layers of electrostaticallycharged microfibres, thatblock 95% particles, thus the name N95. WHAT ISCLAYTRONICS?
Claytronics is an emerging field of engineering, drawing on nano technologyand computer engineering. Claytronics or programmable matter refers to anassemblage of tiny components called claytronic atoms or catoms, which couldassume the form of any object, depending on the programmes controlling theclaytronics. This term also refers to the art of making clay caricatures ofpublic figures, begun in 1996 by an Indian, Charuvi Agrawal.
WHAT DOES ‘TROPICALIZED’ ON A RADIO SET SIGNIFY?
Heat and humidity are the greatest enemies of any electrical equipment, soin tropical countries, such equipment is manufactured to withstand thoseclimatic conditions. In a radio set, tropicalized means coating the electricalwindings with resin, sealing the speaker hole with acoustically transparentcloth, installing” felt washers on the control knobs, and sealing openings forthe antenna and earth connections.
WHAT IS A GRASS SKIRT?
A grass skirt, also called a hula skirt, is a traditional part of the dressworn by hula dancers on tropical islands. It is made of long blades of grass,most popularly seen on the island of Hawaii. Grass skirts are also wornin many cultures and tribes in Africa, like the Zulu tribals.
WHAT IS WHITE NOISE?
Noise that is produced by combining sounds of different frequencies togetheris called white noise. Since it contains all frequencies, white noise is usedto mask other sounds. When two or three people talk, our brain can distinguishthe sound of a particular person. But if a crowd cheers in a stadium, noindividual voice can be identified. That’s white noise and is most effectivelyused in the emergency siren.
WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL MELANISM?
It is caused when the natural environment of an organism is disturbed due toindustrial pollution. As pollutants like soot and smoke darken the landscape,they disturb the environment of many organisms that rely on camouflage to avoidpredation. This change makes them vulnerable to predators and creates a strongselective pressure due to which an organism with a darker colour is more likelyto survive.
WHAT ARE BATHOLITHS?
Batholiths are enormous masses of igneous rock made up of once-moltenmaterial solidified below the earth’s surface. These are usually made ofgranite and extend over thousands of miles. A well known batholith is locatedin the Sierra Nevada range of California, across 40,000 sqkm.
WHAT IS THE TATE?
The Tate is an art gallery originally titled the National Gallery of BritishArt. It is situated on Millbank in Pimlico, London. It was founded in 1897 byHenry Tafe with money earned from his sugar refineries. It was initially acollection of British art, concentrating on the works of Victorian painters. Itlater expanded to include foreign art and in the 20th century becameprincipally a gallery devoted to Modernism. There are several otherrecently-opened Tate Galleries’ in England, but the original gallery is nowcalled Tate Britain.
WHO ARE STAGS IN THE STOCK MARKET?
An investor or speculator who subscribes to a new issue, expecting the priceof the stock to rise immediately. upon the start of trading is known as a stag.The sole aim of a stag is to sell the shares soon after allotment to realize aquick profit.
WHAT IS A GREEN COLLAR JOB?
A green collar job involves working to better the environment, and iscreated by firms and organizations whose mission is to improve environmentalquality. Work could include policies related to waste, energy and waterconservation, solar energy, whole home performance and strengthening local foodsystems. These jobs are generated by sectors that produce goods which may needa green angle, like energy retrofits to improve conservation, constructinggreen buildings, composting, landscaping etc.
WHAT IS RASTAFARIANISM?
The Rastafarian movement originated in Jamaica in 1930s, based on thephilosophies of Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Today, it has branched out, includinggroups that still hold Garvey’s beliefs and groups that have disavowed his morecontroversial stances. His organization’s aim was to unite black people(Negroes) with their rightful homeland, Africa. He prophesied about his peoplebeing redeemed by a future Black African king. This prediction wasfulfilled in November 2, 1930, when Ras Tafari Makonnen was crowned King ofEthiopia.
WHAT ARE WIDGETS?
Widget, literally, is a blend of window and gadget, coined by George SKaufman in his play ‘Beggar on Horseback’. It is a hypothetical manufacturedgood or product. In computing, the term has become frequently used to refer toobjects on a computer screen the user interacts with. A widget is anything thatcan be embedded within a HTML page. Widgets often take the form of on-screentools like clocks, event countdowns etc.
WHY DON’T TWO-WHEELERS HAVE A REVERSE GEAR?
A regular motorcycle has a ’sequential’ manual transmission, meaning you canonly shift up or down one gear at a time. It is also designed to spin one wayonly. Adding reverse would require the crankshaft to spin backwards, or a muchlarger, heavier, expensive transmission. So it is easiest to dismount and pushthe bike backwards.
WHAT IS A DUM DUM BULLET?
It is an expanding bullet designed to grow on impact, increasing in diameterto limit penetration and/or produce a larger diameter wound. There are manyexpanding bullet designs though the most commonly encountered are hollow-pointbullet and the soft-point bullet. Such bullets are Sometimes known as ‘dum dum’bullets. After an early British example pro- duced in the Dum Dum arsenal, nearKolkata, India, there were several expanding bullets produced by this arsenalfor the .303 British cartridge.
WHO ARE STILT FISHERMEN?
Stilt fishing is an old tradition practised by around 500 fishing familiesin Galle, in southwestern-most Sri Lanka. These fishermen usually fish atsunset, noon and sunrise, with each one taking an elevated position andbalancing about 2 metres above the wa- ter. The stilts are dug into the coraland bed of the sea. Stilt fishing started after the Second World War.
WHAT ARE SIN STOCKS?
They are stocks of companies which manufacture or deal with cigarettes,alcohol, weapons and sex-related products. They could be directly involved inthe business or associated with such activities. Such companies are also calledsin businesses.
WHY DOES SNOW LOOK WHITE BUT WATER IS COLOURLESS?
Snow is a block of individual ice crystals arranged together. When a lightphoton enters a layer of snow, it goes through an ice crystal on the top, whichchanges its direction slightly and sends it on to a new ice crystal, which doesthe same thing. Basically, all the crystals bounce the light all around, sothat it comes right back out of the snow pile. It does the same thing to allthe different light frequencies, so all colours of light are bounced back out.The ‘colour’ of all the frequencies in the visible spectrum combined in equalmeasure is white, so this is the colour we see in snow.
WHAT IS THE FULL FORM OF AK-47 AND WHAT DOES 47 REFERTO?
AK-47 stands for Russian Avtomat Kalashnikova 1947 (Automatic Kalashnikov1947). Designed by Russian Mikhail Kalashnikov, it was the assault rifle usedby most Eastern Bloc countries during the Cold War. The rifle was adopted andstandardized in 1947, thus the name.
HOW IS THE TIME DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIESCALCULATED?
The earth has 360 imaginary lines called longitudes or meridians runningvertically between the poles. Each of these longitudes is called a degree. The0 degree longitude passing through Greenwich, near London, is considered asstandard and the time of all other time zones are calculated accordingly. Thetime difference between each longitude (each degree) is 4 minutes. So if it is12 noon at Greenwich (0 degree), it would be 12:04 pm at 1 degree meridian andso on. In India, the standard meridian is 82-and-half degree. So the timedifference between Greenwich and India is 82.5 x 4, which is 330 minutes (5hours 30 minutes).
WHAT IS LAISSEZ FAIRE?
Laissez faire is a French phrase and means to let things pass. The term isused to describe an economic system where the government intervenes as littleas possible and leaves the private sector to organize most economic activitythrough markets. Classical economists were great advocates of a laissez fairesystem.
WHAT IS THE FREIMARKT?
Freimarkt means free fair. It was first held on October 16, 1035, in Bremen,Germany. It is the biggest festival in Northern Germany, with more than fourmillion visitors each year. It is celebrated for 17 days in the last two weeksof October. The area covers approximately 100,000 sqm on two areas: the‘Kleiner Freimarkt’ (Small Free Fair) on the market square. It is famous forits beer tents and amusement rides. An annual highlight is the‘Freimarktsumzug’ (Free Fair Procession).
HOW ARE ULTRA-VIOLET RAYS BLOCKED BY THE OZONE LAYER?
The ozone layer contains ozone molecules — 03 molecules — which are formedby the action of ultra-violet rays on atmospheric oxygen. This oxygen, which is02, converts into 03 when UV rays fall on it. When these rays fall on thesurface of the atmosphere, they are absorbed in the conversion of oxygen intoozone. As a result, ultra-violet rays are blocked by this ozone layer.
