COLEUS LEAVES

Solenostemon is a genus of perennial plants, native to tropical Africa, Asia, Australia, the East Indies, The Malay Archipelago, and the Philippines. They are commonly known as Coleus, a name which derives from an earlier classification under the genus name coleus, species of which are currently included in either solenostemon or another genus, Plectranthus.

PINNATE

Pinnate is a term used to describe feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis in plant or animal structures, and comes from the Latin word pinna meaning “feather”, “wing” or “fin”. A similar term is pectinate, which refers to a comb-like arrangement of parts. The term contrasts somewhat with palmate, in which the parts or structures radiate out from a common point.

JUSCELINO KUBITSCHEK BRIDGE

The Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge, also known as the President JK Bridge or just the JK Bridge, crosses Lake Paranoa in Brasilia, D.F. It is named for Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, former president of Brazil, who in the late 1950s decided to build Brasilia as the new capital of the country. It was designed by architect Alexandra Chan and structural engineer Mario Vila Verde.

BOX GIRDER BRIDGE

A box girder bridge is a bridge in which the main beams comprise girders in the shape of a hollow box. The box girder normally comprises either prestressed concrete, structural steel, or a composite of steel and reinforced concrete. The box is typically rectangular or trapezoidal in cross-section. Box girder bridges are commonly used for highway flyovers and for modern elevated structures of light rail transport.

CABLE-STAYED BRIDGE

There are two major classes of cable-stayed bridges: In a harp design, the cables are made nearly parallel by attaching cables to various points on the towers so that the height of attachment of each cable on the tower is similar to the distance from the tower along the roadway to its lower attachment. In a fan design, the cables all connect to or pass over the top of the towers.

CANTILEVER BRIDGE

A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using cantilevers, structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from structural steel, or box girders built from prestressed concrete.

SAFAVID BRIDGE

The Si-o-se Pol, which means 33 Bridge or the Bridge of 33 Arches), also called the Allah-Verdi Khan Bridge, is one of the eleven bridges of Esfahan, Iran. It is highly ranked as being one of the most famous examples of Safavid bridge design.

WADI LEBAN BRIDGE

The Wadi Leban Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia designed by Seshadri Srinivasan. It was built between 1993 and 1997.

DUCK

Duck is the common name for a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than the swans and geese, and may be found in both fresh water and sea water.

SWANS

Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six to seven species of swan in the genus Cygnus; in addition there is another species known as a swan, the Coscoroba Swan, although this species is no longer considered related to the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, though ‘divorce’ does sometimes occur, particularly following nesting failure. The number of eggs in each clutch ranges from three to eight.

GOOSE BIRD

Goose (Plural: Geese) is the English name for a considerable number of birds, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family alos includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller.

A number of other waterbirds, mainly related to the shelducks, have “goose” as part of their name.

RANAKPUR

Ranakpur – The Jain Temples in Aravali
Ranakpur in the state of Rajasthan is one of the five most important pilgrimage sites of Jainism. It is home to an exceptionally beautiful temple complex in the Aravali ranges and a must visit for the tourists coming to this region.

DILWARA TEMPLE

The Jain Dilwara temples of India are located about 2½ kilometres form Mount Abu, Rajasthan’s only hill station. These temples dating back from the 11th to the 13th century AD are world famous for their stunning use of marble. The five legendary marble temples of Dilwara are the sacred pilgrimage of the Jains. They are an overwhelming blend of simple beauty and exquisite elegance. The marble temples have an opulent entranceway. The simplicity in architecture verily reminds one that Jainism as a religion “encouraged honesty and frugality”. The temples reside amidst memmerizing surroundings of mango trees and wooden hills. A high wall, shimmering luminous in the sunlight, shrouds the temple complex.

SRAVANABELAGOLA

Sravanabelagola, a great centre for Jain culture is situated at a distance of about 100 kms from Mysore and is famous for its colossal statue of Gomateshwara who is also referred to as Lord Bahubali. Carved out of monolithic stone, the imposing 17 metre high statue of Gomata towers stands in majestic splendour and is visible even from a distance of 20 kms. Starkly simple, the beautifully chiselled features of the statue embody serenity. His perfect lips are turned out at the corners with a hint of a smile, viewing the world with detachment.

Sravanabelagola means ‘the monk on the top of the hill’ and hermits, mystics and ascetics have journeyed and lived there since at least the third century BC.

FISH

Fishes are aquatic animals, cold-blooded animal. Their body is covered by scales and has two sets of paired or unpaired fins, one or two dorsal fins, an anal fin, and tail fin; has jaws. Fish has a streamlined body that allows it to swim rapidly; extracts oxygen from the water using gills. They are found abundantly in sea or fresh water. Fishes are oviparous, they shed their eggs and the eggs are fertilized outside of the female’s body by the male squirting milt onto or around them. Fish range in size from the 16 m (51 ft) whale shark to an 8 mm (just over ¼ of an inch) long stout infant fish.

