Author: millennialmatriarchs

Namer of Clouds: Luke Howard

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Cloud water colour by Luke Howard https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/

23 March is World Meteorology Day. A day when there will be many scientific discourses on the science of the atmosphere and the weather. While not many adults may look up at the sky and marvel at the beauty of clouds as they drift up high, children will look up and imagine, in the continuously changing cloud shapes, everything from elephants to cotton candy! Perhaps few will make any links between the poems and paintings of this beauty with any form of scientific study.

While clouds are almost as old as the earth when it was formed, the science of clouds is much younger. Before the 19th century, the general understanding was that each cloud was unique, unclassifiable and in a state of temporary existence. Instead of strict descriptions clouds, were recorded by colour or individual interpretation. The scientific study of clouds may have said to have begun at the dawn of the nineteenth century, when a young man did more than admire the shapes of clouds, and set out to observe, study and devise a classification system for clouds. This was Luke Howard a London pharmacist and amateur, but ardent, sky gazer.

Luke Howard was born in London on 28 November 1772, the first child of a successful businessman. When he completed school Luke was apprenticed to a retail chemist, and went on to develop his own business, setting up a firm that manufactured pharmaceutical chemicals. While he ran his business, Luke also indulged his childhood fascination for nature, and especially the numerous facets of weather. He built a laboratory at home to observe, collect weather-related data and analyse this; he also maintained meticulous records of his observations.

In 1802 the modest young Luke made a presentation to a small gathering of young science-minded intellectuals in London who called themselves The Askesian Society. The lecture was titled On the Modification of Clouds (Modification referring to classification). In the talk, Howard proposed a common system for naming the recognisable forms of clouds.  In order to enable the meteorologist to apply the key of analysis to the experience of others, as well as to record his own with brevity and precision, it may perhaps be allowable to introduce a methodical nomenclature, applicable to the various forms of suspended water, or, in other words, to the modification of cloud.

Howard proposed a common vocabulary to describe different forms of clouds. The proposed system used Latin names like those that were being used for plants and animals in the Linnaean system. Combining detailed observations with imagination Howard introduced three basic cloud types:

Cirrus (Latin for ‘a curl of hair’) which he described as “parallel, flexuous or diverging fabrics, extensible in any or all directions”.

Cumulus (meaning ‘heap’), which he described as “convex conical heaps, increasing upward from a horizontal base”.

Stratus (meaning ‘something spread’), which he described as “a widely extended, continuous, horizontal sheet, increasing from below”.

He combined these names to form four more cloud types:
Cirro-cumulus, which he described as “small, well-defined roundish masses, in close horizontal arrangement”; Cirro-stratus, which he described as “horizontal or slightly inclined masses, attenuated towards a part or the whole of their circumference, bent downward, or undulated, separate, or in groups consisting of small clouds having these characters”; Cumulostratus, which he described as “the cirrostratus blended with the cumulus, and either appearing intermixed with the heaps of the latter, or super-adding a widespread structure to its base” and Cumulo-cirro-stratus or Nimbus, which he called the rain cloud, “a cloud or system of clouds from which rain is falling”. He described it as “a horizontal sheet, above which the cirrus spreads, while the cumulus enters it laterally and from beneath”. 

This was a historic lecture for many reasons. His classification brought a sense of order and understanding to a subject that had lacked coordinated thought. There were at the time no documented theories as to how pressure, temperature, rainfall and clouds might be related. Howard’s observations and classification marked the beginning of meteorology, a previously unrecognized area of natural science. The three families he proposed—Stratus, Cumulus and Cirrus , are today included as examples of the ten main cloud types – known as the cloud genera, which are defined in terms of their shapes, their altitudes and whether they are precipitation bearing. Howard’s simple, science-based system of classification was accepted by the international scientific community, and the terms that he coined are still used by the meteorological community across the world.

Howard was not just an observer and recorder, he was also skilled at painting skyscapes with clouds. He was however not adept at painting landscapes and people and a painter friend used to fill in these to complete the picture. He used these paintings to illustrate his talks and publications about cloud classification. Howard’s 32 page cloud book The Modifications of Clouds, published in 1803, is illustrated with his water colours.

Even as Luke Howard was studying clouds, for three decades he also kept daily recordings of temperature, rainfall, and atmospheric pressure in and around London. His comparison of the data allowed him to detect, describe, and analyse the fact that average temperatures are higher in cities than in the countryside. As he described it, the temperature of the city is not to be considered as that of the climate; it partakes too much of an artificial warmth, induced by its structure, by a crowded population, and the consumption of great quantities of fuel in fires. Through his observations Howard was the first to recognise the effect that urban areas have on local climate, many decades before the phenomenon of Urban Heat Islands became the hot topic that it is today.

He published his findings for his “fellow citizens” as volumes titled The Climate of London deduced from Meteorological Observations at different places in the Neighbourhood of the Metropolis in 1818 and 1820, followed by an extensive second edition in 1833. Howard thus became one of the pioneers of urban climate studies.

Luke Howard was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 8 March 1821 and joined the British (now Royal) Meteorological Society on 7 May 1850, only a month after the society was founded. He died in London on 21 March 1864.

