My Science School

The unicorn was a mythical beast that for centuries was believed to exist. The horse with a single horn in the middle of its head was used on coats of arms. Even today it is still a popular design symbol.

In the past people finding the long spiralled tusk of the narwal (sea unicorn) might have thought it belonged to a unicorn.

Scientists had believed the Elasmotherium sibiricum died out 350,000 years ago, until a fossilised skull was found in Kazakhstan.

Clever carbon dating tests (which decide the age of ancient materials), concluded the fossil to be 29,000 years old – meaning the animals roamed the Earth a whopping 321,000 years longer than previously thought!

The fossil was found in Kazakhstan recently.

Unfortunately, the Siberian unicorn didn’t quite mimic the mythical creatures found in storybooks – and looked more like a modern-day rhino.

It was 1.8 metres tall, over 4 metres long and weighed more than 4 tonnes! It was covered in a shaggy coat and earned its nickname from the huge horn that grew out of its forehead – cool!

Researchers are now trying to discover how the creature was able to survive so much longer than others of its kind.

“Most likely, the south of Western Siberia was a refuge, where this rhino persevered the longest in comparison with the rest of its range,” said Andrey Shpanski, one of the scientists investigating the fossil. “There is another possibility that it could migrate and dwell for a while in the more southern areas.”

Credit : National Geographic 

Picture Credit : Google

Bram Stoker's novel about Dracula has been popular ever since 1897. Through films, plays, even comic books, everyone is familiar with Count Dracula, the bloodsucking vampire. The original Dracula may have been the 15th century prince Vlad Tepes. He was an evil, cruel man, but certainly not a vampire.

In 1431, King Sigismund of Hungary, who would later become the Holy Roman Emperor, according to the British Museum, inducted the elder Vlad into a knightly order, the Order of the Dragon. This designation earned Vlad II a new surname: Dracul. The name came from the old Romanian word for dragon, "drac." 

His son, Vlad III, would later be known as the "son of Dracul" or, in old Romanian, Dr?culea, hence Dracula, according to Historian Constantin Rezachevici ("From the Order of the Dragon to Dracula" Journal of Dracula Studies, Vol 1, 1999). In modern Romanian, the word "drac" refers to the Devil, Curta said. 

According to "Dracula: Sense and Nonsense" (Desert Island Books, 2020) by Elizabeth Miller, in 1890 Stoker read a book about Wallachia. Although it did not mention Vlad III, Stoker was struck by the word "Dracula." He wrote in his notes, "in Wallachian language means DEVIL." It is therefore likely that Stoker chose to name his character Dracula for the word's devilish associations. 

The theory that Vlad III and Dracula were the same person was developed and popularized by historians Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally in their book "In Search of Dracula” (The New York Graphic Society, 1972). Though far from accepted by all historians, the thesis took hold of the public imagination, according to The New York Times. 

According to Constantin Rezachevici, the Order of the Dragon was devoted to a singular task: the defeat of the Turkish, or Ottoman Empire. Situated between Christian Europe and the Muslim lands of the Ottoman Empire, Vlad II's (and later Vlad III's) home principality of Wallachia was frequently the scene of bloody battles as Ottoman forces pushed westward into Europe, and Christian forces repulsed the invaders.

Credit : Live Science 

Picture Credit : Google

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the USA was born on February 16th 1809 in a log cabin on the Kentucky frontier. Lincoln grew up on a farm in Indiana. He educated himself and became a lawyer. and in 1861 he was elected president.

As the centennial of Lincoln’s birth approached, interest in memorializing the 16th president increased.  Robert Collier, publisher of Colliers Weekly, bought the Sinking Springs Farm in 1905.  The following year, he and his associates formed the Abraham Lincoln Farm Association to create a suitable memorial.  They purchased the cabin and began work on the Memorial Building.  Over 120,000 individuals from across the country, including thousands of schoolchildren, contributed a total of about $350,000 for the memorial.  In 1909, President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated the cornerstone.  President William Howard Taft dedicated the memorial for the nation two years later.  In his remarks, he said that it would be a reminder of “the unexplained and unexplainable growth and development, from the humblest and homeliest soil, of Lincolns’ genius, intellect, heart, and character.”  The small, simple cabin represents the simplicity of Lincoln’s early years. While the gleaming granite and marble Memorial Building that houses the cabin, which the young John Russell Pope designed in the Neoclassical style, is an appropriate symbol of the honored position Lincoln holds in American memory.  The Knob Creek Farm property became part of the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site in 2001.

