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World Heritage Sites

Play this interactive game to know the 10 countries that have the maximum number of heritage sites,

A World Heritage Site is a landmark or an area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance. The sites are judged to contain “cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity”. As of June 2020, a total of 1,121 World Heritage Sites (869 cultural, 213 natural, and 39 mixed properties) exist across 167 countries.

Play this game and arrange the countries in order of number of sites they each have. Arrange from most to least.

Indelible imprint on history

How did books come to be what they are today? Click here to find out…

Do you know how books used to be made long ago? Each book was written by hand! Palm leaves, bottles of ink, quills, soft scratchy sounds of scholars and students writing away…

Since producing a book was a tedious process, not many were made. And not many people could afford one.

But all that changed with Johannes Gutenberg’s invention.

Find out how one man brought in a printing revolution!

Equipped for an emergency

How much do you know about the contents of a first-aid kit? Find out…

Almost all of us have used a first-aid kit at some point of time. Hence, its importance is well-known. It is necessary for all us to have a first-aid box in our homes, and even while travelling. So, do you know what are the top 10 important contents of your box? Well, try your hand at this word search to find out.


Real power

(Part #6) The minutest of elements have the power to create the most powerful energy. Are you as surprised as Meghnath is when he finds out?


Ilustration: Sahil Upalekar

Megnath hears about Hanuman’s perseverance and is even more motivated to learn about flight controls.

Ravana: Son, flight techniques will help you fly these machines. But you must gain more knowledge become stronger and better than me.

Megnath: How? Who will teach me what you don’t know?

Ravana: There are four beings who are the greatest in the universe. There is much you can gain from them.

Megnath: Who are they?

Ravana: Lord Brahma, the creator of the Universe; Lord Vishnu, who protects it; Lord Shiva, the one who destroys all that is unwanted; and…

Ravana hesitates…

Megnath: Who is the fourth, Dad?

Ravana: I always believed that Shiva is the strongest being until I realised there is someone more powerful than him — his wife Goddess Kali.

Megnath: Women are truly strong, Dad! Do you know that a normal mortal body can bear only 45 del (units) of pain but, during childbirth, a woman feels up to 57 del of pain?

Ravana: It’s incredible!

***

Megnath: I will start gaining knowledge from these four gods. But what should I learn from them?

Ravana: Something that will make you the most powerful living being — the technologies behind their powerful weapons.

Megnath: Oh! What are those?

Ravana: From Vishnu learn about the Agni astra (guns) — the weapon which can destroy one person instantly, and Narayana astra (missiles), which can destroy a whole army in an instant. From Brahma, learn about the Brahma astra (nuclear fission bombs). From Shiva get the Pasupata astra (nuclear fusion bombs).

Megnath: Daddy, what about Kali?

Ravana: I am yet to discover the secret of her strength. Hopefully, we will find out soon.

***

Megnath: Okay, Dad. By the way, I have seen guns and missiles. But what are Brahma astra and Pasupata astra?

Ravana: Brahma astra is a nuclear fission bomb. Nuclear fission a way of producing high amounts of energy by splitting a heavy nucleus into two lighter nuclei.

Megnath: Isn’t a nucleus the centre of an atom?

Ravana: That’s right. It is the small, dense region that contains positively charged protons and neutrons that have no charge. The outer shell has negatively charged electrons.

Megnath: What is nuclear fusion?

Ravana: Fusion is the opposite of fission. Nuclear fusion means to combine two light nuclei to create high energy.

Megnath: I am confused. How can splitting and combining nuclei create so much destructive energy?

Ravana: That’s the beauty of physics. By the way, your body is made up of 7 octillion atoms. An octillion is 7 followed by 27 zeros. Imagine, how much energy you have!

Megnath: Wow! But, if both fission and fusion produce such destructive energy, why should I learn about them?

Ravana: I only asked you to learn about them; not use the knowledge for destructive purposes. You can use this science to create something constructive like how Lord Brahma created humans with 7 octillion atoms of energy.

Megnath: I understand.

Ravana: Don’t ever think that having destructive weapons will make you powerful. Many of our ancestors failed because of that assumption. Being constructive will makes you more powerful. So, use the knowledge you gain for constructive purposes only.

Megnath: You totally changed my perspective, Dad! Technology and knowledge can make people stronger and this, in turn, powers a nation’s growth and subsequently that of the entire world and human race. This is the real meaning of becoming strong!

Ravana is surprised by Megnath’s ability to understand and process the learning he receives. Megnath starts to pray to gods to gain knowledge. But he doesn’t know that Goddess Kali is going to bless him with an unknown weapon that will make him the most powerful warrior in Treta Yuga!

The author is the founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras incubated ed-tech start-up that offers Air Science workshops for children between five and 14 years.

***
Based on your reading of the story, can you drag and drop the names of the different parts of an atom into the corresponding boxes?

Few of a kind

Did you know that there is a country that has a population of a mere 800 people? Find out more with this interactive task.

India is the second most populated country in the world. China is the only country that has more people than India. Living in a country of more than a billion people largely influences our way of life.

Did you know that there are countries that have such few people that even some cities around the world have more people than them? Most of these countries are also really small in size.

Here are the seven least populated countries in the world based on estimated population. Scroll through the list to read about them and complete the interactive task at the end.

Cooking up books

Use books as a source to of inspiration to create your own culinary masterpiece. Do you know the names of these books?

As much as cooking is fun, we can’t cook all the time. So, how about reading about food instead? Reading is a great way to get your imaginations fired up into creating not only amazing existing foods but also to create something entirely new.

The following are some examples of books that have to do with food that you can consider adding to your bookshelf. Read what it’s about and try to guess the name of the book. Turn the card over to see the name of the book.

Unique portable magic

Here’s a great collection of books written by Indian authors. Have you read these books? If you haven’t then it is time you did.

We are spoilt for choice today, compared to, say, 40 years ago. The Indian publishing industry has been busy and, with many talented authors, I bet you don’t have much time to spare. Books by foreign authors are interesting as they open up a world that is unknown to you. Whereas, books by Indian authors tell you stories about the animals, places and people you know. These are stories you can relate to and hence enjoy them more.

Let’s play this memory game and see how familiar you are with these authors and their books. If you aren’t then it’s time to pick up these books and read them.

Sporting times

How many of these games and sports can you identify from the clues?

With everyone stuck indoors thanks to the pandemic, here’s a crossword that reminds of you the many games you once played outside the home. There are a couple of clues for indoor games as well. How many of these do you know? Play on …