Science and experiment

Sometimes it's right on the box of rice mix—the high altitude version of cooking instructions. Usually this means that your rice will have to cook a little bit longer if you are in Denver or at the top of Mount Everest. Of course that's just a joke. No one cooks rice at the top of Everest. But why are the instructions even different? Why does it matter where you cook? The answer has to do with boiling water.
You ask some people on the street about the boiling temperature of water. Some might say 212°F or even better 100°C—but that's not always true. As you increase your altitude above sea level, the boiling point of water decreases by about 1°F for every 500 feet increase. That means your water in Denver is going to be 203°F and this will have an impact on your cooking. But why?

The ultimate vision experts are working towards is of completely driverless vehicles, both within industry, wider transport networks, and personal-use cars, that can be deployed and used anywhere and everywhere around the world.
But with all these hurdles in place, what exactly does the next 10 years have in store for autonomous vehicles?
Two years from now
The biggest hurdle for those in the driverless technology industry is how to get the cars to operate safely and effectively in complex and unpredictable human environments. Cracking this part of the puzzle will be the major focus of the next two years.
At the Mcity Test Facility at the University of Michigan, experts are addressing this. The world's first purpose-built testing ground for autonomous vehicles, it is a mini-town of sorts, made up of 16 acres of road and traffic infrastructure. It includes traffic signals and signs, underpasses, building facades, tree cover, home and garage exterior for testing delivery and ride-hailing and different terrains such as road, pedestrian walkways, railway tracks, and road-markings which the vehicles must navigate. It's here that experts test scenarios that even the most experienced of drivers may be pressed to handle, from children playing in the street to two cars trying to merge on a junction at the same time.

You might think that you need to boil liquid water to create water vapour—but you do not. You just need some liquid water at room temperature. Picture a glass of water. If you could zoom in with super vision (not actually possible), you would see that this water is made of a bunch of molecules—water molecules. Although these molecules are themselves made of three atoms: two hydrogens and one oxygen. Let's just think of them as tiny balls.
These tiny water balls are moving around in the water but stay fairly close to their ball neighbours. This motion isn't due to currents in the water, instead this is thermal motion. Imagine these tiny balls jiggling around in a giant collection of balls. The hotter the water, the greater the motion of these water balls. But wait! The speeds of the water particles are not all the same. Although there is an average ball speed, some are going faster and some are going slower. It's just like the height of a group of adult humans. There is an average height, but everyone is not the same. Some people are very tall, but that's just a small fraction of the total group.

Teaching is not an easy job. In addition, when it comes to teaching science, it becomes more tiresome. Different teaching methodologies, including ICT, plus more investment in terms of money and time are needed to get satisfactory output. Science is a subject of curiosity, inquisitiveness and questioning. There are many sub-branches of science. Even at the secondary level, four major branches of science - physics, chemistry, biology and astronomy are incorporated. These four make up the basics of all sciences. Moreover, these fields are completely independent and unconnected.
Then how come a single teacher at the secondary level, especially in community schools and many English medium private schools, is teaching all these subjects when one has mastered only one field? For better output, individual teachers should be managed, especially at the secondary level, to teach these subjects.
Only lectures and discussion methods are not sufficient to make the students understand the scientific concepts. Laboratory experiments, field visits, project work too are essential ingredients of science study. The essence of teaching science is not only to make students learn by heart the definitions of work, energy, cell, Newton's law of motion, light year and the like, but also to make them able to use them in the laboratory research centre and medical and engineering sectors. Therefore, instead of making science a mandatory subject, it must be made elective from the very beginning, that is, after the primary level so that only those students who are truly interested and have the capacity and confidence to grab the concepts in this field can pursue it. We have seen many students pursuing science in classes 11 and 12, however, they seem to be confused about where they are heading. Therefore, teachers as well as the parents should counsel them in choosing the right path and mustn't force them to choose science even if they manage to grab a high GPA.

