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Daily Dose Of Interesting Information

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Certainly the children are smarter, taller, sharper and more

observant than what we had been at their age!:clap2:

Sounds like a familiar advertisement??? :cheer2:




Brahmanyan said:
My little grand daughter asked me today:
"Thatha what is special about today?"
I told her nothing I could see.
She continued " See the date Thatha, today is 9.10.11 (9.10.2011)"

How true it is that, today's children prove that they are better than the older generation.

Cheers,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore
Click to expand...
 
# 10. Natural pearl.

A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue called the mantle, of a living shelled mollusk.

It is made up of Calcium Carbonate just like the shell of a mollusk. A pearl is deposited in concentric layers.

The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but baroque pearls occur in many other shapes. The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued for many centuries.

The word pearl stands for something very rare, fine, admirable, and valuable.

The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild, but they are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as natural pearls.

Pearls have been harvested primarily for use in but in jewels. In the past they were also stitched onto lavish clothing.

Pearls have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines, and in paint formulations.
 
# 11. Red Coral.

Precious coral or red coral is the common name given to Corallium rubrum and several related species of marine Coral.

The distinguishing characteristic of precious corals is their durable and intensely colored red or pink skeleton which is used in making jewels.

Red corals grow on rocky sea bottom with low sedimentation- in dark environments—either in the depths or in dark caverns or crevices.

The original species, C. rubrum, flourishes in the Mediterranean Sea. It grows at depths from 10 to 300 mt.

Red corals have the shape of small leafless bushes and grow up to a meter in height. Their valuable skeleton is composed of intermeshed spicules of hard calcium carbonate colored in shades of red by the pigments of carotenoid.



 
#12. Emerald

Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl. It is colored green by traces of Chromium and Vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 Mohs. Most emeralds are very brittle.

Emeralds are graded using four basic parameters – the four Cs : Color, Cut, Clarity and Crystal.

Before the 20th century, jewelers used the term water as in "a gem of the finest water" to express the combination of two qualities, color and crystal.

Normally, in the grading of colored gemstones, color is by far the most important criterion.

However, in the grading of emerald, crystal is considered a close second. Both are necessary conditions. A fine emerald must possess not only a pure verdant green color but also a high degree of transparency to be considered a top gem.

In the 1960s the American jewelry industry changed the definition of 'emerald' to include the green vanadium-bearing beryl as emerald.

As a result, vanadium emeralds purchased as emeralds in the United States are not recognized as such in the UK and Europe.

In America, the distinction between traditional emeralds and the new vanadium kind is often reflected in the use of terms such as 'Colombian Emerald.'

Emerald is a brittle gem. It tends to chip off easily. It is rarely flawless. Chromium- a hard white metal- causes its rich green color.

In ancient times. powdered emerald was believed to cure fever and plague. Colombia is the chief source of finest emeralds.
 
# 13. Sapphire

Sapphire is a variety of the mineral corundum, an Aluminum Oxide - when it is of a color other than red or dark pink. The red sapphire is called a ruby and is considered to be a different gemstone.

Trace amounts of other elements such as iron/ titanium/chromium can give corundum blue, yellow, pink, purple, orange, or greenish color.

Pink-orange sapphires are also called padmaraga. Pure chromium is the distinct impurity of rubies. However, a combination of chromium and titanium can give a sapphire a color distinct from red.

It is the hardest substance known, second only to diamond. Normally sapphires are blue in color. But purple, green, pink, white, gold and orange sapphires have been found.

It is supposed to possess the mystical qualities of purifying one's mind and promoting peace of mind.

The stone is formed from a variety of aluminum oxide corundum.

Sri Lanka is a notable source of all colors of sapphires.
 
[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 14. Diamond.

The hardest and the most lustrous gem. It retains its polish and brilliance for several generations.

It is supposed to bring good luck to the lovers. It makes the people strong and courageous.

Diamond is a form of carbon which has attained the crystalline structure under enormous pressure and a great heat.

Namibia and Australia are the two major sources of diamonds.[/FONT]
 
# 15. Blue sapphire

Color in gemstones breaks down into three components: hue, saturation and tone.

Hue is most commonly understood as the "color" of the gemstone. Saturation refers to the vividness or brightness or "colorfulness" of the hue, and tone is the lightness to darkness of the hue.

