Do You Know

2012-09-20T14:16:00.001+05:30

Venus the Two-Faced Cat a Mystery !!!!

Venus the two-faced cat is currently the most famous feline on the planet. Famous feline may have different DNA on each side of her body.

The three-year-old tortoiseshell has her own Facebook page and a YouTube video that's been viewed over a million times, and appeared on the Today Show last week. (Watch National Geographic cat videos.)

One look at this cat and you can understand why: One half is solid black with a green eye—the other half has typical orange tabby stripes and a blue eye.

How does a cat end up looking like that? Leslie Lyons, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who studies the genetics of domestic cats said she's never seen a cat exactly like Venus.

"She is extremely, extremely rare," Lyons said. "But you can explain it and you can understand it."

2012-09-20T13:19:00.002+05:30

CLEAN YOUR KIDNEYS IN $1.00 OR EVEN LESS !!!

Years pass by and our kidneys are filtering the blood by removing salt, poison and any unwanted entering our body. With time, the salt accumulates and this needs to undergo cleaning treatments and how are we going to overcome this?

It is very easy, first take a bunch of parsley or Cilantro ( Coriander Leaves ) and wash it clean
Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a pot and pour clean water and boil it for ten minutes and let it cool down and then filter it and pour in a clean bottle and keep it inside refrigerator to cool.

Drink one glass daily and you will notice all salt and other accumulated poison coming out of your kidney by urination also you will be able to notice the difference which you never felt before.

Parsley (Cilantro) is known as best cleaning treatment for kidneys and it is natural !!!!

MIGNON - THE PENGUIN GIRL

2012-03-31T22:08:00.000+05:30

Ruth Davis alias Mignon, the penguin girl had seal limbs a disease called PHOCOMELIA. It is what gave her the penguin appearance.

Mignon was born in the early 1900′s, likely around 1910, with a condition called phocomelia. Phocomelia typically results in the stunting of limbs and the fusion of digits. In Mignon’s case her fingers were fused in such a way as to resemble flippers. Furthermore, as her truncated limbs forced Mignon to waddle rather than walk – her stage name of ‘The Penguin Lady’ was both apt and easily assigned.

Her name, Mignon, was not her birth name. Most reports indicate that her given name was Ruth. Mignon is the French word for ‘cute’ and she likely adopted it early in her career. In fact, for quite some time she was know as ‘Mickey Mignon’ and even today her true surname is debatable.

While Mignon often wore a two piece bathing suit to show off her unique physique, she was not content to rely on appearance alone. She learned to play the rather exotic marimba, an African instrument similar to a xylophone. She proved to be very proficient as she was not only featured in numerous sideshows, her act was also featured at the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago and the 1939 and 1940 World’s Fairs in New York.

Mignon married twice in her lifetime. She had a healthy son with her first husband, a ‘normal’ man by the last name of LaArgo and in the 1950′s she married fellow sideshow performer Earl Davis, a gnarled and crippled former acrobat known as ‘Hoppy the Frog Boy’. The two performed together for close to a decade.
Following her retirement in the 1960 Mignon disappeared from public view and the final chapters of her story remain shrouded.

Interesting Facts About WOODPECKERS

2012-01-15T13:26:00.000+05:30

With the mention of woodpecker, the first thing that comes to everyone's mind is the long-billed bird that pecks woods rapidly. But, there is more to the pecking ability of this unique bird that separates it from other different types of birds. Here are some interesting facts about Wood Peckers :-

1. There are more than 180 species of woodpeckers worldwide, but none of them are found in Australia, Madagascar or New Zealand.

2. A woodpecker's tongue is up to 4 inches long depending on the species, and it wraps around the skull. Many woodpeckers have barbed tongues that help them extract bugs from trees and holes.

3. Woodpeckers can peck up to 20 times per second or 1200 times per minute!!!!

4. Woodpeckers don't get headaches from pecking. Their brains are tightly cushioned and protected.

5. The average life span of a wild woodpecker can last from 4-11 years, depending on the species.

6. The most common plumage colors for all woodpeckers are black, white, red and yellow. A few species also have orange, green, brown, maroon and gold in their coloration.

7. Most woodpeckers have zygodactyl feet, which means they have toes facing the front and toes facing the back to help them grip trees and poles vertically. They use those toes with their stiff tail feathers to brace on trees as they climb.

8. Woodpeckers eat bugs, sap, fruit, nuts and seeds. In the backyard, they are often attracted to suet feeders or nut feeders.

9. The two largest woodpeckers in the world are the imperial woodpecker and the ivory-billed woodpecker, but both may be extinct. The largest confirmed woodpecker is the great slaty woodpecker of Southeast Asia, which measures 20 inches long.

10. The piculets are a type of woodpecker found South America and Asia and they are the smallest woodpeckers, measuring only 3-4 inches long depending on the species.

11. Woodpeckers do not have vocal songs, and instead they drum on resonant objects such as hollow trees and logs, utility poles, chimneys, rain gutters and trash cans. Woodpeckers drum to attract mates, establish territories and otherwise communicate, and both genders are known to drum.

12. Most woodpeckers have a distinct undulating flight consisting of a few rapid wing beats followed by a quick glide when the wings are tucked against the body rather than spread like many other birds.

13. The greatest threats to woodpeckers include habitat loss through urban development and population sprawl, insecticide use that eliminates food sources and natural disasters such as forest fires that eliminate dead wood for feeding and nesting.

14. The most well known woodpecker is the fictional Woody Woodpecker, created by artist Ben "Bugs" Hardaway in 1940. Despite his popularity, however, Woody Woodpecker is not a distinct woodpecker species.

Interesting Facts About HUMMING BIRDS

2012-01-13T15:41:00.000+05:30

All birds are fascinating creatures, but there are many facts about hummingbirds that make them astonishing to even experienced birders. From physiological facts to lifestyle facts to distribution facts, hummingbirds are some of the most interesting of the nearly 10,000 bird species in the world. So, Here is list of interesting facts about humming Birds :-

1.The bee hummingbird is the smallest species of all birds and measures only 2.25 inches long and weighs only 1.8 grams on average.

2. Hummingbirds have only 1,000-1,500 feathers, the fewest number of feathers of any bird species in the world.

3. Hummingbirds lay the smallest eggs of all birds. They measure less than 1/2 inch long but may represent as much as 10 percent of the mother’s weight at the time the eggs are laid.

4. An average hummingbird’s heart rate is more than 1,200 beats per minute.

5. Hummingbirds have no sense of smell but have very keen eyesight.

6. Hummingbirds are only birds that can also fly backwards.

7. There are more than 325 hummingbird species in the world.

8. A hummingbird’s maximum forward flight speed is 30 miles per hour, though the birds can reach up to 60 miles per hour in a dive.

9. A hummingbird’s wings beat between 50 and 200 flaps per second depending on the direction of flight and air conditions.

10. At rest, a hummingbird takes an average of 250 breaths per minute.

11. Hummingbirds do not suck nectar through their long bills, they lick it with fringed, forked tongues.

12. Hummingbirds are native species of the New World and are not found outside of the Western Hemisphere.

13. Despite their small size, hummingbirds are one of the most aggressive bird species and will regularly attack jays, crows and hawks that infringe on their territory.

14. A hummingbird’s brilliant throat color is not caused by feather pigmentation, but rather by iridescence in the arrangement of the feathers and the influence of light level, moisture and other factors.

15. Hummingbirds digest natural sucrose in 20 minutes with 97 percent efficiency for converting the sugar into energy.

Interesting Facts About SNAKES

2012-01-11T21:04:00.000+05:30

From enormous ones like the python, which can swallow animals as large as a deer whole, to snakes that are just a few inches long, snakes can be found in all types of habitats. While some climb trees, others live underground, and still others are found in the waters of lakes and even seas. Here are some interesting facts about Snakes :-

1. Out of about 3,000 species of snakes, only about 375 have venom that is dangerous to humans.

2. Snakes have more than 200 teeth, which they do not use to chew, since they point backwards, but bite and grip their prey securely.

3. The venom of the king cobra, the world’s largest poisonous snake, is strong enough to kill an elephant.

4. The snake’s forked tongue allows the snake to know the direction of the smell.

5. A snake’s heart can slide 1 to 1 1/2 times its length from its normal position, to allow the passage of swallowed prey.

6. Snakes have poor eyesight.

7. Snakes do not chew; they swallow their prey as a whole (frogs, rats, birds, etc.).

8. The upper and bottom jaws of a snake are not connected, enabling the snake’s mouth to be flexible enough to open wide and swallow large prey. A snake can swallow prey that is 4 times the width of its head.

9. Some snake species reproduce by laying eggs; others reproduce by keeping fertilized eggs inside them and delivering the baby snakes after the eggs hatch within the body.

10. Most snakes spread their venoms through biting. However, a few, such as cobras, can spit their venom at a target about 5-7 feet away. Snake venom does not hurt the skin—its poison could hurt eyes or open wounds.

11. As for the size, while the anaconda can grow up to 38 feet in length, the brahminy blind snake is just 2 inches long, making it the smallest snake.

12. Snakes need to shed their skin regularly while they grow, a process known as Molting. Snakes shed their skin by rubbing their head against something rough and hard, like a piece of wood or a rock

13. Snakes do not have any eyelids; instead, a transparent scale protects their eyes.

14. Snakes are the deadliest animal on earth, killing over 100,000 people each year.

15. A venomous snake usually has a broader head that bulges out behind the eyes where the snake stores its venom.

16. Snake venom is a complex mixture of proteins that, once unleashed, rapidly spreads through the victim’s body. Neurotoxic venom, which destroys the nervous system, is the variety that kills quickest.

17. Snakes have two long lungs, a long liver, kidneys and intestines. The last quarter of the snake has a small anal opening covered by a scale called the anal plate.

18. Most toxic snake of all is the Inland Taipan of Australia. It could kill 100 people with a single bite.

19. Snakes smell with their tongue. Smell is their strongest sense.

20. Snakes are deaf—but they can sense sound vibrations.

Interesting Facts About COMPUTERS

2012-01-10T20:39:00.003+05:30

Modern Computers.

Today, almost all of our work is done by some or the other computing machine. Computers are enhancing the technological growth with a rapid speed. The more we know about this super machine, is less. Knowing about few of the interesting computer facts can be fun. Mentioned below are few of the little known computer facts :-

1. There are approx. 6,000 new computer viruses released every month.

2. Doug Engelbart, invented the first computer mouse in the year 1964 and was made up of wood!

3. It is believed that the first computer virus released in the world was a boot sector virus, which was created in the year 1986 by Farooq Alvi brothers. It was designed by them to protect their research work.

4. A normal human being blinks 20 times in a minute, whereas a computer user blinks only 7 times a minute!

5. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

6. While it took the radio 38 years, and the television a short 13 years, it took the World Wide Web only 4 years to reach 50 million users.

7. The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com.

Replica of Z1 Computer, First Computer to be made.

