What? on Pitara Kids Network

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Fri, 25 Mar 2005 20:48:41 +0000

If you touch a hot metal object, you will yank your hand away immediately. When this happens to you the first time, the sequence of events and the result (the burning of your hand) gets stored in your brain. This is what we call an experience.

When you see a hot metal object next time, you will not touch it. You will use the knowledge of your previous experience and decide to not repeat it again.

What Makes the Egg Shell so Strong?

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 04:47:29 +0000

Have you ever wondered why hens don’t break their eggs when they sit on them? The secret lies in the shape of the egg. An egg is a great example of nature’s excellent skills in packing. If you squeeze the ends of an egg between the palms of your hands, it won’t break. However, if you squeeze it in the middle, it pops and creates a terrible mess.

If you have seen the way eggs are sold in the market, you would have noticed that they are kept with their ends pointing up and are never left lying horizontally. Hens, too, incubate their eggs the same way, with the narrower end pointing upwards.

What is Cloning?

Sun, 07 Sep 2003 11:55:52 +0000

Which is the most famous sheep in the world? A sheep called Dolly. But why is Dolly famous?

That is because unlike other sheep’s, Dolly was not born in the usual manner. She is actually a carbon copy of her mother, like an identical twin. This means that she is the twin sister of her mother who is older by six years and she does not have a father!

What is Cloning? [Illustration by Shinod AP]

Scientists at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, UK, made history on 27th February 1997, when they successfully cloned a sheep. So what is cloning?

What Happens After an Earthquake?

Sat, 06 Apr 2002 21:55:39 +0000

People often wonder whether an earthquake can drastically change the topography of a region. A few tremors and some buildings that collapse does not mean that the shape of the earth has changed, does it? However, earthquakes can and do change the topography of the region.

An earthquake raised Rhodes island. The line of erosion (on the rock to the left) shows the sea level before the earthquake. The rise is uneven in different parts of the island, usually several meters. [Ввласенко / CC BY-SA]Ввласенко / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

Our earth is made of many layers just like an onion. We can divide it into four main layers: the inner or solid core, the outer or liquid core, mantle, and crust. The inner core is composed mostly of iron and is extremely hot. This heat causes the outer core to remain in a liquid or molten form.

What is Water Harvesting?

Fri, 09 May 2003 05:03:49 +0000

Come summer and the entire nation seems to have just one word on its lips – water. Year 2000 saw one of the worst summers recorded in the history of India. The drought in the state of Gujarat and Rajasthan was the worst in decades.

Fresh water, they say is a scarce resource. Is it?

During the monsoons every year, we allow huge amounts of fresh water to run off our roads and pavements into the drains where it mixes with the sewage and heads straight for the rivers where we dump waste. Did you know that this rain water is enough to see us through the summers?

What is the Mystery of Dracula?

Thu, 19 May 2005 21:41:38 +0000

As bats flap through the musty castle, a coffin lid creaks open and an ashy white hand gropes for the cover. The lid slides off and a caped figure rises in the gloom – Dracula is on the prowl! Vampires have enthralled generations of readers and moviegoers; and the most popular ‘vampire’ is the fearsome Count Dracula of Transylvania.

Of course, these blood-sucking monsters do not exist and are merely the figment of our imagination.

Is Potato a Fruit or Vegetable?

Thu, 02 May 2002 06:52:02 +0000

Pick up a potato and you notice eyes with little lashes on it. In fact, the lashes look like tiny roots. Have you ever wondered why the potato has roots on it?

The potato is actually a stem. A stem in disguise, that grows under the ground!

Many plants are masters at adapting themselves to their surroundings. They can change their structure to suit their needs.

Farmer holding harvested dirty potatoes in his hands.

Just as we keep large vessels handy in the scorching summer to store water, plants deal with the problem in a smarter way. Their body parts have changed over a period of time so as to adjust to their surroundings. Thus, the potato plant has changed the shape and size of its stem to store food and water. And this storage is done under the ground where it is relatively cooler.

What is Pluto – a Star or a Comet?

Tue, 25 Nov 2003 09:10:50 +0000

Which is the planet farthest from the sun? Pluto, of course.
But, some recent findings suggest that Pluto is not a planet at all. It seems Pluto could actually be a comet, reports the National Geographic website – www.nationalgeographic.com

Basically, it is Pluto’s small size that has got it into trouble. It has a diameter of approximately 1,420 miles or 2,280 kilometers. This makes it six times smaller than Earth. This fact irked scientists who always suspected that something so small could never belong to the hallowed club of planets.

What Kind of Horses did Knights Ride?

Mon, 16 Apr 2001 02:07:59 +0000

In 1066 AD the Normans (people who came from Normandy in Europe) conquered England and introduced feudalism in England. Feudalism was a system of contract where society was divided into four classes: royalty, barons (noblemen) and bishops, knights (a title or a rank) and lastly peasants. Merchants and artisans were placed just above the peasants.

From 1066 to about the 14th century, feudalism developed across Europe. There were no professional armies at that time like we have today. Every man who was called upon was expected to follow his king in battle. The king granted land to these knights. A knighthood was obtained either by birth into a noble family or through bravery in battle.

What Is The Origin Of Silk Fabric?

Fri, 15 Jul 2005 14:43:43 +0000

My mother took out her favourite blue silk saree for the dinner party. I looked at it, mesmerised by its shimmer and lustre. The rich fabric draped around her body, making her look so very elegant. Definitely no other fabric can match the qualities of silk.

But have you ever wondered, how silk fabric came into existence? Silk production, or ‘Sericulture’ as it is known, has a long history, unknown to most of us.

What Is The Origin Of Silk Fabric?

The silken roots

What is a Volcano?

Wed, 24 Sep 2003 17:37:09 +0000

What is nature’s most powerful, most destructive, most dangerous form? Some would say an earthquake, others a cyclone. However, these phenomenon are relatively smaller and less destructive in scale compared to the fury of a volcano.

Fourteen miles southeast of Naples in Italy, lie the remains of an ancient town called Pompeii. The city flourished under the shadows of the towering Mount Vesuvius. In 79 AD, the volcano erupted, destroying the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Torre Annunziata.

What is the Weight of Air?

Fri, 14 May 2004 14:07:53 +0000

As you stand in the middle of a playground or while you are sitting in your class, there is an immense weight right over your head, but you do not feel it! This is the weight of the atmosphere, or air, as we know it.

Composed of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other gases, it surrounds the earth like an envelope. And, it extends almost a thousand kilometres above the Earth’s surface.

Like all other substances, air also has weight. Imagine, we are actually talking about a thousand-kilometre high column of air above our heads. This is known as the atmospheric pressure.

What is a Tornado?

Mon, 22 May 2000 10:14:36 +0000

If you ever happen to see a dark often greenish sky, wall cloud, large hail and a loud roar similar to a freight train then run to a safe place as it could be a tornado.

Popularly known as twisters, tornado is derived from Spanish word ‘Tronada’ meaning thunderstorm and ‘Tornar’ meaning to turn.

Tornadoes [Illustrations by Amarjeet Malik]

A tornado is defined as a violently rotating column of air that can spin faster than 300 m.p.h., extending from a thunderstorm to the ground. They are generally observed as tube-or funnel-shaped clouds. At ground level they usually leave a path of destruction about 50 m wide and travel an average of about 8 to 24 km.

What is Daylight Saving Time?

Thu, 04 Jan 2001 16:27:04 +0000

People in some parts of the world gain an extra hour in winters and are able to sleep and snore that much longer thanks to a suggestion by Benjamin Franklin about daylight saving time. But when the suggestion was first made, it raised such a furore not only from those kept awake by the extra snoring but also from others and they wasted a lot of time fighting over this extra hour.

Actually the confusion began when the postal service and the railways began to connect far-flung cities. These towns followed their town clock by measuring the position of the sun. Therefore every city was on a slightly different time.

What is Cloud Seeding?

Fri, 11 May 2001 03:21:04 +0000

There was a time when a farmer would sit out in his field, watching a lonesome cloud float away, taking with it the last hope of a much-needed burst of rain. As humans take control over more and more natural processes – not necessarily for the betterment of civilisation – rain too seems to have finally been leashed in.

Just like a farmer throws seeds on ploughed land to harvest plants, clouds can also be seeded with chemicals to induce rain! But to understand how cloud seeding works we must first learn some basic facts about the weather.

