Owner: The SciTech Journal URL:http://thescitechjournal.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Thu, 03 Jan 2008 13:58:12 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: The SciTech Journal is a richly informative project. As its name and the catch line suggest, it attempts to answer various questions arising in common man\\\'s mind relating to science and technological phenomena. Site statistics:Click here
Fingernails and their color 2008-03-06 10:56:00 Q. What are fingernails made of? Why do they appear pink?A. Fingernail is a lifeless, translucent outgrowth of skin. It appears pink because it lies over a bed of tissues that is rich in blood. It does not, however, grow from this bed. It originates in a matrix of specialized skin cells that lie below the whitish half moon that is visible at its base. Unlike the cells of the translucent plate, those in the matrix are very much alive, constantly growing and pushing the cells ahead of them toward the fingertip. As they emerge from the matrix, the cells become filled with a hard protein called keratin.Unlike other skin cells, these highly keratinized cells are not slought off when they die. Instead, they become compact into the structure that we call a fingernail. The nail grows continuously.
Measurement of Light, Units of Measurement 2008-03-04 11:42:00 Q. Light of the electric bulb is measured in Lumens then what is Candlepower? If it is also a unit of measuring light then what is the difference between two of them?A. Apart from Kilogram, Celsius, Liter, Watt, Calorie, etc. there are so many other units of measurement unknown to common men, because they are not used in our every-day life. Experts have fixed more than 125 units clearly defined. There are half a dozen of them only for measuring intensity of light, in which included are Candlepower and Lumens.But first of all let's understand the unit called Foot-candle. One Foot-candle of light is the amount of light that birthday cake candle generates one foot away. If you say you have a lamp that produces 100 Foot-candles of light. That means at one foot from the lamp, you will receive 1 Read more:Measurement
Drinking Habits of Fish 2008-02-25 11:06:00 Q. Do fish drink water?A. Freshwater fish do not generally drink water, i.e. not for satisfying thirst. They imbibe water only as needed for respiration and release it through gills, which draw oxygen from it. They also urinate in large quantities to prevent their tissues from becoming too watery.Two terms known as Osmosis and Diffusion help answer the question. Osmosis: is a movement of liquid through a membrane from a lower to a higher concentration.Diffusion: is the movement of particles from an area of higher concentration to an area lower of concentration.In case of freshwater fish the liquids in their bodies are saltier than the water in their environment. Hence, Osmosis draws water into the fish’s body through its skin and gills. If freshwater fish did drink water they would blow Read more:Drinking
People with highest IQ 2008-02-18 12:32:00 Q. Which country’s people have the highest
IQ (Intelligence Quotient) level in the world?A. Japanese are on number one. (Japan also spends the highest amount per person on education.) 10% of the Japanese have an IQ of 130 or more, whereas the people born in 1960-61 in Japan have minimum IQ of 115. Compared to this in America (US) the people having an IQ of 130 or more are not even 2% of the population!(S75/101999)
Working of a Mobile Phone 2008-02-12 11:02:00 Q. How does a mobile phone work? Is it true that the radiofrequency energy (radio waves) harms the user of a mobile phone?A. Do you know that the actual word for a mobile phone is cellular radio? In English “cell” means a small section - and in fact for a mobile phone whole city is looked upon as a structure of cells with six sides, like a honeycomb. In every cell there is a transmitter tower which plays the role of connecting people through radio waves. The process is shown in sequence in the drawing.1. The driver of the car shown here wants to contact his friend, so he dials the number without stopping the car. He does not know where in the city his friend is.2. The telephone instrument transmits the dialed number which the transmitter-cum-receiver (the tower) of that cell catches an Read more:Mobile