8. On an average work day, a typist's fingers travel 12.6 miles.

9. The world's first computer, called the Z1, was invented by Konrad Zuse in 1936. His next invention, the Z2 was finished in 1939 and was the first fully functioning electro-mechanical computer.

10. Domain names are being registered at a rate of more than one million names every month.

11. The house of Bill Gates was designed using a Macintosh computer.

12. The group of 12 engineers who designed IBM PC were called "The Dirty Dozen".

13. One of the world's leading computer and computer peripheral manufacturer Hewlett Packard was first started in a garage at Palo Alto in the year 1939.

14. On eBay, there are an average of $680 worth of transactions each second.

15. Early hard drives in Personal Computers held 20 MB, or 20 Megabytes, and cost about $800. By comparison, an $8 flash drive holds 2 GB, or 2 Gigabytes. That's a 100-fold decrease in price and a 100-fold increase in capacity.

16. The computer mouse, the windowing GUI, laser printing, and the network card were all developed at one company; Xerox in Palo Alto, California.

17. The computer in your cell phone has more processing power than all the computers in the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander that put 2 men on the moon.

18. 'Crash Course' is another name for Microsoft Windows tutorials.

19. Although we normally think of computers as the ones we use in our everyday lives to surf the web, write documents etc, small computers are also embedded into other things such as mobile phones, toys, microwaves and MP3 players. We use computers all the time, often without even knowing it!

20. Almost all computer users must know how destructive a virus can be. But then, it would be interesting to know that a virus cannot corrupt your PC on its own. It corrupts your system only when you activate it by either downloading infected files from the Internet or by sharing these infected files.

ONE WINDOWS MAGIC TRICK:-

An Indian discovered that nobody can create a FOLDER anywhere on the computer which can be named as “CON” (without Quotes). This is something pretty cool…and unbelievable… At Microsoft the whole Team, couldn’t answer why this happened!

TRY IT NOW ,IT WILL NOT CREATE ” CON ” FOLDER

Interesting Facts about HONEY BEES

2012-01-10T15:22:00.000+05:30

Honey bees are a subset of bees in the genus Apis, primarily distinguished by the production and storage of honey and the construction of perennial, colonial nests out of wax. Here are some interesting facts about Honey :-

1. It takes 12 bees their entire lifetime to make one tablespoon of honey.

2. A hive of bees will fly 90,000 miles, the equivalent of three orbits around the earth to collect 1 kg of honey.

3. Only worker bees sting, and only if they feel threatened and they die once they sting.

4. The Queen bee lays around 2,000 eggs per day! She can also select the gender of the larvae. Most larvae that will be produced will be female.

5. Honey bees are the only insects that produce something that humans eat. It is also the only food that never spoil !!!!

6. Honey Bees never sleep !!!!!

7. Honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life, including enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water; and it's the only food that contains "pinocembrin", an antioxidant associated with improved brain functioning.

8. Honey bees communicate with one another by "dancing"

9. Honey bees have 6 legs, 2 compound eyes made up of thousands of tiny lenses, 3 simple eyes on the top of the head, 2 pairs of wings, a nectar pouch, and a stomach.

10. The honey bee's wings stroke incredibly fast, about 200 beats per second, thus making their famous, distinctive buzz. A honey bee can fly for up to six miles, and as fast as 15 miles per hour.

11.There is only one queen per hive. The queen lives 2-3 years while worker bees only lives 6-8 weeks.

12. It takes one ounce of honey to fuel a bee's flight around the world.

13.The bee's brain is oval in shape and only about the size of a sesame seed, yet it has remarkable capacity to learn and remember things.

14. A colony of bees consists of 20,000-60,000 honeybees and one queen. Worker honey bees are female, live for about 6 weeks and do all the work.

15. The queen bee can live up to 5 years and is the only bee that lays eggs. She is the busiest in the summer months, when the hive needs to be at its maximum strength, and lays up to 2500 eggs per day.

16. Each honey bee colony has a unique odour for members' identification.

17. The queen of hive is made, rather than born.

18. It is estimated that 1100 honey bee stings are required to be fatal.

19. During winter, honey bees feed on the honey they collected during the warmer months. They form a tight cluster in their hive to keep the queen and themselves warm.

Interesting Facts about OWLS

2012-01-09T15:38:00.001+05:30

Owl is a bird of prey i.e. it hunts other living creatures for the purpose of obtaining food. The most common preys of an owl are small mammals, insects and other birds. Here are some interesting facts about Owls :-
1. An owl's eyes are fixed in bony eye sockets and they cannot turn their eyes. Instead, owls rotate their heads up to 270 degrees, but they cannot turn their heads all the way around.

2.Most owls hunt at night and in doing so avoid competition with daytime avian hunters such as hawks and eagles.

3. Owls cannot chew their prey because they do not have teeth.

4. Owls have developed special feather adaptations that enable them to minimize the sound made when flapping their wings.

5. There are more than 150 species of owls in the world, and some counts indicate more than 220 species depending on how different owls are classified.

6. Owls are farsighted and are unable to see anything clearly within a few centimeters of their eyes.

7. Several owls species have "ear" tufts on their heads but they aren't ears at all. These tufts of feathers may indicate the bird's mood, help keep it camouflaged or be used to show aggression.

8. An owl has three eyelids: one for blinking, one for sleeping and one for keeping the eye clean and healthy.

9. A barn owl can eat up to 1,000 mice each year, and many farmers try to attract barn owls to help control rodent populations in agricultural fields.

10. Owls have zygodactyl feet with two toes pointing forward and two toes pointing backward. This gives the birds a stronger, more powerful grip so they can be more effective predators.

