Brush up on your general knowledge with this quiz. Recall events from the past and more recent events as well. Do you know the answers to these?
Quiz Whizz – April 27, 2021
Take this quiz to brush up on some general knowledge.
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My Monthly Planner: May 2021
Discover interesting facts about stone fruits and download your own calendar to keep yourself organised.
Statescan – April 26, 2021
There’s so much happening around you. Get your dose of news here.
There is so much happening in the country. The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has hit everyone hard. Hospitals across major cities are running out of oxygen supplies. There was a furore in Thoothukodi when locals opposed the move to allow Vedanta’s sealed Sterlite Copper plant to resume operations. The Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education made yet another move in taking its operations online. Read on…
Photos: Wikimedia Commons, Flickr, The Hindu Archives.
Hooked by the book
Check out these fun facts about books from around the world…
World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day, or International Day of the Book, is a yearly event by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in a move to promote reading, publishing, and copyright. The first World Book Day was celebrated on April 23, 1995.
There’s so many fascinating facts about the world of books and authors that are left unexplored. Check out this video for some of them.
Animal academy
Get ready to be bowled over by some amazingly smart animals, as you solve these picture puzzles.
From pigs that play video games to bees that hold dance-offs to make decisions, there are several animals that can surprise us with their intelligence. While humans often take pride in being the smartest on Earth, many other creatures have proven to be incredibly clever, sometimes more than we can imagine.
Here are some brainiacs from the animal world. Unravel their images as you read about them.
Ravishing ravens
These black birds are so common that we barely give them a second glance. But did you know that they are actually super smart? Studies have shown that ravens have the capacity to plan for the future, can have abstract thoughts, and often show empathy to each other. Sometimes, they can even infer what another animal might be thinking. In fact, the entire corvid family — magpies, jays, ravens, and crows — is known to be clever. Crows are believed to be as smart as a seven-year-old child.
Dazzling dolphins
Dolphins are capable of much more than just swimming around in the water. They have large brains in comparison to the size of their body, making them some of the smartest animals in the world. They can recognise themselves in a mirror, communicate through language, use tools, solve problems, and more. Highly social creatures, they care for each other.
Exceptional elephants
The largest animal on land is also among the smartest. Elephants are known to possess an incredible memory. Food and water sources, voices, faces, smells, experiences … they are capable of remembering it all. They help injured animals and show grief when members of the family die. They can even imitate sounds and recognise themselves in the mirror.
Charming chimpanzees
They are our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom, so it comes as no surprise that chimps are incredibly intelligent. They share a lot of human traits. They can use tools, solve problems and display emotions. Besides recognising themselves in a mirror, they can also be taught sign language to communicate with humans.
Resourceful raccoons
Raccoons are known to be notoriously clever. In terms of IQ among mammals, they rank above cats and just below monkeys. Studies have shown that they can remember solutions to problems for around three years. These mischief makers can even pick locks!
Proficient parrots
Next time you call someone a “bird brain”, think again. Birds like the parrot are known to be really intelligent! The African Grey, for instance, can learn plenty of words and communicate with humans. In fact, some parrots are as smart as human children – that’s you!
Get moving
Up for a challenge? Guess all the exercises in the video…
Before any big workout or exercise, there are some basic exercises you should be familiar with to warm up. These are also great as a workout on their own. Watch the video and see if you can guess what these exercises are called.
Celestial symphony
Everything in the Solar System revolves around the Sun. The Sun is a star – a massive ball of hot gas that gives off light and heat. Not everything in the Solar system orbits directly around the Sun. The Moon orbits around the Earth.
The planet Earth on which we live is part of the solar system. The Sun is a star at the centre of the solar system, and planets and other bodies revolve around it. The nine planets, in order from the Sun, are: the inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and the outer planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. A good way to remember them is My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.
Most of the planets are named after ancient gods. Mercury gets its name from the Roman messenger to the gods. Venus, the brightest, is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Earth is named after the soil beneath our feet. Mars is the red planet, named after the Roman god of war. Saturn, thought by the Romans to be the slowest, is named after their god of time. Uranus is the Greek god of the sky and the father of Saturn. Neptune, a deep sea-blue colour, is named after the Roman god of the sea.
The scientific definition of a planet came up only recently. The discovery of other solar-system “wanderers” rivalling Pluto in size caused scientists to ask what wasn’t a planet. In 2006, they came up with three conditions for planethood: A planet must orbit the sun, be large enough so that its own gravity moulds it into a spherical shape, and it must have an orbit free of other small objects. Unfortunately Pluto, the “ninth planet” failed to meet the third condition and downgraded to a dwarf planet.
However, in this memory game, Pluto too has been included.
A taste of tales
Try these recipes of ummy dishes that feature in books for you to try and taste, just like your favourite characters would have…
“Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight!” cried Grandpa George in the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. “It’s the best of them all! You’ll just love it!”
But what is this delicious-sounding dish? Is it a milkshake, cake, lollipop, pie…? It’s a Wonka bar! Though the recipe is never shared, fans across the world have been inspired by it enough to create their own recipes based on its description.
Books feature many dishes which sometimes become as important as a character, are significant to the plot, mark an important episode or are just a passing reference. Nevertheless, there are so many memorable dishes – fictional and real – in our favourite books.
Here are four recipes inspired by books for you to try at home! (Scroll right to see them all)
Become a Librarian
Imagine your life with books, people and a large storehouse of knowledge. Excited? Read on!
Do you like the world of books? Do you prefer the company of books and stories? Well, then this might be just the job you would take to take up when you grow up. Check out the image slider to find out more.
Ten on ten
There are only 10 four-letter countries in the world. Can you guess them all? Take this quiz and find out.
There are 195 countries in the world according to the United Nations. Only 10 of these countries have names with four letters. Do you know all of them?
Use the clues in the quiz below and guess their names.