IndiaAsksWhy | Why are Plants Green?

Coming to the end of season 3, we have discussed so many questions that came to our minds. Listening to these questions, Utsuka and Jigyasa’s friends, Avishka and Tavi, from Delhi Public School, Secunderabad, ironically asked “why do we ask so many questions?”. This question made us all think about human nature and how we are always curious to know more!

In the last episode of season 03 of IndiaAsksWhy, we look at the importance of curiosity and the different types of curiosity. We learn that curiosity probably evolved as a survival mechanism in animals. The inquisitive group also spoke to a curiosity researcher, Prof. Jaison Manjaly, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar (IITGN), to understand how one could study human curiosity and its nature in the lab!

We’re sure this conversation between the curious group would have made you curious, too. You can send your follow-up questions on our website, and we’ll pick them up :)

Please write to indiaaskswhy@gmail.com if you'd like your school to be involved with IndiaAsksWhy.

References

• Byrne, Richard W. “Animal Curiosity.” Current Biology, vol. 23, no. 11, June 2013, pp. R469–R470, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.058. Accessed 9 Dec. 2019.
• Kidd, Celeste, and Benjamin Y. Hayden. “The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity.” Neuron, vol. 88, no. 3, Nov. 2015, pp. 449–460, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4635443/, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.010.
• Shin, Dajung Diane, and Sung-il Kim. “Homo Curious: Curious or Interested?” Educational Psychology Review, vol. 31, no. 4, 29 July 2019, pp. 853–874, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09497-x.
• “The “Why” behind Asking Why: The Science of Curiosity.” Knowledge at Wharton, 27 Aug. 2017, knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/podcast/knowledge-at-wharton-podcast/makes-us-curious/.
• “Why Are We so Curious?” Wonder Newsroom, www.blog.askwonder.com/blog/why-are-humans-so-curious. Accessed 14 Apr. 2023.

Credits

• Hosts: Shweata N. Hegde and Ruchi Manglunia
• Guest scientist: Prof. Jaison Manjaly
• Students: Tanvi and Avishkaa from Delhi Public School, Secunderabad
• Audio Editor: Shweata N. Hegde
• Episode cover: Asif Khan
• Transcriber: Khushi Goel

“Why do babies kick in the womb?” ShreeKilambi and Karthik, from Delhi Public School Secunderabad, ask. Once when Utsuka and Jigyasa were chatting with their curious friends, they happened upon the topic of babies! That’s when one of them wondered why babies kick when they are still in their mother's womb.

In the second episode of season 03 of IndiaAsksWhy, we learn about the development of bones in the unborn baby. We take a deep dive into how the bone-to-brain connection is tested out in the developing baby. The curious group also spoke to the developmental biologist, Prof. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, from IIT Kanpur, to understand how one could possibly study developing bones in a lab!

We’re sure this conversation between the curious group would have made you curious, too. You can send your follow-up questions on our website, and we’ll pick them up :)

Please write to indiaaskswhy@gmail.com if you'd like your school to be involved with IndiaAsksWhy.

References

1. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/babies-move-womb-why-bones-joints-development-scientists-discovery-pregnancy-a8263351.html

2. https://teachmeanatomy.info/lower-limb/joints/knee-joint/ BIOMECHANICS OF FOETAL MOVEMENT. N C Nowlan. European Cells and Materials Vol. 29, 2015 (pages 1-21) DOI:10.22203/eCM.v029a01

3. Chapter 15 - Fetal movement patterns and behavioural states. Gerard H A Visser, Eduard J H Mulder. Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. European Practice in Gynaecology and Obstetrics. 2009, Pages 271-284. doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-51829-3.00015-5

Credits

• Hosts: Shweata N. Hegde and Ruchi Manglunia
• Guest scientist: Prof. Amitabha Bandyopadhyay
• Students: Karthik and Shree from Delhi Public School, Secunderabad
• Audio Editor: Kaviranjana Antony
• Transcriber: Khushi Goel

The much-awaited trailer for season 3 is here!

This time, we have our listeners, the school students, who will voice their questions!
⁉️ So what are you waiting for? Get set to wonder, learn, and unleash your inner scientist🔬🔭🧪🎤

Make sure you subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, and Google Podcast🎙️. Also, check out our website at www.indiaaskswhy.org.

IndiaAsksWhy is a science podcast supported by the IndiaBioscience Extension Grant. 

Bonus Episode of season 2! 

Utsuka and Jigyasa have received a question from one of their curious listeners- Rythem Goyal! Rythem is a first-year graduate researcher at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad. Our listener wants to know why we have moles and birthmarks! Utsuka and Jigyasa have once again put on their detective hats to find the answer! 

They learned abnormal cellular behavior before birth can sometimes cause such harmless birthmarks and moles. 

They also spoke with Dr. Ramray Bhat who is a Cancer scientist at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He tells them how a delicate balance of signals keeps cells in the “right” state. He also shared about his journey from being a clinician to an interdisciplinary researcher.

We’re sure that Utuska and Jigyasa’s conversations would have made you ask questions. You can leave them on our website ( https://www.indiaaskswhy.org/contact/), and we’ll pick them up :)

Utsuka and Jigyasa spotted a snake charmer on the streets. Utsuka was mesmerized by its dance. But they both realized that the dancing snake had no legs or arms. That made them wonder: “Why snakes don’t have limbs?”

They learn about the story of the past snakes and how they might have lost limbs. They also discuss how present-day scientists study snake evolution.

In the interview segment, they talk with Dr. Megha Kumar, a scientist from CCMB who studies early forms of animals – embryos. Dr. Kumar talks about how researchers study snakes and other animals to answer questions about how their bodies develop. Dr. Kumar also shares her journey to becoming a scientist.

References

1. https://www.livescience.com/56573-mutation-caused-snakes-to-lose-legs.html#:~:text=Adult%20snakes%20don't%20have,mutations%20that%20prevented%20limb%20development.
2. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/a-fossil-snake-with-four-legs
3. Leal F, Cohn MJ. Loss and Re-emergence of Legs in Snakes by Modular Evolution of Sonic hedgehog and HOXD Enhancers. Curr Biol. 2016 Nov 7;26(21):2966-2973. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.09.020. Epub 2016 Oct 20. PMID: 27773569.