SEA STAR

Sea stars are echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. The names “sea star” and “starfish” are sometimes differentiated, with “starfish” used in a broader sense to include the closely related brittle stars, which make up the class Ophiuroidea, as well as excluding sea stars which do not have five arms (have Many arms), such as the sun stars and cushion stars.

DOLPHIN

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in seventeen genera. They vary in size from 1.2 m (4 ft) and 40 kg (90 lb) (Maui’s Dolphin), up to 9.5 m (30 ft) and 10 tonnes (9.8 LT; 11 ST) (the Orca or Killer Whale). They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating fish and squid.

The family Delphinidae is the largest in the Cetacean order, and relatively recent; dolphins evolved about ten million years ago, during the Miocene. Dolphins are among the most intelligent animals and their often friendly appearance and seemingly playful attitude have made them popular in human culture.

PINNIPED

Pinnipeds (from Latin pinna, wing or fin) or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobendidae (the walrus), Otariidae (eared seals, including sea lions and fur seals), and Phocidae (earless seals). Formerly classified as a separate biological suborder, Pinnipedia is now sometimes considered a superfamily within Caniformia, a suborder in the Carnivora order, now sometimes considered a superfamily within Caniformia, a suborder in the Carnivora order.

FLOWER

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Magnoliophyta, also called angiosperms). The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds. The process begins with pollination, is followed by fertilization, leading to the formation and dispersal of the seeds.

Flower Morphology

Flowering plants are heterosporangiate, producing two types of reproductive spores. The pollen (male spores) and ovules (female spores) are produced in different organs, but the typical flower is a bisporangiate strobilus in that it contains both organs.

ROSE

A rose is a perennial flower shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species and comes in a variety of colours. The species form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. It is a common error to error to refer to roses having thorns.

PIG FEVER

Pig Fever is an easy to spread human influenza virus that has normal people talking in muffled voices and the good looking people looking like the ugly. Most airport workers at international airports, except in Trinidad and Tobago, are wearing face mask to reduce the risk of taking sick leave. We, in Trini, are smarter than that and need to look good regardless of the threat of:

Cough
Congestion
Nasal Congestion
Body Aches
Joint Pains
Fevers
Sore throat
Headaches
Fatigue
Decreased energy
Death is rare

These symptoms are nothing new to Trinis and a higher than normal amount of citizens suffer from all these symptoms on Mondays and sometimes even on Fridays so there is concern but not alarm. There are drugs but not easy access to them. There are hospitals but not compassion. There are sick days so they will be taken.

FEVER

(332) Fever means a high body temperature. It may occur with little or no other symptoms. The causes will in most cases be associated with bacterial or viral infections or, rarely stress.

SYMPTOMS:

All Pigs:
Vomiting
Temperature
Inappetence
No milk
Dehydration
Dullness / Lameness
Increased respiration
Reddening of skin. Blue skin.
Metritis
Mastitis
Abortion
Shivering

Causes / contributing factors
Mastitis or metritis
Retention of a dead pig.
Retention of after birth.
A bacterial septicaemia (e.g. erysipelas).
Flu or PRRS
Secondary bacterial infections associated with flu or PRRS.
Cystitis/pyelonephritis.
Acute stress or eclampsia.
Heat stroke.

CLINICAL SIGNS & TREATMENT

Usually the sow appears dull and sometimes shows a reddening of the skin. The respiratory rate may be raised. Clinically examinations will often indicate a cause and always look for the obvious first. Temperatures will range from 39-40ºC (103-109ºF).

TREATMENT
In most cases fevers in sows will be associated with bacterial infections and a broad spectrum antibiotic should always be used. Check the temperature at and 24 hours after treatment.

Broad acting antibiotics include, oxytetracycline, trimethoprim/sulpha, amoxicillin and penicillin / streptomycin.

PIG FEVER AND LIBRARIAN

Michaele Casey, Bernardsville librarian, once again asked Keiko to help her with this year's summer reading display, and Keiko came up with a design concept that incorporated her fondness for pigs. It was decided that pigs doing creative things would be the perfect visual accent to the summer reading theme. Obviously, Keiko was the first one to come down with "Pig Fever" because she worked feverishly for two months to create the piggies out of papier mache and other materials.

1936, BERLIN

The 1936 Olympic Games, held in Berlin, are best remembered for Adolf Hitler’s failed attempt to use them to prove his theories of Aryan racial superiority. As it turned out, the most popular hero of the Games was the African American Sprinter and long jumper Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals. 1936 saw the introduction of the torch relay, in which a lighted torch was carried from Olympia to the current site of the games.

1948, LONDON

In 1940 and 1944, the Olympics were not held die to World War II. The 1948 London Games were the first to be shown on home television, although very few people in Britain actually owned sets. 17 years old Bob Mathias of America won the decathlon only four months after taking up the sport. He is youngest Olympian to win a men’s athletics event.

