A little different, Many thanks to the crew that made this possible: Chris = cameraman & production Josh = production & voiceover Henry = cameraman & stuntman Dylan = cameraman, stuntman & stand-in director Heaven, Nicky, & Dawson = Moral support & cheering Myself = direction, production & stunt driving/pilot Chamron = Camera Pile of dirt = couldn’t of done it with out you!!!!!!

WHO WAS INDIA’S FIRST CRICKET COACH?

Ajit Wadekar was the first to coach the Indian cricket team. He was both the manager and the coach of the Indian cricket team from 1992 to 1996. John Wright was India’s first foreign coach.

WHAT IS A SUCKER BALL IN CRICKET?

When a bowler intends to tempt batsman into scoring runs by bowling a ball which appears easy to hit and the batsman hits the ball but t results in his dismissal by either being stumped, bowled or caught, such ball is called a sucker ball.

WHICH BATSMAN HAS REMAINED NOT OUT MOST OFTEN IN CRICKET ODIS?

Michael Bevan of Australia has remained not out most often in ODI cricket — 67 times in 196 innings of 232 matches he ‘ has played. He has scored 6,912 runs with an average of (53.58).

WHO WAS THE YOUNGEST WINNER AT WIMBLEDON?

Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg was the youngest winner at Wimbledon. At 16, Borg was the Wimbledon junior champion in 1973. American Kathy Rinaldi, 15, was the youngest woman winner at Wimbledon (1981). Martina Hingis of Switzerland won the 1996 Wimbledon at 15 years too. At 17, Boris Becker won the men’s singles title in 1985.

HOW MANY ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS IN CRICKET HAVE ENDED IN A TIE?

Twenty one one-day international cricket matches have ended in a tie. While Australia has been involved in the most (8), the others are Pakistan (6), West Indies and South Africa (5), England, Zimbabwe and New Zealand (4 each) and India and Sri Lanka (3 each). Australia and South Africa have played four tied matches.

WHY IS CRICKET NOT A DISCIPLINE IN THE OLYMPICS?

Cricket was played just once, at the Paris Olympics in 1900. Cricket is played by just 10 countries at the highest level (though there are nearly 100 associate members of the ICC) and this would normally disqualify it from being included as an Olympic sport.  The International Olympic Committee claims mass participation is a must (minimum of 16 nations). The only other occasion cricket was part of a multi-disciplinary meet was at the 1998 Commonwealth Games at Kuala Lumpur.

WHEN WERE COLOURED UNIFORMS INTRODUCED IN ODIS?

Coloured uniforms for ODIs were introduced in 1977 by Kerry Packer for the World Series matches in Australia which did not have official status, even though many world class cricketers took part. However, it was a revolution in itself. Its legacy is a permanent change in the way the game is funded, watched, played and perceived. World Series pioneered three-cornered tournaments, night cricket, floodlights, coloured clothing, coloured balls, drop-in pitches, on-field microphones and multitudinous

WHO HOLDS THE RECORD FOR WINNING THE MOST NUMBER OF OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALS FOR SWIMMING?

In the 1972 Munich Olympic games, Mark Spitz won seven Olympic gold medals, a feat yet unequalled by any other Olympic athlete. Even more remarkably, Spitz set a new world record in each of the seven events - the 100 m freestyle, 200 m freestyle, 100 m butterfly, 200 m butterfly, 4 x 100 m freestyle, 4 x 200 m freestyle and the 4 x 100 m medley

IN CRICKET, WHAT IS POWER PLAY?

The original rules of ODIs stated that during the first 15 overs, only two fielders should be allowed outside a 30-metre circle around the wicket. This meant that attacking batsman were likely to score runs quickly in the first 15 overs, but would become more watchful at the end of the spell. In an effort to keep the game more exciting during the middle overs, the 15 over block with fielding restrictions at the beginning of the innings is reduced to 10, and thereafter, the captain of the fielding side has to decide when to bring his fielders in again for two further blocks of 5 overs, at any time he likes. These 5 over spells are called Powerplay 2 and Powerplay 3. (Powerplay 1 is the first block of 10).

WHAT IS THE MILEAGE OF F1 CARS?

For every 100 kilometres, a 900 bph F1 car uses 70 litres of petrol. A team uses about 1,200 litres of petrol during a Grand Prix weekend.

WHY IS THE SOUTH AFRICAN CRICKET TEAM CALLED “PROTEAS”?

The Protea flower with pink and yellow petals, is the national flower of South Africa, and hence their cricket team is called proteas. Similarly, South Africa’s rugby team is called springboks, which is the country’s national animal.

HAS ANY PLAYER IN CRICKET BEEN DECLARED OUT BECAUSE HE CAME LATE TO THE GROUND TO BAT?

Law 31 in cricket provides that an incoming batsman must be in position to take guard or for his partner to be ready to receive the next ball within 3 minutes of the fall of the previous wicket. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batsman will be declared ‘timed out’. The fielding side has to appeal for the wicket to be awarded. There is no known incidence of this in an international match. There are three cases, however, in first class cricket. H Yadav — Tripura vs Orissa at Cuttack in 1997; Vasbert Drakes — Border vs Free State at East London in 2002 and A J Harris — Nottinghamshire vs Durham UCCE at Nottingham in 2003.

WHEN WAS THE FIRST INDO-PAK CRICKET TEST PLAYED?

India played Pakistan from October 16, 1952 at the Ferozeshah Kotia in Delhi to kick pff the first-ever Test series. India won this Test by an innings and 70 runs to take the lead in the five-match series. While Lala Amarnath captained India, A H Kardar led the Pakistan side. This was the beginning of a long and fierce battle for supremacy. Later this month, this “war by other means” continues with India’s tour of Pakistan.

WHAT IS PELOTA?

Pelota is a very fast ball game of Basque derivation (language spoken by the people who inhabit the Pyrenees in north central Spain and the adjoining region of south western France). Pelota is popular in Latin American countries and in the USA where it’s a betting sport. It’s played by two, four or six players in a walled court or cancha and resembles squash. Each player uses a long curved wickerwork basket or cesta strapped to the hand to hurl the ball or pelota against the walls. Basque pelota has been an exhibition sport in Mexico and Barcelona.

WHAT ARE THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF SKATING TEAM PURSUIT?

The basic elements are: Competitions may be announced for pursuit races with either three or four skaters in each team. In both cases, the finishing time of the team will be determined as the finishing time of the third skater in the team. If less than three skaters of the team finish the race, the team is considered not to have completed the race and is disqualified. In Team Pursuit races, the two teams start simultaneously at each side of the track at the middle of the straights. If a skater of a team is disqualified as per rules, the disqualification also applies for the team.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JUDO AND AIKIDO?

Developed in the 19th century, judo is a Japanese system of wrestling. It was developed from jujitsu in 1882 by a Japanese educator. It tries to develop the skill of using an op- ponent’s own weight and strength against him. Techniques include throwing and grappling. Judo fighters learn how to fall safely when they are thrown to minimise injury. Aikido is (ai - harmony, ki - spirit, mind or universal energy, do – the Way) the Way of Harmony with Universal Energy. Created by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), it’s based on bujutsu with an emphasis on self-defence and spiritual growth. In aikido, an attack is avoided with flowing, circular movements and it uses grappling, throws, and mainly non-resistance to tackle opponents.

WHAT IS THE VJD METHOD IN CRICKET?

V Jayadevan, an engineer from Kerala, has devised a method which has the backing of the Indian board and will be discussed by the ICC’s Cricket Committee during its two-day meet in Dubai on May 13 and 14. Like the Duckworth-Lewis method, Jayadevan’s system (the VJD method) also comes from an analysis of numerous one day matches, and predicting scores and targets on the basis of scoring patterns recorded from earlier games.

WHEN WAS THE STUMP CAMERA USED IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET?         

The first stump camera was installed by the BBC in the early 1990s. It placed a Hitachi KP-D8s camera in the middle stump. This was a colour camera that used a 410,000 pixel CCD (charge-coupled device) with micro lenses, and offered a Horizontal resolution of 470 TV lines. Its size (42 cubic cm and 80 gms) makes it possible for it to be inserted into the stump. If one camera is not enough, two can be placed, one with a wide-angle lens and the other with a narrow-angle lens, giving the broadcaster four different views.

WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD ‘ACROBAT’?

The word ‘acrobat’ means a performer who is skilled in the feats of agility and balance. It comes from the Frencn word ‘acrobate’ which is derived from the Greek words ‘akrobates’ (one who walks on tiptoe) and ‘akrobatein’ (to walk on the stem of the feet).

WHAT IS THE EIGHT QUEEN PROBLEM IN CHESS?

The eight queen problem in chess is one where a person has to place eight queens on a chess board such that none of the queens can capture another queen at that point of time. For example, place the queens at a8, b2, c4, dl, e7, f5, g3 and h6 respectively. There are a number of combinations (a fixed number, however) where a person can place queens at different positions and yet no queen can capture another queen.

WHEN WAS FOOTBALL FIRST PLAYED?

Modern-day football has its origins in England. There are indications that a game akin to football called choule or soule arrived in England from Normandy, Brittany, and Picardy, during the Norman Conquest. According to historical evidence, football-like games were played in English public schools such as Eton and Winchester colleges in the 16th century. By the mid-19th century, public school boys more or less formalised the rules of football, which then became an organised activity. This gradually developed into football as we know it today.

IN FOOTBALL, WHAT IS THE FALLING LEAF SHOT?

The falling leaf shot is called so because the ball swerves twice, just as a falling leaf, during its flight towards goal. The diminutive Brazilian striker of 1950s and ’60s, Manuel dos Santos Francisco Garrincha made the banana kick and falling leaf shot his own due to his brilliant skills. Garrincha earned the nickname of Little Bird due to his short stature and vast repertoire of beguiling free kicks that tormented defenders.

WHICH IS THE WORLD’S FIRST VIDEO GAME?

In 1951, an .engineer Ralph Baer developed a game called Pong using raster video equipment. In 1958, William A Higinbotham created ‘tennis for two’, a game using an analog computer. The game was never patented and dismantled. Nolan Bushnell built an arcade game in 1969 using a rasterscan TV monitor. He is known as the father of video arcade games. From being a fun activity, video games are also used to help sick children manage pain and anxiety during hospital stays. Recently, Ethan Myers of Los Angeles made a partial recovery after a grave car accident, thanks partly to a video game system.

WHEN WAS THE IDITAROD DOG RACE FIRST HELD?

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, also called the ‘Iditarod’ or the ‘Last Great Race’, is held in Alaska. It starts from Anchorage in southcentral Alaska and terminates at Nome on the western Bering Sea coast. Each team, of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher, covers over 1,150 miles in about three weeks. The Id- itarod Trail Sled Dog Race first ran in 1973. The idea was conceived by Dorothy G Page in 1964 as part of Alaska’s Centennial Year celebrations in 1967.

WHAT IS THE WORLD RECORD FOR THE DEEPEST DIVE?

The world record for the deepest dive is held by South Africa’s Nuno Gomes, a 52-year-old engineer who dived to a depth of 318.25 metres (1044 feet). He was scuba diving in the Red Sea on June 10, 2005 and beat the earlier record of 313 metres set by Mark Ellyatt of Britain in 2003.

WHO IS KNOWN AS THE POLE VAULT QUEEN?

