World of Animals

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawaken.” - Anatole France

A peek into the world of animals. I think it is good that we learn something about the animals that share our wonder-ful world.

Here are some fun facts and trivia about animals, courtesy of Facebook pages ‘Strangest Facts’ ‘Wild Wonders’, David Attenborough, etc… However, I do not know if they are true. Some of them sound really incredible.

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The maned wolf is the weirdest canid you've never heard of. It's not a wolf. Not a fox. Not even a dog. It's the only living member of its entire genus, Chrysocyon — a walking relic from a lost bloodline that's been evolving solo for millions of years.

Maned wolf urine contains pyrazines — the same chemical compound that gives cannabis its signature stink. The scent is so dead‑on that Rotterdam Zoo once got a full‑blown police raid because visitors were absolutely certain someone was hotboxing the enclosure. Cops showed up, searched the place, and found exactly zero humans smoking weed. The culprit was a single, majestic, stilt‑legged wolf marking its territory. No arrest. Just embarrassment.

This animal stands three feet at the shoulder — the tallest wild canid on planet Earth. Those legs aren't for speed. They're for seeing over the tall grass of the Brazilian Cerrado. And they walk like a camel, lifting both legs on the same side of the body at once. It's called a "pacing gait." No other canid does it.

The maned wolf is basically a fruitarian trapped in a predator's body. Half its diet is plant matter, especially a tomato‑like fruit called the "wolf apple" (Solanum lycocarpum). It eats small rodents, sure, but mostly it's hopping through the savanna, chowing down on berries and dropping seeds. It's a gardener with fangs.

It doesn't howl like a wolf or yip like a coyote. It lets out a deep, machine‑gun roar‑bark that echoes for miles. Mates use it to find each other across their lonely, spread‑out territories.

The maned wolf is evolution's mad scientist experiment. Long legs. Weed‑piss. Fruit obsession. Camel walk. It's been doing its own thing for millions of years while the rest of the canine world fought over deer carcasses. And it once made a police department look like total idiots. – A Facebook post by ‘Wild Wonders’

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Bush dogs look like someone shrank a bear, added otter feet, then gave it the social life of a group chat that never sleeps. The real twist is how much of their power comes from staying together.

Native to Central and South America, these short-legged canids are built for wet forests, muddy banks, and river ambushes. Their partially webbed feet help them move through water with strange confidence, sometimes chasing prey where other dogs would hesitate.

On land, they are not built like solo assassins. They are built like a plan. Bush dogs travel in tight groups, sleep pressed against each other, feed communally, and move through the forest like a tiny hunting procession with teeth.

That “compulsively sociable” label was not poetry. It came from years of watching a species that seems almost uncomfortable with being alone. Their packs can pressure animals far larger than themselves, turning devotion into strategy.

One dog is odd. Twelve dogs are a problem. Sometimes the sharpest weapon in nature is not size, speed, or venom. Sometimes it is loyalty with legs. – A Facebook post by ‘Strangest Facts’

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It looks impossible at first glance — a bobcat resting comfortably on a cactus covered in sharp spines. But what seems painful is actually a precise survival strategy shaped by evolution.

A bobcat’s paws are built differently. Thick, cushioned pads spread its weight across many tiny contact points, while fur between the toes reduces how deeply any single spine can press in. Instead of sharp pain, the pressure becomes distributed — more like balancing on a dense brush than stepping on needles

But the cactus is not just a place to sit. It is a vantage point. By climbing high above the ground, often several meters up, the bobcat removes itself from common predator paths. Scent trails weaken, visibility improves, and any movement below becomes easier to detect.

Even the cactus itself becomes part of the defense system. Its rigid structure carries vibrations, allowing the bobcat to sense disturbances before they get too close. It is not just resting — it is monitoring everything around it.

What looks uncomfortable is actually calculated positioning. A perfect blend of anatomy, environment, and instinct working together.

Sometimes, survival is not about avoiding danger — but learning how to use it. If something that seems painful can become an advantage, how many other strategies in nature are we still misunderstanding? – A Facebook post

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A saber-tooth still walks the forest canopy. The clouded leopard looks like evolution kept one ancient weapon and taught it to climb. The real trick is not just the fangs. Those canines can reach about two inches, enormous for a cat that usually weighs less than a large dog. In proportion, they are so exaggerated that researchers often compare the species to prehistoric saber-toothed cats.

But unlike the old ground-stalking giants, this one takes its hardware into the trees. Its ankle joints rotate so dramatically that it can descend trunks head-first, grip branches from below, and hang beneath branches with the confidence of something that treats gravity like a weak suggestion.

That matters in the dense forests of Southeast Asia, where prey does not always stay on the ground and survival favors animals that can hunt in three dimensions.

It is not the biggest cat. It is not the loudest cat. It is the cat that somehow kept a prehistoric bite, added acrobatics, and disappeared into leaves.

