Category Forces of nature

Nature’s theatrics

The universe has always been an enigma. There is so much to learn and experience from nature. Sometimes, nature delights us with some breathtaking spectacles of hers. We take you through some of these wow moments.

MOONBOW

You have seen a rainbow. Have you seen a moonbow? This is a light show like no other. The moonbow is a very rare optical phenomenon. It occurs when the light from the moon gets reflected and refracted through water droplets in the air at a certain angle. Much like how a rainbow forms. But moonbows are faint as the amount of light from the moon, which is reflected sunlight, is less. It is said that the first mention of moonbows was by Aristotle back in 350BC. As there is more light during the full moon phase, the likelihood of seeing a moonbow is more at this time.

Every year, during spring and autumn, the Denmark skies become a canvas of sorts as starling birds whiz through the skies in millions. The birds flock together in large numbers and even the sun gets partially blocked by them. This has earned the phenomenon the name Sort Sol meaning Black Sun in Danish. This spectacle across the skies occurs because of the migrating starlings as they head to their breeding grounds. This can be seen only in Denmark.

SKY MIRROR – BOLIVIA

This is akin to a mirror on the floor. The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the world’s largest salt flat. When the lake water flows onto the flat, the water reflects the sky above, just like a mirror. These salt flats are vast and endless and the waters create a reflection that makes for an extremely enigmatic sight.

NORTHERN LIGHTS ICELAND

Sometime between September and April, the skies in Iceland turn theatrical as they put on a spellbinding show of colours. Awe-inspiring patterns form in the sky in hues of green, red and blue. This natural phenomenon is called the Aurora Borealis or the northern lights. They form when the charged particles of the sun interact with atmospheric atoms.

BIOLUMINESCENT SHORES – MALDIVES

Picture this. A beach glowing neon blue at night. If you were to go to the Vaadhoo Island of the Maldives between the months of June and December, you will get to witness a glorious abstract art painted by nature herself on the sea. The waters appear soaked in a blue hue because of the phenomenon called bioluminescence as light gets emitted by a microorganism called phytoplankton present in the sea.

LIQUID RAINBOW-COLOMBIA

Imagine a river full of colours, more like a watercolour palette. The Caño Cristales river in La Macarena turns into a vibrant colourscape between the months of July and October. The river gets bathed in colours of red, yellow, green and blue as a result of the reproduction of the aquatic plant Macarenia clavigera, a species of the river weed family, during that time. The 62.1-mile-long river runs through the Serranía de la Macarena national park in Colombia.

Picture Credit : Google 

Nature’s masterstroke

Autumn showcases nature in all its splendour. How do the colours of leaves change during the season? Why do leaves fall? How do animals react to the change in season? Come, let’s find out

Autumn is a transitional period between summer and winter. It is one of the four seasons in the temperate zones. According to the Hindu calendar. Sharad ritu is synonymous with autumn. But autumn

is not very distinct in India, except in some parts of the Himalayas, especially the Kashmir Valley. In the northern hemisphere, autumn begins with the September equinox which occurs on September 22 or 23 each year. This is when the sun crosses the celestial equator and moves southward. During the equinox, the day and night are of nearly equal duration.

Fall colours

French littérateur Albert Camus has aptly described the season- “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower!” Indeed as the days grow shorter with a perceptible nip in the air, Mother Nature too begins to discard her universal green and sets the countryside on fire with gorgeous red, orange, yellow or brown.

The leaves of many deciduous plants change colour. A leaf contains three pigments-chlorophyll (green), carotenoid (yellow, orange and brown) and anthocyanins (red). Of these, chlorophyll and carotenoid are present in leaf cells during the growth period. But the chlorophyll covers the carotenoid and hence we see only the green colour. Anthocyanins are produced only in autumn under certain conditions in some trees.

During winter, there is not much sunlight for photosynthesis to take place. Trees begin to temporarily shut down their food factory. The green chlorophyll begins to disappear from the leaves and the vivid colours of the carotenoid come alive.

The eastern parts of the U.S. and Canada, Scandinavia, western parts of Europe, China, Korea and Japan are famous for the spectacular fall foliage. Thousands of tourists flock to these places to soak in the flamboyance of nature before everything gets covered by a white blanket of snow!

