Daily Dose Of Interesting Information

[Visalakshi Ramani]

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#107. The Golden Ratio!


Nature exhibits many regular patterns, but there is mathematics behind this magic of creation! Many patterns occur with astonishing mathematical precision.

In the beginning of the 13th century, an Italian Mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci discovered one such pattern, popularly known as The Fibonacci Series. It was discovered working on a queer, hypothetical, mathematical problem!

If a pair of rabbits is placed in an enclosed space, and if each pair begets a new pair every month, beginning from the second month, what will be the number of rabbits after one year?

One pair will be born in the second month, one pair in the third month, two pairs in the fourth month, 3 pairs in the fifth month and 5 pairs in the 6th month and so on. This series when written down is 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 etc. Each number occurring after the number 1 is the sum of the two preceding numbers.

The petal like florets in the head of a sunflower form two overlapping spirals. The clockwise spiral has 26 florets and the counterclockwise spiral has 34 florets. Both 21 and 34 occur in the Fibonacci series.

Pine cone has 8 clockwise spirals and 5 counterclockwise spirals. Both 5 and 8 occur in the Fibonacci Series. On the top of a pine apple there are normally 8 spirals in one direction and 13in the other. Both the numbers 8 and 13 are in the Fibonacci Series.

As the Fibonacci Series progresses, the ratio of any number to its predecessor becomes close to 1.62:1. Since the time of the Greeks, this has been known as “The Golden Ratio” — the most aesthetically pleasing ratio.

The Golden Ratio can be seen in the proportions of many classical buildings. Countless artists and architects have made use of this ratio–though they never knew anything about the Fibonacci rabbits or his Series!

We find the Golden Ratio in many everyday articles seen around us. Can you locate some of them?

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#108. The Monte Carlo Fallacy.





If the wheel in a casino shows up even numbers 9 consecutive times, what will be the next number shown? Will it be even or odd? Most people will guess that the next number will be odd, according to the Law of Averages.

Statisticians call this as “Monte Carlo Fallacy”. In fact the Law of Averages does not exist! There is no unseen influence, which would try to balance the wheel’s past and future spins, to guarantee that the odd numbers and the even numbers show up equally frequently!

The wheel always comes up with random numbers. Whenever an event occurs, that is completely unpredictable based on its context, it is called a random event.

Randomness is very important in many games and in the several surveys conducted for various purposes. If the persons are not picked up at random, the results of the surveys will be misleading, inaccurate and completely useless.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#109. “The Father of Binary Numerals”?





Pingala was an ancient Sanskrit grammarian (450 or 200 B.C). His real identity is not known. Some historians claim that he was the younger brother of Panini (a great Sanskrit grammarian of Fourth century BC) or was Pathanjali, the author of famous Mahabhashya (Second century BC).

Pingala’s famous work is Chandah Sastra , The Art and Science of Prosody. Prosody was an important requirement in all Vedic Rituals, which demanded the purity of utterance. Chandah Sastra consists of eight chapters and the work is dated to the transition period between the Vedic meter and the meter for the Sanskrit epics.

This work presents the first known description of a Binary numeral system. Pingala used the short and long syllables instead of the 0 and 1 used in modern times. The length of a long syllable was twice that of a short syllable.

While describing the Prosody, Pingala developed highly advanced mathematical concepts. Binomial theorem, Binary numerals and Fibonacci numbers can all be derived from his work on prosody.

The discussion of the combinations of Chandahs correspond to the Binomial Theorem. The basis of Prosody has connections with music as well as mathematics. These three are interrelated inseparably.

After all, language is dealing with syllables and words formed out of the combination of syllables. Likewise Mathematics deals with numbers and combination of numbers while music deals with tones and scales!

All these three formed the fundamental parts of Vedic chanting and shared the same foundation found in Chandah Sastra.

The Indian mathematician Virahanka (6th century A.D) showed how the Fibonacci numbers arose in an analysis of the the meters with long and short syllables.

The famous Fibonacci numbers are named after Leonardo of Pisa but they have been described Pingala of ancient India. These numbers appear under the name Matra meru (Mountain of Cadence).

Will the credit of paving way to Binary numeral system, Binomial theorem and Fibonacci numbers be rightfully bestowed on Pingala?

