It refers to the argument put forward by famous French mathematician Blaise Pascal to help a person arrive at a decision on the existence of God. You’d better believe in God, Pascal argued, because if you are right, you stand to gain eternal bliss and if you are wrong, it won’t make any difference, anyway. But if you don’t believe …

The term parthenocarpy originates from the Greek words ‘parthenos’ meaning virgin and ‘karpos’ meaning fruit. It refers to the production and development of seedless fruits. It has become important because: 1. Seeds are irritants when eating fruits. 2. Processing fruits requires removal of seeds; hence seedless fruits are desired. Parthenocarpy is of two types. Vegetative parthenocarpy: when seedless fruits develop …

It is a term to describe a range of nervous diseases in which the main symptoms are trembling and weakness of the muscles. It develops very slowly as a rule, often starting with a slight tremor in the hands, and progresses to a more widespread muscular debility.

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian engineer-sociologist who, in the 19th century, studied the number of people in various income classes and represented his findings in diagrams. His conclusion was that 80% of the total wealth in the world is owned by 20% of people and that 20% of wealth is owned by 80% of people. A similar pattern is observed …

Large blocks of floating ice, called pack ice, cover much of the Arctic Ocean and the seas around Antarctica. Pack ice was a problem for explorers. In 1915, the Endurance, the ship used by Sir Ernest Shackleton to reach Antarctica, was crushed by pack ice and sank. The first ship to reach the North Pole was the Russian atomic icebreaker …

The surface of every part of the body, inside and out, is covered with a protective layer, or layers, of tightly packed cells called epithelia. The largest, thickest and most complex of these epithelial tissues is the skin which covers the whole of the outside of the body. The skin itself is made of two principal layers. The outer layer …

Otolaryngology is the medical speciality that studies the ear, nose, and throat, as well as other related structures of the head and neck. Within otolaryngology there are seven specialties namely paediatric otolaryngology, allergy, head and neck diseases, otology / neurotology (ears, balance, and tinnitus), rhinology (nose), laryngology (throat), facial cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery. Otolaryngologists are often referred to as …

Ophidiophobia is a Greek term which is a combination of ‘ophis’ meaning snake and phobia meaning fear. Ophidiophobia refers to the fear of snakes, alternatively termed as herpetophobia. This kind of phobia is quite distinct from the fear of venom. An ophidiophobiac is usually afraid of snakes, not only when they come in contact with one but even when they …

Modern theories of the universe begin with the simplest of observations — that the night sky looks dark. This darkness implies that the universe is not infinitely old, as scientists once thought. If it were, starlight would already have seeped into all corners of space, thus giving a hot and uniform glow across the sky. This insight is known as …

The weather in the month of October in the Indian sub-continent is called ‘October heat’. During October and November, with the apparent movement of the sun towards the south, the monsoon trough or the low pressure trough over the northern plains becomes weaker. This is gradually replaced by a high-pressure system. The south-west monsoon winds weaken and start withdrawing gradually. …