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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!...
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....
How did the Teddy Bear Get Its Name?
It was party time for the 40 giant teddy bears. They had succeeded in achieving what most fashion conscious people in the world would give their right arm and eye for: a party dress made by the most famous couturiers or dress designers on earth. And it was all for a grand auction in the tiny principality of Monaco, in Europe. On October 15, world celebrities, both rich and famous vied to make the highest bid for each of the 40 giant stuffed teddies so that their money could be donated to a charitable cause....
How did the Modern Horse Originate?
Many millions of years ago a fox-like animal roamed across the plains of what is now the American continent. At that time the continents were not even divided as they are today. This animal had four soft toes on its feet like a cat or dog. This animal came to be called the ‘eohippus’ by modern day scientists who discovered skeletal fossils of this specie. Horses running in snow The skeletal remains of this animal had many things in common with the skeletal structure of the modern horse, especially in the structure and distribution of its teeth....
How do Spiderwebs Help Skydivers?
While dusting the house have you ever cross jhalis (webs) in the corners of the wall? Sometimes you may come across them under table corners or at rarely used places. Yes, the webs are woven by spiders. It’s a nuisance clearing them for just when you manage to remove one sticky web, the spider scurries off to a corner to spin yet another! How do Spiderwebs Help Skydivers? [Illustration by Anup Singh] But before you destroy these webs with a sweep of the broom, here’s some food for thought – you are about to dismantle one of the strongest structures in the natural world!...
How does a Juggler Juggle?
Yesterday, after seeing a circus show, I made up my mind about a career. I was at home busy throwing an orange in the air with one hand to catch it while the other hand was passing me a second orange. I wanted to juggle oranges the same way a clown juggles balls. I could manage it with two. But my hand started to fumble when it came to the third. The clown we saw yesterday was throwing plates in the air and I knew my mother would kill me if I broke any!...
How do they Make an Igloo?
To many of us, building a house of ice doesn’t sound too good. One might wake up from a good night’s sleep to see it melted. All these things don’t matter to Eskimos, who live in north Canada, Greenland and Alaska. They build igloos or houses of ice knowing that they will not melt. At least, not till winter passes by. The reason is that the walls are made in a special way so that they become rock hard....
How do Human Cannonballs Fly?
Even been to a circus where they featured a human cannonball? A person enters a huge cannon and when the fuse is lit, he comes shooting out with a bang, flying in the air before landing on a net! My god! I thought that was the most horrifying thing I had ever seen. What a crazy thing to do. How does he do it without being blown to pieces, I would wonder. How do Human Cannonballs Fly?...
How Did Pencils Originate?
Not many people know that the pencil they use everyday can trace its history back 2000 years! Early writers, or scribes as they were called, of ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece wrote on forms of paper called papyrus. They used a stylus which was a metal rod made of lead. That is why we still call the black core of the pencil as “lead” even though it is made from graphite! Graphite was discovered sometime in the 16th century in England....