Blackhawck's blog

15 Da Vinci War Machines

2010-01-08T18:40:00.000+05:30

The Great Leonardo Da Vinci designed many weapons, including giant crossbows, machine guns, siege towers, cluster bombs and even a precursor to the modern-day tank.

1. Leonardo Da Vinci’s Terminator
Leonardo Da Vinci’s mechanical knight was not discovered until 1957, when Carlo Pedretti discovered it, hidden amongst Da Vinci’s countless designs. The mechanical knight, first sketched by DaVinci in 1495, was mentioned in 1974, in the Codex Madrid edited by Ladislao Reti, but there was no attempt to reconstruct it until 1996 when Mark Rosheim published an independent study of the robot, followed by a joint enterprise with the Florence Institute and Museum of the History of Science.
However, it was not until 2002 that Rosheim built a complete physical model of the robot for a BBC documentary. Since then, a soldier on wheels labelled, “Leonardo’s robot” has been included in countless exhibitions and museums.
In the 2007 Mario Taddei made a new research on Da Vinci’s original documents finding enough data to build a version of the soldier robot, more closely related to the original drawings. This robot was designed just for defensive purposes, not for war or theatre. Its movements are somewhat restricted since the arms only move right and left when pulled with a rope. This particular model is shown in various exhibitions around the world and the Tadei’s research results are published in the book, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Robots.
source
2. Machine Gun
The multi-barrelled machine gun was a weapon with remarkable firepower. Da Vinci sketched this rolling artillery battery around 1480 while in Florence, perhaps as a calling card to a warrior prince in need of a military architect. A hand crank adjusts elevation, and reloading is a major challenge – especially when under fire .
Though capable of rapid-fire which later model machine guns became noted for, this his housed an ingenious aiming and loading mechanism. By widening the field of fire, the fan-like shape of Da Vinci’s prototype made it a potentially effective weapon against a line of advancing troops. In addition Da Vinci’s design was easy to move around on the battlefield because it was lightweight and mounted on wheels.
source
3. Cluster Bomb
To make the bombard, or cannon, a weapon already known at the time, even more deadly, Da Vinci also designed large projectiles, comprised of round shells fitted around iron spacers and stitched inside a pliable casing. Once fired, this invention exploded into many fragments with that had greater range and impact than a single cannon-ball.
source
4. Scythed chariots
This is one of Leonardo’s most beautiful manuscripts. His sketches horse drawn reveal carriages covered with sharp, swirling blades that moved in the thick of battle slashing through everything in their wake. The rotating blades were specifically designed to sever the limbs from its victims. In one of his drawings, Da Vinci illustrated the carnage in such gruesome detail that his notation indicated that his contraption probably would wreak as much havoc on friends as on foes.
source
5. Barrage Cannon
This drawing is on of the first page of the Codex Atlanticus. The drawing itself is very complete and quite fascinating, illustrating the plan of a bombard with sixteen radial cannons. The most interesting aspect of the project is the centre of the bombard itself, housing a pair of mechanical paddles and gear wheels, providing only a partial glimpse of the possibilities of massive weapon.
Source
6. Tank
This is perhaps one of the most famous of Da Vinci’s projects. His idea of reaping panic and destruction among enemy troops was envisioned in this tortoise-shaped vehicle, reinforced with metal plates, and ringed with cannons. In a job application to the Duke of Milan, Da Vinci boasted "I can make armoured cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the close ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and no company of soldiers is so great that they will not break through them. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow quite unharmed and without any opposition." Da Vinci’s precursor to the modern tank surely could have created "shock and awe" on the 15th-century battlefield, the design contained some serious flaws. Even with several modifications to the original plans he continued to be faced with a number of unresolved problems and eventually abandoned the project.
source
7. Wall Defense
Leonardo designed complex and ingenious methods of defence. Here, when the walls are under attack, the soldiers hidden behind the battlements could quickly and easily ward-off enemies and their single movement by using a system of levers. As the enemy used ladders in an attempt to breach the walls, the levers were engaged to move the rails built into the walls that the ladders were leaning on, causing them to become unstable and eventually fall.
Source & Source
8. Catapult
The basic design of the catapult had been in use for hundreds of years before Da Vinci embarked upon improving it. He actually came up with several different models. This particular design uses a double leaf spring to produce an enormous amount of energy in order to propel stone projectiles or incendiary materials over great distances. Loading of the two large leaf springs was accomplished using a hand crank on the side of the catapult.
source
9. Fortress
Leonardo designed this fortress with the idea of rendering it safe from the attack. The elaborate shape is innovative and presumably could have been an effective defence against the impact of deadly artillery projectiles.
The Da Vinci fortress could be considered by many as very modern in its design with its circular towers and the slightly inclined exterior walls designed to absorb attacks from firearms. The lord of the castle lived in the centre of the complex, which, according to original drawings also features a secret underground passage. In addition, the fortress features two levels of concentric walls, the tops of which are rounded, in order to help deflect the impact of cannon fire. Small openings make it possible for those fighting from within to return fire with minimum risk of injury from the outside.
Source
10. Dismountable cannon
Cannons were very heavy and the carriages used to transport them were often unwieldy. Leonardo deigned a structure that could be easily dismantled and transported, thus permitting the cannon to be easily moved about.
11. Springald
The Springald, a device that throws large bolts or stones resembles a contemporary crossbow with inward swinging arms. Examples of springalds were drawn by Leonardo da Vinci during a period when he was also drawing powder-propelled weapons. Though several reconstructed examples can be found, there are no known archaeological finds of these machines. It is quite probable that this is because materials used to make them were recycled when they were no longer useful.
source
12. Da Vinci’s Helicopter

Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with having first thought of a machine for vertical flight. His sketch of the airscrew dated 1493, was not discovered until the 19th century. It consisted of a platform mounted by a helical screw driven by a rudimentary system, not unlike that of rubber band-powered model aircraft. Da Vinci’s notes state “if this instrument in the form of a screw were well made of linen, the pores of which had been stopped with starch, it should, upon being turned sharply, rise into the air in a spiral”. His design, however, was never put to any use.
Da Vinci left his imprint on aeronautics through his work with ornithopters and helicopter models and is said to have begun the first sound experiments in search of a practical heavier-than-air flying machine. He was convinced that if man were to able to realize his long held dream of travelling in the sky above him, it would happen by a flying machine based on the principle of the helicopter. Slightly more than two hundred years later, his prediction proved to be true.
13. Armoured vessel
The drawing depicting Da Vinci’s armoured vessel shows a light vessel fitted with a prow protected by metal and used to ram enemy ships. A rotating covering shield, which opens during the boarding phase of the attack, is also featured.
The covering shield provided protection against enemy ships and allowed the vessel to approach the enemy without the cannon being observed. The shield would not be opened to reveal the cannon until after the armoured vessel rammed an enemy ship, or got too close to evade it. The shields are attached to a system of winches which open very quickly, enhancing the element of surprise. Once lowered into the water, the shields could also function as a brake to offset the recoil of the cannon. The shields were closed through a system of manually operated winches.
Source
14. Giant crossbow
The crossbow is so big that the six wheels are set at a slight angle in order to increase its stability. This gigantic Da Vinci crossbow launches heavy balls, rather than arrows.
The bow is made with flexible wooden pieces bound together by cords and held in place by pivoting pins. It has a span of approximately thirteen meters and it is stretched by a complex screw mechanism. Da Vinci installed winches to regulate the traction at the rear sides of the bow which also set a second screw mechanism, designed to reduce the force required to tighten the bow in motion.
Source
15. Da Vinci Siege Weapon
The model proposed by Leonardo represents a machine designed for attacking defensive walls, consisting of a mobile structure with an armoured bridge that rests on the walls of an enemy fortress, while the troops to penetrate the city or castle.
In addition to new machines, Da Vinci proposes classical systems for use in assaulting enemy city walls. The ladder is fixed to a special support, made up of partially toothed wheel grips into a worm screw. A crank turns the wheel back and forth that lifts and lowers the ladder.

2010-01-08T18:31:00.002+05:30

1. Leonardo Da Vinci’s Terminator
Leonardo Da Vinci’s mechanical knight was not discovered until 1957, when Carlo Pedretti discovered it, hidden amongst Da Vinci’s countless designs. The mechanical knight, first sketched by DaVinci in 1495, was mentioned in 1974, in the Codex Madrid edited by Ladislao Reti, but there was no attempt to reconstruct it until 1996 when Mark Rosheim published an independent study of the robot, followed by a joint enterprise with the Florence Institute and Museum of the History of Science.
However, it was not until 2002 that Rosheim built a complete physical model of the robot for a BBC documentary. Since then, a soldier on wheels labelled, “Leonardo’s robot” has been included in countless exhibitions and museums.
In the 2007 Mario Taddei made a new research on Da Vinci’s original documents finding enough data to build a version of the soldier robot, more closely related to the original drawings. This robot was designed just for defensive purposes, not for war or theatre. Its movements are somewhat restricted since the arms only move right and left when pulled with a rope. This particular model is shown in various exhibitions around the world and the Tadei’s research results are published in the book, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Robots.
source
2. Machine Gun
The multi-barrelled machine gun was a weapon with remarkable firepower. Da Vinci sketched this rolling artillery battery around 1480 while in Florence, perhaps as a calling card to a warrior prince in need of a military architect. A hand crank adjusts elevation, and reloading is a major challenge – especially when under fire .
Though capable of rapid-fire which later model machine guns became noted for, this his housed an ingenious aiming and loading mechanism. By widening the field of fire, the fan-like shape of Da Vinci’s prototype made it a potentially effective weapon against a line of advancing troops. In addition Da Vinci’s design was easy to move around on the battlefield because it was lightweight and mounted on wheels.
source
3. Cluster Bomb
To make the bombard, or cannon, a weapon already known at the time, even more deadly, Da Vinci also designed large projectiles, comprised of round shells fitted around iron spacers and stitched inside a pliable casing. Once fired, this invention exploded into many fragments with that had greater range and impact than a single cannon-ball.
source
4. Scythed chariots
This is one of Leonardo’s most beautiful manuscripts. His sketches horse drawn reveal carriages covered with sharp, swirling blades that moved in the thick of battle slashing through everything in their wake. The rotating blades were specifically designed to sever the limbs from its victims. In one of his drawings, Da Vinci illustrated the carnage in such gruesome detail that his notation indicated that his contraption probably would wreak as much havoc on friends as on foes.
source
5. Barrage Cannon
This drawing is on of the first page of the Codex Atlanticus. The drawing itself is very complete and quite fascinating, illustrating the plan of a bombard with sixteen radial cannons. The most interesting aspect of the project is the centre of the bombard itself, housing a pair of mechanical paddles and gear wheels, providing only a partial glimpse of the possibilities of massive weapon.
Source
6. Tank
This is perhaps one of the most famous of Da Vinci’s projects. His idea of reaping panic and destruction among enemy troops was envisioned in this tortoise-shaped vehicle, reinforced with metal plates, and ringed with cannons. In a job application to the Duke of Milan, Da Vinci boasted "I can make armoured cars, safe and unassailable, which will enter the close ranks of the enemy with their artillery, and no company of soldiers is so great that they will not break through them. And behind these the infantry will be able to follow quite unharmed and without any opposition." Da Vinci’s precursor to the modern tank surely could have created "shock and awe" on the 15th-century battlefield, the design contained some serious flaws. Even with several modifications to the original plans he continued to be faced with a number of unresolved problems and eventually abandoned the project.
source
7. Wall Defense
Leonardo designed complex and ingenious methods of defence. Here, when the walls are under attack, the soldiers hidden behind the battlements could quickly and easily ward-off enemies and their single movement by using a system of levers. As the enemy used ladders in an attempt to breach the walls, the levers were engaged to move the rails built into the walls that the ladders were leaning on, causing them to become unstable and eventually fall.
Source & Source
8. Catapult
The basic design of the catapult had been in use for hundreds of years before Da Vinci embarked upon improving it. He actually came up with several different models. This particular design uses a double leaf spring to produce an enormous amount of energy in order to propel stone projectiles or incendiary materials over great distances. Loading of the two large leaf springs was accomplished using a hand crank on the side of the catapult.
source
9. Fortress
Leonardo designed this fortress with the idea of rendering it safe from the attack. The elaborate shape is innovative and presumably could have been an effective defence against the impact of deadly artillery projectiles.
The Da Vinci fortress could be considered by many as very modern in its design with its circular towers and the slightly inclined exterior walls designed to absorb attacks from firearms. The lord of the castle lived in the centre of the complex, which, according to original drawings also features a secret underground passage. In addition, the fortress features two levels of concentric walls, the tops of which are rounded, in order to help deflect the impact of cannon fire. Small openings make it possible for those fighting from within to return fire with minimum risk of injury from the outside.
Source
10. Dismountable cannon
Cannons were very heavy and the carriages used to transport them were often unwieldy. Leonardo deigned a structure that could be easily dismantled and transported, thus permitting the cannon to be easily moved about.
11. Springald
The Springald, a device that throws large bolts or stones resembles a contemporary crossbow with inward swinging arms. Examples of springalds were drawn by Leonardo da Vinci during a period when he was also drawing powder-propelled weapons. Though several reconstructed examples can be found, there are no known archaeological finds of these machines. It is quite probable that this is because materials used to make them were recycled when they were no longer useful.
source
12. Da Vinci’s Helicopter

Leonardo Da Vinci is credited with having first thought of a machine for vertical flight. His sketch of the airscrew dated 1493, was not discovered until the 19th century. It consisted of a platform mounted by a helical screw driven by a rudimentary system, not unlike that of rubber band-powered model aircraft. Da Vinci’s notes state “if this instrument in the form of a screw were well made of linen, the pores of which had been stopped with starch, it should, upon being turned sharply, rise into the air in a spiral”. His design, however, was never put to any use.
Da Vinci left his imprint on aeronautics through his work with ornithopters and helicopter models and is said to have begun the first sound experiments in search of a practical heavier-than-air flying machine. He was convinced that if man were to able to realize his long held dream of travelling in the sky above him, it would happen by a flying machine based on the principle of the helicopter. Slightly more than two hundred years later, his prediction proved to be true.
13. Armoured vessel
The drawing depicting Da Vinci’s armoured vessel shows a light vessel fitted with a prow protected by metal and used to ram enemy ships. A rotating covering shield, which opens during the boarding phase of the attack, is also featured.
The covering shield provided protection against enemy ships and allowed the vessel to approach the enemy without the cannon being observed. The shield would not be opened to reveal the cannon until after the armoured vessel rammed an enemy ship, or got too close to evade it. The shields are attached to a system of winches which open very quickly, enhancing the element of surprise. Once lowered into the water, the shields could also function as a brake to offset the recoil of the cannon. The shields were closed through a system of manually operated winches.
Source
14. Giant crossbow
The crossbow is so big that the six wheels are set at a slight angle in order to increase its stability. This gigantic Da Vinci crossbow launches heavy balls, rather than arrows.
The bow is made with flexible wooden pieces bound together by cords and held in place by pivoting pins. It has a span of approximately thirteen meters and it is stretched by a complex screw mechanism. Da Vinci installed winches to regulate the traction at the rear sides of the bow which also set a second screw mechanism, designed to reduce the force required to tighten the bow in motion.
Source
15. Da Vinci Siege Weapon
The model proposed by Leonardo represents a machine designed for attacking defensive walls, consisting of a mobile structure with an armoured bridge that rests on the walls of an enemy fortress, while the troops to penetrate the city or castle.
In addition to new machines, Da Vinci proposes classical systems for use in assaulting enemy city walls. The ladder is fixed to a special support, made up of partially toothed wheel grips into a worm screw. A crank turns the wheel back and forth that lifts and lowers the ladder.

Some Facts About Chinese Calendar

2009-12-16T17:26:00.004+05:30

Chinese Years

Rat	1924	1936	1948	1960	1972	1984	1996	2008
Ox	1925	1937	1949	1961	1973	1985	1997	2009
Tiger	1926	1938	1950	1962	1974	1986	1998	2010
Rabbit	1927	1939	1951	1963	1975	1987	1999	2011
Dragon	1928	1940	1952	1964	1976	1988	2000	2012
Snake	1929	1941	1953	1965	1977	1989	2001	2013
Horse	1930	1942	1954	1966	1978	1990	2002	2014
Sheep	1931	1943	1955	1967	1979	1991	2003	2015
Monkey	1932	1944	1956	1968	1980	1992	2004	2016
Rooster	1933	1945	1957	1969	1981	1993	2005	2017
Dog	1934	1946	1958	1970	1982	1994	2006	2018
Boar	1935	1947	1959	1971	1983	1995	2007	2019

2009 is Year 4706 in the Chinese Calendar

Some people believe the following about individuals born in different Chinese years; for entertainment purposes only, I am listing them below (I happen to believe that the personality is the product of one's genes and environment)

Rat: Rats are said to be imaginative, charming and very generous to those they love - although they do have a tendency to be quick-tempered and over-critical. They are supposed to make good writers, critics and publicists
Ox: Oxen are born leaders, inspiring confidence in everyone they come into contact with. However, they can be too demanding. Methodical and good with their hands, they make fine surgeons and hairdressers.
Tiger: Tigers are said to be bold and adventurous, and are bestowed with initiative and charm. However, they have a tendency to be risk takers, making them act before they think about the consequences. They tend to make good bosses, explorers or racing drivers.
Rabbit: Rabbits are affectionate, co-operative and pleasant, with lots of friends. But they can get too sentimental and seem superficial. Ideal careers areas include law, diplomacy or the stage.
Dragon: Dragons tend to be popular individuals who are always full of life and enthusiasm, with a reputation for being fun-loving. They make good priests, artists and politicians.
Snake: People born in the year of the Snake are romantic and deep-thinking, wise and charming, although they tend to dismiss others too quickly and are a bit stingy with money. Ideal jobs include teaching or psychiatry
Horse: If you are born in the Year of the Horse then you are amazingly hard working and very independent. Although you are intelligent and friendly, you can sometimes be a bit selfish. Career-wise you would make a good scientist or poet.
Sheep : Those born in the Year of the Sheep are said to be charming, elegant and artistic, who like material comforts. A bit of a worrier they also have a tendency to complain about things. Jobs as actors, gardeners or beachcombers would suit
Monkey: If you are born in the Year of the Monkey, you are very intelligent, well-liked by everyone, and will have success in any field you choose.
Rooster: The sign of the Rooster indicates a person who is hard-working and definite about their decisions. Roosters are not afraid to speak their minds and can therefore sometimes come across as boastful. They make good restaurant owners and world travelers.
Dog: Dogs are honest and faithful to those they love but they tend to worry too much and find fault with others. They make ideal secret agents or business people.
Boar: People born in the Year of the Boar are honest and tolerant and make good friends, but tend to expect the same from everyone else, and more often than not they end up disappointed. They thrive in the arts as entertainers.

How Cat Care Helps You Care For Yourself

2009-12-16T17:10:00.000+05:30

Great cat care is an important part of keeping your feline companion happy and healthy. However, there are benefits that go far beyond ensuring that your cat stays in peak shape and enjoys a high quality of life. Caring for your cat can actually be great for your own physical and mental being. Cat care can even help you maintain a healthy emotional life. When you achieve better pet care, you are achieving a better lifestyle for yourself.

Scientific experts have shown that caring for and enjoying a pet is great for your body. Spending time with a tame, happy animal is relaxing, and studies show that people who regularly spend time with pets have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels than their pet-less friends and neighbors. These factors can not only improve your quality of life, they can actually extend your life expectancy and help you stay in better physical shape for a greater number of years than the average person. The really great news is that both the process and the result of cat caring are equally beneficial to your health, so whether you are looking after your cat or enjoying a friendly tug of war using a ball of yarn, you are helping yourself stay happy and healthy.

If you are looking for a way to make exercise a seamless part of your day, cat care may be the answer. A top notch cat care regimen includes a wide range of activities from trimming nails to cleaning the litter box to more advanced and challenging tasks like training your cat. Almost every single aspect of cat care, from persuading your kitten to swallow a tablet to petting your cat gently while you are watching television, is great for your health simply because it keeps you moving. Whenever the process of looking after your cat gets you to move even a single muscle that would otherwise be lazily slumped on the couch, cat care is helping your body and your mind. When you chase your cat around the room for a playful game, you are also chasing a healthier heart, stronger bones, and a more robust circulatory system. Caring for your feline friend helps you life a more active lifestyle.

Caring for your pet is also great for your emotional health. When you rub your cat behind the ears as it purrs softly, you are sure to feel as happy as your cat does. These regular sessions of happy, comforting relaxation are an important part of cat care, and can contribute to a more positive psychological outlook throughout the day. When you spend time sharing love and peace with your cat by providing cat care, your brain releases hormones that make you feel great, and help you manage stress and keep a positive outlook on life. Caring for your car is a great way to keep yourself feeling positive and happy.

Some Mental Abilities Challenges and Riddles

2009-12-16T17:00:00.001+05:30

Mental Abilities Challenges and Riddles

Try to guess what is meant without scrolling down first. For example,

the answer for one is " 26 Letters of the Alphabet" Remember, this is

USA flavored test and it does not measure your intelligence. It measures

your knowledge of mental flexibility and creativity. The author for this test is

unknown; nevertheless, is a genius :-)

1) 26 L. of the A. 41) 29 D. in F. in a L. Y.

2) 7 W. of the A. W. 42) 3 P. for a F. G. in F.
3) 1,001 A. N. 43) 1,000 W. that a P. is W.
4) 12 S. of the Z. 44) 56 S. of the D. of I.
5) 54 C. in a D. (with J.) 45) 20 Y. that R. V. W. S.
6) 9 P. in the S. S. 46) 40 T (with A. B.)
7) 88 P. K. 47) 30 D. H. S. A. J. and N.
8) 13 S. on the A. F. 48) 32 D. F. at which W. F.
9) 1 D. at a T. 49) 10 A. in the B. of R.
10) 18 H. on a G. C. 50) 435 M. of the H. of R.
11) 90 D. in a R. A. 51) 31 I. C. F. at B.-R.
12) 50 C. in a H. D. 52) 200 D. for P. G. in M.
13) 8 S. on a S. S. 53) 2 T. D. (and a P. in a P. T.)
14) 3 B. M. (S. H. T. R.) 54) 4 H. of the A.
15) 4 Q. in a G. 55) 40 D. and N. of the G. F.
16) 24 H. in a D. 56) 8 P. of S. in the E. L.
17) 1 W. on a U. 57) 9 I. in a B. G.
18) 5 D. in a Z. C. 58) 1 R. A. in E. B.
19) 57 H. V. 59) 76 T. that L. the B. P.
20) 11 P. on a F. T. 60) 3 L. K. that L. T. M.
21) 7 H. of R. 61) 4 S. on a V.
22) 101 D. 62) 5 T. on a C. (including S. in T.)
23) 64 S. on a C. B. 63) 6 P. on a P. T.
24) 13 C. in a S. 64) 7 Y. of B. L. for B. a M.
25) 10 L. I. 65) 2 G. for E. B. (in the B. B. S.)
26) 20,000 L. U. T. S. 66) 9 J. of the S. C.
27) 13 O. C. 67) 10 D. in a T. N. (including the A. C.)
28) 12 K. of the R. T. 68) 20 C. in a P.
29) 13 in a B. D. 69) 3 S. Y. O. at the O. B. G.
30) 66 B. of the B. 70) 1 C. Y. in K. A. C.
31) 10 D. in a D. 71) 3 W. from the G. in the B.
32) 15 M on a D. M. C. 72) 20 Q. (A., V., or M.)
33) 80 D. A. the W. 73) 7 D. with S. W.
34) 24 B. B. in a P. 74) 30 S. over T.
35) 7 B. for 7 B. 75) 8 D. a W. (in the B. S.)
36) 36 I. in a Y. 76) 212 D. F. at which W. B.
37) 6 W. of H. the E. 77) 4 P. on M. R.
38) 2,000 P. in a T. 78) 10 D. in a R. of Q.
39) 60 S. in a M. 79) 48 S. in the C. U. S.
40) 5 F. on the H. 80) 7 C. on the E.
81) 2 G. of V.

