Indian Sarsaparilla to cool Head!

At summer when the afternoons are hot with bright light, an ice cold drink made with herbal syrup and lime is the favorite here in Tamil Nadu, South India, for quenching thirst. The cool drink mentioned here cools your head and the brain as you take it resting under a shadow! The main ingredient in it is the extract from the herb, Indian Sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus indica, ‘Nannari’ in Tamil). We identify this herb here in coconut groves, hilly regions where they grow by themselves; it has long and pointed leaves with white striations, and it is a type of creeper. If you uproot it and smell the root you can confirm it: it has a sweet and pleasant smell!

In this modern day of selling newer and the newest cool drinks, this tasty syrup using the wonder herb is being still preferred among all the other syrups available!

Jewel Beetles to charm you!

When I was a kid, a pair of pet insects was presented to me by my elders to be brought up! They had dark green and shiny – iridescent wings reflecting light like Compact Discs. The female had creamy white triangular tail end that bore egg that waited there to be laid. They didn’t try to fly away but rather moved slowly inside the pet box here and there, silently. These are the Jewel Beetles (Chrysochora species, ‘Ponvandu ’ in Tamil). My elders had told me that if I fed them with the leaves of Acacia tree, they would lay eggs, which hatch then into tiny insects. As they told the insects laid creamy, rubbery cute eggs! While I was waiting then to see the hatchlings, one day morning I found all the eggs to bear a hole on them with nothing inside; ants had found them to be delicious!

In the Nature these Jewel beetles are found here in South India in the monsoon month, October. At this time the Acacia trees are abound with them. They are wood borers. Another special kind of this beetle that is larger, and that has round and golden iridescent spots on the wings, lives on white Acacia trees. We call it as ‘Raja Ponvandu ’ – meaning ‘the king among the Jewel beetles’!

Beat Frequency Oscillator gave license!

In 1980s, I used to listen to the conversations of Amateur Radio Operators (HAMs) as a Short Wave Listener (SWL), after tuning in 40 meters band of my transistor radio receiver. While I was able to hear most of the operators, I could not get the voices of some which were heard only as an unintelligible squabble! Later I was informed by an operator that it is a type of radio transmission called Single Side Band (SSB) and that many HAMs can be accommodated in the band by using it. He also gave me an idea to hear that SSB transmission also by using another pocket short wave band transistor radio near that main radio. It worked well and used it with wonder. Next, the operator gave me a circuit diagram for assembling a special device for that. The device’s name is Beat Frequency Oscillator (BFO). I assembled the BFO myself, though in a crude form! With this BFO wonder, I listened to HAMs, and it paved the way for me to take up the examination for getting the Amateur Radio Operator’s License and pass in it!

Comet, an Astronomical Wonder!

The arrival of comets on the sky is a wonder to astronomers. But it is also believed by others as a bad omen attached to the leader of a country where it is seen. I wonder about this belief like this: a comet is seen all over the world in the skies of all the countries; then is it a sign of death for all those leaders?

Comets are heavenly bodies that revolve (orbit) around our sun like all our planets. So, they are seen periodically near our earth. They do not move with speed as the Shooting stars, Artificial satellites or Space stations. They are seen on the evening or the morning sky when sun sets down or rises up. They slowly move each day farther and go far away to be seen like an airplane that disappears at a distance on the sky.

Comets show a tail when they are near the sun. They consist of ice, dust and particles of rock. As these they go far away from the earth they leave behind debris that are attracted by earth’s atmosphere. When all these fall down on the earth, they produce or present the show of Meteor shower.

Acacia concinna for Healthy Hair!

Here in Tamil Nadu, South India, it is a tradition and a weekly routine to take an oil bath – anointing the whole body with Til oil (Sesame oil), then smearing a paste of an herbal pod powder and getting a shower. This keeps the skin and the hairs both of the body and scalp healthy, and ushers in a good night’s sleep! This paste’s main ingredient is that of the pods of the Shikkai Tree (Acacia concinna, ‘Shiyakaai ’ in Tamil). The whole pod itself has a good oil removing power due to its Saponins content. That is why it is available here in mini-sachets also, as a Natural herbal shampoo! Moreover its paste is harmless and it is equal to corrosive acids like Acetic acid in keeping floor tiles free from both oil and (mineral) salty deposits.

It is a wonder tree providing us freshness of both the body and mind through its pods!

Pulse Reading to excite you!

