My Science School

Stolid

Meaning:

Stolid means calm, dependable, stoic or not showing any emotion. It is used as an adjective.

Origin:

Stolid is derived from the Latin stolidus meaning dull or stupid. Its earliest usage dates back to the early 17th Century when it was used to describe someone considered stupid or not showing any emotions. However by the 19th Century, the term came to be frequently used to mean dependable and stoic, without the connotation of foolishness and it continues to remain so to this day.

Example sentences:

She remained stolid throughout the trial. My father's stolid appearance reflected his no-nonsense approach.

Picture Credit : Google

Referee

The word referee corresponds to an official who watches a match or game closely in order to ensure that the rules are adhered to and also to intervene and arbitrate on matters arising from the play.

Referee can also denote a person who is willing to testify in writing about someone's character or ability, especially in job applications.

Origin

The word has been around since the 1620s. It was initially used to denote a "person who examines patent applications, but that sense of the word is largely obsolete now.

The word has been used synonymous to an umpire, meaning "one to whom any matter in question is referred for decision, since the 1660s.

Its usage in legal issues can be traced back to the 1680s, while the sporting use of the word, now most popular, is recorded only by the 1820s.

The usage of the word steadily increased from the second half of the 19th Century, but has reduced drastically since the second half of the 20th Century.

Usage

While football referees are never praised for having a good game, they are often vilified even if they get a few decisions in a game wrong.

Picture Credit : Google

Bulwark

Meaning:

 Bulwark means a defensive wall, a rampart or any protection against external danger.

Origin:

The term, dating back to the early 15th Century, came from Middle Dutch bulwerke or Middle High German bolwerc, from bole "plank, tree trunk" + werc "work". Thus "bole-work," a construction of logs. It took on the figurative meaning of defence or security from the mid-15th Century.

Example sentences:

Vaccines act as a bulwark against many infectious diseases.

When the leader travels abroad, his guards accompany him as a bulwark against enemy attack.

I got drenched in the rain as I did not have an umbrella or any such bulwark to protect me from the downpour.

Picture Credit : Google

Gazette

This noun is an old-fashioned word for a newspaper. It is also used in the titles of a few newspapers and magazines across the world. In fact, the first newspaper published in India was called "Hicky's Bengal Gazette". It also refers to an official publication - especially by the government containing important information about decisions that have been made and people who have been employed.

Origin:

The word gazette has an interesting origin. The word derives via French from the Italian word gazetta, so called because in 16th- and 17th-century Venice, Italy, such a periodical could be bought for a small copper coin called a gazzetta. The original gazettes were bulletins published in England in the 17th and 18th Centuries. They contained notices of government appointments and promotions, among others.

Example:

The government department publishes a gazette twice a year.

Picture Credit : Google

?

Hygge

Hygge is a noun used to refer to the quality of cosiness that makes a person feel content and comfortable. It's also often used as an adjective meaning cosy or comfortable.

Origin:

It is actually a Danish word that has been used in English since the mid-20th Century. Pronounced hue-guh, the Danish word is said to have been borrowed from the Norwegian word hygge. It is, however, said that despite having been borrowed from Norwegian, the word hygge is more central to Danish lifestyle.

Usage

We're looking forward to a hygge evening at the river-side cottage.

Picture Credit : Google

Animal racing goes back many, many centuries. Horse racing was an event in the BC 664 Greek Olympic Games. In all these years, horse racing rules have remained more or less the same. As years passed, people thought why not race other animals too-you could have categories like crawl, slither and jump! In the U.S. alone, you can watch the Jumping Frogs race (Calaveras County. California), Ostrich Festival Races (Chandler, Arizona), Armadillo Races (Edgewood, Texas), Camel Races (Virginia City, Nevada), Cockroach Races (Davenport, Iowa), Lizard Races (Lovington, New Mexico), Wiener Dog Races (Buda. Texas), Lobster Races (Aiken, South Carolina). Here are some of the stories behind animal racing.

