My Science School

There is no way you can escape talk about climate change today. And a lot is written about it - its definition, reasons for it, how it affects us, remedial action. Every time I read about climate change I find new words and phrases related to it. As someone put it. “The Language surrounding climate change is changing right alongside the climate itself." How many of the words and phrases mentioned in this article you, are familiar with?

Climate change:

The phrase "climate change" began Life as "global Warming." It began to be used in the 1950s and was explained, as: "a long-term rise in Earth's average atmospheric temperature." In 1896, Swedish, scientist Svante Arrhenius declared that global warming existed and the reason was human behaviour. However, writers and speakers found the term, "global warming" confusing. Would the Earth just continue to get warmer and warmer and eventually have no winter at all? Scientists and, science writers needed a term that described the phenomenon in a better way. So they chose the term "climate change."

Greenhouse effect:

This term began to be used in 1975. It came from theory that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapour and methane led to atmospheric heating. This let the sun’s energy through to the ground but impeded the passage of energy from the earth, back into space. This "greenhouse effect' contributed, to global warming. The phenomenon, similar to how heat is trapped, inside ct greenhouse, was first explained by Joseph Fourier in 1827.

Global Warming:

The term “global warming" was recognised, and used widely in the late 1980s, after NASA scientist James Hansen told the U.S. parliament that there was clear cause-and effect relationship between greenhouse gases and global warming. In 2006, when former Vice-President Al Gore released the documentary An Inconvenient Truth in which he talks about carbon emissions, the phrase "global warming" got a big boost.

Polar Vortex:

The term polar vortex has been used widely across the world since 2014. The term came into existence to describe weather that brought extremely cold temperatures to parts of North America and Europe. The vortex is "a mass of swirling cold air that naturally exists at the Earth's poles," and in the Northern Hemisphere, during winter, the vortex expands, sending blasts of Arctic air to Canada and the U.S. This causes wild weather events described as "polar vortex."

Green New Deal:

In February 2019, Senator Ed Markey and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the U.S. Congress (parliament) introduced, the Green New Deal (GND), a plan to fight climate change. The plan asked for investments in clean-energy jobs and, infrastructure, with the aim of "decarbonizing" the economy by shifting away from fossil fuels. The plan, is modelled on former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal in the 1930s. The word, "Green" was added to show that the plan was "environmentally sound, or beneficial."

Microplastics:

This term, alarms naturalists and, environmentalists, and should alarm us too. Plastic reaches oceans and waterways, and then degrades into smaller pieces. Plastic pieces that are less than five millimetres in length have been called microplastics since the 1990s. They are now actively polluting every patch of water on Earth. They have been found in the Arctic, in the fishes caught across the globe and in human stool.

Single-use plastic

This term is a rage now, with governments thinking seriously of banning them. Single-use plastics are plastic items used once and they thrown away, like water bottles, straws and carry bags.

Ocean acidification:

Scientists believe that along with the landmass and the atmosphere, the oceans are also getting warmer. This causes ocean acidification. It means the ocean is becoming more acidic, and, the ocean floor is slowly being dissolved by the acid in the water. Scientists warn that something similar happened, during the Permian-Triassic period, leading to over 90% of marine species becoming extinct.

Climate refugees:

A refugee is "someone who is forced, to flee for their own safety, especially to a foreign country." Since 2008 more than 24 million people have been displaced by extreme weather. Droughts, floods, deadly storms and heavy snowfall have driven people out of their homes to temporary shelters. These are the climate refuges. The term "climate refugees" was first coined in the year 1995.

Negawatt:

"Negawatt A negavvcitt is "a unit of energy that is saved by conserving energy." The term derives from, "megawatt” unit of measuring electricity. Negawatt is the opposite of megawatt - "nega” is short for "negative." The term has been around since 1984. Scientists give us proof to show that creating energy-saving technologies may be even more beneficial than trying to find alternative energy sources. Efforts Like the Green New Deal tell us to use energy carefully, reduce energy spending and get negawatts. So the term "negawatts" is being used often. Solastalgia

Climate change isn't just having a disastrous effect on our environment. It’s also having an effect on our mental health and well-being. Environmental change can cause real distress and anxiety. People are traumatised by sudden floods, storms and severe drought. Wildfires triggered by climate change disrupt people's Livelihoods and Iifestyles. In the early 2000s, environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht named, this environmental distress solastalgia. In a 2007 report of drought and coal-mining in Australia, Albrecht wrote that "people exposed to environmental change experienced negative affect that is exacerbated by a sense of powerlessness or Lack of control, over the unfolding change process." The word "Solastalgia" combines the Latin solacium, ("comfort, solace") with the Greek algos, "pain."