Compass and its Inventor 2008-02-05 11:58:00 Q. Who is the inventor of compass? Is it true that a compass never shows north and south accurately?A. No one knows the name of the actual inventor of compass. But it is said that approximately 1,000 years ago in China a magnetized needle came to be used to find directions.Because the earth itself is a gigantic magnet, the needle of a compass is always pointed at its pole. But it does not show the earth’s geographic poles. Hence, to the extent a compass is inaccurate, one can say. It is to be remembered that the geographic and magnetic poles of the earth are not at the same location. In north the geographic pole is 1,600 kilometers away from the magnetic pole. In the same way in south the distance between the geographic and magnetic poles is 2,570 kilometers. The people using a compass d Read more:Compass
, Inventor
Day and Night on the Moon 2008-01-30 13:30:00 Q. Are there day and night on the moon? If yes then how long is a day on the moon?A. Yes, there are day and night on the moon, but not the same as our planet. Instead of twenty-four hours, a moon-day is equal to 27.3 earth-days, because the moon takes so much time to complete a rotation about its axis. What is more surprising is that the moon takes exactly the same amount of time to complete a circle around the earth too, i.e. 27.3 days. As a result we always see only one side of the moon. At the most 59% of the moon’s surface is visible from the earth. The rest 41% of the surface is never seen by us.Furthermore, the moon only has a day and a night, and no evening! The reason: There is no atmosphere on the moon. Due to absence of air the sun-rays do not scatter at all. Hence, where the s Read more:Night
Big Bang, and the Center of the Universe 2008-01-26 12:42:00 Q. Where had the Big Bang
happened? Meaning, where is the center of the universe?A. There is no center of the universe, because the universe is not originated from a “bang”. Instead of exploding like a bomb the universe is expanding like a balloon. Explosion and expansion are two different cases. In explosion the particles burst outward from where its center is, and a person in the way would see them coming toward him. But it is not so in case of expansion. If we take an example of a dotted balloon in context of the universe then as the balloon expands gradually no dot nears the other one. But all the dots are moving away from one another. (see the picture) The balloon so expanding can not have a center, because instead of exploding from a certain center point the balloon is expanding Read more:Center
, Universe
Rotation of Earth 2008-01-22 11:00:00 Q. The earth is rotating on its axis at full speed but we don’t feel its motion, why?A. There is only one reason for not feeling the motion. The planet earth does not rotate alone, but along with it the whole atmosphere covering it does at the same velocity. Airplanes, clouds, and the flying insects like butterflies do not leave the atmosphere, and the atmosphere does not leave the planet. Under such circumstances one can never feel the planet moving. Yes, if the atmosphere was static while the earth rotated you wouldn’t be here to ask this question!Suppose near the equator a person is sitting on a chair. He may not be doing any movement, but as shown in the drawing, the earth near the equator moves at the speed of 1,525 feet/second. In an hour that would be 1,660 kilometers! Where eve Read more:Rotation
, Earth
iPhone, Positive and Negative 2008-01-17 11:09:00 Q. What it is that makes the iPhone
all different from other mobile phones?A. About which America’s various news papers and magazines printed around 11,000 articles till date, search engines like Google received 6.9 crore search commends, and what the new generation’s tech-maniacs had been waiting for about a year, Apple’s iPhone finally arrived in America on June 27, 2007. Its sales figure crossed hundreds in hours. And exactly on seventh say it touched seven lacks!From technology standpoint Apple’s iPhone is unparalleled. The world has not seen a mobile phone equivalent of it. The phone has been adorned with many gems of technology, for which Apple has registered total of 200 patents. That’s the reason iPhone is distinct from a normal mobile phone. For example:Traditional mobil Read more:Positive
, Negative
World's First Postage Stamp 2008-01-12 11:48:00 Q. Which country issued the world’s first ever postage stamp? And what was it called?A. On May 1, 1840 Briton had issued the first adhesive postage stamp. The ticket was called Penny Black and had on it a picture of the Queen Victoria. All in all the British postal department had issued 6,81,58,080 Penny Blacks, but after that its printing had to be discontinued.It so happened that the ticket having a value of a penny was black in color, just as its name suggests. And the ink of the stamp that the postal department put on tickets to cancel the used tickets was black too. Thus it was nearly impossible to differentiate between used and unused tickets, and many people started reusing them. As a result, only in the second year of the issue of Penny Black the postal department had to turn to Read more:World
