My Science School

The classification of clouds into types was first proposed by Luke Howard in 1802 and we largely use the same system today. This splits clouds into three main types - stratus, cumulus and cirrus.

Clouds are continually changing and appear in an infinite variety of forms. The classification of clouds is based on a book written by Luke Howard, a London pharmacist and amateur meteorologist, in 1803. His book, The Modifications of Clouds, named the various cloud structures he had studied. The terms he used were readily accepted by the meteorological community and are still used across the world today.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has extended Luke Howard's classifications to make 10 main groups of clouds, called genera. These are divided into three levels - cloud low (CL), cloud medium (CM) and cloud high (CH) - according to the part of the atmosphere in which they are usually found.

Credit : Met Office

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Shardul Thakur joined some elite company by scoring the second-fastest recorded half-century by an Indian in Test cricket.

Shardul Thakur scored his half-century in just 31 balls in the first innings of the fourth Test against England at The Oval, London. His 36-ball 57 included seven fours and three sixes and is the fastest-recorded half-century in Test matches played in England. The previous best was lan Botham's 32-ball fifty against New Zealand in 1986.

Kapil Dev 30-ball fifty against Pakistan in Karachi in 1982

Kapil's 53-ball 73, which included the fastest recorded Test fifty by an Indian, was the only only bright spot in the match. Despite Kapil's heroics, India were bundled out for 169 in the first innings. Pakistan scored 452 and won the match by an innings and 86 runs as they dismissed India for 197 the second time around.

Shardul Thakur 31-ball fifty against England in London in 2021

Shardul Thakur followed up his 36-ball 57 in the first innings with a 72-ball 60 in the second innings of the fourth Test against England at The Oval, London.

Apart from his fifties in both innings, Thakur also picked up three important wickets in the match to set up India's victory. Thakur not only dismissed England's first innings top-scorer Ollie Pope, but also accounted for the, crucial blows of Rory Burns and Joe Root in the second innings.

Virender Sehwag 32-ball fifty against England in Chennai in 2008

Sehwag's 32-ball half-century was the turning point of this Test match between India and England and he was named player of the match for this knock. Batting first, England had scored 316 in the first innings before dismissing India for 241 and taking a lead of 75. England then declared their second innings at 311 for nine, setting a near impossible target of 387 for India to win. That was when Sehwag dominated proceedings, his 68-ball 83 on day four paving the way for India's unlikely victory on the final day as they won the match by six wickets.

Picture Credit : Google

The 2014-15 season saw the Golden State Warriors winning the NBA title for the first time since 1975 and their fourth time overall. They did this in style as they had also topped the regular season comfortably.

With 67 wins in 82 regular season games, Warriors emerged as the top seed overall in the play-offs. They got rid of New Orleans Pelicans 4-0, Memphis Grizzlies 4-2 and the Houston Rockets 4-1 to emerge victorious in the Western Conference. This set up an NBA Final with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were led by LeBron James. The Finals needed six matches, but Warriors eventually finished on top, winning four games to Cavs two.

Did you know?

Golden State Warriors won the Western Conference for five years in a row, starting from 2015. This means that they were involved in the NBA Finals every year from 2015-2019, and they won on three occasions-2015, 2017 and 2018.

The NBA Finals from 2015-2018 comprised the same set of teams, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers. While Warriors won in the three occasions mentioned. Cavs took the title after one of the greatest comebacks in NBA Finals history in 2016.

Warriors Stephen Curry was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the season, while, teammate Andre Iguodala won the Finals MVP honour.

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"House of Hades"

"The Heroes of Olympus" is the succeeding series after the "Percy Jackson" series. In this series, I liked the fourth installation, "House of Hades" better than its predecessor "The Lost Hero". While the "The Lost Hero" followed an adventurous style, with the three protagonists travelling for a quest, I felt the story dragged and the ending was delayed. On the other hand, the "House of Hades" showed the popular duo Annabeth and Percy, struggling to advance in the horrifying underworld, while the other four quest-takers travel to the House of Hades, where they can rescue them. The book presents the events through, different point of views (POVS). Like any other Rick Riordan book, this volume too included side quests but did not feel too boring. This is one sequel I like more than the original.