What is the Ozone Hole?

Mon, 14 Oct 2002 11:03:48 +0000

On beaches as well as on the cricket ground, it is always possible to spot people with some kind of cream on their bodies or faces. Remember the South African pace bowler Alan Donald or ‘White Lightning’ as he is called, with “war-paint” on his face? No, it is not an attempt at camouflage, simply an effort to gain protection from the ultraviolet rays of the sun.

And therein lies a paradox – it is the light and heat of the sun that sustains life on earth, but among its many friendly rays are some harmful ones as well. These ultraviolet (UV, as they are called in all popular sunscreen lotions) rays can kill life forms, including humans, if they are exposed to it beyond a limit.

What is Cotton Candy?

Sun, 09 Mar 2003 19:44:51 +0000

It’s sticky, it’s messy and it’s just the thing to eat at a fair. Children or adults, most people do not consider a mela or fair complete without the giant-wheel and the fluffy cotton candy wrapped around a stick. Or budhiya ke baal (old woman’s hair), as it is popularly known in parts of northern India.

And do you know what it is made of? Well, next time, don’t gobble up the whole of the candy. Instead, put a bit of it in water. In a matter of seconds the candy will disappear. No, it’s not magic. The candy is made of sugar and it dissolves the moment it’s put in water.

What are Canal Locks?

Wed, 24 Nov 1999 19:48:09 +0000

In some rivers or canals the water is not too deep for large ocean-going ships. In such places large watertight compartments are built that help ships and boats go up or down different levels on rivers or canals. These are called canal locks.

In certain areas, man-made canals are constructed to connect two water bodies. These canals are built to help cut down the distance a large ship would otherwise have to take to reach its destination. The canals are therefore constructed at a higher level, like the Panama Canal to prevent land on either side from getting flooded.

What is the Trail behind a Jet?

Mon, 01 Aug 2005 04:45:07 +0000

When we were small, we used to look up to the sky and often see a white trail left by a jet aircraft. Rocket! Rocket! We used to yell, jump up with joy, clap our hands and strain our eyes as the ‘rocket’ disappeared into the horizon.

Soon, the white streak would change into a broken, twisted cloud path. And we were told that it was the fairies’ trail.

What is the Trail behind a Jet?

What causes this white streak?

What is the Secret of the Windmill?

Thu, 03 Oct 2002 17:16:10 +0000

It was a particularly windy day in late July when my cousin and I sat down to make a pinwheel. The paper was folded into a wheel, the pin inserted at the heart of it and the entire structure fixed to the broomstick.

As our pinwheel took shape we ran out braving the sun and the hot wind. The pinwheel caught the wind and rotated. Seeing it, our hearts pin-wheeled as well.

Energy from wind
A few days later we happened to see the photograph of a windmill in a magazine. “Don’t these windmills look exactly like the pinwheels we made?” my cousin shouted. And what did we find? That they are actually similar! Like the pinwheel, the windmill also uses the wind’s energy to turn the blades on a large wheel. This movement of the blades is used to pump water, generate electricity or pound grain.

What are Komodo Dragons?

Tue, 10 Sep 2002 22:40:27 +0000

European mythology abounds in stories of knights in shining armour battling fearsome dragons. Fairytale storybooks are peppered with illustrations of these huge monsters looking like crocodiles with wings and huge claws and breathing fire. Of course fire breathing dragons do not exist, but there is a tiny island, called Komodo, in Indonesia, that is home to dragons – yes, real dragons!

Unlike the dragons of yore, the Komodo dragon does not possess a fiery breath, nor can it trample hapless humans underfoot, but it does pack a mean bite. This ‘dragon’ has a forked tongue that constantly flicks in and out (just like that of a snake). And just like a snake, when provoked the Komodo dragon does administer a lethal bite.

What is Ham Radio?

Sat, 04 Oct 2003 20:40:32 +0000

Consider this, your state has been hit by a cyclone with wind speeds measuring 300 kilometres per hour. All modern means of communication – telephone, cellphone, wireless sets – lie dead as the cyclone has destroyed all connecting stations and links.

This is what happened during the Orissa cyclone. All communication links broke down as dish antennas, radio stations, telephone lines, satellite links were destroyed.