11. For most owl species, females are larger, heavier and more aggressive than males.

12. Not all owls hoot, and owls can make a wide range of other sounds, such as screeches, whistles, barks and hisses.

13. A group of owls is called a parliament, wisdom or study. Baby owls are called owlets.

14. Owls have been found in the fossil record up to 58 million years ago. The largest recorded owl fossil, Orinmegalonyx oteroi, stood about three feet tall.

15. The biggest modern threats to owls are habitat loss, pesticides that poison the birds and their food supplies and human persecution because of negative superstitions.

Interesting Facts about TORNADOES

2012-01-08T15:17:00.003+05:30

Tornadoes, popularly known as twisters, are one of nature’s phenomena that occur due to various reasons. These tornadoes are one of the most destructive of storms. Many of these tornadoes take place mainly in the United States of America although they can occur anywhere across the globe. Frightful and terrifying, the tornadoes are fierce columns of air that rotate at a high speed. Here are some interesting facts about Tornadoes :-

1. Every tornado has its own color, sound and shape.

2. The wind speed of a tornado is recorded between 40 mph to 110 mph. These rotating tornadoes can travel many kilometers that cause severe destruction to mankind.

3. One cannot say a tornado is of a particular color. Their colors depend upon the environment where it occurs. When the surrounding areas are dry, a tornado may appear partly invisible. It may appear dark to the observer if the sun is behind the tornado.

4. In 1928, a tornado in Kansas plucked the feathers right off some chickens.In 1931 a tornado in Mississippi lifted an 83 ton train and tossed it 80 feet from the track.

5. Tornadoes can occur anytime of the year. The most likely time for them to form however is in the springtime in the plains and southern states.

6. Though tornadoes can and do form anywhere in the world, the United States, specifically Tornado Alley, get the most tornadoes out of anywhere in the world because unstable weather conditions are commonly found in this area.

7. Nebraska, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas make up Tornado alley, where tornadoes strike regularly in the spring and early summer.

8. Waterspouts are tornadoes that form over a body of water.

9. Thunderstorms most likely to give birth to Tornadoes which are called supercells.

10. Some tornadoes make a considerable amount of noise while others make very little. It depends on the objects a tornado might hit or carry.

11. The term, tornado family, refers to many tornadoes. This happens when a storm creates more than one tornado. Such an occurrence can cause the creation of many tornadoes simultaneously in a particular area.

12. Tornadoes can occur at anytime, but they mostly occur between the hours of 3pm and 9pm.

13. The chances that a tornado is a F5, the highest classification for a tornado on the F-scale, is less than 0.1%

14. There is no specific size of a tornado. They can occur in any size!

Interesting facts about EYES

2012-01-07T21:49:00.000+05:30

Eyes are organs that detect light and convert it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptors in conscious vision connect light to movement. Here are some interesting Facts about Eyes :-

1. Healthy eyes are so sensitive to light that a candle burning in the dark can be detected 1.6km (1 mile) away.

2. The human eye can distinguish about 10 million different colors.

3. The cornea in eye is the only living tissue in the human body that does not contain any blood vessels.

4. All babies are colour blind when they are born.

5. Vitamin A can help to improve eyesight because it is needed by retina for forming specific metabolite.

6. Our body has some natural protection for our eyes. Our eyelashes help to keep dirt out of our eyes. Our eyebrows are made to keep sweat from running into our eyes.

7. Blinking helps to wash tears over our eyeballs. That keeps them clean and moist.

8. The shark cornea has been used in eye surgery, since its cornea is similar to a human cornea.

9. The eyeball of a human weighs approximately 28 grams.

10. Babies' eyes do not produce tears until the baby is approximately six to eight weeks old.

11. The reason why your nose gets runny when you are crying is because the tears from the eyes drain into the nose.

12. Human eyes contain a small blind spot where the optic nerve passes through the retina. Our brains use information from the other eye to fill in the vision gap so it is rarely, if ever, noticed.

13. Eyes are composed of more than two million working parts.

14. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

15. Scientists believe that animal eyes evolved around 500 million years ago, beginning in simple form but giving a distinct advantage. This advantage led to eyes evolving quickly amongst animals as those without the ability to see struggled to survive against those that could.

AMAZING ORCHIDS

2012-01-07T20:25:00.002+05:30

Some orchid species bear flowers that resemble bees, flies and spiders; hence, they were commonly named Bee Orchids, Fly Orchids or Spider Orchids. These orchids can be found in Europe, Asia and Africa. Most Ophrys orchids are dependent on symbiotic fungi. Here are some of the prettiest and unusual-looking bee and fly orchids.

1. FLY ORCHIDS

Fly Orchid, is a species of orchid and the type species of the genus Ophrys. It is native to Europe and favors sites with alkaline soil. The name arises because it resembles a fly, being totally dependent on flies and bees for pollination. The plants use scent to attract male flies, which pollinate the flowers as they attempt to mate with the flower. The scent released by the flowers mimic female fly sexual pheromones.

Fly Orchid.

2. BEE ORCHIDS

The Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the family Orchidaceae. The Bee Orchid grows to a height of 15–50 centimetres (5.9–20 in). This hardy orchid develops small rosettes of leaves in autumn. They slowly continue to grow during winter. Basal leaves are ovate or oblong-lanceolate, upper leaves and bracts are ovate-lanceolate and sheathing. The plant blooms from mid-April to July producing a spike composed from one to twelve flowers.

Bee Orchid.

