Category Career Queries

What are the interesting facts of The Sundarbans National Park?

Shared between two countries

The Sundarbans is spread across West Bengal, India, and Khulna Division, Bangladesh. Covering an estimated10,00,000 hectares, about 64 per cent of the entire mangrove area of the forest is said to be in Bangladesh, with the remaining 36 per cent in India. The Sundarbans is listed as ‘Sundarbans National Park, as a World Heritage Site from India, and as The Sundarbans World Heritage Site from Bangladesh.

The largest Mangrove forest

The Sundarbans is home to the largest mangrove forest in the world, and is also the only mangrove forest to be inhabited by the tiger. Nearly 78 species of mangroves have been recorded at the Sundarbans, making it one of the richest mangrove forests, as well as one among the most biologically productive of all natural ecosystems.

The largest population of tigers

Apart from being the only mangrove forest inhabited by the tiger, the Sundarbans is also home to the largest number of Bengal Tigers in the world A part of the Sundarbans is designated as the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve to protect the species. The tigers here have adapted to the environment and have become amphibious, swimming long stretches in search of food.

A unique tidal system

The Sundarbans experiences a unique tidal phenomenon, witnessing high and low tides several times within a day. During the high tides, you can witness the water levels rising by six to ten feet. And during low tides, you can see huge areas of flat mud lands.

There is a great natural depression called “Swatch of No Ground in the Sundarbans area. This depression leads to a sudden change in the depth of the water from 20 m to 500 m.

What’s in a name?

Did you know the Sundarbans got its name from the Sundari tree? It is a special kind of mangrove tree found in this area. It has aerial roots (roots which are above the ground) to help with respiration. This is especially useful for the tree during the rainy season when the entire mangrove area is waterlogged.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Which are the pets owned by famous personalities in history?

Pets have always been special to us. A dog is great company, a cat is a precious little bundle, a parrot is a delight, an alligator is a… well, an interesting companion, a bear… probably is unusual! Let’s look at the pets owned by famous personalities in history!

A very important horse

Roman emperor Caligula had a bad reputation for cruelty, but even he had a soft spot for his pet – a horse. So special was

his horse, named Incitatus, that it got to live in a marble shed, drink from a golden bucket, wear a jewelled collar and have gold flakes mixed with its oats! Caligula didn’t stop there – he gave his pet a saddle with a red border. What’s the big deal? It turns out that only the ministers of his court wore a robe with a red border, so Incitatus was promoted as a senior official!

An alligator in the White House

When President Quincy Adams was gifted an alligator by the French aristocrat Marquis de Lafayette, he took a quick decision regarding the reptile’s living arrangements: it would live in a bathtub inside the East Room bathroom of the White House. Unsuspecting guests who entered the bathroom were in for a horrifying shock and fainting fits!

Too fond of dogs

Muhammad Mahabat Khan III, an Indian maharaja, loved dogs. Nothing strange because many people love dogs, right? But he loved them so much that he had nearly 800 dogs! Each dog had its own room, complete with a telephone (though how a dog would use it is not clear) and a personal attendant. Marriages between his dogs were grand affairs and he even invited the British viceroy at the time to attend one such event!

A wise friend from the sea

The French poet, Gérard de Nerval, rescued a lobster and adopted it as a pet, fondly naming it Thibault. He would take Thibault for a walk with an elegant blue ribbon as its leash. When people argued that it was crazy to have a lobster, Nerval calmly explained the pluses of having a crustacean as a pet: it was calm, serious, didn’t bark and knew the secrets of the sea.

An artistic pet

Salvador Dali was famous for his unique moustache, his surreal paintings and his bizarre choice of pet – an ocelot. Babou went with him everywhere, proudly flashing its special studded collar. This included a journey on a luxury cruise and even a visit to a restaurant in Manhattan, much to the alarm of other diners.

No dogs allowed? How about a bear!

Lord Byron, the famous poet, was well-known for his eccentricities. When he enrolled in Trinity College in Cambridge, dogs were forbidden as pets on the campus. So Byron kept a tame bear instead! This flummoxed the college authorities, but Byron had a solid defence. For nowhere in the rulebook was it mentioned “no bears allowed”, was it? Apparently, nobody could legally expel the bear and it stayed on while Byron studied there.

A pet-plus messenger

Much before the serial Game of Thrones made ravens cool, the 12th dynasty pharaoh, Amenemhat II, thought ravens were awesome and he had a pet raven he loved dearly. But this was a special raven that also served the pharaoh faithfully as a messenger. It was apparently the swiftest of messengers, well aware of where to deliver its messages and where to pause on its way back. So fond was he of his pet that Amenemhat II had a tomb built for his loyal raven.

 

Picture Credit : Google

What makes it snow?

Take a close look at some snowflakes. You can see that they aren’t drops, like rain; or lumps, like hail; or tiny beads, like sleet. They look more like little feathers.

Snow forms when water vapour in clouds freezes. It forms at the top of storm clouds where the air is colder. The frozen water drops grow as more water vapour freezes onto them. They turn into tiny, clear pieces of ice called snow crystals. A snowflake is actually a bunch of snow crystals.

When you look at a snowflake through a magnifying glass, you see a beautiful, lacy shape. Even when they may seem the same, no two snow crystals are exactly alike. Some are flat. Others are shaped like long needles. Most look like pieces of lace. Yet, in one way they are almost all the same. Almost all snow crystals have six sides.

Snow can form high in the sky even in summer. But when snow falls in summer, it melts and becomes rain as soon as it reaches warm air lower down.

Picture Credit : Google

What is air made of?

