Get to know about volcanoes, as you play this memory game.
There are many stunning volcanoes around the world that you can travel to see. Yes, they are active but you can still visit them. Standing on the rim of an active volcanic cauldron may take some nerve, but play this memory game and see which one will top your list.
How much do you know about teachers and the world of teaching? Try your hand at this crossword to find out.
School, college, classrooms, staffroom, exams, class tests…. what do all these things have in common? Well, teachers, of course!
Here is a crossword for you to try out to see how much you know about their world.
These two dining tables may look the same at first glance, but they actually aren’t. Use your eye for detail and find out all the differences.
Two chefs at a restaurant were asked to set the table in the exact same way, but they ended up making some tiny changes. Can you spot what the differences are?
There are five differences between the two tables below. Click on all those you can spot in Table #2.
How has our listening of music changed over the years? Find out with this interactive article
As you tune into the latest songs on your favourite music app, did you ever think of how the devices through which we listen to music evolved through the years?
Here’s a quick run through. Let’s start at the very beginning:
1857: Leon Scott de Martinville invented the Phonautograph. This could record sounds but not play them back.
1877: Thomas Alva Edison used this basic design to create the Phonograph, which recorded and played back sounds including human voices.
1887: With Emile Berliner’s Gramophone, people could play recorded music through a disk.
1905: The 78 RPM Standard record is introduced. This ensured that the records would play correctly. This record lasted until 1940 when the LP came into existence.
1954: Music on the go happened with the Transistor Radio. But of course one had to depend on the programmes being broadcast.
1962: Speakers were combined with a record player to bring out the first portable stereo. Now folks could take the record player around with them.
1963: The advent of the audio cassettes allowed more portability. Also people could save the specific kind of music they wanted, giving rise to mix tapes.
1979: Sony introduced the Walkman, a personal music player that had an audio cassette player along with headphones.
1983: In came the Compact Disc, which offered a better quality of recording than the audio cassette and also lasted longer. By 1984, portable CD players also made their appearance.
1998: Devices continued to get smaller with the MP3 player, which played audio files. This made all the CD and Walkman obsolete.
2001: Digital music went up another notch with Apple introducing its first iPod. In 2007, the iPod Touch not only allowed one to play music but also had other features such as apps, games and more.
And, now of course, you don’t need a separate device to listen to music. Your smartphone and music apps let you to listen to whatever you want, wherever you are.
Now that you’ve read this, try this interactive puzzle. Below are images of the various devices you’ve read about. Arrange them in order from earliest to latest.
Try your hand at this Teacher’s Day-themed quiz. How many can you get right?
Test how much you know with these Teacher’s Day themed-questions.
Fitness and a picture version of sudoku equals fun!
Fitness, more so in times like this pandemic where movement and play of any sort is restricted, is a necessary part of our lives. We all need some sort of exercise to stay fit. There are multiple ways of doing this.
You can either do full body exercises where, as the name suggests, your whole body gets a great workout, or, you can work on specific muscles like your shoulders, back, or even legs.
Some easy-to-do ones are hula hoops, stretching, yoga, lifting light weights (make sure you do this under expert guidance), or just running.
Now, here’s a fun game for you based on these fitness-related exercises. This is a picdoku; just like a sudoku, but with pictures instead of numbers. This game has six exercises that can help you on your fitness journey. Can you solve it correctly?
Why do some months have 30 days, and others 31? Find out with this video…
What did it take for the Indian medal winners at the Olympics to succeed? A video that tells you how hard they worked.
(Part #11): On his way to meet Guru Sukracharya, Meghnath is amazed to learn and experience new ways of flying. And there’s a surprise in store…
Ravana is amazed by Meghnath’s skill in building rockets out of sugar and potassium nitrate and realises that this may be because of his interaction with Lord Vishnu at Vaikuntam. He shares his amazement with Mayasura.
Ravana: Uncle, I had asked Meghnath to learn the secrets behind the world’s most powerful weapons from the three Gods — Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, by praying to them. It seems like he has already achieved what took me years to do!
Mayasura: That’s wonderful! With his potential, he needs a good teacher. You should enroll him with our guru Sukracharya.
Ravana: That is a good idea! Let’s do that right away…
Guru Sukracharya lived on Venus. So, the three of them set off in the new flying machine, Vaihayasa, which was designed by Mayasura for King Bali and was capable of interstellar and interplanetary travel.
Meghnath: Grandpa, are we really going to outer space?! It’s the first time I will be crossing the ozone layer!
Mayasura: Though you didn’t travel physically, you travelled all the way to Vaikunta through your dedication and hard work. Guru Sukracharya is impressed.
Meghnath: What?! Guru Sukracharya! He trains only the strongest Asura warriors, right? Am I not too young to train under him?
Mayasura: Yes, but there is a surprise for you. Just wait for it.
As they continue talking, the aircraft crosses the Stratosphere, the Mesosphere and enters the Ionosphere. Mayasura jumps into the cockpit and presses a button. The wings open out and Meghanth sees a bunch of batteries and vacuum tubes lined inside. They start to glow.
Meghnath: What is happening, Daddy?
Ravana: This is a vehicle that uses a modern technology — electric propulsion and ion propulsion — to move.
Meghnath: How does that work?
Ravana: Till you cross the Karmen line — 100 km above the ground — the effect of gravity is greater. So, we need fuels like solid and liquid propellants. Once we travel beyond the pull of gravity, our vehicle becomes light. So, we need only a minimum push to propel our vehicle. This is achieved by using ion propulsion technology. Do you know what an ion is?
Meghanth: Yes. An ion is a particle — atom or molecule — with a net electrical charge. When we pull an electron out of it, the ion becomes a cation, gaining a positive charge. It becomes an anion when it gains one or more electrons, acquiring a negative charge. Because of their opposite electric charges, cations and anions attract each other.
Ravana: You are right. The same ions, when placed close to plates with an opposite charge, move swiftly towards the plates creating a wave of movement called Ionic wind, which is capable of thrusting a spacecraft forward.
Meghnath: Wow! So high-velocity ions are the space’s equivalents of high-velocity air on ground!
Ravana: Exactly! Some spacecraft use the Ion Thruster Engine to extract electrons out of atoms to ionise them using electricity.
By now, their aircraft has crossed 384,000 km, travelling beyond the moon. Suddenly, a huge square sheet pops out of the aircraft’s body. Both Meghnath and Ravana are awestruck!
Meghnath: What’s happening, Grandpa?
Ravana: I’ve never seen this before!
(An artist’s concept of solar sail in space. Photo: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center)
The Vaihasaya moves closer to Venus, the realm of Sukracharya. Meghanth is amazed by its beauty. Venus looks like a polished crystal ball with a thick atmosphere over it. As they move closer, Meghanth sees something that makes his jaw drop!
Meghnath: Tripura!! The floating city!
Mayasura: Get ready to experience more magic, my boy…
(Illustration: Sahil Upalekar)
The author is the founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras incubated ed-tech startup that offers Air Science workshops for children between five and 14 years.
Their creators have so thoroughly imagined some fictional places that you quickly forget that they are not real. Can you guess the names of these cities, towns or villages?
A fictional city or town exists only on the silver screen, or between the pages of a book or in your dreams. More often than not, they are fantastic places and so cool that you want your pack your bags and move there. But, sadly, these are places to which no car can drive you to or airplane can fly you to. It is a place to experience only by reading or watching a movie.
Let’s take a look at some of these magical places.
