Crack the code of healthy snacking with this nutty word search! How many names can you spot?
Nuts are a powerhouse of nutrients essential for growth and development. They are rich in healthy fats, packed with fibre, and low in calories. This wordsearch has names of different kinds of nuts hidden in the grid. How many can you spot?
Do we even think about the tube that contains the toothpaste we use every day?
All of us brush our teeth first thing in the morning. We squeeze the toothpaste onto the brush and off we go! Have you ever thought of how the tube that contains the paste came into being? Here’s the story of the toothpaste tube:
Stack it, pack it and snack on it … who doesn’t love a yummy sandwich? Did you know we have a special day to celebrate this dish?
When you are hungry, and there are no snacks at home, what do you do? Reach out for two slices of bread, put whatever you can find on one slice, cover it with the other and eat it. Right? Yes, the sandwich is one of the most versatile dishes ever invented and it is for this reason that there is now a day (World Sandwich Day on November 3) to honour it.
Story
Did you know that the sandwich has a history? Its story goes back to 1762. John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich was an avid gambler and did not like to leave the table for his meal. He told his servants to bring him meat between two slices of bread, so he could eat with one hand and play with the other hand. Also, there was no need for cutlery. Seeing this, his friends began to order “What Sandwich is having” and the name of the dish became ‘sandwich’. The sandwich soon gained popularity. It was convenient and could be carried around easily and you could use any filling you wanted. So here are two popular sandwich recipes that you can make for yourself.
Factorisation is all about breaking down big numbers into their smallest building blocks! Watch this video to know more.
When we write, we express our thoughts in sentences. But do we ever stop to think of the kind of sentence we use?
A valley in a desert full of fossils of marine mammals! That’s the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wadi al-Hitan in Egypt.
Imagine a huge site full of fossils from another time. That’s Wadi al-Hitan, also known as Whale Valley. Located in the deserts of western Egypt, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is known for its fossils of the earliest whales. The archaeoceti, an extinct sub-order of whales, is a crucial link in the story of how the whales evolved from a land animal into the marine mammal that we know of today.
The area contains a huge number of fossils in an extremely well-preserved state. In some cases, even the stomach contents are available. Apart from early whales, the fossils of sharks, crocodiles, sea cows, saw fish, turtles and rays have been found allowing scientists to understand the environment and ecology of the area during this time.
First discovered in 1902-03, Wadi al-Hitan remained undisturbed for around 80 years because the area was difficult to reach. As four-wheel drives became available in the 1980s, there was a revival of interest and fossil collectors began to converge to the site. This led to the removal of bones and the Egyptian government brought it under the Wadi el-Rayan Protected Area to conserve the remains.
Over 1500 skeletons of marine vertebrates have been discovered in the valley, with whale fossils ranging from bones to complete and partial skeletons. The two most common are Basilosaurus and the Dorudon. Small hind limbs and teeth similar to that of carnivorous land animals are highlights of the fossils. Skeletons of three species of sea cow were also found showing features that are not seen in the modern animal. The site also contains the bones of Moeritherium, a primitive form of the elephant. The oldest fossil – of a pelican from the late Eocene period – was discovered in 2021. A large log full of tubular shipworm fossils can also be seen.
In an attempt to protect the valley, four-wheel drives are being phased out and replaced by camel rides or trekking by foot. Visitors are restricted to specific guided tours along prescribed trails. A public park, open to tourists, has walkways for people to walk on and view the fossils.
Fun fact
The Garet Gohannam mountains that lie behind the valley are known as Mountain of Hell because the setting sun throws an unearthly red light on the range.
Now that you’ve read all about the Valley of Whales, here’s an activity for you. These words all appear in the story. Can you place them in their correct place in the grid?
A memory game to learn about the meanings behind the names of Indian states.
The names of Indian states are often rooted in language, geography, and local culture. For example, Andhra Pradesh is derived from “Andhra”, an ancient tribe of that region, and “Pradesh” meaning region or state. Together, it means “the land of the Andhras.” Similarly, Maharashtra can be split into “Maha”, meaning great, and “Rashtra”, meaning nation, together forming the “Great Nation.”
This memory game is based on the names of Indian States. Match the names of the States with the meaning.
Meghnath explains the concept of frequency and communicating through resonance and oscillations along with an experiment.
Story so far: While telling Ravana’s sons how Ravana and Kubera had a difference of opinion about using the Pushpaka Vimana, Prahasta brings up Brain-Computer Interface and its application in the 21st century.
Atikaya: So, I can kind of visualise how it works but how did Vishwakarma decode it and make it work in our Tretayuga? And how is Neuralink, which lies in the future, connected to the Pushpaka Vimana?
Prahasta: In the 21st century, the technology used by Elon Musk and his team involved artificially generated electromagnetic waves and artificially generated electricity. But Vishwakarma was a genius. He wanted to use naturally existing electricity, electromagnetic frequencies, sound resonance and make it much more nature friendly.
Akshayakumara: But how?
Prahasta: You know the story of how Meghnath met Vishnu in Vaikuntha, don’t you?
Trishira: He used brain waves, electricity generated by the body, sound frequencies generated by the vocal chords in combination with a crystal with specific frequencies to match those from Vaikunta.
