INFO GURU

Did you know???

The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot.

A zebra is white with black stripes.

A whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound.

"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

Snails produce a colorless, sticky discharge that forms a protective carpet under them as they travel along. The discharge is so effective that they can crawl along the edge of a razor without cutting themselves.

The word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent".

A hippopotamus can run faster than a man.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

Electricity doesn't move through a wire but through a field around the wire.

Hummingbirds are the only animal that can fly backwards.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

All the planets in the solar system rotate anticlockwise, except Venus. It is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

Names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words.

Phobatrivaphobia is a fear of trivia about phobias.

Sanskrit is the mother of all higher languages. Sanskrit is the most precise and therefore suitable language for the computer software - a report in Forbes magazine.

India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.

Twenty-Four-Karat Gold is not pure gold; there is a small amount of copper in it. Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands.

The blue whale is the largest animal on earth. The heart of a blue whale is as big as a car, and it's tongue is as long as an elephant.

The Industrial Revolution in Europe first saw the beginning of air pollution, which gradually became a major global problem.

The major air-polluting industries are iron, steel and, cement.

Of the 35-40 million tonnes of flyash generated annually by thermal power plants in India, only 2-3 percent is productively utilized.

The worst industrial disaster in India, occurred in 1984 in Bhopal the capital of Madhya Pradesh. A deadly chemical, methly isocyanate leaked out of the Union Carbide factory killing more than 2500 and leaving thousands sick. In fact the effects of this gas tragedy is being felt even today.

Every year some 50million cars are added to the world’s roads. Car making is now the largest manufacturing industry in the world.

In India the number of motorized vehicles have increased from 0.2 million in 1947 to 36.3 million in 1997.

The number of registered vehicles in Delhi is more than the sum total of registered vehicles in Mumbai, Calcutta, and Chennai.

Major contributor to Delhi's air pollution are vehicles.

Nearly three-fourths of India's population, which is rural, bears 84% of the burden of exposure to air pollution.

Growing population, poverty, and inadequate access to clean fuels in rural areas have perpetuated the use of biomass, thereby condemning more than 90% of rural households and more than 35% of urban hoseholds to high levels of indoor air pollution.

One of the most important measure to counter pollution is planting trees. With neem and peepal being the largest emitters of oxygen, planting them in the gardens purifies the surrounding air and helps in maintaining hygienic conditions. While champa, mogra and chameli have better chances of surviving pollution in summer, bulbous varieties do better in winter. Courtesy http://edugreen.teri.res.in/

This amazing image of an aircraft being struck by lightning circulates via email and has also been posted on various websites, blogs and forums. A video loop that also comes with the message shows what happened before, during and after the strike.



also check

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/images/lightning-strike.gif


The video is genuine and was indeed taken over an airport in Japan some years ago. The still image and video were discussed in a University of Florida scientific publication titled "The interaction of lightning with airborne vehicles". According to the report, the image and video loop show "a commercial aircraft initiating lightning at low altitude after take off from an airport in Japan during winter". The report notes that the lightning was probably initiated by the aircraft itself. This conclusion is validated by the video loop of the incident, which shows lightning branching downward and upwards from the aircraft. In fact, notes the article, "about 90 percent of the lightning discharges to aircraft are thought to be initiated by the aircraft themselves. The initiation apparently involves a bidirectional leader whose positive and negative parts develop from opposite sides of the aircraft."


Although the lightning strike certainly looks spectacular, there are no reports that indicate that the aircraft sustained any serious damage in the incident. In fact, while aircraft lightning strikes are not uncommon, serious damage or crashes caused by lightning are quite rare. According to a Scientific American article about lightning strikes and aircraft, its is "estimated that on average, each airplane in the U.S. commercial fleet is struck lightly by lightning more than once each year". However, the article notes that the last crash directly attributed to a lightning strike occurred back in 1967 when the fuel tank exploded.


Understanding of the potential effects of lightning strikes have increased substantially since then and modern commercial aircraft go through stringent lightning certification tests. After a strike, electricity from the lightning will normally travel through the conductive metal skin of the aircraft and then exit, in most cases, causing little or no damage. Short-term problems with aircraft instruments and lighting are sometimes reported.

1. Find a time that you and your parents can be comfortable and relaxed together.
2. Make sure no one is focusing on something else while you're together No paying bills, playing Playstation, making dinner, or watching TV!
3. These first two steps might take some effort and patience. Be persistent.
4. If you just want to shoot the breeze try to bring up something they're interested in. Ask them questions about their day. Parents love this!
5. If you have something specific you want to talk about let them know exactly what it is. Don't beat around the bush.
6. If they react badly to what you tell them really listen to them. Don't react back.
7. Let them finish and don't interrupt. Ask them to do the same for you.
8. When you feel like you've told them what you wanted to thank them for listening. Remain respectful and keep your voice calm even if you're upset.
9. If you feel like there are still things that need to be talked about set up a time with them to talk about it another day. Don't continue talking if things have grown tense. Calm down and try to have the talk again at another time.