A saber-tooth did not vanish. It learned to climb. – A Facebook post by ‘Strangest Facts’

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Elephants may not see us as puppies, but the truth is still strangely charming. Their brains are built for recognition, memory, and social feeling, which makes a human face more than just background noise.

The real detail is this. Elephants can read gestures many animals miss. In one study, they followed human pointing without special training, finding hidden food from a simple signal.

That sounds small until you remember most animals do not naturally understand what a pointed finger means. For a creature weighing several tons, that kind of attention feels almost delicate.

Their world is built on social bonds. They comfort distressed companions, remember familiar individuals for years, and use touch the way we use reassurance. A trunk resting gently on another elephant can say what words never could.

So when an elephant studies a person with that calm, heavy gaze, it is not just size meeting size. It is intelligence pausing long enough to notice something smaller.

Power is loud when it wants to be. But sometimes, the strongest thing in the room chooses gentleness. – A Facebook post by ‘Strangest Facts’

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Quips And Quotes

A little humour to help you start the week on a positive note.

Humour can help us get over life’s diffiuclt moments. All problems will be resolved one way or another eventually. So, why brood, worry and be unhappy. It doesn’t solve anything. We have to be able to laugh, no matter what life throws at us. If we can maintain a sunny disposition, the lingering dark clouds will disperse.

Anyhow, here are some humorous quips. I hope they can bring on a smile, or a chuckle. May your days be filled with laughter.

Image created on Canva

Men are like wine: some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age. - Unknown

Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity. - Unknown

Originality is the art of concealing your source. - Franklin P. Jones

Early to bed and early to rise probably indicates unskilled labour. - John Ciardi

A woman likes a strong, silent man because she thinks he is listening. - Croft M. Pentz

Those that can, do. Those that can’t, complain. - Linus Torvalds

I’m open to suggestions, just not to taking them. - Unknown

All the world’s a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed. - Sean O’Casey

Getting away with going bald is an important life skill for men. - Unknown

Well-behaved women seldom make history. - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

People want the front of the bus, the back of the church, and the centre of attention. - Unknown

The problem with a life spent reading is you know too much. - Josh Lanyon

Image created on Canva

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Arroyo de la Miel

Arroyo de la Miel stands on hilly slopes at the base of mount Calamorro. It is one of the three urban centers and districts that make up the municipality of Benalmadena, along with Benalmádena Pueblo and Benalmádena Costa. One could say it is the town center of Benalmadena.

We are on the edge of the town – about an eight minutes’ walk from the town center.

A main street, ‘Avenida de la Constitucion’, runs through the town. But for those who have trouble pronouncing the name, they simply refer to it as the main street or the high street. The street starts from the train station and runs through the center of Arroyo de la Miel into the next town. However, only the beginning of the street – about half a kilometer of it, is busy.

Here, on both sides of the streets are shops, and eateries offering cuisines from all over – from European to American, from Mediterranean to Chinese. Most of them do brisk business.

In the mornings and evenings, when it is not too hot, it is a good place to have a meal or a drink and watch the world go by. Since it is the town center, it is a popular area with tourists, as well as the locals.

Shops and restaurants on the Main Street. This was siesta hours in the afternoon. Some shops were closed. This is generally, a quiet period of the day.

Outside of the main street, the town is a maze of winding side streets, back streets and plazas. The back streets, and side streets weave through slopes – from gentle slopes to moderate slopes to very steep slopes. You are either going up or down a slope.

Here, you find shops and businesses catering to the locals in the area. You would be amazed at the number of cafes and restaurants you find here. Most of these are small, local restaurants serving simple, local fares. However, there are also restaurants serving foreign cuisines to the enclaves of foreigners living in the area.

Shops cum apartments on the smaller streets of Arroyo de la Miel. Shops on the ground level and apartments above the shops.

You find many of these smaller cafeteria and restaurants.

Arroyo de la Miel has many holiday apartments owned by Europeans who come here to escape the cold in Winter, or to enjoy the sun and sand in Summer. A big section of the people living here are retirees from the UK.

Arroyo de la Miel does not have the hustle and bustle of most cities where everybody is in a hurry. Besides the tourists on the main street, the residents in the town are mostly elderly people or retirees spending their holidays here. So, the pace here is slower and more relaxed.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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New Discovery in Science

“Science is a combination of theory and experiment and the two together are how you make progress.” - Lisa Randall

Interesting developments on the Science front – courtesy of Facebook pages, ‘Collective Evolution’, ‘Brain Maze’, ‘HealNest’, ‘Things', ‘Astrophilesz’, etc… Although trials, experiments and studies show promise, I guess it will be some time yet before they are a reality.

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The human power plant
While you sleep, work, or daydream, your brain is quietly generating enough electrical energy to power a small lightbulb. That steady output comes from roughly eighty-six billion neurons firing signals across your nervous system. These microscopic cells talk to each other through chemical and electrical pulses, producing a constant hum that keeps your thoughts running and your body ticking.

