Garlic does indeed have scientifically-proven medicinal properties. It contains a substance called Allicin, which has anti-bacterial properties that are equivalent to a weak penicillin. It appears that cooked garlic weakens the anti-bacterial effects considerably, however, so don't count on cooked garlic with meals for much in the way of a curative.Its USES are as follows:
1.Garlic has many healing attributes in its favor. It is antifungal, antibacterial which means it will help to heal athletes foot, jock itch and ringworm by taking it internally and externally It can also assist with the healing of a yeast infection. Warm garlic oil helps to heal an earache caused by bacteria.
2.It promotes heart and cardiovascular health and anti clotting activity. It can also help in the prevention of colds and the flu due to its antibiotic properties.
3.Taking garlic on a regular basis can also help protect us from various forms of cancer.
4.Garlic is the best agent of Digestion.
5.Hypertension: Another heart benefit of garlic is its ability to help control our blood pressure by thinning our blood. Once again the chemical found in garlic, called ajoene, thins the blood and keeps clots from forming. Studies done with general populations have shown that where there is more garlic consumed in a population, there is also a reduced incidence of hypertension and heart disease. Although garlic's heart healthy benefits may be new to some, for centuries Chinese herbalists have been using garlic to treat people with angina attacks and circulatory disorders.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Uses of Garlic
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
AROVILLE-'The city of Dawn'
.Neat, pleasant, and charming, Pondicherry has a beautiful beach and a sea that is always warm and refreshing. It has been made world-famous by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and its offshoot, Auroville. And in what still remains of its French connection there is a uniqueness that makes it different from the rest of India.
Auroville is a universal community in India,The main motto of all the people living in the Auroville city, to convert life into 'Supramental Consciousness'. It is also known by the name of Sri Aurobindo Ashram and is devoted towards 'unity of mankind'. Auroville intends to become such a city that will serve as a model to the cities of the future, cities where people will strive towards a harmonious future.
Auroville is located at a stone's throw from the Coromandel Coast; lying about 160 kms from Chennai in its southern side while 10 kms from Pondicherry along its northern side.In order to make Auroville a self supporting township, efforts have been made to expand a 109-hectare area into an Industrial Zone, comprising of "green" industries. Several small and medium-scale industries, training centers, arts and craft centers, apart from the city administration office are set up in this region.
MATRIMANDIR:
Peace Area is situated at the central point of the township and is known for its Matrimandir, gardens, amphitheatre that is constituted with the soil of 121 nations and 23 Indian states. The essence of calm and tranquility surrounds you while you indulge in a trip to this wonderful place.
The central Matrimandir, which is not a temple but a place for individual silent concentration, is set in an area of 62 acres at the centre of the emerging township, and is seen as “a symbol of the Divine’s answer to man’s aspiration for perfection.
The Matrimandir’s 12-sided white marble Inner Chamber has a 70 cms diameter optical-quality glass globe at its centre, onto which a shaft of sunlight is focused by way of a roof-mounted heliostat. The light falling on the globe acts as a focal aid to concentration
She left India after the start of World War II, but came back to join Sri Aurobindo, in the year 1920. She was responsible behind the organization of Sri Aurobindo's followers into the Aurobindo Ashram of Pondicherry. In 1968, she commenced the project of Auroville Township as a means to implement Sri Aurobindo's vision.
The ashram’s influence can be felt in most of puducherry. The main ashram building is where the mortal remains of Aurobindo and the Mother are kept. Their ‘Samadhi’ or mausoleum, which is generally surrounded by supplicating devotees, is in the central courtyard under a frangipani tree and is covered daily with flowers.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Marco polo and his Travel
Marco Polo was born in 1254 to a family of merchants. His home was Venice, Italy.In 1269, Marco’s father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, returned to Venice after visiting China. In China, they had met the Mongol conqueror Kublai Khan. The khan invited the Polos to return. He asked them to bring Christian scholars to explain the Christian religion to him.In 1271, Niccolò and Maffeo set out for China again. Marco, then 17 years old, joined his father and uncle for the trip.
