Dr Rajiv Desai
An Educational Blog
THE ATOM
___________ THE ATOM: ___________ The figure above is an animation of the nuclear force (or residual strong force) interaction between a proton and a neutron. The small colored double circles are gluons, which can be seen binding the proton and neutron together. These gluons also hold the quark-antiquark combination called the pion (meson) together, and thus help transmit a residual part of the strong force even between colorless hadrons. Quarks each carry a single color charge, while gluons carry both a color and an anticolor charge. The combinations of three quarks e.g. proton/neutron (or three antiquarks e.g. antiproton/antineutron) or of quark-antiquark pairs (mesons) are the only combinations that the strong force seems to allow. ________ Prologue: Since childhood I was curious about breaking down any matter (table/chair) into smaller pieces continually till I reach a point where it cannot be broken down. What is that point? Is matter infinitely divisible? […]
ALCOHOL (beverage based on ethanol)
______ ALCOHOL (beverage based on ethanol): ______ President Obama loves Irish beer and celebrates the St.Patrick’s Day only with it! ________ Prologue: Abraham Lincoln said: “It has long been recognized that the problems with alcohol relate not to the use of a bad thing, but to the abuse of a good thing.” We find alcohol throughout our daily lives. Alcoholic beverages have been consumed by humans since prehistoric times for a variety of hygienic, dietary, medicinal, religious, and recreational reasons. We associate the consumption of alcohol with the most pleasurable aspects of our culture. Parties and sports, picnics and vacations, summer and winter are all influenced by the attraction of alcoholic beverages. World Cup 2014: festival of football or alcohol? Whichever country hoists aloft the World Cup trophy, the real winner will be the alcohol industry according to BMJ report. I had written article on ‘Alcohol’ on February […]
SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE
_ SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE: _ The figure above shows English to Gujarati mappings for consonants: _________ Prologue: Human life in its present form would be impossible and inconceivable without the use of language. To the question: “Who is speaking?” Mallarme, the French poet, answered, “Language is speaking.” The traditional conception of language is that it is, in Aristotle’s phrase, sound with meaning. Everybody uses language, but nobody knows quite how to define it. Language is arguably the defining characteristic of the human species, yet the biological basis of our ability to speak, listen and comprehend remains largely mysterious; about its evolution, we know even less. The origin of language is a widely-discussed topic. Whole doctorates have been based on it, thousands of books have been written on it, and scholars continue to argue about how and why it first emerged. Many animals can communicate effectively with one another but humans […]
HAIR
HAIR: _________ _ “The hair is the richest ornament of women.” Martin Luther (1483 – 1546) German religious reformer. ________ Prologue: There is universal human interest in hair and hair-styling throughout history and around the world. Hair has served as a signifier of class, gender, ethnicity, conformity/non-conformity, authority, and power throughout history. Attitudes towards hair, such as hairstyles and hair removal, vary widely across different cultures and historical periods. While some of us define ourselves by our faces and bodies, others place a lot of weight on how our hair looks. After all, hair is our body’s fashion statement. You’re born with a natural hair color, shape and hairstyle. A large part of your personal appearance is determined by your hair. Some people want to restore their hair, some want to remove it, and others just want a fancy hair style or color. Hair, whether present or absent, […]
DRINKING WATER
Drinking Water: ____________ _ For last 8 years, I lived in a small town Daman and drank purified bottled water because water supplied by local municipality is suspected of unhygienic quality and water from private bore-well may well be contaminated as many areas of town have poor sewer drainage resulting in seepage of sewage in the soil itself and sewage tanks are in the vicinity of bore-wells. Assuming you’re in reasonable shape and in ideal conditions — that is, not in the heat or cold and not exerting, a human can probably live for about 3 to 5 days without drinking water. Healthier humans can live another day or so longer. Water is believed to be elixir of life. Humanity highly depends on water and its proper utilization and management. Although, water has various uses, perhaps its use as thirst quenching fluid is the most significant one. The life-supporting […]
