Science magazine for children: Packed with science stories, science facts, science features, and other science learning resources for children. Discover the known, the unknown, and little-known facts in our science articles. Learn the how and why of everyday things and explore rare and exotic living species.
358 items in this section. Displaying page 19 of 36
Why does a Cricket Ball Swing?
How many times have all of us heard that the former captain of the Indian cricket team, Kapil Dev, was one of the greatest out-swing bowlers of all times. Indeed! He took more than 430 wickets in Test cricket. But, do you know how a cricket ball swings? The term ‘swing’ refers to the movement of the cricket ball in the air after it leaves the bowler’s hand, which takes the ball away from or towards the batsman....
Deception and Mimicry Among Animals to Fool Enemies!
All living beings have enemies. And they all have developed interesting ways to keep them at bay. Some animals hide, others run, or just fly away when faced with danger. These are their defence mechanisms. Some animals can hide without moving. They have the unique ability to change their colour to merge with the surroundings. They become invisible to the predator. This method of defence is called “camouflage”. Some rabbits change colour with the change of season....
Why are Eggs Oval?
Have you ever climbed a tree and peeked into the nest of a crow or a sparrow? Or looked into that flowerpot where the noisy pigeon decided to lay its eggs? The sight of a mother hen sitting on a bunch of fresh white eggs is great, though most of us see them only when they land on the breakfast table every now and then. Eggs come in different colours. They may be blue, blue-green, yellow, spotted, blotched or white....
Why's it hard for Ketchup to flow?
Why is it so tough to get ketchup out of the bottle? Why’s it hard for Ketchup to flow? [Illustration by Shinod AP] When you overturn a sauce bottle that has been left untouched for some time, chances are, either the sauce will not come out at all or a gigantic blob will plop down on your plate. Getting ketchup to ‘flow’ out of the bottle can be quite an ordeal....
Where are the Shaking Minarets?
Among the many architectural marvels of the world, like the leaning tower of Pisa, the whispering gallery at St Paul’s Cathedral at London or the musical pillars of South India, are the astonishing and historical shaking minarets of Ahmedabad, in Gujarat state, India. The minarets are so unique that if one minaret in shaken, the other sympathetically shakes too! Barely a kilometre away from the Ahmedabad city railway station is the Sidi Bashir mosque (Muslim equivalent of a temple) famed for its jhulta minars or shaking minarets (tall tower-like structures, either at the entrance gate or on the four corners)....
Which is the Most Abundant Fruit in India?
Did you know that in India, mango orchards cover roughly 33 percent (1.08 million hectares) of the total area under fruit cultivation? In a hectare of land you can grow thousands of trees. And each tree bears, thousands of fruit! I will leave it to you to calculate how many mangoes the country produces! It’s no wonder that the subzi mandis (vegetable and fruit markets) get flooded with mangoes in summers. Forget the fact that the country produces millions of mangoes, do you know how many varieties there are?...
Birds Which Eat Their Feathers
We all know that birds use their feathers to line their nests. But have you ever heard of a bird eating its own feathers? It is a bird which lives in water and is called the great crested grebe. It eats its own feathers and feeds them to her young ones too. And, it always prefers soft feathers, which it sheds throughout the year. Scientists believe that its feather-eating habit is linked to the process with which it throws waste....
The Colours of Light
A beam of light seems to have no colour. Actually, it is made up of coloured rays. Usually, these coloured rays combine to form the white light. But it is possible to see the different colours at certain times. For instance, when it rains and the sun’s rays pass through raindrops. Since the raindrop has many sides or surfaces, the rays split up into a fanshape of different colours. And we see the rainbow. Violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red....
Who Invented the Frisbee?
At first glance in the park or at the beach, you may confuse it for an UFO (unidentified flying object) and rush home thinking the Martians have really landed from outer space! Soon it becomes clear that the “spacecraft” is actually a harmless toy — a colourful Frisbee, and the creature from outer space is the boy next door! Today, almost all of us have seen one or sent a Frisbee gliding through air. We have seen dogs chase it and leap to catch these flying discs....
A New Camel Specie Discovered
Have you ever sat on a camel? Well, if you have, then you know how scary it is when the camel rises on its long wobbly legs. The rocking motion of a camel is a bit like a ship being tossed around in heaving seas. Small wonder then that the camel is often called the ship of the desert. Actually, the name owes its origins to the fact that camels were brought from the desert, to serve as beasts of burden in other countries....