by Shalini V – One day, while gazing at the lawn, I noticed something that stirred my thoughts. I saw a rock pigeon, picking sticks to build its nest. The pigeon picked a stick. Then, in less than a minute, dropped it, picked another, dropped it again, and finally selected one after rejecting four sticks. Now the question – Why did…
Our Sibilant Neighbors
by Deepa Rajan – Several years ago, when I was in elementary school, my parents grounded me after they found out I had been trying to approach a snake. While on a walk around the neighborhood with my younger brother, I had seen a flash of orange out of the corner of my eye and turned to find a thin, hand-length…
A week in the Heart of India
by Srinivas Rao – Last month, I got an opportunity to be a part of Field Biology Course, teaching VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) sampling in field including a brief introduction into VOC analysis using GCMS techniques held at Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, India. Pachmarhi is a hill station in Madhya Pradesh within central India. Pachmarhi comes under the Pachmarhi Cantonment Board of…
Marine Sponges – The vacuum cleaners of our oceans
by Anshika Singh – Marine sponges belong to phylum ‘Porifera’, which means ‘pore-bearers’. They are generally known as sponges due to their soft, porous and squashy body. They look nothing like the famous cartoon character Spongebob Squarepants. Neither do they resemble the synthetic sponge which you might have seen in your kitchen or bathroom. They are very diverse in their sizes,…
The NICE Lab Kitchen – Mustard
by Sebastian Sturm – Born and raised in Thuringia (Germany) often means being nurtured with table mustard – a spicy paste made from mustard seeds – served with the traditional Thuringian Bratwurst (fried sausage) and other hearty dishes. Nostalgia and withdrawal made me do some research searching for a substitute. The outcome was my first bottle of self-made table mustard made…
The Infinitude of Curiosity – a student’s journey
Literature reviews in #science pic.twitter.com/e5qSQq2n8m — TwistedDoodles (@twisteddoodles) February 6, 2019 by Gauri Gharpure – As the youngest of the NICE members (a few months old), here is my very first blog post. There are so many things to write about, but I think it will be great to start off with this. So for the past few weeks, I have…
The hunter being hunted: The specialist spider-hunting wasp (Pompilidae) in action
by Santosh Rajus – Finding food is one of the hardest tasks for predators and over the years they have become masters at it. Some have developed ambush hunting skills, and some have developed speed to chase and hunt their prey. Some of the most feared hunters across the world are the venomous spiders, which are well camouflaged and use sticky webs…
India’s living artefacts
by Hinal Kharva – Last weekend Shannon was invited by Roundglass to do some scientific activities. Our lab came up with this amazing session called India’s living Artefacts. Geetha and I also accompanied her to the Atmantan Wellness Center located at Mulshi lake just 60kms away from Pune city. The idea was to discuss the living artefacts mainly found in the…
News from the Front: When curiosity killed the experiment(al) prospects!
Date: 01 March 2019 Location : Nandi Hills top by Gauri Gharpure – Shalini Venkatesan and I were out testing some artificial flower models when we were greeted by these excited (and presumably hungry) bonnet macaques. Our bag carrying the equipment was confiscated and minutely examined for any traces of food. Unfortunately for them, it didn’t have anything edible so it…
Parents with PhDs
by Shannon – I’m sitting here in Delhi International Airport waiting for my flight back home to my daughter, Grace. This morning I woke up at 3 am, made sure her school bag and lunch were packed, prepared dinner, and got on a flight to attend a scientific meeting 2.5 hours away by air. Now I’m flying back at midnight so…