Snail Racing

The annual World Snail Racing Championships is held every July in Norfolk, Britain. It has been around for more than 25 years. The contestant has to be a European common garden snail (helix aspersa). Foreign snails are strictly prohibited. The race has some delightful rules. As the competitors look alike, each competitor must have a number painted or attached by sticker to its shell. The contestants are placed in the centre of a circle with a 13-inch radius. They face the circle's outer edge. The official Snail Trainer shouts, "Ready. Steady. SLOW" and the race is under way. The first snail to reach the edge of the circle is the winner. The current world record of two minutes was set in 1995 by Archie The Snail.

Greyhound Racing

The greyhound, which normally weighs around 50-80 pounds (22-36 kg) is the fastest dog on the planet and can achieve a maximum speed of 45 miles per hour (70 km/h). Organised greyhound racing started at the time of deer/hare/fox hunting in the UK and Europe. Queen Elizabeth I of England is credited with inventing this in the 1500s, which is why greyhound coursing (racing) is known as “The Sport of Queens.”

In 1912, one Owen Patrick Smith wondered how he could stop the cruelty of greyhounds killing jack-rabbits. He invented the mechanical hare and in 1919, opened the world's first greyhound racing track in Emeryville, California.

Dachshund Racing

The dachshund or wiener dog was first raced for fun in Australia in the 1970s. When, in 1993, an American TV commercial showed wiener dog racing as a potential comedy sport, the idea became instantly popular.

Every December, San Diego, California, hosts the annual Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals. where the dachshunds typically run over 25 or 50 yard (22 or 45 metre) distances to compete for the National Dachshund Racing Championship. With the release of the "dog-u-mentary" Weiner Takes All, which tells the story of the five dog winners and their owners, the sport became a part of American life.

Camel Racing

On the Arabian Peninsula, camel-racing was first held in the seventh century. In the 1970s, camel-racing became a more organised and formal sport. Governing bodies were made to establish official racing rules and regulations. Camel-racing is a popular sport in India, Egypt Australia, and the Arab countries of the Middle East.

A racing camel can reach speeds of up to 25 miles per hour, and the races are run over distances that range from 2.5-6 miles (4-10 km).

Some of the world's most popular and best-known camel races, with the highest prize funds, are currently held in Australia.

Goat Racing

Goat racing originated on the Caribbean island of Tobago in 1925. At that time, horse racing, held every Easter Monday, was considered to be an upper-class event. Samuel Callender began holding a goat race in the village of Buccoo on the following day as a poor man's race. This day became known as "Easter Tuesday" and is now an unofficial public holiday on the island. Today, the Buccoo Goat Race Festival is the world's longest running goat racing event. For this, the contestants are trained over two months.

Hamster Racing

In 2001, there was an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the rural areas of the U.K. The government restricted the movement of animals. So, many horse racing meetings had to be cancelled, as trainers were unable to transport their horses from the stables to the racecourses. To earn money, the online bookmaking company Blue Square introduced the first hamster racing series. Some called it an act of desperation and others said it was one of creative genius.

Ed Pownall from Blue Square Bookmakers released a statement: "You put an exercise wheel in the middle of a 10-inch-long dragster as the hamsters run in the wheel it moves the thing forward it's just been fun for people, to get them through the day without the horse racing the rodents run six at once along a 30-foot track, so far, the fastest time is 38 seconds. On Friday, the winners of each of the week's four races will face one another in a tournament showdown."

Ostrich Racing

Ostriches are incredibly strong runners, reaching up to 43 miles per hour (69 km/h) in a sprint and holding a constant speed of 31 miles per hour (50 km/h) over distances The birds are ridden like horses, with saddles and reins. The Ostrich Farm in Jacksonville, Florida, has held competitions since it opened as a tourist attraction in 1892. The annual Ostrich Festival takes place in Chandler, Arizona. Similar events are also held in the states of Iowa, Nevada, and Kentucky.

Cockroach Racing

Cockroach racing was born in 1986 at the Story Bridge Hotel in Brisbane, Australia. Two old guys were sitting at the bar, arguing over whose area had the fastest moving roaches. A man who overheard it brought a cockroach each from their respective neighbourhoods, and a race between them was then carried out in a nearby parking lot. History was made that day, and cockroach races now take place annually at the same hotel on January 26. The event is known as "The Australia Day Cockroach Races."