Use these words when you speak and write. Knowing the right words to discuss the sorry state of our environment and the reasons for the degradation will help to find ways to solve problems. Language is a powerful tool to express our anxiety. It helps to start discussions on what we need to do collectively to reverse the damage caused by climate change.

 

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Several states have opposed the imposition of hefty fines for traffic violations, saying it will overburden people and that it would lead to higher levels of corruption. However, the Central government says it is only a model Act and that the State governments are free to make their own laws and rules.

What are the rules that apply to juvenile drivers under the Act?

In case of accidents involving juvenile drivers, the guardian of the juvenile or the owner of the motor vehicle will be deemed quality. The guardian or owner is punishable with imprisonment for a term of three years and with a fine of ?25000. But the guardian or owner will not be liable if the juvenile has a learner’s license.

What are the states that have revised the fines?

While some States such as Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Gujarat have reduced the fines for various offences. States such as Telengana, Punjab, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh have decided not to implement the Motor vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019.

Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Odisha have put the implementation on hold for now. Kerala had initially implemented the new Act, but withdrew it following protests by the people and trade unions. Tamil Nadu has announced that it will reduce the fines.

 

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The new traffic rules under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019, came into force in many states on September 1. Under the Act, heavy fines are imposed for offences such as over-speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving without states are not happy with the hefty fines and have opted to reduce the quantum of fines as suggested. What is the scope of the penalties imposed under it? 

The Motor Vehicles Act is an Act of Parliament which regulates all aspects of road transport vehicles. The Motor vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which sought to make changes to the 1988 Act, was passed in the Rajya Sabha in July and in the Lok Sabha in Aught. The new traffic rules with sticker penalties, under the 2019 Act, came into effect on September 1.

How have the penalties been increased under the recently amended Act?

• The penalties for breaking traffic rules have gone up multi-fold. For driving without a license, the new fine is ?5000, which is 10 times the earlier fine of ?500.


• The maximum penalty for driving under the influence of alcohol has been increased from ?2000 to ?10000.


• For speeding or racing, the fine has been increased from ?500 to ? 5000.


• Not wearing a seatbelt while driving would attract a fine of ? 1000 as against the earlier fine of ?100.


• If a vehicle manufacturer fails to comply with motor vehicle standards, the penalty will be a fine of up to ?1 Lakh.


• The Central government may increase the fines by 10% every year.

Why are the other provisions as per the new Act?

• The new Act has extended the period for renewal of driving licenses from one moth to one year after the date of expiry.


• The Act also promises to protect those who render emergency medical or non-medical assistance to a victim of an accident, from any civil or criminal liability.


• The minimum compensation for death or grievous injury in hit-and-run cases has been increased from ?25000 to ?2 Lakh in case of death, and from ?12500 to ?50000 in case of grievous injury.


• The central government will develop a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims during the ‘golden hour’ – the time period of up to one hour following a traumatic injury, during which the likelihood of preventing death through prompt medical care is the highest.


• The Act requires the Central government to constitute a Motor Vehicle Accident fund, to provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in the country.

 

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The Wall and attempts to cross it

Willi Seifert, commander of the GDR’s interior troops was tasked with erecting the barrier. Constructed in August 1961, the Berlin Wall was actually two walls separated by a heavily guarded, mined corridor of land known as the “death strip”. There was also around 50km of heavy wire mesh, existing cemetery walls and house facades that made up part of the Wall. The entire length of the Wall was 163 km.

Lined with nearly 300 watchtowers, the Wall was under the constant surveillance of the East German border guards. They were authorized to shoot at anyone attempting to cross the Wall.

Several attempts were made by people to cross over the Berlin Wall. It claimed the lives of at least 140 people. The most public incident of the attempt to cross over was that of Peter Fetcher. Peter and his friend, both teenagers, sprinted across no-man’s land near a border crossing-point nicknamed Checkpoint Charlie on August 17, 1962. While his friend made it over, 18-year-old Peter was shot in the back and collapsed. As western photographers pleaded with the guards to rescue the teen, the guards refused to help.