"Finding Dory"

The movie which I think is better than the original is "Finding Dory". Dory, a blue tang, is the protagonist. Accompanied by an octopus, she overcomes her short-term memory loss, finds her parents and escapes to the ocean in Australia. In the first movie, "Finding Nemo", she was just a side character, who had memory loss, and prolonged their searching of Nemo. But in this movie, Dory embarks on many adventures. She also inspires us by overcoming her difficulties and succeeding. This movie also has better graphics, which enhance the movie, making it a hit. Also, the final scene is breathtaking with the truck crashing and jumping. This movie also tells us that a fish is happy only when it is in an ocean, as there would be little space for a fish to swim in a tank.

"Captain America: Civil War”

According to me, "Captain America: Civil War' is better than the original film ("Captain America: The First Avenger). This film shows the different powers of most of the main avengers. Fans often wonder who is the most powerful Avenger. In this movie the Avengers are divided into two groups based on whom they believe.

"Home Alone 2"

I feel "Home Alone 2" was better than the original one. When Kevin arrives in New York, he explores every major New York landmark. The Duncan's Toy Chest shop in the film looked like one of the most magical places in the world, packed with toys of every shape and size imaginable, and owned by seemingly the kindest man alive.

In this film, Kevin finds himself away from his comfortable home, stranded in the cold, and unknown streets of downtown New York. There's an elevated feeling of danger and intensity, especially when Kevin doesn't have access to his hotel room.

The motives of the villains who call themselves Sticky Bandits are much clearer in this film than in the first one. Not only is the prize at Duncan's Toy Chest much bigger, but it also makes sense that they would want to exact revenge on the kid that caused them so much trouble last time round.

It seemed fairly ridiculous that the McCallisters couldn't call upon at least one person to check on Kevin in the first movie. Similarly, the police could have done a bit more to ensure that an eight-year-old boy left home alone was safe and sound.

But Kevin's free rein in the second film can be explained by the fact that his family doesn't initially know where he is and that New York is one of the busiest cities in the world.

So, I enjoyed the sequel of "Home Alone" more than the original Home Alone.

"Captain America and the Winter Soldier"

In my opinion, "Captain America and the Winter Soldier was better than the previous movie "Captain America the First Avenger. In both the films, the antagonist is Hydra, a technological advanced organisation created by the Nazis to produce powerful weapons. In the second film, the fight scenes and the techniques are quite simple to understand and the weapons are highly effective and

Although plot is a bit tougher to understand and there are too many action scenes in the second film it is still more interesting than the first. Everything bad that happens in the movie is because Hydra was reborn inside SHIELD (an organisation that protects the world and prevents wars).

"Captain America the First Avenger did not have many plot twists and layers. That is why I think its sequel was better.

"Home Alone"

I felt that the film "Home Alone 3" was better than "Home Alone". Both the films had a similar theme where the villains had a horrendous defeat at the hands of the kids. Technology used was better in the sequel than the original film. A lot of humorous scenes made the sequel funny. Characters and the plot in the original movie could have been much better. I felt it was unrealistic for parents to leave their child behind in the house before going for a vacation. While in the sequel, parents having a busy day and leaving their child at home for a period of time is pretty understandable. The original movie felt a bit dragged as child and the thieves kept pranking each other. In the sequel, the movie ended at the right time. I suggest you to watch the sequel. I give it a five-star rating.

"Angry Birds"

"Angry Birds" was a really popular game developed by Rovio. Then in 2016, the "Angry Birds Movie" was released. It is about flightless birds who are happy with life. However, Red, can't seem to get over some daily annoyances. Alongside his friends, Chuck and Bomb, he needs to stop the pigs from eating their eggs. This movie was great. However, the sequel was so much better. "The Angry Birds Movie 2" adds a third island to the storyline and a backstory to Mighty Eagle. The pigs and the birds join forces to stop the eagles from destroying their islands. With many new characters added in to some absolutely hilarious scenes to Red understanding the value of a team, it is much better than the first. Greatest movie one could watch!

