What Is the Smallest Planet In the Solar System?

The smallest planet in the solar system is the planet Mercury.

Also the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is about 20 times smaller than Earth and orbits the Sun once every 87.969 Earth days.

Although bright, Mercury is not easily seen from Earth as it is normally lost in the glare of the Sun. The first spacecraft to visit the planet was Mariner 10 in 1974.

Mercury has no moon, no atmosphere and its surface looks very similar to our moon with lots of craters. It is also the densest planet in the solar system because Mercury’s core contains more iron than any of the other planets.

One theory to explain this suggests that most of the surface rock on Mercury was vaporized when the Sun was formed.

Because of the large amount of iron in its core, Mercury has a very strong magnetic field which is powerful enough to deflect the solar wind around the planet, creating a magnetosphere.

Here’s a bonus factoid; Pluto used to be the smallest planet in the solar system until it was no longer classified as a planet in 2006.

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Who Invented Chocolate and Where Does Chocolate Come From?

Chocolate comes from the cacao tree which has been cultivated since 1100 BC in Mexico, Central and South America.

We now know that the Aztecs made chocolate beverages called xocolātl, which means “bitter water” in Nahuatl. Chocolate was used in Maya and Aztec royal and religious rituals, and the oldest known cultivation of cacao was discovered at a site in Puerto Escondido, Honduras.

Chocolate was an important luxury good throughout the Aztec empire, and cocoa beans were even used as currency because cacao could not be grown locally.

Eventually, Chocolate drinks were introduced in Europe in the 16th century, and the Europeans added cane sugar to counteract the natural bitterness. It was served cold and became very popular in Spain after the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs.

In the 1800s, chocolate in solid form was invented, and the British family Fry claims to have marketed the first ever solid chocolate bar in 1846.

During the Industrial Revolution, mechanical mills were created that squeezed out cocoa butter, which helped simply mass production of chocolate. Many people contributed to the modern Chocolate making process including van Houten, Henri Nestlé, and Daniel Peter who first used milk powder to create the first milk chocolate in 1875.

These days, most of the global supply of cocoa comes from Western Africa and South America.

Besides being scrumptious, many people believe that Chocolate has health benefits because of the antioxidants it contains, and that’s a bonus if you’re a fan of the dark stuff.

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Who Invented the Computer Device Called a Mouse and When?

The mouse is a great piece of technology many of us use everyday, and was destined for cuteness, not boring drivel.

It was invented in the late 1960s by Douglas Engelbart, and was called the “XY Position Indicator for a Display System.” It was a catchy name, but early users quickly came up with a nickname of their own: “turtle.”

The animal motif continued with the more accurate description, “rodent,” that followed.

With its long hairless tail, the little pointer device resembled any number of creatures in the order Rodentia, and these early technogeeks didn’t want to discriminate.

However, good sense and a desire to sell to consumers took over, and the name was changed to “mouse,” which stuck permanently. In every dictionary on our shelves we found mouse, which reads like this Merriam-Webster Dictionary on-line entry:

“mouse: a small mobile manual device that controls movement of the cursor and selection of functions on a computer display.”

Now it’s your turn to come up with a name for touch pads.

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Who Invented the First Computer Mouse and How Did It Get Its Name?

The first computer mouse was given its name by the device’s inventor, Douglas Engelbart.

Because, for some reason, the “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System” just didn’t catch on.

The first users hated the clumsiness of the name and quickly dubbed them “turtles,” which eventually became “rodent,” which morphed into the cuter-sounding “mouse.”

This name was just right for the shape and size of the X-Y Position Indicator, and it stuck.

These days, mice are sophisticated devices that have many buttons. Some are cordless, and more recently, have no balls for tracking. Instead, a low power laser is used to track the surface it sits on.

The advantage? We no longer have to remove the ball from the poor mouse and clean the rollers so our mouse works like new again.

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Why is a Computer Problem Called a “Bug” And Where Did the Term Originate?

Grace Hopper led the team that developed the first large-scale computer for the American Navy in 1945.

After troubleshooting an unexplained problem for days, they finally found the cause to be a two-inch bug, a moth, that had gotten stuck in the relay system.

And that’s how the term bug was coined.

From then on, all unexplained computer problems were called bugs.

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Which Is Smarter Your Brain or a Computer?

A computer is a complicated electronic or mechanical machine invented by man to solve difficult problems. But a computer can only carry out instructions that the human brain gives it.

The computer has no ability to think or reason for itself. However, it could take a man a lifetime to solve some of the problems that a computer can solve in only minutes. So, even though the human brain is more complicated and efficient than any computer, the computer is faster.