Answers to Mental Abilities Test

1) 26 letters of the alphabet 41) 29 days in February in a leap year
2) 7 wonders of the ancient world 42) 3 points for a field goal in football
3) 1001 Arabian Nights 43) 1000 words that a picture is worth
4) 12 signs of the zodiac 44) 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence
5) 54 cards in a deck (with jokers) 45) 20 years that Rip Van Winkle slept
6) 9 planets in the solar system 46) 40 thieves (with Ali Baba)
7) 88 piano keys 47) 30 days has September, April, January, and November
8) 13 stripes on the American flag 48) 32 degrees Farenheidt at which water freezes
9) 1 day at a time 49) 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights
10) 18 holes on a golf course 50) 435 members of the House of Representatives
11) 90 degrees in a right angle 51) 31 ice cream flavors at Baskin-Robbins
12) 50 cents in a half dollar 52) 200 dollars for passing go in Monopoly
13) 8 sides on a stop sign 53) 2 turtle doves (and a partridge in a pear tree)
14) 3 blind mice (see how they run) 54) 4 horsemen of the apocalypse
15) 4 quarts in a gallon 55) 40 days and nights of the great flood
16) 24 hours in a day 56) 8 parts of speech in the English language
17) 1 wheel on a unicycle 57) 9 innings in a baseball game
18) 5 digits in a zip code 58) 1 rotten apple in every barrel
19) 57 Heinz varieties 59) 76 trombones that lead the big parade
20) 11 players on a football team 60) 3 little kittens that lost their mittens
21) 7 hills of Rome 61) 4 strings on a violin
22) 101 Dalmations62) 5 tires on a car (including the spare in trunk)
23) 64 squares on a chessboard 63) 6 pockets on a pool table
24) 13 cards in a suit 64) 7 years of bad luck for breaking a mirror
25) 10 little Indians 65) 2 girls for every boy (in the Beach Boys' song)
26) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 66) 9 judges of the Supreme Court
27) 13 original colonies 67) 10 digits in a telephone number (including the area code)
28) 12 knights of the round table 68) 20 cigaretts in a pack
29) 13 in a baker's dozen 69) 3 strikes you're out at the old ball game
30) 66 books of the Bible 70) 1 Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
31) 10 dimes in a dollar 71) 3 wishes from the genie in the bottle
32) 15 men on a dead man's chest 72) 20 questions (animal, vegtable, or mineral)
33) 80 days around the world 73) 7 dwarfs with Snow White
34) 24 blackbirds baked in a pie 74) 30 Seconds over Tokyo
35) 7 Brides for 7 Brothers 75) 8 Days a Week (in the Beatle's song)
36) 36 inches in a yard 76) 212 degrees Farenheidt at which water boils
37) 6 wives of Henry the Eighth 77) 4 presidents on Mount Rushmore
38) 2,000 pounds in a ton 78) 10 dollars in a roll of quarters
39) 60 seconds in a minute 79) 48 states in the continental United States
40) 5 fingers on the hand 80) 7 continents on the Earth
81) 2 Gentlemen of Verona

Interesting Fact about the Pope John Paul II death

2009-12-16T16:52:00.002+05:30

Pope was living 85 years - sum of those numbers = 13

Pope died on 2.04.2005 - sum of those numbers = 13

Pope died at 21.37 - again - sum is equal.... 13

13...that's Maria's number - only that time Holy Mother was showing herself to 3 children in Fatima

on 13th May 1981 - Pope was wounded and that time was saved by Holy Mother

on 13th Pope went to the hospital for the first time

on 13th died the last child of three from Fatima to whom Holy Mother showed up

Pope died on 02.04.2005 at 21.37.. add all those numbers....

2+4+2+5 = 13

2+1+3+7 = 13

13+13=26

26 years of pontificate......

Coincidence? or it had to be like this?

in the end......he died in 13th week of the year...and when you multiply the time of his death 21 x 37...you will have 777

Pope was living exactly 31 thousands days...if you reverse

figures...you will get again 13!!!

Some Interesting Facts and Information About Automobile Emissions Control

2009-06-28T18:59:00.002+05:30

Automobile emissions control

Automobile emissions control covers all the technologies that are employed to reduce the air pollution-causing emissions produced by automobiles. Exhaust emissions control systems were first required on 1966 model year vehicles produced for sale in the state of California, followed by the United States as a whole in model year 1968, although the overall reduction in pollution has been much slower.

The emissions produced by a vehicle fall into these basic categories:

1. Tailpipe emissions: This is what most people think of when they think of vehicle air pollution; the products of burning fuel in the vehicle's engine, emitted from the vehicle's exhaust system. The major pollutants emitted include:
1. Hydrocarbons: this class is made up of unburned or partially burned fuel, and is a major contributor to urban smog, as well as being toxic. They can cause liver damage and even cancer.
2. Nitrogen oxides (NOx): These are generated when nitrogen in the air reacts with oxygen under the high temperature and pressure conditions inside the engine. NOx emissions contribute to both smog and acid rain.
3. Carbon monoxide (CO): a product of incomplete combustion, carbon monoxide reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen and is dangerous to people with heart disease.
4. Carbon dioxide (CO2): Emissions of carbon dioxide are an increasing concern as its role in global warming as a greenhouse gas has become more apparent.
5. Particulates. Particle of micrometre size.
6. Sulphur oxide (SOx) General term for oxides of sulphur, mostly sulfur dioxide and some sulfur trioxide, from coal or unrefined oil.

Tailpipe emissions control
Dual exhaust pipes attached to a car's muffler
Dual exhaust pipes attached to a car's muffler

Tailpipe emissions control can be categorised into three parts:

1. Increasing engine efficiency
2. Increasing vehicle efficiency
3. Cleaning up the emissions

Increasing engine efficiency

Engine efficiency has been gradually improved with progress in following technologies:

* Electronic ignition
* Fuel injection systems
* Electronic control unit

Increasing vehicle efficiency

Contributions to the goal of reducing fuel consumption and related emissions come from

* lightweight vehicle design
* minimized air resistance
* reduced rolling resistance
* improved powertrain efficiency
* increasing spark to the spark plug (this topic should be under the ignition system)
* regenerative braking

Each of these items breaks down into a number of factors.

Increasing driving efficiency

Significant reduction of emissions come from

* driving technique (some 10-30% reduction)
* unobstructed traffic conditions
* cruising at an optimum speed for the vehicle
* reducing the number of cold starts

Cleaning up the emissions

Advances in engine and vehicle technology continually reduce the amount of pollutants generated, but this is generally considered insufficient to meet emissions goals. Therefore, technologies to react with and clean up the remaining emissions have long been an essential part of emissions control.

Air injection

A very early emissions control system, the Air injection reactor (AIR) reduces the products of incomplete combustion (hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide) by injecting fresh air into the exhaust manifolds of the engine. In the presence of this oxygen-laden air, further combustion occurs in the manifold and exhaust pipe. Generally the air is delivered through an engine-driven 'smog pump' and air tubing to the manifolds.

Exhaust Gas Recirculation

Many engines produced after the 1973 model year have an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve between the exhaust and intake manifolds; its sole purpose is to reduce NOx emissions by introducing a metered, and quite small amount of inert gas into the air/fuel mixture, lowering peak combustion temperatures. In the case of EGR, the exhaust gasses are inert enough to serve this purpose.

Catalytic converters

The catalytic converter is a device, placed in the exhaust pipe, which converts various emissions into less harmful ones using, generally, a combination of platinum, palladium and rhodium as catalysts. They make for a significant, and easily applied, method for reducing tailpipe emissions. Catalytic converters are damaged when used on engines that burn leaded fuels. Unleaded fuels were marketed in 1973 and by 1996 leaded fules were banned completely for use in the USA.

Evaporative emissions control

Efforts at the reduction of evaporative emissions include the capturing of vented vapors from within the vehicle, and the reduction of refuelling emissions.

Capturing vented vapors

Within the vehicle, vapors from the fuel tank are channelled through canisters containing activated carbon instead of being vented to the atmosphere. These are known as carbon canisters. The vapors are adsorbed within the canister, which feeds into the inlet manifold of the engine.

Emission Testing

In 1966, the first emission test cycle was enacted in the State of California measuring tailpipe emissions in PPM (parts per million). The Environmental Working Group used California ASM emissions data to create an Auto Asthma Index that rates vehicle models based on emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, the chemicals that create smog.

Some cities are also using a technology developed by Dr. Stedman,of University of Denver which uses lasers to detect emissions while vehicles pass by on public roads, thus eliminating the need for owners to go to a test center. Stedman's laser detection of exhaust gases is commonly used in metropolitan areas.

Some interesting facts and information about Nitrogen oxide [NOx]

2009-06-28T18:39:00.003+05:30

Nitrogen oxide

The term nitrogen oxide typically refers to any binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or
to a mixture of such compounds:
* Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide
* Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrogen(IV) oxide
* Nitrous oxide (N2O), nitrogen (I) oxide
* Dinitrogen trioxide (N2O3), nitrogen(II, IV) oxide
* Dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4), nitrogen(IV) oxide
* Dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5), nitrogen(V) oxide
Chemical reactions that produce nitrogen oxides often produce several different
compounds, the proportions of which depend on the speciﬁc reaction and conditions. For
this reason, secondary[clarify] production of N2O is undesirable, as NO and NO2 — which
are extremely toxic — are liable to be produced as well.

NOx

NOx is a generic term for mono-nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2). These oxides are
produced during combustion, especially combustion at high temperatures.
At ambient temperatures, the oxygen and nitrogen gases in air will not react with each
other. In an internal combustion engine, combustion of a mixture of air and fuel produces
combustion temperatures high enough to drive endothermic reactions between
atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen in the ﬂame, yielding various oxides of nitrogen. In areas
of high motor vehicle trafﬁc, such as in large cities, the amount of nitrogen oxides emitted
into the atmosphere can be quite signiﬁcant.
In the presence of excess oxygen (O2), nitric oxide (NO) will be converted to nitrogen
dioxide (NO2), with the time required dependent on the concentration in air as shown
below:
NO concentration in air
(ppm)
Time required for half NO
to be oxidized to NO2 (min)
20,000 0.175
10,000 0.35
1,000 3.5
100 35
10 350
1 3500

When NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) react in the presence of sunlight, they
form photochemical smog, a signiﬁcant form of air pollution, especially in the summer.
Children, people with lung diseases such as asthma, and people who work or exercise
outside are susceptible to adverse effects of smog such as damage to lung tissue and
reduction in lung function.[2]
Mono-nitrogen oxides eventually form nitric acid when dissolved in atmospheric moisture,
forming a component of acid rain. The following chemical reaction occurs when nitrogen
dioxide reacts with water:
2NO2 + H2O → HNO2 + HNO3
(nitrogen dioxide + water → nitrous acid + nitric acid).
Nitrous acid then decomposes as follows:
3HNO2 → HNO3 + 2NO + H2O
(nitrous acid → nitric acid + nitric oxide + water),
where nitric oxide will oxidize to form nitrogen dioxide that again reacts with water,
ultimately forming nitric acid:
4NO + 3O2 + 2H2O → 4HNO3 (nitric oxide + oxygen + water → nitric acid).
Mono-nitrogen oxides are also involved in tropospheric production of ozone.[3]
NOx should not be confused with NOS, a term used to refer to nitrous oxide (N2O) in the
context of its use as a power booster for internal combustion engines.

Deﬁnition of NOx and NOy in atmospheric chemistry

In atmospheric chemistry the term NOx is used to mean the total concentration of NO plus
NO2. During daylight NO and NO2 are in equilibrium with the ratio NO/NO2 determined by
the intensity of sunshine (which converts NO2 to NO) and the concentration of ozone
(which reacts with NO to give back NO2). NO and NO2 are also central to the formation of
tropospheric ozone. This deﬁnition excludes other oxides of nitrogen such as nitrous oxide
(N2O). NOy (reactive odd nitrogen) is deﬁned as the sum of NOx plus the compounds
produced from the oxidation of NOx which include nitric acid and peroxyacetyl nitrate. In
this context nitrous oxide and ammonia are not considered as reactive nitrogen
compounds.

Industrial sources of NOx

The three primary sources of NOx in combustion processes:
* thermal NOx
* fuel NOx
* prompt NOx
Thermal NOx formation, which is highly temperature dependent, is recognized as the most
relevant source when combusting natural gas. Fuel NOx tends to dominate during the
combustion of fuels, such as coal, which have a signiﬁcant nitrogen content, particularly
when burned in combustors designed to minimise thermal NOx. The contribution of prompt
NOx is normally considered negligible. A fourth source, called feed NOx is associated with
the combustion of nitrogen present in the feed material of cement rotary kilns, at between
300° and 800°C, where it is also a minor contributor.

Thermal NOx

Thermal NOx refers to NOx formed through high temperature oxidation of the diatomic
nitrogen found in combustion air. The formation rate is primarily a function of temperature
and the residence time of nitrogen at that temperature. At high temperatures, usually
above 1600°C (2900°F), molecular nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2) in the combustion air
disassociate into their atomic states and participate in a series of reactions.
The three principal reactions producing thermal NOx are:
(Extended Zeldovich Mechanism)
* N2 + O → NO + N
* N + O2 → NO + O
* N + OH → NO + H
all 3 reactions are reversible. Zeldovich was the ﬁrst to suggest the importance of the ﬁrst
two reactions. The last reaction of atomic Nitrogen with Hydroxyl radical, OH, was added
by Lavoie, Heywood and Keck to the mechanism and makes a signiﬁciant contribution to
the formation of thermal NOx.

Fuel NOx

The major source of NOx production from nitrogen-bearing fuels such as certain coals and
oil, is the conversion of fuel bound nitrogen to NOx during combustion. During combustion,
the nitrogen bound in the fuel is released as a free radical and ultimately forms free N2, or
NO. Fuel NOx can contribute as much as 50% of total emissions when combusting oil and
as much as 80% when combusting coal.
Although the complete mechanism is not fully understood, there are two primary paths of
formation. The ﬁrst involves the oxidation of volatile nitrogen species during the initial
stages of combustion. During the release and prior to the oxidation of the volatiles,
nitrogen reacts to form several intermediaries which are then oxidized into NO. If the
volatiles evolve into a reducing atmosphere, the nitrogen evolved can readily be made to
form nitrogen gas, rather than NOx. The second path involves the combustion of nitrogen
contained in the char matrix during the combustion of the char portion of the fuels. This
reaction occurs much more slowly than the volatile phase. Only around 20% of the char
nitrogen is ultimately emitted as NOx, since much of the NOx that forms during this
process is reduced to nitrogen by the char, which is nearly pure carbon.
It is possible to revert NOx emitted from a diesel engine back into Nitrogen and Water by
using an SCR Selective Catalytic Reduction Unit. This requires the addition of an urea
based liquid re-agent namely AdBlue to initialise the chemical reaction.

Prompt NOx

This third source is attributed to the reaction of atmospheric nitrogen, N2, with radicals
such as C, CH, and CH2 fragments derived from fuel, where this cannot be explained by
either the aforementioned thermal or fuel processes. Occurring in the earliest stage of
combustion, this results in the formation of ﬁxed species of nitrogen such as NH (nitrogen
monohydride), HCN (hydrogen cyanide), H2CN (dihydrogen cyanide) and CN- (cyano
radical) which can oxidize to NO. In fuels that contain nitrogen, the incidence of prompt
NOx is especially minimal and it is generally only of interest for the most exacting emission
targets.

Regulation and emission control technologies

The Kyoto Protocol, ratiﬁed by 54 nations in 1997, classiﬁes N2O as a greenhouse gas,
and calls for substantial worldwide reductions in its emission.
As discussed above, atmospheric NOx eventually forms nitric acid, which contributes to
acid rain.NOx emissions are regulated in the United States by the Environmental
Protection Agency, and in the UK by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs.
Technologies such as ﬂameless oxidation (FLOX) and staged combustion signiﬁcantly
reduce thermal NOx in industrial processes. Bowin low NOx technology is a hybrid of
staged-premixed-radiant combustion technology with a major surface combustion
preceded by a minor radiant combustion. In the Bowin burner, air and fuel gas are
premixed at a ratio greater than or equal to the stoichiometric combustion requirement.
Water Injection technology, wherby water is introduced into the combustion chamber, is
also becoming an important means of NOx reduction through increased efﬁciency in the
overall combustion process. Alternatively, the water (e.g. 10 to 50%) is emulsiﬁed into the
fuel oil prior to the injection and combustion. This emulsiﬁcation can either be made in-line
(unstabilized) just before the injection or as a drop-in fuel with chemical additives for long
term emulsion stability (stabilized). Other technologies, such as selective catalytic
reduction (SCR) and selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) reduce post combustion
NOx.
The use of Exhaust gas recirculation and catalytic converters in motor vehicle engines
have signiﬁcantly reduced emissions.

Biogenic sources

Agricultural fertilization and the use of nitrogen ﬁxing plants also contribute to atmospheric
NOx, by promoting nitrogen ﬁxation by microorganisms.

SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION AND FACTS ABOUT RAIN FORESTS

2009-06-21T10:18:00.005+05:30

TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS

Of all the many and varied natural environments to be found on the earth, perhaps the most awe-inspiring and popular are the tropical rain forests. Although it is the forests of the Amazon which spring most readily to mind, it is important to remember that they also occur in parts of North America, Asia, Australia, and Africa, for the most part within a narrow band 4 degrees either side of the equator. These forests, with their mighty trees and extraordinary flora and fauna constitute the planet's richest habitats, and one of our most precious natural resources.

In this section we look at some of the fascinating animals, plants and people which inhabit the tropical rain forests along the meridian line, and we consider some of the conservation issues affecting these biological treasure houses. But before we do this, let's first get an idea of what a tropical rain forest actually is.

Tropical rain forests are mainly the product of climatic interactions, particularly temperature and rainfall. In general, tropical rain forests occur where a mean monthly temperature of between 20 and 28 degrees C is combined with an annual rainfall of between 1.5 and 10 metres, evenly distributed throughout the year. This last proviso is very important because it is only to those tropical forests which experience little seasonal variation in terms of rainfall that the term rain forest can legitimately be applied.

AFRICAN FORESTS

Less than seven per cent of Africa’s surface is covered with tropical rain forest, and the majority of this is concentrated in the centre of the continent. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and the Central African Republic all have substantial forest coverage of various types. However, West Africa is not without its share of this type of vegetation. Ghana has over 15,000 sq. km of rain forest, most of which is found along the coast, Nigeria has nearly 40,000 sq. km, Cote D’Ivoire has some 30,000 sq. km and Togo has around 1300 sq. km.

Africa’s rain forests are not as rich in species as those found in South America and Asia, but they still surpass every other region in terms of both the diversity and the density of the wildlife to which they are home. Much of Africa’s forest cover has been lost due to human activity, and this is examined along with other conservation issues in greater detail in another section.

We will be concerned with those tropical rain forests which lie on the meridian line, and consequently our attention will be focussed upon Ghana and Togo. Nevertheless, much of what is said in relation to these countries will also apply to forests found elsewhere on the continent.

TREES

The diversity of trees found in the tropical rain forests is quite extraordinary, and far exceeds that of any other kind of forest, sometimes with as many as 100 tree species per hectare. Equally remarkable are the heights and diameters of the trees, which while not the tallest or most massive on earth, still dwarf those of most other forest systems.

For example, Khaya ivorensis, a member of the family of trees collectively known as African mahogany, can attain heights of up to 60 metres, and diameters of 1.8 metres.

Because of the constantly high temperatures and extreme humidity found in the tropical rain forests, bacteria and other micro-organisms thrive in the top layer of soil, feeding on the mass of decaying matter which falls from the canopy. The result is that there is little matter left to accumulate, so the top soil is very thin and poor in nutrients.

Under normal circumstances large trees send out masses of roots which can extend for several metres. These roots absorb nutrients from the soil and give the tree a firm foundation. rain forest trees have a large number of roots, but these can only extend a small distance into the thin soil, and cannot therefore provide stability. The solution is to employ buttress roots which work in much the same way as buttresses on citadels or Christian cathedrals, and these can grow up to 5 m up the trunk of a tree.

EPIPHYTES LIANES AND STRANGLERS

Lianes

Not all plants which thrust their way into the forest canopy are trees. Lianes, for example, have their roots in the forest floor, but rely for their support upon existing trees.

Often starting out as shrubs, the lianes put out long branches which attach themselves to tree trunks and climb up until they reach the sunlight, at which point they generate leaves and frequently create large crowns.

Epiphytes

Like the lianes, epiphytes do not provide their own support, but in contrast they are not rooted in the ground at all. Instead, they grow on the surface of the canopy trees, rooting in crevices where humus has accumulated. These roots, however provide only an anchorage, and the epiphytes do not draw their nutrients from the host tree. Exactly where these plants do obtain their nutrients varies from one species to another, some collecting falling plant matter, others receiving organic matter from the insects which pollinate them. Common epiphytes are orchids, bromeliads and ferns.

Stranglers

Found only in the tropical rain forests, stranglers start out as epiphytes, but at a certain point in their growth they produce roots which wrap around the trunk of the tree on which they live, and descend into the ground. This provides them with increased nutrients, allowing them to grow towards the canopy. Eventually the strangler surrounds its supporting tree with roots, which ultimately kills it. However, the trunk of the tree remains, and continues to support the strangler. Most stranglers are figs.

ANIMALS

The remarkable abundance and diversity of plant life in the tropical rain forest ensures that there is always plenty of food available for herbivorous animals. Because most vegetation is concentrated high up in the canopy, it is here that many of the forest's animals are to be found, some descending only rarely to the ground. Among the most numerous of these are primates, several species of which inhabit the rain forests of Ghana and Togo. These include monkeys such as the black and white colobus, the spot-nosed monkey, and the Diana monkey, as well as larger apes such as chimpanzees, and smaller primates such as bushbabies. Also living in the canopy are an enormous variety of birds such as hornbills, parrots, and turacos, some of which feed on plant matter. Others enjoy a diet of insects, which are exceptionally numerous in the rain forest.

The forest floor, although not home to as many species as the canopy, still has its share of interesting fauna. Hoofed mammals, including various types of duiker, reptiles such as the common hinged tortoise, and larger mammals such as the pygmy hippopotamus and forest elephant, are just a sample of the creatures to be found on the ground.

Where herbivores abound there will inevitably be carnivores to prey on them, and the west African rain forests are no exception. Leopards prowl on the ground and in the trees, Nile crocodiles lurk in the rivers and pools, and birds of prey soar overhead, carrying off rodents and small primates. The forests are complex ecosystems, delicately balanced with every animal and plant playing its own role in maintaining the equilibrium. From the smallest plants and the insects that pollinate them, to the carnivores right at the top of the food chain, nothing is dispensable.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS AND INFORMATION ABOUT OCEANS

2009-06-21T09:13:00.004+05:30

OCEANS

Humpback whale sounding in the Chatham Straits off Alaska

Life began in the oceans. Covering two-thirds of the Earth's surface, in the twenty-first century oceans remain crucial for our survival; for regulating climate, providing us with resources like fish and minerals, and potentially offering us cures for disease.

The oceans are home to half the world's biodiversity, and new species are being found almost daily. In fact, we know more about the moon than we do about the deep ocean. Marine life has adapted to exploit every niche, from the poles to the tropics, from estuaries to the deep ocean.

We take a look at the oceans and seas along the meridian, their importance to man, the diversity of wildlife that inhabit these waters, and some important conservation issues.

WILDLIFE

A Black-browed Albatross. Albatrosses are the largest of the sea-birds.

The oceans along the meridian line are home to a diversity of habitats and wildlife. Inshore habits like estuaries, mudflats and mangroves offer feeding and roosting areas for birds, and provide sheltered nursery areas for fish and shellfish.Offshore, fish species like tuna, toothfish and sharks, and birds like albatross and petrels patrol the vast oceanic expanses.

Phytoplanton (the marine equivalent of terrestrial grasslands), seaweeds and seagrasses form the base of the food web. In the Southern Oceans the stark seasonality provides a bounty of plant and animal plankton. The estimated production of phytoplankton in the surface waters of the Southern Ocean is 610 million tonnes a year.

Humpback Whale breaching in the waters off Alaska

Zooplankton (the marine equivalent of insects) feed on the phytoplankton and support abundant schools of squid, fish, and consequently a variety of larger marine creatures like seals, seabirds and whales. Half the zooplankton in the Southern Ocean are krill, a shrimp-like animal. Several species of filter feeding whale, like humpbacks, feed directly on krill. In 1994 the Southern Ocean was declared a sanctuary for the great whales.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS AND FIGURES

The cliffs of Harwick Head in the Orkney Islands are home to many seabirds

Did you know that?

In some places the ocean is deeper than Mount Everest is high; for example, the Mariana Trench and the Tonga Trench in the western part of the Pacific Ocean reach depths in excess of 10,000 metres (32,800 feet).
If all the land in the world was flattened out, the Earth would be a smooth sphere completely covered by a continuous layer of seawater 2,686 metres deep.
Ocean water and ice make up almost 98 percent of all the water on Earth.
Icebergs are formed by the calving (detaching of parts) of glaciers or of inland ice that reaches the sea. The valley glaciers of Greenland produce some 12,000 to 15,000 sizable icebergs every year.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean, containing more than twice the volume of water as the Atlantic Ocean.
Earth is the only planet in our solar system to have oceans.
Marine fisheries throughout the world catch over 80 million tonnes of fish every year.
Hundreds of millions of tonnes of toxic chemicals, sewage, industrial waste, agricultural run-off and oil are dumped in the oceans every year – and up to 80 per cent originate on land.
Each year 20 million tonnes of fish, seabirds, marine mammals and other ocean life are killed unnecessarily by indiscriminate fishing practices.
Hydrothermal vents, fractures in the sea floor that discharge hot seawater laden with hydrogen sulphide, support the only ecosystem known to run on chemical energy rather than energy from the sun, including mussels, large bivalve clams, and huge tube worms.
The deepest known point in the ocean is the Mariana Trench which reaches depths of over 36,000 feet (11,000 meters).

SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION AND FACTS ABOUT DESERTS

2009-06-21T08:57:00.004+05:30

On our planet of extremes, perhaps the most frightening and yet fascinating environments are the deserts. Covering around a third of the earth's land surface, they are the harshest and most barren environments in the world - inhospitable and seemingly incapable of sustaining anything but the most rudimentary plant and animal life. In this feature we focus our attention upon those deserts which lie along the meridian line.

We begin by taking a look at the factors such as climate and landscape that make the deserts distinctive. Following this we consider the geography of deserts - where in the world they are to be found. Other sections explore the plant and animal life that can be found in the deserts along the meridian line, as well as some of the important conservation issues which we are facing in connection with this type of environment.

Hot and dry. These are the terms that characterise the desert climate in most people's minds, but is this an accurate depiction? As a general rule, areas subject to an average rainfall of less than 100mm a year can be classed as deserts. Sometimes a broader classification is used whereby deserts are split into three categories - semi-arid, arid and hyper-arid. Areas of the first kind receive less than 600mm of rainfall a year, areas of the second kind receive less than 200mm, whilst rainfall in hyper-arid desert regions never exceeds 25mm.

But low average annual rainfall is only half the story. Not only do deserts experience very little rain, but to make matters worse, this small amount is highly irregular, both in terms of time and space. Sometimes an area of desert will be without rain for years and then, seemingly for no reason at all, a few large storms will provide enough rain in a short period to bring the average annual rainfall back to normal. Desert storms can be extremely localised, centring upon one area and leaving adjoining parts entirely dry. These are some of the factors that contribute to making deserts some of the most inhospitable environments on the planet.

Water shortage in the desert is not limited to low rainfall. Humidity and consequently cloud cover are also in short supply. This in turn means that the surface, and any living things on it, are continually exposed to direct sunlight, causing intense evaporation of any water faster than the rain can replenish it.

Where deserts are to be found close to the sea, fogs often occur in the early mornings as a result of cold sea water meeting warm air. When the warm air, laden with moisture, comes into contact with the surface of the land, which is still cold from the previous night, it cools and condenses, leaving a film of water. The Namib Desert of southern Africa and Chile's Atacama Desert are both cases in point.

Contrary to popular belief, high temperature is not the most important feature of deserts: lack of water, as we have seen, is of much greater significance. However, it is true that most of the world's deserts are subject to extreme heat for at least part of the year. Many people are surprised by how much temperatures can vary. With cloud cover so scarce, air temperatures in the desert frequently reach 40° C, and in some circumstances they can soar to 50° C. The temperatures of the rocks and sand are even higher, up to 75° C. But these maximum figures can vary by up to 30° C. Seasonal temperature variation can also be considerable in the desert, particularly those furthest from the equator - and in some places, winter nights can even bring frost.

Deserts often experience high winds which, coupled with the sand and dust particles which are typical of most deserts, leads to the formation of the distinctive desert landscape.

The climatic extremes of deserts have created a wide range of landscapes. Try to picture a desert in your mind and the chances are you are imagining a vast featureless sandy plain as far as the eye can see, with only the odd cactus to break the monotony. Although this picture is not actually wrong, it only gives about a quarter of the story. Sand covers just 20 per cent of the world's desert.

Sand is formed by the erosion of rocks into tiny particles. This erosion is the result of a number of processes, the most important of which are the heating and cooling of rocks and the action of the wind and rain. The enormous temperature ranges experienced by most desert regions cause the rocks to expand and contract, eventually cracking and disintegrating in a process known as weathering. The smaller fragments of rock that break off are carried by the wind, and sometimes water, and they in turn erode other rocks. Gradually they become so small that they are merely grains.

The same wind that helps to form sand particles also shapes the landscape in other ways. Given the right conditions, the easily transported grains of sand will accumulate to form sand dunes. These extraordinary features can vary from small heap-like structures of only about a metre in height to enormous sand mountains of 1,000 metres. Some dunes often reach several kilometres in length. They are often found in large groups known as sand seas or ergs. The largest of these, covering around 560,000 square kilometers, is in the Arabian Desert. An important and intriguing characteristic of sand dunes is their tendency to move around. Typical annual movement of sand dunes is between 10 and 20 metres, depending upon size, but in extreme cases small dunes may travel up to 50 metres in a year.

But sand is just one of a number of landscape types to be found in the desert. Rocks and stones feature quite prominently in most of the world's arid places, often with vast plains covered in gravel, or large towering cliffs, eroded into extraordinary shapes by the action of wind and water. Elsewhere, the evaporation of ancient lakes has left enormous areas known as salt flats, which represent one of the greatest obstacles to plant and animal life to be found on the planet. Other areas are covered with clay or mud which has been dried hard by the heat of the searing desert sun. One feature that is common to many desert areas is the scarcity of soil, and consequently vegetation.

Deserts provide us with some of the most spectacular and stunning scenery on the planet. From the dramatic rock formations of Death Valley in the US, to the sand dunes of the Sahara, the world's arid zones constitute a natural gift that should be neither overlooked nor taken for granted.

Deserts occur in five of the world's seven continents. North America's Sonora and Chihuaua deserts, situated in the south-west corner of the continent, extend into Mexico, while the Great Basin, covering most of the states of Utah and Nevada, is home to the infamous Death Valley, and the Great Salt Lake Desert. Further south, in the states of Arizona and California, lie the Mojave or High Desert and the Colorado or Low Desert. The North American deserts are renowned for their spectacular landscapes and searing heat.

Between the Andean Mountains and the Pacific Ocean lie the coastal deserts of Peru and Chile on the South American continent. These are the Sechura and the Atacama respectively. Also in Peru is the Altiplano desert, which extends into Bolivia. This desert is known for its dry salt basins, which were left when ancient lakes evaporated. Patagonia in Argentina boasts large areas of cold semi-desert.

Chief among the African deserts, and probably the most famous of them all, is the Sahara. Extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the West, to the Red Sea in the East, and with an area of over nine million square kilometres - around the same size as the United States - the Sahara is the largest desert on Earth. In east Africa the Danakil, Ogaden, Nubian, Chalbi and Didi Galgalu deserts extend throughout Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia. Southern Africa is home to the Kalahari and Namib deserts, which together occupy large portions of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa.

The Gobi Desert in Mongolia and China is the fifth largest in the world. Tibet has substantial desert cover despite its very low temperatures, and many central Asian countries are subject to desert conditions. India, Pakistan, Iran and the Arabian Peninsula all contain large desert areas, including the Thar or Great Indian desert and the Arabian Desert.

Australia is the most arid continent on Earth. Its principal desert areas include the Simpson Desert, the Tanami Desert, the Great Victoria Desert, the Great Sandy Desert, and the Gibson Desert, and these are situated mainly in the centre of the country - the Outback.

The status of the vast continent of Antarctica is a matter of controversy. In many respects it resembles the deserts of other continents - particularly in its low annual rainfall - but many scientists feel dubious about including it in the same class as these.

The only true desert to be found along the 0° meridian line also happens to be world's largest. The Sahara covers most of north Africa, more than a third of the continent, and an area around the same size as the United States. It is a desert of extraordinary variety. Temperatures in excess of 55° C have been recorded in parts of Libya, while in some places frost can be seen during the winter. All the standard desert landscape types are present in the Sahara, from great fields of shifting sand dunes or ergs, to vast plains filled with rocks, known as reg.

Rainfall in most parts of the Sahara is scant and erratic - some areas endure several years without even a hint of a shower. In common with other desert regions, storms in the Sahara can be extremely localised, often affecting an area as small as 20 square kilometres. Strong, unpredictable winds are typical of the Saharan weather systems, and these have come to be known by names such as khamsin, sirocco, shahali, and simoom. These winds can blow for days on end, bringing with them vast amounts of dust and sand, which cover everything in their path and reduce visibility close to zero. From time to time, particularly powerful sandstorms can be extremely unpleasant and dangerous for anyone caught in them. Dust devils, which are like whirlwinds, also occur, hurling sand, dust, small animals and plants into the air.

The Sahara is crossed by the Nile and Niger rivers, which together support most of the desert's human population. Even so, it still presents a great obstacle to animal and plant life. In later sections we consider some of the animals and plants which inhabit the Sahara, and we look at how they have adapted so that they can live there.

Water is essential for all plants, so survival in arid environments is a real challenge. However, some of the ways in which desert flora have adapted are ingenious. Generally, they either avoid or endure periods of low rainfall. Ephemeral or annual plants survive periods where water is in short supply because their seeds germinate only after heavy rain, grow rapidly, and live their whole life-cycle in just a few days. These plants often produce large, brightly coloured flowers to attract the insects that are essential to their pollination.

Perennial plants take the alternative route, enduring the dry periods and making the most of the scarce water supplies. These plants utilise a number of interesting methods to survive.

Grasses
Grasses are extremely hardy plants and are found in most of the world's environments. They have extremely large and complex root systems that enable them to collect water over a wide area. During extremely hot and dry periods the parts of the plants that are above the surface may wither and die, but the root systems remain alive. They reproduce by growing new stems. The extensive root systems of grasses play an important role in keeping the sparse desert soils together.

Geophytes
These plants survive the harsh desert conditions by remaining underground for most of the time, often as bulbs. When rain does come they quickly produce stems and flowers.

Succulents
These plants take in large amounts of water during times of plenty and store it for use during times of drought. They have a low surface area in comparison with their volume, which reduces water loss due to evaporation. Succulents typically have vast, shallow root systems in order to make the most of any water reaching the ground.

Like most other plants, succulents use photosynthesis to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds by means of the energy of sunlight. The best-known succulents are cacti. These are found almost exclusively in North and South America, and are often spectacular in shape and size. The most celebrated are the saguaro, which can grow up to 15 metres over many years. The African equivalents of the cacti are the euphorbia, which resemble their American counterparts in many ways.

Shrubs and stunted trees
Unlike succulents, these plants do not differ greatly from those found in other regions, and use more conventional methods of surviving drought. They are small trees or shrubs, normally with very small leaves that are often shed during the hottest part of the year. Their root systems are extensive, and can often penetrate as far as 50 metres into the ground in search of water. Sometimes they have short thick trunks that act as reservoirs for excess water taken up during wet seasons. Examples of this kind of plant are the tamarisk, the creosote bush, the acacia, the mesquite, and some species of eucalyptus. Like succulents, they grow slowly.

Desert plants often protect themselves against being eaten by animals by growing spikes or other deterrents.

If the desert is an inhospitable environment for plants, then it is even more so for animals. Shortage of water, lack of food, and extremes of temperature are just some of the obstacles that animals must overcome if they are to survive. However, all types of animal life are found in the world's deserts, from the smallest protozoa right up to large carnivores. Even fish are found in some parts of the North American desert!

Where maximum daily temperatures are consistently high, animals are at risk from overheating and water loss. To avoid this problem, animals will either spend most daylight hours in the shade of rocks or vegetation, or they will burrow into the sand where the temperature remains almost constant. The other alternative is to adapt to the high temperatures.

Did you know that:

• deserts cover a third of the earth's surface

• 13 per cent of the world's population live in deserts

• evaporation rates in deserts are often 20 times the annual precipitation

• a temperature of 58° C (136.4° F) has been recorded in the shade at Azizia in Libya

• no rain fell for over 40 years in the Atacama desert in Chile

• night temperatures in some deserts can fall below freezing

• sand dunes can reach heights of up to 300m

• sand covers less than 20 per cent of the world's desert areas

• dust from the Sahara has occasionally been carried as far afield as the UK and Germany

• the Sahara Desert accounts for around 8 per cent of the world's land area

• there are an estimated 1,200 species of plant to be found in the Sahara

• in the last 50 years the Sahara has spread south to cover an extra 65 million hectares

Help stop China's brutal dog culls!

2009-06-16T20:48:00.000+05:30

www.animalsasia.org

It’s devastating to have to bring you such tragic, horrible news. A rabies outbreak involving 10 human cases, has prompted authorities in China's northwest Shaanxi Province to order a cull that has already seen as many as 30,000 dogs brutally slaughtered on the streets of Hanzhong and surrounding areas. This is one in 10 of the city's dogs.

Despite our best efforts – and those of other NGOs and many desperate local people – because of two more human cases of rabies, the dogs are still being brutally hunted down by gangs of men and women wielding bloody sticks, metal hooks and ropes, then heartlessly clubbed to death. Some are cherished family pets, while others are strays that have already suffered enough in their cruel, short lives on the streets.

The gutters are running with blood, but it’s the hands of the Hanzhong authorities that are stained. The slaughtered dogs were on the streets only because these people still refuse to act on the evidence before their eyes – that the only way to manage stray-dog populations (and therefore rabies and other diseases) is to implement broad vaccination and trap, neuter, release (TNR) programmes.

Over the past two weeks, families have sobbed and fallen to their knees as their beloved dogs were snatched from their arms, roughly collared with rope and beaten to death before their eyes. Often the dogs wag their tails once or twice and look up pathetically between careless heavy blows to the face, head and spine. The dogs’ cries are spine-chilling.

Other dogs whimper and cower nearby – all of them terrified, knowing their turn will come soon. Some of the killers are local men, ordered by the authorities to help in the slaughter. Others are taking part willingly, even laughing as they brutalise the dogs.

We are so grateful to Jiang Hong, founder of the Small Animal Rescue Centre of Xian, who along with representatives of several local animal-welfare groups, made an urgent trip to Hanzhong to plead our case with the authorities.

Sponsored by Animals Asia, Ms Jiang’s group spent three traumatic days witnessing and recording the cull and offering officials help with dog control. In Yangxian town, they saw no dogs alive – just rotting carcasses scattered around the streets and in the waterways, causing a serious risk to public health.

The authorities stubbornly went ahead with the cull despite receiving advice from international and Chinese experts that culls do nothing to eradicate rabies. Our own letter – passed on to Hanzhong officials by Ms Jiang – was virtually ignored, the officials seemingly unmoved and uncaring.

I’m deeply saddened by these events. I’ve grown to love China and hate to see such wanton disregard for the country’s image in the world, let alone the sheer disregard for the suffering of people and animals. But this is just a small part of the story. Every day, we are seeing amazing developments, particularly through our relationships with more than 60 local animal-welfare groups throughout the country.

Even in Hanzhong, the scene of such bloodshed earlier this month, there is positive news. More than 200 residents attended the lakeside vigil, forming a poignant “SOS” with lighted candles to mourn the victims, many of them their pets; and because of the cull, some animal lovers have formed an organisation to lobby their local authorities to adopt stray-dog management measures.

Other municipalities are listening. Just last month, Animals Asia – along with other animal-welfare groups – was able to convince officials in Hehei, Heilongjiang Province to abandon a similar cull.

Please help us with this! We urgently need funds to equip local groups with the materials and information they need to convince their local governments to work with them. With grants from Animals Asia, these groups will be able to produce their own flyers, leaflets and banners to send to the authorities, the media and public along with our Dr Eddie Education Packs, and to continue our TNR programmes.

More and more cities are listening and implementing regulations to control stray dog and cat populations. It is so important that we keep the momentum going. It is the local people themselves who are bringing about these changes. They no longer want to live in fear of walking their dogs on the streets.

These people are willing to work hard, but most are poor and lacking resources. Please help us to help them.

Sincerely,

Jill

Jill Robinson MBE
Founder and CEO
Animals Asia Foundation

PS: Please write a polite letter to your local Chinese embassy asking for an immediate stop to the Hanzhong cull and an end to cruel dog culls throughout China. Please also ask that the Chinese authorities work with Animals Asia to introduce effective, lasting and humane anti-rabies measures. See here for embassy addresses, or here for ideas.

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2009-06-16T20:45:00.000+05:30

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Some basic facts about mutual funds

2009-06-15T08:19:00.002+05:30

To invest in mutual funds, you need to first understand what they are, and how they work.

Even more basic is your grasp of stocks and bonds. Very quickly, stocks stand for shares of ownership in a public company, and bonds are money lent to the government or company, on which you receive interest. These are the two most common forms of investment, owned and loaned (real estate and precious metals being examples of others), but we are presently concerned with these instruments, since most mutual funds invest in stocks and/or bonds.

Simply, mutual funds act as intermediaries and facilitate investments in various securities (stocks and bonds). The logical question here would be: why do I need a mutual fund? Why can't I just invest directly?

The mutual fund advantage
Investing in a mutual fund allows you to minimise risk and maximise returns, because it acts as a middle man for a group of investors with a shared and predefined investment objective. If your main objective is security in investment but you don't know how to begin, a mutual fund is one way to go.

Typically, a fund manager will maintain the fund, and since you are one shareholder in the fund, you have the added advantage of easy investment, and lower trading costs.

Who are these fund managers?
Asset management companies (AMCs) approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) manage the funds by making investments in various types of securities. This means that all recognised AMCs are monitored by higher authorities and stringent regulations, and funds are managed by professionals who have the necessary expertise.

How is your risk minimised?
Typically, investing in a mutual fund means investing in more than one stock. Some fund managers will diversify and spread your investment further by buying a mosaic of stocks and bonds. Investing in a large number of assets, or diversification, means that a loss incurred on one investment is minimised by gains in others.

How are trading costs reduced?
Since the AMC buys and sells large amounts of securities at a time, transaction costs are reduced, and the benefit is extended to the investor, because the average cost of the unit is lowered.

There are three ways in which you will see returns on your investment in a mutual fund:

Through dividends on stocks and interest on bonds;
Through capital gains, if the fund sells securities that have increased in price and the fund distributes these gains; and
By selling your shares when the holdings increase in price.

Mutual funds can either be open-ended or close-ended in nature.
With open-ended funds, you can either enter or exit the fund any time during the scheme period, by buying/ selling fund units -- this means a high degree of liquidity. Close-ended funds, as the term implies, means that an exit is possible only when the scheme period is over.

Mutual fund schemes in India are varied and cater to a wide range of requirements and profiles, based on financial position, tolerance to risk, and expectations of returns. Each mutual fund has a specific stated objective.

The fund's objective is laid out in the fund's prospectus, which is the legal document that contains information about the fund, its history, its officers and its performance.

High on risk and high on return are Equity funds. Also known as Growth Schemes, the aim of these schemes is to provide capital appreciation over medium to long term. These schemes normally invest a major part of their fund in equities and are willing to bear short-term decline in value for possible future appreciation.

They may be further classified into Diversified Equity Funds, Mid-Cap Funds, Sector Specific Funds and Tax Savings Funds (ELSS).

Debt funds, or Income Schemes, invest in debt instruments, typically issued by the government, private companies, banks and other financial institutions, and promise low risk and a stable income.

These schemes generally invest in fixed income securities such as bonds and corporate debentures. Capital appreciation in such schemes may be limited. Further classification includes Gilt Funds, Income Funds, MIPs, Short Term Plans and Liquid Funds.

Balanced funds are a mix of both equity and debt funds. They invest in both equities and fixed income securities, providing both growth and stability.

Money Market Schemes promise high liquidity, preservation of capital and a moderate income. These schemes generally invest in safer, short-term instruments, such as treasury bills, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and inter-bank call money.

Tax-saving schemes offer tax rebates to the investors under tax laws. For example, under Sec.88 of the Income Tax Act, contributions made to any Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) are eligible for rebate.

Index schemes track and emulate the performance of a particular index such as the BSE Sensex. The stocks in these portfolios will mirror those in the Index, as will the percentage of each stock retained. Returns will therefore mirror the movement of the Index.

Finally, a further benefit from investing mutual funds is the 100 per cent income tax exemption on all mutual fund dividends. For Equity Funds, short-term capital gains are taxed at 15 per cent. Long-term capital gains are not applicable.

For Debt Funds, short-term capital gains are taxed as per the slab rates applicable to you. Open-ended funds with equity exposure of more than 65 per cent are exempt from the payment of dividend tax for a period of three years from 1999-2000.

Know About Global Warming

2009-06-15T07:42:00.006+05:30

It is important to know the true facts about global warming. Because it is not a small or localized environmental problem, it is going to require international cooperation as well as personal change from all of us to stop global warming. In fact, it may be the largest challenge humanity faces in the twenty-first century. Unfortunately, it has also become a highly politicized issue.

You need to especially carefully about the information concerning global warming-- you can learn which facts are accepted by the scientific community and which are created by ill-informed or political sources.

Comparison of modeled and observed temperature trends since 1860

Global Warming: A Fact or Myth?

It is a fact, not a theory. Global warming is a measurable process that is already underway. Temperature changes, alterations in rainfall patterns, and an increased frequency of storms are occurring and being measured around the world as we speak. The evidence against global warming is not convincing in light of the effects we are witnessing already.

Warming is destroying ecosystems worldwide that you and other people depend on, according to a highly detailed new study conducted by scientists at the Goddard Space Institute. The study found a trend of change all over planet Earth, including the "timing of plant flowering, bird nesting, ice melting, salmon migration and pollen release; declines in populations of polar bears, krill and penguins; and increased growth of Siberian pines and cool-water ocean plankton." This extensive study adds to the already voluminous evidence that global warming is real!

The Real Impact on Humans:
150,000 Dead Every Year

Global warming has changed precipitation patterns around the world, disrupting traditional agricultural practices that you and the rest of the world depend on to live. The area of land on the Earth suffering from drought conditions has doubled since 1970.Insurance costs in the coastal areas of the United States have escalated dramatically. These are the effects you can see already, and climate change is only beginning to make itself felt.

Climate-related deaths will double in 25 years according to a 2005 report from the World Health Organization. Climate change is already tied to 150,000 deaths globally every single year. These deaths are caused by more frequent heat waves and droughts, as well as by floods and more powerful storms linked to climate change. Global warming has increased deaths in urban areas as heat waves have exacerbated the effects of smog and related respiratory problems.

We Cause The Problem

The basic facts are well understood. Human activities are pumping increasing amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The elevated concentration of these gases is raising the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere, thereby warming the surface of the Earth. This process has been repeatedly demonstrated in laboratory experiments and is now being measured on the Earth as a whole.

Interesting Effects on Weather

Global warming does not mean a universal and uniform warming of planet Earth, nor does it mean the end of highly unpredictable weather patterns. However, weather patterns are the result of an enormously complex process, and the effects of global warming on this process could be horrific.

There is a lot of uncertainty about how the different "feedbacks" operate, given the complexity of global weather systems. There is concern that global warming could cause changes in massive ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, which is part of a global system referred to as the oceanic "conveyor" because it propels enormous volumes of heat around the world. If this happened, it would cause huge changes in global weather patterns.

The consequences will be enormous no matter which systems are disrupted first. Scientists are unsure about which systems in the world’s climate -- tropical currents versus polar currents, or events on land versus in the ocean -- cause or trigger changes in other systems. Even though you may live in a relatively stable climate, at some point the ecosystem you live in is greatly affected by climates around the world.

Is Uncertainty a Cause for Doubt?

Briefly, the answer is no. While we will never comprehend all there is to be known about such a vast and interdependent system, the larger trends are clear. You should use these uncertainties as a springboard for action, not a rationalization for further, unnecessary debate.

We Must Act Soon

The most alarming danger is that once warming reaches a certain level, it could cause global climate and weather patterns to shift quickly and dangerously. We now have a fairly detailed understanding of the Earth's climate from the last 600,000 years and more. In the past, the climate has not changed slowly, nor has it changed in a linear, incremental fashion.

Abrupt changes dramatically alter life on Earth. Sudden shifts in temperature or ocean currents result when a certain amount of pressure to change is put in place. Ocean currents like the Gulf Stream that distribute heat and moisture around the world have historically changed course in a matter of a few years, or even a few months. The historical record has shown us the devastation this sort of change can wreak on entire ecosystems.

Runaway Global Warming:
A Scientific Possibility

There is a chance we may trigger a runaway warming effect that would amplify itself uncontrollably. The most likely source of such runaway warming is the arctic tundra. In the polar regions, there are great expanses of tundra that have remained frozen year round for tens of thousands of years. These ice-locked fields contain enormous stores of organic matter. If these areas thaw, the decay of that organic matter will accelerate, releasing stored carbon and methane. That could create a powerful positive feedback loop catalyzing further warming.

It could mean and end of life as we know it. Runaway warming could produce an Earth like the one that existed in the age of the dinosaurs: a steamy planet with sea levels hundreds of feet higher than they are now.

Spiking Carbon Dioxide Levels

The scary fact is that we are seeing changes faster than any of the climate models had predicted, and that the rate of accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is accelerating. Before the industrial revolution started pouring carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, the level of carbon in the air was about 275 parts per million (ppm). The average rate of carbon increase in the atmosphere from 1960 to 2005 was 1.4 ppm per year. But over the decade from 1995 to 2005, the average increase was 1.9 ppm per year, and in 2007 the increase leapt to 2.14 ppm. Carbon is accumulating in our atmosphere ever more quickly.

Growth in Methane Levels

In 2007, levels rose much faster than in previous years. Although there is much less methane than CO2 in the atmosphere, methane is by far the more potent greenhouse gas per unit volume. Scientists are worried that this spike in methane levels may indicate that global warming is escalating the release of methane from the arctic tundra. This could be part of a positive feedback loop that will lead to further warming, as mentioned earlier.

In spite of all the attention global warming has been getting lately, we are headed rather decisively in the wrong direction. That is why you have to act, and act now!