1952, HELSINKI, FINLAND

The 1952 Olympics started in spectacular fashion with Paavo Nurmi, then aged 55, entering the stadium with the Olympic flame, and lighting the cauldron on the ground.

1956, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

The Melbourne Games were the first to be held in the southern hemisphere. Prior to 1956, the athletes in the closing ceremony marched by nation, as they did in the opening ceremony.

1960, ROME, ITALY

The Italians made the most of their dramatic history, holding the competitions in spectacular setting of the ancient sites.

1964, TOKYO

The Tokyo Games were the first to be held in Asia. The Japanese showcased their successful reconstruction after World War II by choosing as the final torchbearer Yoshinori Sakai, who was born in Hiroshima, the day that city was destroyed by an atomic bomb.

1968, MEXICO CITY

The Choice of Mexico City to host the Olympics was a controversial one because of the city’s high altitude, 2300m which meant that the air contained 30% less oxygen than at sea level. American Debbie Meyer became the first woman swimmer to win three individual golds at one Olympics.

1972, MUNICH, WEST GERMANY

Munich Games were the biggest of the century, setting records in all categories, with 195 events and 7173 athletes from 121 nations.

1976, MONTREAL

The Montreal Games were marred by an African boycott to protest the fact that the national rugby team of New Zealand had toured South Africa and New Zealand was scheduled to compete in the Olympics. 14 year old gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania caused a sensation when, for her performance on the uneven bars, she was awarded the first-ever perfect score of 10. The judges awarded her the maximum mark seven times.

1980, MOSCOW, U.S.S.R

The 1980 Olympics were held in Moscow. A U.S led boycott reduced the number of participating nations to 80, the lowest number since 1956.

1984, LOS ANGELES

A record 140 nations took part in the 1984 Olympics at Los Angeles. Carl Lewis won the 100m and 200m sprints and the long jump.

1988, SEOUL, KOREA

For the first time in 12 years, all leading Olympic nations except Cuba and Ethiopia took part in the Seoul Olympics. Although the drug disqualification of sprinter Ben Johnson was the biggest story of the 1988 Olympics, it was highlighted by numerous exceptional performances.

1992, BARCELONA

In 1992 Olympics were held at Barcelona, Spain. Men’s basketball was open to all professionals, an the US sent a ‘Dream Team’ that included Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.

1996, ATLANTA

The 1996 Games at Atlanta were given a dramatic start when the cauldron was lit by Muhammad Ali. A record-setting 79 nations won medals, and 53 won gold. Carl Lewis became the third person to win the same individual event four times, and the fourth person to earn a ninth gold medal in the Olympics.

2000, SYDNEY

The Sydney 2000 Games were the largest yet, with 10651 athletes completing in 300 events. Despite their size, they were well organized, renewing faith in the Olympic Movement. Birgit Fischer earned two gold medals in Kayak to become the first woman in any sport to win medals 20 years apart. Steven Redgrave became the first rower to win gold medals at five consecutive Olympics.

2004, ATHENS

Greece, the birthplace of Olympics hosted the 28the Olympics games, the biggest ever-sporting event. The first Olympics of the millennium commenced on 13th August 2004 in a magnificent opening ceremony in Athens. 10625 athletes from 201 nations took part in over 301 events (one more than in Sydney). American swimmer, Michael Phelps emerged as the face of the Games, by winning eight medals, six of them gold.

2008, BEIJING, CHINA

On 13 July 2001, at the 112th IOC session in Moscow, Beijing was elected as the host city for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in 2008. The Games of the XXIX Olympiad, will be celebrated from August 8 to 24, 2008 at the Beijing National Stadium in Beijing, People’s Republic in China.

2012 London Olympic Games

A storm has erupted in Britian this week after the logo for the 2012 London Olympics was unveiled. The general consensus is that the bright pink and yellow monstrosity already looks dated and hideous – so heaven knows what it will look like in five years’ time.

Length of a Human DNA

Length of a Human DNA :

Bibliographic Entry
Result(w/surrounding text)
StandardizedResult
Mitchel, Campbell Reece. Biology Concept and Connections. California, 1997.
"At actual size, a human cell's DNA totals about 3 meters in length."
3.0 m
McGraw Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. New York: McGraw Hill, 1997.
"If stretched out, would form very thin thread, about 6 feet (2 meters) long."
2.0 m
Matthews, Harry R. DNA Structure Prerequisite Information. 1997.
"The length is (length of 1 bp)(number of bp per cell) which is (0.34 nm)(6 × 109)"
2.0 m
Leltninger, Albert L. Biochemistry. New York: Worth, 1975.
"Chromosome 13 contains a DNA molecule about 3.2 cm long."
1.5 m
"Cell." The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: Field Enterprises, 1996.
"On the average, a single human chromosome consists of DNA molecule that is about 2 inches long."
2.3 m
The chromosomes in the nucleus of a cell contain all the information a cell needs to carry on its life processes. They are made up of a complex chemical (a nucleic acid) called deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA for short. Scientist's decoding of the chemical structure of DNA has led to a simple conceptual understanding of genetic processes. DNA is the hereditary material of all cells. It is a double-stranded helical macromolecule consisting of nucleotide monomers with deoxyribose sugar and the nitrogenous bases adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T). In the chromosomes of a cell, DNA occurs as fine, spirally coiled threads that in turn coils around another, like a twisted ladder.

