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The oldest living creature in the world will come as a surprise to you. Many of the animals in the seas, skies, and earth live long lives. Yet the oldest living creature in the world is an immortal jellyfish that has never died. Its family name is Turritopsis Dohrnii. It hails from a class of small animals that live mainly in saltwater. The Dohrnii begin their life journey as larvae with a diameter of no more than 4 millimeters....
Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal on earth – it can fly nearly as fast as an airplane. Peregrine Falcon is one of the rare birds that thrive in urban environments. It uses tall skyscrapers as launchpads and hunts pigeons and ducks. It is the world’s most widespread bird of prey and one of the most widely found bird species. It also has a good relationship with humans who use it for hunting. Known as the Duck Hawk in North America, it is a falcon....
Viruses are these tiny, invisible structures that cause infections. They make us sick. There are millions of viruses in our environment but only about 5000 have been identified by scientists. The ones you may have heard of are the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV and the Novel Coronavirus or Covid-19. What do viruses look like? Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Do you think that a virus is some creepy, crawly thing?...
“Time to get dressed!” cries a harried Mama as she tries to pack the bag, straighten the tie, pack lunch, tie shoelaces as at the same time she pushes children dragging their heels towards the bus stop. Oh? Is it already “Time for school?” later still its “time for dinner” or “time for bed!” Old Father Time can be quite an interfering busybody and there really is nothing we can do. Most of us spend a greater part of our time and lives trying to beat exactly this – time!...
Every now and then we hear of countries of the world carrying out heated discussions about nuclear bombs. The topics range from who has the right to own a nuclear bomb and who does not, who should use it and who must not and so on. But what exactly happens when such a bomb actually explodes? And how are nuclear bombs different from conventional bombs? The greatest difference between the two types of bombs is the sheer scale of destruction they cause....
Now how is that possible? The fact is, for a living creature to get a ‘shock’ there has to be a substantial flow of current through the body. However, there is barely any current running through the bird’s body for two reasons. Firstly, the bird not only forms a circuit with the wire, but it also offers a high resistance to current, so the current passes through the wire instead of the bird. It’s a bit like this, would you prefer going on a smooth road or a road full of potholes?...
It must have been a very intelligent human who looked at a sheep walking past and thought of the use its fleece might have! Although the oldest surviving textile made out of wool is around 3,500 years old, the oldest fine woolen fabric dates to the fifth century BC (about 2,500 years ago) and was found in an ancient Greek colony. How Wool Came Into Existence Wool was probably the first fiber to be woven into a textile....
The history of writing instruments with which humans have recorded and conveyed thoughts, feelings and grocery lists, is the history of civilisation itself. This is how we know about our ancestors and their lives. The handy sharpened-stone, used for skinning and killing animals was adapted into the first writing instrument. Around 24,000 BC, the cave man started drawing pictures with the stone onto the walls of his cave dwelling. His drawings showed events in daily life such as the planting of crops or hunting victories....
Have you ever noticed that when you are in a car, or a bus, travelling on a straight road, the Sun appears to move right along with you? While telephone poles and trees close to the road, whiz past in the blink of an eye, the Sun is always visible throughout the journey. No matter how fast Daddy drives, you just cannot leave the Sun behind. Strangely enough, the trees nearer the road disappear from your range of vision more quickly than the trees further off....
When we were small, we used to look up to the sky and often see a white trail left by a jet aircraft. Rocket! Rocket! We used to yell, jump up with joy, clap our hands and strain our eyes as the ‘rocket’ disappeared into the horizon. Soon, the white streak would change into a broken, twisted cloud path. And we were told that it was the fairies’ trail. What is the Trail behind a Jet?...
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