Wednesday, September 9, 2009

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.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

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.

Monday, September 7, 2009

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.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

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.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

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.

Monday, August 31, 2009

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.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

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.