Safari Magazine| January 2012 Issue | Views And Reviews

There is a long time passed since I got the latest issue of the science magazine – Safari, yes we are talking about the January 2012 issue of the same. Since some of the busy days were there, I genuinely didn’t get a chance to review it properly and unless that is done, writing the review about the same was not ethical. Here are the details about the latest issue of the same for you (all dear readers):

The dark blue cum purple background with Eiffel Tower makes the cover page interesting. The interesting stuff you find is on the second cover page where the sequential photos of the Eclipse in the black background looks fascinating. The photos are for the one of the longest duration lunar eclipse happened in the last decade. On December 10,2011; the moon eclipsed from 06:16PM to 09:48PM and the photos by Harshal Pushkarna for the same are really nice to watch.

Global warming one of the most talked about topic, which is probably most misunderstood by the mass also. There are several simple yet effective ways to fight it. Painting the rooftop to the White is one such solution. One page article explaining how it actually works is interesting to read.

Neophilia, have you heard about this decease? Well do you know someone who believe in the philosophy of “buy new, replace the old”? This is the symptom of having Neophilia. Now a days the trend is specially seen in buying of Computers and Mobile phones especially. Possessing the latest version of any gadget (actually any product) gives the feeling of satisfaction to such person. A one page article exploring various aspects for the same is there.

Do the children have more curiosity or enthusiasm to learn? Well, yes, but the adults too are keen for the same. The only thing is they do not express desire to get answers to some of the questions due to various reasons, including awareness of adulthood. Some such questions are Why rats are so small and the elephants are huge? Why the species vary in the sizes? Well, the most correct and appropriate answer is definitely the theory of “survival of the fittest” is responsible for the same. An interesting article related to such questions and their answers containing the possible course of circumstances resulted into the reasons for same; is a good read.

The wallets of people are shrinking with the time. No, we are not talking about recession or its adverse effects on the society. Remember the history when people used to have coins of Gold, Silver, Bronze and even Clay. To transfer a little larger amount of the money need to have extra luggage for the same! Then came the currency notes which made it easier to carry them. Currency note of higher values made it even easier. Then came the credit cards, the plastic money, as it is also known as. It made it easy for people to hold a huge amount of money without actually carry it. And as the name suggest, based on your overall credit with the Credit Card provider (the bank mostly), you can spend money without actually having them available in your account! But you need to think twice before over using the same. An eye opener article explaining how it can create a hole in your pocket is a must read.

Do you know that there exists Honey-pot ant? We know that many animals birds and insects have a habit of storing food to cater to difficult times. The most known example is a Camel, which has a water harvester in-built, which makes it enable to survive in the desert for a remarkably long period. Honey-pot ant is also one such creature. Know more about the same in the four page article.

Challenge the circumstances has its own joy. There are so many great creations by human proves that we love challenge the circumstances. One such construction is Eiffel tower of Paris. Can you imagine the city of Paris without this great creation of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel? Do you know that in 1909 this master-piece was planned for demolition? Well, we know a lot about the seven wonders of the world but sometimes we got to know something which makes us thinking that we know a lot less than we should actually know! An article by Digamber Vyas explores such details about Eiffel tower in the magazine and provides us one more reason to read it.

D.N. Kaushik came with an interesting article about best friend of men, the dog. We know that there are various types of dogs exist and they have their area of specialization too. These descendants of Tomarctus are considered as ordinary domestic animals, but facts are really worth knowing and will make you think you didn’t knew this! The article provides information about…

• The fastest dog
• The largest dog
• The smallest dog
• The dog with the keenest sense of smell
• Highest jumping dog
• The rarest dog
• The heaviest dog
• The strongest dog
• The most famous dog
• The most ferocious dog

We all know that “necessity is the mother of invention”. But sometimes we realize that there are the cases where “invention is the mother of necessity”! For example, LASER was invented in 1958 but there was no use of LASER those days. It came to practical usage much later. There are many such inventions proving the fact even strongly which includes but not limited to Gramophone, Motorcar, Steam Engine etc. An article about such stuff lets you know more about such inventions.

Q & A :: Fact Finder

This regular section provides informative knowledge about the following questions:

• Is there any substance in the belief that drinking water stored overnight in a brass or copper pot is beneficial to health?
• What is “afterburner” which is used for giving the combat jet airplane the sudden burst of speed?
• How big were the most gargantuan dinosaurs and how small were the smallest?
• What is tear-gas made of and why the eyes shed tears on coming in contact with it?
• Why does a drop of lemon juice leave grayish white blotch on stone floor or cement plaster?
• Since water bodies of various oceans overlap one another, on what bases are the boundaries of the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans demarcated?
• In spite of being colorblind themselves, how do guide dogs help blind persons to cross the street at the traffic signals?
• How does an electric eel manage to remain unaffected while producing electric shock of 650 volts?
• What is hard water? How can it be made soft?
• How does the examination of teeth help in ascertaining the age of horse?

In addition the “All about Sonic Boom”, 14 Questions and Answers and “Centenary of the conquest of South Pole” are the articles add to the reading material.

Final Verdict: Overall a magazine worth reading… go for it.