Yelena Isinbayeva (23) of Russia has been hailed as the queen of pole vault. The world record holder has been virtually unbeaten in the past three years. Yelena, who spends most of her time in Monaco and trains in Italy, was recently asked to move to Italy and represent it for $6 million. However, she refused stating that she would never betray her country and that she is still based in Volgograd, her native place. She was Also approached by the oil baron Roman Abramovich to endorse the oil brand worldwide, but it did not materialise.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCCER AND FOOTBALL?

What Americans call soccer is called football elsewhere in the world. So, if is better to say that American Soccer and British Football are the same sport. The official name of the sport is Association Football and the international body governing it is FIFA (Federation International de Football Association).

IF A BATSMAN IS OUT LEGITIMATELY BUT THE FIELDERS DON’T APPEAL, WOULD THE UMPIRE RULE

HIM OUT?

Law 27 clearly says that: The umpire shall not give a batsman out unless appealed to by the other side which shall be done prior to the bowler beginning his run up bowling action to deliver .the next ball. Under Law 23.1 (f) (The Ball becomes dead), the ball is dead on ‘over’ being called, this does not however, invalidate an appeal made prior to the first ball of the following over provided ‘time’ has not been called as Law 17.1 (Call of Time). Always remember an appeal shall cover all ways of being out. (Law 27.2). Even if a batsman leaves his wicket under a misapprehension that he is out, but umpire ruled him not out under such circumstances, the umpire shall intervene if satisfied that he is wrong (Law 27.5).

WHO HAS WON THE MOST PAIRS FREE SKATING TITLES?

Andree Brunett and Pierre Brunett have won the world figure skating championship four times — in 1926, 1928,1930 and 1932. Three pairs have won it thrice — Ludowika Jacobson and Walter Jacobson (1911,1913,1924), Helen Engelmanri and Alfred Berger (1913,1922,1924) and Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev (1983,1985,1988).

WHEN WAS THE STUMP CAMERA USED IN INTERNATIONAL CRICKET?          . WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD “ACROBAT ?

Theword-acrobafmeansaperformerwho is skilled in the feats of agility and balgance. It comes from the French “word ‘acrobate’ which is deprived from the Greek words ‘akrobates’ (one who walks on tiptoe) and ‘akrobatein’ (to walk on the stem of the feet).

WHO WAS THE FIRST BATSMAN TO BE DECLARED OUT BY A THIRD UMPIRE?

Sachin Tendulkar, on November 14,1992 at Durban, against South Africa. Tendulkar, who had scored 11, glanced the ball to the backward point where Jonty Rhodes was fielding. Sachin attempted a quick single, but was sent back by non-striker Ravi Shastri. Rhodes threw the ball to the stumps where Andrew Hudson, who had moved in from short leg, broke the wicket. It was a close call so square-leg umpire Cyril Mitchley asked third umpire Karl Liebenberg to decide. The TV replay clearly showed that Tendulkar was run out.

WHY IS THE CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM IS CALLED A SKIPPER?

Skipper originated from the Dutch word ’schipper’ (literally ’shipper’). Skipper usually means a person who commands a boat or ship. In naval terms, a skipper is responsible for the care and safety of the vessel, ship, yacht or boat. This is true of the captain as well, but in addition, the captain is also responsible for the care and safety of the crew. In sports, he is a team captain in lawn bowls. It is an informal title of a baseball manager and captain of a football team.

WHAT IS A MAGIC BARRIER IN CHESS?

The International Chess Federation (FIDE) awards rating points to chess players to indicate their relative skill level. This system is based on a general statistical rating system called ELO. According to it, the more the rating points, the better the player. FIDE tracks players’ performances continually, and the ratings are revised periodically. Garry Kasparov obtained 2851, the highest score ever. Only four players — Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov and Anand have obtained a score greater than or equal to 2800, which is called the magic barrier. The term is an imitation of the term sound barrier, which is considered a difficult threshold to cross before achieving supersonic speeds.

WLIAT IS A CRICKETER’S COFFIN?

Cricketer’s coffin is a term used in jest for the kit bags that cricketers carry. The amount of paraphernalia carried by them on tours makes these bags resemble a coffin. It is also jocularly said that cricketers carry their coffin with them on every tour.

HOW DOES THE SNICKOMETER WORK?

The Snickometer, although not used in adjudicating decisions, is a useful TV tool which tracks the cricket ball’s path by picking up sounds from pitch and stump microphones. The Snickometer, invented by Englishman Allan Plaskett in the mid ’90s, is used to display sound from stump microphones. The feed from the stump microphone is fed directly into the Snickometer which then represents the sound as a visual graphic. From that, viewers can tell whether the ball hit a pad (a flat, dull display) or hit the bat (a lot sharper graphic) or just went pass (a flat line).

WHAT DO COLOUR CARDS SIGNIFY IN SOCCER? WHAT IS THE SOCCER WAR?  

The Football War or Soccer War was a six-day war fought by El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. It had little to do with soccer but an attempt to settle cultural differences. The fact that the more aggressive Salvadoreans were illegally immigrating to Honduran territory was a leading cause of this war. It’s called the Soccer War because it began after a bitterly contested series of three World Cup qualifying matches between them. El Salvador initiated hostilities when its army moved into Honduras. After more than four days of fighting (which left 3,000 dead, 6,000 wounded and caused $50 million in damage), a ceasefire was called under pressure from the US and the Organisation of American States. A peace agreement was not signed until 1980, and it took a 1992 decision by the International Court of Justice to settle the boundary issues.

WHAT ARE THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF SUMO WRESTLING?

With its origins in ancient Japan, sumo wrestling competitions are marked by elaborate rituals. A sumo bout takes place between two wrestlers belonging to a group of compatible ranks; the ranking system itself has been in existence since time immemorial. The wrestling takes place inside a circular area of 4.55 metres diameter with the ground made of clay and sand. The wrestlers can push, pull, slap, throw and grapple each other, but they are not permitted to engage in kicking, gouging or hair pulling. If any part of a wrestler’s body, except the soles of the feet, first touches the ground inside the ring, or if he crosses the boundary of the ring, then he is declared the loser. An average bout lasts for a few seconds to a few minutes.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SPORTS AND GAMES?

A sport is a physical activity carried out under an agreed set of rules, with a recreational purpose: for competition or self-enjoyment or a combination of these. A game is a recreational activity involving one or more players, defined by a goal that the players try to reach, and some set of rules to play it. Games are played primarily for entertainment or enjoyment. The difference of purpose differentiates sport from game, combined with the notion of individual (or team) skill or prowess.

o        IS THE WWF AN AUTHENTIC WRESTLING SHOW?

No. WWE (formerly WWF) matches are a completely staged event for entertainment. The WWE superstars are fully informed about their matches, their results and the moves, which they have to use. The superstars are always ready to have their bodies on the line for the sake of WWE. So, the bottom line is that WWE, although a staged show as far as the results are concerned, is purely authentic when seen from the point of view of the WWE superstars as the blood shed and injuries are for real.

WHAT ARE THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF THE UNEVEN BARS IN GYMNASTICS?

The uneven parallel bars demands strength, concentration, courage, coordination, precision and splitsecond timing. The routine must move from the low bar to the high bar, incorporating many grip changes releases and regrasps, flight elements, changes of direction, saltos and circle swings through the hand-stand position. The entire routine should flow from one movement to the next without pauses, extra swings or additional supports. Each routine must have two release elements.

WHEN WAS THE FIRST RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HELD?

The first Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship was held in 1963 in Budapest, Hungary The competition featured 28 athletes from 10 European countries. Rhythmic individual all-round competition was added to the Olympic Games in 1984. The Rhythmic group event was added as a medal sport at the 1996 Games. The Rhythmic Gymnastics group competition involves five athletes working together as a team.

WHAT IS AUSSIE RULES FOOTBALL

This is the quintessential local Australian sport derived from a mixture of rugby and Gaelic football. It is played with 36 players (18 from each team) on an elliptical field, often called as an oval. First introduced in 1858, in the Victoria, Australia, the game is widely played in other countries like UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Papua, New Guinea and New Zealand. The game is distinguished from other kinds of football by the fast, relatively free movement of the ball ‘ (due to absence of the off-side rule) ‘ and the awarding of a free kick for any clean catch, known as a mark, of a ball which has been kicked more than 15 metres.

WHAT IS THE HIGHEST TOTAL SCORED BY ANY TEAM IN FIRST CLASS CRICKET?

The highest total score is 1,107 runs made by Victoria in a Sheffield Shield match against New South Wales at Melbourne in 1926. They scored this in 10 hours 30 minutes i.e. at an incredible rate of 1.76 runs per minute.

WHO WAS INDIA’S FIRST CRICKET TEST CAPTAIN?

Lala Amarnath was independent India’s first Test captain and led India on the of Australia in 1947. He was a swashbuckling all rounder and an outspoken personality who was not afraid to speak his mind. After his retirement from the game, he was appointed to the board of selectors.

WHY IS THE CRICKET BALL RED IN COLOUR?

The red ball is not always used in cricket these days. During night cricket matches, a white ball is used. As for the game itself, it originated in England, where ambient light levels leave much to be desired. Light is made of seven different colours. The red wavelength is scattered least from its original path while blue is scatted the most. Red colour is, therefore, most suited for spotting in dwindling light. Incidentally, the cricket ball is called the red cherry. The same explanation holds true for the red appearance of the sun during sunrise and sunset. Also, the same logic can explain why the sky and the oceans appear blue.

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE REDNECK GAMES?

The Redneck Games, events for the not so athletic, is held every July in Georgia (USA). Started ten years ago as a spoof of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, it attracted about 15,000 participants this year. Events are unusual and include mudpit bellyflop, bobbing for pigs’ feet, hub cup hurling, cigarette flip, redneck horseshoe played with toilet seats, seed spitting contest, bug zapper spitball, big hair contest and the armpit serenade.

WHICH IS THE WORLD’S LARGEST SWIMMING POOL?

The Natural Buoyancy Laboratory or NBL at the Sonny Carter Training Facility, known as the SCTF near NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, is the world’s largest indoor swimming pool. The pool is 62 metres (202 ft) in length, 31 metres (102 ft) in width and 12 metres (40 ft) in depth — 6 metres (20 feet) above ground level and an equal distance below ground. The pool holds 22.7 million litres (6.2 million gallons) of water. The pool is used by astronauts to train in conditions similar to zero gravity using specialised methods.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SNOOKER, BILLIARDS, POOL AND SIDE POCKET?

The main difference is with respect to the number of balls used. In snooker, 22 balls, including the white colour striker ball, are used. The other coloured balls are as follows: 15 red, 1 yellow, 1 brown, 1 blue, 1 pink, 1 black and 1 green. In billiards, only three balls are used — white, yellow and red — and both the white and the yellow ball can act as the strikers. In pool, there are nine balls with numbers and stripes printed on them. Side pocket is not a recognised table game and refers to the corner pockets of the billiards table.

IN RUGBY, WHY IS THE CALCUTTA CUP CALLED SO? WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM ‘WILD CARD’ IN SPORT?

The origin lies in card games, where a wild card means a card with no fixed value, and whose value is assigned by the player dynamically In other games like tennis, the term is nowadays used to refer to a player (or a team) who is awarded entry to a tournament at the discretion of the organizing committee, even though the player (or team) has not strictly satisfied the eligibility criteria. A wild card is awarded to players who are usually young and promising, and belong to the home country The term has been in use in the above sense since 1950s.