Turtle Racing

Turtle racing began in the United States in 1902 when young children rode turtles in a garden in Chicago. The Chicago Tribune at the time called it "The strangest race ever run." The main street at Longville, Minnesota has been the venue for races since the 1950s, leading to the state legislature honouring the town as "the turtle-racing capital of the world."

What do animal activists say of these races?

While the popularity of animal racing cannot be doubted, animal lovers across the world are aghast. They refuse to accept the argument that racing animals are loved, receive the best of everything and live comfortable lives. Race animals have to put up with stressful travel, rigorous training and injections of performance-drugs and painkillers, they say.

When the animals are injured or get too old to be profitable, they are killed. Turtle racers have been known to introduce electric current to the creature's brain to make it move fast.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has condemned turtle races and has suggested racing rubber ducks instead. The dachshund's shape and its genetic predisposition to back injuries has led to a great deal of controversy and widespread criticism of the sport.

These races are viewed by children. What does that tell them about how animals should be treated?

This is exploitation of animals for making money (in bets). There's a big difference between an animal running freely (it can stop and rest when tired) and being forced into racing.

In the United States, Texas and Arizona have passed laws banning greyhound racing. The "sport" of commercial dog racing is currently illegal in 40 states, and hopefully, the trend will continue until all tracks are closed.

As far as India is concerned, many of the animal sports cannot be called "sport" at all. They are not registered under the respective state sports councils. They can only be called cultural or traditional events. Animal activists argue that worshipping the sun, soil and water, and taking care of the cattle is the best way to say "thank you to nature. We should "celebrate" our animals, not use them in sport. But whipping an animal or making it fight another human/animal in an arena with thousands of spectators enjoying the sight of a terrified animal, cannot be our culture. It is animal abuse.

The Indian Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, requires people to take all reasonable measures to ensure the well-being of animals. This includes prevention of pain or suffering. Animal activists say as long as people pay to see these races, the cruelty will continue.

Picture Credit : Google

Adverbs are words or phrases that modify or qualify verbs, adjectives, and even other adverbs.

Adverbs of manner

Adverbs of manner are used to tell us the way or how something is done. Most adverbs of manner end in-ly. Example: She sings sweetly.

Adverbs of time

Adverbs of time tell us when something is done. Words such as yesterday, today, tomorrow, just already, recently, lately then, later, soon, now, late, and early are adverbs of time. Example: I am busy now. I will call you tomorrow.

Adverbs of place

Adverbs of place tell us where something happens. The words above, backwards, forward, below, downstairs, upstairs, outdoors, indoors, outside, inside, nearby, upwards, somewhere, everywhere, here, and there are some adverbs of place. Some adverbs of place can also be prepositions. Adverbs of place come after main verbs but prepositions are followed by nouns.

Example: It's raining, so come inside.

Adverbs of frequency

Adverbs of frequency tell us how often something happens. The words usually, always, often, sometimes, never, weekly, monthly, rarely, and seldom are some adverbs of frequency. They are often used with the simple present tense.

Example: Where do you often go on holidays?

Adverbs of degree

Adverbs of degree tell us to what extent or intensity something is done. The words too, extremely, quite, almost, thoroughly, nearly, very, enough, rather, hardly totally, highly, deeply, much and completely are some adverbs of degree. Example: I read the books thoroughly.

Picture Credit : Google

Max Delbruck was a German-American biophysicist, recognised for his contribution to molecular genetics. He won the 1969 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on bacteriophages-viruses that infect bacterial cells.

Max Delbruck was born in Berlin, Germany. In 1930, he received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Gottingen. As a physicist, Delbruck worked as an assistant to Lise Meitner and studied irradiation of uranium and neutron. But sooner, he became interested in bacteriophages, after his meeting with Wolfgang Pauli and Niels Bohr. In 1937, Delbruck left Nazi Germany for the United States, having won the Rockefeller Foundation scholarship to do research on the genetics of fruit fly in California Institute of Technology (Caltech). While at Caltech, he studied bacteria and their viruses called bacteriophages. In 1939, Delbruck discovered a one-step process for growing bacteriophages, which after a one-hour latent period would multiply to produce several hundred thousand progeny. He co-authored The growth of bacteriophage along with Emory L Ellis with this finding. In 1943, Delbruck and Salvador Luria announced their discovery that a bacterium that has been infected by a bacteriophage can undergo spontaneous mutations so that it becomes immune to the phage. He conducted many studies on bacteriophage and paved the way for an explosion of new findings in the field of molecular biology. In 1945, he formed the Phage Group along with Salvador Luria, Alfred Hershey and other scientists to gather and discuss ideas on genetics.