Some Critical Facts About Global Warming

2009-06-15T07:28:00.002+05:30

Greenhouse Effect

The earth is a natural greenhouse and is kept warm by water vapors, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and other gases in the atmosphere, which absorb the sun’s energy and radiate it back toward the earth. This type of warming is called “natural greenhouse effect.” “Enhanced greenhouse effect,” on the other hand, causes global climate change due to excessive levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere.

Without the atmosphere to create a greenhouse-type effect, the average temperature on Earth would be just 5° Fahrenheit (F).

Natural levels of CO₂ in the atmosphere have varied throughout history between 180 and 300 parts per million (ppm). Today’s CO₂ levels hover around 380 ppm, representing a 25% increase over the highest recorded natural levels.

In the year 1997 alone, the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere increased by 2.87 ppm; this increase is more than any other year on record.

The year 2005 was the warmest on record, and the years 1998 and 2007 are tied for the second warmest. The eight warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998.

Scientists expect a 3.5° F increase in average global temperatures by the year 2100, resulting in the warmest temperatures in the past million years. During the Pliocene epoch 1.8 million years ago, when the earth’s temperatures were roughly equivalent to today, sea levels were 12-18 feet higher.

Geologists believe sea levels could rise between seven and 23 inches by the end of the century if current warming trends continue.

Worldwide, one hundred million people live within three feet of sea level, and much of the world’s population is clustered in coastal areas.

Fewer than 25,000 polar bears currently survive in the wild

The polar bear, while surviving in drastically reduced numbers, is already effectively extinct in its natural habitat—and no amount of change can save it. Scientists estimate that just 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears still survive in the wild.

The first forced relocation due to the effects of climate change occurred in 2007 when 100 residents of Tegua Island in the Pacific Ocean were evacuated due to rising sea levels and subsequent flooding.

For the past million years, cool climate conditions have primarily prevailed throughout the world. It was under these conditions that the human species evolved.

The earth has always experienced cyclical bouts of climate change. Recorded temperatures throughout history display graphs of peaks and valleys with occasional extreme periods, such as the Little Ice Age of the seventeenth and eighteenth century and the Medieval Warm Period of the eleventh century.

According to NASA studies, average temperatures around the world have increased 1.4° F since 1880, with most of the change occurring in recent decades.

During the twentieth century, the earth experienced two warming trends. The first was a burst in temperature from 1900-1930, and the second is a continuing increase in temperature beginning in the 1970s.

The last two decades of the twentieth century were the hottest decades in more than 400 years and may have been the hottest decades for several thousand years.

Climate models predict the loss of Arctic sea ice earlier and more rapidly than the loss of Antarctic land ice if warming trends continue.

Since the 1950s, Arctic sea ice has declined by 15% and the average annual duration of northern lake and river ice has decreased by two weeks.

As Arctic ice rapidly disappears, scientists believe the Arctic will experience its first ice-free summer as early as the year 2040.

Average temperatures in the Arctic climates of Alaska, Canada, and Russia have risen at twice the global average in the last century.

The effects of global warming could destroy the habitats of and threaten extinction for over one million species of plants and animals.

Glaciers worldwide have lost 890 cubic miles of ice since 1961

Between the years 1961 and 1997, the world’s glaciers lost 890 cubic miles of ice.

In 1910, Glacier National Park in Montana boasted 150 glaciers—today there are just 27.

Deserts worldwide are increasing as a result of warmer temperatures. At the end of the year 2007, Australia lost 25% of crop production due to desertification.

Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius realized as early as 1896 that human industrial activity was already surpassing the earth’s ability to reabsorb CO₂.

Fossil fuel burning currently adds nearly six billion tons of CO₂ to the atmosphere every year. Only half of this CO₂ is removed by forests and oceans.

Rampant deforestation currently causes 20% of the world’s global warming pollution by prohibiting the reabsorption of CO₂.

Between the first Earth Day in 1970 and the new millennium, human-made emissions of greenhouse gases rose 70%.

The earth’s atmosphere now contains 40% more CO₂ than before the Industrial Revolution.

The United States represents less than 5% of the world’s population, yet Americans account for 25% of the world’s commercial energy consumption and 22% of the world’s industrial emissions of CO₂.

By 2030, the world will be driven on by more than a billion cars

Cars amount to three-quarters of all transportation emissions. At the current rate, the world will be driven on by more than a billion cars in 2030 and a billion more by 2050.

Roughly 75% of the annual increase in atmospheric CO₂ is due solely to the burning of fossil fuels.

About 20% of CO₂ emitted into the atmosphere comes from the gasoline burned in motor vehicle engines. The vast majority of emitted CO₂ is a result of fossil fuel burning in power plants for electricity generation.

While increased concentrations of CO₂ in the atmosphere certainly can increase temperatures, many geologists believe that water vapor accounts for more than 90% of the greenhouse warming effect.

According to the Internal Energy Agency, the world will invest some $20 trillion in new energy research over the next 25 years in an attempt to slow the effects of global warming.

Global warming research is primarily conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a partnership formed in 1998 with the World Meteorological Organization and environmental agencies of the United Nations.

Global Warming Myths and Facts

2009-06-15T07:26:00.002+05:30

MYTH: The science of global warming is too uncertain to act on.

FACT: There is no debate among scientists about the basic facts of global warming.

The most respected scientific bodies have stated unequivocally that global warming is occurring, and people are causing it by burning fossil fuels (like coal, oil and natural gas) and cutting down forests. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences, which in 2005 the White House called "the gold standard of objective scientific assessment," issued a joint statement with 10 other National Academies of Science saying "the scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action. It is vital that all nations identify cost-effective steps that they can take now, to contribute to substantial and long-term reduction in net global greenhouse gas emissions."

The only debate in the science community about global warming is about how much and how fast warming will continue as a result of heat-trapping emissions. Scientists have given a clear warning about global warming, and we have more than enough facts — about causes and fixes — to implement solutions right now.

MYTH: Even if global warming is a problem, addressing it will hurt American industry and workers.

FACT: A well designed trading program will harness American ingenuity to decrease heat-trapping pollution cost-effectively, jumpstarting a new carbon economy.

Claims that fighting global warming will cripple the economy and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs are unfounded. In fact, companies that are already reducing their heat-trapping emissions have discovered that cutting pollution can save money. The cost of a comprehensive national greenhouse gas reduction program will depend on the precise emissions targets, the timing for the reductions and the means of implementation. An independent MIT study found that a modest cap-and-trade system would cost less than $20 per household annually and have no negative impact on employment.

Experience has shown that properly designed emissions trading programs can reduce compliance costs significantly compared with other regulatory approaches. For example, the U.S. acid rain program reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 30 percent from 1990 levels and cost industry a fraction of what the government originally estimated, according to EPA. Furthermore, a mandatory cap on emissions could spur technological innovation that could create jobs and wealth. Letting global warming continue until we are forced to address it on an emergency basis could disrupt and severely damage our economy. It is far wiser and more cost-effective to act now.

MYTH: Water vapor is the most important, abundant greenhouse gas. So if we’re going to control a greenhouse gas, why don’t we control it instead of carbon dioxide (CO₂)?

FACT: Although water vapor traps more heat than CO₂, because of the relationships among CO₂, water vapor and climate, to fight global warming nations must focus on controlling CO2.

Atmospheric levels of CO₂ are determined by how much coal, natural gas and oil we burn and how many trees we cut down, as well as by natural processes like plant growth. Atmospheric levels of water vapor, on the other hand, cannot be directly controlled by people; rather, they are determined by temperatures. The warmer the atmosphere, the more water vapor it can hold. As a result, water vapor is part of an amplifying effect. Greenhouse gases like CO₂ warm the air, which in turn adds to the stock of water vapor, which in turn traps more heat and accelerates warming. Scientists know this because of satellite measurements documenting a rise in water vapor concentrations as the globe has warmed.

The best way to lower temperature and thus reduce water vapor levels is to reduce CO₂ emissions.

MYTH: Global warming and extra CO₂ will actually be beneficial — they reduce cold-related deaths and stimulate crop growth.

FACT: Any beneficial effects will be far outweighed by damage and disruption.

Even a warming in just the middle range of scientific projections would have devastating impacts on many sectors of the economy. Rising seas would inundate coastal communities, contaminate water supplies with salt and increase the risk of flooding by storm surge, affecting tens of millions of people globally. Moreover, extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts and floods, are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity, causing loss of lives and property and throwing agriculture into turmoil.

Even though higher levels of CO₂ can act as a plant fertilizer under some conditions, scientists now think that the "CO₂ fertilization" effect on crops has been overstated; in natural ecosystems, the fertilization effect can diminish after a few years as plants acclimate. Furthermore, increased CO₂ may benefit undesirable, weedy species more than desirable species.

Higher levels of CO₂ have already caused ocean acidification, and scientists are warning of potentially devastating effects on marine life and fisheries. Moreover, higher levels of regional ozone (smog), a result of warmer temperatures, could worsen respiratory illnesses. Less developed countries and natural ecosystems may not have the capacity to adapt.

The notion that there will be regional “winners” and “losers” in global warming is based on a world-view from the 1950’s. We live in a global community. Never mind the moral implications — when an environmental catastrophe creates millions of refugees half-way around the world, Americans are affected.

MYTH: Global warming is just part of a natural cycle. The Arctic has warmed up in the past.

FACT: The global warming we are experiencing is not natural. People are causing it.

People are causing global warming by burning fossil fuels (like oil, coal and natural gas) and cutting down forests. Scientists have shown that these activities are pumping far more CO₂ into the atmosphere than was ever released in hundreds of thousands of years. This buildup of CO₂ is the biggest cause of global warming. Since 1895, scientists have known that CO₂ and other greenhouse gases trap heat and warm the earth. As the warming has intensified over the past three decades, scientific scrutiny has increased along with it. Scientists have considered and ruled out other, natural explanations such as sunlight, volcanic eruptions and cosmic rays. (IPCC 2001)

Though natural amounts of CO₂ have varied from 180 to 300 parts per million (ppm), today's CO₂ levels are around 380 ppm. That's 25% more than the highest natural levels over the past 650,000 years. Increased CO₂ levels have contributed to periods of higher average temperatures throughout that long record. (Boden, Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center)

As for previous Arctic warming, it is true that there were stretches of warm periods over the Arctic earlier in the 20th century. The limited records available for that time period indicate that the warmth did not affect as many areas or persist from year to year as much as the current warmth. But that episode, however warm it was, is not relevant to the issue at hand. Why? For one, a brief regional trend does not discount a longer global phenomenon.

We know that the planet has been warming over the past several decades and Arctic ice has been melting persistently. And unlike the earlier periods of Arctic warmth, there is no expectation that the current upward trend in Arctic temperatures will reverse; the rising concentrations of greenhouse gases will prevent that from happening.

MYTH: We can adapt to climate change — civilization has survived droughts and temperature shifts before.

FACT: Although humans as a whole have survived the vagaries of drought, stretches of warmth and cold and more, entire societies have collapsed from dramatic climatic shifts.

The current warming of our climate will bring major hardships and economic dislocations — untold human suffering, especially for our children and grandchildren. We are already seeing significant costs from today's global warming which is caused by greenhouse gas pollution. Climate has changed in the past and human societies have survived, but today six billion people depend on interconnected ecosystems and complex technological infrastructure.

What's more, unless we limit the amount of heat-trapping gases we are putting into the atmosphere, we will face a warming trend unseen since human civilization began 10,000 years ago. (IPCC 2001)

The consequences of continued warming at current rates are likely to be dire. Many densely populated areas, such as low-lying coastal regions, are highly vulnerable to climate shifts. A middle-of-the-range projection is that the homes of 13 to 88 million people around the world would be flooded by the sea each year in the 2080s. Poorer countries and small island nations will have the hardest time adapting. (McLean et al. 2001)

In what appears to be the first forced move resulting from climate change, 100 residents of Tegua island in the Pacific Ocean were evacuated by the government because rising sea levels were flooding their island. Some 2,000 other islanders plan a similar move to escape rising waters. In the United States, the village of Shishmaref in Alaska, which has been inhabited for 400 years, is collapsing from melting permafrost. Relocation plans are in the works.

Scarcity of water and food could lead to major conflicts with broad ripple effects throughout the globe. Even if people find a way to adapt, the wildlife and plants on which we depend may be unable to adapt to rapid climate change. While the world itself will not end, the world as we know it may disappear.

MYTH: Recent cold winters and cool summers don’t feel like global warming to me.

FACT: While different pockets of the country have experienced some cold winters here and there, the overall trend is warmer winters.

Measurements show that over the last century the Earth’s climate has warmed overall, in all seasons, and in most regions. Climate skeptics mislead the public when they claim that the winter of 2003–2004 was the coldest ever in the northeastern United States. That winter was only the 33rd coldest in the region since records began in 1896. Furthermore, a single year of cold weather in one region of the globe is not an indication of a trend in the global climate, which refers to a long-term average over the entire planet.

MYTH: Global warming can’t be happening because some glaciers and ice sheets are growing, not shrinking.

FACT: In most parts of the world, the retreat of glaciers has been dramatic. The best available scientific data indicate that Greenland's massive ice sheet is shrinking.

Between 1961 and 1997, the world’s glaciers lost 890 cubic miles of ice. The consensus among scientists is that rising air temperatures are the most important factor behind the retreat of glaciers on a global scale over long time periods. Some glaciers in western Norway, Iceland and New Zealand have been expanding during the past few decades. That expansion is a result of regional increases in storm frequency and snowfall rather than colder temperatures — not at all incompatible with a global warming trend.

In Greenland, a NASA satellite that can measure the ice mass over the whole continent has found that although there is variation from month to month, over the longer term, the ice is disappearing. In fact, there are worrisome signs that melting is accelerating: glaciers are moving into the ocean twice as fast as a decade ago, and, over time, more and more glaciers have started to accelerate. What is most alarming is the prediction, based on model calculations and historical evidence, that an approximately 5.4 degree Fahrenheit increase in local Greenland temperatures will lead to irreversible meltdown and a sea-level rise of over 20 feet. Since the Arctic is warming 2-3 times faster than the global average, this tipping point is not far away.

The only study that has shown increasing ice mass in Greenland only looked at the interior of the ice sheet, not at the edges where melting occurs. This is actually in line with climate model predictions that global warming would lead to a short-term accumulation of ice in the cold interior due to heavier snowfall. (Similarly, scientists have predicted that Antarctica overall will gain ice in the near future due to heavier snowfall.) The scientists who published the study were careful to point out that their results should not be used to conclude that Greenland's ice mass as a whole is growing. In addition, their data suggested that the accumulation of snow in the middle of the continent is likely to decrease over time as global warming continues.

MYTH: Accurate weather predictions a few days in advance are hard to come by. Why on earth should we have confidence in climate projections decades from now?

FACT: Climate prediction is fundamentally different from weather prediction, just as climate is different from weather.

It is often more difficult to make an accurate weather forecast than a climate prediction. The accuracy of weather forecasting is critically dependent upon being able to exactly and comprehensively characterize the present state of the global atmosphere. Climate prediction relies on other, longer ranging factors. For instance, we might not know if it will be below freezing on a specific December day in New England, but we know from our understanding of the region's climate that the temperatures during the month will generally be low. Similarly, climate tells us that Seattle and London tend to be rainy, Florida and southern California are usually warm, and the Southwest is often dry and hot.

Today’s climate models can now reproduce the observed global average climates over the past century and beyond. Such findings have reinforced scientist’s confidence in the capacity of models to produce reliable projections of future climate. Current climate assessments typically consider the results from a range of models and scenarios for future heat-trapping emissions in order to identify the most likely range for future climatic change.

MYTH: As the ozone hole shrinks, global warming will no longer be a problem.

FACT: Global warming and the ozone hole are two different problems.

The ozone hole is a thinning of the stratosphere's ozone layer, which is roughly 9 to 31 miles above the earth's surface. The depletion of the ozone is due to man-made chemicals like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). A thinner ozone layer lets more harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation to reach the earth's surface.

Global warming, on the other hand, is the increase in the earth's average temperature due to the buildup of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from human activities.

The List Of The Top Ten Futuristic Weapons

2009-06-12T08:20:00.005+05:30

Here is the list of the top ten futuristic weapons that can disable any force of the world.

- Autonomous Weapons

These are the robotic weapons that are currently in the development phase. They work on a find and destroy criteria. These Automatic Robotic vehicles can strike in air or on the ground without causing any damage to the friendly troops. These are equipped with sensors that can sense between enemy and the friendly troops and ask for a conformation from the ground forces to begin an attack. The limitation of this type of robotic vehicles is that it would be difficult to distinguish between animals, civilians friendly forces and enemy forces. And if anything goes wrong then the weapons could start wild firing injuring many innocent.

- High Energy Lasers

High Energy lasers travel at the speed of light and can destroy an approaching missile in minutes and can also strike targets over thousands of kilometers. The Lasers use large mirror to focus on the weak spots of the missiles that usually is the fuel compartment. This high energy laser then heats up the missile which destroys it in mid air and hundreds of kilometers from the target. The only limitation of the weapon is that it is very bulky and cannot be used in all environments.

- Space-Based Weapons

Nothing is above space. A weapon in orbit will be able to see and destroy anything on the planet. The main mission of these weapons will to seek and destroy any approaching ballistic missile in mid air. The reaction time of the weapon should be very fast so that it can even hit a supersonic craft before it reaches its target.

- Hypersonic Aircrafts (Scram Jet)

These are the aircrafts can fly at a speed of Mach 5 that means five times the speed of sound. These aircrafts can reach any target on the planet within two hours. The aircrafts initially have to take a ride on the back of some other planes, which can carry it to an altitude where the air density is less. Then the aircraft shifts to the scramjet engine that uses the mixture of air and fuel to power the aircraft to supersonic speed. The limitation for the aircraft is that the scramjet engine cannot start until the plane is flies faster than the speed of sound and moreover the plane has not yet undergone a human testing.

- Active Denial System (Millimeter-Wave Weapon)

The active denial systems have been designed to make people flee without injuring them. A 2-meter long antenna and a generator produces and aims a 95 GHz wave on a group of people which causes them intense pain in the skin them to flee. The problem with the system is that it can cause serious burns to the people who will not be able to run quickly as the wave can burn the skin in minutes.

- Nuclear Missiles

Nuclear Missiles are the most destructive weapons that have been made by man. They are capable of destroying a whole nation at the first strike and the after effects are also devastating. The nuclear missiles are based on a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead that explodes. The missiles have not been used by any nation as yet. The launch site and the trajectory of the missile is easy to identify so it can easily be destroyed in flight.

- Stun Guns (Tasers)

Tasers use high voltage electricity to subdue people without any permanent injury. These are targeted on the bodies or on the legs of people and they disrupt the normal functioning of the voluntary muscles of humans making them to fall on the ground. The practical limitations of the Stun Guns are many as they can cause injury when a person falls on the ground, and many deaths have already been reported.

- High-Power Microwave Bombs (e-bombs)

These are known as e-bombs because they can totally damage computers, electronics and electric power. The technology uses high power microwave pulses that can burn the electrical equipment and particularly the semiconductor chips. The limitation is that they also damage the friendly equipment within range.

- Layered Missile Defense

This technology offers the best chance to shoot a missile before it reaches its target. Multiple systems are targeted on to the missile during different stages of its flight. The first is the boost phase during which the rockets are firing. During this stage the missile is easy to detect and easy to shoot down. The second stage is the mid stage of the missiles flight while the war head is in space. The last phase is when the warhead is approaching the target. The limitation is that the system is difficult to make and maintain and also it requires very fast response time.

- Information Warfare

The technology interferes with the flow of information in the enemy channels totally disrupting it. Specially trained computer hackers are used to break into the military computers and steal the information and also destroy it by spreading some viruses. The limitation is that till now only the U.S is relying on the computers so other low-tech enemies are not so vulnerable against the weapon.

Some Interesting Facts About Weapons and Battles

2009-06-12T07:54:00.004+05:30

In 1978, the nations of the world spent $800,000 a minute on arms, or an annual total of $400,000,000,000.

Iron-working was first used in the Near and Middle East around the end of the second millennium B.C. It allowed for several enhancements in weaponry and equipment. For example, the introduction of iron swords made it possible for a more skilful infantry army to reach a decision without the pushing and shoving match that usually occurred in previous battles.

An authentic "lost weapon" is Greek fire, which the Byzantine Empire used on several occasions between the seventh and ninth centuries to defend Constantinople against attacking Muslims. Constantinople might have fallen but for Greek fire, and conceivably the Muslims might have taken over a weak and divided Europe. To this day, we don't know exactly what the "recipe" for Greek fire was. All we know is that it burned all the more fiercely when wet (hence it likely contained some sort of petrol compound), and that it could be floated toward the enemy's wooden ships.

The main innovation in terms of military technology in the early Middle Ages was the stirrup. From 100 to 500, there was a seemingly never-ending wave of nomad horsemen armed with swords, spears, and bows coming out of the central Asian steppe. The archers would fire volley after volley into the foot troops. Then, when the defenders seemed suitably weakened, mounted lancers would charge in. With the aid of the stirrup, the shock effect of these horse lancers was nearly irresistable. Germanic and other European tribes adopted these Oriental techniques, and out of this came not only the destruction of the western Roman Empire, but also the development of a mounted, armoured "man-at-arms." This included the legendary "knight in shining armour," but most of these men were simply well-trained and experienced swords for hire.

A method of hardening steel swords in the Middle Ages was the damascene process of thrusting a superheated blade in the body of a slave and then into cold water. Crusaders discovered, to their dismay, that swords made of Damascus steel were more resilient and harder than those of European manufacture. Europeans did not discover the secret until 500 years after the Crusades, however, when it was discovered that thrusting a red-hot sword into a mass of animal skins soaking in water had a similar effect to the Damascus method. The nitrogen given off by the skins in the water produces a chemical reaction in the steel.

Tintoretto's famous oil painting Israelites Gathering Manna in the Wilderness showed the ancient Israelites with shotguns. Unfortunately, the first recorded use of guns was in 1326, several thousand years after the ancient Israelites.

It is not true that the early Chinese used gunpowder only for fireworks. They had forms of guns (invented in 1288), bombs, grenades, rockets, landmines, flamethrowers, small cannons, and other weapons.

One of the most unusual military maneuvers ever was performed in 1191, during the third Crusade, when Richard the Lion-Hearted captured the city of Acre. The inhabitants were barricaded inside, so King Richard had his soldiers throw 100 beehives over the walls. The people in the fortress surrendered immediately.

Early guns took so long to load and fire that bows and arrows - in trained hands - were twelve times more efficient.

Babur, the first Moghul emperor of India, marched through the Khyber Pass onto the North Indian plain in 1526. The then North Indian ruler, an Afghan king, Sultan Ibrahim, leading an army of 100,000 men, attacked the invaders and lost, despite the nearly ten-to-one odds in manpower in his favour. The reason for Babur's triumph was an ancient Chinese invention that the Sultan had never heard of - gunpowder.

Francisco Pizarro, the nearly illiterate Spanish adventurer, was able to conquer the grand empire of the Incas using a force of 106 foot soldiers (at the most) and sixty-two horses. Guns and gunpowder gave Pizarro the advantage.

The first machine gun, the Puckle Gun, built in 1722, was also the most unusual. It could fire two types of bullets. When targeting lesser enemies such as Christians, round bullets were used, but for truly hated enemies such as Muslims, more destructive square bullets were used.

The concept of "friendly fire" is not a new one. At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, there are many accounts of soldiers succumbing to fire or swordcuts from soldiers in their own army.

The German chemist Christian F. Schönbein was experimenting with a mixture of nitric acid and sulphuric acid in the kitchen of his house in 1845. While his wife strictly forbade such experiments in the home, she was out at the time. Schönbein accidentally spilled some of his acid and, in a panic, he seized the first thing at hand, his wife's cotton apron, sopped up the mixture, then hung it over the stove to dry before his wife came home. When the apron dried, it suddenly burned, and so rapidly that it seemed simply to disappear. The astonished Schönbein investigated and found he had formed what is now called "nitrocellulose" or "guncotton". This was the beginning of the replacement of gunpowder on the battlefield, where it reigned supreme for 500 years.

After the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War on July 3, 1863, nearby trees began dying from lead poisoning due to the large number of bullets embedded in the wood.

St. Adrian Nicomedia is the patron saint of arms dealers.

During World War I, a gun that could shoot around corners was invented by Jones Wister. Although it was never used, a similar invention was used by Germans in World War II.

Half of those who are killed by bombs are the people who were trying to make or set the bombs.

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

One day in 1893, James Ziegland of Honey Grove, Texas, walked out on his fiancée, Metilda Tichnor, who killed herself. In response, her brother shot Ziegland and, believing he had killed the man, then killed himself. His shot at Ziegland, however, just grazed his face before burying itself in the trunk of a nearby tree. In 1913, Ziegland decided to remove the tree from his property by using dynamite. The explosion dislodged the bullet, shooting it violently into Ziegland's head, finally killing him twenty years later.

A 1947 study found that during the Second World War, only about 15 to 25 percent of the American infantry ever fired their rifles in combat.

The City Council of Chico, California, once issued an edict banning nuclear weapons from the city. Anyone caught detonating a nuclear device within the city limits could face a fine of up to $500.The Hundred Years' War actually lasted 116 years, from 1337 to 1453.

