Rainbows have amazed us since the dawn of humanity—either as a divine depiction, a scientific puzzle or an epitome of beauty. These celestial arcs appear when sunlight hits airborne water droplets at some angles. For a rainbow to occur, sunlight refracts into the droplet, reflects within, and refracts out. However, what if light keeps getting reflected in a loop within the droplet?
Most of us see mosquitoes as blood-sucking pests and wonder if the world would be a better place if there were none. Do they have anything good to offer apart from giving us itchy rashes and deadly diseases? Yes, says science.
How do scientists proclaim an ecosystem like the Western Ghats as an ‘biodiversity hotspot’ and push for its conservation? They do so by ‘ecological sampling’, a technique used to find diversity and abundance of animals and plants in a habitat. They collect samples of plants and animals from different locations within an area and extrapolate the possible biodiversity that exists in the area.
One of the greatest threats to biodiversity is the fragmentation or breaking apart of habitats. Climate change, volcanic eruptions and other geological processes can gradually modify the area in which a species finds food, shelter, and mates. By natural selection and adaptation, speciation occurs, adding to the richness of life. Conversely, human activities of deforestation, agriculture and urbanisation have accelerated habitat loss to such a degree that species are unable to adapt to the changes, leading to ecosystem decay and, ultimately, extinction.
As kids we were fascinated seeing magnets and its property of attracting iron towards it. We always had these questions in our mind - Why does iron get attracted by the magnet, unlike other materials such as wood or plastic? What is so strange about iron? To find the answer, we have to understand a bit about magnetic properties of materials.
Global incidences of disease outbreaks such as Ebola, SARS, Avian influenza, etc., are increasing with over sixty percent of infectious human diseases being of zoonotic or animal origin. Human infections and fatalities occur only when zoonotic pathogens spill over from animals, upon attainment of certain specific parameters. In most cases animals, including wildlife, act as reservoirs of these pathogens are are not necessarily affected by the disease. Consequently, one would feel that animals are responsible for this disease transmission.
Haven't we all drunk milk at some point in our lives; it’s one of the first foods we consume. It is ‘one of the first’ because it is, in fact, the second food that we are exposed to soon after birth. The first food looks and tastes like milk, but is, in fact, an entirely different food called colostrum.
All female mammals that are capable of producing milk are also capable of producing colostrum in their mammalian mammary glands, five days before delivering a newborn and 15 days after that.
“Ecology is boring for the same reason that destruction is fun”, said Don DeLillo, an American novelist and playwright. This saying resonates very well with road ecology. Road kills are soon forgotten till the next one happens, reckless driving in protected areas is ubiquitous and polluting ecologically sensitive area is an act of no shame. And, this is not fun!
The sunscreen lotion is supposedly a magic wand we are always advised to use when going out to protects us from sunburns. However, do we know why we get sunburns? Do we understand the science of sunburn?
They say chocolate is nature’s way of making up for Mondays and that sure justifies its reputation as comfort food. The key component in chocolates is cocoa, a bean that is found in the pods of Theobroma cacao, or the cocoa tree, a native of Central and South America. The word ‘cocoa’ literally translates to ‘Food of the Gods’ in Greek. In recent years, countries in Africa and Asia have assumed a leading role in cocoa production, with Western Africa producing almost two-thirds of the world’s cocoa.