"Through the Looking Glass"

The sequel which I find more interesting than the original work is "Through the Looking Glass" (sequel of the famous "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"), by Lewis Caroll. The book "Through the Looking Glass", in my opinion, is the 'true' treasure of nonsense literature. Caroll beautifully unfolds the story step by step, while he highlights that Alice was in a daydream, rather than a dream which occurs in sleep (as it happens in "Alice in Wonderland"). Unlike the original story, the sequel has less changes happening with Alice herself, but more drastic changes in her surroundings and in her experiences. I love the way how Caroll portrays the other world as something opposite to the normal world, where events and memories run backwards (this explains the fact that she is in a mirror world). The poems are also really great and humorous. In the story, Alice plays the role of a white pawn, moving across the chess board, meeting new and eccentric characters on the way. The conversations are more intricate and more complicated than in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland”, and if you don't read them carefully, taking in every detail, the confusing dialogues can drive you nuts, and you'd probably decide against reading the book! In "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", the story follows the same plot throughout, and eventually becomes a bit boring. But in "Through the Looking Glass", there is something new every time you read it. The White Knight, the Lion and the unicorn, and all the other characters add colour and beauty to the wonderful story.

"The Dark Knight"

A film sequel which I liked better than the original is "The Dark Knight". It is a 2008 film which serves as a sequel to 2005 "Batman Begins". The film stars Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, Heath Ledger as the Clown Prince of Crime(Joker). Other actors include Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman. Although "Batman Begins" was very good, it had a weak villain who when compared to Ledger's Joker looks like a common gangster. The Joker completely stole the show at "The Dark Knight and registered a place in our hearts in a movie that was not his One more thing which I liked is that it broke the tradition of hero always winning, even though the Joker was caught, he vanquished The Batman for eight years with his brilliant plans. Ledger became the first actor in a superhero movie to win an Oscar when he got one posthumously for Best Supporting Actor. Although "Batman Begins" was great, "The Dark Knight" will be remembered by me only because of Heath Ledgers legendary portrayal of Joker.

Books vs films

I like the "Alice in Wonderland" books by Lewis Carroll more than the films. I think the books help us develop our curiosity. It also encourages a reading habit. Unlike watching television, reading doesn't harm our eyes. When I read a story, it stays on my mind for a long time. Reading the books also help us is learn new words and improves our vocabulary, which is useful to us. That's why I find the books are more interesting and beneficial to students than films.

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Dogma

The word dogma corresponds to a fixed, especially religious, belief or set of beliefs that are laid down by an authority as unquestionably true. People are expected to accept these beliefs without any doubts.

Origin

The word has been around since about 1600. It is derived from the Latin dogma meaning "philosophical tenet" and is from Greek dogma, meaning "opinion, tenet" and literally "that which one thinks is true". While the word was regarded in 17th and 18th Centuries as a Greek word in English, it was subsequently changed to be a native English word.

The word was rather popular in the second half of the 19th Century and its usage has ebbed and flowed since then.

Usage

From a young age, she was known for her ability to question and even burst the bubble of generally accepted dogma.

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Inequity

Used as a noun, inequity means injustice, unfairness. It refers to a lack of equality and is often used in social, economic and educational contexts.

Origin

The term inequity is formed from the Latin prefix in meaning "not" + English equity meaning "fair, equal." A similar word "iniquity" means "sin, wickedness" involving a strong moral component. Iniquity is the older word to enter English from Old French iniquite which in turn came from Latin iniquitas (in meaning "not" + aequus meaning "just, level or equal"). And inequity was constructed much later. Though the words "inequity" and "iniquity" are etymologically related to the Latin word for equal, they have different meanings and associations. Today, "inequity" is more frequently used than "iniquity."

