The Moth - Poem By Walter De La Mare

The Moth

     - By Walter De La Mare

Isled in the midnight air,

Musked with the dark's faint bloom,

Out into glooming and secret haunts

The flame cries, 'Come!'

Lovely in dye and fan,

A-tremble in shimmering grace,

A moth from her winter swoon

Uplifts her face;

Stares from her glamorous eyes;

Wafts her on plumes like mist;

In ecstasy swirls and sways

To her strange trysts.

Tree At My Window - Poem by Robert Frost

Tree At My Window

  - By Robert Frost

Tree at my window, window tree,

My sash is lowered when night comes on;

But let there never be curtain drawn

Between you and me.

Vague dream-head lifted out of the ground,

And thing next most diffuse to cloud,

Not all your light tongues talking aloud

Could be profound.

But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,

And if you have seen me when I slept,

You have seen me when I was taken and swept

And all but lost.

That day she put our heads together,

Fate had her imagination about her,

Your head so much concerned with outer,

Mine with inner, weather.

Orchid Cactus - Care and Growing Tips

The Orchid Cactus, commonly known as Brahma Kamal, Night Blooming Cereus and Lady of the Night, is a beautiful cacti that bores large cup shaped flowers in varied colors such as red, pink, white, yellow and even mixed light an dark colored. With little care and regular pruning, one gets to enjoy a beautiful bloom which would go on for months. Though the plant is known as Orchid cactus, yet it is not an orchid at all but a cactus. The plant must have got it's name because of the beauty of the flower similar to that of orchid and the rest of the plant resembling a cactus. The flowers  do resemble the shape of the orchid but are large and have a lovely fragrance. The flowers of orchid cactus are known to bloom after sunset, as they start out blooming slowly. It takes around two hours for the flower to bloom fully but once it is done, it stays open throughout the night.  And hence Orchid Cactus are also called as 'The Queen of the Night'. In India the orchid cactus is known as Brahma Kamal and is looked upon as a sacred plant. The name Brahma Kamal is derived from the word 'Brahma' which is the name of Lord Brahma in Hindu Mythology who is the God of Creation and 'Kamal' which means a 'Lotus' for its resemblance with the flower. Lord Brahma is usually seen holding the Brahma Kamal in his hand. One is considered to be really lucky if he gets to see a fully bloomed Brahma Kamal. In India, Orchid Cactus are found in Himalayas and now is hugely popular as a house plant.

Care and Growing Tips for Orchid Cactus

Orchid Cactus can be the best hanging plants, as there is not much of tedious task taking care of them. Being a cactus, the plants do not need frequent watering. They can serve as the best indoor plant as they are less messy. Let us learn some care and growing tips for orchid cactus.

1. If planning to grow them outdoors, it is ideal to choose a wall or plant them in hanging containers which can be placed anywhere it gets filtered sunlight.

2. Regular pruning plays a main role in the orchid cactus care. Regular pruning helps the plant to grow as a fuller plant. And once pruning is done,  the plant starts  growing again actively. The ideal time for pruning is Spring. Once the plant is pruned, you should use the pruned stems to propagate by trimming the stem just below the portion where the leaf meets stem, trimming half of the leaf on the stem and dipping the stem in water for a while. Then just plant them back in soil besides the orchid cactus to get more and more of these gorgeous plants.

3. Being a cactus, the plant should be watered sparingly. But during growing stage,the orchid cactus needs water and shouldn't be left to dry out completely. It is best to spray out the stems and root area occasionally to unclog dust and other particles.

4. Instead of nitrogen rich fertilizers, it is advisable to use rich organic fertilizer for growing thee plants.

5. Never do overpotting of the orchid cactus. If you plan to repotting, try it with a new pot and new soil which is nearly dry. Repotting should be done once a year not more than that. Once repotting is done do not water for at least 2 to 3 days, then water sparingly for next couple of weeks.

6. Winter is the resting period, so do not bother them with much watering. Instead water them only as much would keep the stems strong and plump. 

What is Wildfire

Also referred commonly as forest fire, grass fire, bush fire, brush fire, hill fire or woodland fire; a wildfire is a uncontrollable fire which usually occur in wild land ares and tend to cause maximum damage. Though the wildfires usually start in forest areas, yet if not brought under control, spread quickly destroying vegetation or agricultural areas within the vicinity. Usually forest fires happen in those areas, which are with ample dry bushes where once ignited and left unnoticed, the fire spreads quickly.

Causes of Wildfire

There are many causes of wildfires which include a

- lightning

- volcanic eruptions

- heat waves

But the most common cause of wildfire is human carelessness. On an average out of every ten wildfires, eight are caused by people. Few factors like drought, climatic changes may also impact a risk of wildfire. During droughts, wildfire are particularly prevalent, as the dry leaves, twigs, branches etc may become highly inflammable and if a small ignite went unnoticed, could cause fire and read widely throughout the area destroying homes. Wildfire can lead to death of animals and destruction of property.

Wildfire are common occurrence in the wildland areas of United States and Canada. Same is the case with the vegetation areas of Australia and Western Cape of South Africa. 