It took the Polos four difficult years to reach China. The journey led across deserts and high mountains. They passed through wild countryside where bandits lurked, ready to rob and kill. They braved heat and cold, floods, deep snowdrifts, and blinding sandstorms. At last they reached the summer palace of Kublai Khan at Shangdu.
The khan welcomed the Polos warmly. He offered Marco a job. Marco accepted, and the Polos lived in China for the next 17 years.In 1292, Kublai Khan asked Marco to escort a Mongol princess to Persia. The Polos traveled by ship from China to the Persian Gulf. Then the Polos headed for Venice, finally reaching home in 1295.
in 1298, he became a prisoner of war. He shared his cell with a writer named Rustichello, who helped Marco turn his stories into a book. Rustichello added some details of his own. But much of Marco’s book seems to be true!
Marco Polo returned to Venice after his release from prison. He died in 1324. But his book remained popular for centuries.
The facts about 'Sydney Opera House'
Sydney Opera House must be one of the most recognisable images of the modern world - up there with the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building - and one of the most photographed.
Not only is it recognisable, it has come to represent 'Australia'.
Although only having been open since 1973, it is as representative of Australia as the pyramids are of Egypt and the Colosseum of Rome.
The Opera House is situated on Bennelong Point, which reaches out into the harbour. The skyline of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the blue water of the harbour and the Sydney Opera House, viewed from a ferry or from the air, is dramatic and unforgettable.
The Sydney Opera house:
* Was designed by Danish architect Jorn Utzon
* Was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 1973
* Presented, as its first performance, The Australian Opera's production of War and Peace by Prokofiev
* Cost $AU 102,000,000 to build
* Conducts 3000 events each year
* Provides guided tours to 200,000 people each year
* Has an annual audience of 2 million for its performances
* Includes 1000 rooms
* Is 185 metres long and 120 metres wide
* Has 2194 pre-cast concrete sections as its roof
* Has roof sections weighing up to 15 tons
* Has roof sections held together by 350 km of tensioned steel cable
* Has over 1 million tiles on the roof
* Uses 6225 square metres of glass and 645 kilometres of electric cable
The statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a giant sculpture of a woman dressed in flowing robes and wearing a spiked crown. Her right hand holds a gold torch high above her head. Her left arm holds a book of law with the date July 4, 1776, the date Americans declared their independence from Britain. The statue from base to torch is 305 feet (93 meters) high. The lady herself stands 151 feet (46 meters) tall.
The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island.The people of France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States in 1884. The gift honors the alliance between the two nations during the American Revolution. Thousands of French citizens donated the money to build the statue. French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue.
New torch:
A new torch replaced the original, which was deemed beyond repair because of the extensive 1916 modifications. The 1886 torch is now in the monument's lobby museum. The new torch has gold plating applied to the exterior of the "flame," which is illuminated by external lamps on the surrounding balcony platform.
Termites
Termites live in colonies (groups) with as many as several million members.Termites, sometimes incorrectly called "white ants", are a group of social insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera .As truly social animals, they are termed eusocial along with the ants and some bees and wasps. Termites mostly feed on dead plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10% of the estimated 4,000 species are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural damage to buildings, crops or plantation forests. Termites are major detrivores, particularly in the subtropical and tropical regions, and their recycling of wood and other plant matter is of considerable ecological importance.
A large Termite Mound in Australia:
Termites build nests to house their colonies. Nests are commonly located in larger timber or in the soil in locations such as growing trees, inside fallen trees, underground, and in above-ground mounds which they construct, commonly called "anthills" in Africa and Australia.
Cricket(Insect)
- Scientific classification
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Orthoptera
Suborder: Ensifera
Superfamily: Grylloidea
Family: Gryllidae
Crickets belong to the order Othoptera, which also includes Grasshoppers, they have two pairs of wings but only the back pair are used for flying,Crickets are insects known for leaping and chirping. To attract females, male crickets chirp by rubbing their front wings together.
