CULTURAL QA02-2021-08 Being a compilation there may be errors
Q1 What is a strange fact about Earth? A1 Siva Kumar UpdatedJanuary 9, 2018 Sr. Resource Specialist at CES India (company) (2018–present) 1 Earth is the only planet in the Solar System with plate tectonics. 2. The earth’s rotation is slowing down gradually. However it is sominimal (17 milliseconds per hundred years) that it will be about 140 millionyears from now before it reaches 25 hours 3. Earth is struck by lightning 100 time per second that's 8.6 milliontimes per day 4. The earth tilts at roughly 66 degrees 5. If you drill a tunnel straight through the earth and jumped in, thenit would take you about 42 minutes to get to other side 6. Scientists now believe that we were once not alone in our orbit aroundthe Sun – we had a “twin”planet we call Theia, which was the size of Mars and was 60 degreeseither in front or behind our Big Blue Ball. One afternoon about 4.533 billionyears ago, Theia crashed into the Earth; most of the planet was absorbed, but a large chunk blew off andcombined with materials from our planet to create the Moon. Why dowe think this? It's because our Moon is unusually large for a planet of oursize and has metallic isotopes similar to those on Earth. 7. So we've (allegedly) been to the Moon and to Mars, but guess what? Wehave barely begun to visit the depth of our vast oceans. In fact, less than 10%of the deep blue seas have been explored. The ocean contains 97% of our waterand 99% of the living area. While we have identified 212,906 marine species,there are possibly 25 million more that we DON'T know about. 8. Researchers calculate the age of the Earth by dating both the oldestrocks on the planet and meteorites that have been discovered on Earth(meteorites and Earth formed at the same time, when the solar system wasforming). Their findings? Earthis about 4.54 billion years old. 9. Rocks can walk on Earth, atleast they do at the pancake-flat lakebed called Racetrack Playa in Death Valley. There, a perfect storm can move rockssometimes weighing tens or hundreds of pounds. Most likely, ice-encrusted rocksget inundated by meltwater from the hills above the playa, according to NASAresearchers. When everything's nice and slick, a stiff breeze kicks up, andwhoosh, the rock is off. 10. Lakes can explode I’m not kidding! InCameroon and on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congothere are three deadly lakes: Nyos, Monoun and Kivu. All three are crater lakesthat sit above volcanic earth. Magma below the surface releasescarbon dioxide into the lakes, resulting in a deep, carbon dioxide-rich layerright above the lakebed. That carbon dioxide can be released in an explosion,asphyxiating any passersby. Photo shows water at normal and explosion times.Now projects have started to debunk the methane below the lake. 11.Earth used to be purple It used to be purple … well, life on early Earth may have been just aspurple as it is green today, suspects Shil DasSarma, a microbial geneticist at the University ofMaryland. Ancient microbes, he said, might have used a molecule other thanchlorophyll to harness the sun's rays, one that gave the organisms aviolet hue, he suggests. DasSarma thinks chlorophyllappeared after another light-sensitive molecule called retinal was alreadypresent on early Earth.Retinal, today found in the plum-colored membrane of a photosynthetic microbecalled halobacteria, absorbs green light and reflects back red and violetlight, the combination of which appears purple. The idea may explain why eventhough the sun transmits most of its energy in the green part of the visiblespectrum, chlorophyll absorbs mainly blue and red wavelengths. My note- Is it the reason stillwe have plants with colour leaves other than green? 12. Earth is covered withcosmic dust Every day our planet issprinkled with fairy dust … or dust from the heavens. On a daily basis, about 100 tons of interplanetarymaterial (mostly in the form of dust) drifts down to the Earth's surface. Thetiniest particles are released by comets as their ices vaporize near the sun.(Shown here, a Hubble Space Telescope close-up image of part of NGC 7023, orthe Iris Nebula, showing the area is clogged with cosmic dust.) 13. Throughout Earth's history,the magnetic poles have consistently and gradually flipped. Scientists think that the next switch could be in our nearfuture. While scientistsagree that another pole reversal wouldn't be catastrophic for human life, itcould certainly create some unique problems in this technological age. One thing scientists are fairly certain of is that the magnetic fieldwould not completely disappear. It could possibly weaken, but it wouldn’tsuddenly let in enough solar radiation to destroy us all in some kind of sci-fi doomsday scenario.The shifting of the poles happens gradually — and in fact, the North Pole hasbeen moving at a rate of about 64 km (40 miles) per year within the lastcentury. That’s actually quite a bit faster than it moved at thestart of the 20th century when it travelled at just 16 km (10 miles) per year. Q2 Did