General Knowledge

A PUZZLING FACT

2009-08-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

The boiling point of olive oil is higher than the melting point of tin. Why is it possible to fry food in olive oil in a fry-pan made from tinned copper ? Why doesn't the pan melt before food gets fried ?

THINK BEFORE YOU READ THE ANSWER...Answer is...right below this....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When the food is fried, it is not the oil that boils but the water in the food. The temperature of the food will not rise above 100 °C until all the water boils away. For the same reason, water can be boiled in a paper bag as burning temperature of paper is higher than the boiling temperature of water.

ELECTRIC CHARGE : WHY '+' ? WHY '-' ?

2009-07-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

We all know that there are two types of electric charge. We label them as '+' and '-'. One may wonder why these charges have been labelled so? Historical evidences give no solid reason for this naming practice.

A long time ago people found that certain materials when rubbed with cloth or fur were able to pick up (attract) small objects(like a piece of paper). A piece of ebonite was said to be charged when rubbed with fur. Similarly, a glass was said to be charged when rubbed with silk. But the charge on ebonite was not similar to the charge on glass, i.e. there were two kinds of 'charge' and so for the convenience of description and identification they were labelled '-' and '+',respectively by someone or by a group of some people. '-' and '+' have no mathematical significance nor any magical reason for being labelled like that. Had they named '+' charge as '-' and '-' charge as '+', that would not have had any significant impact on the description of phenomena of electricity. Thus, electron is negatively charged because it has the same electrical properties as a piece of ebonite when rubbed with fur and proton is positively charged because of its electrical behaviour similar to the glass rubbed with silk. So let us recollect Shakespeare : What's in a name ? An electron would behave electrically similarly if it were named 'proton'!!!

DUST BOWL

2009-07-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

American state of Oklahoma suffered severe drought situation in 1930s. there was no crop due to lack of rain and the fields had dried to the extent that the soil blew away as dust and created what was called a 'DUST BOWL' region. People had to leave that area for further survival. A similar drought situation development took place in the state of Illinois in July 1988 when the then President Ronald Reagan during his visit to the state told farmers :"This is the worst natural disaster since the Dust Bowl of 1930s."

A NASA scientist in his report to a committee of the US Congress had told that "DUST BOWL DROUGHT" was 99 per cent certain to be caused by pollution of air and that it was an early sign of a dangerous climatic change, a change which leads to a general warming of the global atmosphere. This, in turn, affects the rainfall, as well as having other side effects. He said this atmospheric pollution was the "GREENHOUSE EFFECT". Thus 'DUST BOWL' was blamed on the Greenhouse Effect.

DO YOU KNOW ?

2009-02-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

Gregorian calendar was introduced in 16th century. Before its introduction the new year started on March 25.
The ball-point pen was invented by Lazlo Biro, a Hungarian by birth.
BEZANT was the coin of Byzantine Empire. It contained 2.5 gram of gold.
Evan Lendl won all Grand slams of tennis except Wimbledon.
Canada has the longest coastline.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS

2008-10-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

MARCONI discovered radio waves.
Birds can perch on the overhead power lines without receiving an electric shock because they do not touch the ground and so do not complete an electric circuit.
Deuterium(sometimes called Heavy Hydrogen) is an isotope of hydrogen whose nucleus contains one neutron and one proton.
The dolphin can remain under water for 20 minutes and can swim at a speed of 70 km per hour.
A bat can listen to ultrasonic sounds.
The potato originated in Peru.
We produce about 200 billion red corpuscles every day.
The dog is the oldest domesticated animal.
HUBERT BOOTH invented the vacuum cleaner in 1902.
The first practical type-writer was invented by Christopher Scholes and Charles Glidden in 1867. Scholes designed the QWERTY typewriter keyboard layout which is still in use.
The highest death toll ever reported in an earthquake occurred in the eastern Mediterranean in 1201 AD, with an estimated 1100000 casualties.