HOW IS THE TEMPERATURE OF A STAR MEASURED?
As stars are very far away, their temperatuce cannot be measured directly.Fortunately, the light coming from stars can be analyzed through severalscientific instruments. Although all stars appear white, they have differentcolours when carefully viewed. The variations are a result of their temperature— cold stars appear red, and hot ones blue or white. The colour of a star ismeasured by an instrument called photoelectric photometer, which involvespassing the light through different filters and finding the amount that passesthrough each filter. The measures from the photometer are converted totemperature, using standard scales.
WHICH IS THE WORLD’S LONGEST STORYBOOK?
Marcel Proust’s A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu’ (translated as InSearch of Past) is the world’s longest novel, according to the Guinness WorldRecords. The influential 13-volume work contains 9,609,000 characters, witheach letter and space counting as one character.
WHY DOES A FALLING OBJECT HAVE NO WEIGHT?
Every body on this earth is attracted by the gravitational pull of theearth. A freely falling object has weight W=mg, where W-weight, m-mass of theobject and g-acceleration produced due to the earth’s gravity An object kept ina lift which falls freely, weighs zero on the weighing machine, but its actualweight is still mg. This happens because the normal reaction force exerted onthe object in the lift is equal to zero, and normal force equals to mg, whichin turn equals the weight of the object.
WHAT IS THE REOG DANCE?
It is a spectacular dance with several dancers wearing bright, colourfulcostumes, accompanied by merry music. It is always held in open terrain, suchas a square, street etc. This dance is a traditional art form combined with amagical show or trance dance. The Reog dates back to the Hindu period in EastJava in Indonesia.
WHAT IS CROWD MINING?
Crowd mining is a new business concept where solutions can come from crowds,and marketers are turning to them as a database. The changing economy broughtin this concept to tap expensive or even unavailable information and it goesbeyond surveys and crowd sourcing.
WHAT IS OCTOBER HEAT?
The weather in the month of October in the Indian sub-continent is called‘October heat’. By the beginning of October, the monsoon withdraws from thenorthern plains. October and November form the period of transition from thehot rainy season to dry winter conditions.
WHAT IS AWACS?
AWACS stands for Airborne Warning And Control System that helps the AirForce detect incoming missiles and enemy aircraft from across the country’sborder. AWACS is described as an ‘Eye in the Sky’ as it can carry outsurveillance at about 400-km range under all-weather situations, and to lock onto 60 targets at a time simultaneously.
WHAT IS THE SCHWARZSCHILD RADIUS?
It is a characteristic radius associated with every quantity of mass. Thisterm is used in physics and astronomy, especially in the theory of gravitationand general relativity. m 1916, Karl Schwarzschild obtained an exact solutionto Einstein’s field equations for gravitational field outside a nonrating,spherically symmetric body. The solution contained a formula, where one of thevalues came to be known as Schwarzschild Radius.
WHO WERE THE IRON CHANCELLORS?
A hundred years ago, Germany was divided into many small states. In one ofthese states, Prussia, the chancellor or chief minister to the king, was OttoVon Bismarck. A strong and ruthless man, Bismarck built Prussia into thestrongest of all German states. He got his nickname of ‘The Iron Chancellor’when he said Germany could become a great power “through blood and iron”.
HOW IS THE HEIGHT OF DIFFERENT PLACES ON EARTH MEASURED FROM THE SEALEVEL?
The height of different places on earth is measured with the help of the‘altimeter’. It is basically a barometer without the mercury, and instead ofinstead of the pressure graduating in a barometer, the corresponding heightgraduates.
WHAT IS CRAB FOOTBALL?
Crab soccer (American English) or crab football (British English) is aninformal sport for two teams. Unlike soccer, players support themselves ontheir hands and feet and face up, in motions that make them look like crabs, amethod known as crab walking. This sport involves kicking, so safety is at theroot of many rules. Like soccer, players other than the goalkeeper must nottouch the ball with their hands.
HOW DOES A MOBILE VIBRATE?
There is a little motor fitted in a cell phone. This motor is unevenlyweighted on its output shaft. When this motor rotates, the rotating unevenweight causes the mobile to vibrate.
WHAT IS TELEPRESENCE?
