113 items in this section. Displaying page 5 of 12
Dangerous Red Tide in HongKong
Sea beaches around HongKong have a problem. They regularly face the threat of a ‘Red Tide’. The ‘Red Tide’ kills fish in sea farms and in the open seas. Actually, the ‘Red Tide’ is reddish brown algae that floats on water near the coastline. It enters the gills of the fish swimming about in the sea and kills them. The gills are like noses of the fish. They help the fish breathe. When the algae enters the gills, it creates havoc....
Insect which Swims on Its Back
Swimmers, who are in a lazy mood and want to relax, prefer floating on their backs. Did you know that there is a bug that swims on its back? It is called the Backswimmer. It is about 0.13 to 0.63 inches long. Unlike many other insects who use their wings for this purpose, the backswimmers make use of their hind legs to paddle on their backs. Some of them have hair on their legs which help them to swim....
Roach Sense
Have you ever caught a glimpse of a cockroach scurrying across your kitchen floor? Well, by the time you manage to get your hands on a roach repellent, the cockroach would have disappeared. Not surprising really, considering you are dealing with one of the greatest escape artists in the insect kingdom. Yes, cockroaches or roaches for short, are adept at wriggling out of tight spots. Whether it is a frog lurking behind a bush, or a descending broom, these creatures have an uncanny ability to scent danger....
The Mysterious Case of the Neem Tree
For thousands of years, the neem tree has been a familiar friend to the people of India. A native of India and Burma, every part of this tree, from its root to bark, leaves and seed, has been used for medicinal purposes. It has been used to cure illnesses. It has also been used for preventing infection, or repelling insects that attack grains or people, like mosquitoes. It is very interesting that the neem’s botanical name, Azadirachta indica, has come from a Persian description of the tree....
Mother and Child in the Animal Kingdom
It is a familiar scene in real life and in movies. In a group of 100 excited lambs, an ewe, or female sheep, has no problems picking out her lamb. She does this through the sense of smell. More than one million animal species live on our planet and the females of the species recognise their young ones through smell, sound, sight or touch. Actually, most mammals recognise their young ones by smell. As soon as it gives birth, one of the first things a mare, ewe, doe or seal does is to smell the newborn....
Different Colours of Honey
Honey comes in a variety of colours, flavours and fragrances. While some are amber, others are red, brown or yellow. Have you ever wondered why the honey made by the same bees have different colours? Simple. It is made from different kinds of nectar, or the juice that the bees suck out of flowers. Different flowers have different kinds of nectar. And, all of them have different colours. While the nectar collected from the clover plant is usually light in colour, the amber colour comes from poplar, eucalyptus, marigold and magnolia plants....
Can a Fish be an Amphibian?
The fish actually looks like it was cursed by a fairy to turn into a frog and the curse stopped working half way! It is called the mudskipper. Because it lives in swamps and estuaries with mud banks. An estuary is a place where a river meets the sea. It can crawl and jump over land too. It actually has a rollicking time jumping over mud! No wonder it is called the mudskipper! The mudskippers are probably the most land adapted of fish, and are able to spend days moving about out of water....
Tail Language
When you pat your pet dog, he wags his tail. That is his way of saying that he loves you. And, if you pay attention, you will see that he uses his tail to say so many things. Every movement of the tail means a different thing. If the dog is wagging its tail, it is a sign of friendliness, if his tail is straight, it means he is getting ready for a fight and if his tail is tucked behind his legs, it means he is giving up the fight....
Music-loving Plants and Music-giving Plants
Are your ferns drooping more than usual? Perhaps a bit of music may perk it up, for it is a known fact that music plays an important role in plant growth. But plants are choosy about the kind of music they want to hear. Experiments show that plants thrive if soothing instrumental music is played in the background. On the other hand they shrivel and die if exposed to heavy metal or rock music. And now a Japanese company has created a gadget that puts you in touch with the ‘feelings’ of plants....
The Fish Which Changes From Female to Male
There is a fish called the blackspot angelfish, which can change from female to male. No, it cannot do it by simply wishing to become male. The change happens for a specific reason. The angel fish live in groups. And each group has one male fish, which is blue in colour, and four female fish, which are yellow in colour. The male angelfish is the strongest and largest member of the group. He is the one who protects and looks after the females and acts like their ‘security guard’....