General Science GK Questions with Answers – Page 45

Nephology is the study of clouds, their formation, classification into types such as cirrus, cumulus and stratus, and their part in rainfall, and it is a branch of meteorology, the science of the atmosphere and the weather.

Herpetology is the study of reptiles such as snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles, together with amphibians such as frogs, toads and salamanders, and in India it includes the work on snake venom and antivenom at institutions that maintain snake parks.

Phycology, also called algology, is the study of algae, the simple photosynthetic organisms that range from the single-celled Chlamydomonas to the large brown seaweeds, and it covers their classification and their uses as food, fertiliser and a source of agar.

Cryogenics deals with the production of very low temperatures and with the behaviour of materials at those temperatures, where liquefied gases such as liquid nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen are used; it is applied in rocket engines with cryogenic upper stages, in superconducting magnets and in the preservation of biological material…

Speleology is the exploration and scientific study of caves, their formation, the limestone features such as stalactites and stalagmites that develop in them, and the animal life adapted to permanent darkness.

Pedology is the study of soils, including their formation from parent rock, their profile and horizons, their classification and their fertility, and it is the science behind soil surveys and land capability maps.

Entomology is the branch of zoology that deals with insects, the largest class of animals, and it covers their structure, classification, life cycles and their role as pests and pollinators.

Sericulture is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk, and it includes the growing of mulberry, on whose leaves the mulberry silkworm feeds; India produces mulberry silk as well as the wild varieties tasar, eri and muga, the last being special to Assam.

Palaeontology is the study of fossils, the preserved remains or traces of organisms of past geological ages, and it supplies the evidence on which the history of life and the theory of evolution rest.

Seismology is the study of earthquakes and of the passage of seismic waves through the earth, and it is from seismic wave records that the layered structure of the interior of the earth has been worked out; the instrument used is the seismograph.

Ornithology is the study of birds, their classification, habits, migration and nesting; Salim Ali, known as the birdman of India, was the country's best known ornithologist and wrote the Book of Indian Birds.

Mycology is the study of fungi, the group that includes moulds, yeasts, mushrooms and the rusts and smuts that attack crops, and a specialist in it is called a mycologist.

Cobalt-60 is an artificial radioisotope that emits penetrating gamma rays and has a half-life of about 5.27 years, which makes it a convenient and long-lasting source for irradiation plants.

Iodine forms a deep blue-black complex with the long coiled chains of amylose in starch, and this colour change is the standard classroom and field test for starch.

Codex Alimentarius is Latin for food code, and the Commission of that name draws up model standards, codes of practice, and limits for additives, contaminants and pesticide residues, which member countries use when writing their own food law and which serve as the reference in international food trade.

That Act consolidated several scattered food laws, the most important of them the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act of 1954, into a single statute and created one authority to lay down science-based standards for food, regulate its manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import, and licence food businesses; its headquarters is…

Lumps of calcium carbide hidden in a crate of mangoes react with the moisture in the air and release acetylene gas, which forces the fruit to colour quickly, though the pulp inside stays unripe and tasteless.

Indian food standards divide preservatives into two classes. Class I preservatives are the natural ones that cooks have always used, and no limit is placed on the quantity: common salt, sugar, dextrose, spices, vinegar or acetic acid, honey and edible vegetable oils.

In lyophilisation the material is first frozen and then placed under a strong vacuum, so that the ice changes directly into vapour without passing through the liquid state.

Pasteurisation is not sterilisation: it is a mild heating that kills disease-causing organisms such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella and Brucella and most spoilage bacteria, while leaving the taste and nutritive value of milk largely unchanged.