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#110. Magic Square.


Magic square is a square of an array of positive integers, arranged in such a manner that the sum of the numbers in any row, any column and any main diagonal remains the same.

If the numbers start from 1 onwards, the squares are called a normal magic squares.

An example for a four row and four column magic square is


An example for a five row and five column magic square is


Magic squares formed with alphabets are called Templar magic squares. The letters in the first row and first column are the same. So also the letters in the second row and second column and so on. The words will make a meaningful sentence.

Ancient Romans knew about the Templar magic squares. A Templar magic square found in the ruins of Pompeii has this Latin sentence arranged in the square.

“Sator Arepo tenet opera rotas” meaning “The farmer Arepo keeps the world rolling”.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[talwan]

Hello VR,
Graeat,and Interesting Information.
I can think of the ratio of conversion between Kilometer(metric measurement) and Mile(British measurement) is Golden Ratio.
Alwan

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

dear Mr. Alwan,

you are the first one (may be the only one also) to come up with an answer.

yes sir! you are right.

1 mile : 1 kilometer = 1.6 : 1....A golden ratio.

All the luggage we use, the photo frames, paintings and classic buildings

contain the golden ratio .

That is why they are all aesthetically pleasing all the time. :thumb:

with warm regards,
V.R.

 

[Brahmanyan]

dear Mr. Alwan,

you are the first one (may be the only one also) to come up with an answer.

yes sir! you are right.

1 mile : 1 kilometer = 1.6 : 1....A golden ratio.

All the luggage we use, the photo frames, paintings and classic buildings

contain the golden ratio .

That is why they are all aesthetically pleasing all the time. :thumb:

with warm regards,
V.R.

Dear Mrs. Visalakshi Ramani,

Interesting information indeed. I had gone through a Blog entry on relation among "Golden Ratio, SriYantra and Kuber's Treasure" but did not understand much. But you have given the same in simple language. A query: Does the relationship between mile and Kilometer happen intentionally or otherwise?
Please continue.
Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

Dear Mr. Brahmanyan,

Rendering the difficult concepts easily understandable to common man is my first

and foremost aim in writing these articles.

As it is said, everyone of us is ignorant in different subjects. But that should not

stop us from getting a general idea of the great theories and concepts in the

other unknown subjects.

The mile to kilometer ratio must be a lucky coincidence, since 'foot' as a standard

Unit in F.P.S system and the 'meter' in C.G.S system have been set up quite

independently. But it is interesting to note that even that conversion falls in the

golden ratio category. You may look up in the web how the classic buildings have

this ratio in every possible aspect. So also the famous paintings of the world's

renown artists. It is really fascinating to watch.

Thank you for the valuable feedback.

with warm regards,
Visalakshi Ramani.ray2:

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]# 111. Flightless Birds.

A Bird is defined as a worm blooded, egg-laying vertebrate, characterized by a body covered with feathers, scaly legs, a beak and no teeth to chew the food.

The forelimbs of birds have got modified as wings.There are about 10,000 living species of birds-making them the most numerous tetra pod vertebrates.

We always associate the ability to fly with all the birds. But surprisingly many of the birds have lost their ability to fly, as they evolved. Many of the flightless birds have become extinct.

About 40 flightless bird species exist now. They are able to survive merely because they live in isolated areas with minimal predators.

The largest flightless bird is the Ostrich weighing a massive 90 kilograms and the smallest flightless bird the Rail weighs a mere 30 grams!

Flightless birds are called as Ratites and lack the keel, the part of the breastbone to which the flight muscles could attach.

To compensate for the lack of the ability to fly, the large birds have well developed muscular legs, and long, strong claws-enabling them to run, kick and claw in self defense. Their sharp long claws can inflict deadly wounds just like daggers. [/FONT]

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#112. Moa.



Moa is an extinct New Zea land bird. The Moa were eleven species of flightless birds, endemic to New Zea land. The two largest species reached a height of 12 feet with their necks out stretched and weighed a massive 510 pounds!

These eleven species of Moa were the only wingless birds, which lacked even the vestigial wings the other ratites have.

They were dominant herbivores in New Zea land for thousands of years until the arrival of Maori, who hunted down the Mao unscrupulously.The only other natural enemy of Moa was the Haast eagle.