WHAT IS THE WOODEN SPOON IN SPORTS?

‘Wooden spoon’ is a phrase which refers to the performance of an individual or a team which finishes last in a competition. Sometimes, a mock or real wooden spoon award is also handed over to the contestant coming last. The phrase is apparently based on the fact that a wooden spoon is almost valueless compared to the winner’s trophy which is made of precious metal. The term had its origin in Cambridge University where professors used to dangle wooden spoon before students who failed in examination.

WHY DO TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO PLAY AS A SEPARATE TEAM IN FOOTBALL BUT PLAY AS A PART OF THE WEST INDIES IN CRICKET?

West Indies is composed of several islands; some are independent nations, some others are dependencies or territories. Most were under the rule of Spain, Britain, France, Denmark, or the Netherlands. When England introduced cricket in its colonies in the 19th century it wanted to form only one cricket team in West Indies with representatives from all its colonies there and from British Guyana. The West Indies team was set up in 1890s and it gained Test status in 1928. It’s managed by the West Indies Cricket Board, which today represents ten independent and two dependent English-speaking nations of the Carribean. Unlike cricket, soccer developed independently in the West Indies. It is possible for each country of West Indies, particularly Trinidad and Tobago, to participate independently in international football tournaments.

WHO HAS WON THE MOST NUMBER OF FENCING TITLES?

Russia’s Aleksandr Romankov has won the most men’s Individual World Championship fencing titles — five in 1974,1977,1979,1982 and 1983. However, he was never an Olympic champion. SagineRejto Ildiko has won the most Olympic fencing medals by a woman — seven (two gold, three silver, two bronze).

WHY ARE THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN, FRENCH OPEN, WIMBLEDON AND THE US OPEN CALLED GRAND SLAMS?

In tennis, a singles player or doubles team is said to have achieved the Grand Slam if they succeed in winning all these four titles in the same year. These tournaments are therefore also known as the Grand Slam tournaments. The term was first used in 1933 by American journalist John Kieran. In describing the attempt that year by Jack Crawford to win all four titles, he compared it with “a countered and vulnerable grand slam in bridge”.

WHAT IS TREE TRANSFER’ IN FOOTBALL?

Every football player who plays for a club has a contract with the club for a particular period of time. After the contract expires and the player moves/transfers to another club, it is called free transfer because the latter does not have to pay the player’s former club any amount of money.

WHERE WAS TWENTY 20 FIRST PLAYED?

The Twenty20 format of cricket was first played in 2003, in a match between England and Wales at Lord’s in England. It drew a crowd of 26,500. The first international Twenty20 match was played between Australia and New Zealand in Auckland’s Eden Park.

WHO WAS THE CAPTAIN OF INDEPENDENT INDIA’S FIRST CRICKET TEST TEAM?

The colourful cricket legend Lala Amarnath (1911-2000) was the first Test cricket captain of an independent Indian team. The first series he captained was against Australia, played in Australia in 1947-48. A brilliant all-rounder, he is best remembered as the first Indian to score a Test century in his debut match against England in Bombay in 1933. He was also the captain who led India to it’s first-ever Test victory and series victory in 1952- 53 when India and Pakistan played a series in India.

WHY IS THE WIMBLEDON DRESS CODE WHITE?

Traditionally, white is considered the colour of sport since it stands for purity. Since the Wimbledon Championships places great emphasis on tradition, it insists that players wear only white. Of course, thanks to some players’ flamboyant outfits, most notably Andre Agassi, the all-white dress code was relaxed to “almost white”.

WHO IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE FOOTBALLER?

In 2001, Zinedine Zidane transferred. From the Italian club Juventus F.C to Real Madrid of Spain , on a four-year contract. The transfer fee was $66 million, making him the most expensive, player in foot• ball history. The 34-year-old French captain, popularly known as Zizou, is considered one the greatest players of this generation. He has said that the 2(506 World Cup will be his last in competitive football. He is retiring from club football as well.

WHY DO THE SURFACES OF TABLE TENNIS RACQUETS HAVE DIFFERENT COLOURS?    IN FOOTBALL, WHY DOES THE BEST PLAYER WEAR NUMBER 10?

It’s not that the best player in a team wears a number 10 jersey. It just happens so. Generally the manager and coach start numbering the formation, beginning from the goalkeeper and then defenders and so on. Accordingly, mostly midfielders or forwards have that number. It’s completely according to strategies or formation.

HAS ANY GOALKEEPER EVER SCORED A GOAL DIRECTLY FROM HIS 18-YARD BOX?

Luis Martinez, a Colombian goalkeeper achieved this feat in a match against Poland on May 30, 2006 in a World Cup warm-up match with Poland.

WHAT’S THE HIGHEST SPEED RECORDED AT A FL EVENT?

The Grand Prix with the highest average speed was the 1971 Italian Grand Prix, won by Peter Gethin in a BRM at an average speed of 242.6 kph on the Monza circuit which at the time did not yet have any chicanes. Interestingly, a recent computer simulation suggested that current Formula. One car would achieve an average speed of well over 300 kph on the original circuit. In 1998, the fastest Grand Prix was the Italian, won by Michael Schumacher at an average speed of 237.591 kph.

HOW IS ‘WALKING’ DIFFERENT FROM “RUNNING’ IN THE OLYMPICS?

In walking, the constraint is that at any frame of time you should always maintain contact with the ground. This can only be achieved when before lifting your rear foot you put the front foot on the ground. In running, there is no such constraint but the former method will slow you down compared to the latter. m running, you push your rear foot to get a leap even before your front foot has reached the ground, thus achieving greater speeds. In the walking marathon at the Olympics, foot contact is closely monitored and if the visual suggests the participant has not maintained continuous contact with the ground, it results in disqualification.

WHY IS AUSTRALIA CALLED OZ?

The word Australia when referred to informally with its first three letters becomes Aus. When Aus or toundfairult.

IN CHESS, WHY ARE THE PIECES IN BLACK AND WHITE, AND NOT IN ANY OTHER COLOUR?

It is for the sake of contrast. Although the colour of chess pieces may vary, the lighter colour is called ‘white’ while the darker colour is called ‘black’. The players are called ‘white players’ and ‘black players’, depending on the colour of pieces they control.

WHAT DOES BMX STANDS FOR?

The full form of BMX is bicycle motocross. It is the sport of racing specially built bicycles on a rough, cross-country course that includes constructed obstacles. BMX wheels are much smaller in diameter than touring or hybrid wheels, and the frame is designed to be very small in relation to the size of the rider.

WHY IS AUSTRALIA REFERRED TO AS DOWN UNDER?

Australia is known as ‘the land Down Under’ for its position in the southern hemisphere. The discovery of Australia began when European explorers searched for a land under the continent of Asia. Before Australia was discovered, it was known as Terra Australis Incognita — the unknown southern land. Despite the term’s wide usage, it is rarely used by Australians themselves, many of whom regard it with some derision.

WHERE DID ACROBATICS ORIGINATE?

Acrobatic traditions are found in many cultures. In the West, Minoan art from circa 2000 B.C. contains depictions of acrobatic feats on the backs of bulls, which may have been a religious ritual. In China, acrobatics have been a part of the culture since the Han Dynasty, over 2500 years ago. During the Tang dynasty acrobatics saw much the same sort of development as European acrobatics saw during the Middle Ages with court displays during the 7th through the 10th century dominating the practice. The first use of acrobatics as a specific sport was in (he Soviet Union in the 1930s, and the first world championships were in 1974.

WHICH IS THE WORLD’S RICHEST SPORTING BODY?

India’s cricket board claims it’s on track to becoming the richest sporting body in the world. Since Sharad Pawar took over as president of BCCI in November, supported by vice-president Lalit Modi, who is aggressively overseeing sales and marketing, and former BCCI president Inderjeet Singh Bihdra, the body claims it has already multiplied its income by eight times to about $1.5 billion.

WHEN DID WHITE RIVER RAFTING BECOME A SPORT?

Rafting or whitewater rafting is a recreational activity utilising a raft to navigate a river or other water bodies. This is usually done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. In the 1970s, raiting was included in the Munich Olympics. In the 1990s, rafting was included in the Barcelona Olympics (1992) and Atlanta Olympics (1996). The International Federation of Rafting was instituted in 1997, and the first official International Championship was held in 1999.

WHICH IS THE NATIONAL GAME OF FRANCE?

France is one of the most sportsoriented countries in the world, considering that about two-thirds of the men and one-third of the women of France actively participate in at least one sport. Further, France hosts many prestigious international tournaments every year and France is one of the leading winners of gold medals in Olympics. Although a variety of sports and games are played and hosted by France, the most popular sports there are football, tennis, and cycling. Football has the maximum number of licensed players and is considered by many as the national game of France. However, cycling and tennis are also referred to as national games of France by some others.

WHICH IS THE OLDEST GRAND SLAM TITLE IN TENNIS?

The Wimbledon Championships, played on grass courts, is the oldest Grand Slam tournament. It began as an amateur event called the Lawn Tennis Championships. The first championship was held in 1877. The other three Grand Slams of tennis are the US Open that started in 1881, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905.

WHAT IS A DEAD BALL SITUATION IN FOOTBALL?

A dead ball situation in football is when the ball is not in motion. It is created whenever a foul is committed. A free kick is awarded to the respective team to whom the foul has been given. There should be a minimum distance of five yards between the ball and the player. Corner kicks as well as goal kicks are considered dead ball situations. The possibility of scoring a goal increases as the distance between the goal and the ball decreases in a dead ball situation.

WHY ARE ATHLETIC EVENTS HELD IN ANTI-CLOCKWISE DIRECTION?

As we know, the Earth rotates in the anti-clockwise direction, and hence, it is much easier to go around a circle in the anti-clockwise direction during sports meets, particularly athletic events. Therefore, all such events are held in the anti-clockwise direction.

WHICH IS THE WORLD’S OLDEST AND NEWEST FOOTBALL CLUB?

It is possible that a football-related organisation existed in London between 1421 and 1423. The records of the Brewers’ Company of London, a guild, mention the hiring out of their hall ‘by the football players’ for 20 pence, under the heading ‘Crafts and Fraternities’. The listing of football players as a fraternity is the earliest allusion to what might be considered a football club. There is evidence that in the 18th century, English cricket clubs regularly played football in the winter. It’s been claimed that the Barnes Club (later Barnes Rugby Football Club), from Barnes in London, was formed in 1839. However, this has not been conclusively documented.

WHEN AND WHERE DID FIGURE SKATING ORIGINATE?

Figure skating began in the later part of the 19th century in Europe. An American ballet master Jackson Haines, who lived in Vienna in 1860s, added the elements of ballet and dance to figure skating. The first world championship for men was held in St Petersburg in 1896, followed by the women’s championship in 1906.

WHAT’S THE MASCOT OF THE BEIJING OLYMPIC GAMES?

The mascots of the Beijing Olympic Games are Fuwa (five children). Fuwa, designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals — Beibe (the Fish), Jingjing (the Panda), Huanhuan (the Tibetan Antelope), Nini (the Swallow) and the Olympic Flame. When you put their names together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni, they say ‘Welcome to Beijing’.

WHAT ARE THE SPECIAL OLYMPICS?

Special Olympics is an international organisation created to help people with intellectual disabilities develop self-confidence, social skills and a sense of personal accomplishment through sports training and competition. Among their other activities, Special Olympics conduct the Special Olympics World Games every four years. This year it is taking place in China.