The Birthplace unit consists of the Memorial Building and 116 acres of Thomas Lincoln's Sinking Spring Farm. Walking trails trace the paths of Lincoln’s earliest days, past the famous Sinking Spring, and the site of the boundary marker oak tree. The trails at the Knob Creek Farm unit trace the creek where young Abraham and friends used to work and play. 

Credit : National Park Service 

Picture Credit : Google

To make a Mobius strip, take a strip of paper, give it half a twist, then join the ends to form a band. Run a pencil round and you'll find the strip has one single edge. It was named after the 19th century mathematician Augustus Mobius.

You can make a model of the Mobius strip with just a rectangular piece of paper: give it an odd number of half-twists, then tape the ends back together. But the strip was long thought never to occur in the natural world. Because it has never been observed in our organic environment, it is sometimes referred to as an “impossible shape.” Practical applications of it abound in the world of human invention, however. For instance, Mobius strips are used in continuous-loop recording tapes, typewriter ribbons and computer print cartridges. In the 1960s, Sandia Laboratories also used Mobius bands in the design of adaptable electronic resistors. Conveyor belts use Mobius strips because they allow the entire surface area of the belt to receive an equal amount of wear, which makes it last longer.

The Mobius strip has also been tailored to various artistic and cultural products. Paintings have displayed Mobius shapes, as have earrings, necklaces and other pieces of jewelry. The green, three-arrowed universal sign for recycling also composes the Mobius band. There’s a depth to the image that reminds you to reduce, reuse and recycle. It is not just a circular action; it’s dynamic. The symbol seeks to represent the three interdependent aspects of a sustainable loop: the collection of materials to be recycled, the manufacturing of recycled materials into new products, and the purchase and use of the products made from recycled materials. Each arrow pleats and pivots itself, as all three arrows pursue and power one another.

Credit : Scientific American 

Picture Credit : Google

This was a light war axe. Until white people introduced iron, tomahawks were made of chipped stone tied to a handle.

During the Revolutionary War in the late 18th century, the Continental Congress required the military men to carry either a tomahawk or cutting sword. Guns were unreliable and took a long time to reload so the tomahawks served as a weapon for hand to hand or melee combat. 

 A few American soldiers used the tomahawks during the World War II and the Korean War. But as technology progressed, the use of guns also advanced, causing tomahawks to lose its prominence. Tomahawks resurfaced again between 1966-1970 when Peter La Gana, a World War II veteran of Mohawk – descent, crafted and sold thousands of tactical tomahawks to the American troops serving in Vietnam. These tactical tomahawks were sturdier and featured a penetrating spike for the poll.

Today, tomahawks are manufactured on a large scale in Europe or created by individual makers and companies in America. There are also some Indian blacksmiths who are expert in creating the tool. Tomahawks come in different shapes, designs and purpose. Its useful in camping and bush craft scenarios and is often used as an alternative to hatchets, since its lighter and slimmer.  Modern tomahawks are now made of drop forged, differentially treated, alloy steel.

Credit : Hawk Throwing 

Picture Credit : Google

In Greek mythology it was a monstrous creature that was half-man, half-bull. The Minotaur was kept in the middle of a labyrinth of maze, by King Minos of Crete. Every year it killed seven young men and sent seven young women from Athens as a sacrifice.

One year a boy named Theseus volunteered to join the young men and try to kill the Minotaur.

With the help of Ariadne (daughter of King Minos) he found his way into the maze, and bravely killed the monster.

He was able to find his way out of the labyrinth as Ariadne had given him a ball of thread to mark his path.

