17th September 2016
On 7th December, 1972, the crew members of Apollo 17 spacecraft took a photograph of the Earth. This photograph, known as The Blue Marble, gives a clear idea as to why we know Earth as the Blue Planet. The earth’s surface contains more than 70 per cent water distributed in the oceans.
16th June 2016
A cryovolcano shoots up cold liquid instead of lava. This cold liquid known as cryomagma is a mixture of water and methane or ammonia. The cryomagma becomes solid as soon as it hits the surface. Cryovolcanoes are found on icy moons. The Sotra Facula volcano on Titan, the moon of Saturn, is a dormant cryovolcano.
6th June 2016
The parrotfish are found in shallow coastal waters in the seas. Some parrotfish species cover themselves in a gelatinous substance especially at night before they sleep. This substance is produced by the fish from mucus from the glands located at the upper edge of the gill cavity. They form this protective sheath so that other fish of prey cannot smell them out at night.
19th May 2016
Only 3 per cent of earth’s water is fresh, the rest 97 per cent is salt water. Of that 3 per cent, over 2 per cent is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers. It means less than 1 per cent fresh water is found in lakes, rivers and underground. Water, indeed is a scarce resource.
12th May 2016
Camels are known to live without water for many weeks in the desert. But it has been found that giraffes and kangaroo rats can live for more days than the camels. Giraffes eat food high in water content, and so they can live without water for weeks. Kangaroo rats never drink water but metabolise water from the seeds they eat.
3rd May 2016
In about 1607, Galileo invented an instrument that could measure the rise of water in a glass tube with the rise in temperature. This instrument is called a thermoscope. Later, scientists modified it to add a scale to mark the rise of water. Subsequently, water was replaced with alcohol and mercury.