Amidst the lull, there were several East Germans who managed to cross the Wall using different ways. While some used sports cars and armoured trucks, some dug tunnels and built a hot air balloon.

The fall of the Wall

Things started to deteriorate for the Eastern bloc in the 1980s with the start of an energy crisis and political struggle within the bloc. Rising civil unrest also put pressure on the East Germany government. However, what started the downfall of the GDR was the fall of the Iron Curtain between Hungary and Austria. The opening of that border led to several East Germans migrating to West Germany through Hungary. However, this attempt was quickly blocked, but East Germans began to camp at West German embassies across the Eastern bloc and refused to return. Meanwhile, demonstrations began within East Germany in full swing.

East Germany was pressured to relax some of its regulations on travel to West Germany. On November 9, 1989, at a pressconference to announce the same, East German spokesman Gunter Schabowski announced that East Germans would be free to travel into West Germany, starting immediately. However, he failed to clarify that some regulations would still apply. This led to the western media reporting that the border had been opened, leading to large crowds gathering at either side of the checkpoints. Eventually, passport checks were abandoned and people crossed the border unrestricted.

The Berlin Wall had fallen, and this fall marked the beginning of the unification of Germany, which took place on October 3, 1990.

 

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A guarded concrete wall that physically and ideologically divided Germany’s capital, the Berlin Wall stood tall between 1961 and 1989.

Construction of the Wall commenced on August 13, 1961 by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) to ensure people from East Germany did not emigrate to West Germany. The Wall finally fell on November 9, 1989 after East Germany declared all the crossing points along the wall open.

Backdrop to the building of the Wall

In 1949, a war-torn Germany formally split into two independent nations – the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic – with the FDR allied to the western democracies led by the U.S. and the GDR allied to the Soviet Union led by Russia. These superpowers had growing geopolitical tension between them, in what is today known as the Cold War. The city of Berlin, was at the centre of this heated split, with one part under the Eastern bloc and the remaining three with the West under the U.S, Britain and France.

Why was the Wall built?

Free flow of people between the two parts was allowed through Berlin as East Germany had sealed its mainland border from the West along the Elbe river and the mountains of Harz with barbed wire and fire zones.

As time passed, many people from East Germany migrated to the West in search of better jobs and infrastructure.

One in six people fled from the East to the West. This irked the GDR as its economy was deeply affected due to this ‘brain drain’. Thus, in a bid to halt this migration, East German communists were given the permission by Moscow to close the border and build a physical barrier along it.

With information from their informers in the western part that the West will not react, East German Police, in a top-secret operation, established a human cordon along the border with West Berlin. The border forces then went on to build a solid breeze-block wall trapped with barbed wire, from what was earlier just provisional wire-mesh fences.

 

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Odd-looking, but cuddly

The pudgy and furry wombat is one of the oddest-looking animals on Earth – rather like a pig, bear and koala all rolled into one.

There are three species of wombat: the common wombat (Vombatus ursinus), the northern hairy-nosed wombat (Laisorhinus krefftii), and the Southern hairy nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons). You will be able to see all three in Australia and Tasmania, usually in forested and mountainous area.

Marsupial

Wombats are marsupials, related to koalas and kangaroos. They usually live up to 15 years in the wild, but can live past 20 and even 30 years in captivity. Rotund, with stubby tails, short ears and tiny eyes, wombats grow to around one metre in length and weigh anything between 20 and 40 kg. their fur is either sandy brown or grayish-black and this helps them blend with the landscape – a way of safeguarding themselves from predators.

Big eaters

These animals are nocturnal and emerge from their burrows to feed at night. Being herbivores, they feed on grasses, herbs, bark, and roots. They spend a lot of time, eating. They have sharp large incisors like rodents which help them gnaw at thick vegetation. Their teeth never stop growing. But they are slow to digest their meal – it takes around 8-14 days for them to fully digest their food. But this helps them adapt to Australia’s arid conditions. Since they derive most of the moisture they require from plants, they don’t need to drink much water either. And interestingly, they are the only creatures in the world to excrete poop that is cube-shaped!

Burrowing away!

They are amazing burrowers and dig lengthy burrow systems with their razor-sharp teeth and claws. Common wombats are shy and solitary and inhabit their own burrows, while the other two species may be more social and live together in large groups in their warren.