Kumari Kandam really exist? If so, who lived there? A2 Santosh Kumar 8-2-2021 Works in Archaeological Survey of India atMinistry of Culture, India (2020–present) >From Kumari Kandam, South ofTamil Nadu, about 15,000 years ago people moved to >Africa and became Sumeriansand those who moved from Africa to Arabia later >became Jews. >From Kumari Kandam, South of Tamil Nadu due to tsunami, people moved toBengal >and became Cholas and those who moved to Sind and Punjab became Cheras. Some other Sides of the Fact: We’ve all heard plenty of storiesdoing the rounds about the Atlantis, the fictional city that Greeks wrote about in their literature. It was believed thatthey were quite advanced and liberal for their time. Sadly, it was believedthat the whole city was consumed by the ocean, leaving no remnants of itslocals. This indeed was a tragic end. A similar tale, although a lesspopular one, has been narrated in India. This lesser-known tale is about a lost continent known as the ‘Kumari Kandam.’ Almosta century back, Tamil nationalists believed in the existence of Kumari Kandamand found a similarity with Lemuria – a mythical “lost land” that civilized formore than 20,000 years with Tamil speaking population. This now-sunken continent wassituated in the Indian and the Pacific Ocean and was the connecting line between Africa and South India, via Madagascar.This Tamil continent was ruled by Pandiyan Kings for more 10,000 years, priorto getting submerged. Then,the locals and the Pandiyan King migrated to the residual land of Kumari Kandamand then the capital was moved to Kapatapuram. Having lost almost the whole of Kumari Kandam, the Pandiyan King thendecided to conquer the parts of lands that belonged to the Chera and Cholakings and declared Korkai,which was earlier called Kapatapuram, as the capital in the later days. As per the Kumari Kandam protagonists, the continent was submerged whenthe sea levels rose and last ice age ended. It was after this that the Tamilpeople migrated and mixed with different groups, invariably forming newlanguages, races, and civilizations. A lot of people also believe that the whole of humanity isdescended from the dwellers of Kumari Kandam. Both the tales agreeon one common point that the Tamil culture is the foundation of all enlightenedcultures in the world, and Tamil happens to be the mother language midst allother languages in the world. For now, it cannot beascertained whether Kumari Kandam – the “lost land” as narrated in the medievalTamil literature – did exist or not. If yes, the theorized size and site cannot be determined with completesurety. To say the best, there are numerous truths behind such urban myths,though no way to tell just yet. For now, while we may assume that Tamil civilization once lost itsland that can only be compared to a district or a small city in today’sgeneration, but we cannot claim if it was as big as a continent. Source: The Hindu and Dr. M Mahalingam Q3 Can you tell about Kedarnath? A3 The Shiva Purana by J.L. Shastri | 1970 | 616,585 words This page relates “greatness ofthe jyotirlinga kedareshvara” as found in the Shiva-purana, which, in Hinduism, represents one of the eighteen Mahapuranas. This workeulogizes Lord Shiva as the supreme deity, besides topics such as cosmology andphilosophy. It is written in Sanskrit and claims to be a redaction of anoriginal text consisting of 100,000 metrical verses. Chapter 19 - The greatness of the Jyotirliṅga Kedāreśvara Sūta said:— 1. O brahmins, the incarnations of Viṣṇu—Nara and Nārāyaṇa performed their penance in the Bhārata Khaṇḍa in the hermitage of Badarikāśrama.[1] 2. Requested by them for their worship, Śiva, being subservient to thedevotees comes every day to that earthen phallic image of Śiva. 3. A long time elapsed whilethese two incarnations of Viṣṇu, thespiritual sons of Śiva, performed the worship of Śiva. 4. On one occasion the delighted Śiva told them—“I am delighted. Chooseyour boon from me.” 5. When he said this, Nara and Nārāyaṇa spoke these words keeping in mind the welfare ofthe world. Nara and Nārāyaṇa said:— 6. O lord of gods, if you aredelighted, if the boon is to be granted by you, O Śiva, stay here in your ownform and accept the devotion of your devotees. Sūta said:— 7. Thus requested, lord Śiva himself stayed in Kedāra on the Himavat inthe form of Jyotirliṅga. 8. He was worshipped by them for helping the worlds and for appearing inthe presence of the devotees. He destroys their miseries and terrors. 9. Then Śiva himself stayedthere in the name of Kedāreśvara. By his sight and worship he bestows the desires of the devotees. 10. The gods and the sages of yore worship here. They get the fruit oftheir desire from the delighted lord Śiva. 11. Since the residents ofBadarikāśrama derive their desires every day by worshipping him, he is called the bestower of the desires of his devotees ever. 12. From that day onwards, if anyone worships Kedāreśvara with devotionhe will not suffer distress even in dreams. 