Hypochondria – abnormal anxiety about one’s health, especially with an unwarranted fear that one has a serious disease.
Eg: When I sat on mute button and thought I’d gone deaf that was my hypochondria.
Claustrophobia – It is a situational phobia triggered by an irrational and intense fear of tight or crowded spaces. If you experience claustrophobia, you may feel like you’re having a panic attack.
Dil ne ye kaha sai dil se lyrics translation:
Mera eitbaar karlo – Do me a favor / Muj par bharosa rakho – Have faith in me
Jitnaa beqarar hoon main – How much desperate I am
In hawaon ko, in ghataon ko _ To these winds and to these clouds
if you ask me then I can do it – Agar aap muje puchenge tho main kar saktha hoon
Kaisa manzar hai meri aankhon mein – What kind of scene is there in my eyes
Kaisa ehsaas hai – What sort of feeling is this
Paas darya hai door sehra hai – The sea is near me and the dessert is far
Phir bhi kyun pyaas hai – But I still feel thirsty
Yeh iraada hai, mera vaada hai – That’s my intention, my promise
Laut aaonga main – I’ll come back
Astrophysics is a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry to explain the birth, life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects in the universe. It has two sibling sciences, astronomy and cosmology.
A meteor is what you see when a space rock falls to Earth. It is often known as a shooting star or falling star and can be a bright light in the night sky, though most are faint. A few survive long enough to hit the ground. That is called a meteorite, and a large one sometimes leaves a hole in the ground called a crater.
A rock that has not yet hit the atmosphere is called a “meteoroid”. Meteoroids may range in size from large pieces of rock to tiny dust particles floating in space that did not form planets. When the meteoroids enter Earth’s atmosphere they are usually going faster than the Earth’s escape velocity of 13 km/sec or Mach 40. This makes them heat up and usually break apart. When the heat makes them glow, they are known as meteors.
Meteors are distinct from comets or asteroids, but some, especially those associated with meteor showers, are dust particles that came out of comets (debris from comet tails).
Asteroids and comets have a few things in common. They are both celestial bodies orbiting our Sun. They are both “leftovers” — made from materials from the formation of our Solar System 4.5 billion years ago. But there are a few notable differences between these two objects, as well. The biggest difference between comets and asteroids, however, is what they are made of.
While asteroids consist of metals and rocky material, comets are made up of ice, dust, rocky materials and organic compounds. When comets get closer to the Sun, they lose material with each orbit because some of their ice melts and vaporizes. Asteroids typically remain solid, even when near the Sun.
Watch this:
When comets approach the Sun, some of their ices melt. This causes another notable difference between asteroids and comets: comets have “tails” while asteroids generally don’t. When the ices in comets begin to melt and other materials vaporize from the heat from the Sun, this forms a glowing halo that extends outward from the comet as it sails through space. The ice and compounds like methane and ammonia develop a fuzzy, cloud-like shell called a coma. Forces exerted on the coma by the Sun’s radiation pressure and solar wind cause an enormous, elongated tail to form. Tails always points away from the Sun.
Asteroids typically don’t have tails, even those near the Sun. But recently, astronomers have seen some asteroids that have sprouted tails, such as asteroid P/2010 A2. This seems to happen when the asteroid has been hit or pummeled by other asteroids and dust or gas is ejected from their surfaces, creating a sporadic tail effect. These so-called “active asteroids” are a newly recognized phenomenon, and as of this writing, only 13 known active asteroids have been found in the main asteroid belt, and so they are very rare.
Another difference between asteroids and comets is in their orbital patterns. Asteroids tend to have shorter, more circular orbits. Comets tend to have very extended and elongated orbits, which often exceed 50,000 AU from the Sun. (*Note: 1 AU, or Astronomical Unit, equals the distance from the Earth to the Sun.)
There is a big difference when it comes to numbers… although there is a caveat in that we don’t know precisely how many asteroids OR comets there are in our Solar System, since many have never been seen. Astronomers have discovered millions of asteroids – some as small as dust particles and others measuring hundreds of kilometers across. But as of this writing, astronomers have found only about 4,000 comets. However, some estimates say there could be one hundred billion comets in the Oort cloud.