Why do leaves fall?

The root, stem and branches of trees are able to withstand the harsh winter but not so the tender leaves- they freeze in winter. Therefore, the leaves are shed to ensure the tree’s survival. With the onset of autumn, a layer of cells called the ‘separation layer forms at the base of each leaf. When this layer is complete, the leaf is separated and it falls.

Trivia

*As the mercury begins to drop in the late fall season, people look forward to the ‘Indian Summer’. It is an unusually warm, dry spell which follows frosty weather.

*Autumn is associated with a sense of melancholy, especially by poets. “To Autumn” by well-known English poet John Keats is an ode to the season.

*Chinar, the signature tree of Kashmir, paints the entire valley in gold and crimson red during autumn.

* In the West, the new academic year in schools and colleges coincides with the fall season.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Come autumn and animals know instinctively that the fun and frolic of summer is over and it’s time for hard work! The falling temperature and reducing daylight trigger hormonal changes in animals. Many birds, animals and even insects begin their long, arduous journey to warmer places to escape the harsh weather ahead

Those who wish to stay put find their own ways to brave the winter. Furry animals grow a thicker coat, while birds grow extra feathers. As autumn gets underway, squirrels, beavers, rodents and even ants get busy gathering food for a snowy day. For those who plan to sleep through winter, autumn is feasting time! Bears chipmunks, hedgehogs, etc. consume excess food and store it as body fat to sustain them during hibernation.

Picture Credit : Google 

What is Russia’s geography like?

Russia is spread across the continents of Europe and Asia. The country is surrounded by three oceans as well-the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Arctic oceans. Russia has many different landscapes across its geographical area, which includes deserts, mountains, frozen coastline, and marshy lands. Most of its land is covered in treeless plains called steppes. Siberia, which occupies three quarters of the country’s land area, contains pine forests in large areas. These forests are called taigas.

Russia also boasts about her natural resources, which include about 100,000 rivers. It also has a number of lakes such as Lake Baikal, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega, which are some of the largest lakes in Europe. What is interesting is that Lake Baikal in Siberia contains more water in it than any other lake on Earth! This lake is 1642 metres deep and is the deepest and clearest of all lakes in the world. It is home to over 1700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

The country is also home to major rivers like the Volga, the Dnieper and Dvina, the Lena, the Ob, and Yenisey, and the Amur.

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT ARE THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL FORCES OF NATURE?

The Four Fundamental Forces of Nature are Gravitational force, Weak Nuclear force, Electromagnetic force and Strong Nuclear force. The Four Fundamental Forces of Nature are Gravitational force, Weak Nuclear force, Electromagnetic force and Strong Nuclear force.

Gravitational Force

The gravitational force is weak but very long-ranged. Furthermore, it is always attractive. It acts between any two pieces of matter in the Universe since mass is its source.

Weak Nuclear Force

The weak force is responsible for radioactive decay and neutrino interactions. It has a very short range and. As its name indicates, it is very weak. The weak force causes Beta-decay ie. the conversion of a neutron into a proton, an electron and an antineutrino.

Electromagnetic Force

The electromagnetic force causes electric and magnetic effects such as the repulsion between like electrical charges or the interaction of bar magnets. It is long-ranged but much weaker than the strong force. It can be attractive or repulsive and acts only between pieces of matter carrying an electrical charge. Electricity, magnetism, and light are all produced by this force.

Strong Nuclear Force

The strong interaction is very strong but very short-ranged. It is responsible for holding the nuclei of atoms together. It is basically attractive but can be effectively repulsive in some circumstances. The strong force is ‘carried’ by particles called gluons; that is, when two particles interact through the strong force, they do so by exchanging gluons. Thus, the quarks inside of the protons and neutrons are bound together by the exchange of the strong nuclear force.

Note:  While they are close together the quarks experience little force, but as they separate the force between them grows rapidly, pulling them back together. To separate two quarks completely would require far more energy than any possible particle accelerator could provide.

Credit : Clearias

Picture Credit : Google