Bt brinjal, a genetically modified version of the common brinjal, is a transgenic vegetable created by inserting a gene (Cry 1Ac) from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) into it. The insertion of the gene is said to give the brinjal plant resistance against insects like the brinjal fruit and shoot borer and fruit borer.

Living on the bottom the skate naturally feeds on the other animals it finds there crabs, lobsters and oysters and other molluscs. It has strong curshing teeth to deal with these shelled creatures. To get at choice mollucs buried in the sand the skate will flap away with its pectoral fins and gradually work its way under the surface. It …

Our lungs are like two spongy bags. Just as sponge can be filled with water and then squeezed dry again, so our lungs fill with air when we breathe in and then release most of the air again when we breathe out. As air enters the lungs it passes down a series of smaller and smaller tubes, which are known …

From watching cinema films, you could be forgiven for thinking that all deserts are covered by sand. However, sand deserts make up only a fifth of the world’s desert. The rest are covered by small stones or just bare rock. Desert landscapes are called by Arabic names. Sand desert is called erg, stony desert reg, and areas of bare rock …

Dogs are what we call domesticated animals, meaning that for thousands of years they have played a very close and important part in men’s lives. One of the most valuable jobs a dog can be trained for is to act as a guide dog. These dogs are owned by blind people and lead the way when they want to go …

The ‘overgrown lizard’ is that most frightening of extinct animals. Tyrannosaurus Rex. There were some dinosaurs even larger than Tyrannosaurus, but they were harmless, placid, grazing animals. Tyrannosaurus was a carnivore a meat eater and its breakfast was probably another, less powerful dinosaur. Thanks of fossil remains, we have a good idea of what this monster looked like. It stood …

As a result of Tasman’s discoveries, Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand were thought to be part of one enormous continental island. It was shown on maps of the time as Terra Australis Cognita (or Southern Known Land) separated from another to the south shown as Terra Australis Incognita (or Unknown). Captain Cook, however, proved that the former was not one …

Suppose that today is February 13, 2053. The day of the week is a Thursday. One week (seven days) from today, on February 20, 2053, it will be Thursday again. After two weeks (fourteen days), it will be Thursday once more. We need to figure out how many weeks and days will have passed after a year. 2053 is not …

In 1934, people in the city of Boston in the north-eastern USA watched in amazement as clouds of choking yellow dust passed over them on their way to the Atlantic Ocean. The dust had come from the Great Plains in the American Midwest. These plains are generally treeless, because the average yearly rainfall is less than 500mm (20 in) and …

Most people have dark eyes, usually brown. These people usually have dark hair. People with blue eyes tend to have fair hair.