Solar Energy - The Most Important Non-Conventional Energy Source

Sun shines on the same level and intensity on the homes of poor and the rich. It is free of cost and in abundance all over the world, all year around - even during cloudy days, we receive some amount of sun rays. The way coal is used up throughout the world to produce electricity, there would come up a time when it would be a history. So all mankind would have to depend on for other means of electricity is nuclear power and available renewable energy sources such as sun, wind and biomass. The solar radiation that reaches the earth is one of the source of energy available to us and is freely produced. It also happens to be one of the most important non-conventional energy source. Solar energy is termed as one of the important energy source because directly or indirectly it can be converted into various forms of energy such as heat and even electricity. And hence solar energy is one of the most valuable heat source and an electricity source. It is also referred as a renewable energy because being a natural resource, it has the capability of being regenerated over and over again without any chances of being depleted or diminished.

Solar Energy Safe for the Planet Earth

Solar energy or solar power is not harmful for planet earth. First of all, while producing solar energy from the sun, no pollutants are emitted unlike thermal energy.When thermal energy is produced from burning coal or natural gas, pollutants are produced. This is not the case with solar energy and it is a clean energy source. And beside being a free energy source, solar energy also is forever unlike fossil fuels which will get depleted and would exhaust completely in few decades. The use of solar energy could never destroy the environment. The solar radiation which are produced from the sun get absorbed within the earth, sea, oceans and the atmosphere around us. This results in the rise of temperature and heat production. The heat and humidity produced rises to high altitudes where due to the condensation process, clouds get created. These clouds bring us rain and thus, bring water back to earth's surface. As water is important for the life on earth, there does not seem to be any harm from this non-conventional energy source.

Photovoltaic System

Also referred commonly as PV system, Photovoltaic system is a power system which is designed to produce solar power or electricity directly from the sunlight. This system includes various arrangements of components such as solar panels, solar inverter, cabling, mounting and other electrical accessories which help to trap sun rays and convert it into solar power. Photovoltaic originates from the Greek words 'phos' which means light and 'Votaic' named after the Italian physicist - Alessandro Volta. Alessandro Volta, fondly known as Volta was a scholar in the study of electricity. He is credited to be the inventor of electrical battery. Photovoltaic system thus produces clean and reliable electricity without the use of fossil fuels. The electricity produced by using solar power through photovoltaic system can be used in domestic lighting, street lights, village electricity set-up, water pumping, water filtering, water heating, telecommunications, watches, railway, road signals as well as space stations. Since photovoltaic system could be called as a relatively new concept, solar energy is not widely used yet. Also being a complete new technology, the whole process of setting up solar plant is expensive compared to other sources of energy.

Solar Cells

Solar cells also known as solar battery or photovoltaic cells are electrical devices which convert the light energy into electrical energy using the photovoltaic system. The solar cells or solar battery contains semiconductors with silicon alloys. They are also called a PV devices and are used in major proportions to power satellites and solar cars.

Solar Thermal Power Plants

Solar Thermal Power Plants are constructed to produce large amounts of solar energy. This is done by planting huge solar panels which heat up water into creating steam and then the steam is piped into huge turbines to produce electricity. This electricity generated is transmitted over the power lines.

Image Source - Google

What is Thallium

Named after the Greek word 'Thallos', Thallium is a soft, grey metal. It is a poor and malleable metal, soft enough to be cut with a knife at room temperature. Thallos means a green twig and thallium was named so for it's green spectral line. Thallium is highly toxic in nature and hence needs to handled with care. Thallium is very shiny though it dulls quickly in presence of oxygen. With the process of oxidation, thallium turns bluish grey and resembles lea. I order to prevent the oxidation of thallium which ends discoloring it, thallium has to be stored in mineral oils. Thallium is a toxic metal and should never come in contact with skin.

Uses of Thallium

Thallium is mainly used in electronic industry. Out of 70% of it's annual global production is used up in electronic industry. Rest of it is used in pharmaceutical industry for the production of nuclear medicine and also by the glass industry. Thallium is also used for the treatment of ringworm and other skin infections despite of it's toxic nature. Thallium sulfate is effectively used as a rodent killer and an ant killer as it is odorless and tasteless. 

Expansion of Idea - We are a Part of Environment, Not Apart from Environment

Whenever there are news about environment degradation, global warming or various pollution problems, we tend to feel sad and then forget about it, as if it is not our problem. We curse others for the problems they create to the environment and try to play safe as if we are not part of it. We leave the solution to the problem on the government and blame it for not doing anything. Thus we fail to realize that it is not just the government who should try to solve the environmental problems, but we too are part of the environment and not apart from it.

We, as living beings maintain a symbiotic relationship with the environment. Our actions affect the environment and which in turn affects us back. Whether we would exist or not is totally upon the different aspects of the environment. And hence we play an important part in keeping our environment balance. If environment loses its balance, we are badly affected, our existence is badly affected and hence we should actively participate in playing our part in safekeeping our Mother Nature. It is time that we realize our existence totally depends on the environment and by assuming that we are apart from it, we are actually threatening our own existence.