As we look up at the clouds in the sky, let us remember the one who gave them names.

–Mamata

Easy as Pi!

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Well, most people do not think of ‘pi’ as easy. This constant is the bugbear of many a student. The general reaction is ‘The ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is a constant. Something like 3.14…. So what’s the big deal?’

Well, Pi plays a crucial role in many, many calculations within and beyond mathematics and science. It is one of the most widely known mathematical constants and is applied in various calculations, from basic geometry, trigonometry, calculus to complex physics equations and in engineering applications. It is central to calculations related to motion, gravity, and electromagnetic radiation. In engineering, Pi is used in design and construction of circular structures such as bridges, tunnels, and pipes. And in astronomy, it is employed in calculations involving the orbits of celestial bodies and the study of planetary motion. Pi is also important in computer science, where it is used in algorithms for numerical analysis, machine learning, and cryptography. 

Pi

Humanity has been fascinated with Pi for over 4000 years.  The earliest recorded calculations of Pi date back to the Babylonian, Egyptian and Hebrew civilizations—it even appears in a verse in the Hebrew Bible(written around the 4th century BC). The Indian mathematician Aryabhata (476-550 CE), in his work Ganitapada approximated value of Pi as 62,832/20,000 = 3.1416 (more accurate than Archimedes’ ’inaccurate’ 22/7 which was frequently used), but he apparently never used it for anything, nor did anyone else at the time. Famous mathematicians like Fibonacci, Newton, Leibniz, and Gauss dedicated a lot of time to studying the value of Pi, calculating its digits, and applying it in numerous calculations.

These centuries of fascination culminated in someone deciding to do something about it—declaring a DAY for it! On 14 March 1988, the first official large-scale celebrations of Pi Day were organized at the San Francisco Exploratorium by Larry Shaw, a physicist. The events to mark the day included several participants marching around a circle and consuming fruit pies. Since then, it has gained popularity and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a notification in March 2009, recognising 14 March as Pi Day.

Why 14 March? Well, that date is also written as 3.14! And, by coincidence, is also the birthday of Albert Einstein! Pi Day celebrations across the world include calculating more and more digits, and memorizing their value!

Pi has been calculated to over 60 trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern.

Pi has also inspired literary genres! Pilish is a genre which is written in such a way that each digit of pi denotes the number of letters in each word. So, the first word has 3 letters, the second 1, the third 4, and so on. The only novel in Pilish is by the American Mike Keith, with the title: Not A Wake: A Dream Embodying π’s Digits Fully For 10000 Decimals

Mike has also invented the “piku”, which is a Pilish poem based on haiku. And here is something he wrote for Pi Day some years back:

It’s a moon,

A wheel revolving on golden earth, and lotus blossoms.

Mountains embrace windmills, and it all reflects this number, pi.

On the other hand, to celebrate the day, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has come up with a series of science and engineering questions that are related to some of the agency’s Earth and space missions.

Well, to each their own favourite Pi or Pie!

Happy Pi Day!

–Meena

New Superfood: Popcorn

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What is a whole grain high in dietary fibre, contains protein, vitamins and minerals, is low in fat and sugar, contains no cholesterol, is gluten-free, and helps boost heart health? Among the ever increasing list of ‘super foods’ is, what sounds an unlikely candidate. It is popcorn!

The snack that is commonly associated with brimming buckets in movie theatres and the overflowing bowls within easy reach of couch potatoes has been generally labelled as ‘junk food’. The fluffy crunchy nibbles have more to their history than their addictive aroma and innumerable flavours.

While the most common association of popcorn is with all things quintessentially American, the roots (literally) of its mother grain do not lie there. When we use the word ‘popcorn’ it usually refers to puffed kernels of corn. The word, in fact, refers to a whole grain, which belongs to a group of seeds that come from crops that include barley, millet, oats, rice, and wheat. Popcorn is a strain of maize characterized by especially starchy kernels with hard kernel walls, which help internal pressure build when placed over heat.

This was one of the first variations of maize cultivated from teosinte, a wild grass, in Central America about 8,000 years ago. The popcorn variety of maize was domesticated by Pre-Columbian indigenous peoples by 5000 B.C.E. It is believed that the first use of wild and early cultivated corn was popping. Early Spanish invaders to the Central and South America recorded their discovery of this multi-use maize. Ceremonies of the Aztec Indians involved the use of popcorn, not only as food but also as adornments, in ceremonial head dresses and, necklaces, and as offerings to their gods.

There is also evidence to indicate that the Native Americans also knew of, and consumed this form of popcorn maize. In the early 1600s European explorers who began travelling to the New World recorded that the Iroquois Native Indians in the Great Lakes region popped corn with heated sand in a pottery vessel and used it to make popcorn soup, among other things.

The folklore of some Native American tribes told of spirits who lived inside each kernel of popcorn. The spirits were quiet and content to live on their own, but grew angry if their houses were heated. The hotter their homes became, the angrier they would become, shaking the kernels until the heat was too much. Finally, they would burst out of their homes and into the air as a disgruntled puff of steam.