There was no way people could contact the outside world. This was when a bunch of amateurs, students and radio enthusiasts got together to set up something called an amateur radio or ham radio station.

What is an Earthquake?

Mon, 28 Oct 2002 22:15:31 +0000

One moment, the world seems just the way it was yesterday, the day before, last year, or even the day before the day before. All is well with the world. It’s a beautiful sunny day and you are sitting drinking your morning tea or coffee relaxed and enjoying the day. Suddenly there is a rattling of plates and glasses. Within seconds chairs and tables are rocking violently, the fans sway crazily and crockery is falling off the shelves. Help!! Sometimes plaster falls from the ceiling, walls develop cracks or worse still, they collapse. The very earth is shaking!

What to do During an Earthquake?

Fri, 12 Apr 2002 18:11:00 +0000

An earthquake is literally an earth shattering experience! Here you are enjoying an afternoon snooze, or having a cup of coffee in the morning or even sleeping under a quilt on a cold winter night when WHAM! The entire crockery shelf collapses shattering plates and cups; the painting on the wall nearly knocks you down as it falls; or the antique fan looks like it will brain you as it hangs down, held by a single wire!

What is a Tsunami?

Tue, 28 Nov 2000 12:09:07 +0000

Last year there were three more fishing villages in the Pacific island country of Papua New Guinea than there are today. You might ask why. The answer is that these three villages were washed away by an ocean wave that was more like a giant wall of water. It goes by the name tsunami, a Japanese term meaning a harbour wave.

Ocean that Becomes a Giant Wall [Illustrations by Kusum Chamoli]

A tsunami is caused by a disturbance in the sea floor, just like the disturbances on land. It may take the form of a quake or volcanic eruption or landslides on the ocean floor. Imagine the slab-like pieces of the sea floor, each of which may be hundreds of kilometres long. And imagine these slabs moving against each other, forcing one or the other upwards.

What Toothpaste did the Ancients Use?

Mon, 24 Dec 2001 02:12:59 +0000

One of my earliest childhood memories of Delhi is seeing morning walkers, milkmen, or shopkeepers chewing away at the neem stick, much like a cow chewing the cud. It seemed strange that they should go to all that effort when readymade toothpaste was available.

Neem (Azadirachta indic a) twig still used as toothbrush in many parts of India

The world was divided into four kinds of people: those who used toothpaste and brush, and they were the elite; those who used tooth powder for which the index finger doubled as the brush; people who used indigenous “monkey-brand” tooth powders and lastly, those who used neem sticks which were two-in-one.

What is Mad Cow Disease?

Wed, 14 Nov 2001 04:57:27 +0000

In 1996, doctors detected 10 cases of a rare and fatal human brain disease in Britain and they diagnosed that it was probably due to eating beef from animals with “mad cow disease”. Scientifically, this cow disease was termed bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE while the disease affecting humans was termed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).

The disease caused panic in Europe both among people eating beef and the farmers who were selling it. The European Union, which is the administrative body and includes all countries in Europe, responded immediately by banning imports of British beef.

What is Blood Pressure?

Sun, 17 Dec 2000 21:38:51 +0000

The heart is a live pump that delivers blood to different parts of the body. Blood flows in or flows out when the heart contracts and expands. The blood is forced into the arteries, which expand to receive the oncoming blood. The force with which the blood moves through the arteries is knows as blood pressure.

The arteries have a muscular lining which resists this pressure. The blood is thus squeezed out into smaller blood vessels. Maximum blood pressure coincides with the steady contraction of the heart, which pushes the blood into the arteries. This maximum pressure is called systolic pressure.

What were the Voyager Missions?

Sat, 19 Jul 2003 22:32:53 +0000

Imagine a journey that takes you a billion kilometres away from earth, to the edge of the solar system, from where you can look back over your shoulder and see our sun as just another star in the sky.

We are not talking about a science fiction movie but the Voyager space mission. On August 20, 1977, the Voyager 2 spacecraft was launched. Close on its heels, the Voyager 1 was launched on September 5, 1977. Both the unmanned spacecraft were launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA.

What are the Various Jazz Styles?

