Pollution

Pollution is one of the major problems faced by the whole world. Pollution means the contaminants are introduced to the mother nature which could make adverse changes to the environment. Pollution can be of any form like chemical substances, heat, noise, and many other things. Pollutants are the components of pollution. It can be either natural substance or chemical substance or energy substance. A pollutant is a waste material that pollutes air, water or soil. Three factors determine the severity of a pollutant: its chemical nature, the concentration and the persistence.

Pollution can be classified into many forms like Air pollution, Water pollution, Noise pollution, Soil Contamination, radioactive contamination, thermal pollution etc.

Air pollution is caused by natural or man made. Common gaseous pollutants are Chlorofluorocarbons,  Carbon mono oxide, carbondioxide and etc. Another major pollutant of the air pollution in the vehicles, factories, refrigerators and etc.

Water pollution is caused by introducing the waste or dangerous materials in the water. Some of the water pollutants are sewage or waste water, factory waste, chemicals used to clean waters like chlorine and many other things.

Noise pollution is caused by high sounds used by vehicles, factory sounds, high frequency sounds and etc.

Thermal Pollution and Radioactive contamination is caused by using the Thermal products and radio active components to make weapons research, wars and etc.

Effects of pollution:
Due to pollution we are facing many problems like global warming, hole in the ozone layer, many diseases caused due to pollution, and etc.

Pollution Control: It is the one of the ways used by the countries to stop pollution or lessen the effects of pollution. Some of the pollution control measures are recycling, Reusing, mitigation, Waste minimisation, usage of more natural resources, green house gases and etc.

If the pollution is not controlled then the world will collapse.

table of heaviest living birds taken from net

Rank	Animal	Average mass [kg (lb)]	Maximum mass [kg (lb)]	Average total length [cm (ft)]
1	Ostrich	104 (230)[105]	156.8 (346)[105]	210 (6.9)[106]
2	Southern Cassowary	45 (99)[105]	85 (190)[107]	155 (5.1)[105]
3	Northern Cassowary	44 (97)[105]	75 (170)[105]	149 (4.9)[106]
4	Emu	33 (73)[105][108]	70 (150)[109]	153 (5)[105]
5	Emperor Penguin	31.5 (69)[106][110]	46 (100)[106]	114 (3.7)[106]
6	Greater Rhea	23 (51)[108]	40 (88)[106]	134 (4.4)[105]
7	Dwarf Cassowary	19.7 (43)[105]	34 (75)[105]	105 (3.4)[41]
8	Lesser Rhea	19.6 (43)[105]	28.6 (63)[105]	96 (3.2)[106]
9	King Penguin	13.6 (30)[106][110]	20 (44)[111]	92 (3)[43]
10	Dalmatian Pelican	11.5 (25)[106]	15 (33)[112]	170 (5.6)[106]

beautiful lakes in india

Wular Lake is located in Jammu and Kashmir.
Loktak Lake: Loktak Lake is the largest freshwater lake in northeastern India, located in Manipur.
Damdama Lake: Damdama Lake is one of the biggest natural lakes in Haryana.
Dal Lake: The Kashmir valley is blessed with exotic natural beauty of landscape and water bodies, out of them one of the best is Dal Lake. 
Pichola Lake: Lake Pichola is an artificial fresh water lake situated in Udaipur city in Rajasthan.
Gurudongmar Lake: Gurudongmar Lake is one of the highest lakes in the world.This fresh-water lake is located northeast of the Kangchenjunga range in Sikkim.
Chilka Lake: Chilka Lake is the brackish water lake and is the largest coastal lake in India. The Chilka Lake in situated in Orissa and is Asia’s largest inland salt-water lagoon.
Vembanad Lake: Vembanad Lake is India’s longest lake and is the largest lakes in the beautiful state land of God, Kerala.
Bhimtal Lake: The pride of Bhimtal is a beautiful lake which offers magnificent vistas for tourists. The lake is larger than Nainital lake,The island at the center of the lake. Uttaranchal is famous for its valley of flowers, green meadows and spectacular lakes.
Upper lake: Upper lake is the largest artificial lake in Asia, situated in “City of Lakes” called Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh

 