What is the science behind the pop? A kernel of popcorn contains a small amount of water stored inside a circle of soft starch. The soft starch is surrounded by the kernel’s hard outer surface. As the kernel heats up, the water expands, building pressure against the hard starch surface. Eventually, this outer layer gives way, causing the popcorn to explode. As it explodes, the soft starch inside the popcorn becomes inflated and bursts, turning the kernel inside out. The steam inside the kernel is released, and the popcorn is popped, hot and ready to eat.

The discovery of the exploding kernel may have reached the early colonial settlers to the new World, who were probably the earliest European-American popcorn makers. They tried several methods of popping corn—throwing kernels into hot ashes, cooking popcorn in kettles filled with hot lard or butter, or cooking over an open fire in a wire box with a long handle. By the mid-1800s popcorn became a favourite snack. But it remained largely a home-grown crop used for family consumption. 

In the 1820s it began to be commercially sold throughout the Eastern United States under the name Pearl or Nonpareil. By the 1840s the popularity had spread across the continent. By 1848 the word ‘popcorn’ was included in John Russell Bartlett’s Dictionary of Americanisms. It would be another few decades before the large-scale production of popcorn became possible. This happened when a Chicago entrepreneur named Charles Cretors built the first commercial popcorn-popping machine. Starting with a peanut roasting machine, Cretors went on to develop a machine powered by steam that ensured even heating, and popping, of popcorn kernels. One of the first such machines for popping corn appeared in 1885. Since the machine was mobile, and could mass-produce popcorn without a kitchen, the invention also increased the amount of people who had access to popcorn and thus, the popularity of the snack in America.

Popcorn really caught on during the 1890s. Street vendors, pushing steam or gas-powered poppers, became a common sight at circuses, fairs, and parks. By 1900, the enterprising Cretors introduced a horse-drawn popcorn wagon, and initiated a massive popcorn wave.  In fact, there was really only one entertainment site where the snack was absent: the theaters. Theatre owners felt that the buttery snack would stain their carpets, and the crunching would be a noisy distraction; this was still the age of silent films. Talking movies made their debut in 1927, greatly increasing movie-going audiences, and also customers for in-house snacks. As theatres were still hesitant to install popcorn machines, business for street vendors boomed. They brought their popcorn machines and sold just outside the theatre. Some theatres banned popcorn inside, which increased its attraction! 

The theatres had practical reasons for the not installing popcorn machines. They lacked proper ventilation, which would lead to a build-up of smoky popcorn odours. However, with increasing demand for popcorn they initially leased ‘lobby privileges’ to vendors who could sell there for a daily fee, and whose business continued to boom. Until the theatre owners finally realized the kind of profits that they were missing by not having their own popcorn machines, and went on to make and sell popcorn in the lobby. This proved to be timely; as America plunged into the Great Depression in the early 1930s, movies and a bag of popcorn was all that most families could afford for entertainment. Thus when many businesses collapsed the movie-popcorn combination thrived. And as they say, that was the turning point. Ever since, and up till this day, movie theatre lobbies are inextricably linked with the smell of hot popcorn, in many parts of the world!  

The advent of television in the 1950s made a big dent in movie-going and popcorn consumption. That is until people started making popcorn at home, leading once again to a surge in consumption. The introduction of the microwave, and micro-waveable popcorn was as significant a milestone in its history as was Charles Cretors’ first commercial popcorn-popping machine.  

America continues to be the largest consumer of popcorn in the world. So deeply is this snack entrenched in their lives that Americans have declared a National Popcorn Day to be celebrated on January 19 every year, and a National Popcorn Lovers Day on 14 March. Today popcorn is a favourite snack across the world. From the utterly butterly delicious plain popcorn, to a variety of flavoured ones, everyone has their favourite. Surely a good reason for all popcorn lovers to celebrate!

As a huge popcorn fan myself, cheers to happy Popcorn Lovers Day!

–Mamata

Sleepy Time…World Sleep Day

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We who sleep well, generally take sleep for granted. But it is when we cannot sleep that we begin to appreciate how important it is. As adults, at some point of time, we all probably have experienced short-term insomnia which can last for days or weeks and is generally caused by or a distressing event. But some of us suffer from long-term insomnia, also called chronic insomnia.

The necessity of sleep, and what the lack of it can do to us, cannot be underestimated. Doing research on this subject is difficult—after all, we cannot deprive people of sleep to check what happens to them. But the general observation is that after 24 hours without sleep, cognitive effects similar to having a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10% (which is higher than the legal limit for driving) can be seen. Anxiety and agitation set in. Performance on tasks declines, making people more prone to errors. There may be changes to visual perception. After 48 hours without sleep, people may begin to have blurry or double vision, which may progress into distortions of reality and hallucinations. After 72 hours without sleep, a person may begin to slur their speech or walk unsteadily. Hallucinations become increasingly frequent and complex. As people near 120 hours without sleep, they may experience a rapid and severe decline in mental health. This may include symptoms of psychosis, where a person becomes detached from reality and has complex delusions and displays violent behaviour. (https://www.sleepfoundation.org/)

So it is not at all out of place to have a World Sleep Day. This is celebrated on the Friday before the Spring Vernal Equinox, and falls on March 15th this year. It is organized by the World Sleep Day Committee of the World Sleep Day Society, to emphasize the importance of sleep and address common sleep-related issues that many people suffer from.

