Sunday, September 23, 2018

Saving Mr and Mrs Tiger



             Saving Mr. and Mrs. Tiger
Only some time back I wrote an article “Beauty in skin deep” in TANVIR MedicalCare. However, I further added that height and figure are other parameters of beauty. Also, how one carries oneself, talks, walks and behaves come under which beauty is measured by humans.
If we apply the same yardstick to animals, than some animals will score very highly. One of them is Tiger. It has a beautiful lovely skin with colorful stripes in a particular pattern. The Tiger is tall and has an excellent figure. It behaves in a very dominating way, almost majestic but less than the Lion. Its walk is not only powerful but graceful as well. It has a large skull with powerful piercing eyes and when it looks at you, it pierces through your heart (well almost!). All these beauty incentives from nature make Tiger one of the most beautiful animals on the planet.
However, the Tiger’s physical beauty is only matched by its legendary strength, stealth, cunning and ferocity. All this makes the Tiger one of the ultimate predators alongside the Lion. Obviously, humans are the premier hunters and predators if we want to bracket ourselves with Lions and Tigers. It is this desire to come first in this race, which over the last many thousand and millions of years has driven humans to hunt Tigers and Lions.
However, this hunting competition was fairer when humans used to hunt with bow, arrow, swords, and spears. Now the same game is played with automatic rifles, telescopic guns, dynamite etc. that is totally biased against the Tigers and Lions. Now instead of being a game of bravery and skills, it’s a matter of cowardice and shame to kill these beautiful animals from far off. If fighting Tiger and Lions was valor with bow & arrow and sword, now its utter cowardice, which no right thinking person can justify.
However, its not just the hunting weapons that have changed, humans are encroaching the homes of these beautiful animals at a very fast pace, destroying their homes and habitat. So, in total we have not only become coward but greedy. The humans are breeding faster than these poor animals can eat their hard earned meals. Therefore, our cowardly game against Tigers and Lions is a sham to bolster our depleted manhood. We need to learn better ways to do that.
Obviously in any hand to hand combat with the Tiger, the Tiger will win in a time less than it takes us take two deep breaths. But such is the self glorification and bias we humans have inculcated in ourselves that to satisfy this lacuna, we are ready to do almost anything, including killing the Tiger. But its just not the people who kill Tigers who indulge in this self glorification, everybody down the chain from middleman, so called traditional medical practitioners, to last end user indulge in this project tiger hunt induced self glorification. This is the core of the danger to the Tiger.
However, we humans have not become the apex intelligence for nothing. We possess the necessary intelligence and control to curb this instinct of self-glorification. We can do this and that will save the Tiger, nothing less will do.
Another important aspect of Tiger conservation is the fact that Tigers are solitary hunters who require a large territory to satisfy their food and sexual demands. In addition, they need their prey to be plentiful in their territory to survive. Thus, destruction of Tiger prey is as important a cause of depleting Tiger numbers, as is the hunting of them. We humans are using the grasslands on which Tiger preys feed, to feed the cattle stock. This means less Tiger prey population. This means less successful hunting by the Tiger and consequently its demise.
Thus putting a barbed wire fence around Tiger reserves and maintaining it will protect the grasslands on which Tiger prey feeds and will protect the Tiger consequently.
Than we can have a Tiger Task Force, a group of trained police personnel who will see that the fence is not breached and the Tiger territory grasslands are protected. They will ensure that there is not only no cattle breach but also that there is no poacher breach. This way a single Tiger Task Force can do multiple works. This Tiger Task Force can also maintain the entry of tourists to these Tiger territories and maintain a ticket system which should self sustain this Tiger Task Force.
However, a Tiger Task Force is part of the solution. The other is to have a larger International Wildlife Task Force which will have international permit to travel anywhere around the world to hunt down the poachers and to confiscate Tiger kill material. To think that 7.5 billion people can be educated to give up their self glorification instinct will be foolish, not that we have to abandon efforts in this direction.
Wider use of Tiger Task Force and use of existing and if needed newer laws to arrest the poacher chain right till the end user is of paramount importance to curb this Tiger killing which is mainly for financial profits and self glorification.
In addition, we have to educate the people in areas where consumption of Tiger parts is more, that more effective alternative methods and treatment are available for the same ailments and request them to spare the Tiger. Eating Tiger parts is not going to make you into a Tiger but acting like one will do!
I also think that some important work is going on to save the Tiger. Declaring Tiger as a national animal is one of them. Already India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea have Tiger as their National animal. This makes killing of Tiger a crime. Also these countries have good Tiger population and making it the National animal raises awareness about the dangers to these beautiful animals.
Another very strong reason for a self-gratification killing of a Tiger is that they have been portrayed as the monstrous man-eating animals in the media. This prejudice and bias against the Tiger has to be removed.
This again shows the importance of maintain Tiger prey population in their territories. Because instead of deers, sambhars, antelopes, nilgais roaming their territory, they find humans defecating and urinating in their territory, they are justified in getting annoyed and take punitive action against the culprit!
Tigers have an extremely well developed olfactory system to smell things. The Tiger marks its territory by its urine and feces. The Tiger recognizes its territory and that of other Tigers by smelling the urine and feces. In addition to seeing its prey, the Tiger also recognizes its prey by their urine and fecal odor. The Tiger is also able to make out the size of the urinating or defecating prey. Therefore, when humans enter Tiger territory, defecate, and urinate, the Tiger immediately recognizes this scent as meaning potential prey of appropriate and hunt able size. They follow this scent right to the house of human prey. If the Tiger is hungry and the human defecator/ urinator is not well protected, the Tiger can attack such a human, kill it, and make a meal out of it. So, beware of defecating and urinating in Tiger territory. You can become Tiger fodder because of it. We Mesopotamians have invented flushing toilets just for the purpose of avoiding such a problem and preventing the Tiger from becoming a man-eater.
Therefore, instead of accusing the Tiger of being a man-eater and a monster, we should show some civic sense, some culture and human civilization by attending to defecation and urination in Mesopotamian invented flushing toilets only and not in Tiger territory. How will you feel if the Tiger comes to your house, defecate, and urinate in your kitchen?