Moa seems to have fed on a range of plant species, plant parts, fibrous twigs, leaves of trees and shrubs. Like many other birds, Moa swallowed gizzard stones to provide a grinding action to digest the coarse plant materials eaten. Several kilograms of smooth, rounded, quartz pebbles were consumed by the Moa.

Moa bones are commonly found in caves and vertical cave shafts. The birds who might have entered to nest must have died there. Others who fell down the vertical shafts must have found escape impossible and died there.

There are speculations that Moa may still exist in the South West land and
Fiord land. Experts feel that this is most unlikely in a region visited by hunters and hikers, as these birds are large, flightless, ground dwellers.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#113. Dodo.



The DODO was a flightless bird endemic to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Closely related to pigeons and doves, it was three feet tall and weighed about 20 kilograms. It lived on fruits and nested on the ground.

The dodo has been extinct since the 17th century. Its extinction occurred during recorded human history, and was directly caused by the human activity.

The popular phrase is “as dead as a dodo”. The verb phrase “to go the way of the dodo” means to become extinct or obsolete, to fall out of common usage or practice, or to become a thing of the past.

The dodo was not only dumb but also daring! It was entirely fearless of man. This, in addition to its inability to fly, made it easy prey. Reports say that the dodo meat had a bad taste and was tough to eat. Apparently the bird was killed only to make head dressings used in religious ceremonies.

However, when humans first arrived on Mauritius, they also brought with them other animals that had not existed on the island before, such as dogs, pigs, cats and rats The Crab-eating Macaques plundered the dodo nests, while humans destroyed the forests where the birds made their homes. The damages caused by the pigs and macaques on the dodo population are considered to have been more severe than that of hunting.

The 2005 expedition’s finds are apparently of animals killed by a flash flood; such mass mortalities would have further jeopardized an already extinction-prone species. Although there are scattered reports of mass killings of dodos for provisioning of ships, archaeological investigations have hitherto found scant evidence of human predation on these birds.

It is rightly said that fools rush in where angels fear to tread! The “Dumbness and dare-devilry” of the dodo was a doomed, dangerous and deadly combination—no doubt!

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#114. Emu.





Emu is the largest bird, native to Australia. It is the second largest, extant, flightless bird by height, Ostrich being the largest. Emu is soft feathered and brown in color.

Emu can grow to a height of 1.50 to 1.90 meters. Its shoulders can be 1.00 to 1.30 meters wide. It can weigh anything from 18 K.G up to 48 K.G! It has a long neck, long legs, small wings and a highly developed pelvic limb musculature.

Emu can run long distances at a fast trot. It can reach the speed of 50 kmph, if necessary. It has three toes in each leg and a soft bill adapted for grazing. Emu avoids highly populated areas, arid zones and dense forests.

Emu is nomadic in nature. It can travel long distances in search of food. It feeds on a variety of plants and insects like grasshoppers, ladybirds, crickets, caterpillars, moth larvae and ants.

Emu lives for 10 to 20 years in the wild but can live longer in captivity. The male emu incubates the large, dark green colored, thick shelled eggs . It can go on without food for weeks while incubating. The male protects the growing chicks for up to seven months and teaches them how to find food and fend for themselves.

Emu calls consist of loud booming, drumming and grunting, which can be heard 2 kilometers away. Emus have been seen sitting in water. They can also swim, if necessary.

Emus which inhabited Tasmania, have become extinct after the European settlement in 1788. Human activities influence the existing species. Emus are farmed for their meat, leather and oil.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#115. Rhea.


Rhea is a ratite, a flightless bird, native to South America. It has a gray brown plumage. It has long neck and long legs similar to those of the Ostrich. Males can grow to a height of 1.5 meters and weigh up to 40 K.G. It has three toes in each leg.

Rhea has very large wings for a flightless bird! But these wings are spread out wide and used like the sails while running fast. When threatened, it runs in a zigzag course, using its wings alternately, as rudders!

Rheas live in flocks of 10 to 100 strong! But they break up during mating season. Usually these birds are silent except when they have chicks to protect and are on a look out for a suitable mate.

