Saturday, October 4, 2008

What is the origin of the term horse trading?

The term horse trading, which came into usage around 1820, owes its origin to the notorious shrewdness of horse traders who bought and sold horses. As per Macmillan English Dictionary, it means difficult and sometimes dishonest discussions between people who are trying to reach an agreement. In political parlance, it implies any long drawn-out negotiation characterized by hard bargaining and compromises. It frequently takes place in democratic institutions like legislative bodies when a parliamentarian or legislator supports some Bill or trust vote in exchange for support of his initiatives for another Bill or Legislation.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

What is the Large Hadron Collider project?

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), built at CERN near Geneva, is the largest scientific instrument on the planet. It will produce roughly 15 petabytes (15 million gigabytes) of data annually, which scientists worldwide will access and analyse. The mission of LHC computing Project (LCG) is to build and maintain a data storage and analysis infrastructure.

Friday, September 19, 2008

What is the anti-greenhouse effect?

The greenhouse effect occur when the atmosphere lets sunlight in and blocks infrared radiation from escaping. If it is not so, then the temperature on Earth which is 15 degrees Celsius would bi -15 degrees Celsius. Imagine a layer that stops light from getting in and lets infrared out. An anti-greenhouse effect does the same thing to heat-it lets heat out but doesn’t let it in. the conventional greenhouse effect occurs because the atmosphere is largely transparent to solar radiation, but largely opaque to infrared. In an anti-greenhouse effect, this situation is reversed and this will cause cause cooling. This effect is only known to occur on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

What are Cladograms?


Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of species based on evolutionary ancestry. It’s distinct from other taxonomic classification systems because it focuses on evolution rather than similarities between species. This is because it places heavy emphasis on objective and quantitative analysis. Cladistics generates diagrams called cladograms that represent the evolutionary tree of life. The starting point of cladistics analysis is a group of species and molecular, morphological, or other data characterizing those species. The end result is a tree-like relationship diagram which is the cladogram. It graphically represents a hypothetical evolutionary process.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

What’s special about EuroPass football?

The EuroPass is the official football for UEFA Euro 2008. The adidas EuroPass combines tradition with modernity. It has a new surface structure which allows players to have more control over the ball and direct it perfectly in all weather conditions. The PSC-Texture, which consists of fine structure on the outer surface, guarantees optimum grip between the ball and boot. The 12 black dots on the ball contain individual graphic elements which stand for passion, friendship, action, training, fans and winning goal. The name EuroPass symbolizes the connection between Austria and Switzerland, the host countries of the tournament.

Monday, September 15, 2008

How do iridium spark plugs differ from regular ones?

Iridium is a precious, silver-white metal and one of the densest materials found on earth. The natural properties of iridium makes the spark plug use less voltage to create spark, burn fuel more efficiently and spark at leaner air fuel mixtures. It delivers higher horsepower and better mileage.

What does Zumba refer to?

Zumba is a cardio-fitness regime based on Latin rhythms developed by a former aerobics instructor Alberto Perez from Colombia. A Zumba class would span several Latin dance styles including Mambo, Salsa, Cumbia and Merengue. Another unique feature of a Zumba class is its party atmosphere unlike a typical aerobics class.