, First
, Postage
, Stamp
Difference between a Gun and a Rifle 2008-01-05 13:34:00 Q. What is the difference between a normal gun and a rifle?A. The main difference is that a bullet shot from a rifle travels spinning on its axis as shown in the drawing. As against this a bullet shot from a normal gun does not spin like that.To understand what benefit a spinning bullet derives over a non-spinning one let us take an example of football player. If a player hits the football with a simple kick the ball would not keep from turning left or right for the unequal air pressure. Sometimes it would not even fetch the goal. Hence, in order to keep the movement straight and stable the expert player would give football a “spin” with kicking, so the ball would move forward spinning on its axis. After this the ball going swiftly slitting the air would always travel straight.The same
Walls of Theatre 2007-12-28 12:00:00 Q. Why are the walls and the ceiling of a theatre always made of porous plywood?A. This technique is used to curtail the echo of sound. In theatres only 12% of the sound released by speakers reaches the ears of an audience directly. Rest of the sound reflects from walls, ceiling and floor and comes only as an echo. This way the sound of low wavelength would bounce about fifty times, leaving nothing audible properly. The law of science says that bigger echoes are produced when the waves of sound hit the surface which is hard, flat and big in area. This is why a soft carpet is laid on the floor in theatres, whereas, on walls and ceiling soft pored plywood or card board is fit. This surface would not then reflect much of sound. It absorbs the waves of sound.(S53/121996) Read more:Walls
Onions and Eye-burning 2007-12-22 11:54:00 Q. Why do eyes burn and water up when cutting onions?A. The scientific reason is only this: There are certain compounds of sulphur in the onions. One can fairly call it mild acid. When an onion is cut these compounds spread around in the air and cause eyes to burn. But fortunately they are water-soluble. As a result they dissolve in tears, so after a while the burning ceases.When the onions are kept in a bowl of water and then cut, these acidic compounds are dissolved outright and don’t spread around. One can avoid eye-burning thus. (S53/121996) Read more:Onions
Respiration 2007-12-16 14:14:00 Q. How much oxygen does an average person need per minute in respiration?A. The need for quantity of oxygen depends on amount of labor the person does. When taken a deep breath lungs can accommodate maximum 3.3 liters of air, which comprises about 21% of oxygen. But in a breath taken while relaxation the quantity of air is not more than an average of 0.5 liter. While relaxing we normally breathe once in three-four seconds. Hence, the rate of breathing comes to 15-20 breaths per minute. Multiply it with 0.5 liter, 21% of which should be oxygen.(S53/121996)
World’s Largest Bird 2007-12-12 10:58:00 Q. Blue whale is considered as the world’s largest animal then which is the world’s largest bird?A. This question has more than one answers, so choose one yourself. In case of blue whale it is no.1 both in size and weight. But no bird can be given the place based on both the criteria. Hence, first one has to decide whether the bird should be biggest in size or weight. Again, should those birds with wings be compared with the birds without wings? And the sea birds are different from the ground birds, so the third question is of their comparison! As a result there happen to be several answers to the question. Read them one by one.1. Amongst the birds that can not fly no.1 is African Ostrich. The world-record is of nine feet long Ostrich with weight 156.5 kilograms (345 pounds). No other Read more:World
, Largest
Eye-sight and 3D films 2007-12-06 11:51:00 Q. If one can see a thing with one eye closed then when seen with both eyes why doesn’t it appear in double?A. Understand one thing that a human eye does not perform the task of seeing. Eyes are only lenses which capture the light reflected from objects and it is sent to a brain. Afterwards the brain itself sees the sight. Brain mingles with each other different light-rays captured at different angles with two eyes, so the joint sight is constructed. And only then depth is identified. This “depth” means the third dimension of a sight! Length and width are the first two dimensions, but depth is only ascertained when a brain gets two images of a sight taken from different angles. Again, these angles must not be any “xyz” degree. The two lenses need be at a precise distance from eac
