DIU Activities > Alumni
Sharpen Your General Knowledge
Shamim Ansary:
What Is the Most Common Symbol on the Flags of the World?
The United States is not the only country with stars on its flag.
In fact, about 50 other countries have at least one star on their flag, making the star the most common symbol on the flags of the world.
The second most popular symbol is the crescent, which appears on nine flags.
Shamim Ansary:
What Is the Most Common Symbol on the Flags of the World?
The United States is not the only country with stars on its flag.
In fact, about 50 other countries have at least one star on their flag, making the star the most common symbol on the flags of the world.
The second most popular symbol is the crescent, which appears on nine flags.
Shamim Ansary:
How Do Birds Know Their Migratory Path and How Do Homing Pigeons Find Their Way Home?
Birds are known to use a combination of things, including landmarks, the angle of the sun, stars, odors, even the magnetic field of the earth, as they migrate.
However, scientists still do not know exactly what they use for a map and compass, let alone exactly how they use them.
A flock of birds, for example, is not just headed to a general geographical area like Central America, but to a very specific location.
How do they know when they get there?
They may have an intimate knowledge of the local area, but how they are able to navigate so precisely, even over the ocean at night, is not known.
What might seem an obvious explanation, that birds who have migrated before might lead the way, is not the answer.
Ornithologists know this because in many cases the parents bail out first before the end of the year, and the young continue to feed until they are developed enough to leave, then migrate unassisted.
It appears that birds know where they are going, though they have never been there before, because it is programmed in the genetic material.
Most of the research has been done on the compass.
For example, even on cloudy days, there is a plane of polarized light that lets birds tell where the sun is, and they derive directional information from that.
But if you are plunked down in the woods from outer space, a compass won’t help you decide where to go, and one hundred years of research on the homing pigeon still has not answered the question of how a bird carried a hundred miles in a covered box immediately orients itself and heads accurately for home.
Shamim Ansary:
What Makes the Sound When You Snap Your Fingers?
When you snap your fingers, the fingertip hits the pad of the thumb in the palm and makes a smacking sound.
If you do it just right, it can be pretty loud.
Count it with me, five six seven eight.
“Snap Your Fingers†is also a song written by Grady Martin and Alex Zanetis, originally recorded by gospel singer Joe Henderson in 1962.
Finger snapping may be used as a substitute for hand clapping, because you can’t clap and hold a beer at the same time.
Snapping is also done at posh speeches and announcements as it is less disruptive than rowdy hand clapping.
Shamim Ansary:
Do Birds Fly At Night When They Are Migrating?
Not all birds fly at night when they migrate. Some birds do most of their flying at night, while others get most of their traveling done in the daytime. Scientists believe that stronger birds prefer the day journey and weaker birds feel safer at night.
Most of the daytime fliers are birds that capture their food in the air or must fly great distances to obtain it.
Day fliers include swifts and swallows, which feed as they fly, and herons, geese, ducks, and hawks, all strong fliers that must travel a long way to find food.
Night fliers are generally smaller birds, such as creepers, wrens, thrashers, warblers, tanangers, and sparrows. These night fliers can find food more easily during the daytime when they eat and rest. The dark also offers more protection from enemies.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version