Smelling the feces and urine of humans is how Tigers recognize their human prey and if the Tiger becomes or its normal prey is unavailable, or it feels threatened, than such a Tiger can follow this human fecal and urine trail and hunt such a human. However, once it enters a human community where so many people are living close together, it loses the trail of the scent. In such a scenario, the Tiger can attack the nearest human or the weakest because in such a situation, all humans seem alike and as trespassers. The moral of the story is that don’t defecate and urinate in Tiger territory, use toilets invented by Mesopotamians!
In addition I will like to enlighten the reader about the evolution of Tiger as I have given in my book “THEORY OF STABILITY: ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LIFE”
“The cat family consists of pantherinae (tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard) and Felinae (cougar, cheetah, lynxes, ocelot and domestic cat). In the past, this also included Machairodontinae (Saber toothed cats like smilodon). These are mostly carnivorous animals that can climb trees.
However, similar to the evolution of apes, cat family members have also evolved from one ancestor. Each cat family member has evolved from a different but similar genotypic and phenotypic dinosaur mammal.
The smaller dinosaur mammals, which could climb trees easily, evolved into leopards, cougar, and cats. Larger dinosaur mammals, which found climbing difficult, evolved into tigers, lions.However, because of genotype and phenotype similarities of ancestor dinosaur mammals from which cat family members have evolved, they look similar and act similar.Over a period of several million years because of similar phenotype and genotype characteristics and similar environmental conditions they have been exposed to, they have formed groups which seem to be very similar and it may look that they have evolved from one common ancestor but in reality each has evolved from a different but similar dinosaur mammal. Because all are carnivorous, they need to hunt and hence have evolved similar hunting mechanisms like retractile claws, muscular bodies, fast reflexes and strong canines. All these features help these cats hunt the herbivores feeding on grasslands.”
From the above enlightenment it’s clear that the size of the cat family has increased in direct proportion to the prey size. Therefore, as the prey became larger, the cats had to be larger and more powerful to hunt them.
In addition, I understand that the demand for Tiger parts is the primary reason for poaching of Tigers. In spite of the above measures and already existing ones, the demand for Tiger parts is not going to end too soon. For it to happen will require some time but time is something, which Tigers do not have?
Therefore, an alternative plan is as follows. Tigers generally live from 16 to 25 years. Therefore, it makes sense to tag all Tigers with a electronic tracking devise in their tails. This should be done in all 2-year-old Tigers. Once the Tiger reaches the age of 16 to 18 years, it can be considered old, and is going to die anyway. Such old Tigers should be captured and killed. Than an International Group Authority can auction various parts of this Tiger(s) in the International market. This will ensure a healthy, youthful, breeding Tiger population.
Of all the means that we have discussed of protecting and preserving the Tiger, protecting and maintaining the integrity of Tiger territory and its ecosystem and habitat is the most important. Other methods will assist in the process.
Maintain the habitat of Tiger,
Don’t encroach on Tiger habitat,
Don’t defecate in Tiger territory,
Don’t urinate in Tiger territory,
Tiger may smell you as potential prey,
Behave in a civilized way, use Toilets invented by the Mesopotamians,
Don’t feed your cattle in Tiger territory,
Tiger may follow cattle urine and fecal odor to you,
Don’t buy Tiger parts & souvenir,
Help the Tiger preserve it,
It has taken billions of years of evolution to create a beautiful animal like the Tiger,
Don’t destroy it for a pleasure of a few seconds,
Living Tigers will give you joy that is more lasting and satisfaction,
Savor this joy and satisfaction,
Savor a living Tiger
Save Mr. And Mrs. Tiger!
have a Tiger day!
               COPYRIGHT©    Tanvir Nebuchadnezar