3. SPIDER ORCHIDS

Spider orchids are orchids native to southeastern North America, the West Indies, and parts of Central and South America. Each stem of a spider orchid has one to three leaves. The flower spike extends laterally from the plant in most species. Spider orchid flowers are yellow, greenish yellow, or orange-yellow, often with spots or markings. The long, thin sepals and petals give each flower a spidery appearance.

Spider Orchid.

ROLLING BRIDGE (UK): The Bridge that Curls Up on Itself

2012-01-07T17:44:00.001+05:30

Mechanism of How it Works.

Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the award-winning Rolling Bridge is located Paddington Basin, London. Rather than a conventional opening bridge mechanism, consisting of a single rigid element that lifts to let boats pass, the Rolling Bridge gets out of the way by curling up until its two ends touch. While in its horizontal position, the bridge is a normal, inconspicuous steel and timber footbridge; fully open, it forms a circle on one bank of the water that bears little resemblance to its former self.

Twelve metres long, the bridge is made in eight steel and timber sections, and is made to curl by hydraulic rams set into the handrail between each section.

The bridge consists of eight triangular sections hinged at the walkway level and connected above by two-part links that can be collapsed towards the deck by hydraulic cylinders, which are concealed in vertical posts in the bridge parapets. When extended, it resembles a conventional steel and timber footbridge, and is 12 metres long. To allow the passage of boats, the hydraulic pistons are activated and the bridge curls up until its two ends join, to form an octagonal shape measuring one half of the waterway's width at that point.

The maintenance and opening of the bridge is managed by Merchant Square Estates and it is up every Friday at noon. Following on from the maintenance issues in 2008, the bridge has been repaired and was fully operational from April 2009.

Interesting Facts about Thomas Edison

2012-01-06T15:17:00.001+05:30

Thomas Alva Edison was born on the 11th of February, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. He was and is (even today) one of the most highly regarded American inventors. Edison's creations have helped to enhance the lives of people from all walks of life. He is responsible for the invention of several products that range from utility to the high-end sophisticated items. Here are some interesting facts about him :-

1. Thomas Edison's first inventions include an electric vote recorder and a stock ticker.

2. Thomas Edison was partially deaf. He developed this problem after he developed the scarlet fever. Though his hearing was impaired from the age of 12, he said that it did not bother him because it helped him concentrate better.

3. Thomas Edison holds around 1,093 U.S. patents as well as many other patents in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

4. He built his own science laboratory at the age of 10. This was built in the basement of his home.

5. At the age of 14 he saved a 3 year old boy - Jimmie MacKenzie from being hit by a train at the Grand Trunk Railroad.

6. Despite the fact that Thomas Edison has been such a great inventor, he had very humble beginnings. He even sold newspapers on trains and vegetables to be able to add to his income.

7. It has also been said that Thomas Edison tested about 6,000 vegetable growths. This was for the purpose of filaments to be used in his light bulbs.

8. Thomas Edison also invented the carbon microphone between the period 1877-1878. This was used in all the telephones.

9. Edison married his first wife Mary Stilwell at the age of 24. She was his employee. They had 3 children together. After Mary died, Edison married Mina Miller. An interesting fact about his marriage proposal to Miller was that he proposed using Morse code.

10. Thomas Edison invented the first incandescent light bulb in 1879.

11. With the invention of the phonograph in 1877, Thomas Edison soon became a known figure. He was thereafter known as 'The Wizard of Menlo Park' in New Jersey.

12. Thomas Edison was famous for the following words, 'Genius is one percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration'.

Interesting Facts About BONES

2012-01-04T21:17:00.001+05:30

Bones give our wonderful body its structure. Without them, our motion, actions would just cease to exist. Let’s look at some interestingfacts about bones.

1. The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes or stirrup bone located in the middle ear. It is approximately 0.11 inches (0.28 cm) long.

2. Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete. They are easily capable of lifting or supporting 30 times its own volume and weight!

3. We have somewhere around 300 bones that we are born with. As we grow up, the number reduces to 206 as our smaller bones, fuse into larger bones!

4. There are about 206 bones in a grown-up’s body. But more than half of them are located just in our hands and feet!

5. Bone marrow is found in the hollow bones, that produces new red and white blood cells.

6. Babies don’t have kneecaps! Well, actually they have but their kneecaps have not yet turned into hard bones, and are still soft cartilage, that gradually hardens into bones. This process is called ossification.

7. By the age of 20, the average young person has acquired roughly 98% of his/her skeletal mass.

8. There are around 14 bones are in the face, 8 bones are in each wrist, 27 bones in each hand, 23 bones are in each foot including the ankle and 30 bones in the skull.

9. Adult human bones account for 14% of the body’s total weight.

10. Bones consist of 50% water and 50% solid matter. They are hard, strong and very much alive like muscle tissue. They also have tons of living cells which help them grow and repair themselves.

11. Our ribs move about 5 million times a year, every time we breathe!

12. When there’s not enough calcium in the bloodstream, the body attempts to pull calcium from the bones, which thins and weakens them. This causes osteoporosis, which leads to breaks and fractures.

13. We have over 230 moveable and semi-moveable joints in our body.

14. The strongest and longest bone in our body is the femur (thighbone), and it's hollow!

15. Humans and giraffes have the same number of bones in their necks i.e. 8. Giraffe neck vertebrae are just much, much longer!

Interesting Facts About ABRAHAM LINCOLN

2012-01-03T23:06:00.001+05:30

Abraham Lincoln is not only one of the most loved presidents of the United States of America, but also the first one to have ever been assassinated. A simple man at heart, he had a lot to give to world in terms of virtue and morality, alongside mainstream politics. Here are some interesting facts about Abraham Lincoln :-

1. Lincoln was the tallest President of USA. At six feet, four inches, Lincoln towered over most of his contemporaries.

2. Before Abraham Lincoln, there had never been a U.S. President with a beard.

3. At the time of his marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln had been very poor. Mary Todd Lincoln's family did not approve of the match.

