1st October 2016
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.
22nd September 2016
Ancient Indian mathematician Baudhayana is perhaps the first person to calculate the value of ‘pi’. In his text Baudhayana Shulba Sutra, he mentions that the perimeter of the pit is thrice its diameter, so the approximate value of π is 3.
21st September 2016
The Himalayas are the world’s highest mountain range. They are also the youngest. Like any adolescent youth, this mountain range is continuously growing and changing every year. The current highest point of the range is at 29, 035 feet above sea level. This is a full 7 feet higher than the previous record. Professor Bradford Washburn of the Boston Museum of Science, along with his team, helped determine the new height of Mount Everest. They also propounded that the mountains are growing at a rate of 2.4inches/6.1cms every year.
23rd May 2016
The original word for chess is the Sanskrit chaturanga, meaning four members of an army, which were most likely elephants, horses, chariots and foot soldiers. According to a German Indologist researching on the origin of chess, in the 6th century, the Maukhari rulers of Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, used to play chaturanga with 16 cabinet terracotta before venturing into military campaigns. Historical accounts say that during the later Gupta period there was an Indian army school where cadets were taught about warfare through terracotta pieces on ashtapada, which was again the game of chess in its primitive stage.