8th February 2016

Know whales closely!

Whales are the world’s largest animals and are found in the oceans. Whales are mammals which feed milk to their young ones and breathe air. Since they do not have gills they cannot breathe under water but have to come up to the surface of water to breathe. The air is breathed in and out through their ‘blowhole,’ which is on their back. There are two types of whales: baleen and toothed. The baleen whales do not have teeth, eat a plankton called krill and have two nostrils. The toothed whale eats plants and fishes and has only one nostril.

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8th February 2016

Meaning of African Pidgin ‘Waka Waka’ of Shakira’s song

‘Waka Waka’ gained its popularity during the 2010 World Cup Football when Shakira sang the famous song. The lyrics of song contain words from the Fang language, which run as Za mina mina eh eh Waka waka eh eh, Tsa mina mina zangalewa, this time for Africa. Za mina mina means come, Waka waka means do it, Tsa mina mina zangalewa means where do you come from? Originally sung by a Makossa group from Cameroon called Golden Sounds, the band members comprised African soldiers. The song pays tribute to African infantry during World War II. During the Nigerian war (1967-70), the Nigerian army used this song extensively. The song is still used today almost everywhere in Africa.

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8th February 2016

In which direction does the sun rise and set on Venus?

Venus is the second planet from the sun in our solar system. It is the brightest object observed in the sky. Astronomers discovered that Venus moves clockwise as opposed to the counter-clockwise rotation of the earth. Therefore, it is said that in Venus the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.

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8th February 2016

Time taken by a red blood cell when circling the whole body

The red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the different parts of the body. One trip takes the cell from the heart through the various blood vessels to the different parts of the body and back to the heart in 20 seconds. A red blood cell is estimated to live in the body for four months. They originate in the bone marrow and during their lifetime, they make 250,000 trips circumnavigating the body before returning to the bone marrow where they eventually die.

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8th February 2016

Which is the fastest flying insect?

A dragonfly is a double winged insect with its forewings larger than the hind wings. When the dragonfly is at rest, the wings are held perpendicular to its body. These insects eat other small insects. Robert John Tillyard, while studying the genus Austrophlebia, found that the dragonfly could fly nearly at the rate of fifty miles (80 km) to sixty miles (96 km) an hour.

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8th February 2016

Tell the names of the three wise monkeys

The three wise monkeys were popularized in Japan and are believed to be part of the Chinese philosopher Confucius’ teachings on the human code of conduct. These three monkeys depict the three principles of see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. Mizaru is depicted covering his eyes with his hands that symbolizes see no evil, Kikazaru is depicted covering his ears that symbolizes hear no evil and Iwazaru is depicted covering his mouth that symbolizes speak no evil.  It  is  noteworthy  that  Mahatma Gandhi  possessed  a  statue  of  these  three  monkeys.  A larger statue of these monkeys is displayed at the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

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