4. Lincoln loved animals and did not like hunting or killing them even for food. He had several pets including dogs, cats, and even a turkey.

5. Most people think of Abraham Lincoln wearing a tall stovepipe hat. He used to store things in his hat, including letters and other documents.

6. Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln had four children. Three of their children died before reaching adulthood. Robert Lincoln was the only child to survive.

7. After his birth mother died of milk sickness, Lincoln's father remarried. As a boy, Lincoln was very close to his step-mother, and she was supportive of his need to educate himself.

8. Abraham Lincoln considered himself a Christian, but he did not belong to any church. He did not routinely say grace at mealtime, but he did read the Bible.

9. Abraham Lincoln was a witty man. Many of his jokes and funny sayings have been recorded.

10. Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated. He was killed on April 15, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth. At the time of his death, Lincoln was 56 years old.

11. Abraham Lincoln had a dream predicting his own death. In his dream, he heard crying in the White House. When he asked the person who had died, he was told that it was the President.

12. Lincoln suffered from serious depression and migraine headaches.

13. Lincoln could wrestle and was exceptionally skilled with an ax. But, he refrained from fishing and hunting because of his love for animals.

14. He created a national banking system with the National Banking Act in 1863, resulting in a standardized currency.

15. Edwin Booth, who had assassinated Abraham Lincoln, had actually saved the life of Robert, one of Abraham Lincoln's sons. Edwin had pulled Robert to safety when he fell into the space between an approaching train and the platform in 1864, in Jersey City.

OLYMPUS MONS - Largest Volcano in Solar System

2012-01-03T22:00:00.000+05:30

The largest known volcano in our solar system OLYMPUS MONS on the planet Mars. At a height of almost 22 km it is roughly three times as tall as Mount Everest and is the also tallest known mountain in the Solar System.. Olympus Mons had been known to astronomers since the late 19th century as the albedo feature Nix Olympica.

Olympus Mons is the youngest of the large volcanoes on Mars, having formed during Mars' Amazonian Period. Olympus Mons is the result of many thousands of highly fluid, basaltic lava flows that poured from volcanic vents over a long period of time.
The extraordinary size of Olympus Mons is likely because Mars lacks mobile tectonic plates. Unlike on Earth, the crust of Mars remains fixed over a stationary hotspot, and a volcano can continue to discharge lava until it reaches an enormous height.

Interesting Facts About CARS

2012-01-03T20:56:00.001+05:30

Overview of cars in 1890's

A car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels. Here are some interesting facts about Cars :-

1. The first car was invented in the year 1672 by Ferdinand Verbiest.

2. The first cars did not have steering wheels. Drivers steered with a lever.

3. The first self-propelled car was invented by Nicolas Cugnot in 1769. It was designed with three wheels and an engine in the front along with the boiler. The car was able to run at a speed of 6 km/hr.

4. Jamshedji Tata was the first Indian to own a car. He bought a car in 1901.

5. World’s first motor-accident was in 1769. The vehicle is still preserved in the Conservatoire Nationale des Arts et Metiers in Paris

6. The first engine powered car was built in Mannheim, Germany by Karl Benz in 1885.

7. The first steam car was invented in 1769 by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in France.

8. The first gasoline automobile was made in 1885 by Karl Friedrich of Germany.

9. The car that sold more than one million units in 1965, setting a record that even stands till date is the Chevrolet Impala.

10. Tata Nano is now the cheapest car in the world and is expected to out-sell the Maruti 800

11. The first auto insurance policy was purchased in in 1897 in Westfield, MA.

12. Windshield wipers were introduced by a woman.

13. An airbag moves up to 4500 mph within a second when triggered. A force of 200g is generated. They are designed to explode at an impact speed of 19 mph. The bag inflates within 40 milliseconds of a crash.

14. In 1924 a Ford automobile cost $265.

15. The word 'automobile' is a blend of French words 'auto' and 'mobile' which means self and moving respectively.

Interesting Facts About RHINO

2012-01-03T15:28:00.002+05:30

The rhinoceros is an intriguing animal. With its large bearing it looks to be a formidable creature. The rhinoceros can actually move quite quickly considering its size. The rhinoceros can be a very peace loving animal but it can also be equally dangerous when it feels threatened. Here are some interesting facts about Rhinos :-

1. Rhinoceroses get their name from their horns. The word rhinoceros comes from the Greek rhino (nose) and ceros (horn).

2. Rhino horns are made of keratin, like our fingernails and hair.

3. The rhinoceros has poor eyesight but it has a highly developed sense of smell and hearing.

4. A rhinoceros can run at thirty to forty miles per hour. Rhinos are herbivores.

5. The average lifespan of a rhinoceros is forty-five to fifty years. The average weight of a rhinoceros is over three to four thousand pounds.

6. A rhinoceros can sleep either standing or lying down.

7. The skin of a rhinoceros is actually quite sensitive particularly to sunburn and insect bites.

8. When a calve is threatened by a predator adult rhinos will form a circle around them to protect the young.

9. Rhinos are herbivores. A group of rhinos is referred to as a crash.

10. There are five species of rhinoceros still alive today. These include the white rhinoceros, the black rhinoceros, the Indian rhinoceros, the Sumatran rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros.