13. It was he who on seeing Pāṇḍavas assumed the form of a buffalo, having recourseto his magical skill and began to run away. 14. When he was caught by the Pāṇḍavas he stood with his face bent down. They held histail and implored him again and again. 15. He remained in that form inthe name of Bhaktavatsala. His head portion went and remained fixed in the city of Nayapāla.[2] The lord stood inthat form there. 16. He asked them to worshiphim in that trunkless form. Worshipped by them, Śiva remained there and granted boons. 17. The Pāṇḍavas wentaway with joy after worshipping him. After obtaining what they desired in their minds, they were rid of all theirmiseries. 18. There in the shrine of Kedāra, Śiva is directly worshipped by theIndian people. 19-20. He who makes a gift of aring or a bracelet after going there becomes a beloved of Śiva. He comes verynear the form of Śiva. He is endowed with the form of Śiva. On seeing that form of Śiva, a person gets rid ofsins. By going to Badarī forest he becomes a living liberated soul. 21. On seeing the forms of Nara,Nārāyaṇa andKedāreśvara, undoubtedly he can achieve liberation. 22. The devotees of Kedāreśa who die on the way are released fromrebirth. No doubt need be entertained in this respect.23. Going there, withpleasure, worshipping Kedāreśa and drinking the water there a person isreleased from re-birth. 24. O brahmins, in this Bhārata country people should worship withdevotion Nara-Nārayaṇeśvara (Nara-Nārāyaṇeśvara?) and Kedāreśa. 23. Although he is the lord of the universe still he is particularly thelord of Bharata. There is no doubt that Śiva Kedāra is the bestower of alldesires. 26. O excellent sages, I have narrated to you what you have asked for. Onhearing this narrative the sins disappear at once. No doubt need be entertainedin this regard. FOOTNOTES AND REFERENCES: [1]:It is the peak of the main Himalaya range in Garhwal. It has thetemple of Nara-Nārāyaṇa and is a sacred place of pilgrimage. For details see ‘GeographicalEncyclopedia of Ancient and Medieval India’ (Bajpai) [2]:See P. 1296 note. Q4 What's the magic in the Hanuman Chalisa? A4 Jishnu Sharma January 29,2021 It makes me feel very good and motivating every time. Yes Hanuman Chalisa is truly amagical hymn . It is magical because it praises the one who is kalpavriksha(thetree which fulfills every wish)for his devotees he is the one who is known as Sankat Mochan . This hymn ismagical because it contains the name of Sita Ram ji , Hanuman ji and Shiv ji .It is magical because it was writtenby the great devotee of Shree SitaRam ji .It is magical because it ischanted daily by billion of devotees by devotion . RAM RAM RAM Q5 Why use a vacutainer tube to collect blood instead of anormal syringe? A5 Aryan DhawanJanuary 12-2021 Student at Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital & ResearchCentre, Pune. (2020–present) You should use vacutainer tubesas they are much safer to use than a normal syringe. Plus, it's easier to use because you can fill more than one tube in onesitting. These tubes come with different pre-added additives to their inner liningfor different tests. The colour coding on the stopper is universal which makesit easier to understand which test is the blood being drawn into the tube for. There is a very low chance ofcontamination and hemolysisbecause the stoppers are removed before the blood is drawn into the tubes. Levram makes some great Vacutainer Tubes which you can find here.: LevramLifesciences. They are also offering a 10% discount on the same if you use thecode LEV10. My note- My regular hospital was found using such a tube once takingblood from me for various tests a few months back. Q6 How does a rice cooker know when the rice is done? A6 Dev Kumar January 6-2021Former Teacher If you have wondered how electric rice cookers know when to stop cooking,the engineering behindthat is some of the most minimalist brilliance I’ve seen, brilliancethat keeps the cost of these appliances down to ridiculously cheap levels. So to high school physicsconcepts to revise before we understand this 1. Latent heat of water - youcan raise the temp of waterpretty quickly to close to 100C but then it takes extra heat to actually getpast 100 cos of the energy required to actually turn water into vapour So you can observe this by bringing some water to a boil and checking itstemperature. It will rise to 95-96 at a reasonable pace and then slow downbecause as long as thereis liquid water left in the vessel, the temp can’t go above 100C 2 The second concept is the Curietemperature - some magnetic materialslose their magnetism at high temperatures, and electric cookers use an alloy whose curie temp is justabove the boiling point of water So you combine these ideas and use a magnet made of this alloy connectedto a spring and what happens is that the moment all the water hasbeen absorbed by the rice, it’s temperature will start going above 100C (cos ofconcept number 1) And the moment that happens, our alloy loses magnetism and plops backdown disconnecting the heating element from the vessel. Job done. As always, no category of engineers makes me drop my jaw as regularly