The fact that asteroids and comets were both formed during the earliest days of our Solar System has scientists studying both with keen interest. By examining them up close with satellites and landers — such as the current Rosetta mission with the Philae lander to Comet 67P — scientists hope to learn more about what our Solar System looked like in its earliest days.
Scientists also study comets and asteroids to determine the likelihood of them hitting Earth and other planets, and what effect their flybys could have on planetary atmospheres. In November of 2014, a comet named Siding Spring flew very close to Mars, and scientists are still studying the encounter. One recent study says that Mars gets bombarded by 200 small asteroids or comets every year.
How likely is it that our planet could be hit by a large asteroid or comet? We do know that Earth has been hit many times in the past by asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them into the inner Solar System. There is strong scientific evidence that cosmic collisions played a major role in the mass extinctions documented in Earth’s fossil records. These objects that come close to Earth, known as Near Earth Objects or NEOs, still pose a danger to Earth today. But NASA, ESA and other space agencies have search programs that have discovered hundreds of thousands of main-belt asteroids, comets. None at this time pose any threat to Earth. You can find out more on this topic at NASA’s Near Earth Object Program website.
The atmosphere is comprised of layers based on temperature. These layers are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. A further region at about 500 km above the Earth’s surface is called the exosphere.
The troposphere is the lowest layer of our atmosphere. Starting at ground level, it extends upward to about 10 km (6.2 miles or about 33,000 feet) above sea level. We, humans, live in the troposphere, and it contains most of our weather – clouds, rain, snow all occurs in this lowest layer. Most clouds appear here, mainly because 99% of the water vapor in the atmosphere is found in the troposphere. Air pressure drops, and temperatures get colder, as you climb higher in the troposphere.
The next layer up is called the stratosphere. The stratosphere extends from the top of the troposphere to about 50 km (31 miles) above the ground. The infamous ozone layer is found within the stratosphere. Ozone molecules in this layer absorb high-energy ultraviolet (UV) light from the Sun, converting the UV energy into heat. Unlike the troposphere, the stratosphere actually gets warmer the higher you go! That trend of rising temperatures with altitude means that air in the stratosphere lacks the turbulence and updrafts of the troposphere beneath. Commercial passenger jets fly in the lower stratosphere, partly because this less-turbulent layer provides a smoother ride.
Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere. It extends upward to a height of about 85 km (53 miles) above our planet. Most meteors burn up in the mesosphere. Unlike the stratosphere, temperatures once again grow colder as you rise up through the mesosphere. The coldest temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere, about -90° C (-130° F), are found near the top of this layer. The air in the mesosphere is far too thin to breathe; air pressure at the bottom of the layer is well below 1% of the pressure at sea level and continues dropping as you go higher.
The layer of very rare air above the mesosphere is called the thermosphere. High-energy X-rays and UV radiation from the Sun are absorbed in the thermosphere, raising its temperature to hundreds or at times thousands of degrees. However, the air in this layer is so thin that it would feel freezing cold to us! In many ways, the thermosphere is more like outer space than a part of the atmosphere. Many satellites actually orbit Earth within the thermosphere! Variations in the amount of energy coming from the Sun exert a powerful influence on both the height of the top of this layer and the temperature within it. Because of this, the top of the thermosphere can be found anywhere between 500 and 1,000 km (311 to 621 miles) above the ground. Temperatures in the upper thermosphere can range from about 500° C (932° F) to 2,000° C (3,632° F) or higher. The aurora, the Northern Lights and Southern Lights, occur in the thermosphere.
Some experts consider the thermosphere to be the uppermost layer of our atmosphere, As you might imagine, the “air” in the exosphere is very, very, very thin, making this layer even more space-like than the thermosphere. In fact, the air in the exosphere is constantly – though very gradually – “leaking” out of Earth’s atmosphere into outer space. There is no clear-cut upper boundary where the exosphere finally fades away into space. Different definitions place the top of the exosphere somewhere between 100,000 km (62,000 miles) and 190,000 km (120,000 miles) above the surface of Earth. The latter value is about halfway to the Moon!