Minos successfully warred against Athens and Megara to obtain redress after his son Androgeos was killed by the Athenians. In Athenian drama and legend Minos became the tyrannical exactor of the tribute of children to feed the Minotaur. Having pursued Daedalus to Sicily, Minos was killed by the daughters of King Cocalus, who poured boiling water over him as he was taking a bath. After his death he became a judge in Hades.

Although Athens preserved a hostile tradition, the general account shows Minos as a powerful, just ruler, very closely associated with religion and ritual. In light of excavations in Crete, many scholars consider that Minos was a royal or dynastic title for the priestly rulers of Bronze Age, or Minoan, Knossos.

Picture Credit : Google

In order to serve God, St Christopher carried travellers across a fastflowing river. One day as he was carrying a little child, he felt he had the sins of the whole world on his shoulders. It was the infant Christ as all the pictures of St Christopher now show!

Saint Christopher is one of the most popular Catholic Christian heroes of the Faith. He is a saint, indeed listed as a martyr. He may have also been named Reprobus. He apparently died under the Roman Emperor Decius, in 251 AD. Most Catholics refer to him as Saint Christopher anyway, and his medals and the popular devotions to him are among the most common in Catholic piety.

Other than his listing as a martyr, there are no primary sources referring to St. Christopher, only stories and traditions which have been passed down.

According to these accounts, St. Christopher was extremely tall, and by some accounts he was even a giant! He was surely a man of significant physical stature. But, more importantly, he was a spiritual giant and a sure model and inspiration for the Christian faithful.

Christopher decided one day that he wanted to serve the greatest king he could. He presented himself before his local ruler and entered service, until he noticed the king cross himself at the mention of the devil, revealing that the king believed the Devil to have more power.

St. Christopher then decided to serve the Devil. During his search, he encountered a band of thieves, whose leader referred to himself as the Devil. But when this leader avoided a Christian cross out of fear, St. Christopher learned there was someone even more powerful than the Devil.

When St. Christopher asked the child why he was so heavy, the child explained that He was the Christ and when St. Christopher carried Him, he also carried the weight of the whole world on his shoulders. The child then vanished.

Other legends state that St. Christopher traveled after this experience and evangelized thousands of people. Arriving in Lycia in Asia Minor, and witnessing to Christians there who were being martyred. At that time, St. Christopher was detained and ordered to offer a sacrifice to the emperor. When he refused, it was decided to attempt to persuade him with money and women. Two women were sent to seduce him, but instead he converted them to Christianity.

After this, it was decided to have him killed, but various attempts to assassinate him failed. Eventually, he was arrested and beheaded.

Credit : Catholic 

Picture Credit : Google

The Mongol ruler who built up the vast Mongol empire in the early 1200s, Genghis Khan and his armies terrorised people with their violence and cruelty, but to his people he was God's representative on Earth, their supreme ruler.

He formed armies of horsemen, and after many victories whole armies came to join him. His fierce Mongol soldiers conquered most of northern China by breaking through the Great Wall. His empire stretched right across Asia and into Eastern Europe and Russia.

Genghis Khan was a warrior and ruler of genius who, starting from obscure and insignificant beginnings, brought all the nomadic tribes of Mongolia under the rule of himself and his family in a rigidly disciplined military state. He then turned his attention toward the settled peoples beyond the borders of his nomadic realm and began the series of campaigns of plunder and conquest that eventually carried the Mongol armies as far as the Adriatic Sea in one direction and the Pacific coast of China in the other, leading to the establishment of the great Mongol Empire.