They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. There are about 900 species of crickets. They tend to be nocturnal and are often confused with grasshoppers because they have a similar body structure including jumping hind legs.
Crickets are omnivores and scavengers feeding on organic materials, as well as decaying plant material, fungi, and some seedling plants. Crickets also have been known to eat their own dead when there is no other source of food available.
Crickets mate in late summer and lay their eggs in the fall. The eggs hatch in the spring and have been estimated to number as high as 2,000 per fertile female.[citation needed] Female crickets have a long needlelike egg-laying organ (ovipositor).
Crickets are popular as a live food source for carnivorous pets like frogs, lizards, salamanders, and spiders. Feeding crickets with nutritious food in order to pass the nutrition onto animals that eat them is known as gut loading.
Crickets are also eaten by humans in some African and Asian cultures. They are often considered a delicacy.
Blue Whale-Largest Water animal
The largest creature ever known to have existed on earth is the present-day blue whale. The largest dinosaur attained a length of about 22 m and weighed about 36 tons. Today's blue whale, even larger than its ancestors, may reach a total length of 33 m and a weight of 145 tons.
This giant animal is placid and shy. On the ocean surface, its normal cruising speed is about 12 knots, but it is capable of attaining 20 knots in short bursts. The maximum reported depth reached by the species is 194 fathoms. It is capable of remaining submerged beneath the surface for 50 minutes, although 10 to 15 minutes is more typical. The life span of a blue whale is about 30 years.
The calves measure 7 m at birth and weigh about 2 tons. By the time they are a year old, the youngsters meaasure 18 m.
These enormous mammals eat tiny organisms, like plankton and krill, which they sieve through baleen. They live in pods (small groups). These gray-blue whales have 2 blowholes and a 2-14 inch (5-30 cm) thick layer of blubber.
REPRODUCTION
Blue whale breeding occurs mostly in the winter .The gestation period is about 11-12 months and the calf is born tail first.The newborn instinctively swims to the surface within 10 seconds for its first breath; it is helped by its mother, using her flippers. Within 30 minutes of its birth the baby whale can swim.Twins are extremely rare. The baby is nurtured with its mother's fat-laden milk (it is 40-50% fat) and is weaned in about 7-8 months. Calves drink 50-200 pounds (23-90 kg) of milk each day. The mother and calf may stay together for a year or longer, until the calf is about 45 feet long (13 m). Blue whales reach maturity at 10-15 years.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Himalayas-The Great Snowy Ranges
The name Himalaya means “home of snow” in the ancient language of Sanskrit. It’s a fitting name. The Himalayas are the highest mountains on Earth. Snow and ice cover much of this impressive mountain range year round.
The Himalayas rise in southern Asia—the world’s biggest continent.
The Himalayas can be classified in a variety of ways. From south to north, the mountains can be grouped into four parallel, longitudinal mountain belts,
hivaliks (Outer Himalayas or Sub-Himalayas)
Himachal ( Lower Himalayas)
Himadri ( Higher Himalayas)
Trans-Himalayas (Tibetan Himalayas)
From west to east the Himalayas are divided broadly into three mountainous regions - the Western Himalayas, the Central Himalayas and the Eastern Himalayas.
Major Himalayan Hill Stations include Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Dharamsala, Ladakh, Simla, Nainital, Kullu, Manali, Dalhousie, Mussoorie, Rishikesh, Amarnath, Gangtok, Kailas Mansarovar, Vaishno Devi, Patni Top etc
The Himalayas is the world's highest mountain range comprising all top ten of the world's highest peaks.The Himalayas contain nine of the world’s ten highest peaks. One of these, Mount Everest, is the highest mountain on Earth. It rises to a height of 29,035 feet (8,850 meters).
The world’s second highest mountain, K2 (also called Mount Godwin Austen), also stands in the Himalayas. So does the world’s third highest peak, Mount Kanchenjunga. Other noted Himalayan peaks include Dhaulagiri, Nanga Parbat, and Annapurna 1.
