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Birds Sing in their Sleep
Just like humans, birds too rely on sound to communicate. However, they do not have a ‘language’ in the true sense of the word and instead emit a variety of squawks and chirps to convey different emotions. Often, birds recognise their mates (or young) by sound rather than sight. Hungry fledglings use begging calls to let their mothers know it is feeding time. Alarm calls, flight calls for flight coordination, and warning calls are other sounds emitted frequently by the adults....
The Truth about Eels
Where: Florida, USA October 16, 2000: The recent emergence of a large number of unfamiliar eels in the waters off the coast of Florida in South-east America, is causing worry to local ecologists there. They fear that the new arrivals, eels of Asian origin, will disturb the food chain of the region with their voracious appetites. What exactly are eels ? They are slippery serpent-like fish, inhabiting shallow coastal waters throughout the world. They are fairly common in the freshwaters of eastern and south-eastern America....
Pelican Trouble
Many people living in Andhra Pradesh may have escaped the wrath of the cyclone that ravaged the state last month, but the migratory pelicans, in a small costal village in northern Andhra, weren’t quite as fortunate. Pelican Trouble [Illustration by Shiju George] The storms’ heavy winds and rains didn’t cause as much material damage as was expected, however it proved disastrous for the pelicans as small chicks were blown out of their nests....
Paris is Bugged by Termites!
Recently Parisians have been facing quite a bit of trouble; bookshop owners live in mortal terror of their precious books disintegrating, while owners of wooden houses are constantly worrying that their homes might collapse into a pile of rubble. Strangely enough, the cause of all this problem is really teeny. In fact the culprit that has most of Paris, France, upset is able to squeeze through an opening as small as 1/32 of an inch! Not so terrifying after all, but then these creatures live in gigantic colonies – consisting of more than a million members and love munching on wood and paper....
IMAX the High-Tech Theatre
If you thought watching Jurassic Park in your local theatre was a fantastic experience…you haven’t seen anything yet! Imagine being surrounded by dinosaurs ten times larger than the regular movie-screen dinosaurs. For that is exactly what an IMAX screen will show. The IMAX theatre is all set to give ‘watching films on the big screen’ a whole new meaning. IMAX the High-Tech Theatre [Illustration by Navin Pangti] IMAX is coined from the word ‘maximum Image’....
Cigarette Packs that Talk
Cigarette smoking is injurious to health – everyone knows that. Well, till a few decades ago, people were unaware that smoking could cause lung and heart diseases and cigarette packs never had a warning on them, like they do now. In recent years, research has shown that smoking is dangerous and it has now been made compulsory for all cigarette manufacturers to have what is known as, a ‘statutory warning’ printed on the cover. It states that ‘cigarette smoking is injurious to health’....
High-tech Crane Migration
As winter sets in, millions of birds leave their nests in the northern hemisphere and head towards warmer lands in the south. During spring, they once again wing their way back to their original nesting grounds. This yearly ritual is known as migration. While some birds are great travellers, flying from one country to another; others merely flap down from the high mountains to sheltered valleys for the winter. The Arctic tern (of North America) is the hardiest traveller of all....
Tiger Target
October 16: A few months ago, the accidental death of a dozen Royal Bengal tigers, at an Orissa zoo, shocked the nation. The news made headlines and gradually got relegated to the inside pages of newspapers before vanishing altogether. Yes, public memory is notoriously short and people eventually forgot about the whole episode. Now, yet another tiger death has shaken us out of our apathy. The gruesome slaughter of a young Bengal Tiger (Saki) at the Hyderabad zoo has once again highlighted the utter negligence on the part of zoo officials....
The Green Magician
July 1: Many children, all over the world, are working to protect the environment. While some are involved with school groups, others are busy spreading awareness in their neighbourhood. Fifteen-year-old Kruti Parekh is a bit different for she uses some rather fantastic methods in campaigning for the environment. This nature-loving teenager uses magic to promote environmental causes! Kruti also happens to be India’s youngest professional conjurer — a record she has held for the last five years....
Squirrelling it Away
Chimpu and his grandfather had gone to the park for an evening walk. After Chimpu had played with his friends for over an hour, he came back sweating and tired, to sit beside his grandfather at the park bench. There he found his grandfather throwing peanuts, brought from home, to the scampering squirrels at his feet. In fact, bushy-tailed squirrels are a common sight in the city’s parks and gardens. This frisky little rodent is constantly scampering around, and it is indeed rare to come across one perfectly still....