Blue sapphire exists in various mixtures of its primary (blue) and secondary hues, various tonal levels (shades) and at various levels of saturation (brightness).

Blue sapphires are evaluated based upon the purity of their primary hues. Purple, violet and green are the most common secondary hues found in blue sapphires.

Violet and purple can contribute to the overall beauty of the color, while the effect of green is considered to be distinctly negative.

Blue sapphires with up to 15% violet or purple are generally said to be of fine quality. Blue sapphires with any amount of green as a secondary hue are not considered to be fine quality.

Gray is the normal saturation modifier or mask found in blue sapphires. Gray reduces the saturation or brightness of the hue and therefore has a distinctly negative effect.

The color of fine blue sapphires can be described as a vivid medium dark violet to purplish blue where the primary blue hue is at least 85% and the secondary hue no more than 15% without the least admixture of a green secondary hue or a gray mask.

Logan sapphire- the 423-carat (85 g) is one of the largest faceted gem-quality blue sapphires in existence.
 
# 16. Hessonite.

Hessonite or Cinnamon Stone is a variety of grossular, a calcium aluminum mineral of the garnet group.

The name is from the Greek word hēssōn meaning inferior, referring to its lower hardness and density than most other garnet species varieties.

It has a characteristic red color, inclining to orange, much like that of gem zircon. The difference is readily detected by their specific gravity. Hessonite has its specific gravity 3.64 to 3.69, whilst that of zircon is about 4.6.

Hessonite has a similar hardness to that of quartz, about 7 on the moh's scale, whilst the hardness of most garnet species can reach 7.5.

Hessonite comes chiefly from Sri Lanka and India where it is found generally in placer deposits. It is also found in Brazil and California.

Hessonite is called Gomedhaka in Tamil and Sinhalese.
 
# 17. Cat's Eye.

The gem chrysoberyl has a narrow, bright band of light on a shimmering golden background, which seems to glide magically across the surface when the stone is moved.

The name 'chrysoberyl' comes from the Greek and means 'gold-colored beryl'. In spite of its name, however, it is not actually a beryl at all. Together with alexandrite, chrysoberyl forms an independent gemstone category.

From a mineralogical point of view, chrysoberyls are aluminum oxide containing beryllium, and thus actually have little in common with the beryls, which belong to the silicate family.

Indeed, with their hardness of 8.5 on the Mohs scale, they are superior to the beryls. The popular chrysoberyls come in many shades between lemon and greenish yellow and in honey colors and shades from mint green to brownish green.

Cats eye are found in the gemstone deposits of Brazil, Sri Lanka and East Africa.
 
# 19. The nava ratnas and nava grahas.

Sun.................Ruby.

Moon..............Natural Pearl.

Mars...............Red Coral.

Mercury..........Emerald.

Jupiter.............Yellow Sapphire.

Venus.............Diamond.

Saturn............blue Sapphire.

Ragu..............Hessonite (Gomedhaka)

Ketu...............Cat's Eye.
 
# 19. The seven days and the sapta ratna.

Sunday........ Ruby.

Monday........Natural Pearl.

Tuesday........Red Coral.

Wednesday...Emerald.

Thursday......Yellow Sapphire.

Friday...........Diamond.

Saturday...... Blue Sapphire.
 
# 20. the pancha boothas and the pancha ratnas.

Earth...green................Emerald.

Water..blue..................Sapphire.

Fire.... red..................Ruby.

Air..... yellow...............Topaz.

Space.. absence of color....Diamond
 
# 21. Colors and weekdays.

Sunday...............Golden yellow.

Monday...............White/off-white.

Tuesday...............Red.

Wednesday.........Green.

Thursday.............Orange/yellow ocher

Friday..................Red.

Saturday.............blue/ black.
 
# 22. Alexandrite

Alexandrite is the color-changing variety of the mineral species chrysoberyl.

It is one of the birthstones for June. Alexandrite is said to enable its wearer to foresee danger.
alexandrite-colors.jpg

The most sought after alexandrites are a lovely green in daylight or fluorescent light, but change to red or slightly purplish red in the incandescent light from a lamp or candle flame.

Abundant alexandrite deposits were first discovered in 1830, in Russia's Ural Mountains.

Those first alexandrites were of very fine quality, and displayed vivid hues and dramatic color changes.

The gem was named after the young Czar Alexander II, and it caught the country’s attention because its red and green colors mirrored the Imperial Russian flag.

