Crêpe ginger (Hellenia speciosa)

Pacing tawar or crêpe ginger or Cheilocostus speciosus (Hellenia speciosa) is a plant species in Costaceae that grows upright for height of 0.5 meters to 3 meters, has a large flower, likes damp and shade in primary forests, secondary forests and teak forests on lowlands up to 1050 meters above sea level.

C. speciosa has a brownish yellow stem, the size of an adult's finger, contains a lot of water and is easily broken. The plants go upward in harmony with the tops, the leaves are green, single, short stalks and the strands extend to the lanceolate shape and are arranged in a spiral circle around the stem.

Tapered leaf tips, flat edges and blunt leaf base. The surface of the lower leaves is soft, while the upper surface is grooved. Large-sized inflorescence located at the end of the stem. Flowers are white or yellow. Egg-shaped protective leaves with pointed ends. The crown is tubular, pointed tip and green.

The pistil pops up on the starch and is white. The fruit is ovoid and red. Hard seeds, small and black. Rhizomes and seeds contain diosgenin (sapogenin steroid), tigogenin, diosin, grasillin, sitosterol and methyltryacontan. Also contains saponins, flavonoids and tannins.

Traditional Javanese treatment uses to treat swelling in the kidneys (Nephtiric edema), stomach ulcers, urinary tract infections (urinary tractus) and liver shrinkage (chirosis). All parts are used as external medicine for wounds from being bitten by snakes and insects.

Leaves are used as a medicine for eye mucous inflammation. Young leaves to nourish hair. The stem is used as a medicine for fever and dysentery. Pith stems to cool the eyes in people with smallpox.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Zingiberales
Family: Costaceae
Genus: Hellenia
Species: Hellenia speciosa

Pohpohan (Pilea melastomoides)

Pohpohan clearweed ( Pilea melastomoides ) is a species of plant in the Urticaceae, herbaceous perennial, erect stems, up to 100 cm tall, succulent, square or cylindrical, enlarged in the middle of the internodes, bright green in color and forming colonies in the shade. P. melastomoides has stipules that are immediately deciduous or subpersistent, green or brownish and oblong. The stalk is 2-9 cm long. The leaf blade is ovate or ovate-elliptic or oblong-lanceolate. The surface is wavy, pale green on the underside, dark green on the top. The three main veins are central and linear. Rounded base, tapered ends and serrated edges. The inflorescences are paired, the male is a dense cyme paniculata. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Urticaceae Genus: Pilea Species: Pilea melastomoides

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 ...

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