Telepresence is the next-gen videoconferencing technology, which providessuperior images. The demand for telepresence solutions has grown, withcompanies seeing it as an alternative to send executives for meetings. It alsoreduces a company’s carbon footprint by cutting down frequent flying. Settingup a telepresence suite can be very expensive, though.
HOW IS THE MASS OF HEAVENLY BODIES MEASURED?
The mass of a heavenly body can be measured by knowing the orbital period(time it takes to complete one orbit around the other body), the distancebetween two bodies and gravitational constant. The orbital time is inverselyproportionate to the square root of the sum of the masses of two bodies anddirectly proportion distance raised to power three by two.
WHAT IS AN ELECTRON GUN?
It is a device in the back of a “cathode ray tube” television or computermonitor (pre-plasma or LCD flat-panel). The electron gun fires a stream ofelectrons from the back of the TV onto the inside face of the screen, which iscoated with a material that glows when hit by electrons. By using powerfulmagnets to direct the stream across the screen, a series of dots (‘pixels’) isbuilt over the screen which appears as an image.
WHO INVENTED THE SPEECH BUBBLE AND WHEN WAS IT FIRSTUSED?
One of the earliest antecedents to the modern speech bubble was the speechscroll — wispy lines that connected first person speech to the mouths of’speakers in Meso-American art. In Western graphic art, labels that reveal whata figure is saying have appeared even in the 13th century Word balloons beganappearing in 18th century printed broadsides and political cartoons from theAmerican Revolution often used them.
WHY ARE CELLPHONES SWITCHED OFF WHILEFLYING?
Mobile phones are radio transmitters and as such, were banned from use incivilian airplanes, for fear they could interfere with airplane avionics. Therewas also concern that a cellular phone would cause disruption to the cellsystems’ towers, and distract passengers during take-off and landing.
WHAT IS A DIRTY BOMB?
A dirty bomb is a simple explosive device used not so much to produceextensive damage but to contaminate a designated spot with radioactivematerial. It’s primary role is to spread fear.
WHAT IS THE PEKING OPERA?
The Peking Opera, which originated in the late 18th century, is a synthesisof music, dance, art and acrobatics. It is the most influential of all operasin China, and can be divided into ‘civil’ pieces characterized bysinging, and ‘martial’ ones featuring acrobatics and stunts. Some operas are acombination of both. The operatic dialogues and monologues are recited in theBeijing dialect.
WHAT IS A PINK ELEPHANT?
The term ‘pink elephant’ is used to describe something obvious anduncomfortable, but which obody wants to talk about. At the workplace or inbusiness communications, it is something that is buried under the carpet whenthings go wrong. It refers especially to a situation of unhealthy relationshipsbetween women colleagues — one woman may try to bully the other women out ofrivalry to stay in control. Broaching such a topic may be embarrassing to all,so it is called a “pink elephant in the room”.
WHY IS AN ATOM SPHERICAL IN SHAPE?
The shape of an atom refers to the shape of the imaginary volume in whichits electrons orbit. Different electrons orbit at different levels. The shapeof the atom depends on several factors, including the angular momentum ofelectrons. Only the simplest atoms have a spherical shape. Heavy atoms have amore complex shape.
WHAT IS INCOGNITO BROWSING?
It is used for browsing in stealth mode, for a situation when we don’t wantour history to be tracked. Web pages that are opened and files downloaded whilebrowsing incognito are not logged in the browser.
WHAT IS MICRO-PROPAGATION?
Micro-propagation is the technique of multiple production of plantsin-vitro. It is used for plants that do not produce seeds or respond to normalvegetable reproduction. Micro propagation’s main advantage is to producedisease-free plants in multiple numbers and cloning of plants.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF H2O2 IN THE GREY-HAIR PUZZLE?
New research shows that hair turns grey as a result of a chemical reactionthat causes it to bleach itself inside out. When there is a dip in levels of anenzyme called catalase, hydrogen peroxide (H202) that naturally occurs in haircan’t be broken down. As H202 builds up, the hair becomes grey.
WHO MADE THE FIRST ICE CREAM IN THE WORLD?
The origin of ice cream can be traced to the 4th century BC. Earlyreferences include Roman emperor Nero who ordered ice to be brought from themountains and combined with fruit toppings, and King Tang (AD 618-97) of Shang,China, who had a method of creating ice and milk concoctions. Ice cream wasbrought from China back to Europe.