At the Battle of Crecy in 1346, 4,000 Frenchmen were killed, but only 100 Englishmen.

A cannon made out of leather was used during the reign of Henry VIII at the seige of Boulogne. The Scots used leather guns in 1640 in the Battle of Newburn.

The shortest war ever lasted for 38 minutes, between 9:02 and 9:40 on August 27^th, 1896, between Britain and Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania). When a British fleet sailed into Zanzibar harbour, the Sultan of Zanzibar viewed this as a hostile act and ordered his only warship to open fire. The British retaliated, destroying both the ship and the Sultan's palace. The Sultan fled into exile.

After the end of World War II, several Japanese soldiers still continued to hold out for years on remote islands in the Pacific, either not having heard about the Japanese surrender, or believing that reports about it were just Allied propaganda. The last Japanese soldier to lay down arms was Private Teruo Nakamura, who surrendered in December 1974.

The ancient Assyrians instituted several key innovations in warfare between around 1,000 B.C. and 500 B.C. One was mounted archers, which opened up many tactical possibilities on the battlefield. The Assyrian kings also made sure that their troops were always well-equipped and that weapons were kept in repair. This was not always done in the past, often with disastrous results on the battlefield. The Assyrians also instituted an ongoing training program for their troops, who, like most armies of the time, were basically a part-time militia. Superior organisation also allowed the Assyrians to put more men into the field for longer periods of time. Although accurate numbers are impossible to obtain, it is estimated that the Assyrians were capable of fielding armies of at least 30,000 to 40,000 men.

Some Intresting and Amazing Facts About Solar Energy

2009-06-10T16:46:00.002+05:30

General facts

Solar Energy is better for the environment than traditional forms of energy.

Solar energy has many uses such as electricity production and heating of water through photovoltaic cells and directly for drying clothes.

Solar energy can also be used to heat swimming pools, power cars, for attic fans, calculators and other small appliances. It produces lighting for indoors or outdoors.

You can even cook food with solar energy.

Solar Energy is becoming more and more popular. The worldwide demand for Solar Energy is currently greater than supply.

Facts about Solar Energy usage:

Solar Energy is measured in kilowatt-hour. 1 kilowatt = 1000 watts.

1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) = the amount of electricity required to burn a 100 watt light bulb for 10 hours.

According to the US Department of Energy, an average American household used approximately 866-kilowatt hours per month in 1999 costing them $70.68.

About 30% of our total energy consumption is used to heat water.

Facts about Solar Energy systems:

A home solar system is typically made up of solar panels, an inverter, a battery, a charge controller, wiring and support structure.

A 1-kilowatt home solar system takes about 1-2 days to install and costs around US$10,000, but can vary greatly and does not take into account any incentives offered by the government.

A 1-kilowatt home solar system consists of about 10-12 solar panels and requires about 100 square feet of installation area.

A 1 kilowatt home solar system will generate approximately 1,600 kilowatt hours per year in a sunny climate (receiving 5.5 hours of sunshine per day) and approximately 750 kilowatt hours per year in a cloudy climate (receiving 2.5 hours of sunshine per day).

A 1-kilowatt home solar system will prevent approximately 170 lbs. of coal from being burned, 300 lbs of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere and 105 gallons of water from being consumed each month!

About 40 solar cells are usually combined into a solar panel and around 10-12 panels mounted in an array facing due North to receive maximum sunlight.

The system usually comes with a 5-year warranty, although the solar panels are warranted for 20.

Relying on the battery back up, a solar energy system can provide electricity 24x7, even on cloudy days and at night.

Solar panels come in various colours.

Solar energy can be collected and stored in batteries, reflected, insulated, absorbed and transmitted.

Sun related Facts about Solar Energy:

Sunlight travels to the earth in approximately 8 minutes from 93,000,000 miles away, at 186,282 miles per second.

The sun is also the main source of non-renewable fossil fuels (coal, gas and petroleum), which began life as plants or animals whose energy came from the sun millions of year ago.

Solar energy is responsible for weather patterns and ocean currents.

Clouds, pollution and wind can prevent the sun's rays from reaching the earth.

Other Interesting Facts about Solar Energy:

Da Vinci predicted a solar industrialization as far back as 1447.

In one hour more sunlight falls on the earth than what is used by the entire population in one year.

A world record was set in 1990 when a solar powered aircraft flew 4060km across the USA, using no fuel.

Fierce weather cost the world a record $130 Billion in the first eleven months of 1998- more money than was lost from weather related disasters from 1980 to 1990 ($82 Billion).

Researchers from the Worldwatch Institute and Munich Re blame deforestation and climate change from Earth warming for much of the loss. The previous one-year record was $90 Billion in 1996. Source - Associated Press, November 28,1998.

About 2 billion people in the world are currently without electricity.

Accounting for only 5 percent of the world's population, Americans consume 26 percent of the world's energy.

Electric ovens consume the most amount of electricity, followed by microwaves and central air conditioning.

Third world countries with an abundance of sunlight and a population currently without electricity, represents the fastest growing market for solar energy, with the largest domestic market being the utilities sector.

Shell Oil predicts that 50% of the world's energy will come from renewable sources by 2040.

Some Interesting facts about corn

2009-06-09T11:52:00.003+05:30

Corn, scientific name Zea mays also known as maize is one of the most important cereal crop grown for the first time in Mexico. It is one of the most widely used staple food all over the world. Corn belongs to family graminae, i.e. grass family. Nowadays farmers grow a number of strains of hybrid corn, which are developed by breeding two or more different varieties in order to have traits like disease and pest resistance. Corns are used directly as food, as animal feed, in biogas plants, for producing corn fuel and as a base for many of the products.

Corn Facts

Farmers grow corn on every continent except Antarctica.
One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400 cans of Coca-Cola.
There are about 800 kernels in 16 rows on each ear of corn.
The corncob (ear) is actually part of the corn plant’s flower.
The main ingredient in most dry pet food is corn.
Corn is America's number one field crop. Corn leads all other crops in value and volume of production.
A pound of corn consists of approximately 1,300 kernels.
Corn is used to produce fuel alcohol. Fuel alcohol makes gasoline burn cleaner, reducing air pollution, and it doesn't pollute the water.
Corn is produced in higher volume than any other grains. America is the highest producer contributing half of total world production. It is grown all over the world except in Antarctica. Peak season for corn production is May through September.
Corn is rich in starch (1.25 calorie per 1 gram), proteins and carbohydrates. It is used as sweetener in most of the soft drinks. One corn bushel can sweeten 400 cans of soft drinks.
Dry milling and wet milling are two main primary methods of processing corn kernels.
In terms of flour production, corn gives more flour with less bran than wheat.
Corn stem is similar to bamboo in having nodes and internodes. The stem is erect, about 2-3 meters (7-10 feet) in height and grows about 3 millimeters a day. Some of the varieties are used as ornamental plants.
In corn plant, there are two inflorescences, the male and the female. "Tassel" is male part and "Silk" is the female part.
There are about 800 kernels in an ear of corn in 16 rows and one pound of corn has approximately 1300 kernels. Size of an average ear is 12" by 14" in length.
White and yellow corn are two most popular varieties, white corn is smaller and sweeter than yellow corn. Kernel color can be white, yellow, red or bluish black.
As soon as corn is picked, sugar content starts converting into starch, thus reducing its natural sweetness. So, it is always better to consume fresh corn for better taste.
Corn flakes contain only 8% corn. Besides using for food and related products, it is also used in production of corn oil, fuel alcohol commonly called ethanol and biodegradable polyester (polylactic acid, PLA). Ethanol increases the burning capacity of gasoline and is pollution-free.
Corn, Bean and Squash together are known as "the three sisters", which grow from Mother Earth according to Native Americans.
Sweet corn leaves were used as chewing gum by the Indians. They used to grow corn by digging a small hole, putting kernels and a fish, which would later provide nutrients and then covering with soil.
Some people are allergic to corn and symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, asthma, etc. In Europe, it is mandatory to label any food product that contain corn.

Some Interesting Facts about Aquarium Snails

2009-06-08T22:50:00.002+05:30

There are many species of aquarium snails, some are considered beneficial while others are regarded as bothersome pests. Some people purposely introduce snails to their freshwater aquariums after either obtaining them naturally or purchasing them, while others arrive accidentally via plant life and from food sources.

But just what are these mysterious creatures and are they helpful or harmful for aquariums? Here are the answers to those questions and some facts about aquarium snails. What are some common types of aquarium snails?

-Ramshorn: This particular snail gets its name from its shape that, surprisingly enough, resembles a ram’s horn. They reproduce rather quickly and also will dine on plant life in the aquarium. Ramshorn snails can be found in black, red and even in interesting checkered patterns.

- Trumpet: These snails sport spiral shells and can usually be found on aquarium walls just below the water line early in the mornings before the lights are on. These live bearing snails will rarely eat plants but prefer to dine on debris within the substrate instead. This makes the Trumpet snail beneficial as they help keep the tank cleaner by maintaining water quality. The Trumpet snail will usually be hidden during the daytime and emerge at night to feed.

- Pond snail: This snail is distinguishable by its football-like shape and is a species of snail that can easily take over an aquarium if left unattended to. They are generally introduced to aquariums with plants or live food and can reproduce at a rapid rate. The Pond snail is also known to have a taste for plants and can quickly devour most aquatic plant life. Another small snail is the malayan live bearing snail

Apple snail: Apple snails are perhaps the most popular of all aquarium snails and can be beneficial, particularly if the aquarist is breeding fish. There are at least four different species of the Apple snail, three of which are voracious plant eaters. If cared for properly under the right conditions, the Apple snail can grow as large as a tennis ball.

How do aquarium snails get there in the first place?

As with the Pond snail, among many other species, snails can appear in aquariums as if by magic but are actually brought into the tank with plant life or from live foods. Unless they are live bearers, their jelly-like eggs are attached and hidden within the leaves of aquatic plants.

What do aquarium snails eat?

The diet of the aquarium snail depends on its species; some eat plants while others prefer fish food and decaying debris that has sunk to the bottom. Many also prefer a diet of algae, which is why certain snails can be beneficial to aquariums as they help maintain water quality.

What type of fish are compatible tank mates with snails?

Good roommates for aquarium snails include Guppies, Neon Tetras, Danios and White Cloud Minnows, to name a few. These fish are all known to be non-aggressive and cohabitate nicely with the snail.

Which fish eat aquarium snails?

Many aquarists experiencing an unwanted bevy of snails will introduce fish that will naturally take care of the overpopulation problem. Loaches, such as the Clown and Skunk Loach will happily devour snails as well as certain species of Catfish like the Dorid or Banjo Catfish. Puffers will also help keep the snail population at a manageable rate. However, these fish tend to be aggressive and aren’t compatible with just any type of fish. Bettas, most Goldfish, Angelfish and most species of Barbs should be avoided if you want to keep the snails in your aquarium safe.

Benefits of aquacultured specimens over wild-collected

2009-06-08T22:44:00.001+05:30

A principal concern of many aquarists is the state of the world's environments and the possible impact their demanding hobby might have. Though no species has been "wiped out" by wild-collection on the reef, the use of boats, subsequent labor, non-human resources, nets, and other tools to get wild harvested specimens to consumers isn't without consequence. As a conscientious alternative, the tank breeding of fishes and asexual fragmenting of hard and soft corals reduces environmental destruction and is by definition a more easily controlled resource.

Benefits of aquacultured specimens over wild-collected

Much like the successes made toward tank breeding in the freshwater hobby years back, progress continues apace in the field of aquacultured corals and fishes. This is good news on several fronts because tank-produced animals are:

Much more likely to adapt to aquarium conditions
Notably less aggressive than those collected in the wild
Easier to feed
Much less likely to harbor infectious and parasitic diseases
Easier to culture
Relieve pressure on wild populations and their environment

Let's expand on some of the specific issues that define the many benefits of "home-grown" saltwater species.

Better acclimation to home aquariums: Wild specimens of marine life have a great deal more to contend with than their aquacultured kin. The effects of bad weather, strong currents, predators, availability of food… are more extreme in nature than in our aquariums. Many wild-collected fishes have a hard time adjusting to living in a limited volume, clear-sided container… unfortunately, for some, they actually damage themselves by repeatedly striking the sides. Marine fishes that have been bred and reared in captivity have none of these problems. They are raised within the familiar limits of their surroundings, and acclimate easily to home aquariums.

Reduced aggression: A very real source of mortality in marine specimens is overt agonistic behavior. Saltwater environments are socially, very challenging. For the most part, it is characterized by near constant "fight or flight" behavior on the part of fishes and stinging and poisoning events amongst sedentary stinging-celled animals like corals. Wild corals are accustomed to vigorous competition for space and light and have evolved strong stinging and potent poisoning strategies for staking out their living area. Tank-produced specimens have proven much more facile and tolerant toward neighboring sedentary invertebrates. Aquarium settings, by virtue of their calmer, less competitive nature, result in animals "getting along" better than those in the wild, with much lower rates of death due to aggression.

Easier to feed: An important factor in the selection and purchase of new fish is whether it is eating or not, particularly the types of foods you intend to offer. Very often, particularly with very young/small and larger/older specimens of marine fishes, food acceptance is a critical issue. Many species just outright refuse all types of foods. This is a striking difference between captive-produced and wild-collected specimens. As a result of being fed prepared foods and cultures throughout their lives, aquacultured marine specimens are aware of novel types and formats, even going to the surface to feed (which does NOT occur in the wild).

Lowered risk of disease: Obviously, aquacultured specimens are not exposed to the many and varied parasites and infectious disease agents as their counterparts are in the wild. Many of the marine specimens that are lost are "anomalous," that is, of unknown or uncertain origins… often traceable to internal disease challenges. Populations that have "closed the loop," offspring of captive-produced parentage, are "specific pathogen free." These specimens should still be carefully acclimated and possibly quarantined just the same, but more to give them a chance to "rest up" before being placed in a main/display tank rather than waiting to see if signs of biological disease develop.

Easier to culture for beginners: If you're interested in culturing a species, it is far easier to utilize captive-produced specimens for its generation. For all the above stated reasons, this broodstock is more stable, healthy, and likely to survive the rigors of breeding, rearing in the case of fishes, or cutting/fragmenting with corals.

Reduced environmental impact: When you can, buy aquacultured specimens. This makes sense for you, your aquarium, and the environment.

Though most Clownfishes, Neon Gobies, and Dottybacks are aquacultured for the ornamental trade, we are still unable to reproduce many marine fish species at this point in time. More and more Hard and Soft Corals come from fragmentation processes, as individuals and companies physically separate larger colonies into smaller pieces and "grow them out" for resale. I suspect that about half of all specimens sold nowadays are currently captive-produced, and expect this percentage to grow.

As time goes by, we will overcome hurdles, particularly the feeding protocols of juvenile forms, and be able to successfully culture all species. We will then find more and more aquacultured species becoming available as a viable alternative to wild-harvested specimens. Who knows – you may well be responsible for contributing to this trend through your own efforts!

Some interesting facts about fish

2009-06-08T22:41:00.000+05:30

Fish have been on the earth for more than 450 million years.
Fish were well established long before dinosaurs roamed the earth.
There are over 25,000 identified species of fish on the earth.
It is estimated that there may still be over 15,000 fish species that have not yet been identified.
There are more species of fish than all the species of amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals combined.
40% of all fish species inhabit fresh water, yet less than .01% of the earth's water is fresh water.
The spotted climbing perch is able to absorb oxygen from the air and will crawl overland using its strong pectoral fins.
Some fish like sharks don't posses an air bladder to help keep them afloat and must either swim continually or rest on the bottom.
Some fish make sounds by grating their teeth and others like some catfish make sounds from their air filled swim bladder.
Some species of fish can fly (glide) others can skip along the surface and others can even climb rock.
Fish have a specialized sense organ called the lateral line which works much like radar and helps them navigate in dark or murky water.
The largest fish is the great whale shark which can reach fifty feet in length.
The smallest fish is the Philippine goby that is less than 1/3 of an inch when fully grown.
Some species of fish have skeletons made only of cartilage.
Fish have excellent senses of sight, touch, taste and many possess a good sense of smell and 'hearing'.
Fish feel pain and suffer stress just like mammals and birds.
Tropical fish are one of the most popular pets in the U.S.
95% of tropical fish mortality results from improper housing and nutrition.
Many tropical fish sold in the United States are harvested from the wild in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.

GUIDE FOR THE INFORMATION SEEKERS FROM THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES OF THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT

2009-06-08T22:27:00.002+05:30

GUIDE FOR THE INFORMATION SEEKERS
FROM THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES OF THE CENTRAL
GOVERNMENT
THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005
Government of India

Contents:
1. Foreword 1
2. Object of the Right to Information Act 2
3. What is Information 2
4. Right to Information under the Act 2-3
5. Exemptions from Disclosure 3
6. Central Public Information Officers 3-4
7. Assistance Available From CPIOs 4
8. Suo Motu Disclosure 4
9. Method of Seeking Information 4
10. Fee for Seeking Information 4-5
11. Format of Application 5
12. Disposal of the Request 5-6
13. First Appeal 6-7
14. Second Appeal 7
15. Complaints 8
16. Disposal of Appeals and Complaints by 8
the CIC
17. Important Web-sites 8

FOREWORD
The Right to Information Act, 2005 has converted the prevailing culture of
secrecy into a culture of openness and transparency in the working of the Government.
It will go a long way in strengthening our democratic institutions, empowering the
public, removing corruption and greater involvement of citizens in the development of
the nation.
This compilation explains the method of making application for seeking
information from the public authorities under the Central Government, the procedure
for preparing appeals and the steps for filing complaints in the matter and other related
issues. The contents of this document would apply mostly in connection with getting
information from the public authorities of the State Governments as well.
Nevertheless, since there are different fee rules and appeal rules in different States, the
States may like to bring out their own guide on the subject on similar lines.
I wish the Right to Information Act is made use of by the public for larger
public good.
(Satyananda Mishra)
Secretary
Department of Personnel & Training,
Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions
Dated: the 8th November, 2007
A GUIDE FOR THE INFORMATION SEEKERS UNDER THE RIGHT
TO INFORMATION ACT, 2005.
The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens,
promote transparency and accountability in the working of the Government, contain
corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real sense. An informed
citizenry will be better equipped to keep necessary vigil on the instruments of
governance and make the government more accountable to the governed. The Act has
created a practical regime through which the citizens of the country may have access
to information under the control of public authorities.
What is Information
2. Information is any material in any form. It includes records, documents,
memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks,
contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form.
It also includes information relating to any private body which can be accessed by the
public authority under any law for the time being in force.
Right to Information under the Act
3. A citizen has a right to seek such information from a public authority which is
held by the public authority or which is held under its control. This right includes
inspection of work, documents and records; taking notes, extracts or certified copies
of documents or records; taking certified samples of material held by the public
authority or held under the control of the public authority.
4. The public authority under the RTI Act is not supposed to create information;
or to interpret information; or to solve the problems raised by the applicants; or to
furnish replies to hypothetical questions. Only such information can be had under the
Act which already exists with the public authority.
5. A citizen has a right to obtain information in the form of diskettes, floppies,
tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mod~ or through print-outs provided
information is already stored in a computer or in any other device from which the
information may be transferred to diskettes etc.
6. The information to the applicant shall ordinarily be provided in the form in
which it is sought. However, if the supply of information sought in a particular form
would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or may cause
harm to the safety or preservation of the records, supply of information in that form
may be denied.
7. The Act gives the right to information only to the citizens of India. It does not
make provision for giving information to Corporations, Associations, Companies etc.
which are legal entities/persons, but not citizens. However, if an application is made
by an employee or office-bearer of any Corporation, Association, Company, NGO etc.
who is also a citizen of India, information shall be supplied to him/her, provided the
applicant gives hislher full name. In such cases, it will be presumed that a citizen has
sought information at the address of the Corporation etc.
Exemptions from Disclosure
8. The right to seek information from a public authority is not absolute. Sections 8
and 9 of the Act enumerate the categories of information which are exempt from
disclosure. At the same time Schedule II of the Act contains the names of the
Intelligence and Security Organisations which are exempt from the purview of the
Act. The exemption of the organisations, however, does not cover supply of
information relating to allegations of corruption and human rights violations.
9. The applicants should abstain from seeking information which is exempt under
Section 8 and 9 and also from the organizations included in the Second Schedule
except information relating to allegations of corruption and human rights violations.
Central Public Information Officers
10. Application for seeking information should be made to an officer of the public
authority who is designated as Central Public Information Officer (CPIO). All the
public authorities have designated their Central Public Information Officers and have
posted their particulars on their respective web-sites. This information is also available
on the 'RTI PORTAL' (www.rti.gov.in). Persons seeking information are advised to
refer to the web-site of the concerned public authority or the 'RTI PORTAL' for
ascertaining the name of the concerned CPIO. If it is found difficult to identify or
locate the concerned Central Public Information Officer of a public authority,
application may be sent to the Central Public Information Officer without specifying
the name of the CPIO at the address of the public authority.
Assistance Available From CPIOs
11. The Central Public Information Officer shall render reasonable assistance to the
persons seeking information. If a person is unable to make a request in writing, he
may seek the help of the CPIO to write his application. Where a decision is taken to
give access to a sensorily disabled person to any document, the Central Public
Information Officer, shall provide such assistance to enable access to information,
including providing such assistance to the person as may be appropriate for the
inspection.
Suo Motu Disclosure
12. The Act makes it obligatory for every public authority to make suo-motu
disclosure in respect of the particulars of its organization, functions, duties etc. as
provided in section 4 of the Act. Besides, some public authorities under the Central
Government have published other information and have posted them on their
websites.
Method of Seeking Information
13. A citizen who desires to obtain any information under the Act, should make an
application to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the concerned public
authority in writing in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which
the application is made. The applicant can send the application by post or through
electronic means or can deliver it personally in the office of the public authority. The
application can also be sent through a Central Assistant Public Information Officer
appointed by the Department of Post at sub-divisional level or other sub-district level.
Fee for Seeking Information
14. The applicant, along with the application, should send a demand draft or a
banker's cheque or an Indian Postal Order of Rs.I0/- (Rupees ten), payable to the
Accounts Officer of the public authority as fee prescribed for seeking information.
The payment of fee can also be made by way of cash to the Accounts Officer of the
public authority or to the Central Assistant Public Information Officer against proper
receipt.
15. The applicant may also be required to pay further fee towards the cost of
providing the information, details of which shall be intimated to the applicant by the
CPIO as prescribed by the Right to Information (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules,
2005. Rates of fee as prescribed in the Rules are given below:
(a) rupees two (Rs. 2/-) for each page ( in A-4 or A-3 size paper) created or copied;
(b) actual charge or cost price of a copy in larger size paper;
(c) actual cost or price for samples or models;
(d) for inspection of records, no fee for the first hour; and a fee of rupees five (Rs.5/-)
for each subsequent hour (or fraction thereof);
(e) for information provided in diskette or floppy rupees fifty (Rs. 501-) per diskette or
floppy; and
(f) for information provided in printed form at the price fixed for such publication or
rupees two per page of photocopy for extracts from the publication.
16. If the applicant belongs to below poverty line (BPL) category, he is not
required to pay any fee. However, he should submit a proof in support of his claim to
belong to the below poverty line. The application not accompanied by the prescribed
fee of Rs.l 01- or proof of the applicant's belonging to below poverty line, as the case
may be, shall not be a valid application under the Act and therefore, does not entitle
the applicant to get information.
Format of Application
17. There is no prescribed form of application for seeking information. The
application can be made on plain paper. The application should, however, have the
name and complete postal address of the applicant. Even in cases where the
information is sought electronically, the application should contain name and postal
address of the applicant.
18. The information seeker is not required to give reasons for seeking information.
Disposal of the Request
19. The CPIO is required to provide information to the applicant within thirty
days of the receipt of a valid application. If the information sought for concerns the
life or liberty of a person, the information shall be provided within forty-eight hours
of the receipt of the request. If the CPIO is of the view that the information sought
for cannot be supplied under the provisions of the Act, he would reject the application.
However, while rejecting the application, he shall inform the applicant the reasons for
such rejection and the particulars of the appellate authority. He would also inform the
applicant the period within which appeal may be preferred.
20. If an applicant is required to make payment for obtaining information, in
addition to the application fee, the Central Public Information Officer would inform
the applicant about the details of further fees alongwith the calculation made to arrive
at the amount payable by the applicant. After receiving such a communication from
the CPIO, the applicant may deposit the amount by way of cash against proper receipt
or by Demand Draft or by Banker's cheque or by Indian Postal Order in favour of the
Accounts Officer of the concerned public authority. The CPIO is under no obligation
to make available the information if the additional fee intimated by him is not
deposited by the applicant.
21. Where an additional fee is required to be paid, the period intervening between
the dispatch of the intimation regarding payment of additional fee and payment of fee
by the applicant shall be excluded for the purpose of computing the period of thirty
days within which the CPIO is required to furnish the information.
22. If the CPIO fails to send decision on the request on the information within the
period of thirty days or forty-eight hours, as the case may be, the information may be
deemed to have been refused.
First Appeal
23. If an applicant is not supplied information within the prescribed time of thirty
days or 48 hours, as the case may be, or is not satisfied with the information furnished
to him, he may prefer an appeal to the first appellate authority who is an officer
senior in rank to the CPIO. Such an appeal, should be filed within a period of thirty
days from the date on which the limit of 30 days of supply of information is expired or
from the date on which the information or decision of the CPIO is received.
24. The appellate authority of the public authority shall dispose of the appeal
within a period of thirty days or in exceptional cases within 45 days of the receipt of
the appeal.
Second Appeal
25. If the appellate authority fails to pass an order on the appeal within the
prescribed period or if the appellant is not satisfied with the order of the first appellate
authority, he may prefer a second appeal with the Central Information Commission
within ninety days from the date on which the decision should have been made by the
first appellate authority or was actually received by the appellant. The appeal made
to the Central Information Commission should contain the following information: -
(i) Name and address of the appellant;
(ii) Name and address of the Central Public Information Officer against the
decision of whom the appeal is preferred;
(iii) Particulars of the order including number, if any, against which the appeal is
preferred;
(iv) Brief facts leading to the appeal;
(v) If the appeal is preferred against deemed refusal, particulars of the application,
including number and date and name and address of the Central Public
Information Officer to whom the application was made;
(vi) Prayer or relief sought;
(v) Grounds for prayer or relief;
(vi) Verification by the appellant; and
(vii) Any other information, which the Commission may deem necessary for
deciding the appeal.
26. The appeal made to the Central Information Commission should be
accompanied by the following documents:
(i) Self-attested copies of the orders or documents against which appeal is made;
(ii) Copies of the documents relied upon by the appellant and referred to in the
appeal; and
(iii) An index of the documents referred to in the appeal.
Complaints
27. If any person is unable to submit a request to a Central Public Information
Officer either by reason that such an officer has not been appointed by the concerned
public authority; or the Central Assistant Central Public Information Officer has
refused to accept his or her application or appeal for forwarding the same to the
Central Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be; or
he has been refused access to any information requested by him under the RTI Act; or
he has not been given a response to a request for information within the time limit
specified in the Act; or he has been required to pay an amount of fee which he
considers unreasonable; or he believes that he has been given incomplete, misleading
or false information, he can make a complaint to the Central Information Commission.
Disposal of Appeals and Complaints by the CIC
28. The Central Information Commission decides the appeals and complaints and
conveys its decision to the appellant/complainant and first appellate authority/CPIO.
The Commission may decide an appeal/complaint after hearing the parties to the
appeal/complaint or by inspection of documents produced by the
appellant/complainant and CPIO or such senior officer of the public authority who
decided the first appeal. If the Commission chooses to hear the parties before deciding
the appeal or the complaint, the Commission will inform of the date of hearing to the
appellant or the complainant at least seven clear days before the date of hearing. The
appellant/complainant has the discretion to be present in person or through his
authorized representative at the time of hearing or may opt not to be present.
Important Web-sites
29. Given below are the addresses of some important web-sites which contain
substantial information relevant to the right to information:
(i) Portal of the Government ofIndia (http://indiaimage.nic.in).
(ii) Portal on the Right to Information (www.rtLgov.in).
(iii) Website of the Central Information Commission (http://cic.gov.in).

