221 Facts Tell Me What

Scientific name : Hemorrhois hippocrepis Family : Colubridae Native to : Algeria, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar and Tunisia Conservation status : Least Concern The horseshoe whip snake is slender and grows to a length of 1.5 metres. They are yellow, orange or brown snakes with typical dark horseshoe patterns on their bodies. It lives […]

Scientific name : Mantella nigricans Family : Mantellidae  Native to : Madagascar Conservation status : Least Concern Living in the rainforests of Madagascar are Guibé’s mantella frogs with their beautiful black and green skins. The colours, of course, translate as toxin to predators due to its toxic skin. They love to feed on crickets and

Scientific name : Excidobates condor Family : Dendrobatidae Native to : Montane oriental forest Conservation status : Not Assessed The underside of this shiny frog is black unlike most frogs. They are also quite warty. They love higher altitudes and are found at 1400 to 1900 metres above the sea level. With a red face

‘Smog’ is the mixture of smoke and fog. It forms in areas that are highly polluted. It is a mixture of industrial gases emitted into the air, dust particles and water vapours present in the atmosphere. Smog is denser in dusty areas. The finer particles and fumes in smog, the more dangerous it becomes. Dust-like

A rainbow is a colourful arch that appears in the sky after rain. Appearance of a rainbow is actually a phenomenon attached to light. Sunlight or white light rays are actually a mixture of colours (VIBGYOR: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red). We have often observed an array of colours on the surface of

A radio telescope is a form of radio receiver used in astronomy. Distant stars and planets are observed with the help of a telescope. Stars give out light radiation. Some part of this radiation is in form of radio waves. There are special radio receivers placed by scientists on the Earth which receive these radio

A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is one of the largest explosions in space. Due to the dust present in the Milky Way, supernovas are difficult to observe. Astronomer Johannes Kepler discovered the last observed supernova in the Milky Way. Supernovas take place when changes occur in the centre of a star.

A black hole is a place with immense gravitational pull. The pull is so huge that not even a light ray can escape it. The reason behind such a strong pull is that a lot of matter has been squeezed into a small space. Black holes are observed when a star is in its last

A falling body is anything that falls to the ground and is pulled towards it by gravitational force. Every object in space, including the Earth has attractive force, which pulls other bodies towards it. Law of a falling body was discovered by Galileo in 1500s. He said that in absence of air resistance bodies fall

A sundial is a type of an ancient clock that indicates the day timing by the position of the shadow of a particular object exposed to sunlight. The position of the shadow changes with the movement of the Sun in the sky. Hence, the passage of time is recorded with respect to the position of

Ultraviolet (UV) rays are a form of radiation just like light rays, x-rays, heat rays, etc. These rays are produced by the Sun naturally. They have a short wavelength and are highly penetrable. The harmful effects of these rays include reddening of the skin, suntan, aging and carcinogenic changes. However, most of the UV rays

The Sun is the nearest star to the Earth. The surface temperature of the Sun is about 6000°C. At this temperature, a metal or even a rock can get converted into gas. Hence, the Sun is referred to as a burning ball of gases. The reason behind this non-stop burning is the capability of the

Space debris is the man-made waste orbiting in space. It is also called space junk or orbital debris. The common examples of space debris are discarded rockets, damaged parts of space shuttles or spacecraft, and mission related junk. This debris can be very dangerous for the orbiting spacecraft or satellites, as they may obstruct the

Space shuttles are space transport vehicles that orbit around the Earth. These are reusable rocket-launched vehicles that help in the transport of cargo and people to and from the orbiting spacecraft. These space shuttles glide on a runway landing while returning on the earth. The first space shuttle was launched by NASA in 1981. It

In the universe, distances are measured in terms of a light year. A light year is the distance travelled by a light ray in a year. A light ray travels 299,338 km in a second; so in a year, it will travel about 9.6 billion km. Proxima Centauri, a member of the Alpha Centauri triple