Rheas eat broad leafed plants, seeds, roots, fruits, lizards, beetles, grasshoppers and carrion. They are polygamous. Male incubates the 10 to 60 eggs in its nest. A dominant male may order a subordinate male to incubate the eggs, while it goes out to find a new mate.

Males take care of the young chicks and will charge madly at anything threatening the chicks. The chicks grow to full size in about 6 months and start breeding after they become 2 years old.

Rheas are much in demand. Their feathers are used for making feather dusters, skins for making cloaks and leather. Its meat is the staple food for many people.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#116. Kiwi.



Kiwi is a flightless bird, endemic to New Zea land. It is the size of a domestic chicken and is the smallest living ratite. Closely related to the Emu and Cassowaries, kiwis are shy and nocturnal. They avoid human interference and predators.

Kiwi has a highly developed sense of smell-unusual in a bird! The nostrils placed at the end of its long beak, are useful in locating worms under the soil. Kiwi eats seeds, worms, grubs, fruits, cray fish and small invertebrates.

Kiwis are monogamous and are paired and bonded for lives. Kiwi lays the largest egg compared to its body size. The size of a kiwi is that of a chicken but its egg is six times bigger than the egg of a chicken! The egg weighs one fourth of the weight of the kiwi. Brown kiwi females are known to lay eggs 450 grams in weight. The male incubates the egg for 63 to 92 days.

Like all ratites, kiwis have no keel on their breast bone to anchor the wing muscle and have barely any wings at all! Kiwi has a long pliable bill sensitive to touch. Generally birds have hollow bones to reduce the body weight and make the flying more efficient. But kiwi has bone marrow, just like the mammals.

Kiwi is the well known national symbol of New Zea land and is prominent in the coat of arms, crests and badges of many New Zea land cities, clubs and organizations. Kiwi refers to a New Zea lander and a Kiwi dollar to the New Zea land dollar.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#117. Ostrich!



It is a bird but it cannot fly. It is taller and heavier than a man—standing over eight feet tall and weighing over 300 pounds. No wonder it is a flightless bird. What enormous wings will be needed to carry and bear in air a bird of this weight and height! The bird is an Ostrich—one of nature’s oddities!

Its huge body is precariously balanced on its too long legs. Each foot has only two toes –one of which is almost useless. At the top of its long neck, it has a small flattened head, a short beak, large eyes and very long eyelashes.

Its brain is smaller than one of its eyes. But the bird is not stupid. It is not clever either. It has a stride of 14 feet and can easily run at the speed of 30 miles per hour. Strangely it loves to run around in circles.

Its eating habits are legendary. It lives mainly on grass, leaves and fruits. It swallows stones and pebbles to aid its digestion. But it can eat anything without any visible ill effects.

It is very fond of shiny objects and happily gulps down watches, jewels, pieces of glass and metals. The bird is much sought after for its meat, feathers and its hide which gives good leather.

Ostrich can be trained to pull carts and for riding. It is an ill tempered and aggressive bird. A single kick from its powerful leg can bend an iron bar half-an-inch thick or break a human limb. Putting a paper bag over its head seems to have a calming effect on the bird.

The head-in-the-sand pose of the bird is a myth. In danger it just sits down and stretches its neck along the ground merging very well with the landscape and camouflage itself.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#118. Takahe.





Takahe is a flightless bird indigenous to New Zea land and belongs to the rail family. The bird is about 25 inches long and weighs 2 to 4 kilograms. It is a stocky bird, with reduced wings, strong legs and a massive bill.

The adult bird is purple blue in color with a greenish back and inner wings. The young birds have pale brown plumage.

The bird has a red frontal shield and a red based pink bill. The legs are pink too! Both the sexes look the same but the females are slightly smaller in size. These birds are noisy and have a loud call.

The near extinction of Takahe is due to many reasons. Predators, loss of habitat and over hunting have contributed to this effect. This species has a long life. So it takes several years to attain maturity and then starts to reproduce very slowly.

The Takahe is found in Alpine grassland habitats. It eats grass, shoots and insects. It builds nests under bushes and guards its territory vigilantly.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#119. Cassowary.



Cassowary is a large flightless bird native to Northern Australia and the tropical forests of new Guinea. Not much is known about the Northern and the Dwarf cassowaries. The Southern cassowary is the third tallest bird, the first two being the Ostrich and the Emu.

