My Science School

This is the story of Farzana, a beautiful Kashmiri girl who was a professional nautch dancer in Chandni Chowk Delhi. At a young age she caught the interest of a much older, 45 year old European mercenary called Walter Reinhardt Sombre, and married him, becoming Begum Samru (from ‘Sombre’).

Reinhardt Was a soldier of fortune, and had his own mercenary (a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army) army. Mughal power was Declining, the rule of law had broken down and every pretty king seemed to be fighting with his neighbour. Reinhardt moved from kingdom to kingdom, indulging in intrigues  and fighting for whomever feed him. He was eventually granted out small principality called Sardhana near Meerut by the weak Mughal emperor, Shah Alam II.

A Begum who battled

When he died in 1778, Begum Samru was just 27. In a remarkable move for that age, the Begum took over as the ruler of Sardhana and the head of his professional mercenary army, which had both Europeans officers and  Indian soldiers. Her Jagir (a type of feudal land grant bestowed by a monarch to a feudal superior in recognition of his administrative and/or military service) yielded about £90,000 (about 80 lakhs rupees) per year.

 The Begum was extremely petite, standing only 4 1/2 feet tall, but she often led her men into war personally, wearing a manly turban and charging in on her horse ahead of them. She developed a Fearsome reputation as a warrior, and superstition spread that she was actually a witch who could destroy her enemies through black magic! She was powerful, and helped Indian rulers in many battles. In fact, in the second Anglo Maratha war, her troops were the only ones that were not driven from the field in complete disarray! They defeated advances and even withstood a cavalry charge before marching from the field in a disciplined way. The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II was close to her and called her his “most beloved daughter”, as she had helped him many times. As British rule swept over North India at the turn of the 19th century, she was one of the few who was able to stay on as a free ruler.

Tholic Cathedral

She converted to Catholicism After some years, and was the only Catholic monarchs of India! She  got an Indian architect to Sardhana and had the largest the Roman catholic cathedral in North India built, which can still be seen today. She was quite flamboyant, and maintained a formal Mughal-style court. She patronized Urdu poetry, and three European soldiers became recognized Urdu poets in spare time.

Begum Samru died at Sardhana in January 1837 at the age of 85. As she did not have any children, she hand-picked her successor, leaving her wealth to David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, a great-grandson of her late husband. She died immensely rich. She built a magnificent palace in Chandni Chowk in a garden gifted to her by Shah Alam’s successor. The palatial building still stands today, though in sad disrepair.

A Battle of Wills

Dyce Sombre was a colourful character himself, and lived an extravagant and disreputable lifestyle. He had a mixed French, German, Scottish and Indian heritage, and had grown up speaking Persian, Urdu and English, and learned Latin and Italian as well. After the Begum’s death, the East India company promptly seized Sardhana. Dyce Sombre made his way back to England, where he flaunted himself in British society, even marrying a British aristocrat’s daughter. He was lauded for his wealth, but looked down upon for his Oriental blood. As his behaviour grew more eccentric, his wife got him certified as a ‘lunatic’ and blocked his access to his wealth. He made a melodramatic escape from under house arrest to France, where he continued a lifelong legal battle with the East India company and his own relatives, trying to prove that he was not insane! The British government took over his inheritance in trust for his heirs. It is worth about 1 billion dollars today, and many heirs including Reinhardts long lost relatives all over the world are still laying claim to it.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Gul-Badan Begum was born in 1523 to Emperor Babur, who was the first Mughal ruler of India. She lived most of her life in Kabul, Afghanistan, having lost her father when she was eight. She was brought up by her brother Humayun. When she was 17, Gul-Badan was married to her cousin Khizr Khwaja Khan, a Chagatai noble.

When she was invited by her nephew Emperor Akbar to live in Agra with his family, she obliged and grew to be loved and respected in India. Her storytelling prowess was well-known, and so her nephew approached her to write what she remembered of her brother Humayun. The book was completed after Humayun’s death in 1556.

