Lotus silk is one of the world’s most exquisite and rare fabrics, made exclusively in Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, and parts of Manipur. Lotus silk can ultimately cost ten times as much as regular silk.       

LOTUS SILK possesses incredible features such as lightweight, soft-touch, breathability, Crease-resistant, pilling resistance, tear-resistant, Cellulosic fibre, stiffness, neatness, moisture absorption, Antibacterial, Self-cleaning and tensile strength. The stems of lotus flowers are used to produce this silk thread. As a result, this fibre is free of animal cruelty.

Lotus stems first cut in small portions. A single lotus stem contains a tiny quantity of fine, sticky fibre which is twirled and pulled to reveal a web of thin filaments. The filament is placed on a wooden surface and kept damp by intermittent water splashes. The artisan rolls the wet fibre together to create a denser and stronger thread as the practice occurs with new stems. A new length is welded on to the last to form a continuous thread. dried off together.

To preclude fibre degradation the lotus fabric must be woven in 24 hours. These parched yarns would then be weighed carefully, skillfully hand-crafted, and put into the loom at last. The natural fibre is delicate at this stage but, it can be just as workable as traditional silk once woven.

Lotus fibre is manufactured entirely by hand and is only obtained by a few skilled craftsmen worldwide.  It also takes a lot of time. To extract one kilogram of fibre, it can take up to two months. In addition, only a minuscule amount of fabric can be produced.

STEP 1- Gathering

Lotus plant stems for the production of fibre are collected from the lake. The lotus flower is ideally expected to flower in full when the stem is collected. the deep pink flowers make the best lotus fibres.

Step 2- Extraction of lotus fibre

5-6 Lotus plant stems are gleaned with a shallow knife, sliced, tore and contorted to reveal 20-30 fine white filaments of fibre. These stalks are cut with a low cube and the 5-6 stalks are simultaneously snapped, revealing 20-30 fine white fibre filaments.

Step 3- Yarn production process

Prepared skeins are placed on the bamboo spinning frame and then relocated to winders for the warping phase. Yarn is coiled in plastic bags to mitigate tangling. The weft yarn is wound on bamboo bobbins. Crude lotus threads are a creamy colour, and coloration is usually done with natural dyes.

Step 4 – weaving

To weave the material in an outfit, strands of 120,000 lotus stalks are required. In a single day, a spinner can produce a thread of up to 250 metres. Around 30 kg of stems is required to produce 250 metres of thread. A skilled weaver could weave one metres of lotus fabric daily.

Water cycle or hydrological cycle is the continuous movement of water on earth. In this process, water moves from one reservoir to another by processes such as evaporation, sublimation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, surface runoff and infiltration, during which water converts itself to various forms like liquid, solid and vapour.

Evaporation

Evaporation is a type of vaporization, where liquid is converted to gas before reaching its boiling point. Water evaporates from the surface of the earth and water bodies such as the oceans, seas, lakes, ponds and rivers.

Sublimation

Sublimation is conversion of solid to gas, without passing through the intermediate liquid phase. Ice sheets and ice caps from north and south poles, and icecaps on mountains, get converted into water vapour directly, without converting into liquid.

Transpiration

Transpiration is the process by which plants release water vapour into the atmosphere through stomata in leaves and stems.

Condensation

Condensation is the changing of gas phase into liquid phase and is the reverse of vaporisation. At higher altitudes, the temperature is low. The water vapour present there condenses to form very tiny particles of water droplets. These particles come close together to form clouds and fog.

Precipitation

Due to change in wind or temperature, clouds combine to make bigger droplets, and pour down as precipitation (rain). Precipitation includes drizzle, rain, snow and hail.

Run off

As the water pours down, it runs over the surface of earth. Runoff water combines to form channels, rivers, lakes and ends up into seas and oceans.

Infiltration

Some of the precipitated water moves deep into the soil. Then it moves down and increase the ground water level.

Percolation

Some of the precipitated water flows through soil and porous or fractured rock.

Infiltration and percolation are two related but different processes describing the movement of water through soil.

Human impacts on water cycle

Major human activities affecting the water cycle on land are urbanisation, dumping of plastic waste on land and into water, polluting water bodies and deforestation.

The Great Pyramid of Giza is a defining symbol of Egypt and the last of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. It is located on the Giza plateau near the modern city of Cairo and was built over a twenty-year period during the reign of the king Khufu (2589-2566 BCE, also known as Cheops) of the 4th Dynasty. Until the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris, France in 1889 CE, the Great Pyramid was the tallest structure made by human hands in the world; a record it held for over 3,000 years and one unlikely to be broken. Other scholars have pointed to the Lincoln Cathedral spire in England, built in 1300 CE, as the structure which finally surpassed the Great Pyramid in height but, still, the Egyptian monument held the title for an impressive span of time. The pyramid rises to a height of 479 feet (146 metres) with a base of 754 feet (230 metres) and is comprised of over two million blocks of stone. Some of these stones are of such immense size and weight (such as the granite slabs in the King’s Chamber) that the logistics of raising and positioning them so precisely seems an impossibility by modern standards.