The ionosphere is not a distinct layer like the others mentioned above. Instead, the ionosphere is a series of regions in parts of the mesosphere and thermosphere where high-energy radiation from the Sun has knocked electrons loose from their parent atoms and molecules. The electrically charged atoms and molecules that are formed in this way are called ions, giving the ionosphere its name and endowing this region with some special properties.
Have you ever wondered why cricketers paint their faces white? Or why your mother insists to put on sunscreen lotion before stepping out during summer? This is because of UV rays. UV rays from the sun can increase the risk of skin cancer, cataract and harms the immune system.
Life on earth is protected from UV rays by a layer in the stratosphere called the ozone layer. Ozone is a gas made up of 3 oxygen atoms. This layer is just about 3-5mm thick. This thinly spread out gas has been protecting life on earth’s surface from UV rays for billions of years.
Our ozone shield is now being deteriorated due to certain man-made chemicals, primarily chlorofluorocarbons CFCs and nitrogen oxides NO2. CFCs are used in refrigeration systems, air conditioners, aerosol solvents. Nitrogen oxides are a by-product of fuel burning. For example aircraft exhausts.
Can we stop the depletion of the ozone layer?
Yes, we can. All we need to do is to reduce the production of those chemicals that cause the destruction of ozone like CFCs and NO2. So make sure your refrigeration systems or air conditioners do not have CFCs.
Wanted to write something about fitness today. Most of us gnaw about losing weight to get rid of the belly fat. Not everyone knows that spot reduction is not possible but the only way to lose fat is
If you are currently lean bulking aka muscle building go up to 16% (for men) and 26% for women and then start a fat loss phase.
Your weight loss or weight gain comprises of two components mainly, energy intake (calories in) and your energy expenditure (calories out)
Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. Metabolism consists of anabolism (the buildup of substances) and catabolism (the breakdown of substances). The term metabolism is commonly used to refer specifically to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy.
After a while, the progress gets stagnated
Subpoena means to order someone to go to a court of law to answer questions or to order the appearance of documents in a court of law.E.g:
Have you ever wondered where the rain comes from or how the clouds are formed?
Water Cycle:
When the sun heats up rivers and oceans water becomes water vapor and it rises up in the air. This process is called evaporation which is the first step of water cycle.
When the water vapor reaches up in the sky it turns into tiny droplets of water. These water droplets along with dust particles and various gasses that are present in the atmosphere come together to form clouds. This is known as condensation. For example if you hold a cold lid over the vessel in which you heated water. When you open the lid after sometime you’ll see the water droplets on the lid, that’s exactly what condensation is.
When the cloud becomes too heavy and it cannot hold anymore water inside (after certain saturation point) then it bursts open to give out rain, hails or snow. This is known as precipitation. As it rains the water gets collected in lakes, rivers and oceans. It even seeps through the soil and becomes ground water.
Thus water cycle is a continuous process of evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
How a rainbow is formed?
If you take a prism and flash a torch at it then it breaks a single beam of white light into several beams of light. White light is made up of 7 different colors.
Example:
Take a glass of water and place a mirror inside it. Make sure the room is completely dark. Now take a torch and flash it towards the mirror that you placed inside the glass. You will see a rainbow appearing from the angle of your mirror. Now place the paper and you’ll see 7 colors (VIBGYOR)
Now let’s see how the rainbow is formed.
The rain drops acts as small prisms and breaks the sun’s white light into a band of 7 colors and that is when you see a rainbow.
A rainbow can only be seen only when the Rain and Sun occur at the same time. A rainbow is actually a full circle but since we see it on the ground we generally see it as a semi-circle. Rainbows can be seen not just in rain but also in mist, spray, fog and dew.
Let’s take a look at how the soyuz space craft looks and how it works.
At the tiles section of the rocket there are 4 thrusters. At the center main engine thruster is located. See below.
At the top section of the rocket i.e. at the nose there is soyuz capsule.
Astronauts or Cosmonauts are present in that top capsule. Surrounding the capsule there will be a covering which is why we won’t be able to see the astronauts inside.
The four thrusters at the tiles section helps in providing maximum energy to the rocket. Once the rocket kicks off and after it reaches 100km, the thrusters get separated/ejected and falls into the ocean. Because only to that point there is a fraction caused by the air. To overcome that friction rocket uses this energy from thrusters. Up to this 100kms the rocket travels in vertical direction. Afterwards the rocket travels in a curve shape and slowly it increases the orbit radius. Then the main rocket engine gets separated and the soyuz capsule comes out. Inside of this capsule the astronauts/cosmonauts are present.