Quick sprinters

Wombats may look plump and slow, in fact, their walk is more of a waddle. Despite their podgy bodies and stubby feet, they can run really fast – even up to 40 km/h.

Just communicate

They communicate with one another in various ways – vocalizations, aggressive displays, and markings on logs and branches made by rubbing against them repeatedly. Wombats tend to be more vocal during mating season. When angered, they can make hissing sounds.

Jellybean or joey?

Female wombats give birth to a single young one known as a joey in the spring, after a gestation period of 20-21 days. When the joey is born, it is the size of a jellybean and not completely developed. The joey climbs into it mother’s pouch right after birth to finish developing and stays there for about five to six months. Wombats are weaned after 15 months.

Once pests, now protected

In 1906, the Australian government declared wombats pests and encouraged people to kill them. From 1925 to 1965, some 63,000 wombats skins were redeemed for cash. Fortunately, this practice has stopped. All species of wombats are protected in every state except for Victoria.

Powerful posterior

Startled wombats can charge humans and bowl them over, with the risk of broken bones from the fall, besides wounds from bites and claws. When running away from predators like Tasmanian devils and dingos, wombats rely on their thick rump skin to protect them. Their rear-ends are mostly made up of cartilage, which makes them more resistant to bites and scratches. At the end of a chase, wombats will dive into their burrows and block the entrance with their posterior. They’re also capable of using their powerful backs to crush intruders against the roofs of their burrows.

Wombat facts

• A group of wombats is known as wisdom, a mob, or a colony.


• Believe it or not, wombats can jump! Some have been known to jump over metre-high fences.


• The giant wombat, an ancestor of modern-day wombats, lived during the Ice Age and was the size of a rhinoceros.


• Since 2005, Wombat Day is observed in Australia on October 22.


• Wombats have featured in Australian postage stamps and coins and ‘Fatso’, the wombat, was the unofficial mascot of the Sydney 2000 Summer Games.

 

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Stars do not really twinkle, they just appear to twinkle when seen from Earth, because of out atmosphere. When light from the faraway stars enters the Earth’s atmosphere, its path is affected by air movement, temperature and the density of various layers in the atmosphere. This causes the light from the stars to refract multiple times before reaching us, making the stars look as if they were blinking.

The telescopes we send into space take better pictures of stars than telescopes on Earth because the telescopes in space do not have to take pictures through our disturbing atmosphere. For the telescopes on the ground, scientists use lasers and mirrors to adjust to the star’s twinkling, which creates a clearer picture of distant stars.

Stars appear to twinkle to us on Earth because our planet’s atmosphere contains wind, temperature differences, and density variation. As the light from a distant star passes through our chaotic atmosphere, the light spreads out and becomes bend. The bending and spreading of starlight as it reaches our eyes causes us to see twinkling stars.

 

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Filled with just jam or layered with spicy meat, cheese and vegetables, sandwiches are one of the most popular quick-meal options today.

What exactly is a sandwich?

A sandwich is any food that consists of two slices of bread with a filling in between. This dish is generally eaten as a light meal. However, the definition changes from one place to another. For instance, burritos and hot dogs are also considered sandwiches in New York, but Massachusetts, a nearby State in the U.S., does not accept burritos as sandwiches.

Origin

The first sandwich was made in England in the mid-1700s for John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. Most food historians believe that Montagu, who was addicted to gambling, spent several hours at the card table and did not even take breaks for meals. During one of his long games, he reportedly asked his cook to prepare something he could eat without getting up from his seat. The cook is said to have prepared a dish with meat stuffed between two slices of bread, and the sandwich was born. Some food historians believe that the cook might have drawn inspiration from the West Asian Mezze platter (a snack tray with a selection of appetizers). Documents such as diary entries from this period suggest that the noble men of the kingdom began consuming sandwiches after it was popularized by Montagu. Other gamblers and busy people eating sandwiches, and by the end of 1760s, it became common. It was noted that by 1789, King George III and his family always took a supply of sandwiches on outings. Though America is currently one of the highest consumers of sandwiches, the dish was not popular in the region until the 1820s. Some believe the Americans intentionally avoided culinary trends from their former colonizer. However, as time passed by, sandwiches were adapted to suit local preferences and were included in American cookbooks and restaurant menus.

One of the most iconic events in the history of sandwiches is the invention of the bread-slicing machine by American inventor Otto Rohwedder in the 1920s. This machine made it possible to get uniform, thin and neat slices of bread that can be packed and sold. By the end of the 20th Century, sandwiches became a global hit, with each region having its own variant.

