Phoenix: Science

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Snorts, clicks, groans – tune in to the long-distance language of the ocean

The vast oceans of the world are dark, deep and mysterious places where eyesight counts for little as soon as you venture very far beneath the surface.

For humans, who live in a world dominated by visual stimuli, to exist in such conditions would be impossible. But for whales and dolphins that live in the ocean or, in the case of a few species, muddy rivers and estuaries, the darkness is unimportant. What is crucial to them is sound.

Sound is an efficient way to transmit and sense information, especially as it travels five times faster through water than through air. If humans shout to someone. It is unlikely that they will be heard a kilometer away. But if a whale ‘shouts’ in an ocean channel, another whale may hear it tens, if not hundreds, of kilometres away.

The undersea world of sound

Would women through history have been so keen on the pearls around their necks if they’d known what was inside?

There is a mystery and preciousness that we attach to pearls, yet despite what some people believe, it has nothing to do with a grain of sand. Pearls, which have long been the treasures of the wealthy, are often the products of dead worms, which remain entombed at the centre of the jewels, minute, translucent and ethereal.

Larval tapeworms drill into the flesh of mussels to use them as intermediate hosts en route to their later hosts, which in most cases are ducks or fish. The mussels’ immune systems battle the worms by encircling them in layer after layer of nacre, the same calcium-based material found in the mussels’ shells. The invaders suffocate and then rest for eternity encased in these tiny chambers.

Pearly gems

It turns out that a scientist can see the future by watching four-year-olds with a sweet. The researcher invites the children into a plain room. You can have this sweet right now, he says, but if you wait while I go out for a few minutes, you can have two sweets when I get back. Then he leaves.
Some children grab the treat the moment he's out of the door. Some last a few minutes before they give in, but others are determined to wait. They cover their eyes, they put their heads down, they sing to themselves, they try to play games or even fall asleep. When the researcher returns, he gives these children their sweets, and then, science waits for them to grow up.

Emotional Intelligence

Many of the latest scientific accomplishments fall in the realm of 'pure' science. This is research for the sack of increasing man's knowledge without concern about how the knowledge is going to be used. In contrast with pure science is 'applied' science. The production of synthetic diamonds is an example of applied science. In applied science the facts and principles of pure science are used in the solution of a problem which was or will have immediate economic and social importance.

Pure science and applied science

Of the six outer planets, Mars, commonly called the Red Planet is the closest to Earth. Mars, 4200 miles in diameter and 55% of the size of Earth is 334,600,000 miles from Earth and 141,000,000 miles from the Sun. It takes this planet along with its two moons, Phobos and Deimos 183 years to circle the Sun, compared to 365 days for the Earth.

The closest planet of Earth

The planet Earth is 4.600 million years old. It is difficult for us to think about such an enormous' length of time because it has little meaning for us. We can, however, simplify the idea to make it more understandable. We can compare the planet Earth to a person of forty-six years of age.
Nothing is known about the first seven years of this person's life. Very little information exists about the middle period either. It was only at the age of forty-two that the Earth began to flower.
Dinosaurs and great reptiles did not appear until one year ago. When the planet was forty-five. Mammals only arrived eight months ago. In the middle of last week, man-like apes became ape-like men and began to communicate with each other. Last weekend, the Ice Age covered the Earth.

Planet Earth

The Moon revolves once on its axis each time it orbits the Earth, thus always presenting the same face to earthbound observers. However, even to the unaided eye this unchanging face shows to contrasting types of landscape dark, plain-like areas of low relief, and brighter, decidedly more rugged regions which cover about two-thirds of the surface. Early astronomers mistakenly referred to the smooth dark areas as maria (or seas) giving the name terrae (or lands) to the bright upland regions. The terms have persisted since, even though the Moon's surface has long been known to be completely waterless.

The Moon

People usually sing because they like music or because they feel happy. They express their happiness by singing. When a bird sings, however, its song usually means much more than that the bird is happy. Birds have many reasons for singing. They sing to give information. Their songs are their language.
The most beautiful songs are sung by male (cock) birds. They sing when they want to attract a female (hen) bird. It is their way of saying that they are looking for a wife.

Birds also sing to tell other birds to keep away. To a bird, his tree or even a branch of a tree, is his home. He does not want strangers coming near him, so he sings to warn them.
If a bird cannot sing well, he usually has some other means of giving important information. Some birds dance, spread out their tails or make other signs. One bird has a most unusual way of finding a wife. It builds a small garden of shells and flowers.

Why do birds sing

For many years people believed that the cleverest animals after man were chimpanzees. Now, however, there is proof that dolphins may be even clever than these big apes.
Although a dolphin lives in the sea it is not a fish. It is a mammal. It is in many ways, therefore, like a human being.

Dolphins have a simple language. They are able to talk to one another. It may be possible for man to learn how to talk to dolphins. But this will not be easy because dolphins can not hear the kind of sounds man can make. If man wants to talk to dolphins, therefore, he will have to make a third language which both he and the dolphins can understand.
Dolphins are also very friendly towards man. They often follow ships. There are many stories of dolphins guiding ships through difficult and dangerous waters.

1. Which continent has the largest land area? a. Africa b. Asia c. North America
2. Which is the longest river? a. Yangzi b. Nile c. Mekong
3. Which river is the largest? a. Yangzi b. Ganges c. Amazon
4. Which is the largest gulf? a. Gulf of Thailand b. Gulf of Mexico c. Gulf of Carpentaria (Australia)
5. Where is the lowest point of land? a. Dead Sea, Jordan-Israel b. Mahovae Desert, U.S.A. c. Rift Valley, Kenya
6. Which is the largest island? a. Greenland b. Madagascar c. Hainan, China
7. Which is the highest mountain? a. Mt. Fuji b. Mt. Everest c. Mt. Kilimanjaro
8. Which is the longest mountain range? a. Andes, South America b. Himalayas, Asia c. Rockies, North America
9. Which is the smallest ocean? a. Atlantic b. Arctic c. Pacific

Phoenix

The undersea world of sound

Pearly gems

Emotional Intelligence

Pure science and applied science

How good is your world geography?

What do you know about Volcanoes?

The closest planet of Earth

Planet Earth

The Moon

Why do birds sing

The dolphin

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