58 items in this section. Displaying page 4 of 6
Is the Red Colobus monkey extinct?
Unbelievable but true! A large West African monkey has simply vanished from the earth. It has joined the Dodo, by becoming the first primate to vanish in the 20th century. After a six-year long survey, scientists and wildlife experts have declared the monkey, known as Miss Waldron’s Red Colobus monkey, extinct. Primatologists (people who study the evolution of apes and monkeys) carried out exhaustive surveys in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, in Africa, but failed to spot a single monkey of the species....
Shirt That is a Mobile Phone
Clothes that can make phone calls, play music, dial your pal’s number, keep you snug during cold weather, operate your computer… Shirt That is a Mobile Phone [Illustrations by Sudheer Nath] This is not fantasy. A British company, called Electrotextiles, has created a dazzling range of clothes — clothes that have a mind of their own! Scientists, working for the company, have invented a fabric that can be blended with flexible electronic materials to create intelligent clothing....
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....
Why do we Yawn?
Do you think that a great big yawn means you are really bored? Well, if you do, then you cannot possibly be further from the truth. Until recently many researchers used to think yawning is essential to increasing the oxygen intake to the lungs. A few on the other hand insisted that yawning is similar to stretching as it increases blood pressure and heart beat rate. While both research findings are correct, new studies show that yawning actually perks you up instead of doing the opposite (as many of us seem to think)....
How do Spiderwebs Help Skydivers?
While dusting the house have you ever cross jhalis (webs) in the corners of the wall? Sometimes you may come across them under table corners or at rarely used places. Yes, the webs are woven by spiders. It’s a nuisance clearing them for just when you manage to remove one sticky web, the spider scurries off to a corner to spin yet another! How do Spiderwebs Help Skydivers? [Illustration by Anup Singh] But before you destroy these webs with a sweep of the broom, here’s some food for thought – you are about to dismantle one of the strongest structures in the natural world!...
Dealing With the Potential Danger of a Meteor Hitting Earth
Our solar system is like a busy traffic round-about. The sun is at the centre of this round-about which drives a large number of heavenly bodies, including planets, comets and large and small rocks around it. While the earth and the other planets chart fairly fixed paths around the sun, our smaller solar siblings, like rocks, do not believe in staying in their lanes. As a result, a large rock – the size of a small city – bangs into the earth every once in a while....
Ginger, the New Wonder Medicine
Ginger has always been an essential part of most Indian kitchens and grandmothers’ medicine boxes. This spice has been used to treat the feeling of vomiting and indigestion. Now the Western world has also discovered the wonderful qualities of ginger. They see it as a powerful medicine against nausea across the world. Ginger, the new wonder medicine In India, grandmothers have known all along that the juice squeezed from ginger mixed with lime juice can stop one from feeling like vomiting....
Chimp Traits
Do you think chimps are chumps? If the answer is yes, then you are in for a surprise – because chimps or chimpanzees are actually very, very intelligent. Chimpanzees are the most intelligent of the ape family. It was known that chimpanzees use tools intelligently to obtain food. They use rocks to crack open nuts or use sticks to dig the earth for choice insects and termites. Once a chimpanzee learns a certain method he/she teaches it on to all the other chimps in the area....
What does a Train Whistle tell us about the Universe?
I remember my first visit to the railway station as a child of five. The excitement of the approaching train was an experience I have never quite forgotten. At first I heard a train whistle far away, low and distant. As the train got closer, the sound of the whistle not only increased, it became shriller, and difficult to bear. So much so that I covered my ears in alarm! Once the excitement had passed, I discovered a secret – even with my eyes closed and by just hearing the whistle, I could tell whether a train was approaching or moving away....
What kind of Family Life did the Dinosaurs Have?
In Argentina this year, scientists digging on a site made a fantastic discovery, which made them realise that dinosaurs lived as a large family. The site consisted of many nests with each nest containing as many as 15 to 30 eggs. The eggs belonged to a plant-eating dinosaur called Titanosaurs. It is the biggest nesting site of dinosaurs found so far. The word dinosaur is a Greek word meaning giant reptile. Most reptiles lay eggs in nests but they walk away after the young hatch to fend for themselves....