Electrical output and capacity
An average adult brain generates between twelve and twenty-five watts of electricity. That may not sound like much, but it's a remarkable output for an organ weighing about three pounds. That energy keeps messages moving between neurons, manages breathing and heart rate, and processes the flood of sensory information coming in from the world around you.

Efficiency of biological energy
The brain is one of the most energy-efficient structures we know of. A typical laptop needs around fifty watts to run. The human brain handles far more complex calculations on less than half that. Evolution landed on something worth paying attention to here: the body can prioritize cognitive function without burning through every nutritional resource it has.

The mechanics of neural firing
The electrical activity starts with ions moving across nerve cell membranes. Sodium, potassium, and chloride ions shift in and out of cells, creating a voltage difference that becomes an electrical signal. Those signals travel at up to two hundred fifty miles per hour, which is why your reactions and thoughts feel almost instant.

Advancements in technology
Researchers are exploring ways to work with this natural electricity through neurotechnology. Nobody's plugging a lamp into a human skull, but scientists are building interfaces between brains and computers that read these electrical signals and let people with paralysis control robotic limbs or digital cursors. The brain's output, it turns out, is already a working power source. – A Facebook post by ‘Things’

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Mastic gum, a natural resin obtained from the mastic tree, has attracted scientific attention because of its potential biological activity in laboratory research. Studies using cultured cancer cells have shown that certain compounds found in mastic gum may slow the growth of several types of cancer cells, including colon, prostate, pancreatic, bile duct, gastric (stomach), and lung cancer models.

Researchers observed that these compounds could activate apoptosis, the body's natural process of programmed cell death, while also interfering with signals that help cancer cells survive and multiply. Laboratory experiments found changes in proteins involved in cell survival, activation of enzymes associated with apoptosis, and disruption of the cell cycle that limits continued cancer-cell growth.

In one study involving colon cancer cells, mastic gum reduced the viability of cancer cells while normal colon cells used in the experiment appeared less affected under the same laboratory conditions. These findings have generated interest in mastic gum as a source of biologically active compounds, encouraging scientists to continue investigating its potential role in future cancer research and the development of new therapeutic approaches. – A Facebook post by ‘HealNest’

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Scientists have identified what they’re calling a “third state” between life and death, a strange biological territory where cells from a deceased organism don’t simply shut down. Instead, under the right conditions, they reorganize, adapt, and sometimes create entirely new forms of living systems.

When we think about death, we often imagine a clean ending. An organism exists, then it stops existing. But biology appears to be more complex than that. The individual organism may die, while some of its components still carry a kind of creative potential, capable of participating in new patterns of organization.

In one experiment, researchers took skin cells from a deceased frog embryo and placed them in a controlled environment. Rather than simply breaking down, the cells spontaneously assembled into tiny living structures called xenobots. These new entities could move, repair themselves, interact with their environment, and even reproduce in a way unlike traditional organisms, by gathering and organizing other cells into new forms.

Later, scientists discovered similar behavior in human lung cells. These cells formed what researchers called anthrobots, small living structures that could navigate their surroundings and even assist in repairing damaged nerve cells.

From these studies, perhaps life is less like a machine that either turns on or off, and more like a dynamic process of organization, relationship, and intelligence expressing itself through matter.

We can let this be a reminder that nature does not always operate according to the rigid categories we create and perceive in the world.

This discovery also becomes philosophically fascinating. If cells from something that has died can reorganize into something new, what does that say about our understanding of endings? What if death is not simply the opposite of life, but a transition point where existing patterns dissolve and new patterns become possible? – A Facebook post by ‘Collective Evolution’

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According to the workd of Dr. Marco Cavaglià and Tommaso Firaux at the Polytechnic University of Turin in Italy, your brain and nervous system generate electrical activity all the time. Electrical activity creates electromagnetic fields.

They believe consciousness isn't just happening inside individual neurons, but may also involve these larger electromagnetic fields that surround and connect biological systems - including people To explain this, they use analogies like a radio antenna "tuning into" information, your brain being the antenna.

All of this suggests things like when you instantly "click" with someone, feel deeply connected during conversation, or seem to pick up on another person's emotional state, there is electromagnetic interactions contributing to that experience.

In fact, the HeartMath Institute has shown this for deacdes via their heart electromagnetic field research. They've determined that your heart picks up on the electromagnetic field of other's hearts, and your brain then decodes that information into an understanding of other people's emotional state or feelings. Of course, the brain and heart are working almost simultaneously in this process.

Ultimately, humans are not isolated individuals. We are embedded in networks of relationships, culture, language, emotion, biology, and information, both material and non material. Our minds and hearts continuously influence one another in ways that are largely invisible. When a room's mood changes, when fear spreads through social media, or when a conversation leaves you feeling different, consciousness is already functioning as a deeply interconnected system, even without needing literal mind-reading.

That interconnectedness is well-supported in both science and spiritual mysticism. – A Facebook post by ‘Collective Evolution’

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Vietnamese doctors have successfully performed the country's first penis transplant using an organ from a brain-dead donor. The complex microsurgery reconstructed blood vessels, nerves, and other key structures.