Tue, 15 Oct 2002 11:12:25 +0000

Jazz originated from the American South in the 18th century as a form of music sung by African slaves employed in the many plantations. Jazz music was influenced by different cultures from a combination of African folk music and rhythms to Caribbean and black American music.

Various styles of playing evolved in the 19th and 20th centuries as musicians started to improvise. This was because early musicians did not have formal training in Western classical music and those that did began to introduce European harmonies and forms into Jazz and made the pattern of music uneven.

What is a Kangaroo Rat?

Mon, 17 Jun 2002 14:37:03 +0000

It looks like a small kangaroo for its hind legs are longer than its fore legs. And it uses its tail to balance itself. In fact, unlike other rats it does not run on all four legs but jumps around from bush to bush in search of food – like a kangaroo. And that’s why it is called the kangaroo rat.

It has another unique feature. Unlike most animals, the kangaroo rat does not need to drink water.

What is Memory?

Wed, 17 Jan 2001 23:54:25 +0000

As a child my day began with a LARGE glass of milk and five almonds with their skin pealed, that my mother used to put in a bowl of water the previous night. While the milk was for health and energy, the almonds were for increasing the memory. I don’t know how much they helped, but I still offer them to my children in the hope that they do. After all, memory is a precious thing.

What does SOS mean?

Thu, 20 May 1999 07:42:23 +0000

Recently, sailors on the nuclear submarine that sank in the Baltic Sea were isolated from rescue workers as their radio set got damaged. Luckily their radio operators knew the Morse code and were able to communicate by knocking on the sides of the ship.

There are many explanations for what the words stand for: Save Our Souls; Save Our Ship; Send Our Succour… The meaning of all three is the same – it is a plea for help by someone in distress. That’s exactly what SOS is.

What is Geothermal Energy?

Tue, 12 Aug 2003 03:20:53 +0000

In winter, all of us warm water in the geysers in the bathroom for bathing. Nature too has geysers which throw up a huge amount of hot water and steam. The ‘Old Faithful’, as one of the geysers in the Yellow Stone National Park in the United States of America is called, spews out boiling water at intervals of 33 to 120 minutes.

Old Faithful, as one of the geysers in the Yellow Stone National Park in the USA is called, spews out boiling water at intervals of 33 to 120 minutes

Why do natural geysers spew hot water?

What are Volcanic Tubeworms?

Sat, 11 Dec 2004 13:50:41 +0000

In order to raise chicks the farmer keeps the eggs warm and is careful not to crush them. But when scientists in the University of Southern California rear tubeworms, they keep the immature worms very cold and under high pressure.

You would think the scientists are being cruel by subjecting these little worms to such extreme conditions. They are not.

The worms can thrive only under these circumstances, because they live in the deep sea where it is very cold. They thrive on the sulphurous vents of volcanoes at a depth of 8,000 feet in the Pacific Ocean.

What are Dry Clouds?

Sat, 30 Jun 2001 20:42:56 +0000

It is that time of the year when all of us look to the sky, waiting for the first drops of rain to fall on our faces. We wish the monsoon would come soon. But for people who live in polluted cities like Delhi or Tokyo, there’s some bad news. Israeli scientists have discovered that air pollution may actually stop rain from falling.

To know how pollution may prevent rain from falling, it is necessary to know how and when rain falls. The sun beats down on the earth and heats up the land and water.

What is an Orca?

Tue, 18 Dec 2001 05:21:09 +0000

If you have seen the movie Free Willy, you would be able to instantly recognise an Orca. Willy is an Orca or a killer whale.

Orcas (Orcinus orca) are mammals classified under the order Cetacea. Though they are called killer whales, they belong to the dolphin family. Like other whales and dolphins, they, too, come up to the surface to take in oxygen.

Orcas can be found in all the oceans of the world. Orcas are found in pods which is the collective term for these animals like ‘a gaggle" for geese or ‘school’ for fish. A pod may consist of two or three groups with each group consisting of 15 or 20 members.

What are Truffles?

Wed, 08 Dec 1999 08:22:59 +0000

Every year, between November and March, people in southern France and Italy are busy trampling the woods, sniffing the air and peering under the roots of elm and oak trees looking for truffles. Truffles? Hey, its no trifling matter – there are organisations in France and Italy which let you take part in truffle hunts!

