Via Tales

When I posted this article, Smily had just turned 30. It was 19 September 2012. And time flies. “I propose the following character sequence for joke markers :-) it has to be read sideways” , hence smiley was introduced to the world by Scott Fahlman who is a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA. It was on September 19, 1982 at 11:44 a.m. And frowny :- (  also born at the same time to indicate the matter that has to be considered seriously. The emoticon was proposed to distinguish between humorous emails and those intended to be taken seriously. The three pieces of punctuation as smiley spread throughout the world in a lightning speed.. In 1990s, companies like AOL also started automatically converting emoticons into actual pictures. Japanese users have their own smileys. They call them kao maaku, or "face marks." Those can be understood without tilting one's head to the left. World of emoticons is expanding day by day. Some of them speak, dance, sing...

Another blog post from 2012.  Watching documentaries related to bees and ants was one of my favorite things to do.  That lead to this post back then. Honey and honeycomb reminds us about honeybees ( Apis mellifera)  which belong to the class  Apis .   Honeybee is the great nurturer of living beings. Honey is considered as a most beneficial and heeling substance and honeybees are indeed sacred animals. Bees feed on pollen and nectar. In the digestive track of the bee nectar is converted to honey.   Honeybees symbolize harmony and coherence with nature. Honeybees are social insects. In the wild, they create nests called hives. Each bee belongs to one of the three specialized groups; Queens, drones and workers. Each hive has a single queen for the purpose of production of new generation of bees. Queen is distinguished by longer abdomen and curved stinger without barbs. Drones are the males without stinger. Their role is to ma...

 This one was posted on the occasion of international mountain day, that's on 11-December.                                   "Every mountain top is within reach if you just keep climbing.” ― Barry Finlay‘s words are pills of inspiration for everyone who love to face challenges. Mountains are the areas with steep slopes that are raised high above surroundings, in a limited area. Mountains are higher and steeper than hills. Mountains are formed by geological forces like pressure and heat producing changes and movements in the earth’s crust. Volcanism, erosion, and uplift in the earth's crust have given rise to mountains –the unique landmass on the earth. Mountains have summit or the top of mountain, the slope or the side of the mountains, and steep valleys in between young mountains. Mountains are also present under the surface of sea. Mountains do occur in oceans and some islands are the peaks ...

I just wonder, what made me write this post back then...  But one thing is or sure, reposting my older posts in this blog is acting as motivation to create more content.  "Simpler, easier, quicker ---the thirst to combine the trio in many aspects can lead to inventions.  One such invention is ‘’Pressure cooker’’ Since it has become the part of our day-to-day life it may not appear interesting to many... The science behind the pressure cooker is simple but interesting. What makes this pot so special?? Yes it is the Pressure (P). We all know at normal environmental conditions water boils at 100 °C, excess heat results in vaporization of water into steam. In case of pressure cooker, food is added along with little amount of water inside the cooker. As it’s a closed environment steam produced cannot escape. Thus produced steam increases the pressure inside the cooker by 15 pounds per square inch (psi), and temperature also increased. Water boils at 121 °C. Higher temperature ...

  One more post. A throwback for studying botany as a subject at grad school.                                  "Carnivorous plants are those, which obtain the nutrients  by  trapping smaller animals like insects and other arthropods. Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is one such plant. It feeds on beetles, spiders and arthropods. Venus Flytrap is found in nitrogen- and phosphorus poor environments, its native being boggy areas of North and South Carolina.             Venus Flytrap has narrow, green leaves that extend from the base of the plant. A pair of reddish, kidney shaped lobes is hinged on the either side of a mid-rib at the terminal part of the leaf. These lobes form the trap. On the upper portion of, each side of the trap anthocyanin pigments are present and that gives red or purple color to this surface .Most probably this color attracts the insects ...

Another old article. I am literally digging my old blog posts because reading them again gives strang kind of satisfaction. "Lemon is a bundle of great benefits. Since ancient civilization time, lemon has become the part of life serving various purposes   right from food ingredient, medicine to cleansing agent and so on. Lemon mainly contains citric acid (5%) which give it characteristic sour taste. Lemon is a rich source of Vitamin C. Along with it also contains B complex iron, potassium, and other important vitamins, minerals. It belongs to citrus family. Lemon fruit is a modified berry, with outer rind. Inner flesh comprises of numerous juice filled vesicle. Lemon is a little wonder of nature with healing power. It’s a low calorie fruit with many benefits like ·         It increases HDL Cholesterol level known as good cholesterol. ·           Hesperidin present in lemon has been found to lower blood ...