The DNA molecule is threaded so fine that it is only possible to see it under high powerful electron microscopes. To get a sense of exactly how long an uncoiled DNA molecule is compared to a typical cell, a cell is magnified 1000 times. At this scale, the total length of all the DNA in the cell's nucleus would be 3 km -- the equivalent distance of the Lincoln Memorial to the capital in Washington, DC.
The human genome comprises the information contained in one set of human chromosomes which themselves contain about 3 billion base pairs (bp) of DNA in 46 chromosomes (22 autosome pairs + 2 sex chromosomes). The total length of DNA present in one adult human is calculated by the multiplication of
(length of 1 bp)(number of bp per cell)(number of cells in the body)
(0.34 × 10-9 m)(6 × 109)(1013)
2.0 × 1013 meters

That is the equivalent of nearly 70 trips from the earth to the sun and back.
2.0 × 1013 meters = 133.691627 astronomical units133.691627 / 2 = 66.8458135 round trips to the sun
On the average, a single human chromosome consists of DNA Molecule that is almost 5 centimeters.
Steven Chen -- 1998
Bibliographic Entry
Result(w/surrounding text)
StandardizedResult
WNET-DT 13.1, 5:00 PM 10 May 2006.
"Unravel your DNA and it would stretch from here to the moon"
3.85 × 108 m

HUMANDNA

DNA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For a non-technical introduction to the topic, see Introduction to genetics.
For other uses, see DNA (disambiguation).

The structure of part of a DNA double helix
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints or a recipe, or a code, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information.

Chemically, DNA consists of two long polymers of simple units called nucleotides, with backbones made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. These two strands run in opposite directions to each other and are therefore anti-parallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription.

Within cells, DNA is organized into X-shaped structures called chromosomes. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms (animals, plants, fungi, and protists) store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus and some of their DNA in the mitochondria (animals and plants) and chloroplasts (plants only)[1]. Prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) however, store their DNA in the cell's cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA. These compact structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins, helping control which parts of the DNA are transcribed.

Hill

A Hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, in a limited area. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of scarp slope without a well-defined summit (e.g. Box Hill). A hillock is a small hill.

Terminology:
The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is generally somewhat lower and less steep than a mountain. In the United Kingdom geographers historically regarded mountains as hills greater than, 1000 feet (300 m) above sea level, which formed the basis of the plot of the 1995 film The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain.

In contrast, hillwalkers have tended to regard mountains as peeks 200 feet (610 m) above sea level. The Oxford English Dictionary also suggests a limit of 2000 feet (610 m).

Historical Significance

Hills have played an important role in history.
Many settlements were originally built on hills, either to avoid or curb floods, particularly if they were near a large body of water, or for defence, since they offer a good view of the surrounding land and require would-be attackers to fight uphill. For example, Ancient Rome was built on seven hills, protecting it from invaders.

In northern Europe, many ancient monuments are sited on hills. Some of these are defensive structures (such as the hill-forts of the Iron Age), but others appear to have had a religious significance. In Britain, many churches at the tops of hills are thought to have been built on the sites of earlier pagan holy places. The National Cathedral in Washington, DC has followed this tradition and was built on the highest hill in that city.

Hill of the Judean Desert

Judea is the name given to the mountainous southern part of the historic Land of Israel, an area now divided between Israel and the West Bank (itself partly under Palestinian Authority administration and Israeli military rule).

The name Judea is a Greek and Roman adaption of the name “Judah”, which originally encompassed the territory of the Israelite trine of that name and later of the ancient Kingdom of Judah. The area was the site of the Hasmonean Kingdom and the later Kingdom of Judah, a client Kingdom of the Roman Empire.

Ant Hills

An ant-hill, in its simplest form, is a pile of earth, sand, pine needles, or clay or a composite of these and other materials that build up at the entrances of the subterranean dwellings of ant colonies as they are excavated. A colony is built and maintained by legions of worker ants, who carry tiny bits of dirty and/or vegetarian in their mandibles and deposit them near the exit of the colony.

They normally deposit the dirt or vegetation at the top of the hill to prevent it from sliding back into the colony, but in some species they actively sculpt the materials into specific shapes, and may create nest chambers within the mound.

Battle of Bunker Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775 on Breed’s Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War. Because most of the fighting did not occur on Bunker Hill itself, the conflict is sometimes more accurately (thought less frequently) called the Battle of Breed’s Hill.

On June 13, the leaders of the besieging colonial forces learned that the British generals in Boston were planning to occupy the unoccupied hills around Boston. In response to this intelligence, 1200 colonial troops under the command of William Prescott stealthily occupied Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill, constructed an earthen redoubt on Breed’s Hill, and built lightly fortified lines across most of the Charlestown Peninsula.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, also known as the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, near present-day Al Hillah, Babil in Iraq, is considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the world. They were built by the Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BCE.