Across the world

As mentioned above, most countries have their own iconic sandwiches. Here are a few famous ones:

Vietnamese Banh Mi

This consists of a baguette (French bread) split lengthwise and filled with various savoury ingredients and flavoured with cilantro, jalapenos and mayonnaise.

Bombay sandwich

This sandwich consists of cucumber, carrot, lettuce, mayonnaise, processed cheese, boiled potato and a generous layer of cilantro chutney.

Portuguese Francesinha

This rich sandwich is made of ham, sausage and steak layered between sliced bread. The sandwich is topped with melted cheese and a tangy red sauce.

The largest sandwich

The largest sandwich was prepared by Wild Woody’s Chill and Grill, Roseville, Michigan, the U.S. on March 17, 2005. The sandwich weighed about 2,467.5 kg and measured 17.5 inches in thickness and was 12 ft long and 12 ft wide. It contained 68 kg mustard, 468 kg corned beef, 118 kg cheese, 240 kg lettuce and 1,618 kg bread.

In the mood for something quirky?

If you’re bored eating the regular sandwiches, there are a wide range of offbeat options such as, banana and bacon’; banana and mayonnaise; instant noodles; harm, cheese and Oreos; chicken and Nutella; and cheese and maple syrup.

 

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California has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. On the one side, this U.S. State has been fighting a series of wildfires that have destroyed acres of forests and displaced thousands of people. On the other, it’s facing threat from the explosion of a marine species called the purple sea urchin. These urchins have chomped off 90% of the bull kelps along the coastline of California and neighbouring State Oregon, putting the entire coastal ecosystem out of whack.

Kelps are a type of a large brown seaweed that grow in shallow, nutrient-rich saltwater, near coastal fronts around the world. They offer shelter to a host of sea creatures. The coastal water of northern California was once home to a dense coverage of kelps. But today, they have been replaced by purple sea urchins. The vast stretch of the seafloor is barren and is dotted with nothing but tens of millions of these spiny orbs.

Sea urchins are typically spiny, round creatures, inhabiting all oceans. They belong to the phylum Echinodermata – the same group or sea stars, sand dollars, sea lilies and sea cucumbers.

The purple sea urchin – Steongylocentrtus purpuratus – is voracious, kelp-eating species. They are particularly fond of bull kelps. They are native to California’s coast, and have traditionally been found in smaller numbers. But now, from California, the population of the sea urchins has spread to Oregon reef, where their count has been found to be 350 million – more than a 10,000 % increase since 2014. These millions and millions of sea urchins are eating away not just kelps but also anemones, the sponges, flesh red algae and even sand, say scientists.

Cascade of events

Sea water wasting

The trouble began in 2013, when a mysterious disease began to spread among starfish. Scientists are not sure what caused the diseases in sea stars. It wiped out tens of millions of the species. This included sunflower sea water, which is the only real predator of the purple urchin. With no predators to keep the population in check, the hitherto harmless purple sea urchins began to grow and multiply, eating everything in sight. Destruction of kelps, their primary source of food, left other creatures depended on it to starve and die. Meanwhile, purple sea urchins’ population grew 60-fold between 2014 and 2015.

Double whammy for kelps

The kelps had already been struggling because of warmer-than-usual waters in the Pacific Ocean. Warm waters are nutrient poor, and as a result, the kelp cannot grow high enough to reach the surface of the water for photosynthesis. The 2014 record-breaking heatwave and subsequent El Nino condition in 2015 fuelled their decline further.

Ecosystem collapses

As the kelps population declined, 96% of red abalone, a type of sea snail that feeds on kelp, died from starvation, by 2017. According to a study, red sea urchins, a meatier relative of purple urchins, are also declining due t lack of food kelps.

Fisheries affected

The devastation is also economic. Until recently, red abalone and red sea urchins supported a thriving commercial fishery in both California and Oregon. But the mass moralities of red abalone led to its closure in 2018. The commercial harvest of red sea urchins in California and Oregon also has taken an enormous hit.

Can kelps rebound?

• Bull kelp is one of the fastest-growing algae on Earth and if the cooler water temperatures return, the seaweed may be able to bounce back. But the excessive numbers of purple sea urchins will still pose a problem.