In the late 1940s, Delbruck shifted his focus on sensory perception and studied how light affected the growth of the fungus phycomyces. As he did with the phage research, Delbruck formed a Phycomyces Group to gather and discuss ideas.

In 1969, Delbruuck won the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine, which he shared with Alfred Day Hershey and Salvador Edward Luria, for their work in molecular genetics. In 1977, he retired from Caltech, remaining a Professor of Biology emeritus. He died of cancer in 1981.

Picture Credit : Google

What you need:

• Red cabbage
• Water Vinegar
• Detergent
• Three glasses
• A blender
• A sieve

What to do:

1. Half fill the blender with water. Peel six cabbage leaves and put them in the blender.

2. Blend until you have red cabbage juice.

3. Sieve the juice into three glasses.

4. In the first glass, add a teaspoon of vinegar. Stir to mix

5. To the third glass, add a teaspoon of detergent. Mix that well too.

What happens:

The liquid in the first glass becomes red. The liquid in the third glass, to which detergent has been added, becomes green.

The liquid in the second glass, which is pure cabbage juice, stays purple.

Why?

It's simple chemistry. The vinegar is an 'acid' whereas the detergent is a base. What do these terms mean? If you taste the vinegar, you'll find that it tastes tangy. Detergent, on the other hand, tastes bitter (don't try it just take our word for it). If you rub detergent between your fingers, you will find that it feels soapy and slippery.

Broadly speaking, tangy-tasting liquids are acids while bitter- tasting substances that have a soapy texture are bases. More examples of acids include lime juice, fruit juices, even milk. Substances such as baking soda and cleaning liquids are examples of bases. Almost all substances can be classified as acids or bases. But since we can't go about tasting them we need other substances known as indicators to tell us if something is an acid or a base. Indicators are chemicals that usually change colour on coming in contact with acids and bases. In this case, red cabbage juice is an indicator. It turns red when mixed with an acid and on coming in contact with a base, it turns green. The second glass is neutral cabbage juice which acts as a reference to show you how drastic the colour change is.

Picture Credit : Google

What you need:

Coins (preferably of the same size)

A dinner knife

A table

What to do:

1. Stack the coins one atop the other on a steady table. Keep the coin tower as straight as you can. You can decide how high you want your tower to be.

2. Now, hold your dinner knife as flat against the table as possible. Carefully (and quickly), swipe the knife to remove the coin at the bottom of the tower.

What happens:

If you're doing it right, the coin at the bottom should slide out, leaving the tower still standing! Repeat the swiping process to check how many coins you can knock out before your tower of money comes crashing down.

Why?

The famous scientist, Sir Isaac Newton, has put down a law that states 'an object at rest stays at rest, or if it is in motion it will continue to move until it is acted on by an external force. This tendency of the object to maintain its state of rest or motion is called inertia. Simply put, it means that the coins in the stack will remain motionless where they are unless something causes them to move. That something is the force you apply with your knife. But when you try to move a coin slowly, the entire tower topples over.

You can blame friction for that. Friction is a resisting force that opposes the motion of one object's surface over another. When you try to move the bottom coin slowly, friction acts between the surface of that coin and the one above it. So the bottom coin drags the one above it that coin pulls the next coin along and crash! That is why you need to swipe out the bottom coin as fast as possible. The force you apply is so fast and hard that it overcomes the friction force, causing the bottom coin to shoot out smoothly.

Picture Credit : Google

What you need:

A can of normal flavoured soda

A can of diet soda (both cans should be of the same size)

A large container

Water

What to do:

1. Fill the container with water.

2. Drop the can of normal soda into the water.

3. Now, drop the can of diet soda in.

What happens:

 The can of normal soda sinks whereas the can of diet soda floats!

