Summer Explorer Challenge: Contests
Entries to the Summer Explorer Challenge Contests close on May 31, 2017! Have you participated yet?
Archives: Articles
Six events in Sport
Busy with the holidays in May? Catch up with what’s been happening in the world of sport!
May is arguably peak summer, but there was enough happening around in the sports world! Click/hover over the images to find out more!
Hike and Trek – 5
It’s important not to pack for ‘IF’ situations when you go on a high-altitude trek! Watch this video for more tips.
Wonder Women
History has seen some pretty amazing women. How well do you know about some of these stalwarts?
This crossword is based on the wonderful women who have had an impact on history. Try it out to see how many you know!
Musical Instruments – 3
Welcome back to some more notes on music. Let’s take a walk on the streets!
This week, we shall look at music on the streets! You would have seen some amazing street artists singing or performing various instruments on pavements, roads and public spaces. More often than not, it is months or years of practice that makes them so good at what they are.
Watch the video and get to know three interesting instruments from various parts of the world! Can you also think of some interesting Indian instruments?
Thinking Skills – 1
How good are you at solving math problems and puzzles? We take you through some essential skills needed to crack some difficult cases!
Some of us have an interest and build the ability to crack math problems and puzzles. A few of us follow intuition and the rest use logic. Let us look at a few important thinking skills needed to solve complex cases through this series. Scroll through…
Design from Nature – 4
Building a fast train? Take inspiration from a bird that dives at great speeds and innovate…
This week we look at something that moves really fast – the bullet train! The Shinkansen bullet train in Japan can travel at over 320 kmph. Countries like Japan also have a restriction on noise levels apart from all the headache that you can get from going at high speeds.
When the train comes out of a tunnel, the air pressure is built up in waves and the nose emerging can produce a thunderclap heard from far away. In the 1990s, a bird-watcher and engineer Eiji Nakatsu, took inspiration from how the kingfisher smoothly darts into water to catch fish. He redesigned the nose of the train to resemble a 50 feet long steel kingfisher beak. It solved the noise problem, and also reduced the power consumption at greater speeds!
The Summer Explorer Challenge is open!
The ultimate summer challenge has begun! Have you joined yet? Read on to find out more…
For the Love of Books
April 23 is World Book Day – a day to indulge yourself and read to your heart’s content. Let’s find out more about this celebration of reading!
Design from Nature – 3
What makes a lizard carry its own weight along high walls and defy gravity? Understand the phenomenon behind super glue…
Let’s look at to our third inspiration – from geckos to super glue! To view the image, move the slider from the right hand side towards the left on the image.
Did you know that the idea for super glue comes from the gecko(lizard)? The feet of the gecko are covered with millions of microscopic hairs and in between these hairs is a field of attractive forces that makes it so strong that one single toe can carry eight times the weight of the gecko.
This phenomenon has been copied by scientists and they ended up creating super glue. Super glue can be used to glue objects over 1 kg onto smooth surfaces. It can be used to glue things in places where you can’t use wet glue such as in space! Spiderman might have wanted to discover this earlier!
[Images: Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons]