CULTURALQA 11-2023-16 All the BELOW QA are from Quora DIGEST to me on 16-11-2023.
QUORA ANSWERS NEEDNOT BE 100% CORRECT ANSWERS. Compiled and posted by R.Gopala Krishnan, 80, on 16-11-2023. Q1 Howdid people with vision problems function before the invention of eyeglasses? A1 SilkRoad, 3h It wasn't easy.Thepoor souls had to squint, strain, and struggle to see anything clearly. They probably missed out on a lot of details, likethe fine print on contracts, the facial expressions of their loved ones, the horse manure on thestreet, and the beauty of nature. But don't worry, they weren't totally helpless. They had some waysto cope with their blurry vision, even if they weren't very effective orconvenient. Some of themused magnifying glasses, which were basically glass spheres that made things look bigger. These wereinvented by the Romans, who were pretty smart for their time. They also used them to start fires. But imagine having to carry around a big glass balleverywhere you go. Not very practical. Some of them alsoused pinhole glasses, which were glasses with tiny holes in them that blocked out most of thelight and only let in a narrow beam. This made thingslook sharper, butalso darker and smaller. Thesewere invented by the Arabs, who were also pretty smart for their time. They also used them to observe solar eclipses, whichwas pretty brave. But imagine having to wear glasses that made everything looklike a dim and distant dot. Not very fun. So, there is no doubt about it, people with visionproblems had it rough before the invention of eyeglasses. They had to rely on these makeshift solutions thatbarely worked and probably gave them headaches. But then, something amazing happened. Sometime in the 13th century, a genius named Salvino D'Armati in Italy cameup with the idea of putting curved glass lenses in frames that could be worn onthe nose. These were the first eyeglasses ever made, and theychanged the course of history. They allowed people to see clearly without having tohold anything or squint through holes. They were a game-changer for people with visionproblems, especially those who liked to read and write. Of course, these early eyeglasses weren't perfecteither. They were heavy, bulky, and fragile. They also didn't have any arms or temples to holdthem over the ears, so they often fell off or got lost. They also only correctedfarsightedness, not nearsightedness or astigmatism. But hey, they were better than nothing. Over time,eyeglasses improved a lot. They became lighter, thinner, and more durable. They also gotthem arms or temples to keep them in place. They also started to correct different types ofvision problems, like near sightedness and astigmatism. They also became more fashionable and varied instyles and colors. Theybecame more than just tools for seeing better; they became accessories forexpressing personality and taste. Today, eyeglasses are everywhere. Millions of peoplewear them every day for different reasons: to see better, to protect their eyesfrom harmful light or debris, to enhance their appearance or mood, or even toenjoy special effects like 3D movies or virtual reality. Eyeglasses areawesome inventions that have made life easier and more enjoyable for manypeople. My note- Even black glass frames without glass canmake things more clear since they obstruct light from all sides. One can check it themselves. Q2 Isthere any evidence of life before Earth formed or before our solar systemformed? A2 T.Barczuk, Studied at Gdansk University of Technology2h We have noevidence that life emerged anywhere before Earth formed, but places exist in the Universe where life could havearisen before the Solar System and our planet appeared. Just after the Big Bang, the Universe almost onlycontained hydrogen and helium, and life needs heavier elements produced via nuclearfusion in stars. In our galaxy, these heavier atoms are more abundant thecloser to the center. In the distant future, a lot of carbon and the like willbe found even in the remote corners of galaxies. It would seemthat these elements are needed for rocky planets to form around stars, but in the last few years, wediscovered many exoplanets, and surprisingly, rocky worlds were found insystems of stars that were metal-poor, which in astronomy means poor inelements heavier than hydrogen and helium. This means that rocky planets are likely to be foundbillions of years before our system came to be, even in the corners ofthe Universe where not many generations of stars lived and died and spreadthese elements around. We now thinkthere are about 2 trillion galaxies in the visible Universe. Some acquired highmetalicity very early in the history of the Universe. An example is thefascinating galaxy NGC 1277, 220 million light-years away from the Sun. It is aso-called relic galaxy, isolated from others. It didn't interact with othergalaxies during its history, but just after the Big Bang for a few billion years, it formed stars about1000 times faster than the Milky Way's star formation rate. It is nowfilled with billions of archaic stars rich in the whole range of elementsneeded for the emergence of rocky planets and life. Nevertheless, such an example doesn't change much, aswe will never be able to visit such remote locations in the Universe. If life emerged there anddidn't produce a technological civilization that could be capable of stellarengineering, we wouldn't be able to know that from 220 million light-yearsaway. Very advanced technological civilizations could theoretically be detectedfrom huge distances if they built Dyson Swarms around stars or other cosmicsuperstructures. Bacterial, animal-like, or plant-like life could only possiblybe detected on planets in the nearest neighborhood in our home Milky WayGalaxy. Life on Eartharose very early in the history of our planet. Atheoretical research paper posits that even the simplest, first bacterial cellsin our world were so complex that they might have needed an additional 4billion years of evolution. This is not universallyaccepted by science, and currently, we think that the first organisms emergedon Earth, but if it ever proves to be true, then the firstcells must have arrived here from somewhere else in the