Amazon-The Largest River in the World
The Amazon is a long river in South America. The river starts in snow and tiny streams, high in the Andes Mountains in Peru. It flows east through Brazil. After 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers), the Amazon empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
Along its route, hundreds of streams and smaller rivers empty into the Amazon. As a result, the Amazon carries more water than any other river in the world. Although the Amazon is the largest river in the world, it is not the longest. Only the Nile River in Africa is longer than the Amazon.
A vast tropical rain forest lies next to the Amazon River in Brazil and neighboring countries. More than seven times the size of Texas, it is the largest rain forest in the world
Anne Frank
Anne Frank’s life was short and tragic. Yet her brave spirit has survived in her diary. She wrote this diary while hiding from the Nazis during World War II (1939-1945).
Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany, on June 12, 1929. Her family was Jewish. In 1933, the Nazi Party came to power in Germany. The Nazis blamed Jews for the nation’s problems and began a campaign against Jews. The Frank family moved to Amsterdam in The Netherlands to escape the Nazis. Anne’s father prepared a hiding place for his family.
The Frank family and their friends stayed shut away in secret for over two years. Brave friends risked their lives to bring them food. But constant fear and loss of freedom were hard to bear. For comfort, Anne started to write a diary. She was very good at expressing her thoughts and feelings in words.
Anne was 13 when she started to write. Her diary reveals that, just like other teenagers, she looked forward to adult life. She hoped to have a career as a writer, and she longed to find love. She had high ideals and wished “to be useful or give pleasure to people around me.”
Throughout her time in hiding, Anne maintained her faith in human nature. She wrote, “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Otto, Anne’s father, was the only member of the Frank family to survive the war. He published her diary in 1947. Since then, it has been published in more than 50 languages. Millions of people have visited the family’s hiding place in Amsterdam. Anne Frank’s story still inspires people to fight against all kinds of discrimination.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Desert plant Cactus
There are many kinds of cactus plants, but most grow in deserts and other dry places. These plants have adaptations, or special features, that let them live in places where there is little water.
Imagine only having to take one big drink of water two or three times a year. That’s all the water a cactus plant needs. The cactus is made up mostly of stems and roots. Most kinds of cactus have no leaves or leaves that are very small. The cactus is made for storing water, and water can escape through leaves.
The roots of a cactus spread out close to the surface of the ground. When it rains, the roots soak up as much water as possible. Cactus plants do not grow close to one another. Each plant needs lots of room to collect water. The stem of the cactus stores the water for later use.
TYPES OF CACTUS
Prickly pear cacti: 
Cholla Cacti:
Pincushion Cacti: 
Hedgehog Cacti:
Barrel Cacti:
Columnar Cactus:
Acid Rain-Damaged our environment
Acid rain: damaged tree branches from Black Forest
Acid rain: damaged tree branches from Black Forest
Acid rain damaged gargoyle
Acid rain is a result of air pollution. When any type of fuel is burnt, lots of different chemicals are produced. The smoke that comes from a fire or the fumes that come out of a car exhaust don't just contain the sooty grey particles that you can see - they also contains lots of invisible gases that can be even more harmful to our environment.
Acid rain occurs mostly in the Northern Hemisphere -- the more industrialized, dirtier half of the globe. Winds can sweep up emissions from high smokestacks and carry pollutants far from their original sources, crossing state lines and national borders in the process. Acid rain may not have the complete global range of greenhouse gases, but it is a transboundary, and therefore international, issue.
Acid rain, also known as acid deposition, is caused by emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from power plants, cars and factories. Natural sources like volcanoes, forest fires and lightning strikes also add to the man-made pollution. SO2 and NOx become acids when they enter the atmosphere and react with water vapor. The resulting sulfuric and nitric acids can fall as wet or dry depositions. Wet deposition is precipitation: acid rain, snow, sleet or fog. Dry deposition falls as acidic particulates or gases.
