Sperm whale is a type of toothed whale (physeter catodon) with a very large head which has cavities containing spermaceti, a sperm oil. It is a white, waxy substance consisting of various esters of fatty acids used for making candles, ointments and cosmetics. It has no relation to sperm, the male gamete.

I personally think that the 10:10 position (sometimes 10:12 or 10:08) was adopted for pictures of clocks and watches because it is symmetric and looks better. Today the symmetric positions are both aesthetic and customary. Other symmetric hand positions are also used, but not as frequently. Examples include 8:20, 8:18, and 2:50. Reviewing some Seth Thomas clock catalog illustrations, I …

The diesel engine is more efficient than the petrol engine because of its greater thermal efficiency. This means that the ratio of the work done by the engine to the amount of heat supplied is higher. Since the heat in this case comes from fuel-oil, it is not possible to convert all the heat energy in the fuel into useful …

Blunderbuss probably derives its name from the German donder buchse, ‘thunder gun’. The gun was built with a bell-shaped barrel – wider at the muzzle than the breech. This amplified the noise of the explosion. The weapon was loaded with a number of small balls and it was thought that the bell-mouth would cause the shot to spread. But it …

Technically, it is not possible to light an electric bulb without drawing input greater than zero watts. Zero watts is actually not zero, but refers to the minimum wattage. The inaccurate electric meters of the early days could not measure such a negligible amount of consumption as during those days, the watt hour meter had a rotating disc and when …

Sunil Bharti Mittal, (born 23 October 1957) is an Indian telecom mogul, philanthropist and the founder, chairman and managing director of Bharti Enterprises. The US$7.2 billion turnover company runs India’s largest GSM-based mobile phone service. He is the son of Sat Paul (former MP) and Lalita. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honor. Early …

When we are tickled, we laugh and wriggle. This is what is termed a reflex action, an action which takes place without any thought on our part. Balancing ourselves when we walk is another example of reflex action. We retain our balance automatically, without thinking about it, but when we try to tickle ourselves, the brain knows that we are …

Atmospheric pressure, which is about 1 kg per sqcm of area, presses down on our body from all sides, but we don’t feel it as it is balanced by fluid pressure from inside our body. We can feel the difference during rainy season or when we go to places where atmospheric pressure is less, like hill stations, where due to …

A regular motorcycle has a ‘sequential’ manual transmission, meaning you can only shift up or down one gear at a time. It is also designed to spin one way only. Adding reverse would require the crankshaft to spin backwards, or a much larger, heavier, expensive transmission. So it is easiest to dismount and push the bike backwards.

All species of animals, including man, of course, have developed very gradually over millions and millions of years. In this way, each animal strengthens and improves those parts of its body which are particularly useful, and the various parts which are not so useful diminish or are adapted. This evolution happens very, very slowly, and changes can only be seen …