Climate Elements that Make Our Climate and Weather



Of all things around us, we are most influenced by the environment around us. But the landscape does not change too much over short periods. Than why do we feel that there is always something around us which is influencing us and which changes with time, even in short term. This is the Climate of the place we are located.

It is so all enveloping that we feel that even our moods and decisions are influenced by it. Something, which is so omnipresent and so influential on our thinking and our way of life, has to be understood in details.
 But we must first come up with some acceptable definition of climate and the various factors, which determine it.
But before we go on to a working definition of climate and weather we must have certain idea as to what factors or Elements as I call them are responsible for the Climate and Weather.
Each of us has some idea about it. However, I will enumerate the Elements as I call them, which determine the Climate of a place. They are the Heat content of a place which is measured by Temperature at that place, the Water which includes not only water bodies but also humidity (water vapor in the air), the Air which surrounds us and gives a play field to the other elements to interact with each other and the Land on which we live and which hosts not only us but other life forms like plants and other animals and which enables the very existence of our planet and provides pockets for water bodies like Rivers, Lakes, Glaciers, Seas, Oceans. In fact Land provides the platform for all other Elements to have their existence very near to each other and allow them to intermingle and interact with each other and create what we Know as climate.
 But any enumeration of Elements making up our Climate won’t be complete without the mention of Living beings including human beings and plants because not only are we there to understand and bear the Climate which the other Elements make for us but we along with other animals and plants influence the Climate so markedly that that we (human beings, other animals and plants) have become the fifth Element and that too a very potent one.
If we observe the world around us and the natural processes and phenomenon, we will see that the other four Elements Heat, Land, Air and Water do not change too rapidly but the changes in the fifth Element (Living beings) can be rapid and so does its influence on climate, and hence lies the importance of this fifth Element which owns its very existence to the other four Elements.
The basic definition of Climate in league with the above discussion will be “ The end result of the interaction between the five Elements Heat (temperature), Water, Land, Air and living beings at any particular instance of time which is determined by the various permutations and combinations in which they are present, at a particular geographical location at which we are defining Climate is the Climate of that particular place at that particular time and the same definition can be extended to greater and prolonged periods of time to give the Climate of a place over that period of time in which we want to define Climate.”
 But the five Elements are mostly uniform over a sustained period of time over a particular geographical area and hence their interaction and the result of this interaction is the Climate of that place.“
“The day-to-day fluctuations in the interaction of these various Elements determine the Climate at any particular instance of time, and are known as weather.”  Since we define weather as thus, so we can derive from this that Climate is weather averaged over a long period. This is a more practical definition, as it’s so much easier to measure weather conditions over short periods and to juxtapose the result over longer periods to give a good idea of the climate of a place.
Though the above is more immediately practical but its not the most accurate method to determine the Climate of a place and for that we will have to restore to more rigorous scientific and long term methods to determine the climate of a place.
But as I have written in my book ”Theory Of Stability: Origin And Evolution Of Life" there are definitely a huge number of planets around us in the Cosmos including our universe which support life and in which the Environmental factors must interact to not only give rise to Life but also to sustain it. Though I believe, the Elements Heat (Temperature) and Land will be the same everywhere with much of the Heat (Temperature) being provided by the Star (like our Sun) of each planetary system. The other Elements will be there but there composition can differ. Water can be replaced by other fluids like Hydrogen sulphide and the composition of the Air (Atmosphere) can differ markedly, which in turn will determine the fifth Element (Living beings on that planet). Thus, Climate is not an exclusive preserve of either Earth or other life supporting planets but wherever the Elements are present, which is in all celestial bodies, climate is there. We just need to be there to experience it or send instruments to measure and Gauge it.
The elements, which constitute and make the climate, are very important to understand because any manmade change in their interaction or their quality or quantity can have very disastrous consequences for the climate.
In today’s world, it’s the fifth element, we humans that are responsible for most of the climate change particularly in the last 500 years. This change is rapid and in many cases undesirable. We have to make a beginning to slow it down and understanding the elements, which make the climate and weather, is a good beginning.
Have a nice day!
COPYRIGHT  © Tanvir Nebuchadnezar
All Rights Tanvir Nebuchadnezar
KEYWORDS: TANVIR NatureTalk, Climate, Climate Elements, Heat, Temperature, Land, Air, Water, Fifth element, Human beings, climate change, weather, Tanvir

