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Crows

Crows are found in large numbers across India. According to researchers, Crows can recognise individual human faces, especially those who have treated them badly. And they can hold a grudge for years against such people!

Crows carefully monitor the humans with whom they share living spaces. When they are treated badly, they inform their mates of their grudge against a particular person. Together, the crows then plan an attack by usually dive-bombing (flying together in speed) at the said person.

However, according to researchers, such attacks are a rare sight in cities or towns. This usually happens to crows that are kept in captivity.

Giant African Snails

Humans grow hair, nails due to the presence of keratin in our body. But one thing that we can’t grow is a pair of eyes! However, land snails unlike us, re-grow their eyes, if damaged. 

Most land snails have eyes on the ends of their two upper long tentacles. The head has one to two pairs of tentacles which have the eyes at the tips. These tentacles can regrow if severely damaged and if a snail’s eye is cut off, the antennae can regrow a new eye when the antennae grows. 

Snails don’t have a clear vision, but can detect changes in big and light objects. If you place a finger in front of the snail’s eyes, it can sense it and will instantly retract or draw back its eye into the tentacle to protect itself. 

The Giant African land snail is known to eat more than 500 different types of plants.

Doctor’s Day!

Doctor’s Day is celebrated to recognise the contribution of physicians. In India, it is celebrated on July 1, the birth and death anniversary of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy—the most famous physician in the country.

Blob Fish

When we humans stay underwater for too long, our skin changes its appearance. It begins to look pale and wrinkly. This is because water is not our natural habitat. This is exactly what happens to blobfish.

This is how blobfish look when they are deep in the ocean.

These creatures live off the coast of Australia, somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 feet beneath the waves. Here, the pressure is up to 120 times higher than the surface.

Fish that swim in this high-pressure area have a swim bladder, which are sacs of air in their body that help them swim without cracking their bones. However, blob fish don’t have a swim bladder. Their bones and body are soft like jelly so
they don’t crack under pressure. Hence, they are able to swim deep in the ocean. The water pressure keeps their muscles tight, making them look like ordinary fish.

But when they are taken out of their natural habitat and bought up to the surface, the pressure drops, making them look saggy and droopy. This is why they are also known as one of the ugliest fish in the ocean.

Blobfish don’t have teeth. They don’t hunt and keep their mouth open to swallow crabs, sea urchins and shellfish.

World Zoonoses Day

On July 6, World Zoonoses Day is observed. Zoonoses are infectious diseases that can be spread from animals to humans and vice-versa.

Giant Pandas

Giant pandas are large cuddly-looking animals. They have a heavy body, rounded ears, a big head and a short tail. Found in China, these pandas eat while sitting in an upright position holding food in their hands, just like humans.

Giant pandas survive almost entirely on bamboo, which is low in nutrition. Hence, they eat 12 to 38kgs of bamboo per day to get enough nourishment. But bamboo does not digest properly in their stomachs and passes undigested. To digest as much as possible, pandas sit upright and eat for more than 12 hours a day. Sitting upright helps them use their front paws to hold their food comfortably.

Their front paws have five clawed fingers and an extra bone that works like a thumb. Pandas use this bone and their fingers to grasp their food.

As they spend most of their time eating, sitting upright leaves their front paws free to pick and trim leaves.

Giant pandas begin climbing trees when they are 7 months old.

Snails & Slugs

Our days run in cycles of 24 hours. We sleep for about 8-10 hours and work and play for the remaining 14. So, we tend to group animals into a 24-hour cycle when we think about their sleeping pattern.

But the sleeping pattern of snails is quite different compared to that of humans. These gastropods (animals that have no spine and has a soft body with a flat base for moving and often has a shell) do not follow the same cycle as that of humans. Their sleep cycle lasts for 2-3 days.

Their sleeping pattern coincides with the weather conditions. Snails go into a deep sleep to avoid the harsh weather because they are dependent on moisture to survive. They hibernate during the cold winters and estivate during the summer.

During hibernation and estivation, they curl up inside their shell and secrete
a layer of mucous that keeps them protected from external conditions.

So unlike humans, they do not care about the sun’s schedule and don’t need to make up for lost sleep.

Both, snails and slugs are gastropods. However, one thing that sets them apart from each other is that snails have shells and slugs don’t.

Mantis Shrimps

Humans train for years at throwing punches to become good boxers. However, Mantis shrimps have a naturally powerful punch.

Mantis shrimps are found in the shallow waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. They are very colourful and their size ranges from two to seven inches. They are crustaceans, which means that they are animals with a hard outer shell.

Mantis shrimps can throw the fastest punches in the world. They use their powerful punch to hunt for preys. Their punches can break through crab shells and walls of fish tanks as well.

Their bodies have adapted to throw fast punches. When their upper arms contract, their body’s energy gets stored in a small saddle- shaped part in their body. This acts like a spring that has been compressed. All this energy is released at once, leading the lower arm ahead quickly. Each punch produces small flashes of light, upon impact. These small flashes occur because their claw moves so fast that it lowers the pressure of the water in front of it, causing it to boil.