Animals, birds scientific names taken from net

ANIMAL	SCIENTIFIC NAME	ANIMAL	SCIENTIFIC NAME
Adder (Viper)	Vipera Berus	Hyena	Hyaenidae Carnivora
Ant	Hymenopetrous formicidae	Kangaroo	Macropus Macropodidae
Ass	Equs Asinus	Panther	Panthera Pardus
Bat	Chiroptera	Lion	Panthera Leo
Bear	Ursidae Carnivora	Lizard	Sauria Lacertidae
Bison (Buffalo)	Bison Bonasus	Mouse	Rodentia Muridae
Camel	Camelus Camelidae	Panda	Alurpoda Melanoleuca
Cat	Felis Catus	Pig	Artiodactyla Suidae
Chameleon	Chamaele Ontidate	Porcupine	Hystricomorph Hystricidae
Cheetah	Acinonyx Jubatus	Rabbit	Leporidae Cuniculas
Chimpanzee	Pan Troglodytes	Rabbit	Rodentia Rattus
Cobra	Elapidae Naja	Rattle Snake	Cortalus Horridus
Cougar	Fenis Concolour	Reindeer	Rangifer Tarrandus
Crocodile	Crocodilia Niloticus	Rhinoceros	Perrissodanctyl Rthinocerotidae
Deer	Artiodactyl Cervidae	Scorpion	Archinida Scorpionida
Dog	Cannis Familiaris	Sea Horse	Hippocampus Syngnathidae
Dolphin	Delphinidae Delphis	Seal	Pinnipedia Phocidae
Elephant	Proboscidea Elephantidae	Sheep	Bovidae Ovis
Fox	Cannis Vulpes	Spider Monkey	Arboreal Ateles
Frog	Anura Ranidae	Squirrel	Rodentia Sciurus
Giraffe	Giraffa Camalopardalis	Tiger	Panthera Tigris
Goat	Capra Hircus	Tiger Cat	Felis Tigrina
Hippopotamus	Hippopotamus Amphibius	Whale Shark	Rhincodon  Typus
Horse	Eqqus Caballus	Zebra	Equidae Burcheli

 

BIRD	SCIENTIFIC NAME	BIRD	SCIENTIFIC NAME
Albatross	Phoebitria Procellariformes	Humming Bird	Triochilidae Apodiformes
Black Swan	Cygnus Atratus	Kiwi	Apteryx Apterygiformes
Condor	Vultur Gryphus	Ostrich	Struthio Camelus
Crane	Gruidae Gruiformes	Owl	Nocturnalis Strigiformes
Crow	Corvous Corone	Parrot	Phaethontidae Psittaciformes
Cuckoo	Cuculidae Cuculiformes	Peacock	Pava Cristatus
Dodo	Raphidae Columbiformes	Pelican	Pelecanidae Pelecaniformes
Dove	Columbidae Colombiformes	Penguin	Pentagonica Sphenisciformes
Duck	Anatidae Anseriformes	Pigeon	Columbidae Colombiformes
Eagle	Aquila Accipitridae	Sparrow	Ploceidae Passer
Falcon	Falconidae Falco	Swan	Cygnus Coscoroba
Gull	Larus Canus	Tortoise	Herbivora Testudinidae
Hawk	Diurnus Accipitridae	Vulture	Diurnilis Neophron

earthquake measurement in richter scale taken from net

Magnitude	Description	Mercalli intensity	Average earthquake effects	Average frequency of occurrence (estimated)
Less than 2.0	Micro	I	Microearthquakes, not felt, or felt rarely by sensitive people. Recorded by seismographs.[15]	Continual/several million per year
2.0–2.9	Minor	I to II	Felt slightly by some people. No damage to buildings.	Over one million per year
3.0–3.9		II to IV	Often felt by people, but very rarely causes damage. Shaking of indoor objects can be noticeable.	Over 100,000 per year
4.0–4.9	Light	IV to VI	Noticeable shaking of indoor objects and rattling noises. Felt by most people in the affected area. Slightly felt outside. Generally causes none to minimal damage. Moderate to significant damage very unlikely. Some objects may fall off shelves or be knocked over.	10,000 to 15,000 per year
5.0–5.9	Moderate	VI to VIII	Can cause damage of varying severity to poorly constructed buildings. At most, none to slight damage to all other buildings. Felt by everyone. Casualties range from none to a few.	1,000 to 1,500 per year
6.0–6.9	Strong	VII to X	Damage to a moderate number of well-built structures in populated areas. Earthquake-resistant structures survive with slight to moderate damage. Poorly designed structures receive moderate to severe damage. Felt in wider areas; up to hundreds of miles/kilometers from the epicenter. Strong to violent shaking in epicentral area. Death toll ranges from none to 25,000.	100 to 150 per year
7.0–7.9	Major	VIII or greater[16]	Causes damage to most buildings, some to partially or completely collapse or receive severe damage. Well-designed structures are likely to receive damage. Felt across great distances with major damage mostly limited to 250 km from epicenter. Death toll ranges from none to 250,000.	10 to 20 per year
8.0–8.9	Great		Major damage to buildings, structures likely to be destroyed. Will cause moderate to heavy damage to sturdy or earthquake-resistant buildings. Damaging in large areas. Felt in extremely large regions. Death toll ranges from 1,000 to 1 million.	One per year
9.0 and greater			Near or at total destruction - severe damage or collapse to all buildings. Heavy damage and shaking extends to distant locations. Permanent changes in ground topography. Death toll usually over 50,000.	One per 10 to 50 years