WHAT IS ‘SMART ANTENNA’ TECHNOLOGY?
This is a new technology in the field of wireless and mobile communicationsin which capacity and performance are usually limited by two major impairments— multipath and co-channel interference. A smart antenna enables a highercapacity by reducing multipath and co-channel interference. This is achieved byfocusing the radiation in the desired direction and adjusting to changingtraffic conditions.
WHAT IS THE GOLLIWOG ACT?
The golliwog act is a flexible contortion of the body in a dance form tocreate an impression that the contortionist is a doll. The name is taken from aliterary character created by Florence Kate in her novel The Adventures of twoDutch Dolls and a Golliwog’.
WHAT IS A ‘CASH AND CARRY STORE’ AND WHY IS IT SOCALLED?
A cash and carry store is different from regular retail chains which targetprofessional customers rather than end-consumers. This concept is based aroundself-service and bulk buying arid serves registered customers only. The corecustomer groups are hotels, caterers, traders and other business professionals.Such stores aim to prevent any intervention by middlemen and requires buyers tomake their own arrangements and assume all risk.
HOW DOES HAIR GEL WORK?
The main ingredient in hair gels is a plastic called PVP, which is a polymersealer. The polymers in PVP are dissolved in water or alcohol and form a clearfilm between each hair strand, attaching them to one another. Chemical expertscall this “capillary power” because it’s similar to how blood capillaries work.When gel is applied to wet hair, the PVP or similar ingredient absorbs waterquickly. When the gel dries completely, it forms a fixed connection betweenhair strands.
WHAT IS A WORMHOLE?
A wormhole is a theoretical entity allowed by Einstein’s theory of generalrelativity in which spacetime curvature connects two distant locations (ortimes). The term ‘wormhole’ was coined by American theoretical physicist John AWheeler in 1957, based on an analogy of how a worm could chew a hole from oneend of an apple through the centre to the other, thus creating a shortcutthrough the intervening space.
WHAT DOES MIRROR IMAGE MEAN IN BIOLOGICAL TERMINOLOGY?
Mirror image is a concept from chemistry applied to organic materials. Anexample of this is glucose arid fructose. These molecules are mirror images ofeach other. Although it is possible to flip glucose and superimpose it over afructose molecule, only in 2D (flat viewing) are they similar.
WHAT IS A 3-D FILM?
A 3-D film is any visual presentation system that attempts to maintain orrecreate moving images of the third dimension, the illusion of depth as seen bythe viewer. It involves filming two images simultaneously, with two cameras,filming at 90 degree angle via mirrors. When viewed in such a way that each eyesees its photographed counterpart, the viewer’s visual cortex will interpretthe pair of images as a single three-dimensional image. Modern computertechnology also allows for the production of pseudo-SD films using CGI andwithout the need for dual cameras.
WHAT IS SWEETHEARTING?
Sweet hearting is a method cashiers use to pass on goods to friends byfailing to bill one. They do so by passing two items, and obscuring the barcodeof one, so it goes unnoticed. Now, there are machines to pick out sweethearting.
WHAT ARE MANGO SHOWERS?
Mango showers are those experienced prior to the arrival of the monsoon.These showers arrive generally in late April and May and are said to aid in theripening of mangoes and from dropping prematurely from trees.
WHAT IS TERMINATOR GENE TECHNOLOGY?
The terminator gene is a specific genetic sequence inserted by scientistsinto a seed’s DNA that renders the seed and the crop it produces sterile.Patented by the USDA and Delta and Pine Land Co., now owned by Monsanto, thisterminator technology has no agricultural or economic benefits for farmers orconsumers.
WHY IS THE FLAME OF A CANDLE POINTED?
The flame of a candle is produced when the wax of the candle melts due toheat and the molten wax rises in the wick. As the heated gas rises above fromthe base of the flame, it moves faster as the pressure decreases from the baseto the top. As the rate at which the gas is released from the base is more orless constant, the flame becomes thinner and thinner from its base to the end,assuming a pointed tip.
HOW DID THE ABBREVIATION DR FOR DOCTORS ORIGINATE, AND WHY DOENGINEERS NOT USE ER? The abbreviation originated to separate peoplequalified to practice medicine from those holding the highest academic degreei.e. doctorate in nonmedical subjects. In USA, only dentists and vets arecalled doctors. Physicians and surgeons do not put ‘Dr’ before their names.Engineers, at least in India, put ‘Er’. WHAT IS AFLIPBOOK?