“Humayun Nama” is the story of the three kings that dominated Gul-Badan’s life - emperors Babur, Humayun and Akbar. It offers an intimate look into their households and lives, making it a much more detailed account of Mughal history than many others.

Gul-Badan also wrote about the nomadic nature of the Mughal women of that time. The book has a rare account of the women’s pilgrimage to Mecca and their lives from the sidelines. She was also a fluent Turkish and Persian poet but none of her poems has survived.

She passed away when she was 80 and Emperor Akbar is said to have constantly lamented about how much he missed his favourite aunt until his death in 1605.

When she was asked by Akbar to write the manuscript, Gul-Badan Begum began: There had been an order issued, ‘Write down whatever you know of the doings of Firdous-makani (Babur) and Jannat-ashyani (Humayun)’. At that time when his Majesty Firdaus-Makani passed from this perishable world to the everlasting home, I, this lovely one, was eight years old, so it may well be that I do not remember much. However, in obedience to the royal command, I set down whatever there is that I have heard and remember.

In her book, Gul-Badan Begum describes her pilgrimage to Mecca – a distance of 3000 miles – along with Hamida Banu Begum, Humayun’s wife. The women were hardy and faced many hardships. Gul-Badan stayed in Mecca for four years and on her way back to Agra, was delayed by a shipwreck. Eventually, she reached Agra seven years after she left on her journey.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The UN system, unofficially known as the UN family, is made up of the UN and other affiliated programmes, funds and specialized agencies. Each of these has its own membership, leadership and budget. The programmes and funds are financed through voluntary contributions and the specialized agencies are independent organisations funded by both voluntary and assessed contributions. Currently, there are 15 specialized agencies carrying out various functions on behalf of the UN.

The funds and programmes in the UN system are the United Nations Development Programmes, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UNICEF and the World Food Programme.

The specialized agencies under the UN are the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the International Labor Organisation, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Maritime Organisation, the International Telecommunications Union, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, the World Tourism Organisation, the Universal Postal Union, the World Health Organisation, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and the World Meteorological Organisation .

A few other important bodies of the UN include the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Women, the World Trade Organisation, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and the International Organisation for Migration.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The UN fulfills its responsibilities through its six main organs. These are:

The General Assembly

This is the main policy making and representative organ of the UN. All 193 Member States are represented in the General Assembly. Every September, the complete UN membership meets in the General Assembly Hall in the UN Headquarters in New York for the annual General Assembly session and general debate. The 74th session of the General Assembly, held in 2019, witnessed the thought-provoking speech on Climate Change by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

The Security Council

This organ is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security. It can determine the existence of a threat to peace or an act of aggression, and can resort to imposing sanctions or authorize the use of force to maintain peace. It has 15 members and as per the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with the decisions of the Council.

The Economic and Social Council

This Council is responsible for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues. Implementation of internationally agreed development goals is also its responsibility. It has 54 members elected by the General Assembly.

The Trusteeship Council

This Council was established to supervise 11 Trust Territories (territories that came into existence when the League of Nations ceased to exist) that were under the administration of seven Member States. The primary role of the Trusteeship Council was to prepare these territories for self-government and independence. All these territories attained self-government and independence by 1994, and on November 1,1994, the Council suspended operations.

The International Court of Justice

The principal judicial organ of the UN, the International Court of Justice, is situated at the Hague (Netherlands). Its role is to settle legal disputes submitted by States in accordance with international law. It also gives legal opinions sought by authorized UN organs and specialized agencies.

The Secretariat

The Secretariat is the UN’s executive arm. It comprises the UN Secretary-General and international UN staff members who carry out day-to-day work of the UN and sets the agenda for UN’s main organs.

 

Picture Credit : Google

 

About the United Nations

The United Nations (UN) is an international organisation founded in 1945 with its headquarters in New York, the U.S. Established after the Second World War with the aim of maintaining world peace, the UN is currently made of 193 Member States. The intergovernmental organisation can take action on issues such as peace and security, sustainable development, climate change, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, food production and gender equality among others, thanks to the powers vested in its Charter which came into force on October 24, 1945.

