My Science School

As well as being one of the strongest muscles in the human body, the tongue has another interesting quality. Similar to fingerprints, humans also have unique tongue prints!

The tongue is a unique organ in that it can be stuck out of mouth for inspection, and yet it is well protected in the mouth and very difficult to forge. The tongue also presents both geometric shape: information and physiological texture information which are potentially useful in identity verification applications. Furthermore, the act of physically reaching or thrusting out is a convincing proof for the liveliness.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Sea horses are monogamous life mates and move around holding each other’s tails. The seahorse’s oddest part is its kangaroo pouch. But what’s even odder is that the male seahorses are the ones with the pouches! That’s because, unlike other animals, the dads have the babies!

Searching for mates can be difficult and risky since seahorses are poor swimmers, found in low densities and rely on camouflage to hide from predators. By remaining faithful to one partner, the pairs have more time to undergo more pregnancies during a single mating season and, ultimately, have greater reproductive success. The pair-bonds of monogamous seahorses are reinforced by daily greetings.

Seahorse couples, such as this pair of thorny seahorses (Hippocampus histrix), greet each other every morning with a unique dance that sometimes involves changing color. The couple promenades and pirouettes together for several minutes before separating for the rest of the day. They greet each other as a way to confirm the other partner is still alive, reinforce their bond and synchronize their reproductive cycles.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The largest desert in the world is Antarctica Nestled around the South Pole, where the coldest temperature on Earth was recorded and which doesn’t receive sunlight for months every year, it’s hard to think of icy Antarctica as a desert. But it is the world’s largest (14.2 million sq.km) because very little precipitation falls there – on average, it gets less than 2 inches a year, mostly as snow. Despite this, vast glaciers cover 99 per cent of its surface as the average temperature (-48 degree Celsius) slows down evaporation to a crawl. Over long periods of time, the snowfall accumulates at a rate faster than Antarctica's ablation, according to "Discovering Antarctica," a project of the U.K.'s Royal Geographical Society.

Parts of Antarctica are showing strong signs of warming up along with global climate change, however. Temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsula have increased by 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 degrees Celsius) over the past 50 years — five times the rate of the rest of the planet. And scientists think that warm ocean waters could be melting Antarctica's glaciers as they flow under the floating tongues of ice.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Mt Erebus is the most active volcano in Antarctica and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. It features a 1700oF lava lake, a swirling pool of magma perhaps many miles deep: one of only five that exit in the world. Riddling the side of the snow-covered volcano are ice caves. The volcanic gases heat their way through these ice caves and escape into the air to form enormous 60-foot chimneys of ice or ‘fumaroles’ with noxious volcanic gases pouring out from their tips.

At the summit of the volcano is some 500 by 600 m large and 110 m deep crater. In this crater is one more – inner crater which is some 250 m wide and 100 m deep. In this inner crater is lava lake – one of the few such lakes in the world. It is filled with phonolitic lava. In fact, Mount Erebus is the only volcano in the world which erupts this kind of lava currently.

If the weather let’s see through the fumes, visitors can admire the glow of this lake from the rim of the crater. The lava lake of Mount Erebus has existed since the discovery of the volcano (and, most likely, before this), but it has constantly changed.

Thus, during the 1970ies the lava lake was some 130 m long and had oval shape. Then, in 1984 – 1985 the volcanic activity increased and the glow of lava was visible from a distance of some 70 km. During this time most of the lava lake “froze” – solidified. Nevertheless, Erebus threw volcanic bombs with a diameter up to 10 m up to 1.2 km far!

Small lava lake with a diameter of some 15 m appeared in late 1985. Then, in the late 1980ies, researchers observed up to three smaller lava lakes.

Lava lake or several lakes existed in the crater in the 1990ies and in the 21st century. In 2010 – 2016 volcano formed two lava lakes.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Forgetting everything you hear in classes or meetings? Your overstuffed notebook might be the culprit. According to psychologists at Mount St. Vincent University in New York, our brains go: “Hey, he’s writing this down, so no need to warehouse this stuff. Better to make room for other stuff.” Researchers call this phenomenon ‘intentional forgetting’.

Subjects played the memory game Concentration in which players memorize images on cards and try to identify them after the cards have been covered up. Half the subjects studied the cards before they were covered; the other half were allowed to take notes. The note-takers did significantly worse than the group that knew they had to concentrate on the images and position of the cards.

