Kolkata is often called the city of ‘bhadralok’, or ‘noble people’ – a city that has been home to educational elites for more than a century. Remarkably, it is also the city that has bred five Nobel laureates. Sir Ronald Ross, an Indian-born British doctor, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1902. While working…
A person’s DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is a molecule that functions as a storehouse of genetic information. The discovery of DNA was a major breakthrough in medical science. While Watson and Crick gave the actual structure of the molecule, the credit of its discovery and identification goes to Friedrich Miescher. In 1869, Swiss-born Friedrich Miescher…
‘Go’ is the shortest complete sentence in the English language. It is an imperative sentence that is basically used as a command or order. However, there is an ongoing debate whether ‘I am’ should be given the honor. Basic grammar teaches us that a complete sentence should have a subject, a predicate, and an active…
Plastic surgery is the fad of the era among celebrities today. The term ‘plastic’ comes from the Greek word ‘plastikos’ which means ‘to mould or shape’. Plastic surgeries using modern techniques gained popularity not until 20th century. Nevertheless, the idea has existed since ancient times. The history of surgical sciences credits the ancient Indian physician Sushruta as the first ‘surgeon’…
Nail growth differs from person to person due to factors such as age, gender, health, weather, and hygiene. Fingernails grow much faster than toenails. A fingernail takes four to six months to grow from cuticle to tip, whereas toenails may take up to 12 to 18 months. There is a discrepancy of growth rate even…
The year was 1938. World War II was about to begin. A wonderful invention, which only became ubiquitous with time, happened: The ballpoint pen. The biro, or the first ballpoint pen, was named after its inventor Ladislao José Biro (1899–1985). Biro was a Hungarian journalist and painter. On his visit to a newspaper printing press, he could not help…
