Scientists Study Rare Species With Unique Behavior UNUSUAL: Have you ever come across a weird-looking purple colored frog with a plump body and characteristic pointed snout? Chances are you have never even heard about their existence until now, because these fascinating members of the animal kingdom were only discovered as recently as in 2003. Now […]
Elephants Console each other in Times of Distress
BREAKTHROUGH: Consoling words or a gentle touch of a friendly hand are sometimes all that is needed to lift your mood at times when you feel sad or distressed. But new evidence finds that using physical touches and vocalizations is not a human behavior alone but elephants too are able to console each other in […]
Older Trees fight Global Warming better than Younger ones
BREAKTHROUGH: Old trees have much to give to the world. Flowers, fruits, shade, wisdom and as new research points out – respite from the ill effects of global warming. According to an international group of scientists led by Dr Nate Stephenson of the US Geological Survey, most tree species grow much faster as they age […]
Green Living Areas Make You Happier
Did you know that having green spaces in your neighborhood can have a long-term positive effect on your mental well-being? A group of researchers in the UK studying the effects of green spaces in urban areas have found that unlike the temporary boost that pay rises and promotions bring about, moving to a greener neighborhood […]
Plants can Learn and Remember Just like Animals
BREAKTHROUGH: It is more popularly known as the touch-me-not plant or the sensitive plant. Commonly seen around Indian homes and quite popular with children, the plant is so sensitive to touch that a gentle tap with a finger can make the leaves close and tiny branches droop as if someone cast a sleep spell on […]
Humans are Not Smarter than Animals
VIEWPOINT: There are tiny little insects called the Rhinoceros beetle that can lift 285 times their bodyweight. Humans can manage 1.7 times their bodyweight only. The starfish can regenerate their entire body from a cut off limb. Humans of course, can only regenerate a broken toe nail perhaps. Elephants can keep track of up to […]
See a Stick on the Crocodile’s Snout? Beware, it’s Bait!
A chimp using sticks for foraging army ants or an octopus using coconut shells as home are some of the known tool uses in the animal world that are amazing proofs of how humans are not the only species that use an object for a specific purpose. Now scientists have been surprised to discover that […]
Global Warming can make Mammals Smaller in Size
Scientist have long known that mammalian body size significantly decreased during an ancient global warming event around 55 million years ago. Researchers have now found that similar mammalian dwarfing occurred again 2 million years after the first event and thus as the Earth begins to heat up again – mammal body size may again see […]
Sundarban Tigers Closely Related to Tigers from Central India
RESEARCH: India is home to the largest wild tiger population in the world. The Indian tigers are sometimes also known as the Royal Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) also found in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Burma. Found in fragmented pockets all across the country, there has been speculations however that the tigers of Sundarbans […]
Diesel Pollutants Snatch Honeybee’s Ability to Smell Flowers
RED ALERT: In a report published in the journal Scientist Report, researchers from the University of Southampton have confirmed that certain pollutants destroy floral smells that help honeybees locate flowers that contain nectar. The researchers specifically explored the group of highly reactive nitrogen oxide gases released by diesel combustion and found that these pollutants are […]
How do Plants Tell the Time of Day?
As a kid, I was always curious about a plant in our garden called nine o’clock. My father informed that the unusual name popped from the plant’s habit to bloom like clockwork precision at nine o’clock in the morning. And so with clockwork precision myself, every day I would go out in the garden to […]