Researchers concluded that “participants adopted an intentional-forgetting strategy when using notes to store certain types of information.” Taking notes didn’t improve memory; it made recall worse because the brain was forgetting as fast as its owner was writing.

So the next time your teacher asks why you’re not taking notes, explain that you want to make sure you remember!

 

Picture Credit : Google

Stanford engineers recently demonstrated a pair of gecko-inspired hand pads strong enough to pull the weight of an adult man and to allow him to climb a wall.

The gecko’s climbing ability is due to specialized pads located on its toes, comprised of various satae (bristle-or hair-like structures) on the tip of which lie tiny structures called spatulae, each less than a micron wide. These allow attraction forces called Van der Waals interactions to arise between the adhesive satae and the surface. A single spatulae shows very weak molecular forces, however when coupled together in thousands of thousands on the satae, the attraction becomes very strong.

Researchers created an artificial adhesive that could copy the high surface area of the satae on a gecko’s feet, made from a silicone material called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) that is layered as a microscopic wedge. The pads have “controllable adhesion”, so they could easily be switched on or off simply by transferring weight on the adhesive.

The pads could prove useful in manipulating huge solar panels or other massive objects without any suction power or chemical glues, and in space where astronauts could cling to surfaces of the International Space Station.

 

Picture Credit : Google

I’m a 17-year-old girl in a long distance relationship for almost 6 months. My boyfriend loves me (as he says). But at the same time he talks about girl in his college and he says he likes her too. I also love him (think so). But when I tell him that if he likes her to break up with me, he says he can’t live without me. On the other hand he also says that I should not be serious in the relationship. Please give me a solution out of this.

You are living in a dream world where there is a boy who loves you (“as he says”) but also someone else. You too “think” you love him, but are not sure. The solution is to stop dreaming about love and come back to the reality of life, where true love is experienced not just in words and emotions, but rather in concrete acts of commitment, respect, trust and self-sacrifice. Stop living a dream and build good and loving relationships with people near to you rather than with someone in a long distance relationship whom you don’t really know.

 

Picture Credit : Google

My little sister of 12 sends messages and calls a lot of boys who ask for her phone number. I’ve told her that when I was her age, I was also influenced to do such things but did not resort to such things and so I feel she also must keep away as it can be dangerous. But she does not listen. She may get into a lot of problems with my parents if they catch her. I have even told her that I will tell our parents but she told me that if I told them about her, she will tell them about my ex. What should I do?

You are just one year older than your sister and are well aware of the new and strong emotions aroused by the flow of sex hormones into the blood at the beginning of the teenage. You want to help your sister to avoid the mistakes you may have made at her age; your intention is good, but she does not listen to you. Rather than threatening her with telling your parents, it is better to keep sharing with her your experiences and keep an open and friendly dialogue with her. If your parents come to know, she will have to face their correction and listen to them. It is the duty of the parents to correct and guide their children.

 

Picture Credit : Google

I met a guy a year ago in train. We had eye to eye contact. Our families were near us, so we did not talk but we exchanged numbers and spoke to each other for many days. He is 24 years and I am 16. We love each other. I don’t care what people say but I want some advice from you. Is this fine in this modern generation or not?

To live in a “modern generation” does not mean to give yourself up in a relationship with someone with whom you just had “eye to eye contact” and some phone conversations. You may not care what people say but you should care for what your parents may say if they come to know about it. Love is built on a deep and committed personal knowledge of each other, sharing of ideals and values, care and respect for each other. This takes time and maturity, which you do not have at the age of 16.

 

Picture Credit : Google

I met a boy online about four years ago. He is 21 years old now. We have been good friends. We usually share photos and chat online. Last year, he told me that he was in love with me. At first I didn’t want to be in a relationship with him but slowly I started feeling that I love him too. We have never met each other (he lives in West Bengal), so I’m worried that he might not be the right person for me. Is this love? Should we be in a relationship?

For the last four years you have been in an online relationship with a boy whom you never met. All you know about him is what he tells you in your online chatting; nothing more. Now he’s started chatting about loving you and you started “feeling” that you too “love him”. Much of what I wrote in the letter ‘I AM IN A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP’ applies to you also. Read it carefully. Stop dreaming about love and start living real and committed relationships with people near to you, starting from your family. To your question: “Is this love?” I reply: no, it is just feelings and emotional dreams; this is called ‘infatuation’.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Strawberries are not berries. They are an “aggregate fruit”, forming from a flower that has many ovaries; the ovary being the part of the flower that eventually develops and ripens into a fruit. Once the ovaries are pollinated, the ovaries will smell and eventually from the strawberry. Actual berries, though, are what are known as “simple fruits”; they form from a flower that has only one ovary. Examples of actual berries that most people don’t think of as such include: tomatoes, and – believe it or not – bananas! (Their seeds are so tiny it’s easy to forget they’re there.)

Since they were discovered in 1887, the Waitomo Glowworm Caves in New Zealand have inspired wonder with their stalactites and stalagmites, glowing with tiny bright blue lights. The fungus gnat, Arachnocampa luminosa, which is unique to New Zealand, can be found in massive numbers in the caves. Their bioluminescent larvae cling to rock walls and hunt prey with long, glowing strings of sticky mucus. The larvae use the lights to attract insects into the sticky strings, where they are consumed.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Ko Hingham in Thailand is a small uninhabited island which according to Thai mythology, the gods decided to adorn with precious stones. But Tarutao, a Thai deity, is said to have placed a curse onto the island. Any visitor who dares to take even a pebble off the island would be cursed forever! Each year the National Park office, which manages the island, receives dozens of stones returned via mail. The stones of Koh Hingham must stay on Koh Hingham or you risk the wrath of Tarutao!

Even though you cannot take the stones home, you can play with them within the boundaries of the island for as long as your inner child wishes to do so. Thai people, for example, use them to build miniaturized cheddis and kneeling in front of them, they lay their most ardent wishes and prayers. Less mystically, tourists write short messages in black and white such as flower-powers and I-love-yous. Come and do the same, just leave the stones behind.

 

Picture Credit : Google

 Kiyoshi Kimura, president of sushi restaurant chain Sushi-Zanmai, has spent about $2.6 million over the past four years on exactly four giant Pacific bluefin tuna in his annual winning bids at the opening of the Tsukji Market, Tokyo’s premier fish market, the largest and busiest in the world. This year, he spent $37,500 on the first tuna (180 kg) of the season while in 2013 he paid $1.76 million for a 222 kg tuna, which remains an all-time record.

Japanese eat 80 per cent of the bluefin tuna caught worldwide, and much the global catch is shipped to Japan for consumption.

Mr Kimura also set the old record of 56.4 million yen at last year's New Year's auction, which tends to attract high bids as a celebratory way to kick off the New Year – or get some publicity. The high prices don't necessarily reflect exceptionally high fish quality.

The price works out to a stunning 700,000 yen per kilogram, or £2,240 per pound.

Stocks of all three bluefin species -the Pacific, Southern and Atlantic – have fallen over the past 15 years amid overfishing.

 

Picture Credit : Google

 

A female housefly can lay approximately 9,000 eggs in a lifetime! The eggs are laid on or near meat, often dead animals. Within a day, larvae (maggots) hatch from the eggs; they live and feed on dead and decaying organic material, such as garbage, carrion or faeces. They are pale-whitish, and have no legs. Their life cycle is from 14 hours to 36 hours.

At the end of their third instar, the maggots crawl to a dry, cool place and turn into pupae. These are coloured reddish-brown and about 8 mm long. From the pupae emerge adult flies. The whole cycle is known as complete metamorphosis.

Adults live from two weeks to a month in the wild. After they come out from the pupae, the flies do not grow. Small flies of the same species did not get enough food when they were larvae. The function of adult insects is to reproduce.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Weighing just 6 gms, the Long-billed Hermit doesn’t seem like it would pose much of a threat to anything. But these hummingbirds are feisty fighters, and when the normally solitary males come together to attract females with their singing and then compete for a chance to mate, scuffles often break out. One male will approach another and try to chase him away from his singing perch, and then the two will dance around, bobbing their heads and snapping their beaks. As the confrontation escalates, the birds attempt to stab each other in the throat with their beaks, using them like little daggers.

The researchers confirmed that only male birds had the longer, pointier upper beaks, and that they developed them only as they transitioned into adulthood and were ready to start mating and competing with each other. The adult males’ beaks were also able to perforate a plastic sheet more easily than the females’ or the young birds’ beaks and, in real-world fights, the birds with the largest and pointiest beaks were indeed better able to defend their territory and gain more access to females for mating. All of this, er, points to the sharp-tipped beak evolving as a weapon for male-vs.-male combat, says Rico-Guevara, and makes it the “the first documented sexually dimorphic weapon in hummingbirds.”

 

Picture Credit : Google