DIU Activities > Alumni
Sharpen Your General Knowledge
Shamim Ansary:
How Can the Sun Burn Without Oxygen?
Nothing can burn on earth without the presence of oxygen.
As what we call “fire†or “burning†is a chemical reaction in which atoms of oxygen combine with atoms of carbon from the fuel, the substance being burned, to produce carbon dioxide, light, and heat.
Since fire needs oxygen, and there is almost no oxygen in space, then how can the sun burn constantly? Well, the sun isn’t “burning†in the same sense that a fire burns on earth. The sun produces energy the same way that a hydrogen bomb produces energy.
In this process, hydrogen is changed into helium, but some hydrogen is instead converted into energy. So the sun continues to “burn†and produce light and heat without oxygen.
Shamim Ansary:
What Is a Tectonic Plate and How Many Tectonic Plates Are There On Earth?
The Earth is not a solid shell, but rather slabs of rock that scientists call Tectonic Plates.
These plates, seven large plates and several smaller ones, have been moving for millions of years.
They hold the ocean floors and the continents. Their movements cause new seafloor to form and earthquakes and volcanoes to occur.
Mountain ranges are formed when two plates collide, causing rock to fold and rise.
Scientists aren’t quite sure what causes the tectonic plates to move, but they believe the intense heat of the Earth’s core is a factor.
Shamim Ansary:
Are All Stars Burning Out and Are New Ones Forming?
Stars are being born as well as dying, but the rate varies greatly from galaxy to galaxy.
Stars form from huge clouds of dust and gas. If a cloud begins to contract because of its own gravity, its interior heats up as gravitational energy is converted to heat energy, reaching millions of degrees, and nuclear reactions begin that change one element into another, releasing energy.
The pressure tends to expand the cloud back out, but eventually equilibrium is reached. That is essentially what a star is, a mass of gas at equilibrium between inward pressure from gravity and outward pressure from nuclear reactions.
A star has a finite lifetime because it is burning fuel. For 90 percent of its life, it burns hydrogen into helium. When the hydrogen is used up, the pressure decreases, but gravity never disappears, so the star contracts until the temperature climbs again, this time reaching hundreds of millions of degrees, while reactions convert helium to carbon and oxygen.
The star can then remain stable for a briefer time. Eventually the star dies, when the reactions no longer produce energy, but only consume it.
Shamim Ansary:
What Does a Third Degree Burn Mean and What Is the Difference Between a First Degree Burn and a Second Degree Burn?
The seriousness of a burn is assessed in degrees depending on the number of layers of skin involved.
A sunburn, or a red mark on a finger touched to an iron, is a first-degree burn.
A second-degree burn blisters.
Third-degree burns mean that all skin is destroyed right down to the layer of tissue under the skin.
Burns on faces, hands, and feet can be more serious than a wound on the thigh, for example, because of the importance of these body parts.
Burns to the genital area are also more dangerous because they are vulnerable to infection.
Second and third degree burns always require immediate medical attention, the first thirty seconds are crucial, to remove the cause of the burn, cool the skin, and protect against infection.
The chance of having a stroke is 1 in 6.
The chance of dying from heart disease is 1 in 3.
The chance of getting arthritis is 1 in 7.
The chance of getting the flu in the course of a year is 1 in 10.
The chance of contracting the human version of mad cow disease is 1 in 40,000,000.
The chance of dying from any kind of fall is 1 in 20,666.
Shamim Ansary:
Where Did the Expression “the Third Degree†Come From and What Does It Mean?
The third degree is a very difficult and sometimes brutal questioning, especially by police.
In fact, without its sinister connotation, the expression comes from the Masonic Lodge and its three degrees of membership, each requiring an increasingly difficult examination.
The first is Entered Apprentice, the second is Fellowcraft, and the third degree, the one most difficult to pass, is Master Mason.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version