Articles for author: Maria Faith Saligumba

Round-leaved Sundew

Sundews in Motion: How a Plant Can Move Without Muscles

Maria Faith Saligumba

Imagine strolling through a quiet, misty bog and spotting a plant with glistening red tentacles that appear almost otherworldly. Suddenly, a tiny insect lands on its surface, and in a matter of moments, the plant’s tentacles begin to close in, trapping the unsuspecting visitor. It’s not a scene from a science fiction movie—it’s the daily ...

Detailed close-up of a Venus flytrap among mossy plants, showcasing its natural habitat.

This Plant Counts: How the Venus Flytrap Uses Math to Catch Prey

Maria Faith Saligumba

Imagine a plant that doesn’t just passively wait for food, but actually counts, calculates, and times its every move. The Venus flytrap, with its spiky green jaws and lightning-fast reflexes, is a marvel of nature that defies what we think plants can do. Hidden within its simple appearance is a complex, almost mathematical intelligence—one that ...

a pile of black and red crabs

Meet the Animal With the Most Chromosomes on Earth

Maria Faith Saligumba

Picture a creature whose genetic code is so complex, it makes even the human genome look simple by comparison. Imagine an animal whose DNA is split, twisted, and packed into hundreds of tiny bundles, holding secrets science is still struggling to fully understand. Surprising as it may seem, the animal with the most chromosomes on ...