An adult cassowary stands 150 to 180 c.m tall! Females are larger in size and more brightly colored. A female cassowary may grow to height of 2 meters and weigh 58.5 kilograms. The bird has small wings and three toes in each leg. It has sharp claws. The second toe has a dagger like claw 5 inches long. This becomes a mighty weapon when the bird kicks and attacks with it legs.

The bird can jump a height of 5 feet and run at a speed of 50 km/hour through dense forests. It can swim in rivers as well as in the sea. It has a horn-like soft, spongy crest, 18 c.m tall, on its head. This protects the bird’s head from collisions. It is probably used as a weapon to settle the dominance disputes also. It is useful while foraging for food, and acts as an amplifier for the low frequency sounds, the bird produces.

The average life span on this bird is 40 to 50 years. Usually very shy,the birds keep away from human interference. Their main food are plant shoots, grass seeds, fungi, invertebrates and small vertebrates.

When disturbed the bird is capable of inflicting serious injuries to dogs and children.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#120. Elephant Birds!





Elephant birds are a family of flightless birds found only on the island of Madagascar, extinct since the 17th century. These birds were over 10 feet tall and weighed a massive 880 pounds!

The eggs of these birds had a circumference of 39 inches and length up to 13 inches. The volume of one such egg is equivalent to 160 chicken eggs! Like all the other ratites, these birds could not fly. Their breast bones had no keel.

A French Governor to Madagascar in the 1640s and 1650s recorded frequent sightings of the Elephant birds. It is not known whether these birds adapted to the dense forest dwelling like the cassowary. The food habits of these birds are not known. However some rain forest fruits might have been adapted to pass thorough the ratite guts.

The extinction of these birds was due to human activities. The adult birds were large, elusive and wide spread. But the eggs were vulnerable. The remains of the egg shells found in the remains of the human fire suggests that the eggs must have served as the meal of entire families.

Animals accompanying the colonists namely cats, dogs and rats must have preyed on the eggs, bringing down the population of the birds to extinction.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#121. Penguins.



Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living in the Southern Hemisphere. They are highly adapted for life in water.The are counter shaded and their wings have become flippers. Penguin’s swimming in water resembles the flight of a bird in air.

They spend half their lives in water and half on land. The largest living species Emperor Penguin is 3′ 7″ tall and weighs 75 pounds. The smallest Little Blue penguin (Fairy penguin) is just 16″ tall and weighs a mere 2.2 pounds.

The layer of air trapped within the soft plumage ensures buoyancy and protection from the ice cold water. On land penguins use their tails and flippers for balance and waddle on their legs or just go sliding on their bellies.This conserves the energy and makes the traveling faster. They jump with both legs to cross steep or rocky terrains.

The white belly camouflages the penguins from the predators looking from below, while the dark plumage on the back protects from the enemies above.

Penguins can swim at 6 to 12 km/hour but can reach 27 km/h while swimming to save their lives. Small penguins do not dive very deep but the adults can dive to a depth of 1800 feet, for more than 20 minutes.

Penguins have normal hearing ability. Their eyes are adapted for under water vision. They can control their blood flow to the extremities and reduce the loss of body heat. They huddle together to keep warm and make sure that each penguin gets a chance to be in the center of the warm pack.

They can drink salt water without any harm. The excess salt in the blood stream is filtered by Supra orbital gland and excreted from the nasal passage. Penguins form a monogamous pair for a breeding season.Their worst enemy is the leopard seal. Penguins feed on krill, fish and squids. Penguins are not afraid of humans and keep calm when we are more than 10 feet away.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

[FONT=comic sans ms,sans-serif]The water Kingdom.

The hydrosphere includes all the discontinuous layer of water on the surface of the earth or near to it. All the liquids, frozen surface water, ground water and the water vapor in the air are in constant circulation through Hydrological cycle.

The oceans, seas, lakes, ponds, rivers and streams cover 70 percent of the Earth's surface area. It is the home a many plants and animals both weird and fascinating.

The water absorbs 90 percent of the solar radiation falling on it. It redistributes the heat to the cooler poles and then back into the atmosphere.

We will look at a few under water wonders and water animals in this thread. [/FONT]

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#122. Under Water Wonder!