You can feel your pulse yourself! Try placing the tips of central three fingers of right hand on the outer edge of the left wrist with the middle finger on the end of wrist crease. Now press down gently these fingers on the skin. In any one of these fingers you will feel the pushing up and going down (pulse) of your (radial) pulse the most!

This pulse has a normal and average rate of seventy two per minute. It varies with your mood and physical activity. If you are angry or doing exercises it increases; if you are calm and inactive it decreases itself to near normal rate.

Pulse’s nature is the indicator of health of our blood pumping system which resembles wonderfully with water pumping system!

Beauty measured by Golden Number!

It is everybody’s observation that symmetry in every aspect gives the object its attraction, pleasing its observer. All the beautiful objects in Nature that appeals to us are thought to have certain neat arrangement of their structures in common. They are said to be in a symmetrical proportion called as the Golden ratio. This ratio in all of them works out to a common number, (approximately), the Golden number!

It is: 1.61803398…..! This number is unique in that its product with its own number is equal to its addition to the number, one!

The Golden ratio numbers are given as a series of numbers as follows:

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55, …………… and so on!

You see that there is one common nature in this series. The sum of any two successive numbers gives you the next number of them! This is called Fibonacci series of numbers.

Beauty in Art, Architecture, Anatomy and many others are explained by these Golden ratio numbers. In beautiful flowers the number of their petals is in Golden ratio numbers! In our body, for example, the hand’s lengths between finger tips to the elbow and that between the wrist and the elbow are also in Golden ratio numbers! You can try it yourself. Even our DNA molecule has these numbers: its width is about 21 angstrom and the height 34 angstrom!

This wonderful Golden ratio numbers have been discovered by Leonardo da vinci (Fibonacci)!

For those interested in finding out the nature of these numbers:

Golden Number!

1.61803398..

Its product with itself  1.61803398 x 1.61803398 = 2.61803398

Its addition to number, 1  1+1.61803398 = 2.61803398

See that both the resulting numbers are the same!

Golden ratio!

It is: 1:1.61803398…

Two numbers are said to be in Golden ratio when the ratio between their sum and their greater number is equal to the ratio between the greater one and the lesser one.

1+1.61803398 = 2.61803398  2.61803398 / 1.61803398 = 1.61803399

1.61803398 / 1 = 1.61803398

See that both the resulting numbers are the same! So, they are in Golden ratio.

It can also be explained with other successive Fibonacci series numbers. Try with them and verify yourself!

Source: Science Reporter

Diving Spider in the Air Bubble!

We have seen ‘Diving bell’ in school text books. It was used then to dive into water. Using its principle, a spider lives under water! It is the Diving Spider or the Water Spider (Argyroneta aquatica). This spider forms a bubble of air around itself when it is on the surface of water. Then it dives down into the water lying inside this bubble that is held by the hairs of its abdomen and legs. It gets its oxygen supply from the air inside this bubble. Occasionally it goes up to the surface of water to renew its air supply!

This spider is a wonder in Nature as it demonstrates to us a principle of diving in Physical science.

Prosopis Juliflora - Fuel Wood Wonder!

I was introduced to a tree in my early childhood by its thorn! The tree is Prosopis juliflora. Elders called its thorn as Crow’s thorn (‘Kakka mual’ in Tamil) and cautioned me not to get a prick on foot with it, as it will lead to a painful abscess. It was so named as crows collect these dried greyish black thorns from the grounds near the tree and use it to build their nests.

Prosopis juliflora (‘Veali Karuvealai’ in Tamil) is an evergreen tree thriving well in any soil and is drought resistant. It appears withered only when it rains, as it folds and closes all its leaves then! Its roots go deeper than other tree roots – up to 175 feet! After cutting down to its roots tip I found a tree pushing up its fresh shoot as if it is a new tree within a month – there had been lying a much bigger main root of that tree uncut! The tree is ubiquitous here in South India and other countries like Australia. But peculiarly it is not seen in North India! Its seeds germinate quickly after monsoon rains. So, to check its invasion in farm lands, it must be pulled out and dried in sunlight as soon as it appears above the ground.

Its main use now is as a fuel, either after drying or after turning into charcoal by burning partially in a mud covered heap of its twigs. It was used then as live fencing in farms in the past and hence its Tamil name. It is said that it was introduced into Tamil Nadu, South India with the efforts taken by Honorable K.Kamaraj then Chief Minister to boost the livelihood of poor people. Another use of it: its produce, the pods are eagerly eaten by goats, which are fed by their keepers to fatten them and get tasty flesh!
This tree that grows on wastelands and offers excellent fuel wood at no cost is a wonder tree in every aspect!