SOME BIOLOGICAL NAMES

2008-09-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

Indian bee - Apis indica
Cow - Bos indicus
Ass - Equus assinus
Kiwi - Apteryx australis
Dog - Canis familiaris
Goat - Capra hircus
Horse - Equus caballus
Cat - Felis domestica
Housefly - Musca nebulo
Pigeon - Columba livia
House Crow - Corvus splendens
Indian elephant - Elephas indicus
Indian Cobra - Naja naja
Rabbit - Oryctolagus cuniculus
Lion - Panthera leo
Tiger - Panthera tigris
Indian Rhinoceros - Rhinoceros unicornis
Indian frog - Rana tigrina
Onion - Allium cepa
Garlic - Allium sativum
Tomato - Lycopersicum esculentum
Banana - Musa paradisiaca
Rice - Oryza sativa
Green gram - Phaseolus aureus
Apple - Pyrus malus
Pomegranate - Pumica granatum
Pea - Pisum sativum
Radish - Raphanus sativus
Brinjal - Solanum melongena
Potato - Solanum tuberosum
Sweet potato - Batatas edulis
Tamarimd - Tamarindus indica
Tulsi - Ocimum sanctum
Grape - Vitis vitifera
Maize - Zea mays
Mulberry - Morus indica
Betel - Piper betle
Betel-nut - Areca catechu
Sugarcane - Saccharum officinarum
Cashew-nut - Anacardium occidentale
Ground-nut - Arachis hyposea
Coconut - Cocos nucifera
Neem - Azadirachta indica
Peepal - Ficus religiosa
Cotton -Gossypium herbaceous
Chilli - Capsicum frutescens
Bamboo - Babusa tulda
Mustard - Brassica campestris
Lady's finger - Hibiscus esculentus
Banyan - Ficus bengalensis

WONDERS OF LIVING WORLD

2008-09-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

Blue or Sulphur-bottom whale is the largest living animal.
A sea-wasp is not a wasp but is a kind of jelly-fish.
Humming birds can fly backwards.
Snails, earthworms, sea cucumbers and sea hares are among the species which have both male and female sex organs in the same organism.
Giraffe have the largest neck and longest tail.
"Abaca"(mainly grown in Philippines) is the toughest of all natural fibers.
Some fish migrate from sea to fresh water for breeding. This phenomenon is called "Anadromy".

NAMED UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

2008-08-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

Abbe : Named after Ernst Abbe(1840-1901) who had great contributions in the field of optical instruments. The unit is used to measure Linear Spatial Frequency. Its dimensins are Hz m^-1.
Amagat : Named after E. H. Amagat(1841-1915) who studied gases under high pressures. Amagat volume and Amagat density are used as measures in the study of behaviour of gases under pressure. For both units UNIT PRESSURE is taken as one standard atmosphere pressure. For an ideal gas, the Amagat volume is 22.4 litres. It is the volume occupied by one gram-mole of the gas at unit pressure and 273.15 K.
Ampere : Named after A. M. Ampere(1775-1836) who had major contributions in the field of electricity. It is the unit of electric current.
Angstrom : Named after A. J. Angstrom(1814-1874)who had used 10^-10 m to describe wavelengths. It is a unit of length used generally at atomic levels. It is equal to 10^-10 m.
Balmer : Named after J. J. Balmer(1825-1898) who was a spectroscopist. It is a unit of wave-number and represents the number of waves in one centimeter. It has the dimensions of cm^-1.
Baud : Named after J. M. E. Boudot(1845-1903) who was a French telegraph engineer and had made the first teleprinter. It is a unit of telegraph signalling speed. One baud is equal to one pulse per second.
Becquerel : Named after A. H. Becquerel(1852-1908),a French physicist who discovered radioactivity. It is a unit of radioactivity and 1 becquerel means one nuclear disintegration or nuclear transformation per second.
Clausius : Named after R. J. L. Clausius(1822-1888). It is a unit of entropy.
Coulomb : Named after C. A. Coulomb(1736-1806) who had contributed to the field of electricity as one of the pioneers. It is the unit of electric charge.
Curie : Named after Pierre Curie(1859-1906) who was one of the discoverers of radium. It is a unit of radioactivity.
Darcy : Named after French scientist H. Darcy(1803-1858). He investigated the flow of fluids in porous media. It is the CGS unit of permeability of porous materials.
Einstein : Named after Albert Einstein(1879-1955). Einstein worked in the field of photoelectric effect and gave us the great 'Theory of relativity' for which world better remembers him. It is a unit of photoenergy.
Erlang : Named after the Danish mathematician, A. K. Erlang(1879-1924). It is a telephone traffic unit used to express traffic density.
Farad : Named after Michael Faraday(1791-1867). It is a unit of capacitance.
Fermi : Named after E. Fermi(1901-1954) who built first atomic pile. It is a unit of distance equal to 10^-15 m.
Fresnel : Named after A.J.Fresnel(1788-1827) who was an advocate of wave theory of light. It is a unit of optical frequency (1 fresnel = 10¹² Hz).

