February 2016 - Page 25 of 32

8th February 2016

Can there be a month without a full moon?

There are usually twelve full moons in a year, usually once a month. This is because of the waxing and waning of the moon. It takes about 29 days for the moon to complete its cycle and return to its starting phase. So in months that have less than 29 days, which is only February, this phenomenon could happen. And it happens more frequently than you think. There was no full moon in February for the years 1809, 1847, 1866, 1885, 1915, 1934, 1961, and as recently as 1999.

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8th February 2016

Dolphins’ sleeping style!

Dolphins are mammals that are found in the seas and oceans. When the dolphins sleep, they seem to ﬂoat on the water with one eye open. This is because they sleep with one part of the brain at a time. The other half is awake and that keeps one eye open. If they sleep and become unconscious, they would suffocate or drown. To prevent this, they sleep with half of their brain. After some time, they close one eye and open the other eye, and sleep.

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8th February 2016

Chicken manure – A source of energy

It is estimated that a 1.8 kg chicken will produce 28 to 100 grams of manure per day or 12 to 36 kg of manure per year. In its lifetime, a chicken can produce enough manure to power a 100-watt lightbulb for 5 hours. The manure produced by chicken can be decomposed to produce methane, which in turn can drive turbines to produce electricity. In fact in Britain, Mr. Harold Bate has invented the car that runs on methane produced from chicken manure.

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8th February 2016

Amalgamation of nature’s grandeur and religion in Garhwal

Garhwal is known as a part of Dev Bhumi, meaning the land of God. It has many holy places and rivers. It has ﬁve places for the worship of Vishnu, called Panch Badri. These are Vishal Badri (Badrinath), Yogadhyan Badri, Bhavishya Badri, Vriddha Badri and Adi Badri. Garhwal also has ﬁve places for worshipping Shiva (Panch Kedar). These are Kedarnath, Madhyamaheshwar, Tungnath, Rudranath and Kalpeshwar. There are ﬁve places of conﬂuence of two rivers (Panch Prayag). These are Vishnuprayag (Dhaula Ganga and Alaknanda), Nandaprayag (Nandakini and Alaknanda), Karnaprayag (Pindar Ganga and Alaknanda), Rudraprayag (Mandakini and Alaknanda) and Devprayag (Bhagirathi and Alaknanda). At Devprayag, Bhagirathi and Alaknanda merge, and the new river is called Ganga.

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8th February 2016

The Web of Network and Communication – Indian Railways

Indian Railways is one of the largest and the busiest railway networks in the world, which employs both long distance and suburban railway trains. It operates a total of about 8,702 trains transporting about 15 million passengers daily across 25 states. It has over 1.6 million people in its services.

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8th February 2016

How do windmills work?

Windmills convert wind energy into mechanical energy that could be used for generating electricity or do mechanical work. The windmills are giant structures that have fans which are designed in a similar fashion as the fans of aircrafts. The blades of the fans are such that they enable rotation in an anticlockwise direction. So most windmills of the world turn in an anticlockwise direction.

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