Design

In terms of design and planning, some theories suggest that parts of the plan were laid out on the ground at a 1:1 scale. This might account for the accuracy of the workmanship, such that the four sides of the base have an average error of only 58 mm in length. The sides of the pyramid rise at the angle of 51°52′, accurately oriented to the compass’ four cardinal points.

The entrance is around 18 m (59 ft) above the ground on the north side. The Queen’s Chamber and the King’s Chamber are contained inside, connected via a corridor and a slanting gallery 46 m (151 ft) long. The King’s Chamber is shielded from the thrust exerted by the masses of masonry piled on top of it, by five compartments separated by massive horizontal slabs of granite, weighing 25-80 tonnes.

Construction

Most hypotheses are based on the idea that the huge stones were moved from a quarry, and then either dragged, lifted or rolled into place. The most widely accepted theory is that a ramp-like embankment of brick, earth and sand was increased along with the pyramid. Using this embankment, the Egyptians would have hauled the stone blocks using sledges, rollers and levers.

There is also disagreement about the size and nature of the workforce required. The Ancient Greeks thought that slave labour was used, with the historian Herodotus theorising that it took 20 years and 100,000 slaves to build. However, Egyptologists in the 20th century discovered archaeological remains of workers’ camps, which gave rise to the belief that a more limited workforce of as few as 20,000 could have been sufficient, with the workers being skilled rather than slaves.

The core of the pyramid was formed from 2.3 million limestone blocks. The outer casing was made using white Tura limestone, crafted to form a smooth surface with intricate joints unrivalled by any other Egyptian masonry. However, this casing was gradually plundered during ancient and medieval times, although some of the stones can still be seen around the base today.

Shine Bright Like a Diamond:

Today, the Giza pyramids wear the tawny tones of their surrounding Libyan Desert. But back in their heyday, they sparkled. Originally, the pyramids were encased in slabs of highly polished white limestone. When the sun struck them, they lit up and shimmered. Some researchers believe that the pyramids’ capstones were plated in gold as well.

Those dazzling façades have long been stripped—some sources report that those blocks of stone were repurposed and used to build mosques—but you can still see remnants of a once-snowy cap atop the middle pyramid.

Down syndrome also known as Trisomy 21 is a chromosomal condition that is associated with intellectual disability, a characteristic facial appearance, and weak muscle tone (hypotonia) in infancy. All affected individuals experience cognitive delays, but the intellectual disability is usually mild to moderate.

People with Down syndrome often have a characteristic facial appearance that includes a flattened appearance to the face, outside corners of the eyes that point upward, small ears, a short neck and a tongue that tends to stick out of the mouth. Affected individuals may have a variety of birth defects. Many people with Down syndrome have small hands and feet and a single crease across the palms of their hands. About half of all affected children are born with a heart defect. Digestive abnormalities, such as a blockage of the intestine, are less common.

Most cases of Down syndrome are not inherited. When the condition is caused by trisomy 21, the chromosomal abnormality occurs as a random event during the formation of reproductive cells in a parent. The abnormality usually occurs in egg cells, but it occasionally occurs in sperm cells. An error in cell division called nondisjunction results in a reproductive cell with an abnormal number of chromosomes. For example, an egg or sperm cell may gain an extra copy of chromosome 21

• The invention of the microscope has opened up a whole new dimension in science. By using microscopes scientists were able to discover the existence of microorganisms, study the structure of cells, and see the smallest parts of plants, animals, and fungi.

Today, the microscope is still a commonly used tool to diagnosis illness in hospitals and clinics all over the world.

• Since their original invention, microscopes have moved beyond the simple visible light refracting lenses.

Electrons, x-rays, and infrared rays are used by far more sophisticated and expensive microscopes to detect even smaller and smaller structures. Scanning electron microscopes are able to resolve viruses, which are far smaller than any cell.

The most familiar type of microscope is the optical, or light, microscope, in which glass lenses are used to form the image. …… Other types of microscopes use the wave nature of various physical processes.

The most important is the electron microscope, which uses a beam of electrons in its image formation. A microscope is an instrument that makes an enlarged image of a small object, thus revealing details too small to be seen by the unaided eye.

Simple Microscope – contains only one lens.

Ex. Magnifying glass.

Compound light microscope – a system of two lens that work together.

Electron microscopes – uses electrons to provide detailed views of specimens.

Ex. TEM and SEM

Dissecting microscope – allows for the viewing of specimens without the use of slide.