Thomas Edison was born on 11 February 1847. He was one of the outstanding geniuses of technology and he obtained patents for more than one of the thousand inventions including the electric light bulb, the record player and an early type of film projector. He also created the world's first industrial research laboratory.
He was born in Milan, Ohio and he was always an inquisitive boy. By the time he was 10, he had set up a small chemical laboratory in his house after his mother had shown him a science book. He soon became fascinated with electrical currents and it remained the main interest of his life.
In 1869, he borrowed a small amount of money and became a freelance inventor. In the same summer, there was a crisis in the New York financial district called Wall Street when the new telegraphic gold-price indicator broke down. Edison was called in to repair it and he did it so well that he was given a job as supervisor with the Western Union Telegraph Company. They later commissioned him to improve the Wall Street stock ticker that was just coming into use. He did so and produced the Edison Universal Stock Printer, which immediately brought him a fortune of USD 40,000. With this money, he set up himself as a manufacturer in order to produce electrical machines.
In 1876, he built a new laboratory so that he could spend all his time inventing. He planned to turn out minor inventions every ten days and a 'big trick' every six months. Before long, he had 40 different inventions going at the same time and was applying for as many as 400 patents a year. The following year, Edison moved to New Jersey in order to build the Edison Laboratory (now a national monument) which was 10 times bigger than his first laboratory. In time it was surrounded by factories employing 5,000 people and producing many new products. Edison died on 18 October, 1931 having a remarkably productive life.

In the late 1600s, the Enlightenment swept through Europe, bringing with it an explosion of invention and innovation. Although separated from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean, Sybilla Masters contributed to this outpouring of innovation. She was the first English colonist to receive a royal patent.
Sybilla Masters was the mistress of a prosperous household in Philadelphia. Still, she made time to play with ideas on how to improve life in the colonies. Sybilla had watched Native women pound corn with a mortar and pestle. Their methods inspired her. Sybilla invented a corn gin that could do the same work with less human effort. In 1712, Sybilla sailed to London to get a patent for her invention. A patent is a document issued by the government that gives a person full rights over their invention.
Because she was a woman who lived under the English practice of dependence on men, Sybilla could not apply for the patent in her own name. Instead, she submitted it in her husband's name. Thankfully, her husband was proud of her work and supportive of her efforts. He insisted that she be listed as the true inventor in the government records. If he had not, her story would be lost to history. After receiving her patent, Sybilla and her husband sold the corn meal that her invention produced. They called this product "Tuscarora Rice." It was similar to the dish that people call "grits" today.
The patent for the corn gin was not the only patent she received in her lifetime! Sybilla also invented a method for weaving palmetto leaves together. She used this method to make hats, bonnets, and furniture. She received a patent from the English government for this method, too. Sybilla was a very creative and productive inventor. Her ingenuity ensured her legacy as the only colonial woman to receive a patent from the English government.

Science has told us so much (a)...... (on/ about/ to/ at) the moon that it is fairly easy to imagine what it (b) ....... (was/ will be/ had been/ has been) like to go there. It is certainly not a friendly place, (c) ....... (isn't it/ is it/ does it/ doesn't it) ? There can be no life of any kind on the moon (d) ........ (because/ therefore/ although/ because of) there is no air or water. For mile after mile, there (e) ......... (are/ has/ is/ was) only the dust with mountains around. Above the moon, the sun and stars shine in (f) .......... (a/ an/ the/ no article) sky. If you step out of the mountain shadow, you (g) .......... (move/ will move/ would move/ would have moved) from severe cold to great heat. The moon is also a very silent world, for sound waves can only travel through air. But beyond the broken horizon, a friendly sight (h) ...... (is seen/ be seen/ was seen/ has been seen). The astronauts say the earth shines (i)............ (brightly/ as brightly as/ more brightly/most brightly) than the stars. From the distance, our earth looks like an immense ball, clouded blue and green, and brown. The flight of the heavenly bodies makes us (j) ......... (to wonder/ wonder/ wondered/will wonder) about the universe.

The most memorable day of my life was when our class organized a science exhibition at school. The event was held on February 2, 2024, and students from classes 6 to 10 took part. I worked on a project called "Water Purification Using Natural Materials." I used sand, gravel, and charcoal layers to build a working model that could clean muddy water. I tested the model three times before the exhibition and recorded the results carefully.
On the exhibition day, there were more than thirty-five models displayed in the hall. Around five hundred visitors, including students, parents, and teachers, came to see our work. I explained my model to the judges and showed how clear water came out after passing through the filter. One of the judges, a science professor from the local college, asked me about the cost of the model, and I told him it cost less than Rs.100 to make. He appreciated the simplicity and encouraged me to present it again at the district-level fair.
Later, the principal announced that my model had won the second prize. My friends clapped and lifted me up in celebration. The prize included a certificate, a science kit, and a medal. That day, I learned how experiments can help solve real-world problems. I realised that science is not only about books but also about creativity and observation. My teacher told me that such practical work improves logical thinking and confidence.
I felt proud that my idea could be useful for people who don't have access to clean water. That exhibition changed my attitude toward learning and inspired me to become an engineer in the future. It will always remain one of the happiest and most inspiring days of my life.

