Orangutans are closer to humans than you thought. They share many human
characteristics. When wild animals fall sick they frequently chew medicinal plants. But
the orangutans of Colorado's Denver Zoo are perhaps the first zoo animals to receive
aromatherapy treatment. They sniff plant oils to improve their moods. And it seems to have
worked too. Allie, an 8-year-old orangutan, was sad after her mother died. But she soon
'cheered up' after smelling rose and jasmine oils daily.
Smog dogs
In some countries in Europe, car owners may now have to
worry about the "smog dog," a device designed to "sniff" tailpipes to
detect air pollutionI Formally known as the AccuScan Remote Vehicle Emissions Testing
System, the smog dog will look for exhaust from cars as they pass roadside monitors. A
camera close to the smog sensors will take pictures of the cars' license plates. And the
owners will be notified later...
Bolts from the blue
Lightning strikes the earth’s surface about a 100 times every second.
Each flash lasting for less than a second contains one billion volts of electricity.
That's enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for three months. Even though the lightning
flash can happen in half a second, the bolt temperature is higher than the temperature on
the surface of the sun.
Cuddly Rattle
Britain
has a baby boom! So now there is a major housing crisis. Well, it is an avian baby boom.
2004 was a very productive year for the Blue tits and many of these birds will be now
looking for a place to build their nests. Once these birds find a nesting site they
return for several seasons. Since natural nesting sites, such as holes in trees and
buildings, are vanishing the people are pitching in to solve the
problem. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is urging people to put up nesting boxes
to help the birds tide over the crisis.
Busy
bees
Bees
lead really busy lives. These hard working insects fly 55,000 miles and visit two million
flowers to make one pound of honey. They store nectar in a special honey stomach. Each
honeybee makes 1/12th teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Bees are also efficient
pollinators and can pollinate as many as 10,000 flowers in one day.
How birds drink
Did you know that doves and pigeons are the only birds
that can swallow water directly after drinking it? All other birds have a different
technique. They have to dip their bills and then flip their heads back to let the water
run down their throats!
Mime Rhyme
Fireflies
have an organic compound in their abdomens, called 'luciferin' that reacts with air to
produce a glow. This light is called 'cold light' because it generates very little heat. A
firefly regulates airflow into the abdomen to create a pulsating pattern. These insects
can recognise other members by the manner in which they flash light. That’s because
each species has a specific flash pattern. In fact, males and females of the same species
actually use a sort of Morse code to signal each other. Males flash every five seconds
while females flash every two seconds.
Choco-currency
The ancient Aztecs used to drink money! The Aztec
civilisation was the first to discover that crushing the beans of the cacao tree
(Theobroma cacao) into a paste and adding spices made a refreshing drink. This beverage
named ‘chocolatl’ was considered divine and was drunk out of golden cups. So
highly was cacao treasured that the beans were used as currency! The 16th century European
explorers brought the drink back from their travels and popularised chocolate, as we know
it now.
Orangutans are closer to humans than you thought. They share many human
characteristics. When wild animals fall sick they frequently chew medicinal plants. But
the orangutans of Colorado's Denver Zoo are perhaps the first zoo animals to receive
aromatherapy treatment. They sniff plant oils to improve their moods. And it seems to have
worked too. Allie, an 8-year-old orangutan, was sad after her mother died. But she soon
'cheered up' after smelling rose and jasmine oils daily. 
Lightning strikes the earth’s surface about a 100 times every second.
Each flash lasting for less than a second contains one billion volts of electricity.
That's enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for three months. Even though the lightning
flash can happen in half a second, the bolt temperature is higher than the temperature on
the surface of the sun.
Britain
has a baby boom! So now there is a major housing crisis. Well, it is an avian baby boom.
2004 was a very productive year for the Blue tits and many of these birds will be now
looking for a place to build their nests. Once these birds find a nesting site they
return for several seasons. Since natural nesting sites, such as holes in trees and
buildings, are vanishing the people are pitching in to solve the 
Bees
lead really busy lives. These hard working insects fly 55,000 miles and visit two million
flowers to make one pound of honey. They store nectar in a special honey stomach. Each
honeybee makes 1/12th teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Bees are also efficient
pollinators and can pollinate as many as 10,000 flowers in one day. 
Fireflies
have an organic compound in their abdomens, called 'luciferin' that reacts with air to
produce a glow. This light is called 'cold light' because it generates very little heat. A
firefly regulates airflow into the abdomen to create a pulsating pattern. These insects
can recognise other members by the manner in which they flash light. That’s because
each species has a specific flash pattern. In fact, males and females of the same species
actually use a sort of Morse code to signal each other. Males flash every five seconds
while females flash every two seconds.