He is reported to have constructed the gardens to please his sick wife, Amytis of Media, who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland Persia. The gardens were destroyed by several earthquakes after the 2nd century BCE.


The Iush Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at Nimrud, since tablets from there clearly show gardens.

Statue of Zeus at Olympia

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was made by the Greek sculptor of the Classical period, Phidias, circa 432 BCE on the site where it was erected in the temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece.


Phidias’ workshop rediscoverd
Perhaps the greatest discovery came in 1954-58 with the excavation of the workshop at Olympia where Phidias created the statue. Tools, terracotta molds and a cup inscribed “I belong to Pheidias” were found here, where the traveler Pausanius said the Zeus was constructed. This has enabled archaeologists to re-create the techniques used to make the great work and confirm its date.

Temple of Artemis

The Temple of Artemis, also known less precisely as Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to Artemis completed – in its most famous phase – around 550 BCE at Ephesus (in present-day Turkey). Only foundations and sculptural fragments of the temple remain, the monument being one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. There were previous temples on its site, where evidence of a sanctuary dates as early as the Bronze Age.


I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saws the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, “Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.

Mausoleum of Mausolus

The Tomb of Mausolus, Mausoleum of Mausolus or Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (in Greek, was a tomb built between 353 and 360 BC at Halicarnassus for Mausolus, a satrap in the Persian Empire, and Artemisia II of Caria, his wife and sister. The structure was designed by the Greek architects Satyros and Pythis.

It stood approximately 45 meters (135 ft) in height, and each of the four sides was adorned with sculptural reliefs created by each one of four Greek sculptors – Leochares, Bryaxis, Scopas of Paros and Timotheus. The finished structure was considered to be such as aesthetic triumph that Antipater of Sidon identified it as one of his Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Lighthouse of Alexandria (or The Pharos of Alexandria) was a tower built in the 3rd century BC (between 285 and 247 BC) on the island of Pharos in Alexandria, Egypt to serve as that port's landmark, and later, its lighthouse.

With a height variously estimated at between 115 and 135 m (380 and 440 ft) it was identified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Antipater of Sidon. It may have been the third tallest building after the two Great Pyramids (of Khufu and Khafra) for its entire life.

Wild Animals

Wild animals are often kept as pets. The term wild in this context specifically applies to any species of animal which has not undergone a fundamental change in behavior to facilitate a close co-existence with humans.

Some species listed here may have been bred in captivity for a considerable length of time, but are still not recognized as domesticated. Many of these pets, like insects and fish, are kept as a hobby, rather than for companionship.

Lion

The lion is one of four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight, it is the second largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with a critically endangered remnant population in northwest India, having disappeared from North Africa, the Middle East, and Western Asia in historic times.

Until the late Pleistocene, which was about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans. They were found in most of Africa, much of Eurasia from western Europe to India, and in the Americans from the Yukon to Peru.

Lions lives for around 10-14 years in the wild, while in captivity they can live over 20 years. In the wild, males seldom live longer than ten years as fights with rivals occasionally cause injuries. Lions have been kept in menageries since Roman times and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoos the world over since the late eighteenth century. Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered Asiatic subspecies.

Leopard

The leopard is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four “big cats” in the genus Panthera; the other three are the tiger, lion and jaguar. Once distributed across southern Asia and Africa, from Korea to South Africa, the leopard’s range of distribution has decreased radically over time due to hunting and loss of habitat, and the leopard now chiefly occurs in sub-Saharan Africa.

The species' success in the wild owes in part to its opportunistic hunting behaviour, its adaptability to a variety of habitats and its ability to move at up to approximately 58 kilometres (36 miles) an hour.

The leopard consumes virtually any animal it can hunt down and catch. Its preferred habitat ranges from rainforest to desert terrains. Its ecological role and status resembles that of the similarly-sized cougar in the Americas.

Birds

Birds are winged, bipedal, endothermic, vertebrate animals that lay eggs. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

Birds range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) Bee Hummingbird to the 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) Ostrich. The fossil record indicates that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs during the Jurassic period, around 150-200 Ma (million years ago), and the earliest known bird is the only clade of dinosaurs that survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event approximately 65.5 Ma.

Many species are of economic importance, mostly as sources of food acquired through hunting or farming. Some species, particularly songbirds and parrots, are popular as pets.

Ostrich

The Ostrich, Struthio camelus, is a large flightless bird native to Africa (and formerly the Middle East). It is the only living species of its family, Struthionidae, and its genus, Struthio. Ostriches is distinctive in its appearance, with a long neck and legs and the ability to run at maximum speeds of about 45mph. The Ostrich is the largest living species of bird and lays the largest egg of any bird species.