This human-sized penguin isn't even the largest ancient penguin we know about
By Rachel Feltman, December 13, 2017
Today there are 17 species of penguin prowling the planet, and they are all firkin' adorable. New Zealand actually boasts the smallest extant species, which clocks in at an average of 13 inches tall. The biggest, the aptly-named Emperor Penguin, still only reaches 48 inches. Big for a bird, sure, but you're likely not intimidated by a waddling animal the size of a third grader.
Things used to be very different for our flightless friends. Based on its bones, researchers believe Kumimanu biceae, a newly-discovered species, grew to be almost 6 feet tall, and may have weighed over 220 pounds. That's not even the biggest extinct penguin species we know of. Some 37 million years ago in Antarctica, there roamed a species that grew to stand 6 feet 8 inches tall. That's a LeBron James-sized penguin. To help you ponder that, we've found a picture of LeBron James standing next to actress Amy Schumerwho, at 5' 7", is a roughly-average-height human being. Please note that she is wearing heels, so this is actually what it would look like if an average-sized human in high heels stood next to the largest-known species of ancient penguin.
But study author Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt points out that it's not surprising some penguins were once big.
"Actually, it is often observed that flightless birds become very large," he told PopScivia email. "One rather has to answer the question why there are no giant penguins today."
The new species helps to answer that question by filling in some of the evolutionary history of the lineage. Kumimanu biceae is one of the geologically oldest penguins ever found, putting it close to the base of the penguin family tree. Most other giant penguins (that we know of) came on the scene tens of millions of years later. And there are relatives between Kumimanu biceae and those later cousins that were quite small, suggesting their gigantism evolved in different times and places.

The Bermuda Triangle (a)..... (where/which/what) is also known as the devil's Triangle, is (b)..... (the/a/an) area located on the north western Atlantic. It is an extremely dangerous area (c)..... (for/by/to) one to enter. Several aircrafts and surface vessels (d)..... (believed/are believed/have believed) to have vanished in weird ways at The Bermuda Triangle. Important things in society (e)..... (have/has/are) shown some of these disappearances (f)..... (could have been/can be/must be) by the law of physics, paranormal, or actions of aliens. The April 1962 issue of American Legion Magazine covered the disappearance of Flight 19. The issue stated that the crew leader was heard saying, "(g)..... (We don't know where we are/They didn't know where they were/They haven't known where they were)." This statement makes us (h)..... (wonder/to wonder/wondered) what might have happened to the crew. If they (i)..... (had/had had/would have) a natural disaster, they would not have made such a statement. There are mysteries in nature, (j)..... (isn't there/doesn't there/aren't there)?

Did you know that there (a)..... (were/is/was) only one mammal in the world that can fly? The only mammal (b)..... (who/which/what) is actually capable of powered flight is the bat. All bats (c)..... (have belonged/belong/are belonging) to Chiroptera. The word Chiroptera comes from the Greek language meaning hand and wing. It is called so because the structure of the open wing is very similar to (d)..... (an/a/the) outspread human hand. The bones of the arm and four of the fingers are light, slender and lengthened as an adaptation (e)..... (for/on/in) flight. They (f)..... (are used/being used/used) to support, spread and manipulate the membranes. It is said that the bat's wing (g)..... (is an extension/had been an extension/was an extension) of the skin of the abdomen. It is tightly stretched layers of skin membranes connected together without any flesh between the layers. If there was flesh between the layers, a bat's wings (h)..... (would not be/will not be/were not) translucent. What (i)..... (makes/have/gets) the bats climb or walk on the ground? It is the first digit of their wing which is small and clawed. The bat pups suck milk from their mothers, (j)..... ? (doesn't it/don't they/do they)