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What Was Considered a Computer Before the Electronic Age and How Much Did It Cost?

The word computer first appeared in the seventeenth century as the job title of a person who did calculations as an occupation.

Most human computers weren’t paid very much, just like the Information Technology workers of today, even though their job descriptions are slightly different.

Although slide rules were sometimes called computers, it wasn’t until the 1940s, with the development of massive electronic data machines, that the human occupation of computing became obsolete.

These mechanical devices became known as computers.

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How Was the Computer Invented and When?

Imagine the world without computers. You’d have no internet to help you with your homework, and just think of all that post, photocopying and filing.

The first computer was invented in 1834, long before TV, telephones and even electricity. The inventor, Charles Babbage, called his computer the Difference Engine. It was essentially a calculator and since there was no electricity, it was mechanical. And very complicated.

In fact he never quite managed to finish it. Babbage spent a further 37 years designing the Analytical Engine, a pre-cursor to the first working general-purpose computers.

Computers really got going in the 20th century: Konrad Zuse’s Z3 was the first programmable computer, invented in 1941.

The Colossus computer was the first completely electronic computer. It was used to crack German codes during the Second World War.

By the end of the 1950s computers had become smaller and cheaper. (They were still about the size of a double-decker bus, though.)

Microprocessors, programmable components measuring just a few millimetres, were invented by Intel employee Ted Hoff in 1971. Just one of them was as powerful as the huge 30-tonne computers of the 1940s.

By the 1980s computers were small and cheap enough for individuals to buy and use at home. And today, computers are everywhere and most modern electronic devices, from washing machines to cars, contain one.

Finished Engine: Although Charles Babbage never completed the Difference Engine himself, the Science Museum in London did manage to build one in 1991, to mark the 200th anniversary of Babbage’s birth. And it worked!

Computers have taken over almost all aspects of our lives, from schoolwork and homework to keeping in touch with your friends. But not so long ago computers didn’t even exist.

Can you live without using one for at least a week? Sign the declaration and see if you have the will power to give it up.

I DECLARE: BY SIGNING THIS FORM I AGREE TO LIVE ONE WHOLE WEEK WITHOUT USING A COMPUTER AT ALL. HOWEVER TEMPTED I MAY BE, I VOW NOT TO TOUCH ONE.

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Who Invented the First Computer?

The answer to this question depends of your definition of a computer.

The first known counting devices or tools were Tally Sticks from about 35,000 BC.

The Abacus was then invented by the Babylonians in 2400 BC.

In 1837, Charles Babbage, a British professor of mathematics described his idea for the Analytical Engine, the first stored-program mechanical computer. The Analytical Engine was designed to be powered by a steam engine and was to use Punched Cards, which was used to program mechanical looms at the time.

What made the Analytical Engine unique was that it was designed to be programmed.

It was because of this and the fact that it would be more than 100 years that any similar devices would be constructed, Charles Babbage, would be considered by many as the “father of computing”. Because of legal, financial, and political obstacles, the Analytical Machine would never be completed. Charles Babbage was also difficult to work with and alienated the supporters of his work.

In 1939, John V. Atanasoff and Clifford Berry developed the Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) at Iowa State University, which was regarded as the first electronic digital computer. The ABC was built by hand and the design used over 300 Vacuum Tubes and had capacitors fixed in a mechanically rotating drum for memory.

The ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), constructed in the US in 1943, is widely regarded as the first functionally useful electronic general-purpose computer. Influenced by the ABC, it was a turning point in the history of computing and was used to perform ballistics trajectory calculations and used 160 kW of power. World War II is known to be the driving force of computing hardware development and one of such use of computers was in communications encryption and decryption.

The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer) was the first commercially available, “mass produced” electronic computer manufactured by Remington Rand in the USA and was delivered to the US Census Bureau in June 1951. It used 5,200 vacuum tubes and consumed 125 kW of power. 46 machines were sold at more than $1 million each.

The microprocessor eventually led to the development of the microcomputer, small, low-cost computers that individuals and small businesses could afford.

By the 1990s, the microcomputer or Personal Computer (PC) became a common household appliance, and became even more widespread with the advent of the Internet.

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Four Famous Cities of Pakistan

KARACHI:

Karachi is the heart of Pakistan, Easily the biggest city with a population of 13,052,000 2010). It was the previous capital of Pakistan and a massive metropolis with a cosmopolitan lifestyle. Karachi has absorbed the charm and beauty of modern and conventional way of life. What makes the city more proud is the fact that Quiad-E-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan was born in this city and his mausoleum  is the identity of the city.