How to prevent Acid Rains
1.Reduce emissions from mining, smelting and generating electrical power. Consumers can help by using fewer mined resources and reducing electrical power usage, as well as campaigning for government regulation of emissions in their area.
Step2
Reduce emissions produced by oil operations and oil-fueled transportation. Consumers can help reduce emissions produced by oil operations by buying less oil, buying from companies with higher emissions regulations and driving cars with lower emission rates.
Step3
Reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides produced by reducing use of coal and wood burning as well as natural gas.
Step4
Cut back on your use of products that produce chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. Air conditioning, refrigeration and many aerosol products use or contain CFCs. Reduce the use of air conditioning by using fans and use a single, energy efficient refrigerator per household. Conserve cooled air by not leaving doors open when the air conditioning is on and by not leaving the refrigerator open for extended periods of time.
Step5
Reduce production of sulfur dioxide by conserving paper. Sulfur dioxide is produced in paper production, so read newspapers online rather than buying a newspaper everyday, use the front and back of paper and use recycled paper.
Step6
Reduce the emissions produced by your car by car pooling, planning ahead to combine long trips, biking or walking for short trips and keeping your car well maintained to be sure nothing is leaking.
Step7
Increase energy efficiency in your home by using fluorescent lights, turning lights off when not in use, shutting down utilities when you're on vacation, closing off vents to rooms that are not in use and operating large appliances like dishwashers, washers and driers only when full.
Step8
Reduce your use of manufactured materials such as packaging and other disposable products and recycle as much as you can. Producing new materials and disposing of waste materials are responsible for a large number of the pollutants that cause acid rain.
Mushrooms-The Fungus and Decomposer
A mushroom is a fungus. Scientists used to think that mushrooms and other fungi (plural of fungus) were plants. Now they know that fungi are very different from plants. Fungi get their food in a different way than plants. They also reproduce differently from plants. Fungi are now considered a completely different form of life.
A plant uses nutrients and sunlight to make food and stay alive. But a fungus can’t do this. It has to take food from its surroundings. It does that by breaking down material into basic nutrients. That’s why wild mushrooms usually sprout from old leaves or damp old logs. The fungus is breaking down the dead material to use as food.
Fungi are called decomposer's because they help decompose, or break things down. A rotting log is soft because decomposers have digested the hard parts.
Giant Rafflesia Flower
It lives as a parasite on the Tetrastigma vine, as its host, which grows only in primary (undisturbed) rainforests. While many parasites appear like normal plants, Rafflesia lacks any observable leaves, roots, or even stems. Likened to fungi, Rafflesia individuals grow as thread-like strands of tissue completely embedded within and in intimate contact with surrounding host cells from which nutrients and water are obtained. Perhaps the only part of Rafflesia that is identifiable as distinctly plant-like are the flowers; although, even these are bizarre because they attain massive proportions and are usually reddish-brown and stink of rotting flesh. The flower is pollinated by flies attracted by its scent.
Rafflesia arnoldii is rare and fairly hard to locate. It is especially difficult to see in flower; the buds take many months to develop and the flower lasts for just a few days. How many of these strange plants still survive is unknown, but as the remaining primary forests of Borneo and Sumatra disappear, it can only be assumed that their numbers are dwindling. Many are known to be nearing extinction. Some environmentalists are thinking of a way to recreate the species' environment, in an effort to stimulate a recovery in the population of this endangered species. This has proved unsuccessful so far, but the efforts have continued. However, steps are being taken to conserve the forests of Sumatra and Borneo.
Dora - The Explorer
Dora's world is a colourful place, where solving problems becomes a play-along adventure.This unstoppable heroine guides kids through many new paths of learning and fun while learning English along the way!
Every adventure has an objective, and Dora with her best friend, a monkey named Bujji, face many obstacles they must overcome. When they finally do make it to their destination, kids know that Dora could not have made it without them!
