In 1960s during festivals an exciting firework was lit to the amazement of children. It is a small black tablet that gave out a snake-like thing amidst smoke, when it was lit. This black snake (Pharaoh's Snake, 'Paamboo maathirai' in Tamil) entertained children as it 'grew' out
In the ancient civilizations human beings were eager to communicate with their future generations of the world about their deeds and history. For that they stored goods and information inside Pyramids or wrote the information on stones or metals as inscriptions. These all objects still exist as wonders, and continue to be wonders. Present day human beings are also eager to communicate like this but in different ways. We bury Time Capsules down inside the Earth. These capsules
There is a tree that is liked by many animals, humans and insects. It is the Madras Thorn (Manila Tamarind, Sweet Tamarind, Pithecellobium dulce, 'Kodukkapuli' in Tamil). Goats are attracted by its leaves as they are tasty to them. Parrots, crows and squirrels find its pod as a sweet fruit. Children and adults too eat the pods as snacks. The pods that hang
Curious creatures are these ants, bees, wasps and termites. In and near every household of the world we meet one or more of them at any given time. All these come under one Order, Hymenoptera. There are much similarities than some dissimilarities among them. They are mostly social in nature and build colonies for themselves to dwell. Basically, in common (for example, ants) they have Workers, Soldiers, Kings (Drones) and Queens as members in their colonies. The Workers and Soldiers are sterile, wingless and are females; they develop from unfertilized eggs as diploid members. Winged males (kings or drones) are haploid and fertile!
I had wondered earlier about a small packet found inside the bottle containing Vitamin capsules. It was made of cotton cloth with some sand-like contents inside it. It also bore the printed words: THROW AWAY. DO NOT EAT. It is the Desiccant packet that keeps the bottle
In marriage market girls with fair complexion are in demand here, than the boys. But pregnant mothers expect their baby to be fair complexioned whether it is male or female! For that they take additives in their diet
As a child I came to know about a wonder thing that kept on raising itself above the ground and dropping down to the ground. When there was a disturbance I was able to identify it to be a living thing - it ran away using its legs! It is the Oriental Garden Lizard ( known also as Crested Tree Lizard, Calotes versicolor, 'Onaan' in
A bird falls down from the roof of the building onto its floor. It does not fly or run away. But simply sits down as if it is brooding with fluffed up feathers. This happened in the Physics Laboratory of my college in the year 1971! This white streaked bird is a chick of the Asian Koel (Cuckoo, Eudynamys scolopaceus, 'Kuil' in Tamil). At first I thought it to be a sick bird of prey. But later on I
In my college Chemistry laboratory there are racks and racks of small reagent bottles containing various chemical solutions. As a curious chemistry student then, I used to see the reactions as when a reagent is added to another one or multiple reagents added to a single one in a test tube. It was really adventurous to note the various chemical reactions taking place - change of color, production of colored solution from colorless one, precipitation of solids as a magic from a solution and colored vapors coming out with specific odors! A wonderful reaction to which one of our lecturers