• The only way to restore the kelp is to remove the purple sea urchins. But to remove the ones in Oregon alone, it would take 15 to 20 years, by scientists. Without the kelps, purple sea urchins by themselves may decline. But again it could be a long wait.


• Conservationists suggest urchin farming as a solution to the problem. It involves physically removing large numbers of purple sea urchins from the seafloor to be flattened up in controlled environments for human consumption.


• However, even if the kelps rebound, it may take decades for the entire ecosystem to bounce back to its past glory.

 

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Strange are the ways of the animal world. We think animals are “dumb”, but they have surprising ways of talking to each other. How do animals say “Hey, want to play chase-the-tail?” or “You think we can eat this?” Animal languages don’t have names and we can’t tell what they are saying, but we do know that dolphins whistle, hyenas laugh, wolves howl, lions roar, elephants trumpet, birds whistle, tweet and chirp, frogs croak – to send messages across. And making sounds isn’t the only way they can say “I love you!” They use a dictionary of non-verbal means!

Touch

Chimpanzees greet each other by holding hands, monkeys groom each other by picking off dead skin. Pets and domestic animals lick to show affection. But elephants would be the best examples for communicating through touch. They deliberately touch one another with their trunk, tusks, feet, tail and sometimes through their entire body – to explore, play, protect, fight. Have you seen elephants greeting others with a raised trunk? Use their ears to rub a mate affectionately? Push a calf to join the queue? So it is a crime to keep elephants alone!

Colour

The male koel has a shiny coat, the peacock is a vision when it spreads its wings full of “eyes”. Leaf insects sit on green leaves, stick insects look like dry sticks. Brightly-coloured butterflies are either poisonous butterflies.

Big cats merge beautifully with the tall, dry grass. The fennec fox that lives in deserts has a coat in sand-colour. Using the colour of the background to hide is called “concealing colouration.”

Doesn’t the chameleon change colours repeatedly to match its changing habitat?

Chemical marking

The dog sniffs and pees from time to time on the sidewalk to mark its territory. This “chemical communication” is mostly through pheromones (substance released to convey a message) and through body fluids such as urine and venom. Chemical signals can be air-or-waterbone. You see, snakes can “taste” enemies from a distance by using their forked tongues and the roof of their mouth to collect pheromones. Most big cats mark their territory by urinating. Dogs sniff each other’s hindquarters for information. Cats rub their heads against a person or object to release pheromones to say, “You’re mine!”

Auditory

Animal cries signifying danger or distress are now understood well by humans. Sound travels long distances and becomes an effective medium of communication. Almost all animals call – the cuckoo sings to find its mate, doves coo, frogs croak, male crickets chirp to attract and to warn. Female cicadas respond by snapping their wings. Mammals in the oceans, like whales and dolphins, “speak” at ultrasonic frequencies to communicate over long distances, since visibility is poor in water.

 

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The Eisriesenwelt is one of nature’s jewels. It is located in Werfen, Austria, about 40km south of Salzburg and is accessible by a steep cable car ride.

The Eisriesenwelt is the largest ice cave in the world. Gigantic walls of blue ice greet you as you enter the 42 km-long labyrinth of caves in the mountains of the Tennengebirge. Although the cave extends for over 42 km, only the first kilometre, the area that tourists are allowed to visit, is covered in ice. The rest of the cave is formed of limestone.

Eisriesenwelt was formed by the Salzach River, which eroded passageways into the mountain. The ice formations in the cave were formed by thawing snow which drained into the cave and froze during winter. Since the entrance to the caves is open year-round, chilly winter winds blow into the cave and freeze the snow inside. In summer, a cold wind from inside the cave blows toward the entrance and prevents the formations from melting.

The chilly winds blowing in and out of the cave freeze the water from the melting snow that trickles into the cracks and crevices of the rocks. The result is a crystalline wonderland of natural ice formations. Apart from the frosty stalagmites and stalactites, the shapes resemble a gushing river frozen solid in time. The more you gaze, the more variety of forms you can imagine, such as a waterfall, caste, an icy chapel or an organ! When the guide sets off magnesium flare, the cave gleams with an ethereal glow. Here, the temperature hovers at 0  and lower even in the height of summer. So visitors have to wear warm jackets and gloves.

Before the cave was studied by scientists, locals believed that it was an entrance to Hell and refused to explore it. Though it was first discovered by Anton Pooselt in 1879, expeditions to the cave began only after over 30 years.