Sound Waves 2007-12-04 10:54:00 Q. What are the waves of sound made of?A. Good question. Electric waves are made of electrons, ocean waves are made of water and light waves are made of photons, then it is quite reasonable having a thought what are the sound waves made of. And its answer too would leave one thinking.The waves of sound are actually nothing but contracting and expanding air! Air contracts when it is somehow put pressure on. For example, when the musician playing Sitar tinkles the strings of the instrument the reversing cord pushes away the air in that part. In fact, the air contracts rigorously. A moment later it expands again, and thus, to make space for it the other air contracts! And so it keeps passing further on! The process of expansion and contraction slows down in regular succession, because the for Read more:Sound
, Waves
Refrigeration, position of an icebox 2007-11-30 11:54:00 Q. How is cold generated to preserve food in a refrigerator? In every refrigerator why is an icebox position
ed on top?A. As per law of science if you smear a little amount of water on skin, after a while it will evaporate and you will feel coldness on the skin. The reason for it happening is to turn water into vapor energy is used. Evaporating water gets this energy (heat) from the body itself. Hence, the part losing heat as energy goes cold. The same principle is applied in a refrigerator. Here, the liquid called chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) evaporates in a thin tube; that is, turns into gas. While doing so CFC absorbs the heat in the refrigerator, and thus the interior is bound get cold. The CFC gas then moves towards the tangle of tubes in the rear part of the refrigerator, where it is turn
Weight of the Planet Earth 2007-11-27 11:07:00 Q. Is the weight of the planet earth constant?A. You will be surprised to know the answer. The weight of our planet increases by 20,000 to 30,000 tons a year!Being in swift motion in the space the earth attracts into its atmosphere space dust, little spacial objects and falling stars with its gravitational force. Even if these objects burn out due to friction of the atmosphere, the ashes keep on adding in good to the weight every day. Although, this quantity being added is nothing in relation to the total weight of the planet.(S50/081996) Read more:Earth
, Weight
Fuel Tank of an Airplane 2007-11-26 11:16:00 Q. Approximately how much petrol does an airplane carry?A. To begin with, correct the word “petrol” in the question. If the engine is just an internal burning machine as in cars then only a high quality petrol is used as fuel. The planes equipped with jet engines use only aerial kerosene. Though this kerosene is of high quality, is not petrol. After being squirted into the jet engine the kerosene burns explosively. The hot air produced of it forcefully threshes backward, and hence as per Newton’s law the plane gets a push. Boeing-747 (jumbo jet) uses up approximately nine liters of fuel in less than two seconds. But at the time of take-off it is filled up with 1,77,000 liters of fuel, and so the supply lasts for hours. (in 1946 one of the South African jumbo jet had had a non-stop fl Read more:Airplane
Rainbow, its Shape and Colors 2007-11-26 10:54:00 Q. Why is the shape of a rainbow always semi-circle? What is the reason it being in diverse colors?A. Sometimes the rainbow shows up after rain with stormy weather. From the ground it may seem like a semi-circle, but a pilot flying in the sky would often see a full circle. The reason rainbows don't look like a full circle to us is because we are too low to the ground to see the rest.The subtle droplets of water hovering in the air after rain play the role of a crystal. Passing through the droplets of water/moisture particles sun rays are bended, and hitting the internal surface of the moisture particle they are reflected outward and again get a bend. This is the principle of a crystal. Hence they diversify into seven colors.(S50/081996)More reading:Rainbow
(Wikipedia) Read more:Shape
, Colors
Disclaimer 2007-11-25 10:06:00 Information (facts and figures) presented on the STJ is NOT my intellectual property. It is gathered from various trusted and reliable sources as in my opinion, the credibility of which is, although, not 100 percent guaranteed.The STJ project is initiated as an effort to spread knowledge and information in lucid and enjoyable manner. You are free to copy and distribute the articles without incurring any cost.