Usage

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted inequities in education.

An inequity in salaries exists in many organisations.

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Impale

Meaning:

Impale means to pierce with something sharp. It is used as a verb.

Origin:

The term could have been derived from Middle French empaler or Medieval Latin impalare meaning "to push on to a stake" (in meaning into + palus meaning a stake, post or pole). The term has been in use since the early 17th Century.

Example sentence:

She impaled the marinated paneer and vegetables on the skewer before cooking them on a grill.

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Onomatopoeia

This adjective refers to anything relating to onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it. For instance, the word hiss, referring to the sound made by a snake.

Origin:

Onomatopoeia has its origins in Greek - onoma (meaning "name") and poiein (meaning "to make").

Example:

Quack is an onomatopoeic word, referring to the sound made by ducks.

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Chutzpah

As a noun, chutzpah means extreme self-confidence, audacity, cheek, bordering on arrogance.

Origin

The word chutzpah is believed to have been derived from the Yiddish word 'khutspe, which means impudence or gall. Khutspe has been derived from the Hebrew word hutspah.

Examples

1. Jane Austen had the chutzpah to critique and comment upon the Victorian society.

2. It took a lot of chutzpah for him to quit his job during the recession.

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Widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of all time, Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, better known as Leo Tolstoy, was born on September 9, 1828. His ideas on non-violence had a profound impact on Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Read on to learn more about him...

Early life

Born on his family estate, Yasnaya Polyana in the Tula province of Russia, Tolstoy belonged to an affluent family. Unfortunately, he lost his parents at a young age and lived with different relatives over the years.

At 16, Tolstoy began studying law and Oriental languages at Kazan University, but since he was home-schooled, he struggled to cope. Frustrated, he dropped out of the university and started looking for a non-academic career.

Sowing the seeds

Intent on taking up farming, Tolstoy moved to the family's estate and began managing serfs and farmhands. Though he enjoyed the toil, he had to give up farming as he wanted to return to Moscow, which he missed. On his brothers insistence, he joined the Russian Army. Tolstoy fought in the Crimean War, between Russia, and Britain and France. The violence and bloodshed he witnessed during the war scarred him for life. He left the Army as soon as the war ended.

A new religion

Seeking solace in religion, he tried to evolve his own views on religion wherein he rejected the authority of the church and promoted ahimsa or non-violence. He believed in leading a morally and physically ascetic life. His followers moved onto the authors estate to be near him and came to be known as Tolstayans. Many of these communes are operational even today.

Among those influenced by Tolstoy's social beliefs were Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Gandhi established a co-operative colony named after Tolstoy in South Africa and corresponded with the author, crediting him with his own spiritual and philosophical evolution, particularly with regard to Tolstoy's teachings on peaceful non-resistance to evil.

Tolstoy died on November 20, 1910, a few months after embarking on a pilgrimage with his daughter.

OH REALLY?

A Bombay High Court judge asked an accused civil rights activist to explain why he had a copy of Tolstoy's "War and Peace" at home. The comment has drawn criticism from people across the world.

Tolstoy maintained a journal throughout his life in which he kept a detailed record of all his activities. In the diary, he jotted down a list of rules he aspired to live by. This included sleeping by 10 p.m. and waking up by 5 a.m. with no more than a two-hour nap in the afternoon: eating moderately and avoiding sweets.

While fighting in the Army, Tolstoy wrote: "Childhood", an autobiographical novel, followed by "Boyhood" and "Youth" His other works include "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection", "Family Happiness" and "The Death of Ivan Ilyich".

Did you know?

Tolstoy's wife helped him in finishing "War and Peace" on time. After completing the first draft in 1865, Tolstoy kept revising it over and over again. His wife, Sophia, patiently wrote out each version by hand sometimes she even used a magnifying glass to decipher his scribbles. Over the next seven years, she rewrote the complete manuscript at least eight times.

