Monthly Archives: December 2011

SCROLL 20 Make the Pain Fly Away Birds with large brains relative to their size are better able to solve problems and respond to changing environments.  Those with smaller brains, on the other hand, appear less capable of behavioral adaptation.  As a result, they appear to be declining in number. —The Second Korus of theRead More »

SCROLL 19 Nowhere Man   A map provides one of the best examples of a picture being worth a thousand words. —The Eighth Korus of the Black Tree     TRACKER:  Dragonflies.  YES!  They’re the key!   Max sighed as the 10:15 blasted by.  Brilliant.  Attention, class.  The nutty professor’s in. There’d be no shuttingRead More »

SCROLL 18 A Hawk Stoops Hawks rarely dive straight down.  Instead, they dive at an angle in order to better catch their prey.   —The Fifth Korus of the Sapphire Tree     “Wot?” screamed Rodney. “You ‘eard me, Slug.”  Nigel’s eyes burned into Rodney’s like lasers.  “We’re attacking by bloody air.” Rodney gazed upRead More »

SCROLL 17 Friends Like These Most interactions between species involve food, and are generally brief.  There are many cases, however, where two or more species live in close association for long periods of time.  Such associations are called symbiotic—from the Greek word symbiosis, which means, “living together”.  Symbiotic relationships in which each species benefits areRead More »

SCROLL 16 Buzz OFF! The behavior of animals is often closely linked to impending weather.  Bees are said to stay close to their hives when a summer rain is imminent while birds fly close to the ground, increase their foraging, or gather to roost before bad weather sets in.  During good weather birds fly higherRead More »

SCROLL 15 A Town called Survival Modern humans, though far removed from their simian ancestors in the jungle, are still expert at spotting both predator and prey.   —The Eleventh Korus of the White Tree   A typical drizzle glazed the forlorn streets outside Max’s Brixton flat.  Headlights from the morning traffic added sheen toRead More »

SCROLL 14 Dragonflown Insects utilize a compound eye consisting of as many as thirty thousand lenses, which create a mosaic-like image.  While most insects have relatively simple eyes that recognize only form and movement, those of the dragonfly provide a detailed view of its surroundings—imperative for an insect that catches its prey in mid-flight.  Read More »

Scientists have named and classified more than one million animals thus far—over half of which are insects—and thousands of new species are discovered each year.

An ancient superstition calls for knocking on wood to thank the tree’s spirit for granting a favor.

The venom of the sea wasp is the deadliest in the world and has caused over 5,500 deaths since 1954—more than those caused by sharks and grizzly bears combined.

—The Thirteenth Korus of the Sapphire Tree

Lightning kills more people than tornadoes and hurricanes combined. It is the single most dangerous aspect of a thunderstorm.

The natural processes that take place inside the earth are referred to as endogenous events. They cause continents to migrate, push up mountains, and trigger earthquakes and volcanism.

Global warming is changing the timing of a myriad of cyclical processes that provide food for wildlife, driving many birds and insects to move where they range.