Universe, perhaps even from other systems. The question was: Is there any evidence of lifebefore Earth formed or before our solar system formed? The inriguing relic galaxy NGC 1277, 220 millionlight-years from Earth, contains billions of very ancient metal-rich stars. This galaxy had all that isneeded for the emergence of life very early in the history of the Universe,just after the Big Bang. Q3 Whatis the most abundant precious metal? A3 ErikaFernandez, Knows about Chemistry Aug 12 A precious metalis a rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical element that has a higheconomic value.Precious metals are usually less reactive than most elements, and they have ahigh lustre and ductility. Preciousmetals are often used as currency, investment, or industrial raw materials. There are many precious metals in the world, such asgold, silver, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium, ruthenium, andmore. However,not all of them are equally abundant or accessible. The abundance of a precious metal depends on itsoccurrence in the Earth’s crust, its extraction from ores or minerals,and its supply and demand in the market. Silver has anaverage concentration of 0.075 ppm in the Earth’s crust, which means that one ton ofcrust contains about 0.075 grams of silver. Silver ismostly produced as a by-product of copper, lead, zinc, or gold mining. Silver has a lower demand and a lower price than gold,but it also has more industrial uses. So based on thesenumbers, it seems that silver is the most abundant precious metal in theEarth’s crust.However, these numbers may vary depending on the source and method ofmeasurement. Also, the abundance of precious metal in the crust does notnecessarily reflect its availability or accessibility in the market. The supplyand demand of precious metals may also affect their price and value Q4 WasAdolf Hitler a Christian? Why did Hitler kill all Jews? A4 KenEckert, English Professor, Albertan16h No. It is frustrating to read so many incorrect andmalevolent answers every time this comes up. Hitler was nota Christian. He was a pagan theist with a vague idea of spiritual “providence.”He was never excommunicated because in adulthood he was no longer a practicingCatholic. The church does not excommunicate people who alreadydon’t go to church. Hitler wanted to be a priest briefly as a small boy,at about the same age boys want to be Spiderman—but as a young adult renouncedfaith. Hitler outwardly professed Christian faith in order toseduce and bully the established churches in Germany, and staged photographs ofpriests heiling—but it was all lies; in private conversations such asin the Bormann records, he continually railed against Christianity as acontemptible religion for “cowards and weaklings,” despising its values ofmercy and forgiveness as sapping the vitality of the German race. Nazi documents indicated plansto eradicate all churches and religious institutions in a postwar victoriousreich. In the meantime, church leaders and priests who did not submit tothe party were thrown into concentration camps. Admittedly, part of Christianity’s sadder legacy inthe west is anti-Semitism, and Hitler was influenced by that, as well asbastardized versions of contemporary European philosophies and Darwiniantheory—along with personal experiences which violently antagonized Hitleragainst the Jews. Some of thenearly 3,000 Catholic clergy held in Dachau, of whom many died. Stop posting that Hitler was a Christian. He wasnot. Q5 Whoare some great Indians that most people have not heard of? A5 ShipraMishra,Studied Patna Women's College (Graduated 2017)5y We are all well aware of Mr. Albert Einstein, but theman next to him is the one that hasn't been heard much of. He is Mr. Dhondo Keshav Karve. He has been oneof the greatest social reformers of India, whosemain focus was on women's welfare, specifically - Education, Individualfreedom, remarriage of widows and the abolition of casteism. Who was KeshavKarve? Born in a smallplace, Murud in Konkan, Maharastra, he was lovingly known as Maharshi Karve orAnna Karve. Headorned the Earth from 18th April, 1858 to 9th November, 1962. Married at atender age of 14, he was very soon exposed to the realities of his culture. Before heading towards socialreformatory activities, he was teaching Mathematics at the Fergusson college inPune. What did he do? Seeing the pathetic conditions of widows around him,he got inspired to work for their betterment. He established the vidhwa-vivahottajak mandali (widowremarriage association) in 1893. Hemarried Godubai (a widow)in the same year, after the death of his first wife in1891. This came as a shock to the orthodox public. In 1896, hefounded Hindu Widows Home in Poona to help widows support themselves if they couldn't ordidn't wish to remarry. He had to first carry out his works in the remotearea of Poona as the Brahmins didn't approve of it. The irony is that he himself was a Brahmin. He laid the foundation of India's first Universityfor women, which he named Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Indian womenUniversity. Itwas financially aided by Vithaldas Thackersey, a philanthropist andindustrialist of Mumbai. The University covered entire spectrum ranging frompre-primary to post graduation, engineering, vocationals etc. In 1936, hestarted the Maharashtra Village Primary Education Society with the goal of openingprimary schools in villages. In 1944, he founded the Samata Sangh (association forthe promotion of human equality) He stood forabolition of the caste system and untouchability. He wrote two books -Atmavrutta (1928) and Lookingback (1936). How was hehonoured? He recievedPadma Vibhushan in 1955. In his centenary birth year in 1958, he was awardedthe highest civilian award of our country, the Bharat Ratna. In the sameyear, postal stamps in his honour were issued by the GoI. The Queen’s roadin Mumbai was renamed to Maharashi Karve road in his honour. This man was someone who just kept working in thecorrect direction without creating a hype around himself and without caring forthe consequences. Source :Encyclopedia Britannica -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1657723675.2454199.1700122954810%40mail.yahoo.com.