Truffles are a rare and delicate type of edible mushrooms that look like little potato nuggets. They grow in open woodlands in regions with a warm and moderate climate, on soil rich in calcium or limestone.

What is the Software for Life?

Thu, 02 Jan 2003 15:20:13 +0000

We all use computers. If you use Windows on your machine, like me, you will have a small button at the the bottom of your screen called ‘Start’. Every machine in the world which has the Windows software installed has to have that button. However, we can have different screen colours, different text sizes, wallpapers etc.

Similarly our bodies are essentially the same, but we have different colours, sizes, shapes and structures. Our body also has a software which is responsible for these differences between one human being and another. It is called the DNA.

What is the Rubik's Cube?

Thu, 11 Jan 2001 04:04:40 +0000

My nephew Akshay was a brat. No two ways about it. When he was not occupied with dismantling everything that moved, ticked, or clicked he would be engaged in stuffing an icecube down your shirt when you were busy working on whatever it is that didn’t involve him.

After a lot of thought, my uncle and I decided to purchase something that would rack his brains till kingdom come. We scouted the market for all sorts of things and luckily we came to a shop that sold a colourful cube – the Rubik’s cube.

What is Esperanto?

Tue, 17 Apr 2001 18:44:17 +0000

Esperanto is an artificial international language created by Dr Ludovic Lazarus Zamenof between 1877-85. Zamenhof, who grew up in Warsaw, Poland, was convinced that a common language would be necessary to resolve many problems as language barriers helped to aggravate problems between nations.

Zamenhof realised that none of the major European languages, French, German, English, Spanish, Italian and Russian could be made universal as they were all difficult languages to learn. The difficulty in mastering grammar would put native speakers at an advantage with respect to those who did not speak them fluently.

What are Go-Go Boots?

Wed, 03 Oct 2001 12:55:26 +0000

Ever seen rock stars or movie stars strutting about in calf-length boots? Well, these calf-length boots were the rage at one point of time. Discotheques at Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York saw young women dressed in thigh high skirts to show off these boots called Go-Go boots.

The Go-Go boots had its origin with the original ankle-length boots with pointed toes and inch-high heels worn by Cowboys in the American mid-West.

Cowboys needed these boots for riding, and to ensure they don’t bitten by scorpions or snakes when they were walking on the desert undergrowth. The heels also gave them a grip from being dragged along when they lassoed a cow or calf for branding (leaving a mark of the owner on the skin of the cattle) or during cattle drives.

What is an ISBN number?

Sat, 11 Sep 2004 22:48:45 +0000

There are hundreds of thousands of publishers across the world, and millions of books get printed every year. Moreover, a book like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a book that has been printed by several publishers. This makes the task of identifying a book very difficult.

To overcome the problem of identifying books, publishers have came up with a unique numbering system. For instance, if 50,000 copies of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes are printed by a publisher at one time (called an edition), all of them are identified by one number code. This number code is like your home address that cannot be shared by anyone else apart from your parents and siblings.

What's Biting the Flea?

Tue, 01 Feb 2000 02:22:01 +0000

Scratch, scratch scratch goes your pet dog or cat. Behind the ears, on his body. He whips about trying to chew up his tail. What’s eating him? You part the hair and feel around. It’s a flea!

Fleas are parasitic insects that suck the blood of birds and mammals. There are over 2,400 flea species worldwide classified under the order Siphonaptera. They are tiny wingless insects like the lice in our hair, either black or reddish brown.

What is Physiotherapy?

Tue, 04 Jul 2000 15:55:06 +0000

If you’ve ever been laid up in bed because of a broken leg, or with an arm in a cast, you’ll know how limp that limb feels when it is finally out of bandages. That’s because the muscles in that particular part of the body have not been used for so long that they’ve ‘forgotten’ how to function. They need to be re-taught their work, and this is where physiotherapy comes in.

Physiotherapy is that branch of medicine, which makes use of physical agents or exercises to treat a disease or an injury. It is also called physical therapy.

What is the origin of OK?

