Gaurav Singh

While the rest of the world will be celebrating the Valentine’s Day, the few remaining tigers in the wild and preserves will be fighting for their survival as the Year of the Tiger begins on Sunday.

Estimated number is 3,000 wild tigers around the world, but the actual number might be lesser than that. Tigers are disappearing rapidly from their habitats in Asia due to poaching and diminishing forest cover, especially in China and India. India has 37 tiger reserves across the country but poaching is ever increasing because of strong demand of tiger body parts such as bones, hide and paws in China. The Chinese government banned the trade on tiger body parts way back in 1993, but the appetite for tiger parts has been on the rise, especially now for the year of the tiger.

The suppliers and consumers of the products made with tiger parts believe that tiger bones have the power to heal problems of old age and increase sexual performance. Business is booming and the prices soar up to $1,000 for a tiger paw and $20,000 for the hide.

The majestic animal might disappear altogether if poaching keeps increasing to supply such superstitious demands; the people linked with the heinous trade need to be educated. The government needs to adopt zero policy on tiger trade and use of body parts with stricter force, but the culture of using tiger parts for human consumption needs to be changed.

Did you know?
“Siberian (or Amur) Tigers, one of just five remaining tiger subspecies, are the world’s largest cats. They can grow up to 11 feet (3.5 meters) long and weigh up to 660 pounds (300 kilograms).” — National Geographic

Read more at The New York Times and other related articles.

written by admin \\ tags: Asia, ban, breeding, China, endangered, extinct, forest, hunting, India, parks, paws, poaching, reserves, superstitious, survival, tiger, trade, Valentine's Day, wild

I just discovered a star named Betelgeuse, which is the shoulder star of the Orion hunter constellation and reaches its highest point above the horizon as brightest red star on every Valentine’s Day. This year, this bright red star will appear on the South sky between 8-9 pm.

Not only this star is red but it also pulsates like a heart at a “celestial rate” of six years; the size of the star grows and shrinks back.

Moreover, the best part about this story is that this V-day is also a new moon and hopefully a clear sky!

Watch the video and Jack Horkheimer will explain more on the Valentine’s Day cosmic wonders:

The Valentine Star — Betelgeuse

written by admin \\ tags: Betelgeuse, celestial, constellation, cosmos, hunter, love, mars, Orion, red planet, red star, romantic, star gazer, Valentine's Day

“Valentine’s Day is all about love. But what, exactly, is that?

Helen Fisher is an anthropologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey and author of several books on love, including Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love.

Fisher breaks love into three distinct brain systems that enable mating and reproduction:

• Sex drive
• Romantic love (obsession, passion, infatuation)
• Attachment (calmness and security with a long-term partner)

These are brain systems, not phases, Fisher emphasized, and all three play a role in love. They can operate independently, but people crave all three for an ideal relationship.

“I think the sex drive evolved to get you out there looking for a range of partners,” she said.

“I think romantic love evolved to enable you to focus your mating energy on just one at a time, and attachment evolved to tolerate that person at least long enough to raise a child together as a team.”

Valentine’s Day, Fisher added, used to encompass only two of these three brain systems: sex drive and romantic love.”

Read more at the National Geographic

written by admin \\ tags: attachment, chocolates, Helen Fisher, love, mating, obsession, partner, passion, relationship, reproduction, romance, roses, Rutgers, sex, Valentine's Day