Penchant for Science, Nature and History

I killed a mammal! We are all being warned of the possible effects of climatic changes. Some visuals run by National Geographic bring stories of horror in a representative fashion and nowadays we have coffee table books showcasing erosion, avalanches and ice-melts. One of them is a case of Bramble Cay melomy (Melomys rubicola). Basically a rat / rodent, this is the first mammal to go extinct due to human-indicted climate change. Its only habitat was a small sandy island in far northern Australia around Eastern Torres Strait of the Great Barrier Reef. It was first seen by Europeans in 1845, and there were several hundred there as of 1978. But since 1998, the part of the island that sits above high tide has shrunk from 9.8 acres to 6.2 acres. Around the world, sea level has risen by almost eight inches between 1901 and 2010, a rate unparalleled in the last 6,000 years. And around the Torres Strait, sea level has risen at almost twice the global average...

Transport yourself to today @ 1903 At 9:30 in the morning of 06-Jun. 1903, Henry and other prospective stockholders meet in Detroit to sign the official paperwork required to create a new corporation. Twelve stockholders were listed on the forms, which were signed, notarized and sent to the office of Michigan’s secretary of state. The company was officially incorporated the following day, when the secretary of state’s office received the articles of association. Henry had buil t his first gasoline-powered vehicle–which he called the Quadricycle in a workshop behind his home in 1896, while he was working as the chief engineer for the main plant of the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit. He made two unsuccessful attempts to start a company to manufacture automobiles before 1903. The sensational demand for the “Tin Lizzie” led Henry to develop mass-production methods, including large production plants, the use of standardized, interchangeable parts and, in 1913, the world’s fi...

In today’s world, we talk of the economic powers of the Chinese, Americans, the British and some G7 / G8 nations. Like many Indians, I have also been influenced by the political power of the British who ruled the sub-continent; infact, we look upon Britishers to be the biggest colonizers. While doing my research on historical trivia, I came across a strange Treaty which blows up our conventional thinking towards colonialism. More than five centuries ago, the world was divided by an imaginary line between two super-powers of that time i.e Spain and Portugal (represented by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile for Spain and King John II of Portugal). Yes, On June 7, 1494, the governments of Spain and Portugal agreed to the Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided their spheres of influence in the "New World" of the Americas. Do not go by the size of Portugal as we see on the map today. By size, it is smaller than the state of Bihar. Then, it had infl...