Prahastha: Exactly. Vishwakarma used a similar technique.
Akshayakumara: I have never understood this concept of frequency. I know it’s used in several places and is connected to sound and resonance. Can you explain it?
Prahasta: Let’s ask Meghnath to do so.
Meghnath: It’s quite simple. Frequency means “how often something happens”. So for repetitions of sound waves, we say sound frequency; for repetition of water waves, it is water frequency. Similarly you have brain wave frequency and so on.
Akshayakumara: Okay but how does the same frequency transfer messages or data?
Meghnath: In Nature, anything with the same frequency – atoms, metals, crystals – can communicate with each other. There are various levels.
Akshayakumara: What do you mean?
Meghnath: Okay let me simplify this. A human can communicate easily with another human. Similarly, a dolphin can communicate with other dolphins. All living creatures can communicate with their own kind. A metal can communicate with other metals using resonance. A crystal can do so by using its vibrations. But making brain waves communicate with each other is more complex. Let me show you.
Meghnath goes into the ancient shrine and brings out two tridents. He holds them both close to each other and asks Prahasta to hit one with a hammer. Both hammers emit a sound.
Meghnath: In the science of the future, this is called resonance of a tuning fork. Instead of metals, if you use crystals, there will be oscillations. These will be used for to synchronise watches and for communication in satellites. Crystals have piezoelectric property, which helps them generate electrical signals.
Image: Getty Images/iStockPhoto
Prahasta: Slow down. What do you mean by piezoelectric?
Meghnath: Piezoelectric means stones that have movement of electrons.
Atikaya: The movement of electrons is electricity.
Meghnath: Right. So when you disturb the crystals, at a certain point, the electrons within them produce movement, which in turn produces current.
Akshayakumara: How do they communicate?
Meghnath: Just like the resonance of the metals, which I showed you with the triddents. But these crystals generate longitudinal ultrasonic waves (sonic means sound), which can’t heard normally. Using this ultrasonic resonance, we can make the crystal oscillators communicate. The process of making a crystal generate an electric field is called the piezoelectric effect. There is also inverse inverse piezoelectric effect, which involves sending electric voltage to create the vibration and resonance in crystals.
Akshayakumara: All right. But how did Vishwakarma use it?
Meghnath: You know how the devas communicate with each other, right?,/p>
Akshayakumara: Yes. Even Guru Sukracharya, father and you do it.
Meghnath: And have you seen our crowns?
Akshayakumara: Crystals in the crown. You all use a technique to energise those crystals by electrical pulses created by the body and cause inverse piezoelectric effect and use the ultrasonic resonance to communicate. Is that it?
Meghnath: Very smart. Let me show you a simple experiment for this.
How to move objects through sound
The author is the founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras IC graduated ed-tech company and a Ph.D. research scholar in Education at NITTTR.
These four beautiful native plants light up the dreary winter in India with their beautiful flowers.
While winter is famous for a diverse variety of migratory birds that land on Indian shores, there are also some plants that flower during this season. Here are four winter-blooming plants commonly seen in India that add colour and life during the cold.
Night-flowering jasmine (Parijat)
Roam around any garden or orchard in your neighbourhood at night, and you will notice an enticingly sweet and lingering fragrance. This is the specialty of the Night-Flowering Jasmine shrub. The beautiful white flowers, which are shaped like stars, adorn gardens and orchards all over India. Soon, streets will be decorated by a white-and-orange carpet when these flowers bloom and fall off. This en masse flowering only in early winter: September to December! Apart from butterflies, did you know an interesting fact about how these flowers are pollinated? Thrips are tiny, slender nocturnal insects that use their needle-like mouths to suck plant tissue, pollinating the Parijat in the process!
Purple Orchid Tree (Kaniar)
The Kaniar flower looks like something out of a fairy tale! The five smooth long petals look like butterfly wings. The flowers are a delightful mix of purple and pink with faint white streaks and a touch of golden yellow at the heart. When these flowers bloom from September to November, they turn the whole tree into a magical, unmissable explosion of colour! During this time, the tree is abuzz with bees, its pollinator buddies! It is popular with farmers as goat feed too!
Kydia (Pula)
With lantern-shaped white flowers boasting a lovely yellow inner side, the flowers of this plant bloom in winter. They are the favourite of many bees and flies pollinating them. Butterflies like White Branded Ace munch on the plant as caterpillars, while adults of Chocolate Pansy and Angled Pierrot suck on its delicious nectar. Even the largest land mammal, the massive elephant, loves to eat its green stems! This tree thrives in both the dry conditions of Central India and the heavy rainfall of the Western Ghats, adapting to the toughest environments effortlessly!
Country Mallow (Bala)
Commonly called Country Mallow or Bala, this tiny but vital native herb is found across grasslands and pastures in India. Its small, bright yellow flowers bloom mainly in the late monsoon and early winter, infusing warm colours into the surroundings. Bala’s nectar attracts insects like butterflies, bees and wasps, while the flowers provide food for beetles. The leaves are heart-shaped and fuzzy. Bees like the Stingless Bee and Indian Honey Bee pollinate it; always reliable “beeing” on the job!
What are your plans for November? Use this planner to figure out what to do this month.
