Hairy beggarticks (Bidens pilosa)

Ketul or hairy beggarticks (Bidens pilosa) is a species of plant in the Asteraceae, herbaceous erect, branched, up to 1 meter high, stems rectangular, glabrous or hairy, often reddish in color, growing in forests, agricultural land and roadsides.

B. pilosa has leaves sitting opposite, whole or pinnately sharing in 2-3 items and stalks up to 6.5 cm long. The leaves are oval, elongated, pointed tip, 1-12 cm long, 0.5-5.5 cm wide, serrated edges, glabrous or slightly hairy.

The inflorescences are in lobes that gather at the terminal or in the leaf axils. The hump is 5-7 mm long, 7-8 mm in diameter, contains 20-40 clustered flowers and stalks up to 9 cm long.

Peripheral flowers are 5-7 items, short tubed crown and broad oblong or elliptical tongue, 5-8 mm long and yellow or creamy white. The crown is a tubular disc, 5 pinnate and yellow in color.

Fruit hard, slender elongated, 0.5-1.3 cm, dark brown when ripe with 2-3 needle-like hooks and prickly at the end. The fruit is attached to the hair or body of an animal for dispersal.

Hairy beggarticks like moist soil and full sun at elevations up to 2300 meters. Flowering throughout the year and within a week producing fruit with 35-60% of seeds will germinate. Seeds stored for 3-5 years can still germinate 80%.

The leaves are used in traditional medicine to treat coughs, angina, headaches, fever, diabetes, constipation, diarrhea, intestinal worms, stomach pain, toothache, poisoning, aches, itching and rheumatic pain.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Subfamily: Asteroideae
Tribe: Coreopsideae
Genus: Bidens
Species: Bidens pilosa
Variety: Bidens pilosa var. minor, Bidens pilosa var. pilosa

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Javanese grasshopper (Valanga nigricornis)

Wooden grasshopper or Javanese grasshopper ( Valanga nigricornis ) is an animal species of Acrididae, grasshoppers that have at least 18 subspecies, insects with very wide diversity in color and size, sexual dimorphism in which females are larger in size and paler in color. V. nigricornis in males has a length of 45-55 millimeters and females 15-75 mm. The head is square and green or yellow or brown or black in color. A pair of antennas has a black color. The eyes are large and gray or white or brownish. The hind legs are very large and have a green or yellow or brown or black color, plain or brindle. The limbs have two rows of large and long spines with black tips facing backward. The wings have a length exceeding the belly, a rough surface and are brown or green or yellow or black in color with pulse lines forming spaces filled with black color. The hind wings are rose red which will be visible when flying. Nymphs are pale green or yellow or brown or blackish in color. Javanese gr...

Sojiwan Temple

Sojiwan Temple or Candi Sojiwan or Candi Sajiwan is a Buddhist monument in the Kewu Plain , village of Kebon Dalem Kidul, Prambanan District, Klaten Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia. This temple has a characteristic that is 20 reliefs at the foot of the temple associated with the stories of Pancatantra or Jataka. Sojiwan temple was completely restored in 2011. Some inscriptions say that was built between 842 and 850 AD. The Rukam inscription in 829 Saka (907 AD) mentions the ceremony of the inauguration of the improvement of Rukam Village by Nini Haji Rakryan Sanjiwana which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. The residents of Rukam Village were given the obligation to maintain a sacred building located in Limwung. The sacred building was later attributed to the Sojiwan Temple, while Nini Haji Rakryan Sanjiwana was associated as Queen Pramodhawardhani. Sojiwan Temple was first reported in 1813 by Colonel Colin Mackenzie, a messenger of Raffles, who was collecting arch...

Dlium