Apart from international governance, the UN provides a forum for its Member States to express their views in the General Assembly, the Security Council and the Economic Council among others. It facilitates dialogues among its members and serves as a mediator in conflict resolution.

The UN Charter

The UN Charter is the foundational treaty of the UN drafted with the aim of maintaining world peace and upholding human rights of citizens. It was opened for signature on June 26, 1945, after being drafted a few months earlier. As many as 51 countries signed the Charter at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Centre in San Francisco, the U.S, leading to the creation of the UN. The UN Charter entered into force on October 24, 1945 after being ratified by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – China, Russia, the U.S., the U.K., and France - and a majority of other signatories. This was the day when the UN came into being and is today celebrated as the United Nations Day.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The black-footed ferret is a long, slender animal. Nature has made these mammals that way to enable them to easily slip through prairie dog burrows. You may wonder why they haunt these burrows – it’s because their main diet is the prairie dog! Also, they make the burrows their cosy home. They weigh between 1.5 and 2.5 pounds and can grow up to 24 inches long. A strip of dark fur across their eyes gives them the appearance of wearing a mask – rather like bandits!

This member of the weasel family once roamed the prairies from southern Canada to Texas but is now one of the most endangered mammals in North America. In the early 1900s, the United States was perhaps home to over 5 million ferrets. Early in the 20th Century, when agricultural development took place in the U.S., rodent poisons practically wiped out prairie dog populations and in turn the ferrets. Thirteen years after they were listed as endangered in 1967, the last captive ferret died, and the animals were thought to be extinct in North America. Then in 1981 a small population was discovered in a Wyoming prairie dog colony. Between 1991 and 1999, some of these ferrets were released in Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Arizona and along the Utah/Colorado border. And that’s how they were brought back from the brink of extinction. Biologists estimate that are now well over a 1000 black-footed ferrets living in the wild. The average life span of a ferret in the wild is 1-3 years, and 4-6 years for ferrets in captivity.

There are only three ferret species on Earth: the European polecat, the Siberian polecat, and the black-footed ferret. The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) is the only ferret species native to North America. Female ferrets are called “jills”, males are called “hobs” and the young ones are called “kits”. The slender animal has buff or tan fur, with black feet, tail tip, nose and face mask. It has triangular ears, hardly any whiskers, a short muzzle, and sharp claws.

While their main diet is the prairie dog, in regions where prairie dogs hibernate in winter, ferrets feed on mice, voles, ground squirrels, rabbits, and birds. Black-footed ferrets get water by consuming their prey. Ferrets are preyed upon by eagles, owls, hawks, rattlesnakes, coyotes, badgers, and bobcats.

Except when mating or raising their offspring, black-footed ferrets are solitary, nocturnal hunters. They use prairie dog burrows to sleep, catch their food, and raise their young. They are vocal animals their sounds ranging from hisses, whimpers to loud chattering. Like domestic ferrets, they perform the “weasel war dance”, consisting of a series of hops, often accompanied by a clucking sound (dooking), arched back, and frizzed tail. In the wild, the ferrets may dance to distract prey as well as to show they are enjoying life.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Some argue that by feeding birds, we invite predatory birds like blue jays and starlings that have the habit of taking hold of nests of other species and killing their young. Look at it this way. No one is sure if this happens near all the feeders. But thanks to feeders, parent birds are better nourished and can spend less time searching for food and more time tending to the nest. The number of chicks is seen to increase in places where birds rely on feeders. According to Cornell Lab of Ornithology, bird species that frequent feeders do well or better than those that don’t.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Some people worry that birds that frequent feeders may become totally dependent on them. And if, for some reason, feeders become defunct, their food source is removed suddenly. It will take time for the birds to find new sources of food. Naturalists point out that most birds, along with seeds, pick up insects, berries and small vertebrates. They do not live on seeds alone. They constantly forage for food when they are not building nests or hatching eggs. You must have seen sparrows, chickadees, nuthatches and titmice picking up insects from the ground. So, removing a feeder will not starve them. When trees are covered with snow, the backyard food supply gives them the wholesome food they need, even though birds will be looking for insects in tree barks and bushes.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Some people argue that feeding wild birds will affect the bird population, and will cause a whole host of problems for wild birds and the environment. They say that wild birds will stop looking for food in their own habitats, and instead go for the easy access to grains in the feeders. While doing so, they may pose a threat to smaller birds they hunt as food. Still, setting up feeder points and creating a natural system around it is great service to the birds. In snowy winters they won’t starve, in hot summer days they won’t go thirsty.