Human beings generally need between seven and nine hours of sleep, but sleep requirements vary widely across species, as do sleep habits. The general trend is that herbivores who are the prey species not only sleep less in terms of absolute time, but they sleep for shorter periods at a time. Not surprising, considering predators may attack them anytime. And in general, larger animals need less sleep than smaller ones. This is because larger animals have to spend longer time in searching for and eating food.

And to lighten the mood, here are some interesting animal-sleep facts: Impalas specially male impalas hardly sleep, having to be vigilant about predator attacks at all times. Walruses can go for 84 hours without sleep. When they do sleep, they can sleep anywhere on land, on the bottom of the ocean, even floating.    Elephants sleep only 3-4 hours per night. They sleep standing, leaning on a tree or termite mound, or lying on their side. If they lie on their side their sleep is less than 30 minutes, as otherwise their internal organs may get crushed.

An intriguing question is, do migrating birds sleep and if so how? Many birds are on the wing for weeks or months, and they fly day and night, day after day. Then what about sleep? Well, studies on frigate birds have found that they sleep even as they fly! Their power-naps can be as short as 10 seconds! They also have a technique whereby only half their brain sleeps while the other half remains functional. But not all migratory birds do this—many actually take pit stops to eat and sleep.

Well, these species are lucky to be functional with so little sleep, but humans aren’t. So on this Sleep Day, resolved not to take sleep lightly. Get the minimum quota. And if you can’t, talk to a sleep specialist.

Happy zzzzzz…

–Meena

A DAY TO REFLECT

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It is March 8, and the newspaper pages are dominated by a plethora of “offers” especially for women. There is much on offer–from designer clothes to jewelry, from cosmetics and ‘make-overs’, to a day of indulgence at a spa or fancy restaurant, and even special health check-ups, all cleverly designed to “celebrate the woman in you!” This day follows on the heels of Valentines/Galentines Day which was all about ‘sugar and spice and all that’s nice’ to make every woman feel special. Tucked away between the gloss and glamour, are stories of ‘women of substance’ and women achievers who overcame many odds to get where they are today. These women certainly inspire a few, but they are quite out-shadowed by the ‘influencers’ with their countless followers.

In all the razzmatazz, not much is remembered about the origins and intent of the day that is today marked as International Women’s Day. The day, ironically had socialist origins and then became a marker of the movement for women’s rights to equality and dignity.

In its official history, the spark was ignited by a march in New York City on February 28 1908 by thousands of women garment workers who were striking to protest poor working conditions and wages. The march was spearheaded by the Socialist Party. However the history of the struggle for women’s rights can be traced further back to 1848 when two American women ‘activists’ Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott who were attending the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention in London, were outraged at the denial of official recognition to several women delegates because of their sex. On return to America they organized the nation’s first women’s rights convention in New York. The resulting Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions which detailed the inferior status of women, demanded civil, social, political and religious rights for women. This triggered the American women’s rights movement.

The concept of a day to register women’s voices crossed the Atlantic and reached Europe around 1911. Clara Zetkin, a German communist and advocate for women’s rights, including the right to vote, proposed that the day become an international event at an International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen in 1910. She believed that if women across the world were synchronised in pressing for their demands, then their collective voice would be too hard to ignore. Her proposal was unanimously backed by the 100 women from 17 countries who were at the conference. The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland with rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination. At the time, celebration was not tied to a particular date.

It was in 1917, that on the last Sunday of February, Russian women, led by Alexandra Kollontai, began a strike for “Bread and Peace” in response to the death of over 2 million Russian soldiers in World War 1. Opposed by political leaders, the women continued to strike until four days later the Tsar was forced to abdicate. As a direct consequence of the marches and demands for universal suffrage in which thousands took part, the provisional Government granted women the right to vote in 1917. Thus Russian women got the right to vote a year before Britain and three years before the United States. Interestingly it was New Zealand that was the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1893.

The date the women’s strike in Russian commenced was Sunday February 23 as per the Julian calendar then in use in Russia. This day matched March 8 on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere. And thus the date became associated as a milestone marker in the movement for women’s rights.

In the years that followed, different countries embarked on different paths towards granting women their rightful rights, starting from the right to vote, and embracing equality of access to other opportunities and avenues for growth and development. Ironically, this day is not highlighted in the United States, because of its associations with its Socialist roots and later with communist Russia. However the United States marks the entire month of March as Women’s History Day.

It is only in 1975 that the United Nations marked International Women’s Day for the first time. In December 1977, the General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming a United Nations Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace to be observed on any day of the year by Member States, in accordance with their historical and national traditions.

Today, more than a century after the day was marked, there have been many more milestones in the journey of women for their rightful status in all spheres of life—personal, professional, social and political. Every generation has had its challenges and these have thrown up the challengers who have often made it their life mission to carry forward the torch. We have often written about these feisty women in this space.