 

It is the most populous city in the country, one of the world's largest cities in terms of population and also the 10th largest urban agglomeration in the world. It is also known as the city of lights and the bride of cities due to its liveliness where people from all over the country come for jobs and labor. Other famous places of Karachi include state of the art Air Port, The famous National Stadium, Tooba Mosque, The National Academy of Performing Arts, The National Museum, Karachi Expo Centre. The Port Grand Food and Entertainment Complex is the largest food street of Asia. It is located near the Arabian Sea and  once It was the world's most popular silver-sand beach and health resort during 20th century.

ISLAMABAD:

Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan and was built in early 1960. The city is more famous due to the political hub, beauty, cleanliness and more Importantly the location in the beautiful Magrala hills which are regarded to be one of the earliest sites of human settlement in Asia.. Faisal Mosque of Islamabad is the biggest mosque of South Asia and sixth biggest of the world. The famous places for food and cafe' are Jinnah Super Market, Blue Area, F10 Markaz.

The city is a developed one and divided in different sectors. F-9 sector is called Fatima Jinnah Park which is one of the biggest in Asia. Some of the famous places of the city Include Daman-e-Koh, Monal, Shakar Parrian, Islamabad Zoo, Rawal Lake, Khanpur dam lake, Pakistan Monument, Pakistan Museum of Natural History, Golra Sharif. Islamabad is home to the some of the top-ranked universities in Pakistan, including Quaid-i-Azam University, Air University, Pakistan Institute of Engineering & Applied Sciences and the National University of Sciences and Technology. Allama Iqbal Open University in Islamabad is one of the world's largest universities by enrollment.  The Saudi-Pak Tower is an example of the integration of modern architecture with traditional styles. The beige-coloured edifice is trimmed with blue tile works in Islamic tradition, and is one of Islamabad's tallest buildings.

MULTAN:

Multan is one of the oldest cities in the Subcontinent Indo-Pak, this peculiar due to almost never-ending history of religion and politics for near about five thousand years, according to many historians it is the oldest city with a history in the modern world. Multan is the City of Saints. It is also known as the City of Sufis and Madinah-Tul-Oleyah due to the large number of shrines and Sufi saints from the city. It is also known as the City of Mangoes and produces the most juiciest of mangoes. The people of the city are polite and the thing that differentiates Multan from other cities is the calmness.

It is also a city where the five rivers of Punjab meet.  Multan is famous for its crops: wheat, cotton and sugar cane as well as mangoes, citrus, guavas and pomegranates. The best part of the city are the shrines of famous Sufi saints like Bahauddin Zakaria, Shah Shamas, Shah Rukn e Alam etc. According to Hindu legends, it was the capital of the Trigarta Kingdom and stayed a power house after that. Multan is also one of the hottest cities of the country. It has a population of over about 3.83 Million, making it the sixth largest city in Pakistan. Nishtar Medical college and hospital was once the largest in Asia, The parks such as Cantonment Garden, Jinnah Park, ShahShamas park are the biggest in the country. The State Bank of Pakistan, BZU Campus, Arts Council building with and auditorium, MGM, Multan Railway Station building the famous Clock Tower building of the Multan Municipal Corporation are the other worth places of the city.

LAHORE:

Undoubtedly the heat of Pakistan, Lahore is the second largest city of the country and one of the most densely populated city of the world. A legend based on oral traditions holds that Lahore, known in ancient times as Lavapuri. It is the City which never sleeps and also known as the City of Gardens thanks to the Mughal Emperors. Lahore also has a rich cultural and architectural history which goes back over a millennium. Lahore has a lot to offer, including, from its popular film industry known as Lolly wood, Mughal and highly ethnical architecture to the most hospitable culinary fiestas, Lahore has a breathtaking charm and charisma that enchants every one that happens to be in Lahore.

It is the city of happenings and colorful events, Festivals like Basant, Spring Flower Festival, international Theatre and Film festivals and a lot more that adds the colors of vibrancy, animation and joie de vivre to the city full of energy and life. There are many places you can visit in Lahore and you can go on and on with the names, The Badshahi Mosque, Mausoleum of National Poet Allama Iqbal,  Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens, and the mausolea of Jehangir and Nur Jehan are popular tourist attractions for the city. Golden Mosque; 13 Gates of Lahore and Lahore Zoo are also visited by people. The National College of Arts is a place where people all over the world come to learn the modern arts, whereas many famous universities are also in this city. Food Street of Lahore is the most famous in Pakistan which people mostly visit after midnight.

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