Some interesting and amazing facts about F1 Cars

2009-06-08T10:41:00.003+05:30

Here are some interesting facts about F1 Cars

1. An F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly; it
would still start the race with 80 things wrong!

2. F1 cars have over a kilometer of cable linked to about 100 sensors and actuators which
monitor and control many parts of the car.

3. An F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!

4. F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the
other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20yrs on an average and they
quite faithfully DO....that’s the extent to which the engines r pushed to perform...

5. When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration
comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300kmph!!!

6. An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the
prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (Yeah that’s
right!!!)

7. At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini.

8. In an F1 car the engine typically revs up to 18000 rpm,(the piston traveling up and down
300 times a second!!) whereas cars like the palio, maruti 800,indica rev only up to 6000
rpm at max. That’s 3 times slower.

9. The brake discs in an F1 car have an operating temperature of approximately 1000
degrees Centigrade and they attain that temp while braking before almost every
turn...that is why they r not made of steel but of carbon fibre which is much more harder
and resistant to wear and tear and most of all has a higher melting point.

10. If a water hose were to blow off, the complete cooling system would empty in just over a
second.

11. Gear cogs or ratios are used only for one race, and are replaced regularly to prevent
failure, as they are subjected to very high degrees of stress.

12. The fit in the cockpit is so tight that the steering wheel must be removed for the driver to
get in or out of the car. A small latch behind the wheel releases it from the column.
Levers or paddles for changing gear are located on the back of the wheel. So no
gearstick! The clutch levers are also on the steering wheel, located below the gear
paddles.

13. To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added downforce can
be such that small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.

14. Without aerodynamic downforce, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to
produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 kph. They usually race at over 300 kph.

15. The amount of aerodynamic downforce produced by the front and rear wings and the car
underbody is amazing. Once the car is traveling over 160 kph, an F1 car can generate
enough downforce to equal its own weight. That means it could actually hold itself to the
CEILING of a tunnel and drive UPSIDE down!

16. In a street course race like the Monaco grand prix, the downforce provides enough
suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets
have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!

17. The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per second. This means it would take
just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 litre family-car. They use the same
refueling rigs used on US military helicopters today.

18. TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds.

19. Race car tyres don't have air in them like normal car tyres. Most racing tyres have
nitrogen in the tyres because nitrogen has a more consistent pressure compared to
normal air. Air typically contains varying amounts of water vapor in it, which affects its
expansion and contraction as a function of temperature, making the tyre pressure
unpredictable.

20. During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5kg in weight due to wear.

21. Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km
(That's Khandala and back).

22. A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best grip) when tread
temperature is between 900C and 1200C. (Water boils at > 100C) At top speed, F1 tyres
rotate 50 times a second.

Some Interestng facts about F1 Driving

2009-06-08T10:21:00.002+05:30

Driving in F1 championship is a demanding task. Drivers participating in F1 races gain the required skills and fitness after rigorous training. Here are some interesting facts related to F1 drivers.

F1 drivers have prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour. This results in an average F1 driver losing about 4kgs of weight after just one race. However he regains weight afterwards.
The drivers have to remove the steering wheel to get inside the car. A latch behind the steering wheel releases it from the column.
Before race, drivers drink lot of water to avoid dehydration. The Formula One cockpits generate lot of heat and make drivers sweat off their weight during the race.
The drivers can lose approximate 2 to 3 litres of water.
Sports studies have underlined the importance of fluid level in the body. A person who has lost 4% of body weight can lose up to 40% of their psycho-physical ability.
In the days preceding very hot races like Australia, Malaysia, and Brazil, the drivers can drink up to 8 litres of water.
The F1 cockpits have drinking bottle installed for the drivers. The water in it also has mineral salts. The drivers can drink water from it via a pipe.
Numbers are assigned to all F1 drivers. The previous season's champion is given number 1, and his team-mate is designated number 2.
Numbers are assigned in accordance with each team's position in the previous season's constructors' championship. The number 13 is not designated to any driver.
Most F1 drivers start their career in karting. They come up through traditional European single seater series like Formula Ford, Formula Renault, Formula 3, and finally GP2. Before GP2, Formula Two and then Formula 3000 served the role of feeder series for F1.

Biref Introduction and Some interesting facts about Fuel Cells

2009-06-08T09:56:00.002+05:30

What Is a Fuel Cell?
A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts the energy of chemical reactions directly to electricity. Fuel cells bypass the chemical energy to heat to mechanical energy to electrical energy conversion stages needed for conventional electricity production. This results in much greater efficiencies.

How Does a Fuel Cell Work?
Fuel cells work by selectively allowing one reactant gas (usually oxygen from air) to diffuse through a thin membrane and react with another reactant gas, such as hydrogen. As the first reactant gas diffuses through the membrane, it picks up a charge, becoming ionized. Upon reaction, it releases the charge. If both sides of the membrane are connected to a load source, the charge will flow, creating electricity.

How Are Fuel Cells Classified?
Fuel cells are classified by the type of membrane, called an electrolyte, which separates the reactants. For example, solid oxide fuel cells have a solid oxide ceramic membrane. Molten carbonate fuel cells use a carbonate salt molten liquid electrolyte to separate the reactant gases. Polymer electrolyte fuel cells have a polymer membrane as the electrolyte.

Basic Characteristics

Some of the general characteristics of fuel cells have been introduced above; however, to understand the difference between types of fuel cells, several other characteristics must be explained.

Charge Carrier

The charge carrier is the ion that passes through the electrolyte, and for several types of fuel cells, the charge carrier is a hydrogen ion, H+, which is simply a single proton. The charge carrier differs between different types of fuel cells.

Poisoning by Contamination

Fuel cells can be "poisoned" (experience severe degradation in performance) by different types of molecules. Because of the difference in electrolyte, operating temperature, catalyst and other factors, different molecules can behave differently in different fuel cells. The major poison for all types of fuel cells is sulfur-containing compounds such as hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and carbonyl sulfide (COS). Sulfur compounds are naturally present in all fossil fuels, and small quantities remain after normal processing and must be almost completely removed prior to entering the fuel cell.

Fuels

Hydrogen is the current fuel of choice for all fuel cells. Some gases, such as nitrogen from the air, have only a dilution effect on the performance of the fuel cell. Other gases, such as CO and CH₄, have different effects on fuel cells, depending on the type of fuel cell. For example, CO is a poison to fuel cells operating at relatively low temperatures, such as the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). However, CO can be used directly as a fuel for the high-temperature fuel cells such as the Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). Each fuel cell with its specific electrolyte and catalysts will accept different gases as fuels and experience poisoning or dilution. Therefore, the gas supply systems must be tailored to a specific type of fuel cell.

Performance Factors

The performance of a fuel cell depends on numerous factors. The electrolyte composition, the geometry of the fuel cell (particularly the surface area of the anode and cathode), the operating temperature, gas pressure and many other factors. For reference material that covers introductory to highly technical information on different types of fuel cells, refer to the Fuel Cell Handbook, Fifth Edition, published by the U.S. Department of Energy in October 2000.

Fuel Reformers

Low-temperature fuel cells (<h;200ºC, 390 ºF) operate on hydrogen as the fuel. At the present time, there are no readily available sources of hydrogen with widespread delivery infrastructure. There are two major approaches to solving this issue. In the shorter term, use of fossil fuels to generate the hydrogen is required.

The transformation of fossil fuels to hydrogen is generally called fuel reforming. Steam reforming is one example in which steam is mixed with the fossil fuel at temperatures around 760ºC. The chemical formula of this reforming reaction for natural gas composed primarily of methane (CH₄) is:

CH₄ + 2 H₂O => CO₂ + 4 H₂

In the high-temperature fuel cells (MCFC and SOFC), CO in the fuel stream acts as a fuel. However, it is likely that the water-gas shift reaction is occurring and the fuel for the actual fuel cell is actually hydrogen.

CO+ H₂O => CO₂ + H₂

Fuel reforming can be done in facilities of different scales. The reforming can be done at a large scale in a central facility like a chemical plant. This can result in pure hydrogen, either as a high-pressure gas or as a liquid. This would then be delivered to fuel cell users.

The fuel reforming can also be performed on an intermediate scale in a location such as a gasoline station. In this example, gasoline or diesel fuels would be refined and delivered to the station with the current infrastructure. Onsite equipment would reform the fossil fuel into a mixture composed primarily of hydrogen, but could include other molecular components such as CO₂ and N₂. The purity of this hydrogen will depend on ongoing developments in techniques to cost-effectively separate H₂ from other gases. This hydrogen would likely then be delivered to customers as a high-pressure gas.

Finally, the fuel reforming process can be performed on a small scale on an as-needed basis immediately before its introduction into the fuel cell. One example would be for a fuel cell-powered vehicle to have a gasoline tank on board that would use the existing infrastructure of gasoline delivery. An on-board fuel processor would reform the gasoline into a hydrogen-rich stream that would be fed directly to the fuel cell. At the present time, it is not practical to perform separation of other products of the reforming process from the hydrogen at this small scale.

In the longer term, most, if not all, of the hydrogen used to power fuel cells could be generated from renewable resources such as wind or solar energy. The electricity generated at a wind farm could be used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This electrolysis process would produce pure hydrogen and pure oxygen. The hydrogen could then be delivered by pipeline to all end-users. Such a shift in source of energy has been described as a hydrogen economy. Much has been written about the future potential of this energy use.

Fuel Cell Functionality

Fuel cells generate electricity from a simple electrochemical reaction in which an oxidizer, typically oxygen from air, and a fuel, typically hydrogen, combine to form a product, which is water for the typical fuel cell. Oxygen (air) continuously passes over the cathode and hydrogen passes over the anode to generate electricity, by-product heat and water. The fuel cell itself has no moving parts – making it a quiet and reliable source of power.

The electrolyte that separates the anode and cathode is an ion-conducting material. At the anode, hydrogen and its electrons are separated so that the hydrogen ions (protons) pass through the electrolyte while the electrons pass through an external electrical circuit as a Direct Current (DC) that can power useful devices. The hydrogen ions combine with the oxygen at the cathode and are recombined with the electrons to form water. The reactions are shown below.

Anode Reaction: 2H₂ => 4H⁺ + 4e^-
Cathode Reaction: O₂ + 4H⁺ + 4e^- => 2H₂O
Overall Cell Reaction: 2H₂ + O₂ => 2H₂O

Individual fuel cells can then be combined into a fuel cell "stack." The number of fuel cells in the stack determines the total voltage, and the surface area of each cell determines the total current. Multiplying the voltage by the current will yield the total electrical power generated.

Power (Watts) = Voltage (Volts) X Current (Amps)

Fuel Cells vs. Traditional Electricity Methods

In traditional methods of generating electricity, the fuel and air are burned, generating a high-temperature gas. In the case of a coal-burning power plant, heat is transferred from this hot gas to high pressure liquid water that is boiled. In the case of a gasoline, diesel or gas turbine engine, the hot gas itself is at high pressure. The high-pressure steam, or hot gas, is expanded in a mechanical device (e.g., cylinder, turbine) and ultimately turns an electrical generator.

In a fuel cell, the same basic chemical reactions occur, but generate electricity directly as an electrochemical device and therefore, never goes through the step of being a high-temperature gas through normal burning. This direct conversion of chemical energy to electrical energy is more efficient and generates much less pollutants than do traditional methods that rely on combustion.

Benefits

High efficiency
Virtually no gaseous emissions (SO_x, NO_x, or air toxic metals)
No combustion needed
Quiet operation
No moving parts in the energy converter
Fuel flexible
Both high- and low-temperature fuel cells can be used for different applications
Unattended or remote operation
Modular design can be used to match size with performance requirements
Demonstrated endurance and reliability

In summary, fuel cells generally have higher conversion efficiencies and no moving parts (thus greater reliability) and use fuels that are in great supply (hydrogen and oxygen). Moreover, fuel cells are far more environmentally friendly than conventional energy technologies, emitting only water vapor in many cases.

Fuel Cell Applications
Since fuel cells can deliver the same high efficiency for both small and large power systems, they are expected to penetrate the small power systems energy market first.

Fuel cells will make it possible to economically generate electricity at remote locations, reducing dependence on large central power generating plants.
Portable backup power supplies are being developed to take advantage of the fuel cell's high efficiency, quiet operation, and high reliability.
At twice the efficiency of internal combustion engines, fuel cells are expected to penetrate the vehicular market in just a few short years. Trucks, trains, submersibles, and passenger vehicles are expected to be some of the first markets employing fuel cells in large quantities.
Even the military is enthusiastic about fuel cells. Fuel cells are being developed to power small weapons systems. Fuel cell-powered tanks and personnel carriers could travel in complete silence, with almost no infrared signature.

Biref Introduction and Some interesting facts about hybrid cars

2009-06-08T09:40:00.003+05:30

The gasoline engines in hybrid cars are smaller than in standard vehicles, and where they leave off, the electric motor takes over. The hybrid can work on just one of these engines, but hybrid owners will use both to conserve on fuel.

What's Under The Hood?

Most hybrids use the gasoline engine primarily. But when more power is needed, the electric motor kicks in.

In the gasoline engine, there is energy conservation, for example, it instantly shuts off when the vehicle stops. When you hit the pedal again, the engine smoothly turns back on. Meanwhile, the battery keeps all of your appliances on -- lights, radio and other needed features.

As the gasoline engine cuts off and on, it is usually virtually silent. This can confuse the driver and parking attendants, who may think the car is off, but it is actually on. Fortunately, an indicator light has been added, showing the status of the engine.

Benefits

One huge benefit of the hybrid is the fuel savings -- it offers up to 60 miles per gallon. Because of the high cost of gasoline, this makes the hybrid a very popular choice.

Not only do they use less gas, though, they also emit fewer pollutants into the air. In fact, they are up to 90% cleaner than other vehicles. Because the engines are small and efficient, they reduce their total exhaust emissions. This makes them environmentally friendly.

There are many corporations offering incentives such as free parking to those who drive hybrids.

Plus, the US government in offering attractive tax incentives to lure new buyers who are on the fence.

Construction

There are many differences between the hybrid and conventional cars. One is the construction of hybrids. Made of aluminum and plastic, they are lightweight in their design, which in turn makes them able to be powered by smaller, lighter engines.

Many would fear that this offers less protection than other cars, but the fact is they are just as safe. Additional strength is created by manufacturers using panels in specialized shapes to reinforce the strength of the material to resist impact.

Who Makes Them?

The 2 major manufacturers are Honda Motors and Toyota Motor Corporation. They brought hybrid vehicles to the US in 2000. The first were the Honda Insight and the Toyota Prius. Both had great success.

There are now plans for a sport utility vehicle to be made as well as full size trucks through hybrid mechanics. This will be quite popular to many drivers. The hybrids that are on the market are well liked. With all of the environmental issues today as well as the high cost of gas, there is no wonder why this is so.

The bottom line is that hybrid cars are effectively lowering the cost of powering a vehicle and keeping the Earth clean. Hybrid technology offers a highly effective way of moving from place to place.

Some interesting facts about hybrid cars:

The world’s first hybrid car was the "Mixte", which was built by Ferdinand Porsche in 1902.
Earlier hybrid cars were called as “Semper Vivus” which meant “always alive”.
The first commercial hybrid car was Toyota Prius
which was manufactured in Japan in 1997.
Hybrid cars are the good for the environment, when the world is facing issues like global warming. It reduces almost 90% of the smog which is released to the environment. And even the gasoline used is less when compared to the normal conventional cars.
Hybrid cars are very economical, as they give you 50-60 miles per gallon, and uses just one third of gas which is used by conventional cars.
Hybrid cars do not require any plug-in. They get recharged automatically as you drive.
Hybrid cars have lower depreciation rates when compared to other gasoline cars. So they will be in demand for many years to come.
The United States government offers a tax rebate for people who are using hybrid cars.
Though hybrid cars are made of very expensive parts, they also come with warranties, which promise free replacement.
Hybrid cars are not only preferred by environmentalists but also by capitalists because of the amount it saves on gasoline.
Buying a hybrid car is a sound investment as they have an excellent resale value.
When the heavy HEV developments began in the early 1990’s it is said that some of the major manufacturers donated billions of dollars towards the research of hybrid technology.
Hybrid technology exists from many years, it was used in mopeds united the gasoline engine and power pedals, it was used in locomotives, submarines, mining trucks and others.
Hybrid cars top the order in fuel efficiency for two-seater and mid sized cars.
They are very quiet when the run, as they run most of the times of batteries.
The speed of a hybrid car is as fast as any conventional car.
The Prudential Equity Group has said that 80,000 hybrid cars were sold in the US in 2004.
J.D. Powers reports that 256,000 hybrid cars were sold in the US in 2006.
As the battery pack in the hybrid cars comes in 38 modules, there is no necessity to replace the entire battery which cost you a lot, but instead you can just replace the one which is not working which is inexpensive.
The hybrid technology is targeting at making fuel cells use oxygen and hydrogen to create electricity, wherein the exhaust of this fuel cell is water which will be so clean that it is fit to drink.

Getting Started with RSS

2009-06-07T16:26:00.003+05:30

RSS has become a valuable technology for everything from casual web users to webmasters. According to a recent Yahoo survey only 12% of internet users are aware of RSS and a mere 4% have knowingly used RSS. RSS exists as a means to gather and display information quickly and easily. By the end of this article, you should know what RSS is and how to use it to make your life easier.

The Oprah definition

The technical acronym for RSS is “Really Simple Syndication”, an XML format that was created to syndicate news, and be a means to share content on the web. Now, to geeks and techies that means something special, but to everyday folks like you and me, what comes to mind is, “Uh, I don’t get it?”

So, to make RSS much easier to understand, in Oprah speak, RSS stands for: I’m “Ready for Some Stories”. It is a way online for you to get a quick list of the latest story headlines from all your favorite websites and blogs all in one place.

Why should I use it?

Using RSS can save you lots of time on a daily basis. Let’s say you visit a collection of 5 tech news websites three times a day. Currently, you visit them one by one in your browser, look for a new story and then go on. Going through all 5 sites might take 3-4 minutes or more if you find a new article. With RSS, all you do is go into an RSS feed reader, or RSS aggregator, and you will instantly know which websites have new articles and which don’t. You will also be able to see past entries with RSS. If you were to only visit the website, you could miss an article if you don’t visit frequently enough or get bored of seeing the same article if you visit to frequently. RSS fits in perfectly with this scenario. Now, imagine if you wanted to keep tabs on 25 websites. RSS easily proves indispensable. You have probably already used RSS before… Google’s customizable homepage gets your news from RSS feeds, as does My Yahoo.

Using RSS

So now that you’ve got a grasp of the guiding concept behind RSS, you must be eagerly awaiting your first aggregation. First, go out and find a feed to use. If you are using Apple’s Safari browser or Mozilla’s Firefox you can automatically find out if that website has an accessible feed, even before scouring the page for an RSS icon. In Safari a blue RSS icon appears to the right of the URL in the address bar and in the Firefox an orange icon appears in the same location.

Clicking on the RSS icon in Safari will load a simple feed reader, where you can click Add Bookmark… on the right pane. The feed will now be viewable in the Safari bookmarks manager under All RSS Feeds.

In Firefox clicking the orange icon will ask you where you want to save the feed. Firefox deals with feeds as live bookmarks. Going to the place where you saved the “bookmark” in Firefox will show a folder with an expand arrow. Clicking on the arrow will show the latest entries on that particular website, with the most recent on the top.

However, your browser might not always find the site’s feed (not all websites have feeds). This is your cue to look for any feed-related items throughout the webpage. Many websites have a FeedBurner feed, often linked to via an icon that looks like a counter, which displays that websites current feed subscribers. Once you find such a feed icon, right click the icon or text link and copy the link location. We will then paste this into a feed aggregator in a little while.

Setting Up and Using an Aggregator

While the in-browser feed readers are convenient they are still quite rudimentary. You should consider switching to a full-fledged feed aggregator for more features and increased usability. There are many feed readers to choose from, each have different levels of complexity and features. There are essentially two types: web-based and application-based. With a web-based aggregator you can check your feeds from any computer but this comes at the cost of limited functionality and speed. With application-based feed readers you get excellent features and speed but lack mobility. You don’t have to decide just yet, I’ll go over configuring both types.

First off, we’ll start with a web-based feed reader. The most best and popular online feed reader, in my opinion, is Bloglines. Sign up for an account and click My Feeds on the top left. Test out Bloglines by adding a few feeds. When you setup Bloglines for the first time, it will suggest a few feeds to subscribe to. I usually do not accept them and just add my own. Below My Feeds should be a Add link that you will click.

You will be on a subscribe page now. If you found the feed on the website you can paste that in here. However, Bloglines has a feature where you can just type in the URL of the website and it will search for feeds. It may find several feeds and other times it will not find any.

To avoid confusion about which feed to use, I suggest using the one shown on the website as that is the one they want you to use. Sometimes they will place a link to their FeedBurner feed and forget to remove the old feed. Either way, whether you enter a feed or URL, click Subscribe and use the default options. Do this several times with some more feeds and you will have setup Bloglines. Everytime you login you can click My Feeds and instantly find out how many of your feeds have new posts you have not read yet. Unread feeds will be bolded and have the number of new stories in parentheses. Bloglines provides a simple way to read RSS feeds from anywhere, but is not the fastest and most feature-rich solution.

Google Personalized Home

Google’s recently launched personalized home, accessible via google.com/ig allows people to keep track of several feeds. You will have to have a Gmail or Google account for this to work though. Go to the personalized home website and login. Click the button labeled Add Content in the upper left corner. Google already has several feeds from which you can choose, but we are interested in the Create a Section. Click to expand this section and then add the URL of a feed you wish to add then click Go. The section will be added to your personalized page, where you can drag it wherever you want. Click Close when you have added all the feeds you wish to add right now.

My Yahoo!