11. A rhinoceros can survive four to five days without water.

12. The white rhino is the largest weighing five thousand pounds and measuring twelve to thirteen feet in length.

13. The Sumatran rhinoceros is the smallest weighing a little less than two thousand pounds and measuring eight to ten feet in length.

14. The hump on the back of a white rhino's neck is a ligament that helps support its massive head.

15. The Indian rhinoceros has a layer of skin with many folds that gives the rhinoceros an armor plated appearance.

WATERSPOUT - Amazing Phenomena

2012-01-02T22:53:00.000+05:30

A WATERSPOUT is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water and is connected to a cumuliform cloud. In the common form, it is a non-supercell tornado over water.While many waterspouts form in the tropics, locations at higher latitude within temperate zones also report waterspouts, such as Europe and the Great Lakes. Although rare, waterspouts have been observed in connection with lake-effect snow precipitation bands.

Waterspouts have a five-part life cycle: formation of a dark spot on the water surface, spiral pattern on the water surface, formation of a spray ring, development of the visible condensation funnel, and ultimately decay.

Interesting Facts About POLLUTION

2012-01-02T21:50:00.001+05:30

Toxic Gases from Industries cause air pollution.

Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Here are some interesting facts about Pollution :-

1. More than 15,000 people in the world die each day because of water pollution.

2. China is world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, followed by United States.

3. India is among countries worst affected with water pollution. This is because 80% of India's urban waste ends up in rivers such as Ganges.

4. Noise pollution is one of the most neglected forms of pollution despite causing huge environmental damage, especially in oceans.

5. For every one of the more than 7 billion people on earth, nearly four tons of carbon dioxide is spewed into the air annually.

6. Ocean acidification is one of the worst types of ocean pollution. Our oceans are becoming more and more acidic because greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels burning are constantly rising.

7. An estimated 14 billion pounds of trash, much of it plastic is dumped in the world’s oceans every year.

8. The cost of one nuclear weapons test alone could finance the installation of eighty thousand hand pumps, giving third world villages access to clean water.

9. Waste from livestock pollutes our water. When it rains, water runs over fields and pastures and can carry harmful bacteria from livestock waste to streams and provides unwanted fertilizer in streams.

Untreated Waste from Factories lead to water pollution.

10. More than 100 active pesticide ingredients are suspected of causing cancer, birth defects, and gene mutation.

11. Seventy-three different kinds of pesticides have been found in groundwater, which is potential drinking water.

12. There are about more than 500 million cars on the planet and by 2030 it is expected to double to 1 billion cars. More cars will mean even higher levels of air pollution.

13. Huge oil spills like the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill are among the worst types of pollution on our planet, particularly because their negative effects last for very long time.

14. The quality water-filtering system is good way to protect yourself from water pollution as much as possible, especially multi-layered home water filtering system.

15. Homeowners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than farmers.

Interesting Facts About CHEESE

2012-01-02T15:48:00.002+05:30

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms. Here are some interesting facts about Cheese :-

1. Archaeological surveys show that cheese was being made from the milk of cows and goats in Mesopotamia before 6000 B.C.

2. The United States produces more than 25 percent of the world's supply of cheese, approximately 9 billion pounds per year.

3. There are over 2,000 varieties of cheeses!

4. People in Greece eat more cheese than anyone else in the world, averaging about 27.3 kilograms per person, three quarters of which is feta cheese.

5. Cheese is one of the most concentrated sources of key nutrients, including calcium, protein, and vitamins A, B12 and D.

6. Pizza Hut uses about 300 million pounds of cheese per year.

7. The first industrial cheese factory opened in 1815 in Switzerland but successful large-scale production began years later in the United States around 1851.

8. Nearly twenty million metric tons of cheeses are produced throughout the world.!!!

9. More cheese is produced annually worldwide than coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa beans and tobacco combined!

10. June is National Dairy Month, and the last week in June is National Cheese Week.

11. It takes approximately ten pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese.

12. Some cheeses, such as blue cheese, brie and gorgonzola are exposed to mold which helps them to age.

13. Cheese can be made from a variety of different milks including cow, sheep, goat, buffalo, horse and even camel.

14. Cheese, eaten in moderation, can be an excellent source of calcium, protein and phosphorous. It often gets a bad name for being high in saturated fat though.

15. Certain varieties of cheese such as cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss and American, may help to prevent tooth decay. It is thought that cheese may increase the flow of saliva which helps to eliminate acids and sugars in the mouth.

16. The vitamins in cheese may help to protect tooth enamel, and the cheese may actually have an antibacterial effect.

17. The most recognizable characteristic of Swiss cheese is its holes which punctuate the pale yellow exterior. These holes, also called “eyes,” are caused by the expansion of gas within the cheese curd during the ripening period.

Interesting Facts About TSUNAMI

2012-01-01T21:30:00.001+05:30

1. A tsunami is usually caused by an earthquake but can also be caused by a volcanic eruption, landslide, rapid changes in atmospheric pressure, or a meteorite.

2. A tsunami is not just one big wave, but a series of waves called a “wave train.” The time period between waves is called the “wave period” and can be between a few minutes and two hours. The first wave is usually not the strongest, and later waves, such as the fifth or sixth, may be significantly larger.

3. Greek historian Thucydides (460–395 B.C.) in his History of the Peloponnesian War was the first to associate tsunamis with underwater earthquakes.

4. The Indonesia 9.0 earthquake in 2004 released more energy than all the earthquakes on the planet in the last 25 years combined. A segment of seafloor the size of state of California moved upward and seaward by more than 30 feet, displacing huge amounts of water.

5. Approximately 99% of all tsunami-related fatalities have occurred within 160 miles (250 km) of the tsunami’s origin or within 30 minutes of when the tsunami was generated.

