Meat-Eating Plants

Dionaea muscipula

Meat-eating plants? Yes, some species of plants eat meat for their meals. What kind of plants is that? What meat?

Well, meat-eating plants or carnivorous plants are plants that get their nutrients from trapping and eating animals or protozoans, especially insects. These plants usually grow in a place where the soil is poor of nutrients such as nitrogen. Being carnivorous is the way for adaptation.

The species produces small, shiny black seeds 

Venus flytrap (Dionea muscipula) is one of the example for meat-eating plants. It eats insects or spider for its nutrients because it grows at poor nutrients soil. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes.

Venus flytraps produce flowers in the spring 

Most meat-eating plants selectively feed on specific prey. This selection is due to the available prey and the type of trap used by the organism. With the Venus flytrap, prey is limited to beetles, spiders and other crawling arthropods.

(Image from wikipedia)

Written by SAA

Where Do Tears Come From?

Tears are produced by tear glands, which are small glands inside your upper eyelid. Tears keep the surface of your eyeball clean and moist, and help protect your eye from damage.

When you blink, your eyelids spread the tears over the surface of the eye. Sometimes tears flow over your lower eyelid, but mostly the tears flow down a tiny tube at the edge of your lower eyelid, next to your nose – if you look very carefully you can see a tiny dot that is the beginning of this tube. This tube carries the tears to the back of your nose (and this is why your nose ‘runs’ when you cry!)

Written by SAA

Related post: Tears Help Us To Be Healthy

Do Mosquitoes Really Walk On Water?

Many of us hate mosquitoes because they are bloodsucking and diseases carrying pest. They bite and cause itchy skin. For people who are allergy to mosquitoes bite, it's so annoying because they get really itchy on the bitten spot skin and it looks reddish. Several kinds of mosquitoes are dangerous because they carry diseases and sometimes cause death to people.

Despite all the disadvantages mosquitoes give to human, they have an amazing talent; they walk on water. How mosquitoes do that? Why most of other insects can't do this circus attraction?

Hairy Nanostructures on Legs

Mosquitoes stay afloat because of hairy nanostructures on their legs that holds pocket of air. This prevents its leg from being wet and let them stand on the surface tension. The water tries to minimize surface contact area with air. The area its leg standing on water will make a water dimple. Water surface acts just like trampoline that create dimple downward and gives up force to support weight of mosquitoes.

Human Walks On Water

Can a human being stand and walk on water like a mosquito does? Unfortunately it's impossible for humans. The bigger an object, the smaller water surface area which respect to its weight. So there is less surface area available to take advantage of the surface tension of water to support its weight.

If we calculate the feet size which support a human to stand and walk on water, it takes something like kilometers. Yes, it's difficult to do. Or may be you can learn it from a Ninja who runs on water just like in movies.

Written by SAA