We believe that behind every invention and discovery there is always a curious mind working. This section of BioNE, is dedicated to all those young curious minds who have been thinking and working on unexplored possibilities in the horizon of biological sciences. Today’s learning process is no longer confined in books, rather it is based on questioning beyond the existing knowledge and searching for relevant answers. Here, we are inviting all those curious minds to put up questions and bring up a joint platform to share their ideas. Please mail your questions to bione@vetbifg.ac.in

Question: Is there any difference between race and subspecies?                  

Sarmistha Das

H.S. 1^st year, Pandu College

Answer: Earlier, the words race and subspecies were used to mean the same thing in biology. This was before we knew how much or how little genes could differ between animals. Now we only use subspecies to refer to living things that aren’t human. We only use race when we talk about humans. We often try to group humans by race based on how they look. While humans may look different externally, our DNA looks very similar.

Question: What are ‘moon flowers’ and why do they bloom only at night?

Nibir Patowary

Delhi Public School, Guwahati, Class IX

Answer: ‘Moon flower’ is the common name for a variety of plants that have flowers that open at night. These flowers are big and white. Different types of these flowers are found throughout the world. These include the sacred Datura (Datura wrightii), night-blooming Cereus (Peniocereus greggii), and several species of morning glory (Ipomoea). These plants have evolved over millions of years to be timed with the night/day cycle to open only in the night. They do this because night-flying insects mostly pollinate them. One such insect is the hawk moth (Sphingidae). The flowers are sensitive to small changes in light so that they are open when these insects are out in the evening.

Question: What are Spots or Pimples?

Dharitri Dutta

H.S. 1^st year, Pragjyotish College

Answer: Whether male or female, spots, pimples and acne may appear on the skin due to one’s sensitivity to the hormone testosterone. This hormone can trigger the overproduction of sebum – an oily substance that waterproofs our hair and skin. When sebum gets trapped, this can lead to a spot forming. Our skin is like a conveyor belt, constantly renewing itself. As new cells are produced in the lowest layers of our skin (the dermis), old cells are shed from the surface. If some of these dead skin cells happen to block a pore, sebum can build up inside the hair follicle and spots or pimples arise.