Wednesday, March 8, 2017



For those who might not be very familiar with the term “Polyploidy”. It simply means the presence of more than two sets of Chromosomes in a living Organism, whether Plant or Animal.
To illustrate, humans with 46 Chromosomes, have 2n or two sets of Chromosomes, one set inherited from each parent. This is Diploid condition. If only one set is present, the condition is called Haploid (n).
Thus, Polyploidy can be 3n, 4n —————12n and so on. The type of Polyploidy and the amount of Polyploidy largely depends on the survival capacities of the Polyploid Organism, so created. If it is able to survive one generation of Polyploid DNA (Genes) and can reproduce, it is considered viable and will probably propagate further into the future.

But, the phenomenon of Polyploidy has been going on for hundreds of millions of years, without any apparent human intervention. This employs that most Polyploidy in the nature is due to environmental factors and thus may be considered a necessary part of evolution and evolutionary chain, for the creation of new and better species of plants and animals.
The natural phenomenon of Polyploidy is most apparent in the evolution of angiosperms. Most of the early angiosperms evolved from their Gymnosperm ancestors through this important evolutionary process of Polyploidy due to the changing environmental conditions prevalent at that time. These changing environmental conditions are given in detail in my book on evolution “Theory of Stability: Origin and Evolution of Life”.
But, for the present discussion it is important to understand that as of today, humans mainly use two agents Colchicine and Oryzalin to induce Polyploidy in Plants. This is mainly done on grain and food producing plants. In many cases, it has been found to have advantageous results but in many the results have been very poor. But, this is an expected outcome.
But my emphasis in this article is on the fact that all the Polyploidy and Evolution and new Species creation, which nature has done over hundreds of millions of years has nether used Colchicine nor Oxyzalin.
Thus, it is my surmise that it was the changing environmental conditions which induced Polyploidy and hence new species formation, mostly in plants but in animals as well.
I attribute the lower levels of nature induced Polyploidy in animals to several factors.
For one, animal DNA is more delicate and hence less likely to survive big changes in DNA like Polyploidy.
The second reason for less nature induced polyploidy in animals is tha fact that animals are mobile and can manoeuvre themselves into more safe positions, protecting themselves from harsh environmental conditions and hence DNA changes, particularly big DNA changes like Polyploidy.
The third reason for less nature induced Polyploidy in animals is that animals have an elaborate, delicate, intricate, complex system of reproduction, which unlike in plants, is very specific and hence chances of any large scale DNA change like Polyploidy in them are much reduced.
The fourth and very important reason for less nature induced Polyploidy in animals is that animals live in homes, whether burrows, nests, Caves etc. This protects them from coming in direct contact with sunlight for any prolonged period of time.
This fourth factor is very important from the point of view of this discussion. Sunlight contains many types of wavelengths of which ultraviolet rays ( wavelength of 10 nanometers to 380 nanometers) are very important due to their impact on the DNA. Ultraviolet (UV) rays have the maximum capacity in sunlight reaching Earth, to cause damage to DNA and DNA changes including mutations and Polyploidy.
Because, animals can more than partially protect themselves from UV rays by hiding in their homes, going under shade, going out after sunset etc., UV rays have less chance of causing Polyploidy in animals.
Because Plants cannot move, they cannot shade themselves from UV rays and have over a period of hundreds of millions of years have been exposed to the UV rays of sunlight, eventually leading to Polyploidy, causing the formation and propagation of new species. Many more times than in animals.
But the exposure of Earth’s surface to UV rays has not always been uniform. UV rays react with oxygen in higher atmosphere to form Ozone (O3), which form an envelope around the Earth. This Ozone envelope stops between 70 to 90% of UV rays reaching the Earth’s surface.
But, from time to time, the Ozone envelope is breached. This can be due to natural causes like Volcano eruptions (release of CO, CO2, H2S etc.) , meteorite impacts, sun-flares etc. But, it can now be due to human impact as well. Large scale release of industrial gases like hexafluoride, Carbon mono oxide, Carbon di oxide by human respiration has damaged this Ozone envelope at many places. This causes Ozone holes and allow penetrating UV rays to reach Earth’s surface.
These UV rays can and are causing DNA damage to humans as well as to plants.