At the same time, even as women are breaking new glass ceilings, it is still a far cry from becoming ‘a woman’s world’. Women and children are bearing the brunt of war in many parts of the world; women are the most directly affected by the ravages that climate change is wreaking across the globe; women in many countries are at the receiving end of extremist religious beliefs, and women are still fighting for the right to make their own decisions about their own bodies, and minds. There are many new avenues and media to reach out, raise voices, and come together. The same media have the potential to become toxic, to denigrate, to divide and even to destroy. 

Perhaps today is a good day to reflect on this, even as we reminiscence about the women who have made our road to this point less rocky, who have led the first ascents to the seemingly inaccessible peaks, women who have led quiet revolutions at home, in the work place and in society. Let these true women of substance be our role models and inspirations, not just today but every day.

For the Matriarchs, this day marks the starting point of our own journey of sharing thoughts, angst, wild ideas, and laughter. It has been five years of a beautiful celebration with friends, known and unknown. We are truly grateful, and celebrate all our fellow travellers.

–Mamata and Meena

In the century since it was first established, International Women’s Day has come to be marked just as frequently with celebration as it is with protest, but the day’s legacy remains steeped in the struggle for women’s rights — an element that has gained renewed relevance in recent months, particularly as the #MeToo movement has taken on global dimensions.

Image: UN.org

We Got The Blues!

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Majorelle blue

Last year we visited Morocco. And of course, one of the highlights of the Marrakesh stay was a visit to the Jardins Majorelle. It is named after the person who created it–Jacques Majorelle, a famous French furniture designer who fell in love with Morocco in general and Marrakesh in particular, and spent most of his life there. He was inspired by the colours and designs of the country. He bought land on the outskirts, and commissioned a Cubist Villa to be built there, which he painted in a particular shade of blue which he developed inspired by the blue tiles widely used in that part of the country. The colour now carries his name, and is trademarked as Majorelle Blue. And as an afterthought, it is also called Moroccan Blue! (I wonder if Marrakesh craftspeople and tile makers whose ancestors must have developed the colour get any benefit from the use of the trademark?!?)

Another artist who added his name to blue was Yves Klein. Over ten years starting 1947, he created what is referred to as the purest blue.  This ultramarine blue is called International Klein Blue.

There is something special about blue. It is invariably voted the most popular colour in American and European polls. It is an ancient colour, associated with the Gods (in India, Krishna and Rama are blue, and Shiva’s throat is blue), and with royalty in many parts of the world. But in many languages, it is one of the last colours to be named! Which seems strange, considering the sky and the seas are some of the vastest expanses human eyes see.

Blue is associated with feelings of calmness and relaxation, as well as stability and reliability. Of course, it is also associated with sadness, which is why we talk about ‘feeling blue.’ Offices are often done up in blue because research has shown that people are more productive and creative when working in blue rooms. In branding and advertising, blue is often used to market products and services which are associated with hygiene(sanitizers and disinfectants), air and sky (airlines and airports), water and sea (cruises, mineral water).

But it is supposed to be a very unappetizing colour! Blue is the least common one amongst the foods we eat. It is said to suppress the appetite, and some diets even recommend eating off blue plates when you are trying to reduce your food intake.

Blue is also a fairly uncommon colour in nature–even the few animals and plants that appear blue don’t actually contain the colour!.

In ancient times, this was one of the most expensive colours to produce, which is why only the royalty and the rich wore it. In India however, it has been in use for over 5000 years, thanks the blue dye derived from the Indigofera Tinctoria (Indigo). Our Indus Valley ancestors dyed their clothes with this.  

This has also been one of the most costly pigments for painters and hence the colour was used only for important subjects. During the Renaissance, the Virgin Mary was the most important subject painted and most art from that time shows her wearing blue.

In pottery however, it has been a mainstay for centuries. Samples of pottery decorated with blue glazes going back to the ninth century are thought to have originated in Iran, developed by craftsmen of Basra. From here, it spread to China, where blue and white decoration was widely used in Chinese porcelain starting from the 14th century. All these glazes used cobalt to give the blue colour.

From here blue pottery spread to Europe, specially the Delft in the Netherlands. And of course, our very own Jaipur pottery is popular too.

Think blue, think calm! Eat off blue, stay thin!

–Meena

And see https://wordpress.com/post/millennialmatriarchs.com/1288

An Extra(ordinary) Day!

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When we were in school it was a great novelty to know, or know of, someone who was born on 29 February. There was much banter and joking about celebrating a birthday only once in four years, and therefore being that much younger than others born in the same year! This was about as much as we knew about the phenomenon that was called Leap Year.

Many leap years later, when I realized that this Thursday happens to be the 29th of February, curiosity prompted me to dig a little deeper into the why and how of Leap Years.

My first discovery was that there was a fair amount of solid science, as well as history, behind how this extra day came to be added to the calendar every four years. 

A regular calendar year as per the Gregorian calendar that is most widely followed, normally has 365 days. This is an approximation of time that it takes the Earth to orbit the sun. In reality it takes approximately 365.25 days (more precisely 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds) for Earth to complete a full orbit around the sun. It would be hard, practically, to add a quarter of a day into a calendar every year. Thus while we follow a 365 day calendar for three years, the quarters add up to a full day every fourth year, which is when the extra leap day is added to February, the shortest month of the calendar, making it a 29-day month. In other words, leap years keep the calendar lined up with the Earth’s actual orbit.