The diet of the Ostrich mainly consists of plant matter, though it also eats insects. It lives in nomadic groups which contain between five and 50 birds. When threatened, the Ostrich will either hide itself by lying flat against the ground, or will run away. If cornered, it can cause injury and death with a kick from its powerful legs. Mating patterns differ by geographical region, but territorial males fight for a harem of two to seven females.

The Ostrich is farmed around the world, particularly for its feathers, which are decorative and are also used for feather dusters. Its skin is used for leather and its meat marketed commercially.

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants disseminate seeds, and the presence of seeds indicates that a structure is most likely a fruit, though not all seeds come from fruits.

No single terminology really fits the enormous variety that is found among plant fruits. The term 'false fruit' (pseudocarp, accessory fruit) is sometimes applied to a fruit like the fig (a multiple-accessory fruit; see below) or to a plant structure that resembles a fruit but is not derived from a flower or flowers.

Some gymnosperms, such as yew, have fleshy arils that resemble fruits and some junipers have berry-like, fleshy cones. The term "fruit" has also been inaccurately applied to the seed-containing female cones of many conifers.

Fruit Development

A fruit is a ripened ovary. Inside the ovary is one or more ovules where the megagametophyte contains the mega gamete or egg cell. The ovules are fertilized in a process that starts with pollination, which involves the movement of pollen from the stamens to the stigma of flowers. After pollination, a tube grows from the pollen through the stigma into the ovary to the ovule and sperm are transferred from the pollen to the ovule, within the ovule the sperm unites with the egg, forming a diploid zygote.

Fruits are so diverse that it is difficult to devise a classification scheme that includes all known fruits. Many common terms for seeds and fruit are incorrectly applied, a fact that complicates understanding of the terminology.

Seeds are ripened ovules; fruits are the ripened ovaries or carpels that contain the seeds. To these two basic definitions can be added the clarification that in botanical terminology, a nut is not a type of fruit and not another term for seed, on the contrary to common terminology.

Simple fruit
Aggregate fruit
Multiple fruit

Seedless Fruits

Seedlessness is an important feature of some fruits of commerce. Commercial cultivars of bananas and pineapples are examples of seedless fruits. Some cultivars of citrus fruits (especially navel oranges), satsumas, mandarine oranges table grapes, grapefruit, and watermelons are valued for their seedlessness. In some species, seedlessness is the result of parthenocarpy, where fruits set without fertilization. Parthenocarpic fruit set may or may not require pollination.

Most seedless citrus fruits require a pollination stimulus; bananas and pineapples do not. Seedlessness in table grapes results from the abortion of the embryonic plant that is produced by fertilization, a phenomenon known as stenospermocarpy which requires normal pollination and fertilization

Non Food Uses

Because fruits have been such a major part of the human diet, different cultures have developed many different uses for various fruits that they do not depend on as being edible. Many dry fruits are used as decorations or in dried flower arrangements, such as unicorn plant, lotus, wheat, annual honesty and milkweed. Ornamental trees and shrubs are often cultivated for their colorful fruits, including holly, pyracantha, viburnum, skimmia, beautyberry and cotoneaster.

Fruits of opium poppy are the source of opium which contains the drugs morphine and codeine, as well as the biologically inactive chemical theabaine from which the drug oxycodone is synthysized. Osage orange fruits are used to repel cockroaches. Bayberry fruits provide a wax often used to make candles. Many fruits provide ntural dyes, e.g. walnut, sumac, cherry and mulberry. Dried gourds are used as decorations, water jugs, bird houses, musical instruments, cups and dishes. Pumpkins are carved into Jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween. The spiny fruit of burdock or cocklebur were the inspiration for the invention of Velcro.

Coir is a fibre from the fruit of coconut that is used for doormats, brushes, mattresses, floortiles, sacking, insulation and as a growing medium for container plants. The shell of the coconut fruit is used to make souvenir heads, cups, bowls, musical instruments and bird houses. Fruit is often also used as a subject of still life paintings.

Nutritional Value

Fruits are generally high in fiber, water and Vitamin C. Fruits also contain various phytochemicals that do not yet have an RDA/RDI listing under most nutritional factsheets, and which research indicates are required for proper long-term cellular health and disease prevention. Regular consumption of fruit is associated with reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, Alzheimer disease, cataracts, and some of the functional declines associated with aging.

Nobel Prize for Literature (1913)

Tagore was born and lived in Calcutta for most of his life. He was one of modern India’s greatest poets and the composer of independent India’s national anthem. In 1901 he founded his school, the Santiniketan, at Bolpur as a protest against the existing bad system of education. The school was a great success and gave birth to Viswabharati.

He was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature for his work “Gitanjali”; for the English version, published in 1912. The noble citation stated that it was “because of his profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse, by which, with consummate skill, he has made his poetic though, expressed in his own English words, a part of the literature of the West.”

In 1915, he was knighted by the British King George V. Tagore renounced his knighthood in 1919 following the Amritsar massacre or nearly 400 Indian demonstrators.

Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology (1968)

Dr. Hargobind Khorana was born on 9th January 1922 at Rajpur, Punjab (now in Pakistan). Dr. Khorana was responsible for producing the first man-made gene in his laboratory in the early seventies.

This historic invention won him the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968 sharing it with Marshall Nuremberg and Robert Holley for interpreting the genetic code and analyzing its function in protein synthesis. They all independently made contributions to the understanding of the genetic code and how it works in the cell.

They established that this mother of all codes, the biological language common to all living organisms, is spelled out in three-letter words: each set of three nucleotides codes for a specific amino acid.

Nobel Prize for Physics (1983)

Subramaniam Chandrashekhar was born on October 19, 1910 in Lahore, India (later part of Pakistan). He attended Presidency College from 1925 to 1930, following in the footsteps of his famous uncle, Sir C. V. Raman.

His work spanned over the understanding of the rotation of planets, stars, white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes, galaxies and clusters of galaxies. He won the Nobel Prize in 1983 for his theoretical work on stars and their evolution.

Nobel Prize for Peace (1979)

Mother Teresa was born in 1910, Skoplje, Yugoslavia (then Turkey) and originally named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, Mother Teresa dedicated her life to helping the poor, the stick, and the dying around the world, particularly those in India, working through the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta.

The Society of Missionaries has spread all over the world, including the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. They provide effective help to the poorest of the poor in a number of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and they undertake relief work in the wake of natural catastrophes such as floods, epidemics, and famine, and for refugees.

The order also has houses in North America, Europe and Australia, where they take care of the shut-ins, alcoholics, homeless, and AIDS sufferers. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.

Nobel Prize for Economics (1998)

Dr. Amartya Sen was born in 1933. Bolpur, in West Bengal, Amartya sen is the latest in our list of Nobel Laureates. He was honoured with the Nobel Prize for his work in Welfare economics.

When Thailand’s Baht plummeted, markets from Bombay to New York were in turmoil and there was talk of worldwide depression, Sen’s argument that growth should be accompanied by democratic decision-making seemed only too correct.

A new brand of softer, gentler economics seemed in order. Although Sen is probably best known for his research on famines, his work on women – the attention he has drawn to their unequal status in the developing world, and his calls for gender-specific aid programs – is just as important.

Food

Food is any substance, usually composed of Carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal or human for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced from plants, animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol.

Although many human cultures sought food items through hunting and gathering, today most cultures use farming, ranching and fishing, with hunting, foraging and other methods of a local nature included but playing a minor role.

Most traditions have a recognizable cuisine, a specific set of cooking traditions, preferences, and practices, the study of which is known as gastronomy.

Food Sources

Almost all foods are of plant or animal origin, although there are some exceptions. Foods not coming from animal or plant sources include various edible fungi, such as mushrooms. Fungi and ambient bacteria are used in the preparation of fermented and pickled foods such as leavened bread, alcoholic drinks, cheese, pickles, and yogurt.

Many cultures eat seaweed, a protist, or blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) such as Spirulina. Additionally, salt is often eaten as a flavoring or preservation, and baking soda is used in food preparation. Both of these are inorganic substances, as is water, an important part of human diet.

Plants

Many plants or plant parts are eaten as food. There are around 2,000 plant species which are cultivated for food, and many have several distinct cultivars.

Seeds of plants are a good source of food for animals, including humans because they contain nutrients necessary for the plant’s initial growth. In fact, the majority of food consumed by human beings are seed-based foods.

Fruits are the ripened ovaries of plants, including the seeds within. Many plants have evolved fruits that are attractive as a food source to animals, so that animals will eat the fruits and excrete the seeds some distance away.

Vegetables are a second type of plant matter that is commonly eaten as food. These include root vegetables, leaf vegetables, stem vegetables, and inflorescence vegetables. Many herbs and spices are highly-flavorful vegetables.

Animal source Foods

Animals can be used as food either directly, or indirectly by the products they produce. Meat is an example of a direct product taken from an animal, which comes from either muscle systems or from organs. Food products produced by animals include milk produced by mammals, which in many cultures is drunk or processed into dairy products such as cheese or butter.

In addition birds and other animals lay eggs, which are often eaten, and bees produce honey, a popular sweetener in many cultures. Some cultures consume blood, some in the form of blood sausage, as a thickener for sauces, a cured salted form for times of food scarcity, and others use blood in stews such as civet.

Food Safety

Food borne illness, commonly called “food Poisoning”, is caused by bacteria, toxins, viruses, parasites, and prions. Roughly 7 million people die of food poisoning each year, with about 10 times as many suffering from a non-fatal version. The two most common factors leading to cases of bacterial food borne illness are cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food from other uncooked foods and improper temperature control. Less commonly, acute adverse reactions can also occur if chemical contamination of food occurs, for example from improper storage, or use of non-food grade soaps and disinfectants.