Making our backyards as bird-friendly as possible seems, on the surface, a smart ecological decision, and one of the easiest things we can do to set right some of the damage we bumbling humans have done to this planet.

When we bring back native plants and encourage the proliferation of natural systems, at least on our little plot of land birds benefit. We benefit by getting to witness many common songbirds, and nature as a whole benefits.

So let’s be good residents of the natural world.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Scientists have reported that bird feeders sometimes spread diseases among birds. This, of course, is rare. But it is a good enough reason to stop feeding birds, asks the author. Any place where animals congregate presents the potential for disease to spread. Birds spread their wings across the ecosystem and so have fewer opportunities for contact with each other. However, these steps will help prevent/control disease transmission at the feeders.

(a) Clean the feeders once in two weeks with 10% non-chlorinated bleach solution. If you see a lot of bird seed waste or bird droppings, change this to weekly cleaning.

(b) Once a week, rake and clean the ground area below the feeder. This is where seed-hulls fall attracting mice. Rodents are usually credited with spreading diseases.

(c) Store the seeds in a dry, secure place. Take care to see that they do not grow mould and do not become food for rodents. Use solid containers, rather than leave them in sacks that can be accessed by mice and squirrels.

(d) See that feeders and the surrounding areas do not have sharp-edged materials. Fences with prickly wires or poles are likely to harm the birds.

(e) If you find the feeders over-crowded, think of a few more such arrangements. You are lucky, birds like what you offer and are bringing friends, so give them more space and food!

(f) Make sure the bird feeder is stocked regularly when you go on vacation, and the bird visitors are safeguarded from predators.

 

Picture Credit : Google

If you have bird feeders, you can watch Nature in your compound, in your neighbourhood. You can enjoy the sight and sounds of birds closely. Otherwise these birds stay on tree-tops.

(a) You can go on a step ahead and set up several types of feeders for different birds. Then you can plant native plants around it. You can have a pond dug up. With all these, you can transform your backyard into a natural habitat, and create a mini ecosystem, a bird sanctuary. People who have a well-planted backyard report seeing a variety of birds.

(b) Once the feeders get going, you will find squirrels and other small animals coming in to “steal” the grain or forage for it on the ground. Your feeders will benefit a sizeable number of animals. Of course, cats will make visits too, looking for easy prey, but you are calling a natural world, right?

So, making a backyard as bird-friendly as possible seems like a smart ecological decision. It is an easy way to compensate for all the million methods by which we are trying to destroy the planet.

The benefits for ourselves include the sight of a variety of birds, the chance to watch their behaviour and food habits up close and listen to their songs and chatter.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Movement: Spacewalk is a challenging task for multiple reasons. Imagine fixing a bolt in a machine while remaining in water. That’s why astronauts practise spacewalks underwater in a large swimming pool near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The astronauts also practise by using virtual reality simulation). As moving in space is difficult, astronauts have their feet attached to a plate to allow them to carry out repair work or experiment with less difficulty.

Temperature: Despite the cooling system in the suit, it could be very hot or cold. Remember, the astronauts do not have the luxury of Earth’s atmosphere to protect themselves from direct sunlight. The temperature can soar in direct sunlight near the space station’s reflective surfaces, or plummet when the sun goes out of sight.

