Interesting FAQ's

What is Iceland’s HDI ranking?

With a ranking of 0.968, Iceland had the highest Human Development Index (HDI) ranking in 2007. The HDI ranking takes into consideration a country’s life expectancy, literacy, educational attainment and GDP per capita. Currently though, Iceland’s top-ranking status is rather ironic, considering the global financial crisis has almost wiped out its economy and the country is virtually bankrupt.


What is the Aufbau Principle?

The Aufbau Principle states that in the ground state of an atom, an electron enters the orbital with lowest energy first and subsequent electrons are fed in the order of increasing energies. The word ‘aufbau’ in German means ‘building up’. Here, it refers to the filling up of orbitals with electrons.


What is Chargaff’s rule of base equivalence?

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the genetic material found in the chromosomes of all animals and plants. It is made up of only four types of organic nitrogenous bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), thymine (T) and cytosine (C). Of these, A and G are the purines and T and C are the pyrimidines. Chargaff gave the base pairing rule or the rule of base equivalence which states that only one purine can combine with one pyrimidine. That means A can combine with T and G with C. Two purines or two pyrimidines cannot combine with each other; if they do so, there will be a sudden change in the characteristic of an organism. This sudden change is called mutation.



Why are acentric chromosomes genetically inactive?

Acentric chromosomes are formed as a result of inversion of genes in one of the chromosomes in a homologous pair. This is a type of chromosomal aberration. Homologous loci are paired at meiosis. The meiotic anaphase will contain a chromatid connecting the two centromeres, called a chromatid bridge; a chromatid lacking a centromere altogether is called an acentric fragment. Neither of these behaves normally in cell division and both are eventually lost. The only viable products of meiosis in inversion heterozygotes are the chromatids that underwent no crossing over within the inverted section. Thus, the acentric chromosomes are genetically inactive due to absence of centromere.


What are auroras?

The beautiful patterns of green and blue lights that occur in the atmosphere of the polar region are known as auroras. Although there are several mythological stories related to auroras, perhaps the first scientific research on auroras began in Europe in 1716. They occur in the mesosphere, which is present about 50 to 80 miles above sea level. They are known as Aurora Borealis or northern lights, and Aurora Australis or the southern lights, in northern and southern hemisphere respectively. Auroras are natural phenomena and occur when a flow of charged particles from the sun (called solar wind) collide with air molecules in the atmosphere. Ionization takes place and this produces coloured light. Although such collisions only take place near magnetic poles of the Earth, auroras are also visible in mid-latitude regions in case of intense solar activity.


Who invented the board game Snakes and Ladders?

The board game, today called Snakes and Ladders, originated in ancient India, where it was known with the name Mokshapat or Moksha Patamu. It’s not exactly known when or who invented it, though it’s believed the game was played at a time as early as 2nd century BC. According to some historians, the game was invented by Saint Gyandev in the 13th century AD. Originally, the game was used as a part of moral instruction to children. The squares in which ladders start were each supposed to stand for a virtue, and those housing the head of a snake were supposed to stand for an evil. The snakes outnumbered the ladders in the original Hindu game. The game was transported to England by the colonial rulers in the latter part of the 19th century, with some modifications. The modified game was named Snakes and Ladders and stripped of its moral and religious aspects and the number of ladders and snakes were equalized. In 1943, the game was introduced in the US under the name Chutes and Ladders.


Who are NEO consumers?

The NEO consumers are new highvalue consumers of the new economic order (NEO). It is a newly emerging segment of customers from all age groups, ethnicities, income bands, locations and have high propensity to spend their income on disposable goods. NEO consumers are valuable as they consume constantly and favour a sense of investment, discretionary choices and value-added services. They seek rich information and authenticity; are motivated by choice, options and quality; sceptical about whether deals and discounts will deliver to their expectations; loyal to brands that understand them and comfortable with calculated risk.


What is Pansori?

Pansori is a folk art which has lasted since the 17th century in Korea. Singers sing and gesture according to the beats of the traditional Korean drum, tambour. Pansori consists of 12 episodes and is based on classical literature. It typically takes a few hours to complete a Pansori performance. Most young Koreans don’t go see to see it now. It is aired on television on traditional Korean holidays like the lunar new year day and Korean thanksgiving day called ‘Chuseok’.

ANY ANSWERS?

How does a laser mouse work?
What is love bombing?
What are the average speeds of diesel and electric locomotive engines?
Who is Capeta?
What is a carrom ball in cricket?
What is pork barrel politics and why is it called so?