The great Barrier reef, stretching 1300 miles long along the North Eastern coast of Australia, is a brilliantly colored under water kingdom. Crores of tiny coral polyps have created this mighty and colorful kingdom, which has withstood the force of the lashing waves for several centuries.

Less than half an inch long, the coral polyp is a close relative of jelly fish and sea anemones. It has a cylindrical body and a round disc on the top, with a row of stinging tentacles. The opening at the center of the disc is the mouth. Any prey brushing against the tentacles gets paralyzed. It is swiftly drawn into the mouth and digested.

As the polyp matures, it secretes limestone to form a protective casing called “corallum”. Each polyp splits into identical polyps, which remain in contact with the parent, till they can form their own protective casings. The older polyps die and are covered by the corallum of their off springs. Thus extensive colonies of the polyps linked by the limestone casings are soon formed.

Only coral polyps living in the shallow and warm water can create coral reef. These polyps maintain a “symbiotic” relationship with algae called “zooxanthellae”. Any relationship between two or more different organisms in close association–which benefits all the organisms involved, is called a “symbiotic relationship”.

These single celled microscopic algae live inside the coral, probably helping its host with an increased supply of oxygen and faster waste disposal system. With the help of “the guest” algae, the polyps can grow ten times faster, than without the help of “the guest”.

Polyps need algae and the algae need sunlight to survive. So the most flourishing reefs are found between 15 feet and 90 feet under water. Rarely any coral is seen below the depth of 180 feet.

Isn’t it amazing that a tiny creature (less than half-an-inch in length) and a microscopic plant (invisible to human eye) have formed a successful relationship and given rise to the most colorful and impenetrable barrier under water!

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#123. Elegant Pearls.


From outside an oyster gives no hint of the treasure it holds within. The shells are grey, gnarled, misshapen and are surrounded by flaps of tissues called “mantle”.

Nature has devised a way of protecting the delicate body of the oyster. The mantle secretes “nacre” which makes the inner surfaces of the shells smooth and shiny “mother of pearls”.

Pearls are formed in the same way. The oyster feeds on Plankton, a tiny organism drifting in the ocean. Occasionally a foreign body like a grain of sand or a piece of shell gets drawn in along with the plankton, by the oyster, by mistake.

To protect itself from this irritant, the oyster covers it up with nacre. In three to six years’ time the irritants get transformed to elegant pearls.

Most pearls are white ranging to delicate pink. Black, blue and golden yellow pearls are very rare and cost a fortune.

To increase the yield of pearls, cultured pearls are produced under controlled conditions. Perfectly spherical artificial irritants are introduced into the oysters’ body and they are tended in special tanks till the pearls grow to the desired size.

Since cultured pearls are formed in the same way as the natural ones, it is very difficult to tell them apart. However X rays can help us to know the difference since cultured pearls have perfectly round original center.

Visalakshi Ramani

 

[Visalakshi Ramani]

#124. Fish out of water!



Mud skippers are goggle-eyed, funny looking fish, which can climb on trees! This four inches long fish infest the swamps in South East Asia. They spend more than half their life-span on land! They haul themselves on land using their fore fins, which have suckers at the ends. This gives the fish enough grips to scale the trees too!

Before coming on land, the mud skipper fills its gill camber with air and water. When the gills are moist and aerated, it can spend a long time out of water on land and of course on trees!

The Climbing Perch is another fresh water fish–which actually seems to prefer life on land to the life under water! It is ten inches long and has a breathing organ which can take oxygen directly from the air. Though named as Perch, this fish prefers walking on land to climbing on trees. It uses its fins as crutches and tail to propel itself.

The walking Cat fish is another native of Asia. This twenty inches long fish walks by slithering on the ground and thrashing its tail from side to side vigorously. The long stiff spines in its pectoral fins help it to maintain its balance.

Behind the gill, there is a lung-like organ, which helps the cat fish to breathe on land. Even when swimming in water, it comes to the surface frequently to breathe. When the catfish decide to cross the highways in groups of hundreds, the highway traffic comes to a grinding halt.

Can you believe that these slithering fish actually can make the fancy cars–zooming at high speeds on the highways- come to a grinding halt!

Visalakshi Ramani