210 items in this section. Displaying page 12 of 21
How do Humans Balance on Two Legs?
Four-year-old Rohit couldn’t understand why his parents and grand parents were so happy on seeing his 10-month-old sister, Ruchi, take a few unsteady steps towards her favorite toy. What was so unusual about her walking -after all, he could walk and run without anyone’s help, yet no one ever clapped nor hugged him, the way they were doing it for his sister. Unable to hold his curiosity any longer he decided to talk about it to his closest friend and guide – his mother....
Are Fish Dumb?
There was a time when people thought that fish were dumb creatures. Until they invented machines which could detect sounds under water. And guess what these machines heard? A string of grunts, clicks, thumps and other kinds of sounds. It was the fish doing a lot of underwater talking! It seems that they have a lot to talk about, for each sound has a different meaning. There is a kind of fish called the croaker. They actually croak like a frog!...
Why Does Time Start in Greenwich?
Its six in the morning and the sun is streaming through the window of your home in Delhi. In New York, people are just packing up to go home as it is six in the evening! Nothing amazing about it. We know that the earth is round and that it revolves once in 24 hours. So while it is daytime in the east, it is still night in the west. But for ages, people measured time based on the position of the sun – it was noon when the sun was highest in the sky....
How is Paper Perfumed?
Fruity, musk, floral, woodsy… believe it or not, the human nose can detect the difference between nearly 1,000 different odours. Our nose is very sensitive to delicate variations in smell. To cater to the need ‘to smell good’, perfume manufacturers churn out innovative new fragrances all the time. How is Paper Perfumed? [Illustration by Shinod AP] Perfume manufacturers spend a lot of money on making a perfume, research, bottling and advertisements. That’s not all, sometimes they even put the fragrance on a page in a popular magazine so that readers can sample the scent....
How are Frogs Different From Toads?
If you travel back tens of millions of years to the age of dinosaurs, you may possibly hear a rhythmic musical croaking from marshy ponds or even under your feet. And if you look closely you would probably find the common frog goggling away at you. Amazing isn’t it? Not many people know how ancient frogs are. Scientists have traced their ancestry to 200 million years and found that these animals haven’t changed in the least!...
What are Go-Go Boots?
Ever seen rock stars or movie stars strutting about in calf-length boots? Well, these calf-length boots were the rage at one point of time. Discotheques at Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York saw young women dressed in thigh high skirts to show off these boots called Go-Go boots. The Go-Go boots had its origin with the original ankle-length boots with pointed toes and inch-high heels worn by Cowboys in the American mid-West. Cowboys needed these boots for riding, and to ensure they don’t bitten by scorpions or snakes when they were walking on the desert undergrowth....
How do Chameleons Latch on to Prey Using Just Their Tongue?
Have you ever seen a chameleon flick its tongue at a fly? Well, this small reptile with a foot long body has an extremely long tongue. Its nearly three-fourths the length of its body! A chameleon can launch its tongue out at targets up to two body lengths away. It flicks its tongue and can snap its prey in 1/25th of a second! This is faster than you can blink your eye! Once the tongue makes contact with a prey, the prey gets attached to the sticky tongue like glue....
Why was the Berlin Wall Built?
A few tentative steps across Checkpoint Charlie and you were transported to a different world. One side had McDonalds, Coke, Toyota cars and a democratically elected government. Across the Checkpoint, was a world of state-owned factories, rows and rows of identical apartments, and a self-imposed government. This was the world of the two Berlins divided by barbed wire, watch dogs, tanks, and an imposing wall. In 1945, following World War II, Germany was divided into two countries – East Germany and West Germany....
Whick Book Carries Its Own Light?
How many times have you been told not to read in bed and how often have you been ticked off for reading in poor light? Probably quite a few times if you are an avid book-worm. Now you can cast away your small flashlights and get rid of your reading lamp, for there are specially designed books that create their own light! Whick Book Carries Its Own Light? [Illustration by Shinod AP] The glowing book...
What are Q-Tips?
Everbody has used this product at some time or other in some form or other. Sometimes it is used to clean the wax from your ears, and sometimes to clean dust from delicate instruments. Many kick themselves for not patenting it when they knew about it. So what are Q-Tips? It is such a simple silly thingummy – a piece of thick plastic or cardboard with cotton wrapped at each end! Q-Tips are today, a registered trademark of Chesebrough-Ponds, Inc, USA....