Interesting Rain Facts !

• Rain falls from clouds in the sky in the form of water droplets, this is called precipitation.
• Water can also fall from the sky in the form of hail, sleet or snow.
• Rain is an important part of the water cycle. Learn how it works with our page explaining the water cycle for kids.
• Rain occurs on other planets in our Solar System but it is different to the rain we experience here on Earth. For example, rain on Venus is made of sulfuric acid and due to the intense heat it evaporates before it even reaches the surface!
• Weather radar is used to detect and monitor rain.
• Rain gauges are use to measure the amount of rain over a certain period of time. Try making your own rain gauge.
• The highest amount of rainfall ever recorded in 24 hours is 182.5 centimeters (71.9 inches) in Foc-Foc, La Reunion. This occurred during tropical cyclone Denise on January 8, 1966.
• The highest amount of rainfall ever recorded in one year is 25.4 meters (1000 inches) in Cherrapunji, India.
• Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth.
• Heavy rain can cause flooding and landslides.
• Rain allows us to create electricity through hydro-power.
• Plants need water in order to survive, they receive much of this water from rain.
• Forests that experience high levels of rainfall are called rain-forests.
• Rain with high levels of acid (a low pH) is called acid rain. Caused by the release of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air (often from factories and power stations), it can be harmful to plants and animals

Source : http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/weather/rain.html

How is Electricity Generated From Water

There are two primary methods for generating electricity from water. One method uses the energy potential of trapped water in dams in a more sophisticated version of the water wheel, and the other captures energy from ocean waves. Electricity generated from water is entirely renewable, since water is an abundant natural resource and no water is expended during the electricity generation process. For this reason, many nations rely heavily on hydroelectric power because they want to promote sustainable energy production.

When a dam is used to generate energy, tunnels are installed in the dam when it is built. These tunnels are lined with turbines which are turned when water flows through the tunnels. As the turbines turn, they create electricity which can be fed into the grid or stored. Dam operators can determine the amount of energy produced by regulating the flow of water; most dams are capable of generating far more power than they do on a daily basis, which can be useful when there are problems at other power plants and facilities.

Electricity generated from water on the ocean is known as wave power or wave energy. This method of power generation uses changes in the air levels of sealed chambers to power turbines. These chambers are floated on parts of the ocean with high wave activity, ensuring that a great deal of electric energy can be produced. Not all areas of the ocean are suitable for the generation of wave power, but some seaside communities have taken advantage of the technology to power themselves.

Electricity generation is a major concern for much of the world, since demand is only rising with the growing human population. The benefit of electricity generated from water is that once generation facilities are built, it is easy to maintain and operate them. Electricity generated from water is also clean, since it doesn't involve the burning of fossil fuels to generate power. People can also generate hydroelectric power themselves, if they have access to a fast-moving body of water so that they can install waterwheels.

There are some drawbacks to electricity generated from water. Dams, for example, can be quite destructive when they are installed, as water will flood the regions behind dams. This has been a cause for controversy in the past, especially when dams flood valleys used by native peoples for burial and religious ceremonies. If a dam fails, it also cause catastrophic flooding, and people downstream of a dam tend to experience a reduction in available water after it has been installed. Concerns have also been raised about wave power, since it can be quite noisy and it may prove damaging to marine life. 

Source: http://www.wisegeek.com/how-is-electricity-generated-from-water.htm

Interesting facts you didn't know about the Internet.

• Most famous social networking website Facebook founded by Mark Zuckerberg has more than 1,110 millions registered user as of March 31 2013. I hardly know anyone who does not have Facebook account.
• A news website contains as much information as a person of the 18th century could learn. According to the researcher Marting Gilbert from university of Southern California, 18th century person could master no more than 50 books in a lifetime. Whereas today, an average person is able to absorb the information stored in 600 000 books.
• Hong Kong is the world’s fastest internet place. It has blazing fast internet, an average peak speed of 54.1 megabits per seconds. At this speed you can download HD movie in about 4 minutes.
• Search engine giant Google can handle 35 billion queries in a month.
• Every 8th couple of today met online through internet.
• The first electronic smiley appeared in 1979 when Kevin McKenzie tried expressing his emotion by electronic means. The very first electronic look like -) then 3 years later Scott Fahlman added colon “:)-” and it looks we use to watch it now a days.
• Today 81% of emails are spam.
• For the year 2012, China accounted for 41% of the world’s attack traffic during the fourth quarter of 2012 making China top source of cyber assaults.
• United States is the largest country on Facebook, India standing 3rd. Croatia is the fastest growing Facebook country over past week.
• All Internet is 4 Exabyte’s of information. By the way, 1 Exabyte = 1000 petabytes; 1 petabyte = 1000 terabytes; 1 terabyte = 1000 gigabytes. Each year, this amount is doubled.

Source: http://techfeel.in/2013/05/10-interesting-facts-you-didnt-know-about-the-internet/