This addition is important because it helps to adjust the Gregorian calendar to the solar calendar, so that we remain in sync with the seasons, marking the spring and autumn equinoxes at the same time each year. Put simply, these additional 24 hours are built into the calendar to ensure that it stays in line with the Earth’s movement around the sun. If this difference was not accounted for, then every year the gap between a calendar year and a solar year would widen by over five and a half hours, and over millennia it would shift the timing of the seasons. It has been calculated that in around 700 years the summer in the Northern Hemisphere would begin in December instead of June. 

In other words, the insertion of an extra day is rooted in a complex combination of time-keeping, astronomy and their alignment through mathematics. Interestingly, the insertion of days in a calendar, (known as intercalation) has been tried across civilizations, in an attempt to ensure compatibility between that the lunar and solar schedules, so as to maintain consistency with the seasons. The ancient Egyptian calendar was composed of twelve 30-day months with 5 days appended at the end of every year. In the Chinese calendar, an extra month is added every three years when a “double spring” is celebrated. In the Hindu and Hebrew calendars also, a month is added every three years or so, following the moon’s 19-year cycle of phases.

And then of course is the addition of the “leap day” in the Gregorian calendar every four years. But why the name “leap day” and “leap year?”

The name “leap” comes from the fact that from March onward, each date of a leap year moves forward by an extra day from the previous year. Normally, the same date only moves forward by a single day between consecutive years. For example, March 1, 2023 was a Wednesday, and in a normal year, it would fall on a Thursday. But in 2024, it will fall on a Friday. At the same time, during leap years, January, April and July start on the same day. This year it is a Monday.

The “leaping” of days and years while not scientifically understood by a lot of people was curious enough to generate unusual responses. Over the years, a variety of customs began to be associated with this day. Interestingly, several of these are associated with romance and marriage.

According to lore, in fifth century Ireland, St. Brigit lamented to St. Patrick about the fact that men always did the proposing while women were not permitted to propose marriage to men. Thus St. Patrick designated a day when tables could be turned, but ensured that this would not occur too frequently! This was to be 29 February, once every four years. Thus St. Patrick designated the only day that does not occur annually, February 29, as a day on which women would be allowed to propose to men, and called it Ladies Privilege day. While St. Brigid is usually associated with fertility, care for living things and peace-making, she may also be one of the earliest feminists! There was also a condition attached that if a lady’s proposal was refused, to compensate for her disappointment, the woman would have to be given a gift of silk gloves, a gown or a coat.

The tradition crossed the Irish Sea and reached England and Scotland, and onwards to parts of Europe. In some places, Leap Day became known as Bachelor’s Day. In Scotland the Ladies Privilege tradition was made a law by Queen Margaret in 1288, with the added caveat that women had to wear a red petticoat when proposing!

In Denmark the man who refused a proposal had to give the proposer twelve pairs of gloves, perhaps to help her hide her embarrassment that she was not wearing an engagement ring.  In Finland, the rebuffed lady was to be given a gift of fabric to make a skirt.

Quite the reverse in Greece where it is traditionally believed to be unlucky to get married during a leap year, especially on leap day, because it was feared that it would end in divorce.

In Reggio Emilia, a province in northern Italy, a leap year is commonly known as l’ann d’ la baleina or the ‘whale’s year’. Italians in this region believe that whales give birth only during leap years. In Scotland leap year is considered unfavourable for farmers, as per the old rhyme “Leap year was never a good sheep year.”

And in France, the tradition on this day, is to read a satirical newspaper called La Bougie du Sapeur (Sapper’s Candle). Named after a French comic book character supposed to have been born on a leap day, the newspaper was first published on Leap Day in 1980, and is only published on this day every Leap Year. This is the world’s least frequently published newspaper ever, but the highest selling French paper in a single day. In 2020 it sold 200,000 copies! Perhaps it may break its own record this year.

And last but not the least, the day marks a 4-in-1 celebration for all Leaplings–people born on 29 February. There is an Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies, an exclusive club indeed. And Leaplings have the added privilege of choosing whether to celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March for the interim three years!

Happy Leap Day to all!

–Mamata

The Shape of Words: Kiki Bouba

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Do words have shapes? Or, in other words, are certain words or sounds associated with certain shapes?

Well till about a century ago, linguists did not think so. It was assumed that the connection between words and the objects they are attached to was arbitrary. For example, there is no link between the English word ‘dog’, or the French word ‘chien’, or the Hindi word ‘kutta’ and an actual dog. These are just names that people choose to give objects.

But in 1929 came an experiment by Wolfgang Kohler, followed by others building on this, which changed this thinking.

In the experiment, subjects were given these two words ‘bouba’ and ‘kiki’, and shown two shapes—one rounded and blob-like and the other spiky. Participants were asked to associate each of the given words to one of the shapes.

Over time, the experiment was carried out across regions and languages and ages—900 people across 25 countries.