One more old post!!! Don't remember to what extent I did research before publishing the post.  If you love lemon you can try preparing lemon bars. For the recipe check out my youtube video.  Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr2vSmo3Wc0 "Starting a day with lemon water provides stamina to your life as well as acts as a strong warrior against diseases. Heat the water until it starts boiling. Cut the lemon into two halves, squeeze juice from one half & pour it into hot water. Allow the water to cool down a bit. And here is ready luke warm lemon water with enormous benefits. • Drinking lemon water every day, early in the morning, (empty stomach) is an excellent way to reduce weight. Little honey can be added to lemon water. Lemon detoxifies body while honey offers energy.  Both are enriched with anti- oxidants. Addition of honey also enhances the power to fight over allergies. • Drinking lemon water in the morning also helps to replenish the water content to skin. Ski...

Have I ever taken car of star fish? No, but always wanted to. another old post of mine.   Spending time at beach offers golden opportunity to enjoy the perfection of nature. Waves crashing against shore, gentle touch of water to your feet, sand covering the floor as far as your eyes can see, soothing sea breeze etc. When water washes the shore, it exposes range of sea creatures like crabs, shells, star fish and many more. If you find a starfish on the sea shore and wish to preserve it at home as a souvenir then here are few simple steps. ·    See that Starfish that you are going to preserve is deceased one. ·    Starfish has to be soaked in 70% isopropyl alcohol for about 2 days. ·    Then it should be dried completely in sunlight. To prevent curling of its arms while drying, paperweight can be placed on each arm. ·    Once starfish is dry, it can be placed in a dry area at home. As these creatures are very delicate, care should be taken...

Well,  my love for hotdog never fades. Funniest thing is, I hardly would have tasted a single hotdog, whn I posted this in my  friend's blog for first time. Ofcourse, I frequently ate  sausage, but dont even remeber getting hotdog bun or even ordering it in fast-food resturant. Fast forward now, hot-dog is our life saviour, when I and my husband are exhausted to cook dinner.  Hotdog is one of the famous, delicious,  but most misunderstood  food .The popularity of hotdog has been spread across the world over the years and has turn into icon of countries like United States. Hotdog has gained much popularity due to its association with sports especially baseball .   In the  United States of America July is celebrated as  National Hot Dog Month . They have also established National Hotdog & Sausage Council that conducts  scientific research on hot dog and sausage so that manufacturers and  consumers are benefited....

Well, this one I remember! Crazy idea to save a star fish found at Panambur Beach, Mangalore. Star fish looks pretty, May be I wanted to have a fossil of star fish. " Starfish or sea stars are the fascinating creatures with unique appearance. They are the members of class Asteroidea. Starfish like stars attract us but they are not actually fishes. These marine animals are echinoderms. There are over 1,800 species of sea stars, that vary in size, shape and color. Starfish contain hard plates made up of calcium carbonate beneath their skin. They contain special cells in skin that provide information about its surroundings.  Unlike fishes starfish use their tiny tube feet to move along. Star fish have water vascular system that is helpful in movement and predation. They pump sea water into the body through a sieve plate or madreporite, and this water fills the  tube feet of starfish. So movement occurs by extending the filled tube feet and also muscles within the tube feet retrac...

Another oldy goldy blog post of mine. I really dont know what made me write this article because I never tried Civet coffee, though I like to have cold coffee at times. Anyways here it goes: "  The aroma of the coffee itself can give you a feeling of warmth. Coffee lovers definitely enjoy the heavenly feeling while sipping the hot coffee in the chilling winter. Well.. there is a type of coffee with a fame of world’s expensive coffee. And that is Civet Cat Coffee or Kopi Luwak. “Kopi” is the Indonesian term for coffee.   Luwak   is a local name of the Asian Palm Civet in Sumatra. The retail price of this coffee is around US$800 per kilogram. Kopi luwak is produced mainly on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Indonesian Archipelago Bali, East Timor.             Civet Cat Coffee has its origins from Indonasia. The history reaches back to 18th century the Dutch Colonialism in Java, Sumatra where Dutch prohibited...

Yet another one. Well,some emotional outburst would have created this blog post, probably something to do with me not getting results in pharmacology lab! Nevermind, if something better comes out of not so good situation, then thats good situation.  "Pleasure and pain are part and parcel of our life. Blending of the emotions like happiness, sad, anger glorifies the life.                 Tears have the primary function of cleaning and lubricating eyes. Tears shed down from eyes for different reasons. It may be reflex reaction like cutting onions or dust in eye; it may be during extreme emotions like grief, sadness or may be due to some underlying pathology.                 It is a well-known fact that we cry when we laugh hard...But why??? Most probable explanation is laughing hard creates pressure on nasolacrimal ducts. So tears canno...

Another old post. Yes, I was a biology student and had avid affection towards plants. But Mimosa was definitely not my favorite. Maybe a random search towards research based on Mimosa, to treat some diseases, made me curious about it!!! "Mimosa pudica L or touch-me-not plant has an unique phenomenon in its ability to close the leaves even for the slightest touch stimuli. Touch-me-not plant is also called by the names humble plant, shameful plant, sensitive plant etc. Mimosa pudica belongs to legume family. Mimosa is a short, prickly, perennial herb with branches growing close to ground. The generic name Mimosa is derived from the Greek in which "mimos" means to "mimic". Latin word "pudica", means "bashful or shrinking to contact". Nyctinastic & seismonastic movement During night leaves of Mimosa close up and reopen in the morning. This is called as nyctinastic movement or sleep movement. Leaves of Mimosa fold inward and droop for the sti...

Another old blog post. I wonder, why was I  creating articles about nature? Life seems really good when we appreciate things in nature. "  Chameleons are lizards belonging to family called Chamaeleonidae. When we think of Chameleons, the first thing that strikes to mind is their ability to change colors. Change of colour to camouflage!!! Not really!!! It’s a popular belief that Chameleons change the color to blend with nature and to hide from predators. But camouflage is not the primary reason for change in skin color. Changing skin color in Chameleons is associated with various factors such as their reactions to temperature, light, mood, aggression, health, mating behavior. Each chameleon species has its own color range. In general calm chameleons show green color. They exhibit darker colors like bright yellow to show their anger. It also serves the purpose of threatening others. Male chameleons when want to mate, show lighter, multicolored patterns.  Female chamele...

     Looks like this flashback will continue for a while. Another blog article that I posted almost 8 years ago. Its raining here in Florida. The  smell and feel of  rain definitely bring  back the best  memories . The reason for writing about popcorns was, I read a book about popcorns in the kindle app back then, and all my brain was overflooded with information.  "It may be home or movie theatre, healthy, crunchy and yummy popcorn is a best treat to our tastebuds. Zea mays everta is the scientific name of  Popcorn that  belongs  to monocots group. The journey of little kernel to become popcorn is in fact quite amazing!! Popcorn kernel encloses little amount of moisture and starch inside the hard, water impermeable hull. When heated, water turns into steam but cannot escape out. As a result pressure builds up inside and finally kernel explodes. During heating starch becomes gelatinized and softened. While exploding starch...

They say a  journey of  a  thousand  miles  begins with  a single  step . My journey as a blogger started 8 years ago. I always felt, I had a story to tell in this world, but I never knew why it was so important for me to open up and share my story. What we focus on, always expands. I never knew, me trying to write in a blog will direct me towards better opportunities and give new dimensions to my life. But someone else did!  My friend, senior , and mentor encouraged me to write an article in his blog. On Aug-2012 I published my first article titled Red velvet and rains. Why the title for the first post? It was the rainy season and that red creature (red mite) was appearing only during rainy days. That tiny creature always mesmerized me since childhood. All I knew was its name in my native language Konkani. I used to refer to it as Jesuche amba (God’s cow) when I was a kid. The nostalgia linked with the red mite made me research about it. Finall...

Hello dear reader,      Thanks for stopping by. This is my first post in our blog Via Tales. A blog started by myself and my husband a year ago, but was in its hibernation mode, with zero posts. Our ideas to change will remain as ideas unless something (external force) makes us take action to implement them (applying Newton's First Law to explain my procrastination).        My journey to write in a blog did not start a year ago. In fact, it started in 2012, when I was a postgraduate student. After the longest break, when I have decided to be a regular blogger, I feel I should remember and acknowledge the first step taken and be thankful for the one who encouraged me to state blogging in the first place. So here goes my first blog post Red velvet and rains that was posted on Wednesday, August 29, 2012. Hope you Enjoy!! "While watching heavy downpour from window, unknowingly I walked down the memory lane. Those colorful umbrellas, paper boats and the lit...