Yahoo has simplified the whole user interface when it comes to reading feeds. Many websites now have add to My Yahoo icons which you can click and instantly add the feed to your personalized My Yahoo page. Assuming you have created a Yahoo account, logged in and gone to the My Yahoo page, click on Add Content under the search bar. On this page you can easily find content (the word Yahoo uses for feeds) by searching.

After you search for something, you can just click the ADD icon next to the search result you wish to add. Yahoo automatically adds it to your My Yahoo page.

However, it may not be where you want it but this can be changed by visiting Change Layout. Depending on your taste you can select two or three columns to organize your feeds. You can also move where each feed is displayed by selecting a piece of content and using the arrow buttons. When you are done with that click Finished. Yahoo lets you change the way your feeds are displayed even more by clicking the small edit button on the top right corners on each content box. On the proceeding page you can set various appearance options such as whether to display short summaries for each entry. Overall, I think My Yahoo is one of the easier ways to aggregate your feeds.

Using Thunderbird for RSS

Before I delve into RSS-only applications I am going to show you how to setup a program you already have to gather your feeds. Mozilla Thunderbird has rapidly replaced Microsoft Outlook (which also does RSS) as the email client of choice for thousands of people. The current versions of Thunderbird include excellent support for RSS. Go to File > New > Account… and in the window that pops up, select RSS News & Blogs and click continue. Give it a name, click continue and then click done.

In the pane on the left under your email account, you will now see a spot for your feeds. Right click on the name of the RSS account and click Properties….

I recommend setting Check for new articles every _ minutes to around 15-30 minutes. This won’t put too much stress on your feeds’ servers. Setting it too low on a small blog or website is not playing nice. If you only subscribe to big name feeds such as CNN, feel free to crank it down as they have wicked fast servers. Check the boxes for Check for new articles on startup and By default, show the article summary instead of loading the web page if they are not already. Click OK. Loading the article summary is much faster than loading the web page. Right click on the RSS account once more, but this time select Manage Subscriptions…. From here you can click Add, type in the feed URL (you must know the URL to the feed, it will not work if you just type in the website URL), and click OK.

The format should be similar to Bloglines in that unread feeds are bolded and have the number of new articles in parentheses. Clicking on a feed will bring up the latest articles in the top right pane (make sure to organize by date published by clicking on the Date box). Furthermore, clicking on an article will load an excerpt or full article, depending on the feed.

RSSOwl

One of the more popular standalone feed aggregators has been RSSOwl. Built on the Java programming language, it can be run on many operating systems. Version 1.2 was recently released and has been highly improved, making it realistic choice for your RSS reading. Download and install the lastest version and fire it up for the first time. Click Tools > Preferences… and then on Favorites on the left. Under Update Automatically set the time to Every 15 or 30 Minutes and check the box for on Startup.

Then go over to Browser and give RSSOwl the location of your primary web browser. This is not necessary, but I recommend using an external browser to view links you click on rather than RSSOwl’s internal one. This is also a good time to make sure that Block Popups, Always open browser in new tab and Use external browser are all checked. Click OK.

There are two main ways of adding feeds in RSSOwl. One way can be found by clicking New and the other can be accessed via Tools > Search for newsfeeds…. The feed search feature of RSSOwl is my favorite feature that RSSOwl brings to the table. You can type in keywords or an entire URL and it will still find the feed you are looking for. Once you find the feed you want, put a check mark next to it and only it. Click Import… and then choose a folder to place your feed and click OK. If you do not have any folders yet, you can create a new one by clicking Add Category…. Using Import is ideal for adding multiple feeds at the same time, but if you just want to add one, right clicking on the feed and selecting Add to Favorites… is a bit more efficient.

Now that you have several feeds added to your favorites, we will need to update or aggregate the feeds with Favorites > Aggregate All Favorites. To actually view the entries from a particular feed, you must double click that feed from the left pane. A new tab will pop up and from there you can select an entry to read. The format is similar to Thunderbird’s.

Google Desktop

Google Desktop aims to be your one-stop shop for everything from news to maps. Once you download and install Google Desktop (currently Windows only), right click the taskbar icon and select sidebar. As Yahoo called feeds Content, Google calls them Web Clips. According to Search Engine Watch Web Clips are…

Web Clips is the Google name for RSS feeds. In other words, the sidebar can also function as an RSS or ATOM aggregator. Web Clips also offers an autodiscover function. Say you visit a bunch of sites that have feeds but can’t find the feed. Simply click and add them to your list of feeds.

Once the sidebar is up, it is probably cluttered with many things. Give Web Clips some more room and remove things you won’t use by right clicking the bar for that item and selecting Remove. Now that Web Clips has some room to breathe, it needs some feeds! Right click the Web Clips bar and select Options…. This window is easy enough; add a website URL or feed URL and it will get added to your Web Clips.

One important thing to note about Web Clips is that your feeds will get mixed together. I recommend unchecking Automatically add commonly viewed clips as it tends to add random feeds, which can get rather annoying. That’s pretty much it for Google Desktop. Be on the lookout for plugins that are being released daily; a great RSS functionality extending one could come out at any time.

What is RSS a brief introduction

2009-06-07T15:39:00.008+05:30

RSS is a technology that is being used by millions of web users around the world to keep track of their favorite websites.

In the ‘old days’ of the web to keep track of updates on a website you had to ‘bookmark’ websites in your browser and manually return to them on a regular basis to see what had been added.

The problems with bookmarking

You as the web surfer had to do all the work
It can get complicated when you are trying to track many websites at once
You miss information when you forget to check your bookmarks
You end up seeing the same information over and over again on sites that don’t update very often

RSS Changes Everything

What if you could tell a website to let you know every time that they update? In a sense, this is what RSS does for you.

RSS flips things around a little and is a technology that provides you with a method of getting relevant and up to date information sent to you for you to read in your own time. It saves you time and helps you to get the information you want quickly after it was published.

RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’. Many people describe it as a ‘news feed’ that you subscribe to.

I find the ’subscription’ description helpful. It’s like subscribing to a magazine that is delivered to you periodically but instead of it coming in your physical mail box each month when the magazine is published it is delivered to your ‘RSS Reader’ every time your favorite website updates.

How RSS actually technically works is probably a lesson for another day but the key today is for you to understand why it’s good and how to use it.

Let me say right up front that I’m not the most technically savvy guy going around - but even I can use RSS. At first I found it a little strange to make the change from bookmarking to RSS but I found that when I started that I just couldn’t stop.

How to Use RSS

Get an RSS Reader - The first thing you’ll want to do if you’re getting into reading sites via RSS is to hook yourself up with an RSS Feed Reader.

There are many feed readers going around with a variety of approaches and features - however a good place to start is with a couple of free and easy to use web based ones like Google Reader and Bloglines. Either one will do if you’re starting out (I use Google’s Reader) - as I say there are many others to choose from but to get started either of these are fairly easy to use and will help you work out the basics of RSS.

Both of these feed readers work a little like email. As you subscribe to feeds you’ll see that unread entries from the sites you’re tracking will be marked as bold. As you click on them you’ll see the latest update and can read it right there in the feed reader. You are given the option to click through to the actual site or move onto the next unread item - marking the last one as ‘read’.

The best way to learn how to use either Google Reader or Bloglines is to simply subscribe to some feeds and give it a go. Both have helpful help sections to get you up and running.

Note: other options to tracking websites that you might already be familiar with include using pages like MyYahoo, MyGoogle and MyMSN.

Find Some Feeds to Subscribe to - there are two places to look for a site’s feed:

On the Site
In Your Browser

On Site Subscription
Over the last few years you may have noticed a lot of little buttons and widgets appearing on your favorite sites and blogs. Little orange buttons, ‘counters’ with how many ‘readers a blog has, links called RSS, XML, ATOM and many more.

They come in all shapes and sizes. Here are a few you might have seen:

There are plenty more - but any time you see any of these buttons or anything like them it means that the site you are viewing almost certainly has a feed that you can subscribe to. In most cases it’s as simple as either copying and pasting the link associated with the button into your RSS Reader or clicking the button and following the instructions to subscribe using the feed reader of your choice.

Browser Subscription

Many internet browsers now have the ability to find and subscribe to RSS feeds built right into them.

When you surf to a site you can usually tell if it has an RSS feed by looking in the right hand side of address bar where you type in the site’s URL.

RSS Intro Video....

VideoJug: RSS In Plain English

For more details about subscription and different feed readers see my other post :

Getting Started with RSS

Some Important Facts About Security Cameras

2009-06-04T10:10:00.002+05:30

A security camera is basically a video transmitter that runs into a receiver and is viewed through a monitor. Security cameras are commonly used on commercial property such as parking lots, or for surveillance of a residential home. The security camera data can be recorded and constantly monitored by a person watching the security monitor which is in line with the security system.

In darker environments, night vision security cameras can be used to provide excellent surveillance of the surrounding area. Some of these cameras can also be used during the day as well as at night. Most night vision security cameras will allow you to see intruders on your property with good clarity.

Night vision security cameras are able to detect people through the use of an infrared LED. Heat emitted by humans is captured by a thermal imaging device and revealed through the monitor.

If a larger area needs to be covered, an infrared illuminator can be used to provide greater clarity when viewing the data through a monitor. Infrared Illuminators are often used for commercial property that covers a larger area.

Modern night vision security cameras can be used both as indoor and outdoor units. They are commonly protected from the elements and are usually enclosed in a metal shell. Most have triggering alarms or lightings which start automatically on seeing any moving object. Many night vision security cameras also have microphones to pick up sounds. Some of these cameras can provide coverage greater than 150 feet.

With new technology security cameras have become so small and are easily disguised. Many shop owners in malls have placed security cameras disguised in their merchandise placed in random places. Security cameras are also designed to blend in with their surroundings and placed in obscure places making them difficult to see.

The crime rate is so high security cameras are on the rise so loss prevention will not affect the cost of the selling of merchandise. Theft hurts the consumer because store dealers must raise prices to compensate for loss in profits due to theft.

Security cameras range greatly in price. Price doesn't necessarily mean better, depending on what the security camera will be used for. Typically security cameras used for commercial use need to cover a larger area making them more expensive. If the camera is going to be for personal use then one that isn't that expensive will probably do what you need it for.

Some Facts About Digital Cameras

2009-06-04T10:04:00.000+05:30

A digital camera captures images in a digital format, unlike a conventional camera, which captures images using a photographic film.

History:

Using a mosaic photosensor, Eugene F. Lally of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory first showed how still photos could be produced in a digital domain. An engineer at Eastman Kodak, Steve Sasson, used solid-state CCD chips to build a prototype digital camera having a resolution of 0.01 megapixel, and recorded black and white digital images to a magnetic cassette tape. With this prototype model, Steve took the first image in December of 1975 taking 23 seconds to capture it.

In 1988, Fuji DS-1P became the first digital camera that captured images as a computerized file. However, the camera never entered the U.S. market. In 1991, Kodak DCS-100 was the first commercially available digital camera, which used a 1.3 megapixel sensor. With the advancement of technology, modern digital cameras have become multifunctional and are now capable of capturing audio/video and still photographs.

Benefits:

1 - You get superior image quality. Digital cameras can offer good to excellent image resolution.

2 - You get a fair price. A digital camera is reasonably priced and is affordable.

3 - You can transfer the pictures to your laptop. You can easily connect the digital camera to your laptop and transfer the pictures in your hard disk.

4 - You can print in large sizes. Due to its high resolution, pictures can be printed in large sizes by any plotter.

5 - You can email the pictures to your friends. You can send the pictures by email to your loved ones.

6 - You can store the images in CDs or hard disk. Once the pictures are transferred from digital camera to the computer, permanent storage on a CD or hard disk is possible.

7 - You can take the camera in your pocket while you travel. The small size of the digital camera makes traveling with it easy and a pleasure.

8 - You can move in close to your subject. Zoom lenses offer close-ups of your subject with sharp focus. You can take very good close-ups of flowers, bugs, stamps, coins, etc.

9 - You can rework the image in a computer. Any photo editing software can rework the images taken.

10 - You can take good pictures even in low-light situations. Due to flexible over sensitivity or ISO equivalents, digital cameras can easily take detailed pictures even in low-light conditions.

11 - You can take quality still photos of moving objects. Sports and fashion photography can be easily accomplished due to the fast burst rate of digital cameras.

12 - You save money. There is no need of buying photographic films, developing them into negatives and positives. Moreover, the batteries are usually rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which last a long time.

13 - You can choose as per your needs and fancy. Many models are available like standard digital camera, underwater digital camera, waterproof digital camera, compact digital camera, and the professional digital camera.

Storage Media:

Digital cameras use memory to capture and store images. Some of the storages media used are onboard flash memory, 3.5" floppy disks, video floppy disk, PCMCIA hard drives, CD or DVD, CompactFlash memory cards, Microdrives, Memory Stick, SD/MMC, MiniSD Card, MicroSD Card, XD-Picture Card, SmartMedia, and FP Memory.

Power:

Digital cameras consume a lot of power, which is supplied by powerful, small in size batteries. Batteries are broadly divided into two groups, namely, off-the-shelf and proprietary. Off-the-shelf batteries are like AA, CR2, CR-V3, AAA, and RCR-V3. They are lithium-ion (Li-Ion) or Nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. Standard AA non-rechargeable alkaline batteries either do not work or work for only a very short time in most cameras.

Proprietary batteries are built as per the manufacturer`s custom specifications and are usually available as aftermarket replacement parts. Generally, lithium ion batteries are widely used as proprietary batteries for digital cameras.

This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author´s name and all the URL´s (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.

Civil War Facts - Strange and Interesting Facts

2009-06-03T12:54:00.002+05:30

The Civil War between North and South was a defining moment for the United States. It was also very costly, in terms of human life and material loss. The strange and interesting Civil War facts in this article will give you a better understanding of this era of American history.

Interesting Facts

The American Civil War lasted from 1861 to 1865.
It is also referred to as the "War Between the States" because it was fought between northern and southern states within the U.S.
Starting in December of 1860, a number of southern states began to secede (separate) from the Union. Among other things, the southern slave-holding states disagreed with the anti-slavery views of the Union.
South Carolina was the first state to separate, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and several others.
The southern states eventually formed the Confederate States of America (Confederacy for short). During the Civil War the southern soldiers were referred to as Confederates for this reason.
The first battle of the American Civil War took place at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. President Lincoln sent ships to resupply the fort there, and the ships were escorted by the U.S. Navy. Confederate troops bombarded the fort before the ships could reach it. Major Robert Anderson (Union officer) surrendered the fort to the Confederates.
Notable generals of the Confederate Army included Generals Robert E. Lee (overall commanding officer), Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Braxton Bragg and James Longstreet. During the course of the war there were more than 400 generals on the Confederate side.
Notable generals of the Union Army included Generals Ulysses S. Grant (overall commanding officer), Phil Sheridan, William Tecumseh Sherman, George Armstrong Custer and George McClellan. Throughout the Civil War there were more than 550 Union generals who served.
General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson got his nickname during the First Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas) in 1861. This is an interesting fact and debate about Civil War history. Some historians say Jackson got the nickname for his courage: "There is Jackson standing like a stone wall." Others like Civil War historian Shelby Foote claim the label was used to cite Jackson's slow action during the battle: "Look at Jackson standing there like a damned stone wall."
General "Stonewall" Jackson died during the Battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. He was shot by his own men, who thought he was the enemy.
More than half of all deaths during the American Civil War were the result of disease (not bullets). The primary culprits included typhoid fever, dysentery, tuberculosis and pneumonia.
The Confederates typically named battles for the city in which they were fought, or the closest city. The Union forces typically named battles after geographical features such as creeks and rivers. Because of this, many Civil War battles have two names — the battle of Antietam / Sharpsburg, the battle of Manassas / Bull Run, etc.
During the American Civil War, Union forces used their naval ships to create a blockade of southern ports. Known as the Anaconda Plan, this blockade stretched from the Maryland coast down the eastern seaboard, around Florida, and into the Gulf of Mexico. The goal was to prevent supplies from reaching Confederate troops.
In terms of casualties, the Battle of Antietam (Sharpsburg) brought the bloodiest day of fighting during the Civil War. On September 17, 1862, Union and Confederate forces fought alongside Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland. In a single day, the battle produced nearly 23,000 casualties (killed or wounded). That's roughly nine times the number of American casualties during D-Day in WWII.
While the Battle of Antietam marked the single deadliest day during the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg was the deadliest entire battle (over its three-day period). There were more than 50,000 casualties during the course of the battle at Gettysburg.
During the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia, it is estimated that nearly 7,000 men died in a span of 20 minutes. These extreme casualties were the result of an ill-advised Union assault on heavily fortified Confederate positions, which quickly became a slaughter. Later, General Ulysses S. Grant would say: "I have always regretted that the last assault at Cold Harbor was ever made."
Total casualties during the Civil War are equally staggering. Somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 people died during the war. When you factor in the wounded, the total casualty number rises to around 1,030,000.
There were numerous prisoner of war (POW) camps on both sides of the conflict. One of the most infamous camps was Andersonville Prison in Georgia. Confederate forces used this facility to hold Union troops captured during battle. Conditions were terrible at Andersonville, owing to the heat, disease, food shortages, etc. More than 12,000 Union soldiers died at Andersonville.
And now for a strange fact of the Civil War courtesy of Gettysburg. General Dan Sickles (Union) had his right leg amputated during the Battle of Gettysburg after a Confederate cannonball destroyed the leg. Sickles preserved the bones from his right leg, as well as the cannonball that had smashed them, and donated them to the Army Medical Museum. After the war, Sickles worked hard to preserve the Gettysburg battlefield as a national park.
The Civil War officially ended on April 9, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant. The formal surrender ceremony took place in the home of Wilmer and Virginia McLean in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
The last man to die in combat was killed more than a month after the surrender ceremony, in a battle at Palmito Ranch in Texas.

I hope you found these facts about the Civil War useful and interesting. By understanding the history of our country, we can learn from it and apply the lessons of the past to the future.

Some interesting Facts About the Movies

2009-06-03T10:49:00.001+05:30

Do you love the movies as much as I do? Do you like learning about the interesting things that take place onscreen and behind the scenes? If so, you'll enjoy this collection of interesting facts about movies and films.

Who knows — these facts might even help you win Jeopardy some day! Stranger things have happened. So without further ado, let's go to the movies...

Interesting Facts

The first movie with sound was shown in New York City in 1923. The short film ushered in the era of talking pictures, or "talkies." The first full-length movie with sound was The Jazz Singer (1927).
The longest movie ever made was The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, a 27-hour silent film released in China in 1928. Technically, it was a series. The so-called "movie" was shown in 18 parts (each as long as a regular movie).
Other long movies that have gone the distance (and then some) include Gone With the Wind at 238 minutes, Lawrence of Arabia at 217 minutes, and Lord of the Rings, Return of the King at 200 minutes. All of these movies were highly acclaimed as well.
At the time of this writing, the highest grossing movie in the United States was Titanic (1997) starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet. This movie about the doomed ocean liner has grossed more than $600 million dollars to date.
The record held by the Titanic movie will likely be surpassed in the near future by the latest installment in the Batman saga. The Dark Knight (2008) is on track to gross $500 million or more in its first year of release.
Another money-related movie fact for you: The Dark Knight holds the record for most money grossed during the opening weekend. The popular Batman movie earned more than $158 million during the weekend it was released (Friday - Sunday).
It's a fact that the most expensive movies have all been action films with a superhero or fantasy element. These include Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Superman Returns (2006), Spiderman 3 (2007), and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). Eye-popping special effects account for much of the cost in these movies.
While the reported numbers vary based on the source, stunt men and women die every year while making movies. According to industry data, most injuries and deaths occur from falls (when the stunt person is falling from a building or cliff, for example). Smoke inhalation and auto accidents were also high on the list.
One of the most high-profile stunt deaths occurred when Brandon Lee (son of legendary Bruce Lee) was killed while filming the movie The Crow. A prop gun believed to hold only blanks had an actual bullet in the barrel.
If you count the extras in the movie as part of the cast, then the film Gandhi had the largest cast of all time. During the funeral scene at the end of the movie, more than 250,000 extras were used. [Definition: An "extra" is a background actor who doesn't have a major speaking role in the film.]
A "box office bomb" is a movie that didn't gross very much money upon release. Specifically, it's a movie that cost more to make than what it earned. Some of the biggest bombs have included Howard the Duck (1986), The Postman with Kevin Costner (1997), and The Adventures of Pluto Nash with Eddie Murphy (2002).
One of the most infamous (and frequently cited) box office bombs was Ishtar, starring Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty. Fortunately, both of their careers survived beyond that movie.
Based on a ranking created by the American Film Institute (AFI), some of the funniest American movies of the last 100 years included Tootsie (1982), Blazing Saddles (1974), Airplane (1980), and Raising Arizona (1987).
Based on the same "AFI 100 Years" ranking, some of the best movie villains have included the man-eating Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) from The Silence of the Lambs, the deeply troubled Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) from Psycho, and the heavy breathing Darth Vader (voice by James Earl Jones) from Star Wars.
What about the good guys? The AFI ranking of top heroes included Dr. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) from the movie by the same name, Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) from The Silence of the Lambs, and — of course — Rocky Balboa. "Yo Adrienne! We did it!"
The Silence of the Lambs was the only movie to have both a villain (Dr. Lecter) and a hero (Clarice Starling) in the AFI's top-ten rankings. "Well, Clarice ... have the lambs stopped screaming?"
In movie lingo, a "triple threat" is somebody who can sing, dance and act well. Frank Sinatra was one of the most famous triple threat actors of all time. In addition to being a famous singer, Sinatra also won an Oscar for best supporting actor (From Here to Eternity, 1953).
Depending on how you define them (and there's plenty of debate), there are more than a dozen different film genres. Most movies fall within these genres in some way. Modern film genres include horror, comedy, drama, adventure, animation, thriller and several others. Some genres can be broken down into sub-genres (for example, the romantic comedy is a sub-category of the comedy genre).
At the time this article was published, the three highest paid actors in the U.S. were Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. According to Forbes magazine, Johnny Depp earned $92 million in a single year (June 06 - June 07).
As of 2008, the actor with the most Oscars / Academy Awards is Katharine Hepburn (1907 - 2003). The film legend won a total of four Oscars in the Best Actress category. In chronological order, the movies were Morning Glory (1933), Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), The Lion in Winter (1968), and On Golden Pond (1981).
As far as movies go, there is a three-way tie for the number of Oscars won. Ben-Hur (1959), Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), and Titanic (1997) have all won 11 Oscars each.

I hope you enjoyed perusing these movie facts as much as I enjoyed collecting and writing them. Movies are a big part of our culture, so it can be both entertaining and enlightening to learn some of the interesting things that happen behind the scenes.

Some Interesting Facts About Barack Obama

2009-06-03T10:47:00.001+05:30

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. It is the latest chapter in what has already been a very interesting life. Here are some interesting facts about President Barack Obama.

Interesting Facts

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961.
Obama's parents met while attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
His father was originally from Kenya. His mother, Ann Dunham, was an anthropologist born in the United States. The couple separated when Barack was two years old and eventually divorced. Barack Obama's father moved back to Kenya following the divorce.
Obama's mother eventually remarried and took the family to Indonesia (the home of her new husband) in 1967.
Obama attended schools in Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia) up until he was ten years old.
After returning to Hawaii to live with his grandparents, he attended Punahou School and graduated from the high school in 1979.
Barack Obama moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school and attended Occidental College (a private liberal arts college) for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City to major in political science.
After college, Obama moved to Chicago and worked as a director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP).
In 1988, Barack Obama began his studies at Harvard Law School. He became the editor of the Harvard Law Review and was eventually elected president of that legal journal. He graduated with honors in 1991.
After college, Obama returned to Chicago, where he got involved with civil rights law and taught constitutional law.
In 1996, he was elected to the Illinois State Senate.
In 2001, Obama served as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. He would eventually hold assignments in many other committees during his first and second terms as a senator.
He later sponsored a law that monitored racial profiling for civil rights purposes, and eventually made Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations.
In 2004, Obama was reelected to the Illinois State Senate.
In 2005, he traveled to Russia with Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ill.) to renew anti-proliferation efforts (i.e., finding and securing nuclear weapons that have spread around the world).
In February 2007, in front of the historic capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, Barack Obama announced that he would run for president.
Over the years, he has been an active writer. He is the author of two best-selling books: Dreams from My Father in 1995, and The Audacity of Hope in 2006.
Top contributors to the Obama presidential campaign include Goldman Sachs, University of California, Citigroup Inc., Harvard University, Moveon.org and Time Warner.
Obama is known for refusing contributions from lobbyists and political action committees (PACs). According to DNC Chairman Howard Dean: "The American people's priorities will set the agenda in an Obama Administration, not the special interests."
A July 2008 poll by Newsweek found that 12 percent of voters wrongfully believed that Obama is a Muslim, and some thought he was raised in a Muslim home. Barack Obama is a Christian. He was the son of an atheist father who thought religion was "mumbo jumbo," according to Barack. His mother was interested in all the world's religions but was an agnostic [again according to Barack].
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States.

I hope you've enjoyed these facts about Barack Obama — the man and the politician. It's important to learn as much about a political candidate, so you can make an informed decision come election time. I hope this list of Barack Obama facts has helped in that regard.