Food Poisoning has been recognized as a disease of man since as early as Hippocrates. The sale of rancid, contaminated or adulterated food was commonplace until introduction of hygiene, refrigeration, and vermin controls in the 19th century. Discovery of techniques for killing bacteria using heat and other microbiological studies by scientists such as Louis Pasteur contributed to the modern sanitation standards that are ubiquitous in developed nations today.

Ashoka Chakra

The Ashoka Chakra is a depiction of the Dharmachakra, the Wheel of Dharma. The wheel has 24 spokes. It symbolizes the teachings of the Buddha. The Ashoka Chakra has been widely inscribed on many relics of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka The Great, most prominent among which is the Lion Capital of Sarnath and the Ashoka Pillar.

National Flag of India

The National Flag of India was adopted in its present form during an ad hoc meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on the 22 July 1947, twenty-four days before India's independence from the British on 15 August 1947. It has served as the national flag of the Dominion of India between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950 and that of the Republic of India thereafter. In India, the term "tricolour" almost always refers to the Indian national flag.

National animal of India

The tiger is the symbol of India's wealth of wildlife. The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris, is a striped animal. The tiger is the symbol of India's wealth of wildlife. The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris (Linnaeus), is a striped animal.

It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India.

Out of eight races of the species known, the Indian race, the Royal Bengal Tiger, is found throughout the country except in the north-western region and also in the neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Rainbow

A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth’s atmosphere. They take the form of a multicoloured arc, with red on the outer part of the arch and violet on the inner section of the arch.

A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours. Traditionally, however, the sequence is quantised. The most commonly cited and remembered sequence, in English, is Newton’s sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. “Roy G. Biv” and “Richard of York Gave/Gained Battle in Vain” are popular mnemonics. Another one is “Read Out Your Green Book In Verse”.

Rainbows can be caused by other forms of water than rain, including mist, spray, and dew.

Seven colours of the Rainbow

Since rainbows are composed of a continuous spectrum, different people, most notably across different cultures, identify different numbers of colours in rainbows. The seven colours shown below are a typical representation for Western Civilization and Indian Civilization.

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Rainbows can be observed whenever there are water drops in the air and sunlight shining from behind a person at a low altitude angle (on the ground). The most spectacular rainbow displays happen when half of the sky is still dark with raining clouds and the observer is at a spot with clear sky in the direction of the Sun. The result is a luminous rainbow that contrasts with the darkened background.

The rainbow effect is also commonly seen near waterfalls or fountains. The effect can also be artificially created by dispersing water droplets into the air during a sunny day. Rarely, a moonbow, lunar rainbow or night time rainbow, can be seen on strongly moonlit nights.

Sir C.V. Raman

Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman was a scientist in Physics, who won noble prize in 1930. Raman was born on 7th November,1888 at Ayyanpettai in Tamil Nadu. He had his education in Visakhapatanam and Madras. After getting top ranking in the Financial Civil Service Competitive Exam, he was appointed as Deputy Accountant General in Calcutta (Kolkutta).

In 1917 he became the professor of Physics at the Calcutta University. After 15 years service at the Calcutta University, Raman shifted to Bangalore and became the Director of the Indian Institute of Science in 1933.

In 1943 he founded 'Raman Research Institute', near Bangalore. His discovery of the 'Raman Effect' made a very distinctive contribution to Physics. He was knighted by the British Government in 1929. He was also conferred the highest title of 'Bharat Ratna' in 1954.

Charles Babbage

Charles Babbage was born on December 26, 1792, in London. He studied at Trinity College, and became a professor of Mathematics at the Cambridge University.

The idea of mechanically calculating mathematical tables first came to Babbage in 1812 or 1813.

Later, Babbage developed plans for the so called ‘analytical engine’, the fore runner of the modern computer. For this invention Babbage is considered as the ‘Father of the Computer’.

Charles Babbage died on October 18, 1871.

National Sport of India

Hockey, in which India has an impressive record with eight Olympic gold medals, is officially the national sport. The Golden Era of hockey in India was the period from 1928 - 1956 when India won 6 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics. During the Golden Era, India played 24 Olympic matches, won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals.

The two other gold medals for India came in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

National Fruit of India

The Mango is the national fruit. It has been cultivated in India since time immemorial. There are over 100 varieties of mangos in India, in a range of colors, sizes, and shapes. Common in the tropical part of the world, mangos are savoured for their sweet juice and bright colors. People in India eat mangos ripe, or prepare them green as pickles or chutneys. There are rich in vitamin A, C and D.

Nation Tree of India

The National Tree of India is The Banyan Tree. This huge tree towers over its neighbours and has the widest reaching roots of all known trees, easily covering several acres. It sends off new shoots from its roots, so that one tree is really a tangle of branches, roots, and trunks. The banyan tree regenerates and lives for an incredible length of time--thus it is thought of as the immortal tree.

Its size and leafy shelter are valued in India as a place of rest and reflection, not to mention protection from the hot sun! It is still the focal point and gathering place for local councils and meetings. India has a long history of honouring this tree; it figures prominently in many of the oldest stories of the nation.