cooking measurements used in kitchen taken from internet

Kitchen Measurement Conversion Tables
Liquid or Volume Measures (approximate)
1 teaspoon		1/3 tablespoon	5 ml
1 tablespoon	1/2 fluid ounce	3 teaspoons	15 ml    15 cc
2 tablespoons	1 fluid ounce	1/8 cup, 6 teaspoons	30 ml,   30 cc
1/4 cup	2 fluid ounces	4 tablespoons	59 ml
1/3 cup	2 2/3 fluid ounces	5 tablespoons & 1 teaspoon	79 ml
1/2 cup	4 fluid ounces	8 tablespoons	118 ml
2/3 cup	5 1/3 fluid ounces	10 tablespoons & 2 teaspoons	158 ml
3/4 cup	6 fluid ounces	12 tablespoons	177 ml
7/8 cup	7 fluid ounces	14 tablespoons	207 ml
1 cup	8 fluid ounces/ 1/2 pint	16 tablespoons	237 ml
2 cups	16 fluid ounces/ 1 pint	32 tablespoons	473 ml
4 cups	32 fluid ounces	1 quart	946 ml
1 pint	16 fluid ounces/ 1 pint	32 tablespoons	473 ml
2 pints	32 fluid ounces	1 quart	946 ml     0.946 liters
8 pints	1 gallon/ 128 fluid ounces	4 quarts	3785 ml   3.78 liters
4 quarts	1 gallon/128 fluid ounces	1 gallon	3785 ml    3.78 liters
1 liter	1.057 quarts		1000 ml
1 gallon	4 quarts	128 fluid ounces	3785 ml    3.78 liters
Dry Or Weight Measurements (approximate)
1 ounce		30 grams  (28.35 g)
2 ounces		55 grams
3 ounces		85 grams
4 ounces	1/4 pound	125 grams
8 ounces	1/2 pound	240 grams
12 ounces	3/4 pound	375 grams
16 ounces	1 pound	454 grams
32 ounces	2 pounds	907 grams
1/4 pound	4 ounces	125 grams
1/2 pound	8 ounces	240 grams
3/4 pound	12 ounces	375 grams
1 pound	16 ounces	454 grams
2 pounds	32 ounces	907 grams
1 kilogram	2.2 pounds/ 35.2 ounces	1000 gram

Interesting facts about human body taken from net

The brain is more active at night than during the day.
The nail on the middle finger grows faster than the other fingernails.
Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body.
The lifespan of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average
Women's hearts beat faster than men's
Women are born better smellers than men and remain better smellers over life.
Women blink twice as many times as men do
Men get hiccups more often than women.
A man has approximately 6.8 litres of blood in the body while women have approximately 5 litres.
During your lifetime, you will produce enough saliva to fill two swimming pools.
After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp
Noise causes the pupils of your eyes to dilate. Even very small noises can do this
 

Interesting insects taken from net

The Longest Insect

The Borneo walking stick (Phobaeticus kirbyi) can grow to up to 32 centimeters long, with another 14 centimeters if you measure the legs stretched out

The Biggest

Goliath beetles (Goliathus) are the largest insects in terms of bulk and weight. They can reach over 4 inches long

Strongest animal on earth.

The Hercules beetle (Dynastes hercules) is a species of rhinoceros beetle that lives in South America. It can grow to over 6 inches in length (counting its horns), but its claim to fame is its strength. The Hercules beetle can support 850 times its own weight on its shell! This beetles eats only vegetation and is not aggressive, except to other Hercules beetles, when males fight each other over females.

Weird Lifecycle

The twisted-wing parasite (Strepsiptera) is an order of insects who display a gruesome lifestyle. The larval stage parasite will climb a flower and wait for an insect pollinator (bee or wasp) to come along. They climb aboard the bee, burrow into its body, and change into a second-stage larva. They feed off the blood and organs of the host. An adult male parasite will emerge from the host and search for a mate -a process that takes such little time that he never develops a mouth. The adult female remains in the host’s body for the rest of her life, never growing legs or wings. She mates by pushing only her reproductive organs outside of the bee’s body! Her offspring will emerge and look for new hosts.

