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A Fish with Three Hearts: Cuttlefish
It is said to be a royal among sea animals because it has blue blood, literally. And the cuttlefish has a large heart. Actually, it is not one but three hearts. And it is not even a fish but belongs to the same family as the squid and the octopus. They are called the cephalopods, which literally translated means head-foot. The blood of the cuttlefish is blue because of the huge amount of copper in it....
High-tech Turtle
A few months ago, a turtle in Thailand was grievously injured when it was run over by a truck. The animal hardly seemed to have any chance of survival. However, with the immediate help of the Thai Animal Guardians Association, it did survive. The Association admitted the turtle to Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University for medical treatment. High-tech Turtle [Illustration by Anup Singh] The plucky little survivor was named Jikko and the Bangkok Post (a local newspaper) kept readers updated on the animal’s progress....
Sea Turtles
Can you name an animal that returns to the place of its birth, every single year, journeying more than 1,000 km to do so? Well, here is another hint: this animal is a sea creature that originated on earth more than 200 million years ago- making the species older than the oldest ever dinosaur. Give up? They are none other than marine turtles, more commonly known as sea turtles. Seven existing species of sea turtles exist in the world today of which at least four (the Olive Ridley, Green Hawksbill, Leatherback and Flatback) are fairly common in the waters of the Indian Ocean....
Some Animal Fathers are Great Dads too!
Most animals never even see their parents. Many never meet their fathers and some do not meet their mothers either. Some insects, fish, amphibians and reptiles hatch from fertilised eggs and face life on their own. And those animals who are raised by parents, are often reared by their mothers. But we found that there are some animal fathers who are great dads too. Catfish: A male sea catfish keeps the eggs of his young in his mouth until they are ready to hatch....
What is Ribotyping?
Consider this, in a murder case, the culprit has left no clues. There are no fingerprints or eye witnesses. A perfect crime, you would say. But on close inspection, the crime branch discovers a tiny strand of hair. Back in the forensic laboratories, scientists use this strand of hair to track down the criminal and solve the murder case. But, how can you crack a mystery with a strand of hair, you would exclaim. The technique used by forensic scientists to track down the culprit is called DNA-fingerprinting....
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....
All Human History is Just 10 Seconds Old!
Look at the dial of a clock. Imagine that the 12 hours showing on the dial are equal to earth’s history of four-and-a-half billion years. Now, this is how the earth’s evolution happened… We know very little about what happened in the first three hours of the earth’s existence. The first signs of life appeared in the form of bacteria when the earth was four hours old. Then came the first vertebrates (animals with skeletons). They were born when the earth was 10 hours and 35 minutes old....
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....
Watery Facts
The Pacific Ocean is three times bigger than Asia, the biggest continent on Earth. It covers nearly one-third of the Earth’s surface. Its widest part is about 1770 km or 11000 miles. That distance would take you halfway around the world. Ninety seven per cent of all the water on Earth is salty. Only 3 per cent is fresh water. Of that 3 per cent of fresh water, over 2 per cent is frozen in ice sheets and glaciers....
King of Fruits – History of Mango!
It is a tree that is green at all times of the year. But it bears fruit in the height of summer. The hotter it is, the sweeter it becomes. And, it seems we humans cannot have enough of this juicy, fleshy fruit, for there are almost 1000 varieties of this king of fruits around the world to please our tongues and eyes. It could be round, almost like a ball, or it could be oval in shape, kidney shaped or just long and thin....