Author: Neha Shukla

Black widow spiders, as the name suggest are famous for their sexual cannibalism, a practice where the female eats its partner soon after mating process ends. The venom of the female spiders is three times stronger, making the poor male defenseless. These facts have made scientists curious to know, how does the male approaches female for the mating without being confused for prey. 

Many species of birds have been flying in a V shaped formation. Reason behind this formation was not known and was thought to be helping birds save energy during their journeys. This V formation was typical for certain species of migratory birds such as cranes, pelicans, ibises and geese flying for thousands of kilometers, saving energy while flying would make huge difference for these birds.

Spider’s spun web to trap insects, which is known for its tensile strength and flexibility, easily stretching up-to five times their length without breaking. These webs, trap flying insects, pollen’s and other particulate matter present in the air. Traditionally it was believed that the flying insects are caught in this web. Interestingly, it is recently discovered that the spiders web are coated with a glue which makes the web electrically charged and so the web can actually leap towards any charged particles to grab it. The glue-coated web can even…

Global warming is melting the ice from the glaciers hence increasing the sea level and posing a serious threat for cities and towns situated along the coast. Based on the topic a team of scientist found that the Antarctica’s Pine Island Glacier which is considered as the single major contributor for the rise in the world sea level, is melting continuously year after year and is believed to contribute nearly a centimetre (0.4 inches) rise in sea level in the coming 20 years. Recession of the ice sheets seem irreversible…

  Raven are known for its intelligence. Recently researches has found that the majority of ravens are preferring the tall poles of power line in western United States as their nesting site. And in last 40 years there is an increase of 300 percent in raven population, as nesting on such heights give them an edge while locating prey. Though living on these high power lines are very dangerous, but raven over the years has evolved to use human engineering for its benefit. As told to BBC News by the…

Ants are very social creatures and live in large colonies consisting millions of individuals. Their society is divided as per hierarchy. Until now the presence or absence of wings were characteristic feature to differentiate the queen from its workers ants. But in a recent study it was noticed that the size of the thoracic segment may vary as per the work ants are designated to perform after attaining maturity. This may also explains how the ants carry load weighing many times than the weight of themselves. 

Tobacco in any form is hazardous. Recently a positive aspect of tobacco has been discovered, although not for humans. Team of researchers from the Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Ecology has found hornworm caterpillars (Manduca sexta) using tobacco as defense mechanism. These caterpillars thrive on tobacco plants and thus absorb large amount of nicotine. When in danger hornworm caterpillars expel (halitosis) some amount of nicotine toxin reserved in its blood to avert its approaching enemies such as wolf spiders and other predators.