A Peacock Mantis shrimp’s punches are as fast as a bullet.

May and its Days

The predawn call of the cuckoo is very melodious in May. The name seems taken from the Latin word Maius or Maia, the mother of God Fleriner. Further, the Britons of Yore used to call it ‘Trimalic’, for cows gave milk three times in these longer days.

Historically, nearly all days of May are important for one event or the other. Brevity, however, allows us to recall the very important ones only.

The first of May is observed as “May Day”, i.e. Workers’ Day and International Labor Day. It is also known for the first Great Exhibition of Inventions and Industrial Marvels, held at Hyde Park in London during 1851.

Swami Vivekanand established Ramakrishana Mission at Calcutta (now Kolkata) on this day during 1897. On May 2nd, 1945, the Soviets captured Berlin while the Nazis had surrendered.

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On May 3rd, 1939, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose formed the “Forward Bloc” in Congress at Calcutta. May 3 is Press Freedom Day too.

On May 4th, 1494, Christopher Columbus landed on today’s Jamaica and thus discovered the new world, or America.

May 5 is celebrated as Children’s Day in Japan and South Korea.

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On May 5th, 1921, Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile at St. Helena. On May 6th, 1937, Hindenburg, the largest rigid airship, exploded while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey, killing 36 of 97 people onboard.

May 8th is celebrated as “World Red Cross Day” to pay tribute to the volunteers who work for the betterment of the society. Last but not least, the second Sunday of May is observed as Mother’s Day.

On May 10th, 1857, the Great Indian Mutiny started at Meerut when the Indian soldiers in the British East India Company’s army revolted against their English masters.

May 11 is observed as National Technology Day to commemorate the technological breakthroughs in India.

The birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) on May 12th is celebrated as “International Nurses Day”. Florence Nightingale is considered as the founder of modern nursing.

On May 14th, 1796, Edward Jenner (17491823) invented vaccination and in 1973, U.S. launched their first manned space station Skylab-1.On May 17th, 1540, Sher Shah Suri defeated the Mughal Emperor Humayun at Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh.

The day is also World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD), which helps to raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), such as the Internet, can bring to societies and economies.

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On May18th, 1974, India exploded its first nuclear device at Pokhran (Rajasthan).

On May 19th, 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII of England and mother of Queen Elizabeth-I, was beheaded for Adultery.

On May 20th, 1588, the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon on a misadventure against England.

On May 21st 1991, Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, was assassinated at Sriperumbudur in Chennai. The day is observed as Anti-Terrorism Day.

On May 23rd, 1984, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to climb Mount Everest. In the month of May Africa Day is celebrated to commemorate the founding of Africa Union (AU).

On May 24th, 1844, Samuel Morse wired the first telegraphic message from Baltimore to Washington. German battleship Bismark sank the British ship HMS Hood in the North Atlantic on this day in 1941.

Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Vijay against Pakistani intruders at Kargil on May 26th, 1999.

On May 28th, 1934, the Dionne quintuplets, five daughters, were born prematurely to Oliva and Elzire Dionne at Ontario in Canada.

On May 29th, 1953, New Zealand’s Edmund Hillary and Nepal’s Sherpa Tenzing Norgay surmounted the so far invincible Mount Everest.

On May 31st, 1911, the tragic luxury ship Titanic was launched at Belfast. It is “No Tobacco Day” as well.

Thus, we know that the month of May is loaded with a number of interesting events.

Termite mounds

Termites are insects that live in colonies with a hierarchy similar to that of the bees: Queen, soldier, worker and larval termites. They live in either nests or mounds.

The mound-building termites build strong mounds that can be as tall as 25 feet and live in the lower part of the mound that is underground. Irrespective of the weather outside, the inside of the mound always remains cool at 30 degree Celsius because of a network of tunnels that make up its ventilation system. The tunnels extend across the length and breadth of the mound and are all connected to one big central tunnel that runs through the centre.

During the day, when the temperature rises, the air near the opening of the mound becomes warm. As hot air rises up through the tunnels, the cool air, being denser, sinks lower through the central tunnel. This keeps the temperature inside the mound cooler than outside. Termites control the temperature of their mound because they farm a type of fungus, which grows only in this temperature. This fungus is their main source of food.

Termite mounds can outlast the colonies that built them. Some mounds have lasted even up to 2000 years.

What is transpiration?

Transpiration is the evaporation of water from a plant. It is actually the passage of water through tissues of a plant into the atmosphere.

You will need:

A potted plant, plastic bag, string

Method:

1. Place the plastic bag over a few leaves and tie it at the bottom with a string. Now with the plastic bag over the leaves, place the plant in sunlight for two to three hours.

Transpiration

2. Do you see droplets of water collect on the inside of the plastic bag?

Transpiration

 

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How does this happen?

Plants absorb water from the soil through their roots. This water then moves up the stem to the leaves. Almost 90 percent of the water is lost through the pores of the leaves also known as stomata. This process is called transpiration.

Transpiration adds a lot of water to our air; it also helps the plants to cool down.

Transpiration