The patient is recovering well with no early complications, though long-term function and sensation will require ongoing monitoring. The procedure is among the few successful penile transplants reported worldwide. - A Facebook post from ‘Brain Maze’

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Benalmadena

So, here I am again in Benalmadena, Malaga, Spain. I arrived on Tuesday. This is my eighth visit. I will be here until the second of September on a home-stay holiday, staying with my friend, Roger.

I have written about my visits to Benalmadena. I think I have covered quite a bit about the place and people here in my previous posts. For those who have followed me for a while, you would have a rough idea of what Benalmadena is like. I will try to look for interesting stuff to post, and not repeat too much of what I have posted. For new followers to my blog, stay tuned to find out about Benalmadena. You might want to pay a visit here one day.

Here goes:- a brief introduction of Benalmadena.

Benalmadena is a small town in the province of Malaga in Spain. It is located on the Costa del Sol, Spain’s immensely popular holiday destination, at the base of a mountain range. Costa del Sol is literally, ‘Coast of the Sun’ is a stretch of beach.

Arroyo de la Miel, where I will be staying, is one of the three urban centers and districts that make up the municipality of Benalmadena, along with Benalmádena Pueblo and Benalmádena Costa. Pueblos refer to the villages, and Costa is the Costa del Sol, the coast.

Arroyo de la Miel is the town center between the Pueblos at the base of the mountains and Costa del Sol on the coast. The city, Malaga, is half an hour by train.

We are about an eight minutes walk to the town center.

Roger set up a ‘work-station’ for me. This is where I will be writing my reports on my vacation. You can read about my previous visits from 👉 HERE, or look under the label "`Spain" on the right hand column.

This is Roger’s balcony.

It has an open view of the beautiful mountain ranges and the villages at the base of the mountain. A familiar corner in an unfamiliar town.

In the day

At night

Somewhere up there is Roger's apartment.

I will write more after I have gotten over my jet lag, adjusted to my new environment and settled in. For an old man who is a creature of habit, it gets harder each year.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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The World of Plants

“Knowledge is like a deep well, fed by perennial springs, and the mind of man is like a bucket that is dropped into it. He will get as much as he can assimilate. Knowledge and mental self-culture will confer incalculable blessings to man.” – Unknown

A peek into the world of plants. Here are some trivia, and fun facts about plants, courtesy of Facebook pages ‘Plant Care Today’ ‘Colours of Nature’, ‘Wildest Facts’, etc… However, I do not know if they are true. Some of them sound really incredible.

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You probably walked past a Haworthia at the nursery and thought it looked like a cute little succulent with see-through tips. Maybe you brought one home because it seemed hardy. What you actually brought home was a plant that lives most of its life underground.

In the wild, these small rosettes hunker down in the African desert with just their leaf tips peeking above the soil surface. Everything else — the growing crown, the roots, the chlorophyll-packed tissues that do the real work of photosynthesis — stays buried where temperatures stay cooler and moisture lingers a fraction longer. The translucent windows you see? Those aren't decorative. They're survival architecture.

Each window is built from specialized cells that contain almost no pigment at all. They're clear. Perfectly, intentionally clear. Light enters through the exposed tip and travels straight down through the leaf tissue like it's moving through a fiber optic thread. By the time that light reaches the chlorophyll deeper in the leaf, it's already past the brutal surface heat. The plant gets to photosynthesize without roasting its most valuable tissue.

This is why your Haworthia doesn't mind that bookshelf spot where your fiddle leaf fig would sulk itself to death. It evolved to work with filtered light, refracted light, light that's already passed through a layer of sand or stone. Bright indirect conditions aren't a compromise for this plant — they're exactly what it expects.

That same windowed-cell design caught the attention of engineers in the 1960s when they were trying to figure out how to move light efficiently over long distances. The telecommunications industry looked at how these plants guided light without scattering it and borrowed the principle for fiber optic cables. Your internet connection and your succulent share a blueprint.

The thick leaves do double duty. Yes, they store water — enough to coast through two months of neglect if they need to. But they also create that slightly succulent, firm texture that makes the whole light-funneling system work. If the leaves were thin and floppy, the windows wouldn't function. The architecture requires structure.

Here's the thing nobody tells you when you pot up a Haworthia: it likes to be a little crowded. In habitat, these plants grow in clusters, pressed together, roots confined by rocky soil. A pot that feels too small to you feels just right to the plant. It doesn't want to spend energy filling space — it wants to settle in, send up a bloom spike when it's ready, and mostly just exist in that quiet, efficient way it's been perfecting for millennia.

So when you see those translucent tips catching afternoon light from across the room, you're watching a system that solved the problem of photosynthesis in one of the harshest places on earth. It doesn't need your sunniest window. It never did.