 

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In the lush green valley of Bekaa, about 79 km from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, stand the ruins of once-resplendent Roman temples. The city of Baalbek was built in Phoenician times and it was dedicated to Baal the sun god. Later, the Greeks renamed it Heliopolis or the City of the Sun. In 47 B.C., Julius Caesar made Baalbek a Roman colony, the beginning of its golden age.

Over a span of 200 years, starting from the 1st century A.D., a succession of Roman emperors supervised the construction of temples in honour of the popular Roman deities, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury, as well as the god of wine Bacchus. All the temples were built on a raised platform giving a breathtaking view of the surrounding countryside. Earthquakes destroyed much of Baalbek till it was re-discovered and restored in the 19th century. Today, a few Corinthian pillars, the colonnaded entrance and some sculptures and staircases are all that remain.

When archaeologists dug up the site, they found part of a massive stone wall containing three of the largest cut blocks of stone in the world. Named the Trilithon, each of the three stones would be as tall as a six-storey house if stood on end. It would be extremely difficult even with the most modern industrial cranes available today, to transport and place such large stones in a horizontal position. How did the Romans achieve such a stupendous task, not seen on this scale anywhere else in their vast empire?

The largest stone measures 19 x 4 x 3.5 metres and weighs some 800 tons. The quarry is more than a kilometer away, from where each block was transported to Baalbek, lifted up 7.5 metres and placed precisely on top of a platform of smaller stones. So precisely in fact, that it is impossible to insert the blade of a knife between the joints! Some people believed that it must have been built by the devil himself. Others believe that a supernatural or extra-terrestrial force was at work.

Another block of stone weighing about 1000 tons lies unused in the quarry. That it was too heavy for the people, who transported the Trilithion, is an explanation that doesn’t quite satisfy.

 

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The Nilgiri hills over their name to a wondrous violet-hued species of flower that envelop them once every 12 years. The delicate blue Neelakurinji is one of the 250 species of the kurinji flower that blooms after a long interval. The 150 cm-high shrubs thrive at an altitude above 1800m on the Western Ghats of South India. Its flowering season lasts from August to November. The plants grow for many years, bloom en masse and then die after setting seed. Such kinds of plants are called ‘plietesials’.

Thousands of tourists flocked Munnar and the Nilgiris in 2018 to feast their eyes on landscapes bedecked in blue.

Neelakurinji belongs to the family of Acanthaceae. The genus has more than 500 species, of which about 50 occur in India. Besides the Western Ghats, Neelakurinji is seen in the Shevroys in the Eastern Ghats. It occurs at an altitude of 1300 to 2400 metres. Flowering takes places between April and December, peaking towards September.

 

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The night-blooming Cereus figures among the most beautiful cacti that bloom for only a couple of nights every year around June or July. After sunset, the flower slowly unfurls its waxy petals and infuses the air with its fragrance. It lasts only a few hours, closing with the first rays of the morning sun. The flower grows from a large tuber which is valued for its nutritious content.

The white blossom is native to the Sonoran Desert in North America.

Cereus is a fleshy, creeping, rooting shrub found growing in a well-drained soil rich in organic matter. It has tuberous, turnip-like root usually weighing 5 to 15 pounds. Stem is green to bluish green, becoming purplish along ribs, to several m, 1-2.5 cm diam.; ribs 5-8, low; areoles usually 1-2 cm apart along ribs, 1-2 mm diam. The plant consists of spines that are deciduous, 6-18 per areole, whitish to brownish, ± bristle like or short acicular, 4.5-12(-15) mm, intermixed with long, whitish hairs; radial and central spines not distinguishable.

 

Picture Credit :Google

A palm tree is a common sight but to see one crowned with an umbrella-like cluster of millions of tiny cream-coloured flowers is a sight to behold.

The Talipot Palm is native to southern India and Sri Lanka. Its flowers make this particular species of palm unique. Firstly, it boasts of the plant kingdom’s largest flower cluster. Secondly, the palm grows to a height of up to 25 cm for 30-80 years before it produces flowers. Thirdly, the tree flowers only once in its lifetime, yielding about 500kg of round yellow-green fruits. The fruits take about a year to mature after which the tree slowly wilts and dies.

The Talipot Palm is very useful. Buddhists were known to write their scriptures on its leaves. Locals use parts of the tree for building their houses. It is also a source of food and wine.

 

Picture Credit : Google