A flipbook is a small book with a series of printed images that create theillusion of motion when its pages are rapidly flipped. Typically, a flipbook isheld in one hand while the thumb of the other flicks the pages and the userconcentrates on the middle of each page. It relies on a basic optical principleknown as persistence of vision. In India, flip books were popular in theseventies, when cola majors brought out flip books of cricketers in action.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF FORMULA I?
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or Fl, and currently officiallyreferred to as FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of autoracing sanctioned by the Fidiration Internationale de 1′Automobile (FIA). The‘formula’ in the name refers to a set of rules that all participants and carsmust comply with.
WHAT ARE GTOR-MA CAKES?
Gtor-ma cakes are sacrificial cakes used in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies asofferings to deities. The unbaked cakes are prepared by kneading parched barleyflour and butter into cones. The cakes form part of the phyi-mchod, or eightofferings of external worship.
WHAT IS DIGITAL CLEANSE?
Digital cleanse is a term mooted by John Mayor, musician and avid bloggerand tweeter, as a resolution and challenge for the first week of 2010. It meanskeeping off all digital contraptions — a stop to emailing, texting, socialnetworking, blogging and surfing sites. It is seen as a new health craze,considered good for the body and mind. The basic idea is to unplug and meetpeople.
HOW DOES THE HYBRID ENGINE WORK?
Hybrid engines use two or more power sources. They consist of a usual fuelengine, complemented by a pollution-free engine, an electric engine forexample. The fuel engine and brakes are used to recharge the batteries for theelectric engine, eliminating the need to plug in while unused. When brakes areapplied, some of the energy being used to stop the vehicle is collected by theregenerative brakes of the electrical engine. Hence, the electrical enginetakes control when cruising, stopping or slowly acclerating, reducing the useof fuel.
WHAT IS THE AURORA PHENOMENON?
Charged particles ejected at great speeds from the sun ionise the airmolecules resulting in spectacular colour display. These are seen from polarregions and are called aurora or polar lights. It is the luminous phenomenon ofearth’s upper atmosphere that occurs primarily in high latitudes of bothhemispheres; aurorae in the northern hemisphere are called aurora borealis, ornorthern lights; aurora australis, or southern lights in the southernhemisphere.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM ‘SLAP-STICK COMEDY’?
The term ’slapstick comedy’ is given to comedy characterized by broadhumour, absurd situations and vigorous chases, often violent in action. Thephrase comes from the term battacchio called the ’slap stick’ in English. It isa club-like object composed of two wooden slats, and produces a loud smackingnoise when struck, though little force is transferred to the person beingstruck. Slapstick comedy became popular in 19th-century music halls andVaudeville theatres.
HOW AND WHEN DID THE TERM ‘SIZE ZERO’ COME INTO USE?
‘Size zero’ was first used in 1966 for British supermodel Twiggy, who had afragile figure. Now, ’size zero’ is a women’s clothing size in the US system,equivalent to a UK size 4, with a waist measurement of 23 inches, the averagegirth of an 8-year-old girl. It is a petite size for women with a 32-inch bust,23-inch waist and 32-inch hips, and is often linked to anorexia nervosa andbulimia.
HOW DOES THE ‘MADRAS EYE’ SPREAD?
Madras eye is the inflammation of the outermost covering of the eyeball andinner layer of eyelid. Medically, it is known as ‘conjunctivitis’. It can becaused by various agents like bacteria, virus, wind, smoke, pollen, radiationor chemical agents. If a person comes in close physical contact of the infectedperson or his infected belongings, the bacteria or virus gets transmitted andthus, causes infection from person to person.
WHY DOES THE ORTHODOX CHURCH CELEBRATE CHRISTINAS ONJANUARY 7?
The Orthodox Church uses the old Julian calender which is 13 days behind theGregorian calender. In the former Soviet Republic, the Bolsheviks adopted theGregorian calender at the end of 1917, which put them in line with the rest ofthe Western world. However, the Orthodox Church, opposed to the Bolshevikstrying to suppress religion, kept the Julian calender.
WHAT IS COSMOPHOBIA?
