The world’s biggest flower is Rafflesia flower, which grows up to a metre across. But it is not at all pretty. It smells like rotting meat. The foul smell attracts flies which pollinate the palnt.
A new bird species has been found in India the first time such a discovery has been made here in more than 50 years. The multicolored bird, Bugun Liocichla, was spotted in May in the remote Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh near the border with China. Ramana Athreya who discovered the bird named it after the Bugun tribe, which lives in the area.
The Bugun Liocichla is a small babbler (22 cm) with olive-grey plumage and a black cap. The face is marked with prominent orange-yellow lores, and the wings have yellow, red and white patches. The tail is black with a flame colored underside and red tips. The feet are pink and the bill is black at the face fading to pale white. A second duller individual was mist netted, which was probably the female. The voice is described as fluty and distinctive.
All sightings of the species are on disturbed hillsides with shrubs and small trees over 2,000 meters, with the exception of one sighting on the edge of primary forest.
Birdlife International, a global alliance of conservation organizations, described it on its Web site as “the most sensational ornithological discovery in India for more than half a century.”
Athreya caught two of the species, but released them after making detailed notes and taking photographs and keeping feathers that had worked loose in his net. “We thought the bird was just too rare for one to be killed,” Athreya said. “With today’s modern technology, we could gather all the information we needed to confirm it as a new species. We took feathers and photographs and recorded the bird’s songs,” he said.
A green diamond is the rarest diamond.
Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe!
Right handed people
Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.
If you have been walking forever in Mumbai and sit down to rest your tired feet, you may well be sitting on one of the three-seater mosaic benches installed by the Ghanshyamdas Saraf Trust. The benches, 6,385 that had been in public places like parks, playgrounds, gardens, sport complexes, beaches and sea faces, offices, schools, colleges, training centers, hospitals, cemeteries, temples, ashrams and other places. The Saraf Trust meets all expenses of the benches and believes that it is their way of serving the public.
Rock Python – Open wide
This is a rock python. Pythons and boas are large snakes that feed on animals as big as goats and deer. The snake holds its prey in its mouth, then coils itself tightly round the animal so that it cannot breathe. The snake may take several hours to swallow its meal.
Safe among the flowers
The flower mantis may be pink or white, and has petal shapes on its body. With this disquise it can rest among flowers without being spotted by the birds that feed on it. The mantis eats bees, butterfles and other insects, which may be attracted by its flower shape.
Sailors always steer clear
Sailors always steer clear of the dangerous Race Rocks off Vancouver Island, Canada, where there is a loud fog horn to warn ships. Because of strange sound properties in the rocks the blast cannot be heard a mile away, but is deafening at three times that distance.
Saltless Ice Water
Ice made of salt water does not contain any salt. That is the biggest relief for people like the Eskimos, who live in icy regions and are surrounded by ice all year long. All they have to do is melt the ice – and their fresh drinking water is ready.