Space debris: The astronauts also risk being hit by space debris or micrometeoroid.

Decompression sickness or bends: Once in their suit, astronauts breathe only oxygen for several hours until all the nitrogen is out of their body. (You must be aware that when we inhale, we don’t take in just oxygen, but also nitrogen which is exhaled as it is by the body. Only oxygen in the air is taken into the blood stream, while other gases along with the CO2 are exhaled). During a spacewalk, nitrogen can cause gas bubbles to form in the body, which can lead to pain in joints such as shoulders, wrists and knees. This condition is called the bends or decomposers sickness.

 

Picture Credit : Google

 

Astronauts undergo many hours of training to familiarize themselves with the exact route they will have to take once out of the space station.

A spacewalk may be either tethered- the astronaut is connected to the spacecraft- or untethered. (Untethered spacewalks were performed only on three missions in 1984 using the Manned Manoeuvring Unit (MMU).)

Astronauts use tethers to remain attached to the space station. They also use tethers to keep tools from floating away. What if they get untethered by accident? NASA spacesuits have mini-jet packs which enable the spacewalker to float back into the station.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Spacesuits are considered to be ‘personal spacecraft’ designed to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of space. Inside spacesuits, astronauts have the oxygen they need to breathe and the water they need to drink. Astronauts put on their spacesuits several hours before a spacewalk.

NASA astronauts wear what’s called an EMU (extravehicular mobility unit), which includes a protective white suit and a strap-on pack that provides oxygen and other life support necessities.

The suit consists of about 14 layers, within which there are three assemblies- (1) the liquid cooling garment which protects the astronauts from overheating; (2) the pressure garment to retain air pressure within the suit and (3) the thermal micrometeoroid garment to protect them from the sun’s radiation and to deflect space debris.

 

Picture Credit : Google

The U.S. Space Agency, NASA, is all set to conduct a marathon of spacewalks in the coming months, including one by an all-female crew.

Does this information give you a deja vu feeling? NASA announced a similar attempt in March 2019 with astronauts Christina Koch and Anne McClain. But it scrapped the plan later, citing spacesuit shortage. Both the astronauts needed medium-size torso component, but only one was available at the International Space Station (ISS) at that time.

Now that another medium hard upper torso (HUT), the part of the spacesuit shaped like a T-shirt, is ready, the first all-female spacewalk plan is back on track. However, this time astronaut Christian Koch will be paired with Jessica Meir and they are expected to conduct the spacewalk on October 21.

What is a spacewalk?

A spacewalk is any activity done by an astronaut outside a space vehicle, such as the ISS, while in space. It is also called the Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA). Astronauts go on a spacewalk to install new equipment, conduct experiments, and to carry out repairs.

Spacewalks usually last between five and eight hours, depending on the job undertaken. By going on spacewalks, astronauts can fix things by themselves instead of bringing them back to Earth to fix.

What is the current mission all about?

The spacewalk by Koch and Meir is one of ten spacewalks that NASA has planned for the rest of the year. The agency has set such an aggressive schedule in order to replace ageing nickel-hydrogen batteries on the ISS with newer lithium-ion ones. NASA astronauts started replacing these batteries in 2017, and they will complete the task this year.

What did the March all-female spacewalk fall through?

On March 29 Christian Koch and Anne McClain were to step out of the ISS and upgrade the space station’s power system.

But during her spacewalk on March 22, McClain discovered that her best spacesuit torso fit was medium, not large as the team previously thought.

There are no male or female versions for spacesuits, but only a mix-and-match collection of parts - torso, arms, gloves, etc. - in different sizes to ensure proper fit. In the past, missions have been all-male or male-female and hence this problem did not arise earlier.

So, NASA had to scrap the plan and conduct a male-female spacewalk instead on March 29. McClain was replaced by astronaut Nick Hague.

But this time around, NASA has the spacesuits ready for both the astronauts, as a new medium size configuration spacesuit was launched to the ISS earlier this year.

 

Picture Credit : Google