Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Winter spit? Wonder Nymph!
As I rose one day early in a winter morning and walked through the meadow, I found the indecent behaviour of somebody spiting out on the grass. There was the spittle on the leaf blade of the grass clasping it around. I was irritated about it and walked carefully avoiding it. Later I wondered to know from an article in a daily that it is an act by an insect's nymph and not by a human!
Labels:
Froghopper,
Insects,
Nature,
Nymphs,
Science,
Spittlebug,
Winter spit
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Reproducing Larva - the Axolotl!
We usually see that from egg caterpillar comes out, butterfly grows out of it and fly away. But in a type of Salamander (an Amphibian) its growth into an adult is hindered and it is stopped in its larval stage itself. This larva starts also to reproduce! This animal is Axolotl (Ambystroma mexicana, Mole Salamander, 'Mexican walking fish,' 'Waterdog').
Labels:
Animals,
Axolotl,
Larva,
Nature,
Neoteny,
Salamander,
Science,
Stem Cells,
TSH,
Waterdog
Friday, December 3, 2010
Tunneling bird, the Kingfisher!
If you go near a tree and a blue bird flies out with a high pitched sound startling you, it might be a Kingfisher. Here in urban South India we frequently spot this tree kingfisher, called as White-breasted Kingfisher (Halcyon fusca, 'Meenkotthi' in Tamil).
Labels:
Birds,
Fish,
Insects,
Kingfisher,
Nature
Friday, November 26, 2010
A wonder herb, called Banana!
I had wondered in my younger days that how banana leaves are seen coming out of wayside dunes. In closer view I found out that they grew out of corms that were disposed off from the nearby plantations. This Banana tree (Musa paradisiaca, Sweet banana, Dessert banana, 'Vazhlaippazhlam' in Tamil) yields the fruits that we, the humans, apes, elephants and many other animals relish on. It is not a tree but a herbaceous plant!
Friday, November 19, 2010
The courtship wonder in Dragonflies!
I had often seen Dragonflies fly low over ponds touching the water surface now and then with their ends. And I have also seen them flying in pairs one behind the other, and wondered about them. These are the reproductive displays by virtue of their nature. We shall see about this interesting displays here.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Hummingbird or Hawk Moth? Find it here!
Last spring, I spotted a smallest bird of about one inch length fly past my guava tree. I wondered about it that I have discovered a tiny bird myself. Recently I was in my garden standing before the Periwinkle plant that was in its full bloom. To my amazement that tiny bird I discovered earlier came into the scene again; it visited each flower; collected nectar like a hummingbird and flew away!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Colour the skies with Fireworks!
Each morning as it dawns, we see different colours displayed by Nature before our eyes. But at night's darkness we don't see anything colourful around us. But we can get here our environment coloured, and get also our skies coloured - by using Fireworks! (Pyrotechnics). Attracted by the colours produced by the fireworks, I tried some experiments myself then as a school student.
Labels:
Bunsen burner,
chemistry,
Diwali,
Fireworks,
Nature,
Pyrotechnics,
Science
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.
Labels:
Brain Stroke,
Capillaries,
Medicine,
Nature,
News,
Science
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.
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