And invariably, across countries and languages, the majority of people associated ‘bouba’ with the blob-like shape, and ‘kiki’ with the spiky shape. On average, more than 70% of the people tested confirmed the Bouba/Kiki effect– a non-arbitrary mental association between certain speech sounds and certain visual shapes

While this surprising phenomenon has now been accepted, there is no widely-accepted explanation of why it occurs, though several hy­potheses have been put forward. One hypothesis is that the association is related to the shape of the mouth when produc­ing the sounds—the more rounded shape of the lips when saying bouba, and the more taut shape when saying kiki. Another suggestion is that ‘the association is tied to the proportion of vowels and con­sonants and the phonemic qualities of the sounds in the words. It seems that people tend to base sound–symbol associations on the acoustic cues of the sounds.’ But exactly how they do so is yet to be explained.

Some researchers have extended these experiments to other senses. Professor Charles Spence explored the phenomenon in relation to taste. He asked his subjects to associate the words ‘ bouba’ and ‘kiki’ to the following tastes:

  • Dark chocolate / milk chocolate
  • Strong cheddar cheese / brie
  • Sparkling water / still water

Prof. Spence found that kiki was associated with dark chocolate, strong cheddar cheese and sparkling water by most people— in other words, the stronger, more bitter or sour tastes (similar to the spiky shape). Bouba was associated with more rounded, sweeter tastes (similar to the rounded shape).

While researchers are still trying to figure out the science, several interesting practical implications have emerged. Since these associations of sound/shape, sound/taste etc. are real, what happens when there is a mismatch in the image conjured up by a sound, and the real object? Well, people don’t like such dissonance!

For instance, people associate round names (“Bob,” “Lou”) with round-faced (vs. angular-faced) individuals.  And they like targets with “matching” names. One study has found that senatorial candidates in an election got 10% more votes when their names fit their faces very well, versus very poorly! (Will we be seeing a rush of name-changes before elections?!?).

And obviously, these insights are very important in naming products, developing brands, etc.

There are several such kiki-bouba association tests that you can find online. Go ahead and check if your conclusions range with the majority!

–Meena

Wetland in a Dry Land

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At first glance the landscape looks like ‘waste land’. Miles of flat land with dry dusty soil punctuated only by the thorny bushes of Prosopis juliflora. The stubble of what seems to be dry remains of grass are barely noticeable. Ironically, we are driving through what is one of India’s unique ecosystems—the Banni grassland. Spread across almost 3000 sq km in the Kachchh district of Gujarat, it is believed that the land here was formed from sediments that were deposited by Indus and other rivers thousands of years ago. The rivers changed course, and the once fertile land gradually turned into a vast arid stretch. Today the region of Kachchh is usually associated with the word rann or desert. However this rann is far more than the textbook description of a desert. The Rann ecosystem of Kachchh is unique, with characteristic landforms, biogeography, flora, and fauna. And though the flat saline stretches are the predominant sight for a large part of the year, these conceal many natural depressions which are transformed into water bodies during and after the monsoon rains. It is these wetlands, within the arid land, that transform into ecosystems themselves, with their special features and creatures.

The local language of the region has four terms to describe these wetlands. The smallest waterbody is called kar, the one bigger than kar is called chhachh, the next bigger one is called thathh, and the biggest is called dhandh. The size of each of these seasonal freshwater wetlands during any given year depends on the amount of rainfall received in that year.

I recently had a chance to visit the largest of these seasonal wetlands called Chhari Dhandh. Spread over around 10 sq km, this water body plays host to tens of thousands of migratory birds who traverse many thousands of miles, as they journey from the frozen steppes of Siberia, crossing the mighty Himalaya, to spend the winter months here. The wetlands are located on the flyway of Palearctic migratory birds who arrive in late August and remain till March, using the ecosystem for foraging, roosting, resting and building reserves for the long return flight back to their summering grounds.  

The water body hosts a huge concentration of water fowl. The drying of the soil due to evapotranspiration after the monsoon rains have receded, and the high salt content in the soil create a unique saline grassland ecosystem that supports a variety of grass species and shrubs that are a vital source of food for important bird species, as well as suitable roosting sites for a variety of birds including lapwings and coursers. The grasses also provide essential nutrients for the livestock of the Banni region, which is renowned for its milk and dairy products.

Visiting the wetland at what is almost the end of the season, we missed the flamingoes, but were rewarded with the sight of thousands of common cranes and hundreds of pelicans, as well as a number of raptors.  

Two birds make their presence best felt in this wetland. The flocks of flamingoes that paint the landscape pink were no longer in residence, but the Common cranes were there in abundance. Their presence was evident all along the edges of the flats, well before the bumpy dusty track ended at the water body. As the vehicle made its dusty way along the track, the seemingly small conglomeration of tiny dots in the distance turned into swathes of smooth wings and tails as hundreds of birds rose as one graceful swoop into the air where they glided on to settle back to earth further on.

These are but short hops for the Common crane who undertakes a marathon flight from Central Asia and Mongolia to winter in the wetlands of Kachchh. The Common crane is a large slate-grey bird, with a long neck, beak and legs. The forehead and the region between the eye and the beak on the side of the head are blackish with a bare red crown and a distinct white streak extending from the eyes to the upper back. The neck, chin and throat are dark grey. The flight feathers are black, with the longest inner ones forming a drooping bushy cloak over the tail when the bird is standing.

