If ever the Beatles were to be formed again, they would definitely agree to rope in field crickets, the distant rockstar relatives of grasshoppers, into their influential band. The male members of the Gryllidae family are noted in the animal world for the music they make with their forewings. As the sun goes down and the dark is welcome, the musical concert of adult male field crickets goes live. Some sing continuous trills, the others produce periodic chirps to enchant the ladies of their own species for mating.

Dolphins ‘see’ using sound, like bats. Each individual has a signature whistle that is unique to them, sort of like a name. They sleep with half their brain awake, and their eyes operate independently of each other. Oh, and they have an infanticidal streak.

The viruses, notoriously known for the seasonal flu and deadly diseases like AIDS, are the smallest of all the microorganisms. As potent they may be, the intriguing part about viruses is they are inactive when outside a living cell! They become active and multiply only when they enter and infect a living cell. But, unlike how our cells replicate, cell division in viruses is a unique process.

The beauty of nature lies in its resilience. A testament to this is Japan’s Pale Grass Blue Butterfly, Zizeeria maha. It’s ability to become radiation resistant by undergoing adaptive evolution is a metamorphosis catalysed by tragic beginnings.

“Can this wait? I haven’t had my coffee yet.”

“I have a headache, and I need some coffee.”

“You look tired! Can I get you some coffee?”

If someone came up to you and said the stool from one person can be used as medicine to treat another, you’d most likely be disgusted or find it absurd.  It sounds incredible, but it is true.

“What had that flower to do with being white
The wayside blue and innocent heal-all?
What brought the kindred spider to that height,
Then steered the white moth hither in the night?
What but design of darkness to appall?
If design govern a thing so small.”

--Robert Frost, in his poem Design

Long before humans arrived on this planet, elephants have been walking on Earth. Often referred to as the ‘keystone’ species by scientists, these gentle giants play a significant role in maintaining the ecological balance of their habitat.

Onion (Allium cepa) and garlic (Allium sativum), belonging to the same genus ‘Allium’ has a lot of similarities in their chemical composition, but differ in their reactions. Almost every observable characteristic of these familiar vegetables can be attributed to a cascade of chemical reactions initiated by metabolites containing Sulfur.

Savitri is a cheerful 6-year old girl with twinkle in her eyes and swiftness in her feet. She is extremely delighted to pen down the curvy tip of the beak of Purple-rumped Sunbird in her note, her 100th bird species to be identified during her birding trips. The alluring plumage, swift flight, striking songs of these feathered friends fascinate not only her, but the entire mankind!