The great conquests of the Mongols, which would transform them into a world power, were still to come. China was the main goal. Genghis Khan first secured his western flank by a tough campaign against the Tangut kingdom of Xixia, a northwestern border state of China, and then fell upon the Jin empire of northern China in 1211. In 1214 he allowed himself to be bought off, temporarily, with a huge amount of booty, but in 1215 operations were resumed, and Beijing was taken. Subsequently, the more systematic subjugation of northern China was in the hands of his general Muqali. Genghis Khan himself was compelled to turn aside from China and carry out the conquest of Khw?rezm. This war was provoked by the governor of the city of Otrar, who massacred a caravan of Muslim merchants who were under Genghis Khan’s protection. The Khw?rezm-Sh?h refused satisfaction. War with Khw?rezm would doubtless have come sooner or later, but now it could not be deferred. It was in this war that the Mongols earned their reputation for savagery and terror. City after city was stormed, the inhabitants massacred or forced to serve as advance troops for the Mongols against their own people. Fields and gardens were laid waste and irrigation works destroyed as Genghis Khan pursued his implacable vengeance against the royal house of Khw?rezm. He finally withdrew in 1223 and did not lead his armies into war again until the final campaign against Xixia in 1226–27. He died on August 18, 1227.

Credit : Britannica 

Picture Credit : Google

Who were the Vikings?

The Vikings were sea-faring people from Scandinavia (present-day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark). Between 700 and 1100 AD, they travelled to other countries in Europe and other continents. Many of them were warrirors, who raided or conquered the places they visited. But a lot of others were also farmers and craftspeople.

• Vikings were the first Europeans to cross the Atlantic, settling at a site known as L'Anse aux Meadows on the northern peninsula of Newfoundland. But the precise age of the settlement had yet to be determined.
• Researchers managed to pinpoint the precise date through radiocarbon dating of wooden artefacts found at L'Anse aux Meadows.
• The archaeologists are confident that these wooden artefacts were made by Vikings as the artefacts were modified using metal tools, which were not manufactured by the indigenous population at that time.
• According to 13th-Century Icelandic sagas, the Norse explorer Leif Erikson established a settlement at Vinland - in present-day eastern Canada - around the year 1000, five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus.

Picture Credit : Google

The English word 'algebra' is derived from the Arabic word al-jabr, meaning 'reunion of broken parts', describing the method for balancing both sides of an equation.

Persian mathematician and astronomer, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, is known as the Father of Algebra. Around 825 A.D., he wrote the book Kitab al-jabr w'al-muqabalah. It specifically covered the branch of mathematics we now know as algebra and was the most notable work on the subject during that period. His name, al-Khwarizmi, gave rise to the term 'algorithm'. He also made important contributions to trigonometry, producing accurate sine and cosine tables, and the first table of tangents.

Historically, and in current teaching, the study of algebra starts with the solving of equations, such as the quadratic equation above. Then more general questions, such as "does an equation have a solution?", "how many solutions does an equation have?", "what can be said about the nature of the solutions?" are considered. These questions led extending algebra to non-numerical objects, such as permutations, vectors, matrices, and polynomials. The structural properties of these non-numerical objects were then abstracted into algebraic structures such as groups, rings, and fields.

Before the 16th century, mathematics was divided into only two subfields, arithmetic and geometry. Even though some methods, which had been developed much earlier, may be considered nowadays as algebra, the emergence of algebra and, soon thereafter, of infinitesimal calculus as subfields of mathematics only dates from the 16th or 17th century. From the second half of the 19th century on, many new fields of mathematics appeared, most of which made use of both arithmetic and geometry, and almost all of which used algebra.

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Yes, high heels were originally introduced for men. Its origin can be traced back to 10th Century Persia when soldiers used them to ensure their feet remained firmly in the stirrups while riding horses. When the trend reached Europe men in aristocratic families started wearing high heels as they made them look more powerful and signified their affluent status.

In the 17th century, men started abandoning bright colour clothes, jewellery, exquisite fabrics to practical and sober clothing. They started to emphasized on practical and rationality over luxury and fashion which was known as the Great Male Renunciation. Since then, distinguishing between men and women through their appearance has been a dominant trend.

The intellectual movement has started to stereotype men as rational and practical, while women as sentimental and foolish. By 1740, men stopped wearing heel-shoes. The demand for sophistication, practical and to put on simple dresses have stopped the high heeled shoe fashion among men.

Heels came back in the mid-19th century, where men wear low heeled cowboy boots and platform shoes. Moreover, the era of men wearing high heels is long gone. Men on heels used to symbolize power, wealth and masculinity but it was pushed to the gender biases in today’s world.

Picture Credit : Google