WHAT IS A MASSE SHOT?

A masse shot, a term in billiards and snooker, is a technique that causes the cue ball to follow a curved path similar to a spin ball in cricket. The masse shot is accomplished by tilting the axis of the ball so that it spins to the inside of the desired curve, and against the grain of the felt. The forward direction of the ball is accomplished by the horizontal angle of the cue. The amount and direction of spin is achieved by the vertical angle and the point of contact. The force by which the ball is pushed is also decisive. The masse shot is an extremely complicated combination of physics that requires lot of concentration and practice.

WHAT IS A LOW ULTIMATUM GAME?

A low ultimatum game is money related game. A person can offer a sum of money on a non-negotiable basis to another. The person receiving the cash knows how much the other has and how much he is being given from the total pie. At times, even if the sum of money offered is high, some people re-fuse it for they feel they are being given a very small slice of the pie. Scientists are now correlating this seemingly irrational decision to the testosterone level in these men while taking this decision.

WHAT IS A PROGRESSIVE SCORE IN CHESS?

In chess tournaments, when two players end up with the same score on the final round, the tie needs to be broken for ranking purposes. Different systems of rating follow different rules for such tiebreaking, and the FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs) or the Worldwide Chess Federation system uses the cumulative progressive score. Progressive score in a round is the points obtained for the result in the current round plus the progressive score of the previous round if any In general, the system tends to reward early wins rather late wins.

IN WHICH YEAR WAS BILLIARDS FIRST PLAYED?

Though the origin of billiards is lost in history, an account by the Greek traveller Anacharsis suggests that a rudimentary version was played by Egyptians around 400 BC. This form was adopted by the Greeks. The word ‘billiard’ has its roots in the French words ‘billart’ meaning stick, and ‘bille’ meaning ball. In 1470, the first billiards table was found among the possessions of French king Louis XI. The earliest record of how the game was played was made in the 15th century It started as an indoor version of croquet. The Spaniards introduced billiards to the Americans in 1565. Shakespeare’s use of the word ‘billiards’ in his playAnthony and Cleopatra shows that this sport was well known to the Elizabethans.

WHAT’S SPECIAL ABOUT EUROPASS FOOTBALL?

The EuroPass is the official football for UEFA Euro 2008. The adidas EuroPass combines tradition with modernity It has a new surface structure which allows players to have more control over the ball and direct it perfectly in all weather conditions. The PSC-Texture, which consists of fine structures on the outer surface, guarantees optimum grip between the ball and boot. The 12 black dots on the ball contain individual graphic elements which stand for passion, friendship, action, training, fans and winning goal. The name EuroPass symbolises the connection between Austria and Switzerland, the host countries of the tournament.

WHEN WAS THE FIRST TWENTY20 MATCH PLAYED?

Twenty20 cricket was first played in English domestic cricket in 2003, between England and Wales Cricket Board. The first international Twenty20 cricket match was played between Australia and New Zealand, on February 17, 2005 at Eden Park, Auckland. Australia defeated New Zealand by 44 runs.

WHEN WAS CHESS FIRST PLAYED AS AN INTERNATIONAL GAME?

Chess was played in 1851 in London as an international tournament. The tournament was conceived and organised by English player Howard Staunton, and marked the first time that the best chess players in Europe met in a single event. German Adolf Andersson won the 16-player tournament, earning him the title of the Best Player in Europe.

HOW IS A CRICKETER’S BATTING AVERAGE CALCULATED?

In cricket, a player’s batting average is the total number of runs he has scored divided by the number of times he has been out. Since the number of runs a player scores and how often he gets out are primarily measures of his playing ability, and largely independent of his team mates, the batting average is a good statistic to describe an individual player’s skill as a batsman. The number is also simple to interpret intuitively, being approximately the average number of runs the batsman scores per innings.

WHO INVENTED THE BOARD GAME SNAKES AND LADDERS?

The board game, today called Snakes and Ladders, originated in ancient India, where it was known with the name Mokshapat or Moksha Patamu. It’s not exactly known when or who invented it, though it’s believed the game was played at a time as early as 2nd century BC. According to some historians, the game was invented by Saint Gyandev in the 13th century AD. Originally, the game was used asa part of moral instruction to chil dren. The squares in which ladders start were each supposed to stand for a virtue, and those housing the head of a snake were supposed to stand for an evil. The snakes outnumbered the ladders in the original Hindu game. The game was transported to England by the colonial rulers in the latter part of the 19th century, with some modifications. The modified game was named Snakes and Ladders and stripped of its moral and religious aspects and the number of ladders and snakes were equalized. In 1943, the game was introduced in the US under the name Chutes and Ladders.

WHAT IS A CARROM BALL IN CRICKET?

It is a form of bowling. The ball is held between the thumb, forefinger and the middle finger, and instead of a regular release, the ball is squeezed out of the fingers. It could result in an off-break, a leg-break, or a googly Like in carrom, one never knows where the ball will land.

WHO INVENTED THE BOARD GAME SNAKES AND LADDERS?

A complete Sanskrit name for Snakes and Ladders— ‘Parama Pada Sopana Patam’— means the chart showing the ladder that leads to the ultimate state. Such blockprinted charts on rough paper were sold at fairs or marketstreets leading to the main doors of the temples of south India. An important aspect of the game is that when you get to the higher stage of spiritual attainment, only certain falls of the dice will entitle you to move to the next house, illustrating the difficulty of spiritual practice needed for attaining moksha, the ultimate release. The game was a way to teach the young, in an entertaining way, the principles of ancient Indian thinking on proper living.

WHO IS THE YOUNGEST OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST?

The youngest individual Olympic gold medallist is Marjorie Gestring of the United States. She was 13 years and 268 days old when she won the gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, in the 3-metre springboard diving competition. As the 1940 and 1944 Olympics were not held due to World War II, she didn’t get a chance to defend her title. An interesting aspect about her victory is that it was watched by Adolf Hitler. Marjorie Gestring was also included in the International Swimming Hall of Fame and a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. She came back in the 1948 London Olympics. Danish swimmer Inge Sorensen won the bronze medal in the 200 m breaststroke, aged 12 years, 24 days. She remains the youngest-ever competitor to win an Olympic medal in an individual event.

WHAT IS THE SLENDERNESS RATIO?

Columns used for construction have a definite value called the crippling load or buckling loadthe load at which the column bends or buckles but does not break. The effective length of the column is the length of an equivalent column of the same material and cross sectional area with hinged ends and having the value of the crippling load equal to that of the given column. The least radius of gyration is the radius of gyration where the least moment of inertia is considered. The ratio of effective length to the least radius of gyration is called the slenderness ratio of the column.

WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT TEMPLE SQUARE?

The Temple Square in Utah is very religious place for the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It’s symbolic of the holy ordinances or covenants that take place there To Mormons, the Gospel of Jesus is not complete without temples The Temple Square is special because it reminds the Mormons of the sacrifices by the pioneers who erected it. It is also the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

WHO DISCOVERED SATURN’S RINGS?

Christian Huygens, a Dutch physicist and astronomer, found out that Saturn has rings. He also discovered the Titan, the moon of Saturn.

IS THERE ANY MAGNET WITH A SINGLE POLE?

Magnets found in nature and those made by man, are found to have two poles without exception. In contrast, electrical charges can be separated from each other. Several experiments to detect magnetic monopoles have been inconclusive.

WHEN DID THE FIRST MANNED BALLOON FLIGHT TAKE PLACE?

In the late eighteenth century two French    papermakers, the Mont golfer’s brothers, began experimenting with hot air balloons. On Oct 15, 1783, a French scientist, Francois de Rozier became the first person to make a balloon ascent. He rose to a height of 80 ft in a balloon made by the Mont golfers.

WHAT IS VSAT THE ACRONYM FOR?

VSAT stands for Very Small Aperture Terminal. VSAT nodes are networked together, using an antenna directed at a geo-stationary satellite. VSAT technology is used for transmission of information and is extremely popular in banking and financial services, Multisided manufacturing and for linking government offices.

HAVE YOU HEARD OFBUCKYBALLS?

Buck balls   are   microscopic spheres of 60 carbon atoms that resemble a dome. They have cavities large enough to hold other atoms — even full molecules. Unless heated to a very high temperature, the contents of the cavities do not emerge. This has enormous potential in the fields of medicine, miniature mechanics, battery technology and high strength materials.

WHAT IS ‘NUCLEAR WINTER’?

‘Nuclear winter’ is used to describe the aftermath of a nuclear explosion caused due to a nuclear war or a nuclear accident. The impact of this explosion would be so devastating that unquantifiable amounts of dust and smoke would be released into the earth’s stratosphere. This would block the sun’s energy from reaching the surface of the earth, thereby lowering the temperature. The period of this effect would be determined by the intensity of the explosion. ‘Nuclear winter’ would threaten the existence of life on Earth.

HOW DOES A GAS LIGHTER WORK?

Certain crystalline materials (like quartz, |Rochelle salt and certain ceramics) have piezoelectric behaviour. When you apply pressure to them, you get a charge separation within the crystal and a voltage across the crystal that is sometimes extremely high. For example, in a barbecue lighter, the popping noise you hear is a little spring-loaded hammer hitting a crystal and generating thousands of volts across the faces of the crystal. A voltage this high is identical to the voltage that drives a spark plug in a gasoline engine. The crystal’s voltage can generate a nice spark that lights the gas in the grill.

HOW DOES A PILOT KNOW THE ROUTE TO A DESTINATION HE IS FLYING?

Pilots rely heavily on computerized controls and with the assistance of the autopilot and the flight management computer, steer the plane along their planned route. They are monitored by air traffic control ’stations they pass along the way. They regularly check their fuel supply, condition of their engines and the air-conditioning, hydraulic, and other systems. Pilots may request a change in altitude or route if circumstances dictate.

WHAT KIND OF HEALING DID DR EDWARD BACH PIONEER?

Dr Edward Bach pioneered a kind of healing called flower remedy therapy. This treats predominantly mental and emotional manifestations of disease, relying on administration of remedies derived from the flowering parts of plants. Dr Bach considered total 38 remedies sufficient to treat the most common negative moods that afflict mankind. After his death, many remedies were added and now the total is more than 200. He believed that the remedies were divinely enriched.

WHY DO WE FEEL THAT THE AIR IS FRESH AFTER IT RAINS?

PEOPLE living in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are bound to feel that the air is fresh after the first heavy monsoon showers. This is because the bowers bring down from the sky, gases like sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, etc. These first monsoon showers, however, cause harm to many freshly planted saplings in these cities.

THE FILAMENT OF AN ELECTRIC BULB IS HEATED TO VERY HIGH TEMPERATURES. HOW COME IT DOES NOT BUM?

THE filament does not bum because the bulb is filled with inert gases like argon and nitrogen. Oxygen is necessary for any combustion.

WHAT ARE ASTEROIDS? WHO INVENTED THE BICYCLE?

THE first known patent of a machine that resembled a bicycle was given to Jean Theson in 1645. It had four wheels and was driven by two men. The first two-wheeled machine was invented by a Frenchman, Baron Karl de Drais (Baron von Drais) in 1818. But it did not catch on. What caught on was the bicycle, invented by a blacksmith, Kirkpatrick Macmillan of Scotland.

HOW DO FORESTS HELP TO PREVENT FLOODS?

