Category Science

WHAT IS EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE MADE UP OF?

Covering the surface of Earth like a thin blanket is a layer of gases that forms the atmosphere. It is made up of 78 per cent nitrogen, 21 per cent oxygen and 0.04 per cent carbon dioxide. The minute, remaining percentage is made of some other gases, water vapour and dust. We barely notice this all-enveloping atmosphere, but without it the Earth would be lifeless as the Moon.

Earth’s atmosphere is composed of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, and 0.1% other gases. Trace amounts of carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and neon are some of the other gases that make up that remaining 0.1%. While the earth’s atmosphere is mainly gases, it also contains tiny particles such as dust and pollen. Some unnatural particles also collect in the atmosphere and cause air pollution. These include anything from aerosols to carbon emissions from vehicles and power plants.

As humans, we rely on the atmosphere around us for life. We breathe it, we live in it—without it, we wouldn’t survive. Not only does the atmosphere around us need to be made of a certain composition for us to thrive, but it also needs to be one in which plants and food can grow, and one that protects us from the elements. Having oxygen we can breathe is just as important as being protected from the harsh sun rays, or the open expanses of space, and Earth has just the right location and atmospheric chemical composition to sustain life for humans and all other life forms that call Earth home.

Credit: Worldatlas

Picture credit: Google

WHAT IS A FOSSIL?

Fossil, remnant, impression, or trace of an animal or plant of a past geologic age that has been preserved in Earth’s crust. The complex of data recorded in fossils worldwide—known as the fossil record — is the primary source of information about the history of life on Earth.

Only a small fraction of ancient organisms are preserved as fossils, and usually only organisms that have a solid and resistant skeleton are readily preserved. Most major groups of invertebrate animals have a calcareous skeleton or shell (e.g., corals, mollusks, brachiopods, bryozoans). Other forms have shells of calcium phosphate (which also occurs in the bones of vertebrates), or silicon dioxide. A shell or bone that is buried quickly after deposition may retain these organic tissues, though they become petrified (converted to a stony substance) over time. Unaltered hard parts, such as the shells of clams or brachiopods, are relatively common in sedimentary rocks, some of great age.

The hard parts of organisms that become buried in sediment may be subject to a variety of other changes during their conversion to solid rock, however. Solutions may fill the interstices, or pores, of the shell or bone with calcium carbonate or other mineral salts and thus fossilize the remains, in a process known as permineralization. In other cases there may be a total replacement of the original skeletal material by other mineral matter, a process known as mineralization, or replacement. In still other cases, circulating acid solutions may dissolve the original shell but leave a cavity corresponding to it, and circulating calcareous or siliceous solutions may then deposit a new matrix in the cavity, thus creating a new impression of the original shell.

Fossils of hard and soft parts that are too small to be observed by the naked eye are called microfossils. Some fossils are completely devoid of plant and animal parts but show evidence of an organism’s activities. Such traces of organisms, which are appropriately known as “trace fossils”, include tracks or trails, preserved waste products, and borings.

Credit: Britannica

Picture credit: Google

What ant actually explodes to protect the entire colony?

Found in the remote rainforests of Borneo, Colobopsis explodens ants have developed extreme abilities to protect their colony. When threatened by other insects, these ‘exploding ants’ rupture their own body walls, releasing a toxic, sticky liquid which kills or immobilizes their attacker.  Outside the kitchen door at the Kuala Belalong Field Studies Center in Brunei, on a number of trees near the balcony, there is a nest of very special ants. Workers of C. explodens have a distinctive, rather foul talent. When their nest is invaded, they rupture their own abdomens, releasing a sticky, bright yellow fluid laced with toxins on their attackers. Similar to honey bees that die after stinging, the exploded ants do not survive, but their sacrifice can help save the colony. Scientists call this suicidal behaviour “autothysis”.

Some ants (called door-keepers) have even developed plug-shaped heads used to physically barricade the nest entrances against intruders. These ants explode, but their nests live to see another day.

Credit : The Newyork Times

Picture Credit : Google 

Which is India’s first solar powered city?

Diu is now India’s first and only city that is completely solar powered and the first Smart City in India to run on 100% renewable energy. A 9-megawatt solar park has been built in Fudam area, spread over 50 acres, and solar panels have been installed on the rooftops of government buildings. Diu’s peak time demand for electricity goes up to 7 megawatts and it generates about 10.5 megawatts of electricity from solar energy daily.

Diu is all set to have four windmills by 2019 which would generate 6.8 megawatts energy. With a combination of solar and wind energy powering it, Diu will become an energy self-sufficient island.

Solar installed capacity in India has reached 20 GW in February 2018, expanding the solar-generation capacity by eight times from 2,650 MW on 26 May 2014 to over 20 GW as on January 31, 2018.

Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala are some of the states with solar cell panel rooftops.

In order to conserve energy and curb itself from heavy electricity export bills, most populated countries like China and India are planning to use solar panel rooftops.

China leads the race in solar energy, followed by Japan, Germany, United States, Italy, United Kingdom, India, France, Australia, Spain, respectively, among many others.

Credit : India Today 

Picture Credit : Google 

What are Google Tasks?

Create lists of to-do items and check them off once completed with Google’s new to-do app. Tasks syncs across devices and integrates into the desktop version of Gmail and Google Calendar. You can add additional information like a description, date and sub tasks to your tasks, and create separate lists that you can switch between. In the new re-designed desktop Gmail, tasks are located to the right of your screen, so you don’t have to open the app on your smartphone if you’re at your computer. Drag emails from your inbox into the Tasks panel to automatically create new tasks around them. Free for iOS and Android. Aside from its simplicity, Google Tasks’ best feature is its deep integration with Gmail. Your inbox isn’t the best to-do list—so Google Tasks gives you somewhere to list those important messages that need a reply or action on your part. Drag an email from anywhere in Gmail to the Google Tasks sidebar to instantly turn it into a task. It’ll keep the email’s subject as the task name, with a link to the email underneath. You can then archive or move the message and still open it easily from the Google Tasks link.

Much like a paper to-do list, the most direct way to use Google Tasks is to jot down basic things you need to do and check them off as they’re completed. But if you’d rather plan, rearranging your tasks into the order you should complete them, you can do that too. Just click on a task and drag it to the order you want. Move a task with subtasks? Just drag to move the whole set together. Or, if you decide a subtask should be its own task, drag it out, and it’ll turn into a standalone task.

Credit : Zapier

Picture Credit : Google 

How are baby elephants similar to human babies?

Baby elephants suck their trucks just like human babies suck their thumbs. And they do it for the same reason – comfort. Trunk sucking also helps young elephants master the use of their trunks for feeding.

Aside from the comfort it provides, trunk sucking helps an elephant calf learn how to use and control this lengthy appendage. With more than 50,000 individual muscles in the trunk, you can imagine how complicated it is to get it to do what you want it to do at any given time. Sucking on the trunk helps a young elephant learn how to control and manipulate the muscles in the trunk so that it can fine-tune its use.

Elephants also suck their trunks as a means of advanced “smelling.” They can taste the pheromones of other elephants by touching their trunks to urine or feces and then popping the trunk in their mouths to get a closer whiff.

While trunk sucking is primarily a mannerism found in young elephants, older elephants—even mature bulls—have been seen sucking their trunks when they are nervous or upset.

Credit :  Tree Hugger

Picture Credit : Google