Facts About Barack Obama

2009-06-03T10:47:00.000+05:30

Interesting Facts

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961.
Obama's parents met while attending the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
His father was originally from Kenya. His mother, Ann Dunham, was an anthropologist born in the United States. The couple separated when Barack was two years old and eventually divorced. Barack Obama's father moved back to Kenya following the divorce.
Obama's mother eventually remarried and took the family to Indonesia (the home of her new husband) in 1967.
Obama attended schools in Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia) up until he was ten years old.
After returning to Hawaii to live with his grandparents, he attended Punahou School and graduated from the high school in 1979.
Barack Obama moved to Los Angeles after graduating from high school and attended Occidental College (a private liberal arts college) for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City to major in political science.
After college, Obama moved to Chicago and worked as a director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP).
In 1988, Barack Obama began his studies at Harvard Law School. He became the editor of the Harvard Law Review and was eventually elected president of that legal journal. He graduated with honors in 1991.
After college, Obama returned to Chicago, where he got involved with civil rights law and taught constitutional law.
In 1996, he was elected to the Illinois State Senate.
In 2001, Obama served as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. He would eventually hold assignments in many other committees during his first and second terms as a senator.
He later sponsored a law that monitored racial profiling for civil rights purposes, and eventually made Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations.
In 2004, Obama was reelected to the Illinois State Senate.
In 2005, he traveled to Russia with Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ill.) to renew anti-proliferation efforts (i.e., finding and securing nuclear weapons that have spread around the world).
In February 2007, in front of the historic capitol building in Springfield, Illinois, Barack Obama announced that he would run for president.
Over the years, he has been an active writer. He is the author of two best-selling books: Dreams from My Father in 1995, and The Audacity of Hope in 2006.
Top contributors to the Obama presidential campaign include Goldman Sachs, University of California, Citigroup Inc., Harvard University, Moveon.org and Time Warner.
Obama is known for refusing contributions from lobbyists and political action committees (PACs). According to DNC Chairman Howard Dean: "The American people's priorities will set the agenda in an Obama Administration, not the special interests."
A July 2008 poll by Newsweek found that 12 percent of voters wrongfully believed that Obama is a Muslim, and some thought he was raised in a Muslim home. Barack Obama is a Christian. He was the son of an atheist father who thought religion was "mumbo jumbo," according to Barack. His mother was interested in all the world's religions but was an agnostic [again according to Barack].
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States.

Wind Power Facts - Interesting Things About Wind Energy

2009-06-03T10:39:00.003+05:30

At the time this fact sheet was created, there was a lot of talk about wind power technology. As energy prices continue to rise, American consumers demand alternate forms of energy production. Wind power is one of those alternatives.

Interesting Facts

Believe it or not, wind is classified as a form of solar energy. While there are many things that influence our winds, they are initially caused by the sun heating the Earth's atmosphere. As long as the sun shines, the wind will continue to blow.
Wind power is also considered a renewable resource because it uses something that does not run out. In contrast, fossil fuels like oil and coal are non-renewable resources that will eventually run out. The wind will never "run out."
You often hear the phrases wind power and wind energy used interchangeably. Essentially, these terms mean the same thing. They both refer to the conversion of wind into some form of mechanical or electrical power.
Wind power has been used for centuries, though the technology behind it has obviously changed. As far back as 500 A.D., the Persians (in what is modern Iran) used windmills to pump water and grind grain.
The wind turbine is the primary mechanism used with this technology. These giant, windmill-looking devices are placed in strategic locations that are consistently windy (often referred to as "wind farms").
The turbine creates electricity by powering a generator. Here is the basic process that takes place. The wind blows >> the blades turn >> the blades turn a rotor that is connected to a shaft >> the spinning shaft powers a generator, which in turn produces electrical power.
The Science section of the National Geographic website has an interactive simulator that shows you how wind energy is created. You can check it out here.
It's a fact that wind power produces little to no waste. The turbines power the generator and produce electricity without producing any greenhouses gases such as methane and carbon dioxide.
If it's large enough, a single turbine can provide enough electrical power for more than 200 homes.
Modern wind turbines can be extremely large, and for good reason. Most are placed on poles the measure 100 feet or more. This puts the blades in a position to receive the strongest (and least turbulent) winds.
As of this date of publication (August 2008), the tallest wind turbine in the world is the Enercon E-126 located in Emden, Germany. The structure is 673 feet tall (205 meters). It produces enough electricity to power thousands of homes.
Within the United States, the tallest turbine is part of the Snyder Wind project located in Scurry County in northeast Texas. The towers measure 345 feet.
The blades of these turbines can be incredibly large as well. Some are even longer than a football field (100 yards or 300 feet in length).
At the time this fact sheet was published (August 2008), the largest farm in the United States was Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center located in Texas. It has a total of 421 turbines and spans more than 46,000 acres of land.
A massive wind farm with more than 300 turbines has been planned for the state of Oregon in the United States. Upon completion, it could be the largest farm in the U.S.
Wind power is one of the fastest growing sources of energy in the world, when measured by percentage of growth. In the United States alone, wind power grew by an average of 29% annually from 2003 to 2007. (Source: Fact sheet produced by the American Wind Energy Association)
Turbines are currently being tested in small towns and villages in Africa, such as the town of M'muock in Cameroon.
Some countries in Europe (like Germany and Spain) are now generating up to 25% of their total electricity through wind turbine technology.
In terms of wind power capacity, the United States ranks third in the world behind Spain and Germany.
T. Boone Pickens is one of the biggest (and most vocal) advocates of wind power in the United States. He is an oilman turned "wind man" and has actively pressured the U.S. government to catch up with Europe in terms of wind power. He is putting much of his own money into the Pampa Project, a massive wind farm being developed in Texas.
The Pampa Project mentioned above is set to be completed in 2014, and is expected to produce more than 4,000 megawatts of electricity for Texas — enough "juice" to power more than one million homes!

Where will wind power take us in the future? Only time will tell. But after reading these facts on the subject, I think you'll agree that it's an energy source worth developing further.

Some Interesting Facts About Texas

2009-06-03T10:37:00.001+05:30

Texas holds a unique place within the history and culture of America. It's big, it's bold, and it's full of interesting facts and stories. In this article, we have compiled some facts about Texas that might interest you.

Interesting Facts

Texas is also known as the Lone Star State, which is a reference to the single star on the Texas state flag.
Texas became part of the United States on December 29, 1845. It was the 28th state to enter the union.
The state of Texas has the second-largest population in the U.S., with more than 23 million people (2006 census). The state is also the second-largest in terms of geography, with nearly 270,000 square miles of space.
In terms of population, the largest cities in Texas include Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Forth Worth and El Paso.
Austin is the capital of Texas. Austin is home to the University of Texas (UT) and is also known as the "Live Music Capital of the United State."
Texas used to be part of Mexico. American settlers began moving into the area in the 1800s, and the U.S. eventually fought a war for rights to the land (the Mexican-American War, 1846 - 1848).
While there are still plenty of working ranches in Texas, the King Ranch near Corpus Christi is by far the largest and most famous. In terms of square mileage, the King Ranch is larger Rhode Island and spreads over six counties.
Central Texas is often called the "Silicon Valley of the south" because of all the tech companies located there (particular in the Austin area). Tech companies with headquarters in Austin include Dell Computers, National Instruments, Motive and many more.
Many Texans are proud of the fact that capitol building in Austin, Texas is taller than the U.S. capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Sam Houston played a major role in the history of Texas, and many Texans consider him one of their most beloved "native sons." The interesting fact is that Sam Houston was born in a small Virginia town (Timber Ridge) and later lived in Tennessee. He didn't move to Texas until he was an adult.
It's a fact that Texas had the first sports stadium with a dome (in Houston). It was first opened in 1965 and is still used today, though it has undergone renovations. It now has a retractable roof.
The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history occurred in Texas. A massive hurricane hit the coastal city of Galveston in 1900, flooding the city and killing more than 8,000 people.
An interesting nature fact — more bat species live in Texas than in any other U.S. state. Austin, the state's capital, has one of the largest urban colonies of bats (about 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats live under the Congress Avenue bridge downtown).
Texas produces more oil than any other state, more than a million barrels per day. The downside is that the state produces more carbon emissions than most countries. It's true what they say: Everything's bigger in Texas!
It's a fact that Texas produces more wool than any other state in America. Lots of sheep!
The last battle of the American Civil War took place in Texas (Palmito Ranch near Brownsville) — more than a month after General Lee surrendered to General Grant in Virginia!
Celebrities from the state include Dennis Quaid, Patrick Swayze, Renee Zellweger, Norah Jones and Lance Armstrong.
A "whirlwind" of tornado facts about Texas — the state has more tornadoes than any other state in the U.S. (more than 100 per year on average). The deadliest was an F5 tornado in Waco in 1953; it killed 114 people.
Several flags have flown over Texas throughout history, depending on who claimed it at the time. In chronological order, those flags belonged to Spain, France, Spain again, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the United States, the Confederate States of America (during the American Civil War), and — ultimately — the U.S. flag once again.
Many people think of Texas as a dry and dusty state. Some of it is. But there are also nearly 5,000 square miles of inland waterways in the state (lakes, rivers, etc.). That's more than Florida and Minnesota (the "Land of Lakes").
The oak tree is one of the most common trees in Texas. There are more than 50 varieties (species and subspecies) of oak trees in the state.

I hope you have enjoyed these interesting facts about Texas and that you get a chance to visit the same some day. If you already live in Texas, then these interesting facts are sure to give you a greater appreciation of your state.

Some Interesting Facts About Japan

2009-06-03T10:34:00.000+05:30

Japan is a fascinating country with a rich and diverse history. It holds a unique place in the world for many reasons. After reading this list of interesting facts about Japan we think you'll agree.

Interesting Facts

Japan is an island nation located in the Pacific Ocean.
In geographical terms Japan is an archipelago (group of islands) that includes more than 3,000 individual islands. Going from north to south, the four major islands include Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu.
Japan's neighbors to the west include Russia, North and South Korea and China.
At its closest point, Japan is only about 360 miles from China, its neighbor to the west. The East China sea separates the two countries at this point, and the two nations have long argued over territorial claims and fishing rights in these waters.
The first permanent capital of unified Japan was the city of Nara, which became the capital in 710 BC. The capital would later be shifted to the city of Nagaoka and, ultimately, to Heian (modern day Kyoto).
Tokyo is the current capital of Japan and is also the largest city in terms of population.
Buddhism became the national religion of Japan during the Nara period, which lasted from 710-794.
Buddhism is still a major religion in Japan today. Shinto is another major religion in the country. Many people practice both of these religions together as one.
Samurai warriors date back to 12th Century Japan. During this time, two powerful clans were fighting with each other for control of land. The Samurai lived their lives by the bushido code, or the "way of the warrior."
Samurai warriors carried two swords, which was a privilege reserved for them. One sword was long and the other short.
If defeated in battle, some warriors chose to commit suicide to avoid capture or a dishonorable death.
Samurai warriors (and the feudal class system in general) came to an end during the 1860's. Emperor Meiji declared a series of laws that effectively abolished the Samurai class after nearly 1,000 years of existence.
A 2003 American film dramatized the end of the Samurai class in Japan. It starred Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe, and was nominated for several Academy Awards.
In 1894, Japan went to war with China in what would later be known as the First Sino-Japanese War. The two nations fought for control of Korea. It was fought between the Qing Dynasty in China and the Meji Empire of Japan. The war ended in less than a year with the Treaty of Shimonoseki, through which Korea remained fully independent from both nations.
The Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937 and lasted until the end of World War II in 1945. Among other factors, the war was fought due to Japan's desire to dominate China and secure its natural resources and raw materials to fuel the Japanese Empire.
On December 7, 1941, Japanese war planes (fighters and torpedo bombers) attacked the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack came in two waves and included more than 350 aircraft launched from six aircraft carriers in the Pacific Ocean.
While the attack on Pearl Harbor did not totally destroy the U.S. Navy, it was devastating nonetheless. The attack seriously damaged a number of battleships, cruisers, destroyers and more. The attack destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and killed 2,388 sailors.
The attack on Pearl Harbor partially sunk five battleships (the harbor is shallow, so none were completely sunk). These included the USS Utah, the USS Oklahoma, the USS Arizona, the USS California and the USS West Virginia. The California and the West Virginia were later raised from the harbor and repaired. The Arizona remains where it sunk and is now a memorial that tourists can visit.
Japan surrendered to Allied Forces on August 15, 1945, effectively bringing WWII to an end. Germany was already out of the war by then. The official surrender ceremony took place on September 2 aboard the USS Missouri (a battleship of the U.S. Navy).
The current flag of Japan, referred to as the Hinomaru, has a white background with a red disc that symbolizes the rising sun.
Modern Japan is a technological powerhouse. We import many of our electronics, automobiles, machinery and other technology products from Japan. They are the world's largest producer of cars, as well as a leader in the field of robotics.

I hope you have enjoyed these interesting facts about Japan and that you get to visit the country sometime in the future. There are some places you just have to visit before you die, and wonderful country of Japan should be on that list!

Some interesting facts about Praying Manitis

2009-06-03T10:26:00.003+05:30

Mantis

What are the Mantis's Eating Habits?

Extremely predacious
Eats only live prey, or at least prey that is moving, and hence, appears alive
Some say that it will eat "anything," even reptiles and small birds, but others indicate it prefers "soft bodied" insects which it can easily devour. These dietary preferences very by species. Males are generally less aggressive predators than females.
Cannibalistic, both as a nymph and as a adult. Baby mantids will eat other babies, adults will eat their own or others' babies, and adults will eat each other
Diurnal, that is, mainly eats during the day. But mantids also congregate and feed around artificial light sources.
Often waits motionless for unsuspecting prey to get within striking distance--a "sit-and wait" and wait or ambush strategy, but also can slowly stalk prey
Often begins to undulate and sway just before striking its prey. Some have speculated this is to mimic the movement of surrounding foliage. Others suggest that this behavior aids in the visualization process.
Attacks by "pinching" and impaling prey between its spiked lower tibia and upper femur
The mantid's strike takes an amazing 30 to 50 one-thousandth of a second. The strike is so fast that it cannot be processed by the human brain. It uses the view before and after the strike and "tricks" you into seeing what occurs in-between.
After securing the prey with its legs, rapidly chews at the prey's neck to immobilize it
If well fed, will selectively choose to devour "select" parts of its prey and discard the rest
If any part of the prey is dropped during feeding, it will not retrieve it.
After eating, will often use its mouth to clean the food particles from the spines of its
tibia, and then wipe its face in a cat-like manner.

How do Mantis's Mate and Reproduce?

A. One of the most interesting, and to humans, disturbing features of mantid life is the female's tendency to eat her mate

B. During late summer, a female mantis, already heavy with eggs, is believed to excrete a chemical attractant to tempt a willing male into mating

C. The current state of research seems to indicate that the female sometimes devours the male during the mating process (between 5-31% if the time)

D. The dead male may also serve as a source of protein for the female and her young.

E. Recent research indicates that fertilization can take place without the male's death and that his demise is not necessary to the process

F. The male's sperm cells are stored in a special chamber in the female's abdomen called the spermatheca.

G. The female can begin lay her eggs as early as a day after mating.

H. As the eggs pass through her reproductive system, they are fertilized by the stored sperm.

I. After finding a suitably raised location--a branch, stem, or building overhang--special
appendages at the base of her abdomen "froth" the gelatinous egg material into the shape
characteristic of the particular species as its exits her ovipositor.

J. By instinct, the female twists her abdomen in a spiral motion to create many individual
"cells" or chambers within the ootheca or egg case.

K. The egg laying process takes between 3 and 5 hours

L. The ootheca soon hardens into a paper mache like substance that is resistant to the birds and animals that would attempt to eat it.

M. The carefully crafted pockets of air between the individual egg cells acts insulation against cold winter temperatures

N. The number and size of egg cases deposited by a female also varies by species and she dies sometime after her final birthing

Praying Mantis

TAXONOMY

Kingdom - Animal
Phylum - Arthropoda
Class - Insecta
Order - Dictyoptera
Family - Mantidae
Genus - Stagomantis
Species - carolina

What is a Praying Mantis? The praying mantids, or praying mantises, are carnivorous insects that belong to the family. There are about 2,000 species of mantids. The biggest praying mantises are the Tenodera and the Archimantis, which are six inches long! The smallest praying mantis is the Bolbe pygmaea, which is only 2/5 of an inch, or one-centimeter. Unbelievably, some scientists agree the mantis is closely related to the cockroach. The name "mantis" comes from the Greek word for 'prophet' or 'soothsayer.' The Carolina mantid is a common insect of Eastern United States. The European and Chinese species were introduced to the Northeastern United States about 75 years ago as garden predators in hopes of overtaking the native pest population.

DESCRIPTION

Praying mantises are about 2/5-12 inches according to species. Their colors vary, ranging from light greens to pinks. Most mantids are pea green or brown. The tropical flower mantises, which resemble flowers, are usually light colors such as pink. Flower mantises, from Africa or the Far East, so closely resemble flowers that insects will often land on them to get nectar.

Camouflage is very important for the praying mantis' survival. Because they have so many enemies such as birds, they must blend in with their habitat to avoid being eaten. They have a triangular-shaped head with a large compound eye on each side. Praying mantids are the only insect that turn from side to side in a full 180-degree angle. Their eyes are sensitive to the slightest movement up to 60 feet away. They have straight, leathery forewings and very powerful jaws used for devouring its prey. They have ultrasound ears on their Metathoraxes. The Metathorax is located on the thorax. Also, the males' genitalia are asymmetrical. They have a long prothorax and strong, spiny front legs held together in a praying manner. In the bodies of some species of mantis, there is a hollow chamber. Recently it has been discovered that these hollow chambers provide the mantis with a means of detecting bats, one of their most feared predators. Apparently, the mantis in flight will drastically change its flight pattern (often hurling to the ground in a spiral) when the mantis hears certain frequencies of sound.

HABITAT

Nearly 2,000 species of mantids are widely distributed throughout tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate areas of the world. Different species live in many parts of countries such as North and South America, South Africa, Europe, the Southern parts of Asia and some parts of Australia. Praying mantids in North America are usually green or brown. There are three main types of mantids in Eastern United States: the European mantid (Mantis religiosa), Carolina mantid (Stagmomantis carolina) and Chinese mantid (Tenodera aridifolia sinensis).

DIET

The praying mantis is a carnivorous insect that takes up a deceptively humble posture when it is searching for food. When at rest, the mantis' front forelegs are held up together in a posture that looks like its praying. These front legs are equipped with rows of sharp spines used to grasp its prey. They wait unmoving and are almost invisible on a leaf or a stem, ready to catch any insect that passes. When potential prey comes close enough, the mantis thrusts its pincher-like forelegs forward to catch it. The prey probably won't escape because the forelegs are so strong and armed with overlapping spines. The mantid bites the neck of its prey to paralyze it and begins to devour it. The mantis almost always starts eating the insect while it's still alive, and almost always starts eating from the insect's neck. This way, the mantis makes sure that the insect's struggle stops quickly. Praying mantises eat insects and other invertebrates such as other mantises, beetles, butterflies, spiders, crickets, grasshoppers, and even spiders. The praying mantises also eat vertebrates such as small tree frogs, lizards, mice and hummingbirds. Praying mantids can resemble flowers and can catch small, unknowing hummingbirds. Praying mantids also eat other nesting birds.

BREEDING

Breeding season is in the summer in temperate areas. After mating, the female will lay groups of 12-400 eggs in the autumn, in a "frothy" liquid called an "ootheca", that turns into a hard protective shell. This is how these insects survive during the wintertime. Small mantids emerge in the spring. Often, their first meal is a sibling. Young mantids or nymphs, also eat leafhoppers, aphids and small flies. Young mantids will shed many times before it is full grown. It takes an entire summer or growing season for mantids to mature to adulthood. One generation develops each season. Many species of mantids resemble ants when they are small, but as they go through a series of molts, they begin to look more like adult mantids.

BENEFICIAL OR NOT?

Most often people think mantises are pests. That is only partly true. They can be beneficial, too. Praying mantises are terrific pest exterminators. They keep down the population of bugs that are a threat to farming. A master of disguise, the praying mantis can be an able assistant to farmer and gardener. Look carefully in your backyard. Perhaps that deceptive shape is a praying mantis poised for his next meal.

Some Interesting Facts About Dung Beetles

2009-06-03T10:20:00.003+05:30

Facts

Dung beetles are a relatively modern group of beetles, their fossils only extend back to 40 million years ago.
There are about 7 000 species world wide.
Dung beetles range from less than 1mm to a giant 6cm.
Dung beetles occur on every continent except Antarctica.
The life expectancy for most dung beetles range from three to five years.
A researcher observed that a small 1.5 Kg pile of Elephant dung on the African savannah attracted 16 000 dung beetles of various shapes and sizes, who between them had eaten and or buried that dung completely in just two hours. One dung beetle can bury 250 times its own weight in a night.
Most of the dung beetles in the world use herbivore dung, though many are not very particular and will use many different forms of dung,
Some species have definite preferences for one type of dung only.
Onthophagus caenobita has only ever been found feeding in human faeces.
A dung beetle in South America called Zonocopris gibbicolis feeds on the faeces of large snails on whom it rides around.
The female dung beetle lays a single egg into each ball of dung and then covers the nest with more dung and soil. When the eggs hatch, the larvae will feed on the fecal matter.

Dung beetles can be divided into 3 groups, Rollers, Tunnellers and Dwellers. Rollers are species who make a burrow some way away from the dung they are going to use and then collect small to medium sized lumps of dung to roll into their burrows. Typhaeus typhoeus, the Minotaur Beetle, can dig burrows up to one metre deep. Generally the female does most of the digging and the male spends most of his time collecting the dung for her. Rollers dig their front legs into the ground and use their back legs to push the ball of dung.

Tunnellers fly until they find some fecal matter into which they dive. They dig a tunnel and then drag as much dung as they like down into it. Again it is mostly the female who stays in the burrow sorting out the dung and the male who goes out to get it.

Some dung beetles eat and lay their eggs on dung some other beetle has collected. The thief often eats the legitimate dung-owners eggs as well as stealing their dung.

The females of many of the larger 'Rollers' stay inside their burrows and care for and protect their eggs and young, these species can live for up to 3 years. Some of these larger dung beetles can move balls of dung up to 50 times their own weight.

Australia imported 45 species of dung beetle from various parts of the world to get rid of cattle dung.

In ancient Egypt the scarab or dung beetle was the most important religious symbol. In some Indian tribes from South America a dung beetle named Aksak is supposed to have modelled the first man and woman from clay.

Without dung beetles, the earth would be piled high with manure.

Reproduction

The rollers establish a pair bond. They usually meet in the dung pat. The male offers the female a giant-sized brood ball which if accepted, they roll away together, or with the female riding on the ball. During this time, other beetles often attempt to steel the ball. They find a soft place and bury the ball before mating - mostly underground. The male then leaves to find further partners. The female of this species makes a brood 'pear' or 'pears' and lays a single egg in each. She then coats the pear with an antiseptic mixture of dung, saliva and faeces to seal it in a case which hardens solid. Unusual in insects, this species exhibits the highest level of parental care seen in an insect. She stays with the ball and her grub for two months, cleaning it and removing its faeces, fungi and bacteria.

Dung Beetles

How do dung beetles (Scarabaeus zambesianus) maximize their chance to get the most out of the available dung? Get it away from competitors. New research suggests this beetle can use polarized moonlight at night to navigate the way as it rolls a dung ball to a safe spot away from the pile. Observers watched beetles foraging on moonlit nights and cloudy or moonless nights. With a moon, the beetles rolled their dung balls away in a straight line. This is the most efficient path. Without a moon, the beetles could not roll the ball in a straight line. Further, to differentiate between influence of the moon itself and moonlight’s polarization pattern, a large polarizing filter was placed over the beetles. When adjusted by 90 degrees, this caused the beetles’ course to be changed by 90 degrees. Researchers concluded it was not the moon itself, but the polarization pattern that guided the dung beetle. It is known that many creatures use the polarization pattern of sunlight for navigation, but this believed to be the first time the use of moonlight polarization patterns has been documented. –Nature Brief Communications, July 3, 2003.

Blackhawck's blog

15 Da Vinci War Machines

The Great Leonardo Da Vinci designed many weapons, including giant crossbows, machine guns, siege towers, cluster bombs and even a precursor to the modern-day tank.

1. Leonardo Da Vinci’s Terminator

2. Machine Gun

3. Cluster Bomb

4. Scythed chariots

5. Barrage Cannon

6. Tank

7. Wall Defense

8. Catapult

9. Fortress

10. Dismountable cannon

11. Springald

12. Da Vinci’s Helicopter

13. Armoured vessel

14. Giant crossbow

15. Da Vinci Siege Weapon

1. Leonardo Da Vinci’s Terminator

2. Machine Gun

3. Cluster Bomb

4. Scythed chariots

5. Barrage Cannon

6. Tank

7. Wall Defense

8. Catapult

9. Fortress

10. Dismountable cannon

11. Springald

12. Da Vinci’s Helicopter

13. Armoured vessel

14. Giant crossbow

15. Da Vinci Siege Weapon

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