Cosmophobia is an irrational fear that the world is about to end, and issparked off by a belief among people that a cosmic end is near. The fear isancient, and people have been readying for doom on and off — expecting floods,earthquakes, epidemics, drought, or even a collision with another planet. Thelatest bout was set off by the movie 2012, where the Mayan calendar countsDecember 21, 2012 as the last day Earlier, the 2000 millennium frenzy hadeveryone believe that the end was near. For ages now, there have beenapocalyptic predictions which have fuelled cosmophobia, but until now, theyhave all come to nought.
WHAT IS AN ELEPHANT PEARL?
Elephant pearls are not really pearls, however, they are categorised as oneof the nine pearls. These are produced in the heads and the sockets of thetusks of some elephants. It was believed that when worn by kings, they provedhighly sanctifying and bestowed children, victory and sound health. Even now,they are considered to bring good luck.
WHAT IS A ‘BANANA KICK’ IN FOOT-BALL?
Banana kick is a checkside punt — a kicking style used in Australian Rulesand rugby league football. When kicked, the ball bends away from the body andis usually used when a set shot for goal is lined up on a narrow angle. Thebanana kick comes off more from the inside of the boot, with the ball spinningin the same direction as the leg swings naturally.
WHAT IS THE ORACLE OF DELPHI?
The Oracle of Delphi was the most important oracle in the classical GreekWorld, and a major site for the worship of the god Apollo. Built around asacred spring, Delphi was considered to be the omphalos — the centre of theworld. Scholars congregated at Delphi, and it became a focal point forintellectual enquiry Delphi lies on the slopes of Mount Parnassus inGreece.
HOW MANY FLOWERS MUST A BEE TAP TO MAKE A POUND OFHONEY?
A bee taps 2 million flowers and flies 50,000 miles (80,000 kms) to make onepound (454 gm) of honey — traveling more than twice around the world to gatherit. The basis of calculation is done after taking many facts for granted andthe proof is often lost in the mists of time. C R Ribbands (1949) determinedthat one bee can visit several hundred of flowers for a load of sweet clover,and up to 1,100-1,446 flowers for a load of limantnes nectar.
WHAT IS THE SPHINX AWARD?
There are several types of Sphinx awards. The most popular one is given byAlpha Phi Alpha Fraternity forcontribution to social service. President StephenC Ainlay of Union College recently received the Sphinx Award from the brothersof Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity for his contributions to the Union community.Another Sphinx Award is given in Coventry for outstanding performance in thelocal soccer league.
WHAT IS A GRAMMY SALUTE?
Grammy awards are presented annually for outstanding achievements in music.There is a week-long function called the Grammy Week, culminating in the AnnualGrammy Awards. The rest of the week is marked by several connected events, ofwhich the Salute To series is a part. Each of the Salute To events features areception, presentation of a special merit certificate and guestperformances.
WHEN DID THE PRACTICE OF THE HANDSHAKE BEGIN?
The origin of the handshake goes back to primitive eras: the physicalcontact of the hand symbolized peace and friendship. Later symbolism of thegesture, apart from a greeting, was the ratification of a contract or pledge.Even today, we clinch a contract or business deal by ’shaking hands on it.’Archaeological ruins and texts show the handshake was in use as a means ofgreeting as far back as the 2nd century BC.
WHAT IS THE BOXING DAY MATCH AND WHAT IS ITS ORIGIN?
The Boxing Day match is a cricket match hosted in Melbourne, Australia, andVictoria, involving the Australian cricket team and the opposition nationalteam touring Australia at that time. It begins on Boxing Day (Dec 26) and isplayed at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Boxing Day is so called astraditionally, it was the day when people would give a present or Christmas‘box’ to those who worked for them throughout the year. These days, the ‘box’is usually given before Christmas.
WHAT IS BAS-RELIEF?
Bas-relief is a French term meaning ‘low-raised work.’ A relief is asculptured artwork where a modelled form is raised. There are three types ofreliefs — ‘bas-relief or low relief, ‘high relief and ’sunken relief.’Bas-relief is suitable for scenes with many figures and other elements such asa landscape or architectural background.Stone carving and metal casting is traditionally done in bas-relief.
HOW DO ODI TEAMS CHOOSE THEIR COLOURS?
There is no hard and fast rule about choosing cricket colours. In mostcases, the country adopts colours from their nationa
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