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Nikola Tesla – Unsung Prophet of Electrical Age
If you ask anyone or check up in the encyclopaedia, who invented the radio or X-rays, chances are you will never come across the name of Nikola Tesla there. Look up fluorescent bulb, neon lights, car ignition system, electron microscope, microwave oven and many others – you can search page after page but your search will turn up zilch on Tesla in any normal reference book. In fact very few have heard of Nikola Tesla, a brilliant scientist who lived at the turn of the century....
Tale of the Woolly Mammoth
Almost 20,000 years ago, a group of hunting tribesmen attacked an enormous elephant like animal called the Woolly Mammoth. A fierce battle was fought as the prehistoric tribesmen armed with spears and stone catapults attacked the Mammoth. The Mammoth, almost twice the size of a modern African Elephant, charged and stomped. And as a spear pierced its heart, it gave one last heart wrenching cry and fell to the ground with a loud thud, a sound that reverberated through the mountains....
Tree Rings tell many Tales
Examining ancient trees helps scientists get an amazing picture of Earth’s life, for trees are a record of their life time. By looking closely at the rings of a tree, scientists can not only tell how old it is; they can also tell you that in one summer in 1453 and again in 1601, there were freak cold spells. Tree rings, when radiocarbon-dated give a glimpse of certain aspects of prehistoric times. But what is radiocarbon dating?...
Jupiter's New Moon
Does Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, have a 17th moon? Astronomers seem to think it does. Last year, astronomers at the University of Arizona and a Massachusets Observatory discovered what looked like a new moon around Jupiter. They had been scanning the skies for comets and asteroids as part of a spacewatch programme. In fact, when they saw the new moon, they thought it might be a comet or an asteroid. A comet is a small body of ice and dust that orbits the Sun....
Roach Sense
Have you ever caught a glimpse of a cockroach scurrying across your kitchen floor? Well, by the time you manage to get your hands on a roach repellent, the cockroach would have disappeared. Not surprising really, considering you are dealing with one of the greatest escape artists in the insect kingdom. Yes, cockroaches or roaches for short, are adept at wriggling out of tight spots. Whether it is a frog lurking behind a bush, or a descending broom, these creatures have an uncanny ability to scent danger....
Mosquito Menace
Guess what besides fat raindrops, rain clouds in Mumbai bring? Those tiny terrors, mosquitoes. Result: nights spent tossing and turning, and swatting the insects. But the next morning you wake up with those tell tale red marks on your arms, pause to think if you took a bath or not the previous night. That’s right. Human sweat turns mosquitoes on more than anything else. Research carried out by scientists in The Netherlands say that mosquitoes are actually quite finicky about whom they sting and never ever nibble at random....
Dinosaur eggs Found in Patagonia
The film Jurassic Park is peanuts compared to this: Last month, Argentine scientists found thousands of dinosaur eggs in hundreds of nests at Patagonia. A report in the journal New Scientist says that it is the biggest nesting site of dinosaurs found thus far. Each nest contained 15 to 30 eggs the size of a grapefruit each. The eggs contained bones of titanosaurs which would have weighed about 15 tonnes when fully grown. Close to 100 million years old dinosaur egg....
Saraswati River in the Thar Desert
The vedas mention the mighty Saraswati river flowing down the Himalayas and then westwards towards Rajasthan. But Rajasthan is a desert. So where did this huge river, which the vedas say was bigger than the Ganga, disappear? It is widely believed that this river still flows under the Thar desert, though no one has been able to prove this for sure. Even the epic Mahabharata, written in 1000 BC, mentions Saraswati as the once-mighty river that was drying up....
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....
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....