ONE of the major reasons for floods is erosion of soil from the area near thd banks of

the river. Forests have a dense cluster of trees in them. The roots of the trees hold on to the soil and prevent the erosion. It is therefore important that trees should not be cut indiscriminately, particularly near the banks of the rivers.

DO VOLCANIC EXPLOSIONS AND EARTHQUAKES OCCUR INSIDE OCEANS ALSO?

The waves that we see in the seas and oceans are mainly caused by air currents. The size of the sea waves depends on the speed of the wind and for how long the wind has been blowing. Tide and ebb are caused by the pull of the moon (and to some extent, the pull of the sun) on the water. Mighty waves like tsunamis are caused by earthquakes below the water surface in seas and oceans.

WHAT IS VISCOSITY?

Viscosity is a property seen in fluids that offers resistance to a body moving through them. It is equivalent to friction. Whenever a body falls through a viscous fluid, it reaches a terminal velocity or uniform speed due to the viscous force that balances gravity.

WHY IS IT THAT WE CAN WALK MORE EASILY ON WET SAND THAN ON DRY SAND?

Have you not come across the Newton’s Laws Of Motion? Everyone continues in a state of rest or uniform motional, unless compelled to do otherwise by an impressed (external) force. Walking is possible because the ground on which we walk offers some resistance. Assuming the resistance is zero, the foot that is placed forward will keep moving forward and you will fall. Even dry sand offers some resistance. That is why you can walk on it, if you are careful. Wet sand offers much more resistance and hence you can walk more easily on wet sand.

WHAT IS A RETRO-ROCKET?

Newton’s first law of motion governs a spaceship travelling in space: It continues to travel at uniform speed. Since there is no reaction in space, a retro-rocket fired in the direction opposite to that of the motion, reduces the speed of the spaceship.

WHAT IS TORQUEWRENCH? AN OTOLARYNGOLOGIST IS A PHYSICIAN. WHAT DOES HE SPECIALISE IN?

An otolaryngology’s is a physician who specializes in the problems of the ear, nose and throat (ENT). Myocardial infarction is the technical term for…? Unique is the application of liquid nitrogen to destroy warts.

WHAT IS THE WIND CHILL FACTOR?

Wind chill is the rate of loss of body heat due to the motion of air. In simple parlance, a strong wind can make it much colder than the ambient temperature. Paul Siple coined this term in 1939 during an Antarctic expedition.

WHAT IS EUTROPHICATION?

The process by which water becomes more nourished either by the natural process of maturation or artificial processes.

WHAT IS A DIAMOND MADE OF?

A 100 million tears ago, when the Earth was cooling carbon deposits were exposed to extreme heat and pressure by molten rocks. These deposits crystallized to form diamond mines. Incidentally, the diamond is the hardest material known to mankind. If so, then how is the diamond cut to various shapes for use in jewellery? Saws made from diamond dust cut the diamond. Over 80 per cent of diamonds are used in the industry itself.

WHAT IS A RE-ENTRY VEHICLE?

Whenever a spaceship returns to earth, it encounters tremendous friction from the atmosphere that generates heat. In order to ensure the safety of astronauts and the expensive apparatus, the spaceship is shielded by using heat resistant material. Scientists from the former Soviet Union were the first to deploy the re-entry vehicle successfully in the early Sixties.

WHAT IS OZONE?

Ozone is the allotropic form of oxygen. It is used-in water purification and in treating gangrene. Its presence in the upper atmosphere is crucial as it absorbs energetic ultra-violet radiation. Industrial and vehicular pollution has resulted in the depletion of this life- saving molecule and is a cause of worry for the environmental scientists.

WHAT IS HYDROPONICS?

Hydroponics is often defined as the cultivation of plants in water. Since many aggregates or media support plant growth the definition has been broadened to read the cultivation of plants without soil Growers use hydroponics techniques due to lack of water supply or fertile farmland. Home gardeners have used it to grow fresh vegetables year round and to grow plants in smaller spaces. Greenhouses and nurseries grow their plants in a soilless, peat- or bark-based growing mix.

WHAT IS SIDEREAL TIME?

A sidereal year is the length of time it takes the Sun to move from a position relative to a fixed star and back to the same position again, as observed from the same location on Earth. It is equivalent to 365 days, 6 hours, 9 minutes and 11 seconds.

WHY THE BALLOON IS CALLED THE POOR MAN’S SATELLITE?

Unlike hot air balloons, which are used in sports, the hydrogen filled is used for scientific, metrological and military purposes. They can carry payloads of a few tons. They are extensively used for astronomical observations, especially to study X-Ray emissions from stars.

WHAT IS CORIOLIS FORCE?

Whenever a body is moving in a circular path, it experiences centripetal force towards the center of the circle. If you walk within a bus that is taking a turn, an additional force acts upon you. It is called the Coriolis force, a force that emanates from two simultaneous motions of the same body.

WHO IS THE FATHER OF GAS-FILLED LAMPS?

Irving Langmuir studied chemical reactions at high temperatures and low pressures. One of the spin-offs of this research was the development of gas-filled lamps.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN ATOMIC AND A NUCLEAR BOMB9

Nuclear bombs are of two types — those that depend on fission, like atomic bombs, and those that depend on fusion, like hydrogen bombs. The former get their explosive energy from the splitting of atoms in materials like uranium or plutonium, which takes place automatically. On the other hand, hydrogen bombs, which are also known as thermonuclear bombs, depend upon the fusing together of atoms, as is taking place in our sun, to release much vaster quantities of energy than atomic bombs. The fusing requires very high temperatures; hence atomic bombs are generally used as triggers for hydrogen bombs. Hence, every atomic bomb is a nuclear bomb, but every nuclear bomb is not an atomic bomb.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CYCLONE, HURRICANE, TORNADO AND TWISTER?

Technically, a cyclone is any kind of circular wind storm. But now, it is only used to describe a strong tropical storm found off of the coast of India. Hurricanes and Typhoons are the same thing, but in different places. On the coast of Florida it is called hurricane. In the Philipines, it is called typhoon. Hurricanes occur in the Atlantic and typhoons, in the Pacific. Basically, hurricanes and typhoons form over water and are huge, while tornados form over land and are much smaller in —size. A tornado is a violent windstorm characterised by a twisting, funnel-shaped cloud. In the United States, twister is used as a a colloquial term for tornado.

WHEN DOES RESONANCE OCCUR?

Resonance occurs when two or more objects naturally vibrate at the same frequency and the sound produced by one object, causes the other to vibrate. Strings or air columns tuned to vibrate at particular frequencies result in the generation of music. Resonance’s can be destructive too. Making individual parts resonate can damage Bridges. This happens when a strong wind blows or a mechanized army convoy passes over it.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ANTI PARTICLES CLASH?

Every elementary particle is known to have an anti particle with opposite properties. Whenever the two meet, they annihilate each other and give out energy twice the mass of the particle.

WHO DISCOVERED PIEZO-ELECTRIC EFFECT?

Modern kitchens are equipped with piezo-lighters. Certain substances produce currents when they are subjected to pressure. Pierre Curie, husband of Marie and co-discoverer of radium, was the one who discovered piezoelectricity.

WHAT IS INERTIA? It is the property of a body to stay in a state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external agency. It is believed that the mass of a body is the total measure of its inertia. Scientists are conducting experiments    to    distinguish between inertial man and gravitational mass. WHO DEVISED THE PRECISE NATURE OF PLANETARY MOTION?

Johannes Kepler, the German astronomer, devised major laws of planetary motion. After 17 years of observation, Kepler found that orbits, of planets around the sun are ellipses and not circles.

WHY ARE QUARKS IMPORTANT?

“Three quarks to muster mark,” said James Joyce. Indeed, three quarks fuse together to form nucleons: Protons and neutrons that make the atomic nucleus. Quarks are believed to be the basic building blocks of matter.

WHERE ARE TRANSURANIC ELEMENTS FOUND?

Transuranic elements are not found in nature but have been created artificially in the laboratory. They represent atomic numbers 93 to 109, listed after the last stable element, uranium.

IN WHAT WAY IS THE NAME DE BROGLIE CONNECTED WITH WAVELENGTH? In modern physics, wave-particle duality of the microscopic world continues to battle the scientists. Light is made of waves but it can also be described as consisting of tiny particles called photons. A sub-atomic particle   can be described as having wave properties. De Broglie, a French physicist, was the first to give a formula for the “wavelength” of the particle. WHY THE ROBOT IS NAMED SO?

The word originates in the Slavic “Robota7, meaning compulsory work. Robots are used in hazardous environments. Now robots have also been powered by artificial intelligence.

WHAT IS PARAFILAX? Parallax is the apparent displacement of an astronomical object due to the change in the field of the observers. The very fact that we observe stars from the surface of the earth instead of its center causes geocentric parallax while heliocentric   parallax   occurs because the observation is carried out from the earth and not from the sun. In modern photography, this term is used to describe the difference between the view of an object through the lens of the camera and one seen through a separate viewfinder. WHICH IS THE BIGGEST MISSILE TEST CENTRE IN THE WORLD?

Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is the world’s largest, land-based rocket range. It has a chain of downrange flight monitoring, observing and recovery stations from inland Alaska to Spitzbergen in the Arctic Ocean. Poker Flat is a sounding rocket launch facility 30 miles northeast of Fairbanks used for auroral and middle to upper atmospheric research. The Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, operates it.

HOW DO FORESTS HELP TO PREVENT FLOODS?

ONE of the major reasons for floods is erosion of soil from the area near the banks of the river. F’orests have a dense cluster of trees in them. The roots of the trees hold on to the soil and prevent the erosion. It is therefore important that trees should not be cut indiscriminately, particularly near the banks of the rivers.

WHY ARE NOBEL PRIZES GIVEN ONLY IN NORWAY AND NOT IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY?

THE Nobel prizes were founded by Alfred Nobel,    Norwegian chemist, engineer and industrialist.

WHY IS SOME SPACE LEFT BETWEEN RAILS ON THE RAILWAY TRACK?

YOU must have learnt in school that heat expands and cold contracts. This means that as a result of heat, all bodies expand. (There are rare exfor this expansion, a little space is left between rails.

HOW IS THE INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING THE INTENSITY OF EARTHQUAKES CALIBRATED?

`The Richter scale is used to measure the magnitude of an earthquake. Magnitude is a measure of an earthquake’s size, but rather than being a direct measure of the intensity of the ground shaking, it is a reflection of the strength of the seismic sound waves emitted by the earthquake, a phenomenon that can be detected at great distances from the earthquake’s epicentre. Because an earthquake’s magnitude can be determined solely

by routine measurements made by seismometers, magnitude has become an important measurement commonly recorded on seismograms. The scale is logarithmic — this means that a factor-of-10 difference in actual earthquake energy corresponds to a difference of one whole number on the scale.

WHAT ARE SUNSPOTS?

The dark spots on the surface of the sun are called sunspots. These areas are locations for sudden changes in the magnetic environment or the ‘magnetic storms’. They appear darker in contrast to the surrounding areas, hence, the name.

WHY IS A TRACTOR’S EXHAUST PIPE BENT UPWARDS?

As the exhaust gases of an automobile are hot and tend to rise upwards, an upward bending pipe is the most natural shape, hi a tractor, the driver’s seat is directly behind the engine and usually open. So, a backward-bending exhaust pipe will throw the exhaust gases directly at the driver. The rear part of a tractor is broader than its engine. Even a sideways-bent exhaust pipe will have the same effect. As a tractor has various agricultural attachments and a trailer, the exhaust pipe cannot be extended behind its rear tyres from below its chassis. A tractor works mainly on rough terrain which could damage an exhaust pipe protruding downward from the chassis.

WHAT IS FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY?

Fuel cell technology uses the fuel cell, an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity With a fuel cell, chemicals constantly flow into the cell so it never goes dead — as long as there, is a flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell. Most fuel cells in use today use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals.

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF DELAY IN SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS?

The communication satellites are normally geosynchronous. In other words, these satellites have the same period of revolution as that of the earth — 24 hours. To attain this, the satellite is launched at an altitude of 36,000 kms from the earth. The messages, sent by means of radio waves, travel this distance to and fro. Radio waves are transmitted at the speed of light, about 3 lakh kms per second. Therefore, approximately, one quarter of a second is lost in traversing the distance between the earth and the satellite.

WHAT CONTRIBUTION DID LUIS ALVAREZ MAKE TO MODERN SCIENCE?

This American physicist developed the linear accelerator in 1946 for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1968. He and his son, Walter, first proposed that massive extinctions around the Jurassic — including that of dinosaurs, were caused by the impact of a large space object.

WHAT IS SPELEOLOGY?

It is the science that explores and studies caves found under the earth’s surface.

WHAT IS WAVE-PARTICLE DUALITY?

In classical physics, all the physical phenomena concerning light, viz. reflection from a glazed surface, refraction through a prism, interference when two or more sources of light were put together and diffraction, the bending of light along edge of an object, could be explained with the wave theory. But this description does not hold for the microscopic world. In modern physics, light is made of discrete packets of energy.

WHAT IS THE FARADAY CAGE?

The Faraday Cage, also known as Faraday Shield or Screen, is a network of parallel wires connected to a common conductor at one end to provide electrostatic shielding without affecting electromagnetic waves. The common conductor is usually grounded. It attenuates an electrostatic field, designed to prevent the passage of electromagnetic waves, either containing them in or excluding them from its interior space. It is named after physicist Michael Faraday, who built the first one in 1836.

WHAT IS A PILOTLESS AIRCRAFT?

A pilotless aircraft, usually an MAV (micro air vehicle), is one which is programmed to go somewhere or do something on its own, or is a remote controlled aircraft piloted from the ground. Most pilotless aircraft are rather small in size. Pilotless aircraft used for dangerous jobs such as spying or exploring new places with a camera, which transmits the data back to the ground. They can be very useful as many are shot down or crash, and thus saving a real pilot’s life.

WHERE WAS INDIA’S FIRST ELECTRICITY-GENERATING STATION LOCATED?

The 4-5 megawatt hydroelectric power station near Sivasamudram falls of the Cauvery in Karnataka was the first major power station in India. Owned by a few British companies, it was set up by General Electric of the US. It was commissioned in 1902, and its output was mostly meant for the Kolar gold mines, located about 90 miles away much smaller power plants started functioning earlier in different parts of India. The first small hydro power plant, a 130-kilowatt plant, started functioning in 1897 at Darjeeling.

WHY IS VENUS THE HOTTEST PLANET EVEN THOUGH MERCURY IS CLOSEST TO THE SUN?

The degree of hotness of a planet does not depend on as much on closeness to the Sun as on its atmosphere. Carbon dioxide has the tendency to absorb heat, which in turn increases the temperature. Mercury’s atmosphere does not contain carbon dioxide (because of which all the heat is returned to space). Venus contains a high percentage of carbon dioxide due to which it is hottest planet.

IS IT TRUE THAT THE SAHARA DESERT EXPANDS BY HALF A MILE SOUTH OF EVERY YEAR?

In the 1970s and 1980s, it was reported that the Sahara desert was expanding southward at a rate of 5 kms per year. But during the last decade USAs NOAA meteorological satellite observed that this ‘desertification’ was a myth. It is not so severe as earlier suspected. The deserts reflect much of the incoming solar radiations as compared to land with vegetation (during cloud-free days). Satellites measure this reflected radiations daily, from which the type of land cover or greenness can be inferred. Analysing such data for several years, it was observed that the Sahara was not expanding.

IS IT TRUE THAT THE SAHARA DESERT EXTENDS BY HALF A MILE SOUTH EVERY YEAR?

It is true that the Sahara desert is expanding, but not just half a mile. It is extending at a rate of 30 miles south per year! Its stretch is engulfing degraded grasslands. Due to the extreme heat, the vegetation of the area is dying out, which results in more desertification. Thus, every year the area of the Sahara desert is increasing and scientists are working out methods to stop or decrease the rapid change. They say that if this continues, the whole of Africa will turn into a desert one day. Global warming is also a big threat in the expansion of the Sahara.

WHICH IS THE SMALLEST SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLE?

The smallest particle is the quark, the basic building block of hadrons. There are two types of hadrons: baryons (three quarks) and mesons (one quark, one antiquark). Protons and the neutrons are stable baryons. There are also leptons, a family of elementary particles that includes electrons, muons, tauons, and neutrinos. Neutrinos were originally believed to have zero mass, but they have been found to have a very tiny mass, smaller than any subatomic particle. Calling someone a ‘hadron head’ is considered an insult among physicists.

WHAT IS THE KUIPER BELT?

The Kuiper Belt is disk-shaped belt of billions of small, icy bodies orbiting the Sun beyond the orbit of Neptune, mostly at distances 30-50 times the Earth’s distance from the Sun. Modern computer simulations show the Kuiper Belt to have been strongly influenced by Jupiter and Neptune.

WHAT IS A ‘NUCLEAR WINTER’?

The nuclear winter theory, proposed by scientists in 1983 and later on established by the US National Research Council in 1984, states that if only half of the collective nuclear weapons of Russia and US were to explode, they would release such enormous amount of dust, smoke and soot into the at- mosphere that sunlight would be completely blocked. This would continue till these clouds settled and consequently the earth’s temperature would fall, creating a period of abnormal cold and darkness. A nuclear winter is also believed likely after a nuclear war. Essential life processes like photosynthesis would also be fatally affected, endangering plant and animal life.

WHY IS A TRACTOR’S EXHAUST PIPE BENT UPWARDS?

As the exhaust gases of an automobile are hot and tend to rise upwards, an upward bending pipe is the most natural shape, hi a tractor, the driver’s seat is directly behind the engine and usually open. So, a backward-bending exhaust pipe will throw the exhaust gases directly at the driver. The rear part of a tractor is broader than its engine. Even a sideways-bent exhaust pipe will have the same effect. As a tractor has various agricultural attachments and a trailer, the exhaust pipe cannot be extended behind its rear tyres from below its chassis. A tractor works mainly on rough terrain which could damage an exhaust pipe protruding downward from the chassis.

WHAT IS FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY?

Fuel cell technology uses the fuel cell, an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity With a fuel cell, chemicals constantly flow into the cell so it never goes dead — as long as there, is a flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell. Most fuel cells in use today use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IRON AND STEEL?

The difference is percentage of carbon, the main alloy element. Those irons containing less than 2% carbon are known as steels while those containing more than 2% carbon are known as pig iron. Pig iron is obtained from iron pre by processing it with coke in a blast furnace. This pig iron is then further processed to reduce the carbon content in different furnaces to obtain steels. These steels can be then further processed to obtain alloy steels, stainless steels by adding elements such as silicon, manganese, chromium, nickel, etc.

WHAT IS CRUSH DEPTH AND HOW IS IT MEASURED?

Crush or collapse depth is the submerged depth of the ocean at which a submarine will collapse due to the surrounding water pressure. A submarine’s hull is normally constructed of steel or steel alloys to increase the diving depth of submarines. This is normally mathematically calculated; however, it is not always accurate.

WHAT IS M-THEORY?

The String theory is currently the most promising candidate for a unified theory. It describes free particles as vibrations in strings in space and solves the problem of the

incompatibility of the two fundamental theories (GR & QTF). There are, however, five different string theories. The M-Theory is a theory of which all the five string theories are only different aspects. The M-Theory is an 11-dimensional theory that looks 10 dimensional at some points in its space of parameters. Such a theory could have as a fundamental object a membrane as opposed to a string.

WHAT ARE MILANKOVITCH CYCLES?

The Pleistocene period in earth history, 1.8 million years to about 10,000 years ago, witnessed profound changes in the earth’s climate characterised by repeated glacial and interglacial events. There were as many as 30 glacial intervals during this period. Milutin Milankovitch, a Serbian astronomer and mathematician, calculated in the early 1930s that the orbital parameters of the earth changed with frequencies of roughly 1,000,00 to 20,000 years. These were responsible for variations in the of solar radiations received on the surface thus causing glacial interglacial climatic changes. The exploration of the ocean floor since the 1960 has indeed identified the above periodicities and proved Milankovitch right.

WHAT ARE MILANKOVITCH CYCLES?

Astronomer Milutin Milankovitch developed the mathematical formulae upon which these orbital variations are based. He hypothesised that when some parts of the cyclic variations are combined and occur at the same time, they are responsible for major changes to the earth’s climate (even ice ages). A 1976 study, published in the journal ‘Science’ examined deep-sea sediment cores and found that Milankovich’s theory corresponded to periods of climate change. Indeed, ice ages had occurred when the earth was going through different stages of orbital variation.

o        WHEN WAS THE FIRST SPACE SHUTTLE LAUNCHED?

The first space shuttle Columbia was launched into space on April 12, 1981 and landed on Edward Air Force base, California on April 14, 1981. Officially, it’s called the Space Transportation System (STS) and it was the first reusable spacecraft. These shuttles carry payloads for scientific experiments, etc. 

WHICH PLACE ON EARTH HAS NEVER RECEIVED ANY RAINFALL?

The Atacama Desert, spread between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains in northern Chile has not experienced rain in its entire recorded history. Made up of salt

basins, sand and lava flows, it lacks vegetation or animal life. Its landscape is desolate

and moon-like and has been used to simulate the moon’s surface in some experiments. The Quillagua meteorological station located in this desert has recorded an average annual rainfall of only 0.5 mm during 1964-2001.

WHAT ARE CFCS? HOW ARE THEY RESPONSIBLE FOR DEPLETION OF THE OZONE LAYER?

THERE is a layer of ozone in the zone 10 kilometre to 50 kilometre above the surface of the earth. This layer of ozone protects life on earth from the harmful ultraviolet radiation in sunlight. CFC stands for chlorofluorocarbons used in refrigeration, air-conditioning, aerosols, etc. When these gases rise up in the atmosphere and reach the ozone layer they destroy it. Over the past ten years, in particular, the debate has been held again and again on this issue and steps have been taken to correct the situation. Many nations have agreed to discontinue the use and production of chloro-fluro carbons for the purpose of refrigeration or air-conditioning.

I HAVE READ THAT SUN WILL BECOME A RED GIANT AFTER CONSUMING ITS SUPPLY OF HYDROGEN. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE SUN AFTER THIS PHASE?

YES, according to astronomers, the sun is about 5 billion years-old; It is expected that the sun mil consume all the hydrogen in it and become a Red Giant. It will be so big then that it will engulf even the planets around it. Then there will be nuclear reactions, involving the vast Supply of Helium in it (formed from Hydrogen) and the heavier elements. As a result it will become a white dwarf, a star of small radius. It is estimated that the radius will be a hundred times smaller than the present radius. Slowly it will lose its luminosity and become a black dwarf. But stop worrying. It will take at least five billion years for this to happen.