Why?

What is the difference between normal soda and diet soda? Both are made out of similar ingredients. But normal soda is sweetened using sugar, whereas diet soda uses artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.

And these artificial sweeteners are really sweet so they are needed in small quantities. On the other hand, a lot of sugar needs to be added to achieve the same amount of sweetness in normal sodas. So, this dissolved sugar increases the weight and the density (density is nothing but the number of molecules packed into a small space) of the soda.

As a rule, in order to float on a liquid, the density of the object needs to be lesser than the density of the liquid. Diet soda achieves this low density thanks to the low quantity of the artificial sweetener dissolved in it. So the diet soda can floats. The sugar-laden normal soda is denser and it sinks.

Picture Credit : Google

What you need:

Small Styrofoam balls (the kind used in confetti)

A cloth

Aluminium foil

A polycarbonate sheet (thick clear plastic you can find it at a furniture store in your area: you can even use a clear plastic lid from a kitchen container)

Four flat pieces of wood or small cardboard boxes

What to do:

1. Cut the foil into small square pieces. Wrap each Styrofoam ball in the aluminium foil square. Wrap at least 10-12 balls.

2. Shape a sheet of aluminium foil into a makeshift tray (keep the edges lifted up).

3. Weigh the comers of the foil-tray down with the blocks of wood.

4. Now, place the aluminium-coated balls on the foil.

5. Place the polycarbonate sheet on top of the wooden blocks so that it is lifted up.

6. Gently, nub the polycarbonate sheet with the cloth for a few seconds. Now, touch the surface of the sheet with your finger.

What happens:

As soon as you rub the plastic sheet with the cloth, the balls lift up from the aluminium tray and stick to the plastic. Then, when you trace your finger on the sheet, the balls begin to dance away from your finger!

Why?

The answer is static electricity? Static means stationary. When you rub two objects against each other (like the polycarbonate sheet and the cloth), they develop stationary electrical charges. To understand why this happens, we have to go to the microscopic level. Everything in our world is made up of tiny particles called 'atoms. These atoms are, in turn, made up of even smaller particles known as electrons, protons and neutrons. The protons and neutrons remain inside the atom but the electrons like to use any excuse to jump in and out of the atom. When you rub two objects together, the electrons from one object jump to the other. This exchange of electrons is what is termed as electrical charge.

Electrical charges attract or repel each other depending on their kind. If two objects have same electrical charges, these charges repel each other. Opposite charges, on the other hand, attract. The plastic sheet and the balls seem to have opposing charges on them.

So the balls stick to the sheet. When you move your finger on the sheet, you disturb the charge on the sheet, causing the balls to shift.

Picture Credit : Google

• The United Nation's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says that since 2000, flood-related disasters have risen by 134 % compared with the previous two decades. Most of the flood-related deaths and economic losses were recorded in Asia, where river flood warning systems require strengthening.
• At the same time, there has been around a 30 % increase in the amount and duration of drought events since 2000, with Africa the worst-affected continent.
• Most world leaders are talking about climate change as a major risk to the welfare of humankind, but their actions are not matching their words, said WMO chief Petteri Taalas. "We cannot wait for decades to start acting," he said. "That's also a message for countries such as China, which has said that they would like to become carbon neutral by 2060 but they don't have a concrete plan for the coming decade.
• He said that more work was needed on climate adaptations, as the negative trend in weather patterns will continue for the coming decades and the coming centuries when it comes to the melting of glaciers and sea levels rising.

Picture Credit : Google

What does Seekh do?

Seekh is a student-led non-profit organization that connects less privileged students from any part of India with teachers for free tuition. Students register on the Seekh app with details such as their age, languages they know, now, subjects they want to learn, etc. Teachers and students can see details and connect with each other. They connect with the help of a phone number, and set up calls through video-calling platforms. Due to the pandemic, a lot of less privileged students have lost out on education. On the other hand, there are a lot of people who want to teach for free. I wanted to connect these two ends, and that is essentially what seekh does. With 100+ downloads, 90+ students and 50+ teachers covering more than 15 regions in India, the app is becoming popular. And all these couldn't have been done without the effort of the team.

