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The cover page shows the photo of The Bizarre Hoatzin and asks a question Is it a cow? Is it a bird? Which irks enthusiasm to know more about the bird (or animal). The inside cover page contains the photo of a fully bloomed Rafflesia (from the rainforests of Malayasia). And the last cover page shows the illustration of Apache Helicopter in Action. It seems an interesting read. Let us take a deep into the content of the August 2012 issue of Safari – the science and knowledge magazine from India.
August is the month when India celebrates it’s Independence day. 15th of the month is celebrated with all the joy, respect and the feelings of the patriotism. It is the month of lot many celebrations as RakshaBandha, Janmashtami and other festivals also approach this month. The magazine also tried covering some interesting facts related to the stuff.
In FYI Section you got to know more about the following:
- Where has the first national flag of independent India gone?
- August 1947: What the rupee could buy 65 years ago
- VT: The symbol of bondage of independent India
Cherapunji – from the state of Meghalaya (means the room of rain) – was considered as the wettest place on the Earth. Now there are two more places which are claiming the same. They are Mawsynram and Wailaleale (both from Meghalaya – India). Read some facts for all these 3 places in an article spread over 3 pages by B. M. Purohit. The article is aided with maps, illustration and photos you will love to see.
Remember the monsoons before a few years? There were groups of frogs came to the streets and ground making their specific Drawn! Drawn! Don’t you feel that the frogs are seen less now? Well, it is one of the most important species. Science students must have remembered their dissection days! Anyway the nature works in a chain and when a link is broken from the same, entire chain got affected. Digambar Vyas brings in an article of 3 pages with some interesting factual stuff about frogs.
D. N. Kaushik comes with the themed article on The Bizarre Hoatzin. The 5 page article answers almost all the questions raised in your mind by reading the tag at the cover page. It is about the bird which is one of the strangest in the species. The more the researchers study it, the more they got puzzled about.
Driverless cars is the topic of interest for the people since years. The advancements of the recent times shows that it can be a reality soon. Not only these cars are proved to be possible during the test, but also found that as it works via the brain of machines the problems faced due to human emotions can be overcome by the car. In such it can be a better alternative than the one with the human driver. Google uses several such cars for its street mapping – a part of Google Map and Google Earth project. Read more about Driverless cars in the article about the same. You can also see the photograph of the traffic jam happened between Lynos and Paris in February 2012. The auto lovers will like the 7 page detailed article.
Fast facts – segment brings the information about the bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Recently the world is hearing the news of sad economy, the falling currencies and more. Indian rupee had seen a constant downfall too. Though the economic conditions of India is so strong that there is nothing to worry at this point of time. But it will be interesting to look at some such incidents when the specific currency lost its power to purchase. The people should learn from such incidents. Sushil Bhatia’s article is added with images and it is a worth read.
The Q & A (Fact Finder) segment answers the following questions:
- How do chameleon lizards change their color to merge with the background?
- Which is the most dangerous stage of a manned spaceflight?
- Which country produced the first ballistic missile as the weapon of war?
- What are gravity waves? Do they really exist?
- Columbus wanted to reach India, so why did he sail west instead of east?
- Which bird lays the largest egg relative to its body size?
- A lot has been written and said about the UFOs, namely flying saucers. The idea just refuses to go away. How did it emerge in the first place?
- How fast can a helicopter fly?
- Who invented solar cells to harness the Sun’s energy?
- Why do some fighter planes have wings that can be swept back?
This month’s super quiz is focused on – “Tea – the proposed national drink of India”.
And last but not the least important is the cover story starts from last page which provides all about the “Apache” helicopter.
A fantastic read indeed. Our verdict: go for it.