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Proper nouns:

Your name is a proper noun. A proper noun is the special word that we use for a person, place or organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A name is a noun, but a very special noun - a proper noun. English proper nouns have special rules. We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a name or proper noun. This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months.

Common nouns:

A noun is a word that names a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. All nouns can be further classified as a proper or common noun. Common nouns are words used to name general items rather than specific ones. Go into your living room. What do you see? A lamp, chair, couch, TV, window, painting, pillow, candle – all of these items are named using common nouns.
Common nouns are everywhere, and you use them all the time, even if you don’t realize it. Wherever you go, you’ll find at least one common noun. Street, closet, bathroom, school, mall, gas station, living room; all of these places are things, and thus they are common nouns.

Collective nouns:

Collective nouns are names for a collection or a number of people or things. Words like group, herd, and array are collective noun examples. Here, we’ll take a closer look at collective nouns, and provide even more examples, placing them in context so you can gain a greater understanding of how they work.

Material nouns:

Material noun is the name given to the material, substance or things made up of alloy. It refers to the type of substance instead of individual particles of the substance. This noun is especially called as material noun because nouns in this class are almost materials like cloth, air, metal, gold, salt, iron, silver, steel, brass, bronze, copper, aluminium, lead, coal, coral, gem, diamond, glass, fibre, calcium, plastic, rubber, paper, cement, paint, plywood, synthetics, shampoo, soap, perfume, wine, tar, chemical, rexene etc. Sometimes we cannot make the plural forms of material noun.

Abstract nouns:

Abstract nouns represent intangible ideas—things you can’t perceive with the five main senses. Words like love, time, beauty, and science are all abstract nouns because you can’t touch them or see them. 

Without a tangible frame of reference, abstract nouns can be hard to pin down with grammar rules. In this quick guide, we explain the basics so you can use abstract nouns with confidence!

Do remember

Nouns can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns are things we can count. They have singular and plural forms. We use articles 'a' or 'an' with singular countable nouns. We use 'some, 'many, and a few with plural countable nouns. To know the number of a countable noun we use how many. Uncountable nouns cannot be counted in number. They include liquids, gases, and other substances and also abstract ideas or qualities.

Here are a few tips

• Some nouns such as sheep, fish, deer, and aircraft have the same singular and plural form.
• The plural forms for daughter-in-law is daughters-in-law; son-in-law is sons-in-law, etc.
• Some uncountable nouns are always singular. Examples: Luggage, baggage, furniture, stationery, information, etc.
• Some uncountable nouns are treated as plural for a singular item. Examples: Spectacles, pants, shorts, scissors, etc.
• Some uncountable nouns are singular but look plural in form. Examples: News, aerobics, crossroads, electronics, etc.
• A little means 'some but little means 'hardly any. Examples: There is a little water in the jug. (some water)
• There is little water in the jug. (hardly any water). A few means 'some but few means hardly any.
• Examples: I have a few friends. (some friends). I have few friends. (hardly any friends)

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The Caspian Sea, in Europe and Asia, can be called either a lake or a sea. It is the world's largest inland waterbody with an area covering 370,000 sq km. It is surrounded by Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia. It has long been regarded as a sea because of its size and saline water. But it has the characteristics of a lake - it is fully enclosed by land.

The Caspian is the largest salt lake in the world, but that has not always been true. Scientific studies have shown that until relatively recent geologic times, approximately 11 million years ago, it was linked, via the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, to the world ocean. The Caspian is of exceptional scientific interest, because its history—particularly former fluctuations in both area and depth—offers clues to the complex geologic and climatic evolution of the region. Human-made changes, notably those resulting from the construction of dams, reservoirs, and canals on the immense Volga River system (which drains into the Caspian from the north), have affected the contemporary hydrologic balance. Caspian shipping and fisheries play an important role in the region’s economy, as does the production of petroleum and natural gas in the Caspian basin. The sea’s splendid sandy beaches also serve as health and recreation resorts.