It already knows how to find the light. – A Facebook post by ‘Plant Care Today’

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Over 6 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease and 77 million baby boomers are entering the peak age window for cognitive decline, making brain protection the most urgent preventive health priority for aging Americans. Acetylcholine deficiency progresses for years before Alzheimer's symptoms appear, creating a critical prevention window during which natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitors could delay or prevent clinical disease onset. Most Americans use rosemary exclusively for cooking flavor without realizing it contains the same class of enzyme-inhibiting compounds that pharmaceutical Alzheimer's drugs provide synthetically.

Rosemary carnosic acid inhibits acetylcholinesterase enzyme with measurable potency, increasing available acetylcholine in synaptic clefts throughout hippocampal and cortical memory circuits. Research from Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology confirmed rosemary compound 1,8-cineole blood levels directly correlate with memory test performance improvements up to 75% in healthy adult subjects.

Study finds rosmarinic acid simultaneously reduces tau protein phosphorylation, addressing the second major structural mechanism of Alzheimer's neurodegeneration beyond amyloid plaque accumulation. Evidence suggests daily rosemary consumption through food, tea, or aroma provides neuroprotective blood levels of carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid naturally.

Research confirmed rosemary increases acetylcholine 75%, fights Alzheimer plaques, and improves complete brain blood flow naturally. – A Facebook post by ‘Plant Care Today’

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When your fiddle leaf fig outgrows its nursery pot but keeps pushing out new leaves anyway, it's not defying logic—it's following a survival script millions of years old.

Here's what's actually happening below the soil line. As roots spiral against terracotta or plastic, they trigger a stress response that sounds harsh but works like magic. The plant detects restricted growth and responds by redirecting resources. Auxins — the hormones that govern where energy flows — shift their focus. Instead of building more root mass that has nowhere to go, the plant invests in the structures that can still expand: stems, leaves, and height.

This is why a slightly rootbound monstera often throws out those dramatic fenestrated leaves right before you planned to repot it. The constraint isn't damage. It's a signal. The plant interprets the boundary as information: "Can't grow wider, so grow taller. Can't dig deeper, so reach higher."

In nature, a tree seedling wedged between rocks follows the same playbook. It doesn't quit. It pivots. And your snake plant crammed into that ceramic pot for three years? It's doing exactly that — channeling limitation into visible momentum.

But there's a tipping point. When roots become so compacted they can't absorb water efficiently, or when the soil volume can't hold enough nutrients between waterings, stress stops being productive and starts causing harm. Yellowing lower leaves, stunted new growth, and water running straight through the drainage holes are your cues.

The sweet spot? That phase where the plant feels snug but not strangled. Where it's working a little harder, and that effort shows up as lush foliage instead of root rot.

What's one plant in your home that's been thriving in the same pot longer than you expected? – A Facebook post by ‘Plant Care Today’

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Your Desert Rose doesn't want you playing raincloud from above — it wants you to become groundwater.

Here's what most people get wrong: Desert Roses (Adenium obesum) evolved in regions where water doesn't fall consistently from the sky. Instead, moisture seeps up from underground reserves during dry seasons. Their entire root architecture is built like a reverse umbrella — designed to pull water upward through capillary action, not catch it from above.

When you pour water on top, it rushes through the soil unevenly, creating soggy spots and bone-dry pockets. Your plant's caudex (that beautiful swollen trunk) stores emergency water, but the feeder roots? They're left confused, sitting in either drought or flood zones.

Bottom watering changes everything. Set your pot in 1-2 inches of water for 15-20 minutes. Watch the magic: those specialized roots activate their hydraulic system, pulling moisture evenly throughout the soil mass. The plant takes exactly what it needs—no guessing, no overwatering, no root rot from sitting in surface puddles.

You'll know it's working when the top inch of soil feels slightly moist (not wet). Then remove the tray and let it dry completely before the next session. Usually every 7-10 days in growing season.

Are you still watering your Desert Rose from the top, or have you switched to letting those roots do what evolution designed them for? – A Facebook post by ‘Plant Care Today’

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You slice through the celery bunch at the grocery store checkout, trim the stalks for your soup, and toss that pale, knobby base into the compost. What you just discarded was a living engine in sleep mode — a compressed crown of meristematic tissue that's been waiting, since the moment it was harvested, for the signal to wake up.

That signal is simpler than you'd think. Set that base in a dish with half an inch of water, and within seventy-two hours, the vascular cambium — the layer of cells just beneath the surface — detects moisture and begins mitotic activity. Cell division ramps up in the center where the apical meristem sits protected. Within a week, you'll see the proof: tiny yellowish shoots pushing upward, bright and determined, pulling energy from the stored sugars in that base while new roots branch downward into the water.

This isn't a trick or a hack. It's how celery has always worked. The plant is biologically wired to regenerate from its crown. In commercial fields, farmers don't replant seeds after every harvest — they cut the stalks and let the base resprout for a second growth cycle. You're just mimicking what the plant does naturally when it's allowed to stay in contact with soil and moisture.

Once those shoots reach two inches, the stored reserves begin to deplete. That's your cue to transition it into potting mix enriched with compost. The root system will spread laterally and downward — celery needs twelve inches in both directions — and the plant shifts from survival mode into full production. It becomes a heavy feeder, pulling nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from the soil to build those crisp, ribbed stalks you recognize from the store.