as electricalengineers. Q7 What are the mysteries in real places that even sciencecannot yet explain? A7 Young LeeJuly 8, 2020 Livedin Washington, DC There are just so many unsolved mysteries in the world. Topick out a few: 1. Modern Day Time Traveller: In 2006, a man named Sergei Ponomarenko was found wandering in Kiev,Ukraine. His clotheswere about fifty years out of fashion and he carried an old model camera whichappeared brand new. The authorities were dumbfounded by hisdocuments, issued to him decades before Ukraine gained its independence fromthe Soviet Union. He said he was taking pictures of a strange object inthe sky, which was in the shape of a bell. The next thing he knew, he was lostin a capital city which he no longer recognized. When theauthority developed the film from his camera, the negatives contained markingsthat prove the it was manufactured in 1958 and the photos appeared to matchthis time period. The last exposure was of the bell-shaped UFO reportedby Ponomarenko. Somehow Sergei escaped the custody of the authorities even though he wasbeing held in a room with iron bars on the window. The police were alerted toapprehend him on sight but they never got the chance. However, the police kept on investigating andconfirmed that indeed during the era of the Soviet Union this man existed andthat he was declared disappeared in 1960. Also while Sergei was in theircustody, they obtained the pictures of a young woman who must have been thegirlfriend from his camera, whose name was Valentine Kulish. When they finally tracked her down, they came face to face with a womanwho looked much older than her photograph, being a grandmother 74 years of age.Valentine confirmed that, Sergei did vanish for one week. When he returned toher, he refused to explain his absence. 2. The Mystery of Mel's Hole The legend of the bottomless hole started on February 21, 1997, when aman identifying himself as Mel Waters appeared as a guest on Coast to Coast AMwith Art Bell. Watersclaimed that he owned rural property nine miles west of Ellensburg in KittitasCounty, Washington that contained a mysterious hole. According toWaters, the hole had an unknown depth of at least 80,000 feet. Waters claimed that his neighbor's dead dog had been seen alive sometimeafter it was thrown into the hole. Waters claimed to have measured the hole'sdepth using fishing line and a weight, although he still had not hit bottom bythe time he had used 80,000 feet of line. According to Waters, the hole'smagical properties prompted US federal agents to seize the land and fund hisrelocation to Australia. The exact location of the hole was never made public, yet several peopleclaimed to have seen it. Local news reporters who investigated the claims found no publicrecords of anyone named Mel Waters ever residing in, or owning property inKittitas County. According to State Department of Natural Resourcesgeologist Jack Powell, the hole does not exist and is geologicallyimpossible. A hole of the depth claimed "would collapse into itselfunder the tremendous pressure and heat from the surrounding strata," saidPowell. Powell said an ordinary old mine shaft on private property was probablythe inspiration for the stories, and commented that Mel's Hole had establisheditself as a legend "based on no evidence at all". 3. Man from Taured – Evidence forParallel Universes It was July 1954 when a well dressed man arrives at Haneda Airport inTokyo, Japan. Much like other passengers, he made his way to customs andpresented his passport. Only problem was that his passport wasissued by a country called "Taured", which no one had ever heard ofnor could find on the map. He was also carrying currencies of differentcountries and shared other details like the company for which he was workingand the hotel where he stayed. Officials find out that the company which he mentioned existed in Tokyobut not in Taured. Similarly, the hotel he mentioned did exist but hotelemployees informed them that no such booking was made. This prompted officersto take the man in custody for further interrogation. Officers were suspiciousthat he might be some criminal and confiscated his documentsand personal belongings. But to everyone’s surprise, the man vanished the nextmorning. Not only that, but all his personal documents had also disappeared. A search was launched tofind the man without success. The thing that was troubling investigatingofficers was that he was put up in a room high up in themulti-storey hotel building with no balcony. Some people argued that the mystery man was indeed from Taured but thecountry happens to be in another universe and somehow passed through a parallel dimension andended up at Haneda Airport. Another theory is that the mysteryman was a time traveller and had mistakenly landed at the airport. Above all this, there are people who claim that it’s just an elaborateinternet hoax. All the above QA are based onQuora digest to me on 11-1-2021. Quora answers need not be 100% correct answers Compiled and posted by R. 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