Nature Hub

  F rom - History today, By  -  Philippa Joseph  , Edited by - Amal Udawatta, Representation of the Prophet Zachariah’s vision of a menorah between two olive trees, by Joseph Ha-Zarefati in the Cervera Bible, c.1300. Bridgeman Images. The seven-branched menorah, an instantly recognisable symbol of Judaism, is much older than the Star of David. It has been in continuous use for longer than any other religious symbol in the western world; Rabbinic teaching dates it to the lifetime of the prophet Moses (1391-1271 BC). We first read about the menorah – meaning ‘candelabrum’ – in Exodus, the second book of the Torah, when it is revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. Moses is given instructions as to its form, the precise nature of which has caused debate ever since. A menorah should be a hammered work of pure gold and have a central shaft with three branches sprouting from either side. At the top of each branch and central shaft should be a cup shaped like an almond. These cups are to contain pu

 From - BBC  News Edited by - Vinuri Randhula Silva IMAGE SOURCE, PA MEDIA Image caption, In one letter, Charles Dickens complains about proposed changes to the postal service A batch of unseen and unpublished letters from Charles Dickens, some showing his awareness of his own fame, is being displayed for the first time. The 11 letters reveal the author's reading habits, writing projects and his frustration at the loss of a Sunday postal service. In one he writes he would be "so hampered" he threatens moving away. The letters, among a collection worth £1.8m, have been acquired by the Charles Dickens Museum. In one, dated 10 February 1866, discussing the removal of a Sunday postal service, Dickens says: "I beg to say that I most decidedly and strongly object to the infliction of any such inconvenience upon myself." He refers to the number of letters he receives and sends, saying he would be "so hampered by the proposed restriction that I think it would force

From - BBC  World News, By Kelly Oakes Edited by - Vinuri Randhula Silva,          (Image credit:  Adam Berry/Redferns/Getty Images ) Smartphones have become near-universal among children, with up to 91% of 11-year-olds owning one. But do children miss out without a phone – or experience surprising benefits? It is a very modern dilemma. Should you hand your child a smartphone, or keep them away from the devices as long as possible? As a parent, you'd be forgiven for thinking of a smartphone as a sort of Pandora's box with the ability to unleash all the world's evils on your child's wholesome life. The bewildering array of headlines relating to the possible impact of children's phone and social media use are enough to make anyone want to opt out. Apparently, even celebrities are not immune to this modern parenting problem: Madonna has said that she regretted  giving her older children phones at age 13 , and wouldn't do it again. On the other hand, you probably ha

From- Wikipedia & Earth Unreal Edited by – Vinuri Randhula Silva Red betta fish are beautiful and  intelligent fish  that have been bred and raised as pets since at least the 1900s. This long history of breeding has resulted in a wide variety of color and fin variations, as well as  distinct personality types  and preferences, which makes selecting and caring for your fish an exciting endeavor! If you’re thinking about getting a red  betta fish , there are plenty of things to consider before buying your new pet. Many people choose red betta fish simply because they love the color, but the care requirements are not the same as  other tropical fish species  like angelfish or neon tetras, so it’s important to know what you’re getting into before spending time and money on your new pet. You might think that one pet fish would be  easy to care for , but you’d be wrong!  Betta fish  need a lot of attention, and their peculiar anatomy can lead to serious health problems if they ar

 From - The Noble Prize, Edited by - Vinuri Randhula Silva, The first Nobel Prize in Physics, given in 1901, was awarded to Wilhelm Röntgen for the discovery of the X-ray. Röntgen discovered a new type of radiation in 1895 that would be subsequently named after him, but he always preferred the term X-rays – from the mathematical designation for something unknown – as no one understood what these remarkable rays actually were. Researchers worldwide could experiment on X-rays as Röntgen refused to patent his findings, convinced that his inventions and discoveries belonged to the world at large. X-ray radiation became a powerful tool for physical experiments and examining inside our bodies. We'll find out who has been awarded this year's prize in just a couple of weeks time. See the full list of times and dates for this year's prizes: https://bit.ly/2QRp4Jp

From Smithsonian Magazine By  Jeanie Riess . Edited by Vinuri Randhula Silva, Members of the Preservation All Stars perform in the hall on August 18, 2022.    Daymon Gardner. The seats are simple benches. The space is small. To stand at the back of the hall is to be only 20 or so feet from the band. The wooden walls are washed out. Even the instruments used by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, founded with the hall in 1961, feel a bit old: It’s been a while since clarinets and tubas were central to popular music. And then, of course, there’s the traditional repertoire, comprising standards that reach back to the first decades of the 20th century, like “Little Liza Jane” and “St. James Infirmary.” Unlike other famous jazz venues that have changed their décor and ethos with the times,  Preservation Hall  remains the most authentic, with a pure emphasis on the music. The facade of Preservation Hall, in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter. In some ways, the antiquity of the scene i

  From - Smithsonian Magazine Mike Errico Author,  Music, Lyrics Life: A Field Guide for the Advancing Songwriter, Edited by Amal Udawatta, Just as songs repeat in choruses, formations in space take understandable shapes. Pictured here are the large Cartwheel galaxy and two smaller companion galaxies.  NASA / Illustration by Emily Lakiewicz I’m not a scientist—I routinely Google the answers to my daughter’s fourth-grade maths questions—but I do practice a kind of science: I’m a songwriting professor, and up through the Renaissance, music was considered a close relative of math, geometry and astronomy. That may be hard to imagine today, but as I check out the  startling images  that the James Webb Telescope has been beaming back to us since July—the spiraling “cartwheel” galaxies, binary stars and echoes of the Big Bang—I can see the connection. In astronomy, elements “solve” into understandable orbits or familiar chemicals; in music, they “resolve” into choruses and melodies we can sin