6. While no one has witnessed a tsunami caused by a meteorite, many scientists think that a meteorite may have created a tsunami that wiped out life on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago.

7. Scientists believe that an asteroid struck the Indian Ocean about 4,800 years ago. The tsunami that resulted is theorized to have been approximately 600 feet (180 m) high.

8. One of the largest earthquakes in history occurred over 100 miles off the coast of Chile on May 22, 1960. Just 15 minutes after the 9.5 quake, 80-foot waves struck the coast. Fifteen hours later, tsunami waves struck Hawaii and, finally, 22 hours after the earthquake, the tsunami struck Japan—10,000 miles from where the earthquake took place.

Tsunami Waves.

9. While waves generated by wind may travel anywhere from around 2 to 60 miles (3.2 to 97 km) per hour, tsunami waves can travel at speeds of 600 miles (970 km) per hour, the speed of a jet plane.

10. Palm trees with their long, bare trunks are well adapted to life on the shore and often survive tsunamis intact.

11. A “mega-tsunami” is a tsunami with extremely high waves and is usually caused by a landslide. A mega-tsunami occurred at Lituya Bay, Alaska, in 1958, creating the tallest tsunami ever recorded at 1,700 feet (534 m) high. Miraculously, only two people died

12. If caught by a tsunami wave, it is better not to swim, but rather to grab a floating object and allow the current to carry you.

13. Seiches are like tsunamis, but instead of occurring in seas and oceans, they occur in enclosed bodies of water, such as lakes or inland seas.

14. While tsunamis have been recorded in every ocean on Earth, about 80% of all tsunamis occur in the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

15. Hours before the Indian Ocean tsunami, people reported seeing elephants and flamingos heading for higher ground. Dogs and zoo animals refused to leave their shelters. After the tsunami, very few dead animals were found.

Japan Tsunami Have Caused Large Destruction.

16. Tsunamis are known from ancient times, dating back almost 4,000 years in China.

17. The earthquake that caused the 2011 Japan tsunami is the world’s fifth-largest earthquake since 1900.

18. The 2011 Japan tsunami is estimated to become the world’s most expensive disaster in history.

19. Tsunamis retain their energy, meaning they can travel across entire oceans with limited energy loss.

20. The World Bank estimates that rebuilding the tsunami-affected areas of Japan will cost $232 billion and will take at least five years.

(Source:- Random History )

Antarctica's Amazing Striped Icebergs

2012-01-01T18:02:00.002+05:30

When you think of Antarctica, pristine white icebergs usually come to mind; probably the last thing you’d expect are humbug-like striped icebergs, with blue, green, yellow and even brown.

Blue Striped Icebergs.

The different colours appear from different reasons, but generally speaking, they appear because some layers of ice form in special conditions. Blue stripes are the most common, and they appear when crevices are filled with water and they freeze so fast that no bubbles are formed. However, things are different with the other ones.

Striped Icebergs

Green appears because the water that freezes is extremely rich in algae, hence the colour. Brown, yellow, and even black stripes are caused by sediments picked up along the way when the ice sheet was sliding downhill.

Green Striped Icebergs

They’re not exactly rare, but quite uncommon still. It was Norwegian sailor Oyvind Tangen, on board a research ship that first photographed and described these glaciers (from what I was able to find, I’m not quite sure however). Anyway, they’re an astonishing sight by any standards, and it’s easy to understand why sailors have pictured them as humbugs.

Brown Striped iceergs

Interesting Facts About NEW YEAR

2012-01-01T12:51:00.001+05:30

New Year signifies an end of the 365 days of the present year and the start of a new year, yet again. It is celebrated all over the world with the same zeal, vigor and enthusiasm. Here are some interesting facts about New Year :-

1. New Year is the oldest of all holidays, as it was first observed in ancient Babylon as many as 4000 years ago.

2. Celebrating New Year on January 1 is purely arbitrary, as neither it has agricultural significance nor astronomical. Many countries still celebrate it in spring, the season of rebirth of new crops.

3. The Roman senate declared January 1 as the New Year in 153 BC. Though even this date saw major tampering, it was Julius Caesar who again declared January 1 in Julian calendar as the New Year, in 46 BC.

4. The first month of the year i.e. January has been named after God Janus (Latin word for door), in the Roman calendar. Janus is the God with two faces, one looking backwards and one forward, at the same time and marks the ‘spirit of the opening’

5. The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve, by giving one another branches from sacred trees, for good fortune.

6. January 1 was revived as New Year in 1582, by the Gregorian calendar and so celebrated by most of the countries till date.

7. In Britain, when the Big Ben clocks strikes 12, everyone gathers around to sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’, a Scottish song. It was written by Robert Burns in the 1700's, literally meaning "the good old days", to remember old and new friends.

8. Many cultures believe that anything given or taken on New Year, in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle".

9. Many parts of the U.S. celebrate New Year by consuming black-eyed peas and other legumes, as it has been considered good luck in many cultures.

10. The tradition of making New Year resolution dates back to the early Babylonians.

11. The Spanish ritual on New Year's eve is to eat twelve grapes at midnight. The tradition is meant to secure twelve happy months in the coming year.

12. Noisemaking and fireworks on New Year's Eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck.

13. Traditionally, it was thought that people could alter the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. It has, therefore, become important to celebrate first day of the New Year in the company of family and friends.

14. Small oil lights are lit all along the roofs of buildings in western India as part of their New Year celebration.

15. To burn up the old year and roll in the new one, people in some areas of Scotland barrels of tar are set afire and rolled down the streets.