Here's where the numbers get interesting. One grocery store base, which cost you nothing because you were going to discard it anyway, can produce harvestable stalks every two to three weeks for four to six months if you maintain consistent moisture and bright light. That's roughly eight to twelve harvests from a single crown. If you started with five bases, staggered by two weeks, you'd have fresh celery available in perpetual rotation without ever buying another bunch.

The method is forgiving. Harvest only the outer stalks when they reach eight to ten inches, slicing cleanly at the base. The inner stalks keep growing because the apical meristem remains intact at the center. You're pruning, not destroying. The plant responds by pushing new growth upward, cycling through the same cellular process that started in that shallow dish weeks earlier.

Most people never see this because the grocery store model trains us to think of vegetables as inert products. They're not. Every base, every root stub, every crown holds the biological instructions for renewal. Celery doesn't stop being alive when it's cut—it just pauses, waiting for conditions that let it continue.

You've been throwing away the reset button. – A Facebook post by ‘Plant Care Today’

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Health Is Wealth

“The ingredients of health and long life, are great temperance, open air, easy labour, and little care.” - Sir Philip Sidney

Interesting facts and trivia about our health, courtesy of Facebook pages ‘Body Truth’, ‘Pure Facts’, etc… However, I do not know if they are true. Some of them sound really incredible.

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Did you know? Your body loses muscle much faster than it builds it — and the process speeds up dramatically as you get older…

Muscle is one of the most metabolically active tissues in the body, but it's also surprisingly quick to disappear when it's not being used.

Research has shown that healthy adults can begin losing measurable muscle mass and strength after just 5–7 days of complete bed rest or immobilization. Studies from organizations such as NASA, along with clinical research on hospitalized patients, have demonstrated that even short periods of inactivity can lead to rapid declines in muscle size, strength, and insulin sensitivity.

Building that muscle back, however, takes considerably longer. Gaining new muscle requires weeks to months of consistent resistance training, adequate protein intake, and recovery, making muscle loss far easier than muscle gain.

After about age 60, the challenge becomes even greater. Older adults experience anabolic resistance, meaning their muscles respond less efficiently to exercise and dietary protein. Without regular strength training, adults can lose approximately 3–8% of their muscle mass per decade after age 30, with the rate accelerating later in life — a condition known as sarcopenia.

This loss isn't just about appearance. Muscle is essential for balance, mobility, bone strength, blood sugar regulation, metabolic health, and maintaining independence. Preserving it is one of the most powerful investments you can make for healthy aging.

How to protect your muscle:
Aim for 2–3 resistance training sessions each week, stay physically active every day, and consume enough high-quality protein throughout the day. Even simple exercises like squats, push-ups, resistance bands, or carrying groceries can help signal your muscles to stay strong as you age. – A Facebook post by ‘Body Truth’

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Did you know? If you're over 50 and can perform around 20 consecutive push-ups, chances are your strength and overall fitness are above average for your age…

A push-up may seem like a simple exercise, but it requires your heart, lungs, muscles, joints, balance, and core to work together at the same time. That's why researchers have become increasingly interested in push-up capacity as a marker of overall health.

One of the most widely cited studies, published in JAMA Network Open, followed 1,104 active adult men for 10 years. Researchers found that participants who could perform more than 40 consecutive push-ups had a substantially lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those who could perform fewer than 10. While the study involved firefighters rather than the general population, it demonstrated that push-up capacity was a surprisingly strong indicator of cardiovascular fitness.

For adults over 50, completing around 20 continuous push-ups typically reflects good upper-body strength, muscular endurance, and functional fitness compared with age-matched averages. It also suggests your heart and lungs can support sustained physical effort — an important component of healthy aging.

Of course, push-ups aren't a perfect measure of health. Factors such as body weight, joint conditions, previous injuries, and training history all influence performance. But they remain one of the simplest at-home tests of functional fitness because they challenge multiple body systems at once.

Try this:
If 20 standard push-ups aren't possible today, don't be discouraged. Start with incline or knee push-ups and gradually build strength. Improving your push-up count over time is a practical way to increase muscular endurance, support cardiovascular fitness, and maintain independence as you age. – A Facebook post by ‘Body Truth’

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Did you know? Your muscles and your brain are in constant communication — and building one may help protect the other…

For years, scientists believed muscles existed mainly to move the body. Today, research shows they're also a powerful endocrine organ, releasing hundreds of signaling molecules called myokines that influence the brain, heart, immune system, and metabolism.

One of the most important is brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), often called "fertilizer for the brain." BDNF helps brain cells survive, strengthens connections between neurons, and supports learning, memory, and the formation of new brain cells.

When you perform resistance training or other vigorous exercise, your muscles stimulate a cascade of signals that increases BDNF production. This is one reason exercise has consistently been linked to better memory, sharper thinking, and a lower risk of age-related cognitive decline.