SOME ACRONYMS

2008-08-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

ASEAN : Association of South East Asian Nations
BASIC : Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
EMU : European Monetary Union
FLOPS : FLoating-point Operations Per Second
LED : Light Emitting Diode
LIFFE : London International Financial Futures Exchange
MIPS : Millions of Instructions Per Second
OOPS : Object-Oriented Programming System
PERT : Programme Evaluation and Review Technique
SAD : Seasonal Affectiveness Disorder
SALT : Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
SAT : Standard Assessment Test
SERPS : State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme
SIDS : Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
SOGAT : Society of Graphical and Allied Trades
TINA : There Is No Alternative
UEFA : Union of European Football Associations
WIMP : Windows, Icons, Mouse and Printer

JUST INTERESTING !!!

2008-08-24T01:02:00.000-07:00

CAESAREAN BIRTH

It is said that Julius Caesar had been delivered that way.In those days in Rome if a woman was dead or dying with an unborn child in her womb,then it would be rescued by the method now known as Caesarean Section. In Latin Caedere means to cut-hence Caeser got his name after being delivered by this method and the method began to be known as Caesarean Section.

SIAMESE TWINS

Siamese Twins are twins born with their bodies joined together and in some cases having an organ common to both.Siam is the old name for Thailand.The term SIAMESE TWINS came in to use after the birth of twins Chang and Eng on May 11,1811 in Siam.In the local language their names mean "left" and "right" respectively.

COCKTAIL

2008-08-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

ALBION is the poetic name for Britain or England.
Male mosquitos never bite us because they do not possess the mechanism to bite...!!!
In Downing Street there are three important houses. In house no. 10 the Prime minister of UK leaves.House no. 11 is for the chancellor and house no. 12 operates as an
office as well as the house for the Chief Whip of the government.What about no. 1 to 9 ? Actually the street has only three houses and houses with no. 1 to 9 do not exist.!!!
Bombay duck is not a duck; it is a small, thin,almost transparent lizardfish.
The name-CHOP SUEY is Chinese; The dish is pure American.

AMERICA'S FIRST LADY OF SPACE

2008-08-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Two female monkeys, Able (a rhesus monkey) and Baker (a squirrel monkey) were sent to space on 28 May, 1959. They were the first animals to survive a 480 km high suborbital flight. A few days later, after returning to earth, Able (better known as Miss Able) died but Baker (of course, Miss Baker) survived and became known as AMERICA'S FIRST LADY OF SPACE. She died on 28 Nov 1984 due to kidney failure.

CALENDER SURPRISE !!!

2008-08-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

The first day of a century never falls on...

A SUNDAY

A WEDNESDAY

A FRIDAY

MATHEMATICAL WONDER !!!

2008-08-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

India's Ramanujan was a genius personality in mathematics though he did not get proper education in an organised manner. He had discovered a surprising and funny fact about 'cubes of numbers'.

There is only one possible case
in which one can equate the sum of cubes
of two different positive integers
with the sum of cubes of two
altogether different positive integers.
There is no other such case known till now.

The sum of cube of 1 and cube of 12
is equal to the sum of cube of 9 and cube of 10.
The sum is 1729 for both.
Try to find out if there be any
possibility by which you can relate
four different positive integers
in the similar fashion.