Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Papaya

The papaya is a fruit of the tree. It is a small tree, the single stem growing from 5 to 10 m tall, with spirally set leaves confined to the top of the trunk, the lower trunk is obviously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne. The leaves are large, 50-70 cm width, deeply palmately lobed with 7 lobes. The tree is typically unbranched if unlopped. The flowers are similar in shape to the flowers of the Plumeria but are much slighter and wax like. They appear on the axils of the leaves, maturing into the large 15-45 cm long and 10-30 cm diameter fruit. The fruit is ripe when it feels soft and its skin has attained amber to orange hue. The fruit's taste is vaguely similar to pineapple and peach, although much milder without the tartness, creamier, and more fragrant, with a texture of a little over-ripened cantaloupe.

The primary use of the papaya is as an safe to eat fruit. The ripe fruit is generally eaten raw, without the skin or seeds. The unripe green fruit of papaya can be eaten ripe, usually in curries, salads and stews.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Coconut

The coconut palm is grown throughout the tropical world, for decoration as well as for its many cooking and non-culinary uses, virtually every part of the coconut palm has some human use.The flowers of the coconut palm are polygamomonoecious, with both male and female flowers in the similar inflorescence. Flowering occurs continuously, with female plants producing seeds. Coconut palms are believed to be largely cross-pollinated, although some dwarf varieties are self-pollinating. Coconut water can be used as an intravenous fluid.

Nearly all parts of the coconut palm are useful, and the palms have a comparatively high yield, it therefore has important economic value. The name for the coconut palm in Sanskrit is kalpa vriksha, which translates as the tree which provides all the requirements of life. In Malay, the coconut is known as pokok seribu guna, the tree of a thousand uses. In the Philippines, the coconut is generally given the title Tree of Life. The white, fleshy part of the seed is safe to eat and used fresh or dried in cooking.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Planet

A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remains that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion in its core, and has cleared its neighboring region of planetesimals. The term planet changed from something that stimulated across the sky, to a body that orbited the Earth. When the heliocentric model gained sway in the 16th century, it became established that a planet was actually something that directly orbited the Sun. At the end of the 17th century, when the first satellites of Saturn were exposed, the terms planet and satellite were at first used interchangeably, although satellite would gradually become more common in the following century.

The energetic impacts of the smaller planetesimals will heat up the increasing planet, causing it to at least partially melt. The interior of the planet begins to differentiate by mass, mounting a denser core. Smaller terrestrial planets lose most of their atmospheres because of this accretion, but the lost gases can be replaced by out gassing from the mantle and from the succeeding impact of comets.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Birds

Birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs during the Jurassic, and the initial known bird is the Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx, Ranging in size from tiny hummingbirds to the huge Ostrich and Emu, there are between 9,000-10,000 known living bird species in the world, making them the most diverse class of terrestrial vertebrates. Modern birds are characterised by feathers, a beak with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a light but strong skeleton. Most birds have forelimbs customized as wings and can fly, though the ratites and several others, particularly endemic island species, have also lost the ability to fly.Many species of bird undertake long distance annual migrations, and many more perform shorter more asymmetrical movements. Birds are social and communicate using visual signals and through calls and song, and contribute in social behaviors including cooperative hunting, helpful breeding, flocking and mobbing of predators. Birds are primarily communally monogamous, with meeting in extra-pair copulations being common in some species; other species have polygamous or polyandrous breeding systems. Eggs are regularly lay in a nest and incubated and most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching.