Hunger for prevention of starvation

Hunger is a feeling of urge. It is the main stimulus from a person’s body to its own organ (the stomach) to get filled up with food for meeting its energy demands. This craving of the body for food is not for the person’s satisfaction of palate but for the relief of this urge – the hunger. Hunger is a warning signal to avoid starvation and the resultant death. It is one of the Nature’s tools to keep on our living!

Continue to read about the ways to relieve the ‘persisting hunger’ that results out of lack of filling in with food here: Click On!

Viruses - genetical alterations in the news!

Viruses can produce diseases; but some harmless variety of them (Bacteriophages) has been genetically altered to give electric current at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)! This virus - using batteries behave just like other rechargeable batteries used for charging cell phones or personal music gadgets. Moreover these virus batteries are non-toxic, lightweight and dry like any other Lithium – ion batteries. More such bio-batteries may evolve soon and reduce chemical pollution also - to save us!

In another news, it is reported that a genetically altered plant kills one disease-producing virus ! Yes, it is about the Tobacco plant (Nicotiana benthamiana) that produces a protein that has anti-HIV properties. This protein in the form of a gel prevents the spread of HIV through sexual intercourse! For altering the plant to produce this protein, a virus called the Tobacco Mosaic Virus is used! A virus to kill another harmful virus, the HIV!

Paper Wasps drive you out!

In the months of June or July I see the busy activities of wasps in and around the house. Every year certain kind of wasps builds their nest on the ceiling of the dark lumbar room. They first attach a short stem made of fiber to the ceiling (like that of a ceiling fan). Then they start building cells made with paper like light material. This material is got by mixing saliva and fiber got from dead woods. The whole nest remains suspended from the stem dangling. Usually the female wasps build the nest and rear the larvae in the cells. These are the Paper Wasps (Polistes fuscatus). They are ferocious; but remain calm except when you disturb their nest. They will be observing you as you approach; when you disturb they will fly, fall on you and sting before you become conscious of the attack, and you shall come to know about it only after feeling the sting pain hurting. Moreover, once the nest is established the wasps will defend it for your any move to drive them out. In fact they will drive you out! To get rid of them, the nest with all the wasps and their larvae must be destroyed with fire. Because, even if a few wasps are left out they will build again a nest at the same site!

Electrocardiograph reports about Heart!

Heart is symbolized as the indicator of love. But this heart is more important than one’s love as it pumps and drains blood, the vital energizer of our body. It has to be kept healthy to live with ease! To measure its health easily – through its electrical activity, we have an instrument called the Electrocardiograph. This machine feels the electric current originating from the heart (in the magnitude of millivolts!) at various places of body and records it on a waxed paper, to be seen and read by a Physician. This record, Electrocardiogram (ECG ), is in the form of waves having varying amplitudes corresponding to the heart’s current. This ‘life line of waves’ has to be in normal shape for a healthy heart! Any slight change in it means one must take care of heart and get immediate treatment to sustain his/her life.

Reading one’s mind may fail; but reading this wonderful ECG shall not fail in knowing about heart’s health!

Indian Sarsaparilla to cool Head!

At summer when the afternoons are hot with bright light, an ice cold drink made with herbal syrup and lime is the favorite here in Tamil Nadu, South India, for quenching thirst. The cool drink mentioned here cools your head and the brain as you take it resting under a shadow! The main ingredient in it is the extract from the herb, Indian Sarsaparilla (Hemidesmus indica, ‘Nannari’ in Tamil). We identify this herb here in coconut groves, hilly regions where they grow by themselves; it has long and pointed leaves with white striations, and it is a type of creeper. If you uproot it and smell the root you can confirm it: it has a sweet and pleasant smell!

In this modern day of selling newer and the newest cool drinks, this tasty syrup using the wonder herb is being still preferred among all the other syrups available!

Jewel Beetles to charm you!

When I was a kid, a pair of pet insects was presented to me by my elders to be brought up! They had dark green and shiny – iridescent wings reflecting light like Compact Discs. The female had creamy white triangular tail end that bore egg that waited there to be laid. They didn’t try to fly away but rather moved slowly inside the pet box here and there, silently. These are the Jewel Beetles (Chrysochora species, ‘Ponvandu ’ in Tamil). My elders had told me that if I fed them with the leaves of Acacia tree, they would lay eggs, which hatch then into tiny insects. As they told the insects laid creamy, rubbery cute eggs! While I was waiting then to see the hatchlings, one day morning I found all the eggs to bear a hole on them with nothing inside; ants had found them to be delicious!

In the Nature these Jewel beetles are found here in South India in the monsoon month, October. At this time the Acacia trees are abound with them. They are wood borers. Another special kind of this beetle that is larger, and that has round and golden iridescent spots on the wings, lives on white Acacia trees. We call it as ‘Raja Ponvandu ’ – meaning ‘the king among the Jewel beetles’!

Beat Frequency Oscillator gave license!

In 1980s, I used to listen to the conversations of Amateur Radio Operators (HAMs) as a Short Wave Listener (SWL), after tuning in 40 meters band of my transistor radio receiver. While I was able to hear most of the operators, I could not get the voices of some which were heard only as an unintelligible squabble! Later I was informed by an operator that it is a type of radio transmission called Single Side Band (SSB) and that many HAMs can be accommodated in the band by using it. He also gave me an idea to hear that SSB transmission also by using another pocket short wave band transistor radio near that main radio. It worked well and used it with wonder. Next, the operator gave me a circuit diagram for assembling a special device for that. The device’s name is Beat Frequency Oscillator (BFO). I assembled the BFO myself, though in a crude form! With this BFO wonder, I listened to HAMs, and it paved the way for me to take up the examination for getting the Amateur Radio Operator’s License and pass in it!

Comet, an Astronomical Wonder!

The arrival of comets on the sky is a wonder to astronomers. But it is also believed by others as a bad omen attached to the leader of a country where it is seen. I wonder about this belief like this: a comet is seen all over the world in the skies of all the countries; then is it a sign of death for all those leaders?

Comets are heavenly bodies that revolve (orbit) around our sun like all our planets. So, they are seen periodically near our earth. They do not move with speed as the Shooting stars, Artificial satellites or Space stations. They are seen on the evening or the morning sky when sun sets down or rises up. They slowly move each day farther and go far away to be seen like an airplane that disappears at a distance on the sky.

Comets show a tail when they are near the sun. They consist of ice, dust and particles of rock. As these they go far away from the earth they leave behind debris that are attracted by earth’s atmosphere. When all these fall down on the earth, they produce or present the show of Meteor shower.

Acacia concinna for Healthy Hair!

Here in Tamil Nadu, South India, it is a tradition and a weekly routine to take an oil bath – anointing the whole body with Til oil (Sesame oil), then smearing a paste of an herbal pod powder and getting a shower. This keeps the skin and the hairs both of the body and scalp healthy, and ushers in a good night’s sleep! This paste’s main ingredient is that of the pods of the Shikkai Tree (Acacia concinna, ‘Shiyakaai ’ in Tamil). The whole pod itself has a good oil removing power due to its Saponins content. That is why it is available here in mini-sachets also, as a Natural herbal shampoo! Moreover its paste is harmless and it is equal to corrosive acids like Acetic acid in keeping floor tiles free from both oil and (mineral) salty deposits.

It is a wonder tree providing us freshness of both the body and mind through its pods!