The Caspian basin, as a whole, is usually divided into the northern, middle, and southern Caspian, based partly on underwater relief and partly on hydrologic characteristics. The sea contains as many as 50 islands, most of them small. The largest are Chechen, Tyuleny, Morskoy, Kulaly, Zhiloy, and Ogurchin.

Credit : Britannica

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A species of horned dung beetle called Onthophagus taurus is the strongest insect on Earth with its capacity to pull over 1140 times its body weight. According to scientists, it evolved such strength as this is the deciding factor in males’ competition over females.

The beetles aren't the dung-ball-carrying variety, and instead the females bury most of the fecal material (with a little help from males) from, say, cow droppings.

The females build little tunnels where they use the dung to lay their eggs in. It's in this tunnel where mating, and the pre-mating fights between waiting males, takes place. But not all males are equipped for battle, with some sporting horns and others hornless. The no-horn beetles instead wait at the tunnel's entrance, sometimes hiding out in self-built side tunnels, and sneak in to mate before getting caught by a horned male.

The horned males, on the other hand, duke it out head-to-head.

Credit : Live Science

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When it comes to seahorses, it is the male that gets pregnant and gives birth to baby seahorses. The female swims to the surface of the water with the interested male in tow. It transfers its orange eggs into the pouch of the male which then adds its sperm and seals the opening. The growing babies will remain in their dad's pouch till they develop. Once they are born the babies are on their own.

After completing an elaborate courtship dance that may go on for hours or days, the female seahorse transfers her mature eggs into the male’s brood pouch, where they are fertilized. At the end of a gestation period usually lasting from two to four weeks, the pregnant male’s abdominal area begins to undulate rhythmically, and strong muscular contractions eject from a few dozen to as many as 1,000 fully formed baby seahorses into the surrounding water. After that, the offspring must fend for themselves. Large litters are necessary because only about 0.5 percent will survive to adulthood.

Many, if not all, of the 47 known seahorse species—14 of which were identified only in the 21st century—are in decline worldwide.

Because seahorses generally live in shallow, near-coastal waters, human activities including development, pollution, fisheries, and traditional medicine have reduced their numbers. At the same time, their universal appeal has worked against them; until recently, wild seahorses were often captured for the aquarium trade. The delicate creatures tend to fare poorly in aquaria, however. In recent years, captive-bred seahorses have shown promise as hardier tank-dwellers than their wild relatives.

Credit : National Ocean Service

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It took over a month for Erno Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik's Cube, to solve it. A Hungarian architect, Rubik created the cube in 1974 as a working model to help his students understand 3-D objects. As of November 2018, the world record for solving the puzzle stands at 3.47 seconds, and it was achieved by Yusheng Du of China. More than 350 million cubes have been sold across the world till January 2009.

Rubik’s Cube consists of 26 small cubes that rotate on a central axis; nine coloured cube faces, in three rows of three each, form each side of the cube. When the cube is twisted out of its original arrangement, the player must then return it to the original configuration, one among 43 quintillion possible ones.

The son of a poet mother and a glider-manufacturer father, Rubik studied sculpture at the Technical University in Budapest and architecture at the Academy of Applied Arts and Design, also in Budapest. While a professor of design at the academy, he pursued his hobby of building geometric models. One of these was a prototype of his cube, made of 27 wooden blocks; it took Rubik a month to solve the problem of the cube. It proved a useful tool for teaching algebraic group theory, and in late 1977 Konsumex, Hungary’s state trading company, began marketing it. By 1980 Rubik’s Cube was marketed throughout the world, and over 100 million authorized units, with an estimated 50 million unauthorized imitations, were sold, mostly during its subsequent three years of popularity. Approximately 50 books were published describing how to solve the puzzle of Rubik’s Cube. Following his cube’s popularity, Rubik opened a studio to develop designs in 1984; among its products was another popular puzzle toy, Rubik’s Magic.

Credit : Britannica

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