The word 'technology has become a household term. What is your opinion about that?

Technology has its pros and cons. One of the things that technology has enabled is democratising knowledge. For example, if I have to gather information about absolutely anything today, I can do that with just the click of a button. Technology has helped us connect in a way where we can actually communicate and take things forward. For example, during the Spanish flu, without advanced technology small businesses died. In contrast, despite the current pandemic, we are able to communicate with each other, institutions have started functioning online, and our economy is improving. All of these wouldn't have been possible if it wasn't for the technological advancements in today's world. But on the other hand, due to technology, the personal connection with friends and family is going down. Technology has also enabled dangers such as cyber threats. Internet scams, etc.

Do you believe internships will help you in the future?

I think internships are very helpful because they give us a real-world exposure. But we shouldn't become an intern just to get a certificate or because it will look fancy on a resume. We should do it to learn something.

Do you think machine learning can and will bring in more changes in the future?

I got introduced sometime ago to the concept of machine learning, wherein an Al system can learn from data and predict outputs from them. I feel machine learning is making a difference in today's world. It has started transforming so many fields such as healthcare and transportation. I feel there are going to be many more applications of machine learning in the future.

Should schools introduce coding and programming as extra-curricular learning?

Steve Jobs once said. "Learn how to program a computer because it teaches you how to think." What programming does is it helps you develop a strong foundation in logic so that you can apply it anywhere.

What are your hobbies and interests?

I like music. I hang out with friends, play games and the list goes on. I play cricket with my brother.

Who do you look up to the most?

My biggest inspirations are my parents. They've instilled the right values in me and a sense of what I should be focussing on and not focussing on. And obviously, my teachers. If I had any questions, I would approach them, and they were so kind and responded to that. Even my friends for their honest criticism when something was not right. Apart from that, I feel Elon Musk is an inspiration for me today. How he can manage his time with all his businesses is something I am trying to learn. He has a vision to help humanity as a whole. If there is even the smallest way in which I contribute to humanity through Seekh, this initiative will be a success.

What are your future plans?

Machine learning is something that excites me. Using my machine learning algorithms to help humanity in some way - this is a one-sentence summary of what I would love to do. One of the things I want to build is Artificial General Intelligence. An Artificial Intelligence system is only as smart as the data it gets. A self-driving car does not treat or diagnose cancer, right? So we don't have a general-purpose Al. But humans on the other hand do so many activities that involve different types of intelligence. So if we can build an Al that can do any basic task. I think that would be the next step forward in machine learning and how we can take humanity forward.

Picture Credit : Google

Ice is slippery because there is a very thin layer of liquid water on its surface. Also because, unlike solids, liquids are mobile. Inside the ice, water molecules form a well-organised rigid structure. But on the surface, this structure does not hold and the water molecules get loose. This forms a liquid layer where water molecules can move, making the surface slippery. But ice is not always slippery. At very low temperatures - say, at-50°C, the liquid layer disappears and ice becomes completely solid and hence not slippery. It is notably impossible to skate at this temperature.

Mischa and Daniel Bonn, who are brothers, published a paper May 9th in the Journal of Chemical Physicsdescribing the surface of ice. Rather than a layer of liquid wateron the surface of ice, they found, there were loose water molecules. Mischa Bonn compared it to a dance floor that is "filled with marbles or ball bearings." Slipping across the surface of the ice is simply "rolling" on these molecular marbles.

Ice has a very regular, neat crystal structure, where each water molecule in the crystal is attached to three others. The molecules on the surface, however, can only be attached to two others. Being so weakly bonded to the crystal allows these surface molecules to tumble, and attaching and detaching themselves to various sites on the crystal as they move.

Even though slipping on ice is caused by essentially rolling over these water molecules, this layer of molecules is not the same as a layer of liquid water. These molecules and the slipperiness exist at temperatures far below water’s freezing point. In fact, the way these molecules move so freely and diffuse across the surface actually makes them look more like a gas, Daniel Bonn said.

Picture Credit : Google