Currently Browsing: Biology
Feb 25, 2012
Thanks to a recent British library membership acquisition, I got hold of this book by Peter Forbes - Dazzled and deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage. The book effortlessly leads the reader through a journey that begins in earnest with the comma butterfly flying across a garden and slowly winding its way through personal lives of luminaries in biology, through the private struggles and public lives of the...
read more
Dazzled and deceived
Mar 31, 2008
Bird flu – Birds edition
It’s an interesting puzzle, this bird flu. On one side, while birdwatchers are all disturbed about even the suggestion of wild bird culling as a control measure to prevent spread of bird flu by migratory birds, on the other hand, for the public health professionals, it is just among various available ‘vector-control’ measure…..kinda like control mosquitoes to prevent malaria. Who... read more
Nov 24, 2007
Diclofenac and Vulture deaths – From naivity to reality
Diclofenac is one of the most commonly used Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude, I take the human example. Although, I really dont know to what extend ‘human diclo cycle’ touches birds, as an example, it would be good. There are about 1600 odd government health centres in Karnataka – just one state. A govt. PHC on an average dispenses 30 tablets of... read more
Nov 2, 2007
The artist clarifies!
In the winter of 2004, from my abode in BR Hills, where I was dwelling then, I had all the time in the world to philosophize! I was writing about the artist-scientist ‘polarities’ and one of my senior colleagues in BR Hills, responded to my turmoil by throwing some light. Stephen Jay Gould is a wonderful companion through such confusions on lonely nights…….I am myself quite... read more
Nov 2, 2007
River Terns, Emotions and Confusing answers!
This post is in response to some very ‘hazy’ topics in the ‘grey zone’ between science and philosophy! The following post by my friend Sudheendra about Black-bellied Terns triggered this response, which led to a wonderful discussion on the same. Sudhee asked “…During my regular birding sessions……i encountered many water birds….encountered 3 River terns... read more
