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Parasitic Tale: The Jewel Wasp and its ‘Zombie’ Cockroach
The scientific name of the creature is Ampulex compressa. The common name is the Jewel Wasp, or in Bengali, it is known as “Jewel Bolta (জুয়েল বোলতা).” It is mainly found in the African and Asian tropics. Its length is around one inch or slightly smaller. The exterior of its body has a beautiful coloration.…
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Neuralink’s Ambitious Journey: Exploring the Potential and Challenges of Brain-Computer Interfaces
The human brain is the most complex biological structure known to date. We still don’t fully understand how our brain works. However, advancements in neuroscience have not halted. From ~4,000 BCE to the present, researchers have continuously achieved new milestones in neuroscientific research. Neuroscientists have made significant progress in mapping the intricate functions of over…
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Virgin Birth in the Animal Kingdom: A Comparative Exploration of Asexual Reproduction
“Virgin Birth,” meaning giving birth to offspring without mating with a male, has been a mythical story and historical account associated with various ancient deities like Mars from Roman mythology, Horus from ancient Egyptian mythology, Kuanyin from ancient Chinese mythology, and Jesus in some Abrahamic religion. All of them were believed to have been born…
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Chimpanzees and Us: How Genetic Evidence Reveals Shared Ancestry
We share common ancestry with chimpanzees. And the shared ancestry becomes not only obvious in the anatomy but also in the DNA level. Today, let’s set out on a journey to explore the connection with our closest relatives. In our search for proof of an ancestral link with our fellow cousins, the chimpanzees, let’s methodically…
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“Prophetic circumcision” during sleep – A case of paraphimosis
1. Next to the village school, Alif is playing cricket. He is a young child; he will turn six to seven years old next month. He’s been playing with his friends for quite a while. The evening has come, and now his grandfather is taking him home. After arriving at the house, Alif sits down…
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Botanists Uncover Genetic Basis for Color Evolution in Monkeyflowers
Monkeyflowers are a type of plant that comes in a variety of colors, ranging from yellow to pink to deep red-orange. However, some species of monkeyflowers lost their yellow pigment about 5 million years ago. In a recent study published in the scientific journal Science, researchers from the University of Connecticut explain the genetic changes…
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Is there a gene for the “promiscuous” host range in symbiosis?
Root nodule symbiosis is a mutually beneficial relationship between legume plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria called rhizobia. In this process, the legume plant provides the rhizobia with a place to live and access to energy in the form of sugars, while the rhizobia fix nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form that the…
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Mass in Special Relativity: Is Relativistic Mass Real?
The speed of an object can never be equal to or greater than the speed of light – we all know it more or less. Even having no knowledge of special relativity, it is no longer unknown to curious readers with the help of popular science content. Naturally, many of them wonder why an object’s…
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Why Meselson-Stahl Experiment is Called the Most Beautiful Experiment in Biology
Experiments in biological research can be messy. To begin with, biological systems are inherently highly variable, and you need to have good control. Then there come reagents that are so finicky that they need a super pampered buffer solution. Everything has to be in just condition and then there is the challenge of reproduction. That’s…