DIAMOND AND COAL ARE BOTH CARBON. THEN WHY DOES ONLY DIAMOND SHINE?

DIAMOND is carbon in its pure form and is made of the same element as coal. But there is a difference. Diamonds are formed at places at least 120 km below the surface of the earth under the enormous pressure of the rocks and the crust above them. It is true that diamonds have been found in levels higher than this, below the surface of the earth. But it is believed they too were originally formed deep below and shifted to higher points due to erosion of the soil or glacial action. There are diamonds of black colour too. They are not used as ‘gems, but they are useful in making cutting tools in industry.

WHAT IS THERE BETWEEN THE EARTH AND MARS?

SURROUNDING the earth is its atmosphere. Then there is space. Again as your spacecraft approaches Mars, it will have to pass through the atmosphere around Mars. Unlike the moon, Mars has an atmosphere.

WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE TO PETROLEUM? FROM WHERE SHALL WE MEET OUR ENERGY REQUIREMENTS WHEN THE PETROLEUM RESOURCES ARE EXHAUSTED?

DESCRIBED above is one such resource: solar power. Automobiles which^run on batteries, charged by exposing them to sunlight, already exist. You must be aware that nuclear power reactors are also being established all over the world. Many scientists have expressed the possibility of using hydrogen as a fuel. We are yet to find a cheap way of separating hydrogen from water, which has two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen in its molecule. In Holland and Denmark, power is being produced from windmills. In countries like. Japan, power is being produced on a small scale from tidal waves. Let us hope that tomorrow’s generation will learn how to meet its requirements of power.

WHY IS THERE NO GRAVITATIONAL FORCE ON THE MOON?

THE moon has gravitational force too. The gravitational force exerted by a body depends on its mass. The gravitational force on the moon is about one sixth the gravitational force of the earth.

WHAT IS THE MACH NUMBER?

The Mach number, in aerodynamics and fluid mechanics, is the ratio of the speed of an object through a fluid (gas or liquid) to the speed of sound in the fluid. The Mach number was named after the Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach. An airplane travelling at less than Mach 1 is travelling at subsonic speeds; at about Mach 1, transonic, or approximately the speed of sound; and greater than Mach 1, at supersonic speeds.

WHAT IS A MACH NUMBER? WHAT IS THE CHANDRASHEKAR LIMIT?

The maximum limit of 1.44 times the solar mass (or sun’s mass) of a star, to end its life as a white dwarf star, is known as the Chandrashekar Limit. This is the basic principle to determine the future of a star after the red giant phase. The stars with a mass more than 1.44 times the solar mass go through supernova explosions and end their lives as neutron stars or black holes. This limit was discovered by Indian astrophysicist S

Chandrashekar and hence it has been named after him.

o        WHAT IS PLANETARY ALBEDO?

Planetary albedo is the fraction of the incoming light reflected from a surface. A bright surface, such as ice or snow, has a very high albedo (close to 1, which would represent total reflection), whereas a dark surface, such as coal or soot, has a very low. albedo (close to 0, which would represent complete absorption). In the solar system, the Moon, which has a bare, rocky surface, has an average albedo of 0.12 (reflects 12 per cent of the light hitting it). The Earth, which is partly cloud-covered, has an average albedo of 0.37, while the albedo of Venus, which is completely cloud-covered, is O.65.

WHAT IS THE CHANDRASEKHAR LIMIT?

In the 1930s, Subramanya Chandrasekhar, now recognised as the founder of relativistic astrophysics, address the important question: What happens to a star once it has burnt all its nuclear fuel? Chadrasekhar’s answer was that it depends on the mass of the burnt core left behind. If the mass of this core (mind you, not the mass of the shining star) is less than 1.4 times the mass of the sun, the core will retire as a white dwarf star. Immediately above this limit, say up to three times the solar mass, the core will become a neutron star. If the mass of the core is still higher, a black hole will be formed. In an ordinary shining star, the force of gravitation is balanced by nuclear reactions. In white dwarf and neutron stars, by complex quantum forces. In a black hole, gravitation dominates. For this pioneering work Chandrasekhar belatedly received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983.

HOW MANY PERSONS HAVE SET FOOT ON THE MOON?

Only twelve people have walked oh the Moon, each on one mission only. Nobody has walked on the lunar surface since 1972. The lucky astronauts are: Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, Charles Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt.

IS A RAY OF LIGHT VISIBLE IN VACUUM?

No, rays of light cannot be seen in vacuum. When a ray of light enters an enclosed dark room through an opening, light is scattered by dust particles suspended in the air and thus we see the path of the ray Actually we see the dust particles falling substance which can scatter the light. This explains the darkness in space though there are many light sources. We can see only the light sources and the objects, which fall in the path of rays.

ON WHAT PRINCIPLE DOES AN ALTIMETER WORK?

There are basically two types of altimeters— pressure altimeters and radio altimeters. Pressure altimeters are aneroid barometers calibrated to indicate altitude instead of pressure. It is based on the principle of drop of atmospheric pressure with gain of height. The corrugated capsules inside the casing expand with gain of height. This expansion is magnified with the help of gears and levers to move the indicator over the dial. The mean sea level pressure is 1013.2 millibars or 29.92 inches of mercury which is taken as zero altitude and there is drop of 1 millibar for every 32 feet (approximately) gain of height. The instrument is calibrated accordingly to indicate loss/ gain of pressure in terms of height gained or lost. Depending on the pressure setting or datum, the instrument reads altitude (above MSL) or absolute altitude height (above ground level — AGL). A radio altimeter is a radar aid, which is effective only from 20 ft to 2,500 ft. It is basically used as a ground proximity warning system in mountainous terrain.

o        WHAT ARE PSEUDOHALOGENS?

Pseudohalogens are groups formed by combination of two or more P block elements (in the periodic table) with a unit negative charge e.g. CN- (CN Minus) cyanide group a combination of carbon and nitrogen with nonnegative charge. They are called pseudohalogens as they form covalent compounds, complexes similar to the halogens, the 17th group elements in the periodic table. They differ from halogens as they are able to polymerise unlike halogens and their complexes are not paramagnetic.

HOW DOES THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION MANAGE ITS WATER AND OXYGEN NEEDS?

The ISS’s Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) helps in water and oxygen management for the astronauts. The ECLSS Water Recycling System (WRS) reclaims waste water from the shuttle’s fuel cells, from urine, from oral hygiene and hand washing, and by condensing humidity from the air. Without such careful recycling, 40,000 pounds per year of water from the Earth would be required to resupply a minimum of four crewmembers for the life of the station. The primary source of oxygen is water electrolysis, followed by oxygen in a pressurised storage tank. Hydrogen left over from splitting water is vented into space. In ECLSS hardware racks, there is a machine that combines the hydrogen with excess carbon dioxide from the air in a chemical reaction that produces water and methane.

HOW IS ZERO GRAVITY CREATED ON EARTH?

Zero gravity conditions result in weightlessness and the body begins to float in an enclosed space. A more precise term is microgravity or reduced gravity NASA’s C-9B aircraft and Zero Gravity Corporation’s modified Boeing 727 create these conditions by flying in long, parabolic arcs. By changing the flight path, they are able to create different values of g-force and therefore varying degrees of apparent gravity. More individuals are experiencing these conditions in preparation for space tourism or for adventure.

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE TENTH PLANET?

The tenth planet in the outer solar system was discovered recently. Right now, it’s about 97 times further from the sun than the Earth and it’s the farthest-known object in the solar system. Mike Brown (California Institute of Technology) along with colleagues Chad Trujillo (Gemini Observatory, Hawaii) and David Rabinowitz (Yale University) discovered it. It goes under the temporary name of 2003UB313; a new name has been proposed to the International Astronomical Union.

WHAT EFFECT DO OCEAN CURRENTS HAVE ON THE EARTH’S WEATHER?

Ocean water and currents affect the climate. Because it takes far more energy to change the temperature of water than land or air, water warms up and cools off much more slowly than either. As a result, inland climates are subject to more extreme temperature ranges than coastal climates, which are insulated by nearby water. The ocean’s surface layer, so surface currents move a lot of heat, absorbs over half the heat that reaches the earth from the sun. Currents that originate near the equator are warm; currents that flow from the poles are cold.

WHY DO STARS TWINKLE AT NIGHT?

Stars seem to twinkle or change their brightness all the time. In fact, most stars shine with a steady light. The movement of air (sometimes called turbulence) in the Earth’s atmosphere causes the starlight to get slightly bent as it travels from the distant star through the atmosphere to us on the ground. Some of the light reaches us directly but some gets bent slightly. This gives the illusion of twinkling. Stars closer to the horizon appear to twinkle more than others. This is because the atmosphere is a lot denser near the horizon than between the Earth and a star higher in the sky.

HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF PLANETS MILLIONS OF MILES AWAY FROM US?

Planets like Pluto in the outer reaches of our solar system can be viewed and photographed by powerful optical telescopes. Distant extra-solar planets, many light years away from our Sun, cannot be captured even by high resolution telescopes. Big planets orbiting close to a star can exercise a very small gravitational pull on the parent star. This causes a minute wobble in the rotation of the parent star which can be detected by highly sensitive spectroscope monitors. The existence of the planet can thus be only indirectly visualized.

HOW DO ASTRONAUTS COMMUNICATE IN SPACE? HOW IS ZERO GRAVITY SIMULATED?

Simulation of zero gravity while still within the pull of the earth’s gravity is achieved in a similar manner to that of a man-made satellite. When a body moves in a circular path, it experiences centrifugal force acting on it. This force points radially outwards and depends on both the speed and the radius of trajectory. Given this factor, if a plane flies in a circular arc trajectory, then passengers experience a centrifugal force pointing away from the earth. At a certain velocity, this force exactly counterbalances gravity, and passengers experience weightlessness or zero gravity.

HOW MANY SATELLITES ARE CURRENTLY REVOLVING, AROUND THE EARTH?

Although anything in the Earth’s orbit is technically called a satellite, the term is typically used to describe a useful object placed in orbit purposely to perform some specific mission or task. Approximately 23,000 items of space junk objects that were inadvertently placed in orbit or have outlived their usefulness are floating above the Earth. The actual number varies depending on which agency is counting. Pay loads that go into the wrong orbit, satellites with run-down batteries, and leftover rocket boosters all contribute to the count. This count is almost 26,000.

WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HAVE ‘RED EYE’ IN PHOTOGRAPHS?

Light, usually from a camera flash, enters the subject’s eyes and reflects it back into the lens. The red colour comes from the colouration of the retina which is lined with blood vessels. To prevent ‘red eye’, the feedback chain of light should be interrupted. The most effective way is to use indirect or off-camera lighting, which causes reflection from the eye to veer away from “^the lens. Another cure is to reduce the size of the pupils of your subject’s eyes, effectively preventing the bounce-back syndrome. This is why some camera models fire one or more pre-flashes before taking a picture; the smaller flashes are meant to adjust the eyes to bright light, decreasing the pupil size.

