Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Capillaries save the Brain!



To have a free flow of water in channels we shall have to desilt it periodically. That is also being done in our body to have a free flow of blood to our brain. Pressure of blood flow dislodges any block such as clots or cholesterol present inside the blood vessels, or enzymes are rushed to the block's site and is dissolved by it.

Friday, October 22, 2010

The mermaid tale of Mudskipper!



In books of comics, mermaids were shown as heroines/princesses of the tales. Mermaids have a female human body and a fish tail instead of the legs. Though their existence is fictitious only, they are compared with the mammals, Sea cows (Dugong) here. I too find an another animal resembling a mermaid.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Anting, a tactic in birds!



I have seen birds fall down to the ground, stretch out their wings and fight with each other for territorial claims. Yet there are some birds that do this wing stretching solitary. It is not their sun-bathing or an act to catch their prey. But it is a tactic called as Anting.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Elephant Apple, the wonder fruit!



I had wondered in my childhood how an elephant could digest the contents of a fruit without breaking its hard shell. My sisters had informed me about this that elephant swallows the entire fruit, and after digestion we could see the whole fruit intact in its dung - but without its contents! It explains well about the great digestive power of the animal but it may be an exaggeration. OK. What is that fruit?

Friday, October 1, 2010

Tithis, the rule of Hindu families!



It is a well known fact that every Hindu temple ritual is being conducted on certain fixed and approved days of the month. These days' names can be found printed on each date-slip of a daily calendar. Do they belong to Astrology only? No, they have been so named simply, with respect to the phases of Moon only. They are called as Tithis (Lunar days, 'Thithis' in Tamil). For every thirty days these tithis repeat themselves. Among them there are two groups each having fifteen tithis.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Scaring Centipedes are beautiful!



One day I was walking barefooted on the cellar of the house. I felt a pinching pain on one of my toes. I found a vermin move away from my foot. It is the Common Centipede (Scutigera forceps, 'Pooraan' in Tamil)! Though its name implies that it has hundred legs, it has only fifteen pairs of legs.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Making oneself invisible - by Camouflage!



The word, camouflage was introduced to me when I joined N.C.C. (National Cadet Corps) at school. Then the ways of camouflaging practiced in battlefield were taught. Later I learned that animals also practice this camouflaging to evade a predator attack. Animals change their colors similar to that of their surrounding environment to become invisible!

Friday, September 10, 2010

The mighty Borosilicate Glass!



While doing certain household experiments as a school boy, I was shocked in two incidents to see my experimenting work spoiled. First one occurred when the glass bottle in which I had poured hot water broke down and the other one when I poured water in a hot glass bottle ('Horlicks bottle', as it was called then) - it cracked and fell down in pieces! My efforts to set up a 'home laboratory' was thus shattered!

Friday, September 3, 2010

Stapes, the smallest wonder bone of us!




We, the human beings, are the medium-sized member in the Mammal group of this world. We bear in our body the smallest bone that measures only 3mm in length and 3mg in weight! It is the Stapes bone (Stirrup bone). It is one of the three auditory ossicles (bones) found in the Middle ear of us, one on each side. It is the innermost bone. The other bones are the Incus present in the middle and the Malleus in the outer side.

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