The SciTech Journal, project intro. 2007-11-23 10:57:00 The SciTech Journal
is a richly informative project. As its name and the catch line suggest, it attempts to answer various questions arising in common man's mind relating to science and technological phenomena.It is said that knowledge is power. I would like adding to it. Power is the knowledge of right things. And the aim of the STJ is empowering minds.Today, the human race thrives on science and technological developments. Hence it becomes highly imperative for one as a human to be aware of things happening around, keep updated on the developments, and most importantly, good and bad effects of them.The STJ covers all of it -- and much more may follow. Just browse through it. It speaks for itself. Even if you are not a student of science and tech., you will find it surprisingly delightful Read more:intro
Satellites circling Earth 2008-03-13 12:41:00 Q. What keeps satellite circling earth?A. The satellite’s orbital speed plus the pull of earth’s gravity. The same principle keeps earth and the other planets circling the sun – only in that case it is the sun’s gravity and the planets’ velocity that keep the planets in their orbits.Our earth sails along the same invisible track century after century because its velocity counterbalances the sun’s gravitational grip, or inward pull. The same thing happens to a man-made satellite - except that it gradually loses speed as it sweeps through the earth’s thin atmosphere. When the speed of the artificial moon drops below 28,900 kilometers per hour, the earth’s gravity wins the battle and pulls the satellite back to earth.More Reading:Satellite (Wikipedia) Read more:Satellites
, Earth
Material used for making Capsules 2008-03-19 12:59:00 Q. Which material is used for making
capsules of medicine?A. If it is not categorically stated on the label of medicine by the manufacturer one has to assume that gelatin is used for making capsule. Gelatin is an animal product (non-vegetarian). And it is manufactured from collagen, a fibrous substance that joins bones, cartilage and tendon (tissues that join mussels to bones) of cattle like cows and buffaloes. Some glycerin is added to make the capsule soft.Another use of gelatin is in making jelly with which a scoop of ice-cream is sometimes ‘topped’, although many people are not aware of it. However, it is a different matter if the label states that jelly is made from vegetable products. This type of notice should be made compulsory by the government in case of bakery products also. Read more:Capsules
Tongues of Snakes 2008-03-24 12:02:00 Q. Why do snakes have forked tongues?A. Snakes
are deaf and unable to hear air-borne sounds. Instead, they detect vibrations on the ground through their bodies. A two-tip tongue enables snakes to track other animals far more accurately by sweeping across trails left by their quarry and gauging very accurately where they lead.Snakes flick their tongues in and out incredibly quickly to taste the chemical environment in front of them. The tongue tips sample the environmental chemicals mostly from air, but also from the ground. Each individual tip picks up odour molecules and, when the tongue reacts, it delivers them to two chemosensors called eronasal organ through separate holes in the top of the palate. As long as both tips are on the odour trail, the snake keeps going straight. But when th Read more:Tongues
Skin of Banana 2008-04-02 12:10:00 Q. Why does the skin of a banana kept in refrigerator soon turn black?A. Bananas being a tropical fruit do not withstand cold climate. As long as they are not ripe they are not affected by ‘frost bite’, but when they become ripe, oxides are produced by a bio-chemical process called oxidation-reduction (redox). As the enzymes start oxidation, black patches are formed on the yellow banana skin. This bio-chemical process is fast enough to make bananas rotten in few days. The only way to keep bananas fresh and tasteful is to isolate them from oxygen to the extent possible. Therefore, the traders store them in godowns with abundant carbon dioxide in the air.
Dissolving of Sugar 2008-04-07 12:47:00 Q. Sugar
dissolves faster in hot water than cold water. What is the scientific reason for this?A. Each molecule of water is made of 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom of oxygen. Sugar can dissolve in water only when its molecules can get some space between two molecules (H2O) of water. This is difficult when water is cold and the molecules of H2O are tightly packed with very little space left between the nearest molecules. Vigorous stirring is required in order to dissolve sugar in cold water. Stirring water with a spoon forces molecules of H2O to scatter. This creates some room between H2O molecules, where sugar molecules fit.When water is heated, its molecules move farther apart. The space between two molecules becomes larger, allowing molecules of sugar to fill the gaps easily and quickly.
Turning Mercury into Gold 2008-04-12 12:33:00 Q. Is it possible to turn mercury into gold as many alchemists tried in medieval times?A. If we wish to manufacture gold, the most helpful metal to start with is mercury. Gold is element 79 and mercury is element 80, which means that there is only a slight difference between their atomic structures. The mercury atom has one more proton in its nucleus and the corresponding electron in the outer (known as F shell) orbit. As the diagram shows, all other shells (from atom A to E) have the same number of electrons in both mercury and gold. So, theoretically, if we can expel one proton from the nucleus of an atom of mercury, we have transmuted it into an atom of gold. The process is difficult since an atom of mercury has eighty electrons; eighty orbits have to be broken through as well as the el Read more:Mercury
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