WHAT IS THE COMPOSITION OF SAND? Sand is a non-cohesive, loose granular material which comes from rocks as a result of attrition of bigger rock pieces by water or wind in favourable weather conditions. The composition of sand depends   on   the   parent rock; the most common minerals being silica and feldspar. Less common minerals are iron. Silica comes in the form of quartz and feldspar consists of plagioclase. Additional mineral fragments are rare and include Muscovite, chlorite, epidote, garnet and zircon. Some deposits of sand may contain magnetite, glauconite or gypsum. Sands rich in magnetite are dark in colour, while those rich in gypsum have a green tinge. WHAT’S THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD MONSOON?

The word monsoon comes from the Arabic word mausim, which means weather. Owing to the yearly appearance of torrential rain, indicating a marked shift in weather, mausim gradually became monsoon.

WHAT ARE FULLERENES?

Fullerenes are one of the three allotropes (same element in two or more forms) of carbon. The other two are diamond and graphite. Scientists Kroto, Smalley and Curl discovered fullerenes in Rice University in September 1985. One of the fullerenes — Buckminsterfullerene — consists of 60 carbon atoms linked together to form an almost spherical C60 molecule of joined hexagons (20) and pentagons (12). The bonds have the same arrangement as the panels on a football. Fullerenes can be prepared by passing an electric discharge through graphite rods in an atmosphere of helium. It is now known that a buckminsterfullerene is likely to be formed in sooty flames.

WHAT IS MICROLENSING?

According to Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, light possesses mass. When light passes close to a massive object, it is attracted towards it and its direction changes towards it. Therefore, when an astronomical body is between the earth and another bigger, more distant astronomical object, the light coming towards the earth from the distant body gets focused on the earth because of the gravitational attraction of the intermediate body This is somewhat similar to focusing light from the sun on a piece of paper through a lens, and hence called astronomical microlensing. Astronomers use microlensing in their search for new planets, and to observe distant, faint objects and neutron stars.

WHAT IS WATER MEMORY? ,

Water is said to have the power of memory — if certain chemicals are dissolved in water and then completely removed through a chemical process, the water may still retain some properties of the dissolved chemicals. Although this concept seems difficult to accept or comprehend, French scientist Jacques Benveniste allegedly proved it. However, other scientist could never replicate this experiment.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SECOND GENERATION AND THIRD GENERATION TECHNOLOGY?

The main difference between second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) technology is data. 2G services were developed with mostly voice services in mind, but are capable of providing relatively slow (14.4kbps) speed data services. Most US service providers offer some data services, including limited wireless Internet access. For 3G, the data speeds are expected to be much higher; up to 2 mbps for fixed applications and 384 kbps for mobile applications. This will support advanced features including audio and video streaming, remote access to company databases, and a wider variety of entertainment and information services. 3G will also support a range of devices, including phones, personal digital assistants, and laptop computers.

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF RED RAIN?

Five years ago, scarlet rainfall was reported in a town called Chenganacherry in Kerala’s Kottayam district. Research scientists at the Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala investigated this peculiar phenomenon and discovered that the rain contained cell-like particles, which they claim, are not from Earth but from outer space. The scientists conjecture that a comet that exploded over the sky caused the airburst that created the red rain

WHY HORSE POWER IS CALLED SO?

When the steam engine began to do the work of horses in the mines during the early 1800s, the mine owners began to ask how many horses an engine would replace. James Watt, who invented steam engines, figured out a mathematical way to equate horses to engine power. Thus the term horsepower was invented. Watt measured the capability of a big horse to pull a load and found it could pull a weight of 150-pounds while walking at 2.5 miles per hour. This works out to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute or 550 foot-pounds per second.

WHAT IS LIQUID OXYGEN USED FOR? WHO INVENTED THE ESCALATOR?

The basic mechanism of an escalator f was. first invented by Jess W Reno of ‘the US in 1881. It was used mainly for riding on masts of wooden or iron poles in ships to fasten ropes or belts to support the sails. The name ‘escalator’ was applied to a moving stairway in 1900and first shown in a Paris exhibition. Charles Seeberger, with a company named Otis Elevator Company, built the first commercial escalator.

WHY IS NASA’S DAWN MISSION SIGNIFICANT?

The Dawn Mission is important because it will study Ceres and Vesta, two of our solar system’s largest asteroids in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch in July 2007 and will capture images of the surface of these asteroids and probe the composition, density and magnetism. The project almost got scuttled because of cost considerations but got a fresh lease of life recently

HOW DOES THE GROUND PROXIMITY WARNING SYSTEM IN AN AIRCRAFT WORK?

Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) is designed to alert pilots if their aircraft is in immediate danger of Hying into the ground. Another common name is Ground Collision Warning System. Don Bateman is credited with inventing GPWS. This system monitors an aircraft’s height above the ground as determined by the radio altimeter. A computer tracks these readings, calculates trends, and warns the captain with visual and audio messages if the aircraft exceeds certain thresholds or defined flying configurations also known as modes. The modes are: excessive descent rate, excessive .terrain closure rate, altitude loss after take-off, unsafe terrain clearance and excessive deviation below glidescope. Corrective action is then taken.

WHAT IS A PYROMETER?

A pyrometer, invented by Josiah Wedgwood, is an instrument which measures relatively high temperatures, like that of a furnace. Many pyrometers work by measuring the radiation from the body whose temperature is to be measured. There is another device known as the optical pyrometer. It measures the temperature of glowing bodies by comparing them visually with an incandescent filament of known temperature. Another type is the resistance pyrometer in which a fine wire is in contact with the object and its temperature is determined by measuring its electrical resistance.

WHAT IS WHITE COAL?

White coal is a form of fuel produced by drying chopped wood over a fire. It differs from charcoal which is carbonised wood White coal was used in England to smelt lead ore from the mid-16th to the late 17th centuries. It produces more heat than but less than charcoal and thus prevents lead evaporating. White coal was produced in distinctive circular pits with a channel, known as Q-pits They are frequently found in the woods 7f South Yorkshire.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE?

A geostationary satellite means a satellite, which moves in space at the same speed and in the same direction as the earth. As a result, its position is fixed in relation to any spot on the earth.

IF THE SUN IS A STAR, WHY DOESN’T IT TWINKLE?

THE sun is an ordinary star. There are stars many times bigger than the sun. The stars that you see twinkling are so far away, that the light from them takes thousands of years to reach us. Even the light from the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, takes about three to four years to reach us. The light from the stars seems to twinkle because it comes through the constantly moving air currents around the earth. The sun does not twinkle because it is very close to us —just about 150 million kilometres away.

HOW DID THE OZONE LAYER GET DEPLETED?

THE ozone layer got depleted because of chemicals released into the atmosphere by man, particularly chlorofluoro carbons used in the refrigeration industry and air conditioners.

WHAT IS A TRANSDUCER?

A transducer is a contraption by instrumentation engineers to convert a physical action into an equivalent electrical signal.

WHAT IS AN EXOTHERMIC REACTION?

Exothermic is an adjective pertaining to a chemical change that is accompanied by liberation of energy in the form of heat.

WHAT ARE CONIC SECTIONS?

In geometry, circle, ellipse, parabola, hyperbola and a pair of straight lines are called conic sections as these geometrical entities can be obtained by slicing a cone.

WHAT IS MARCODONTIA?

It is rare case of unusually large teeth found in otherwise normal person.

WHAT IS RESIDUAL STRESS?

It is a stress in metal, on a microscopic scale, resulting from nonuniform thermal changes and plassic deformation.

WHAT IS A GM COUNTER?

GM or Geiger-Mueller Counter is an instrument used in measurement of radioactivity. It is a cylindrical structure filled with inert gas and a central wire maintained at ultra-high voltage. The impinging radiationionises the inert gas and creates a shower a charged particles. This change can be electronic gadgets such as a computer.

WHICH FLOWER IS KNOWN AS THE FLOWER OF THE NIGHT?

The flower of a type of cactus called orchid cactus, (Epiphyllum oxypetallum), is known as the “flower of the night” or the “queen of the night”. This cactus is native to Central and South America. It possesses what appear to be flat leaves, which are actually stems, on which the flower blooms directly In Greek, “epiphyllum” means “upon the leaf”. This cactus flowers once a year, and the flower opens only for one night. When the flower blooms, it fills its surroundings with a strong scent, and hence the name.

WHAT IS GODEPS THEOREM?

Austrian-born American mathematician Kurt Godel proved that within a rigid logical mathematical system, there are certain questions that can neither be proved nor be disproved on the basis of the axioms of the system. Godel’s theorem, in essence, goes beyond the realm of .

DO YOU KNOW THE MEANING OF CHIRALITY?

If the mirror image of a natural object is different from the object itself, the object is called a chiral / objects. A perfect sphere is not chiral. Scientists are studying basic building blocks of matter to understand the fundamental reason for this amazing property.

IS THERE ANYTHING YELLOW ABOUT THE YELLOW SEA?

The Yellow Sea is an arm of the Pacific Ocean that extends inland for about 400 miles between the east coast of China and Korea. The Chinese named this area the Huang Hal (Yellow Sea) because the waters along the banks are a yellow, muddy color. The Huang River carries deposits of yellow earth (huangtu) to the Yellow Sea, which thereby gets its name.

WHAT IS BLACK ABOUT THE BLACK SEA?

The deep water of the Black Sea is supposed to be darker than the water of a normal sea, because the Black Sea has rich concentration of micro algae. Further, the Black Sea was called so in olden times, perhaps because it was very stormy and hence difficult to navigate. It was considered an inhospitable sea because barbarians occupied its shores. According to another theory, the Black Sea is called so because it is on the northern side of the Mediterranean Sea, and in ancient times the colour black was used in the compass to mark north.

IS THERE ANYTHING RED ABOUT RED SEA?

The Red Sea is not actually red in colour. The Red Sea, located between the African coast and Saudi Arabia, contains a type of algae called Trichodesmium eythraeum. As they die, their remains end up on the ocean floor. THEIR COLOUR CHANGES TO REDDISH-BROWN AND THIS GIVES THE SEA A ‘RED’ COLOUR.

WHAT’S UNIQUE ABOUT SPACE VEHICLE ORION?

Orion is the new moonship that NASA plans to develop. This was revealed when US astronaut Jeff Williams inadvertently mentioned the name of the vehicle while taping a message for a space agency when floating 354 kms above the earth in the International Space Station. It was transmitted by accident over space-to-ground radio.

WHAT IS A PUFFER MACHINE?

A puffer machine, formally named an explosives detection trace portal, is a security device that detects explosives at airports and other sensitive facilities. The machine operates by releasing multiple puffs of air at a passenger standing upright in the machine. The cool air blasts are felt by the passenger, but are not painful or otherwise damaging. The purpose of the series of air blasts is to release microscopic particles into the air, such as gunpowder or residue from bomb-making materials, which would then be detected by the machine. If such particles are suspected, the passenger may be retained for further screening. The entire process takes approximately 15 seconds.

WHY IS THE TRAJECTORY OF PLUTO DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER PLANETS?

The peculiarity of Pluto’s trajectory is that both its eccentricity and inclination to the ecliptic, the approximate plane in which the orbits of the other planets lie, are extremely high. As Pluto was discovered only in 1930, astronomers haven’t been able to fully explain the peculiarity of its orbit. A hypothesis proposed that it was originally a moon to Neptune, and later somehow escaped from Neptune’s gravity In 1978, when Pluto’s moon, Charon, was discovered, new theories were proposed regarding the origin of both Pluto and Charon. It is now believed that *both of them were formed independently, but after some time there was a collision between Pluto and the original Charon. From the debris of that collision,