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 07:01:26 +0000

‘I’m OK means ‘I’m fine’. But if you say the weather’s OK in a lazy drawl, it could mean ‘so-so’. When you respond with an OK at the end of someone’s explanation, you could be saying, ‘Alright, I get what you’re saying’. And when someone explains that ‘This is the way to do it, OK?’ it means, ‘Have you understood?’

What is the origin of OK? [Illustration by Shinod AP]

One abbreviation, many meanings. And like all delightful accidents of history, the origin of this multi-faceted OK seems to lie in a humourous misspelling of the words ‘all correct’ as ‘orl korrect’, approximately 170 years ago, in the US.

What Kind of Creatures are Sharks?

Wed, 18 Apr 2001 19:04:44 +0000

Sharks can be found in every ocean of the world. To many people, there’s only one kind of shark: the man-eating white shark of the movie Jaws. They think sharks are ruthless predators that attack anything they come across.

Sharks are sometimes thought of as primitive creatures as they have been in existence for million of years. In fact, sharks are very intelligent. They have a fantastic sense of smell and hearing as well as good vision in low light conditions.

Where is the Tower of Babel?

Sun, 09 Dec 2001 13:39:59 +0000

The ‘Tower of Babel’ is a structure that is mentioned in the Bible in the Old Testament in Genesis. The Biblical account describes how the descendants of Noe who migrated from Armenia towards Babylon (in Mesopotamia) decided to build a city and a tower whose architectural excellence would make them famous. But, God caused confusion by confounding their tongues, so that they did not understand each other’s speech. Slowly they moved away from that place and they ceased to build the city.

What does a Train Whistle tell us about the Universe?

Tue, 26 Nov 2002 15:33:03 +0000

I remember my first visit to the railway station as a child of five. The excitement of the approaching train was an experience I have never quite forgotten. At first I heard a train whistle far away, low and distant. As the train got closer, the sound of the whistle not only increased, it became shriller, and difficult to bear. So much so that I covered my ears in alarm!

Once the excitement had passed, I discovered a secret – even with my eyes closed and by just hearing the whistle, I could tell whether a train was approaching or moving away.

What kind of Family Life did the Dinosaurs Have?

Thu, 09 Sep 1999 12:27:40 +0000

In Argentina this year, scientists digging on a site made a fantastic discovery, which made them realise that dinosaurs lived as a large family. The site consisted of many nests with each nest containing as many as 15 to 30 eggs. The eggs belonged to a plant-eating dinosaur called Titanosaurs. It is the biggest nesting site of dinosaurs found so far.

The word dinosaur is a Greek word meaning giant reptile. Most reptiles lay eggs in nests but they walk away after the young hatch to fend for themselves.

What is Leukaemia?

Thu, 09 May 2002 12:02:26 +0000

Some 15 years back when I was still in school, our class teacher, Mrs. Khurana, would remain absent from school and class almost every other day. We kids were very happy without realising and neither did we bother to find out the reason for her absence.

It was only later that our principal informed us that Mrs. Khurana’s only son was suffering from leukaemia (wrongly called blood cancer). I remember later that Mrs. Khurana took her son to abroad where he underwent a bone marrow transplant.

What are Q-Tips?

Sun, 02 Sep 2001 00:43:37 +0000

Everbody has used this product at some time or other in some form or other. Sometimes it is used to clean the wax from your ears, and sometimes to clean dust from delicate instruments. Many kick themselves for not patenting it when they knew about it.

So what are Q-Tips? It is such a simple silly thingummy – a piece of thick plastic or cardboard with cotton wrapped at each end! Q-Tips are today, a registered trademark of Chesebrough-Ponds, Inc, USA. However, it was invented in 1920 by a Polish-born American, Leo Gerstenzang.

What is Asthma?

Sat, 01 Apr 2000 10:59:46 +0000

Asthma is one of the most common diseases affecting the lungs. A serious disease, it affects all races and both sexes equally. This disease affects millions. Many of us recognize asthma symptoms like wheezing, chest tightness and gasping for breath. However, few of us know what is going on inside the body of a person with asthma.

When we breathe, we inhale oxygen through the nose and mouth. The air passes down the trachea or windpipe through the two bronchi that branch off into the millions of tiny airways that make up the lungs. Here the inhaled oxygen enters the bloodstream and carbon dioxide is pulled out of the blood and sent back up the airway to be exhaled.