This is a shy bird that takes off as soon as it senses that it is being approached. Before taking to the air it runs for a few metres with its wings spread out before it takes to the air. Once in the air, the birds often fly in V-formation with outstretched neck, and stiff wing beats. The flight is smooth and unhurried and makes for a beautiful moving picture high up in the sky. This bird has a wide repertoire of calls, including a loud trumpeting, which carry over long distances.

Common cranes live in large and small flocks. They spend the evening and night near the water body. They leave early in the morning to feed in the adjoining grasslands, and fields on tender shoots and roots, and insects, go back to the water at mid-day, and return in the afternoon to continue feeding until dusk. The feeding flock is always watchful, with a couple of designated ‘sentries’ that immediately alert them in case of any threat, whereupon they take flight. A spectacular flight indeed.

We were lucky to see this sight, along with flocks of pelicans at Chhari Dhandh. During a good rainfall year, the winter season in Chhari Dhandh sees up to 40,000 Common cranes and thousands of pelicans along with a number of other waterfowl, raptors and other birds which include about a dozen globally threatened species and a similar number of near-threatened species as per the IUCN. The area has been identified as an Important Birding Area in India.    

Recognizing the conservation significance the wetland of Chhari Dhandh covering an area of 227 sq km was declared as a Conservation Reserve in 2008. The Government notification towards awarding this status noted that “given its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural, and zoological significance, the aim of declaring Chhari Dhandh a conservation reserve is to protect, propagate, and develop wildlife and its environment”. This is the first Conservation Reserve in Gujarat.

A wetland well worth conserving and celebrating.

–Mamata

Hippo Day is a Thing!

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February 15 is marked as Hippo Day.

And come to think of it, why not? After all, hippos are the third largest land animals on Earth (after elephants white rhinos). Males can measure around 3.5m long and stand 1.5m tall, and weigh in at up to 3,200kg.  That’s a weighty reason to allocate a day for them!

On Hippo Day, here is an interesting story.

Hippo
Credit: Animalia Facts

A hippo can eat up to 35kg of grass in one night. And it is this ability to munch down herbage in quantities, and their very bulk, that led to a strange development in the US in the 1910s. Senator Robert F. Broussard, who represented Louisiana, brought a House Resolution for large-scale import of hippos to the US. No, not as a curiosity or to keep in zoos. But to solve two problems that America was facing at that time.

The first was the widespread proliferation of water hyacinth. First brought in as an ornamental water plant from the Amazon, the hyacinth spread madly, and within two decades, had overtaken waterways across the South of the US, threatening water trade routes. Several ways to get rid of the weed were tried—from breaking plants up, to dredging them, to setting them on fire. But nothing stopped the weed. 

The second problem was the steeply rising prices of meat, making it unaffordable for many. The fundamental reason is not clear—it could have been the rising prices of grain, cattle shortages or profiteering by meatpacking companies. Or a combination of all of these. But there were people in the US who seriously feared that they would be forced into vegetarianism which they saw as a disaster. (It was a different time, wasn’t it?)

Senator Broussard and some friends came up with the completely out-of-the-box and bizarre idea of importing hippos to solve this twin crisis. Their claim was that the hippos would happily chomp their way through the hyacinths. And that their flesh would be a great source of meat and protein for the Americans!

And so they moved the “American Hippo Bill” in 1910! Ex-President Teddy Roosevelt was among its supporters.

The House Committee before which the Bill was presented asked some very sensible basic questions: Could hippos be domesticated? Could they be contained? Would they eat the water hyacinth? Is their meat edible? Broussard and his colleagues answered with a resounding ‘yes’ to all the questions.  

But the answers, we know today, are ‘No’ in each and every case. Hippos are not domesticable. They are known to kill about 500 people every year.  They are extremely strong and heavy, and it would be almost impossible to contain them with even the strongest fences. And they are very unlikely to have made water hyacinth a serious part of their diet. They feed mainly on grasses and would not have taken to this weed which is very low in nutritive value. And though hippo meat is eaten, it is not widely consumed.

There would have been other serious negative ecological impacts of introducing hippos into the waterways too—their heavy treading in water bodies would stir up the mud, and their poop would add to the organic load in the water, and would completely disturb the dynamics and lead to algal blooms and other problems.

Fortunately sense prevailed in the House Committee and they vetoed the Bill. Else, who knows what the American landscape would be like today!

And now for some Hippo Trivia to celebrate Hippo Day

We think of hippos as African animals, but nearly 5.9 million to 9,000 years ago, India was home to the hippopotamus. These entered Eurasia from Africa, and later diversified into South Asia before going extinct.

They can hold their breath and walk under water for up to 5 minutes.

Hippos may look bulky, but they are quite athletic, and run at speeds of up to 30kmph!

A group of hippos is called a bloat. Other terms for a hippo group include thunder, herd,  sea, school,  pod,  dale,  crash, and  siege.

Happy Hippo Day!

–Meena

See also:

Homes for Hippos: https://wordpress.com/post/millennialmatriarchs.com/4830

Beware the Kiboko: https://wordpress.com/post/millennialmatriarchs.com/2707