In fact, studies published in Neurology have found that adults with greater muscle strength and muscle mass tend to maintain better cognitive function as they age. Researchers believe that preserving muscle isn't just about mobility — it's also about supporting the biochemical pathways that help keep the brain healthy.

As we get older, losing muscle often goes hand in hand with losing strength, balance, independence — and, in many cases, cognitive performance. That's why many scientists now view strength training as an investment in both your muscles and your mind.

How to do it:
Aim for 2–3 resistance-training sessions each week, eat enough high-quality protein, and stay physically active every day. Every squat, push-up, or lift isn't just strengthening your body—it may also be helping your brain stay healthier for years to come. – A Facebook post by ‘Body Truth’

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New research shows that increasing daily walking can meaningfully extend life expectancy, especially for adults who are currently inactive. Study models suggest that people who reach around 160 minutes of moderate walking per day, roughly three miles per hour, could live substantially longer than those with minimal activity. Even adding smaller amounts of walking for previously sedentary individuals can produce measurable benefits. This simple form of exercise supports overall cardiovascular function, improves metabolism, maintains healthy weight, and reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers.

Walking also enhances mental well‑being by reducing stress and improving mood, contributing to long‑term health. Activities like brisk walks, taking stairs, or incorporating walking into daily routines can collectively add up to significant daily movement. Researchers estimate that adults who are least active could gain up to eleven additional years of life by gradually increasing walking duration to recommended levels.

The findings highlight that consistent, accessible physical activity can have profound effects on longevity. Even moderate, achievable daily walking can improve overall quality of life and reduce long‑term health risks, emphasizing that small lifestyle changes can yield substantial benefits. – A Facebook post

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Did you know? Simply changing the order you eat your food may have a bigger impact on your blood sugar than many people realize...

Research has shown that eating vegetables before carbohydrates can significantly reduce the rise in blood sugar after a meal. In several clinical studies, people who ate fiber-rich vegetables first, followed by protein and fats, and carbohydrates last, experienced substantially smaller post-meal glucose spikes compared with eating the same foods in the opposite order. Some studies have reported reductions of up to 70% under specific meal conditions.

This happens because vegetables are rich in dietary fiber, which slows stomach emptying and delays the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. At the same time, eating protein and healthy fats before starches helps stimulate hormones such as GLP-1, improving insulin release and allowing glucose to enter cells more gradually. The result is a steadier rise in blood sugar rather than a sharp spike.

Scientists refer to this approach as meal sequencing, and it's becoming an increasingly researched nutritional strategy for supporting healthy blood sugar, reducing insulin demand, and improving satiety. While it isn't a replacement for an overall healthy diet, it's one of the simplest changes you can make without eliminating your favorite foods.

Try this at your next meal:
Start with a salad or cooked vegetables, eat your protein next, and save rice, bread, pasta, or potatoes for last. You may help support steadier blood sugar using the exact same foods—just in a different order. – A Facebook post by ‘Body Truth’

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Our Feathered Friends

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.” - William Blake

A peek into the world of our feathered friends.

Some interesting fun facts about birds – courtesy of Facebook pages ‘Plant Care Today’, ‘Wild Wonders’, ‘David Attenborough’, etc… However, I do not know if they are true. Some of them sound really incredible.

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A feeder full of birds is not chaos. It is a weather report.

White-throated Sparrows can feel air pressure falling before a single raindrop forms — and when that invisible signal drops by just 10 millimeters, something clicks on inside them like a switch. Not a small switch. A full alarm. They feed harder, flock tighter, and move faster because their body is doing math that no human instrument could match in real time.

The organ doing this work sits right beside the eardrum — a tiny cluster of cells that traces its roots back to the same sensing system sharks use to detect movement in dark water. Somewhere in deep history, that ancient machinery got repurposed. Predators of the ocean and small birds at a backyard feeder, sharing the same quiet technology.

A cold front can swing pressure by 30 millimeters over a few hours. Birds are already responding at 10. By the time the sky goes gray, the birds have known for hours. Every finch, every cardinal, every sparrow pressing against the feeder is reading something invisible and acting on it with total confidence.

The storm has not arrived. But the birds already know it is coming.

Some things feel the world in ways silence cannot explain. – A Facebook post by ‘Plant Care Today’

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Bar-headed geese do not just cross mountains. They pick a fight with the atmosphere and win.

The real detail is this.

At Himalayan altitude, oxygen thins so badly that a human body can start failing fast without help. These geese keep climbing anyway, beating their wings through air that feels almost empty.

Their secret is not one trick. Their lungs move air with ruthless efficiency, their blood grabs oxygen better than ours, and their flight muscles are packed to use every breath like it matters.

They often ride cold night air too, when the atmosphere gives them a tiny advantage. Up there, tiny advantages are the difference between migration and disaster.

They are not drifting over a deadly sky. They are powering through it.

Some animals survive harsh places. Bar-headed geese were built to fly through a place that barely lets life breathe. – A Facebook post by ‘Strangest Facts’

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This is the PARADISE TANAGER – The Bird That Looks Like a Living Rainbow!

Native to the tropical rainforests of South America, the Paradise Tanager is one of the most colorful birds in the world, with bright blue, green, black, and red feathers that make it look almost unreal.

These tiny birds spend most of their time high in the forest canopy, feeding on fruits, berries, and small insects. They are highly active and often travel in mixed flocks, moving quickly through the trees in search of food.

Did you know: Despite its dazzling colors, the Paradise Tanager can be surprisingly hard to spot because it stays high in the treetops! – A Facebook post by ‘All About Animals’

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And to do all of that — it had to fall first. Bats cannot simply flap and lift off from flat ground. Their wings are stretched-out finger bones wrapped in skin so thin light passes through it. That design is perfect for cutting through air at speed, but nearly useless for pushing off a floor. So every hunt begins the same way: crawl to an edge, cling upside down, and drop. Gravity does the first part. The wings do the rest. Within one wingbeat, a bat goes from falling to hunting.

The little brown bat pulls this off in the dark, using sound waves bouncing off moving targets no bigger than a pencil eraser — recalculating position, speed, and angle thousands of times per second inside a brain the size of a grape. No radar system humans have built comes close to that resolution at that size.

One single bat can quietly remove thousands of insects from the air on a warm summer night without a single light, net, or trap. The whole operation runs on echolocation, elastic wing skin, and a controlled fall. Something that cannot stand up straight on the ground rules the night sky completely. The ceiling was never a limitation. It was always the launchpad. – A Facebook post by ‘Plant Care Today’

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Nature does not do ordinary. And these apex predators prove it. Meet the eagle family.

The bald eagle is a symbol of North America. Despite the name, it is not bald at all. "Bald" originally meant white-headed. It builds some of the largest nests of any bird species. Nests that can weigh over a ton over time. They are reused and added to year after year.

The golden eagle is a powerful hunter of open landscapes. It is known for dramatic hunting dives reaching speeds of up to 150 miles per hour. It strikes with precision and force. Rabbits, foxes, even young deer. Nothing is safe when a golden eagle is hunting.

The harpy eagle is a rainforest giant. Its massive talons, up to 13 centimeters or 5 inches, are among the strongest in the bird world. It can crush the skulls of monkeys and sloths with ease. It is the apex predator of the Amazon canopy.

Three eagles. Three different worlds. One family. The bald eagle rules the skies of North America. The golden eagle dominates open landscapes. The harpy eagle owns the rainforest. Each one is a master of its domain. Each one is a reminder that nature does not do ordinary. It does extraordinary. Every single time. – A Facebook post by ‘Animal World’

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Humorous Quips

It’s a new day – and a new week! What better way to start the week with a little humour.

Life can be difficult and stressful. For some, life is a constant struggle. However, after the storm, the sun will shine again. And come what may, Life goes on. Meanwhile, try to relax, and take it easy – laugh and be happy.

Here are some phrases that are witty, funny, and at the same time, have quite a bit of truth in them. Have a look, see if you can find the humour in them. Maybe they can put a smile on your face, and help you forget about your troubles for a while.

May your days be filled with laughter.

Lawyers believe a man is innocent until proven broke. - Robin Hall

The easiest way to teach children the value of money is to borrow some from them. - Unknown

An original idea. That can’t be too hard. The library must be full of them. - Stephen Fry

Divorce has become so easy nowadays that women have stopped crying at weddings. - Evan Esar

Any day above ground is a good day. - Robert Gerus

Even if a farmer intends to loaf, he gets up in time to get an early start. - Edgar Watson Howe

Buy land, they’re not making it any more. - Mark Twain

Calamities are of two kinds: misfortunes to ourselves, and good fortune to others. - Ambrose Bierce

Anything that is too stupid to be spoken is sung. - Voltaire

Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted. - Unknown

I have never been hurt by what I have not said. - Calvin Coolidge

Never invest your money in anything that eats or needs repainting. - Billy Rose

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Fig Trees

I saw these two fig trees in the Flower Dome. They are known as the common fig tree – Ficus carica variety. It is a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae.

The Flower Dome which maintains a spring temperature throughout the year has plants from five continents. The Ficus carica is one of many plants. As I approached the trees, I noticed there were fruits on the branches. This is the first time I have seen the trees bearing fruits. Or, maybe I didn’t pay attention before.

There are many varieties of fig trees – over 1,000 named varieties. While it is possible to grow them in Singapore, they are wild native fig trees and not the Ficus carica variety. Singapore lacks the distinct dry season and the heavy rainfall is also not conducive to growing ficus carica.

Fun facts about the fig tree (ficus Cariac)
1. Fig trees (Ficus) are special because their flowers bloom inside the fruit rather than on branches.
2. Figs are said to be especially good for the organs in your gastrointestinal tract and your heart. They have a high fiber content. They contain prebiotics that support a healthy gut microbiome.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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