A
thriving ecosystem has been discovered under the Antarctic ice. Scientists studying the
water beneath the collapsed Larsen ice shelf have discovered mud volcanoes, a thin
bacterial mat and a prospering clam community. Hidden from the sun for 12,000 years by the
ice sheet, this ecosystem is fed by subterranean chemical energy instead of
photosynthesis. This is the only ecosystem found flourishing in such extreme cold. But now
the shelf collpase is bound to trigger changes, as the life forms adapt to the new-found
exposure.
Pioneer
farmers
Humans were the first to discover farming, right? Wrong.
The ants were the first animals to grow their own food. Fifty million years ago ants of
the ÔattineÕ group began growing fungus inside their nests and harvesting it for dinner.
Attines include primitive ants, which use fungus to degrade dead leaves, flowers and other
debris. These ants collect vegetation, return to their nest, prepare a ÒgardenÓ that
looks rather like a sponge, and add bits of fungus. Within a few weeks, they have fresh,
crunchy mushrooms to feast on!
Colossal
catfish
The murky depths of the Mekong river is home to the giant catfish. Scientists
were searching the river for this endangered monster, but the Thai fishermen won the race.
They landed an adult catfish that was 2.7 metres long and weighed 293 kilogrammes Ð
almost the size of a horse! It died before the fishery officers arrived to negotiate its
release. Catfish is an expensive delicacy in Thailand, and as per WWF records their
numbers have dropped sharply in recent times.
Melting
Siberia
The world's largest
frozen peat bog in western Siberia is melting. According to Russian researchers an area
stretching for a million square kilometres Ñ the size of France and Germany combined Ñ
across the permafrost is turning into shallow lakes as the ground melts. Siberia's peat
bogs were formed around 11,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Since then they
have been generating methaneÑslowly. Now scientists fear that the sudden melting may
unleash billions of tonnes of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere all at
once.
Best
flipper forward!
It appears that walruses have preferences about which flipper to use Ñ right
or left. For as much as 89 per cent of the time walruses use their right flippers to brush
mud and debris off buried clams before popping them into their mouths. After examining 23
walrus skeletons, scientists found that the bones in the walruses' right flippers were
longer than those in their left. Humans share this feature too! For right-handed people
the bones in the right hand are longer than the bones in the left.
Electric
amber
The word electricity came from the Greek word
ÔelektronÕ which means amber. Amber is a fossil resin, or tree sap, from extinct
coniferous trees. English physicist William Gilbert discovered that amber attracted small
particles after it had been rubbed with fur. Further experiments revealed that many
substances had the power to attract light objects when they were rubbed with fur or other
material. Gilbert used the term ÔelectricÕ to describe the force these substances exert
after being rubbed.
Speeding
glacier
The Kangerdlugssuaq glacier in Greenland has unexpectedly
picked up speed to become
one of the fastest moving glaciers of the world. It is crashing into the sea at 1.6 metres
an hour, about three times faster than in the 1980s. Glaciologist are now worried about
the stability of the Greenland ice sheet. The sheet holds enough ice to raise sea levels
by seven metres if it melts.
A
thriving ecosystem has been discovered under the Antarctic ice. Scientists studying the
water beneath the collapsed Larsen ice shelf have discovered mud volcanoes, a thin
bacterial mat and a prospering clam community. Hidden from the sun for 12,000 years by the
ice sheet, this ecosystem is fed by subterranean chemical energy instead of
photosynthesis. This is the only ecosystem found flourishing in such extreme cold. But now
the shelf collpase is bound to trigger changes, as the life forms adapt to the new-found
exposure. 
The murky depths of the Mekong river is home to the giant catfish. Scientists
were searching the river for this endangered monster, but the Thai fishermen won the race.
They landed an adult catfish that was 2.7 metres long and weighed 293 kilogrammes Ð
almost the size of a horse! It died before the fishery officers arrived to negotiate its
release. Catfish is an expensive delicacy in Thailand, and as per WWF records their
numbers have dropped sharply in recent times. 
It appears that walruses have preferences about which flipper to use Ñ right
or left. For as much as 89 per cent of the time walruses use their right flippers to brush
mud and debris off buried clams before popping them into their mouths. After examining 23
walrus skeletons, scientists found that the bones in the walruses' right flippers were
longer than those in their left. Humans share this feature too! For right-handed people
the bones in the right hand are longer than the bones in the left. 
become
one of the fastest moving glaciers of the world. It is crashing into the sea at 1.6 metres
an hour, about three times faster than in the 1980s. Glaciologist are now worried about
the stability of the Greenland ice sheet. The sheet holds enough ice to raise sea levels
by seven metres if it melts. 