Violent Sex

The gruesome behavior or the male African bat bug (Afrocimex constrictus) is directed at other bat bugs. Instead of copulating via the female’s sex organs, he will stab her abdomen to release sperm directly into her bloodstream. So the females have evolved paragenitals, a “spongy reservoir of immune cells” as a defense against these tactics. But since male bat bugs are not particular when it comes to mating, some male bat bugs have also developed paragenitals to defend themselves against sexual attack!

Trap and Torture.

Tree ants (Allomerus decemarticulatus) in the Amazon contruct elaborate traps for other insects they feed upon. They build these traps from tree fibers reinforced with fungus. When an unsuspecting insect encounters the trap, the ants emerge from hiding underneath and pull the prey’s legs to immobilize them, almost like a torture rack. Then they dismember the victim and carry the parts off to the colony. This method of “drawing and quartering” allows the ants to dine on insects much larger than themselves.

Unstoppable Swarmers.

Driver ants (Dorylus) or siafu are the masters of the swarm. Dorylus includes several species of army ants, primarily found in Africa. Colonies can contain 20 million ants! When the column is on the march looking for food, people can avoid them just by stepping aside. But there have been cases where invalids have been killed (by asphyxiation) when a column of ants marches through the house. They have been known to kill and eat animals up to the size of small zebras.

Deadliest of all.

The mosquito (Culicidae) causes the deaths of millions of people every year. They spread yellow fever, dengue fever, encephalitis, West Nile Virus, and malaria from person to person, without being affected by the diseases themselves. They also transmit the debilitating filariasis worm, which can lead to elephantiasis in humans. Mosquitos are nasty business.

interesting facts about lion

Lions are the only big cats to live in groups, called prides. Prides are close family groups. They work together to defend territory and hunt.

The females in the pride tend to do the majority of the hunting. They work as a group and use intelligent hunting tactics to catch prey which they would not be able to catch alone as they are faster than them.

Lions enjoy relaxing and lazing around. They spend between 16 and 20 hours each day resting and sleeping. They have few sweat glands so they wisely tend to conserve their energy by resting during the day and become more active at night when it is cooler.

Lionesses are caring mothers who will even take care of a neglected cub, allowing him/her to suckle and giving them a chance to survive. Two or more lionesses in a group tend to give birth around the same time, and the cubs are raised together. Cubs are extremely playful.

Lions roar to communicate their position to other prides. A lion’s roar is the loudest of any big cat and can be heard up to 8 km away.

Lions have terrific night vision. They are 6 times more sensitive to light than humans. This gives them a distinct advantage over some prey species when hunting at night.

Lions communicate through a range of behaviours and their expressive movements are very highly developed. They will perform peaceful tactile actions such as licking each other and rubbing heads. Head rubbing, or nuzzling, is a common greeting behaviour for lions. They also communicate through a variety of vocalisations including purrs, snarls, miaws and hissing. Their vocalisations also vary in intensity and pitch.

The mane of the male lion is a distinctive characteristic of lions as no other big cats have them. It makes male lions appear larger, thus allowing them to be more intimidating. It also signals sexual maturity and health status; lionesses tend to favour denser and darker manes.

Lions are symbols of strength and courage and have been celebrated throughout history for these characteristics. They are also common symbols for royalty and stateliness, hence the phrase ‘king of the jungle’.

Ancient Egyptians venerated lions as their war dieties due to their strength, power and fierceness. The famous sphinxes are just one of many mythical depictions of the lion in Egyptian culture.

Although lions belong in the wild they are still used by travelling circuses in the UK.

African lions are the most social of all big cats and live together in groups or “prides.” A pride consists of about 15 lions.

 Male lions defend the pride’s territory while females do most of the hunting. Despite this, the males eat first.

 These majestic cats are threatened by habitat loss. The lion is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

The lion was once found throughout Africa, Asia and Europe but now exists only in Africa with one exception. The last remaining Asiatic lions are found in Sasan-Gir National Park in India, which was primarily created to protect the species. Currently, there are approximately 350-400 lions in the park.

A lion can run for short distances at 50 mph and leap as far as 36 feet.

 Even though the lion is sometimes referred to as the “king of the jungle,” it actually only lives in grasslands and plains. The expression may have come from an incorrect association between Africa and jungles or may refer to a less literal meaning of the word jungle.

 A good gauge of a male lion’s age is the darkness of his mane. The darker the mane, the older the lion.

 A lion’s heels don’t touch the ground when it walks.