Air doesn’t seem to be made of anything. It has no colour, taste, or smell, and you can see right through it. But air is made up of things. It is made of many kinds of gases. And these gases are made up of tiny bits called molecules.

Actually, everything on the earth is made up of molecules. Solid things, such as plants, animals, and rocks, are made of molecules. So are liquids, such as water, and gases, such as the ones in air.

In solids, the molecules are packed close together and hardly move. In liquids, the molecules are further apart and move faster. In gases, the molecules are very far apart and zip about rapidly. That’s why gases are so light that you can’t see them.

For us, the most important gas in the air is oxygen. We breathe to get oxygen into our bodies. Almost every kind of animal and plant in the world must have oxygen, or it will die.

Only about one-fifth of the air is made up of oxygen. Most of the air – nearly four-fifths – is nitrogen. The rest of the air is made up of many different gases. Water vapour and dust float in the air, but they are not part of the air.

If air is just floating gases, why doesn’t it float away into space? Because the earth’s gravity pulls at the air just as it pulls at you. The air can no more float off into space than you can!

Picture Credit : Google

What is the career in the field of Virology?

Lockdown, social distancing, and quarantine have become an integral part of our lives over the last one year. With fear gripping the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been challenging times for doctors, health care professionals and, of course, virologists – as they had to study and research about the deadly virus and its various mutants.

While the world has found some ray of hope amid gloom – thanks to the vaccination process – most countries have stepped up their health infrastructure and research monitoring. In the recently announced Union budget, the Indian government, too, has pledged to fund four national virology institutes and nine high-containment laboratories for research and studies on infectious pathogens, making virology a viable career option.

A study of viruses and virus-like agents that affect humans, animals and plants, virology is identifying the nature of the virus and coming up with vaccines to prevent them. So if you are interested in science and have a research-orientation, the field of virology could be the perfect choice for you.

How it works

So, one may wonder what exactly is the role of virologists. Virology is definitely a challenging field, but at the same time, it is quite interesting too. Virologists examine the structure of viruses, classify them and monitor their evolution as well as their interactions with host cells and the way other living creatures fight them. Virology also focusses on the spread of infectious disease, including threats such as the common cold, rabies, yellow fever, and polio.

Scope

A plethora of opportunities are available to virologists in both the public and the private sector. In the public sector, virologists work with government institutes and laboratories. They are also in demand in the pharmaceutical sector. Working with pharma companies, virologists help develop vaccines and medicines for contagious disease and infections. Virologists can also opt for an academic life by teaching in colleges and universities. Often medical doctors specialise in virology to carry out clinical research or work with patients with such viruses. If you have a desire to educate people about viruses and infections, you can also venture into science writing after training in virology.

What to study?

To work as a virologist, you need a background in Biology, Microbiology or Immunology. To qualify as a virologist, you can opt for a Master of Science (M.Sc) in Virology offered by several colleges and universities. Some colleges also offer specialisations in Clinical Virology and Infection Biology.

Where:

India:

  • National Institute of Virology, Savitribai Phule University, Pune: M.Sc in Virology
  • Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati: M.Sc in Virology
  • Manipal University, Karnataka: M.Sc in Clinical Virology
  • Amity Institute of Virology and Immunology, Noida: M.Sc. (Immunology), M.Sc. (Medical Microbiology), M.Sc. (Virology), and PG Diploma in Clinical Virology and Immunology

Abroad:

  • University of Glasgow, the U.K.: M.Sc in Infection Biology
  • University of Cambrige, the U.K.: M.Phil in Biology Science (Pathology)
  • University of Oxford, the U.K.: M.Sc Integrated Immunology

 

Picture Credit : Google

What are the facts of the Statue of Liberty in the United States?

Standing in the middle of the sea, the Statue of Liberty is a 93 metre – tall copper statue; think of it as equivalent to the height of a 22-storey building. The statue is a national treasure of the United States visited by millions every year.

A gift from France

To commemorate the centennial of the United States’ independence and honour France’s relationship with the U.S., French jurist Edouard de Laboulaye, in 1865, proposed the idea of presenting a gift from the people of France to the people of the U.S. Laboulaye was touched by the recent abolition of slavery in the U.S., which furthered the ideals of freedom and democracy in which he greatly believed.

Sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, who resonated with Laboulaye, conceptualised a colossal structure that is formally known as Liberty Enlightening the World.

A symbol of liberty and freedom

Several elements of the statue symbolise liberty and freedom. The statue is named after the Roman Goddess Libertas who personifies freedom. The tablet she carries is inscribed with July 4. 1776 in Roman numerals, the day America became a free country. The torch carried by the statue is considered a symbol of enlightenment and lights the way to freedom. As a symbolism of abolition of slavery, Bartholdi has placed a broken shackle at the statue’s foot.

The Eiffel connection

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the man who built the Eiffel tower in Paris, France, was closely involved in the building of the statue. He was engaged by Bartholdi to address structural issues associated with designing the statue. Eiffel designed the massive iron pylon and the secondary skeletal framework that allows the statue’s copper skin to move independently yet stand upright.

Of seas and continents

The seven spikes radiating from the statue’s crown are meant to be a halo, also known as an aureole. The spikes represent the seven seas and the seven continents of the world and emphasise the statue’s message of inclusiveness and freedom.

Modelled on a real person

The face of the Statue of Liberty is said to have been modelled on Bartholdi’s mother, Charlotte. This was first discovered in 1876, when Bartholdi invited French Senator Jules Bozerian to his box at the opera, where his mother was also present and Bozerian noticed the similarity instantly.

 

Picture Credit : Google