Thursday, February 25, 2021
Dreams😴
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Do plants think🌴
Hey, it's me, do you ever think about plants thinking? We humans, as well as animals, think before doing something so does that means plants think too
First, we need to know do they really need the ability to think. We know that plants are immobile so they can`t move. What do you do when a lion is coming you`re way you run but plants can`t run when they meet hungry cattle. They can think but not as advanced as we can.
PROPRIOCEPTION Proprioception is the ability to sense direction. plants have this that's why the roots don`t grow upwards and shoots don`t grow downwards. A plant knows in which direction to grow. They have cells called statoliths which lie at the tip of the root. They can sense gravity so the root grows below the ground.
SMELLING: Have you ever seen you`re mother putting a ripe banana with unripened ones in a bag. After a few days the all the bananas will be ripe. This is because plants can smell. The ethylene gas is the ripening Hormone for fruits. When one fruit ripens the other fruits sense the ethylene gas and ripe faster.
WARNING SIGNALS When there is an insect invasion the plants warn others. When an insect chews on one leaf. That leaf lets out chemicals the other leaves sniff out those chemicals and produce toxins that are harmful to the insects.
TOUCH When a vine touches a tree it starts winding around it. This sense of touch is incredibly sensitive that even rubbing a bristle of a brush could activate it.
MEMORY When you drop a touch me not plant it closes. this response is to scare away insects. In a research, they dropped the leaf of the plant. After weeks of throwing the plant from the same height about 5 cm, it stopped closing. It is because it realized the stimulus was not harmful.
Sunday, February 14, 2021
Meet Nessie the Lochness monster
| Surgeon`s photograph |
Monday, February 08, 2021
Masters of disguise : frog fishes
Hey, it's me! Varsha. I couldn`t write due to online classes and other reasons. But I am back. For this mistake, I will be posting every Sunday at 10:00am[IST]
Today it is about frogfishes, what`s amazing about them is you will see
Frogfish are any members of the family Antennariidae, a type of anglerfish that includes about 50 species.
They have modified pectoral fins that resemble legs, which allow them to “walk” along the ocean floor looking for prey.
They are found in the warm oceans of the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Frogfish are masters of disguise—they use various types of camouflage to hide from predators and sneak up on prey.
The Commerson’s frogfish can change its colours to mimic colourful sponges.
The Psychedelic frogfish has colourful stripes that represent rocky coral.
Now comes my favourite, the hairy frogfish which has long, waving appendages that can resemble algae or even a spiny urchin.
What if the prey does not come near, they have another trick up their sleeve[or fins]. They have a dangling lure, which is a type of modified fin called an illicium, that acts as a fishing rod for prey. It resembles a worm or shrimp that looks very tasty to other fish and crustaceans. when they come near to eat the shrimp[lure] the frogfish eats it.
Now comes the best part The frogfish can swallow fish, that are larger in size than themselves. It lowers its lower jaw and expands its upper jaw to expand the mouth, then it sucks the prey in by creating suction in the mouth, a manoeuvre called gape and suck. This manoeuvre is reported to take only 1/6th of a second[ our muscles can`t even twitch at that speed.
If you want to see more jet-speed action check this out https://youtu.be/pJXmJsIaHy8.