Now most alexandrite comes from Sri Lanka, Brazil, India, Tanzania, and Madagascar.

The newer deposits contain some fine-quality stones, but many possess less precise color change and muddier hues than the nineteenth century Russian alexandrites.

Alexandrite has a hardness of 8.5 on the Moh's hardness scale, and has excellent toughness.

Alexandrites are typically transparent and at times some of them may contain fingerprint and silk inclusions.

Alexandrites typically come in sizes from tiny to 5 carats. Larger stones are rare.
 
# 23. The coin collector's dictionary.

Coin collectors have their own language and

terms. A series of precise definitions describe

the condition of the coins accurately and

unmistakably.

1. Fair = The coin can just be identified.

2. Good = very worn, but the outlines and

design are still visible.

3. Very good = the design shows clearly but the

details are worn out.

4. Fine = shows the signs of wear.

5. very fine = only slight wear.

6. Extra fine = almost perfect.

7. UN-circulated = in mint condition.

8. Proof coin = the highest grade of all.

Proof coins have a mirror-like finish.

They are made exclusively for the collectors

from polished dies.

Note: All the defining words sound good - irrespective of the condition of the coin!
Isn't it just great?
 
It is time to rub shoulders with with our four / six /eight legged cousins and study their behaviors.

A peep in to the Animal Kingdom starts today.

These posts WILL NOT be blogged. So I request all the regular readers to remember to read these directly from this thread.

So we will be seeing how and when the animals prove to be even more cooperating and helping natured than man - with his six-senses - in the following posts. :pray2:
 
Amazing facts about the animal kingdom.

#1. The life span.

Most animals die through violence, hunting, diseases and accidents and not due to old age as man does! :llama:

Hence their maximum life span of the animals cannot be stated with great accuracy. :tape:

But if kept in safe surroundings they live to a mature ripe old age.

Marine animals are supported by the buoyancy of water. Their bodies do not get worn out due to the forces of gravity - as in the case of the land living animals. :thumb:

Cold blooded reptiles do not have a limiting adult size and keep on growing till they die. I saw a huge turtle resembling a huge boulder and knew it was a turtle only when it started moving.

Scientist believe that if such animals are maintained in a safe surrounding they may live on for ever! :shocked:

 
# 2. Animal....................Its life span.

Marine tortoise.............152 years.

Deep sea clam...............100 years.

Killer whale...................90 years.

Blue whale....................90 years.

Fin Whale......................90 years.

Fresh water oyster........80 years.

Cockatoo.......................70 years.

Condor...........................70 years.

Indian elephant.............70 years.

Ostrich..........................62 years.

Horse.............................62 years.
 
# 3. Animals............Life spans.

Chimpanzee.............50 years.

Termite....................50 years.(!!!)

Lobster....................50 years.

Cow.........................40 years.

Domestic pigeon.....35 years.

Labrador..................29 years.

Sheep......................20 years.

Goat.........................18 years.

Rabbit......................10 years.

House-mouse...........6 years.

 
# 4. Animal partnership.

Like human beings animals also form

partnerships. In some cases they help each

other mutually. In some other cases one partner

is taken for a ride. In some cases one partner

benefits but thankfully the other does not face

any loss!

Partnerships can be of four different types:-

a. Symbiotic,

b. Parasitic,

c. Commensel,

d. Epizoic.

We will see about these in detail in the next posts.
 
#5. Symbiotic partnership.

The word means living close together.
This is a very close and a mutually beneficial relationship between two different organisms.
Lichen is a symbiosis of two different organisms
- a fungus and an algae.
 
[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 6. Parasitic partnership.

A close but one sided relationship where one partner benefits and the other loses.

One organism battens onto and lives off the other partner. It harms its host in this process.

Flat worms thrive in the blood vessels of their human hosts.
[/FONT]
 
# 7. Commensalism.

A close one sided relationship in which one

partner gains but not at the cost of the other

partner - as in the case of parasites.

The cattle egret lives off the parasites found on

the back of the cattle and the other grazing

animals. But the cattle are not harmed in

anyway.
 
# 8. Epizoic partnership.

A close relationship in which one partner lives

on the skin of the other and is either carried or

towed by it. The remora fish is a good example.

it attaches itself onto a larger fish by means of

a suction disc on its head.

 
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