Beneath the capsule there are thrusters. With the power of these thrusters the capsule gets docked to the international space station.
There is a reason for rocket to travel in a curve shape. To travel in vertical direction the rocket needs a lot of energy/fuel to overcome the earth’s gravity and there’s a chance of reaching to empty fuel before reaching the destination point. Whereas if the rocket travels in a horizontal path then very less earth gravity is applied on it. In addition, making use of the earth’s gravity the rocket rotates around the earth without having to use any fuel. Therefore it can travel more distance with less fuel.
Mostly the rocket launch pads are located near to the sea or ocean. Because in case of any technical problem and if the rocket explodes all the parts of it falls into the ocean so the public won’t face any harm.
Now the question may arise about how can the rocket identify the space station and dock to it in such a big space area?
Here mathematics comes into use. Before launching the vehicle we need to accurately calculate where the space station is located at. Totally the soyuz capsule rotates around the earth 4 times before docking to the space station. It takes around 6 hours for this process. If any mistake happens in calculation it might take like 2 days for the docking.
Once the soyuz capsule is docked to the ISS, the astronauts inside the capsule go into the space station. There will be food supplies in the capsule along with the astronauts. For every 6 months they launch the soyuz capsule and send the astronauts to the space station. This space station rotates around earth at the speed of 28,800 kmph which means at the rate of 8km per second.
Does the astronauts in space station receive any noise or does the ISS shakes when it is traveling at such a high speed?
Well, we hear the sound/noise on earth as there’s friction because of air. Whereas there’s no air in space, it’s all empty so there’s no friction. This is why the astronauts inside ISS cannot sense how speed they are traveling at or cannot hear any sounds.
Why the ISS is not falling on Earth?
This is because of orbital velocity. The space station is located at an altitude of 445kms and at the speed of 28,800 kmph it rotates around earth. At such a height and velocity earth gravity cannot pull any object towards it. So the space station escapes from the earth’s gravitational force and doesn’t fall on the earth. Also, because of this gravity space station doesn’t travel in straight line but rotates around the earth. Earth gravity doesn’t allow the space station to travel in straight line and to fall on the earth. It makes any object to rotate around itself.
Many people think that earth gravity becomes zero after we reach the space. But it’s a wrong assumption. Earth gravity becomes lesser as the distance increases but it never becomes zero. If any object is in motion in space it always rotates around earth unless disturbed. It neither falls down nor goes up. For example let’s consider that there’s no air on earth and if you throw a ball in horizontal direction at certain velocity then the ball keeps traveling with the same velocity forever unless disturbed. It keeps rotating around the earth just like that. But since there’s air present on earth because of the friction the balls travels to some distance, slows down and eventually falls down on the ground. The earth gravity works in a similar manner in space. Another example is moon, because of the earth’s gravity it keeps revolving around the earth without falling down or going up.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station (habitable artificial satellite) in low Earth orbit. ISS is just 250 miles away from the moon. ISS orbits Earth about every 90 minutes, so that means in a 24 hour day, the space station orbits Earth approximately 16 times. Therefore the astronauts in the space station will see the sunrise and set for 16 times in 24 hours duration. Space station has cameras attached to it which captures the earth video footage.
The astronauts in space station cannot spit anything either the toothpaste foam or anything. They have to swallow. They bathe using a liquid which doesn’t have any foam and they rub it after applying that liquid. Water will be in very small packets, sometimes they recycle the urine and use it. Since the gravity is pretty low the hair floats upwards.
Anyone can apply to travel to space station. Of course they need to meet certain requirements and they have to undergo rigorous astronaut training for that. Single ticket cost to travel to space station is 600 crore Rs.
How long does it take to get to the space station?
India is planning to launch its own space station by 2030, joining the league of US, Russia and China to an elite space club, Dr K Sivan, chairman of India’s space agency ISRO, said. The only countries that have had space stations so far are the US, Russia, China and a consortium of nations that own the International Space Station (ISS).
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