I have seen examples of UV ray damage to plants in hilly areas, where because of the thin atmosphere (>2 Km height above sea level), Ozone envelope damage, some plants have been visibly damaged and have caused visible mutagenic damage. I was able to observe both the normal plant and the mutagenic plant . The UV rays had caused damage and Polyploidy in the mutagenic plant.
There was slight difference between the location of the normal and mutagenic plant. The normal plants were located in a forest with lots of shade. The mutagenic plant was almost constantly exposed to sunlight during daytime. This exposed it to more UV rays and hence the Polyploidy I observed in it.
The Plant in question was Banj Plant or Banj Oak (Quercus Leucotriophora A.comus) or Himalayan oak or BlackJack Oak,
The male inflorescence  (catkins) are borne on broad tips and the tiny round female flowers are borne on the base of the leaves. The fruits are orange-tan, marble sized acorns.
Having observed the above plant in two different locations ( though very close to each other) and two different conditions, one in which Polyploidy was apparent and another which was normal, it became apparent to me that UV rays in the sunlight are the reason for the Polyploidy I am observing.
But, more important is the consideration that if natural UV rays can still induce Polyploidy in robust plants today, than it means several things to humans.
The first thing is apparent, which is that our Ozone layer envelope has been compromised a great deal and we have to take active steps to protect against the harmful effects of the infiltrating UV rays.
The second thing is that, we will have to take International measures to minimise the damage to the Ozone layer by International agreements minimising Ozone damaging chemicals being released into the atmosphere.
But, from research point of view, this also means that UV rays can be used in the Laboratory to cause selective Polyploidy in certain plants, particularly grain and food plants.
With growing population and dwindling returns from the land, food shortages are a thing of the present. We need food plants, which grow fast, give more fruits, survive better, require less resources, particularly water and fertilisers and can continue to supply us with the fruits and grains , season after season. If they are resistant to pests and other diseases of plants, all the better.
In this regard, my discovery that UV rays are still capable of causing DNA damage and Polyploidy becomes very important.
Under properly controlled laboratory conditions, we can expose a sample food plant to different doses and strengths of UV rays. Those that result in DNA change or Polyploidy can be selectively propagated to see their virtues and if found favourable, can be produced again by similar doses of UV rays or by reproductive propagation. 
The same method can be repeated on other food plants as well. Thus, in a short time, we can have all food plants, which are good for survival, give great food yield and require less resources and maintenance. 
This is good for mankind!
But a word of Caution, the work has to be performed sincerely and truthfully, without any commercial bias and absolutely the whole research work and data about each plant should be put in front of the public. This is ethical experimenting.


Saturday, February 11, 2017



 I am presently revising the book into its 3rd edition. I hope to make the book available soon.


Hello readers, I am Tanvir Nebuchadnezar, author of the book, ‘Theory of Stability: Origin and Evolution of Life”, the book I want you to buy, than possess the book, than read the book, than think about the book, than think of what I have given in the book and consequent to that what has changed in you and your thinking.

From the very inception of human existence, we have wondered from where we have come and what is our destiny. We formulated various theories, which could answer this basic question. This resulted in the consolidated of these theories into worship and than into religion. This is the basis and origin of religion. Even with the formation of organized religion, the main purpose of which is to satisfy and curb this curiosity at the same time, human curiosity has not abated to find alternative explanations for our origins and our existence. This book must be looked in that direction, another attempt to satisfy your curiosities about your origin and your destiny. This is a scientific work, the likes of which you are unlikely to have read before.

I studied the existing themes of evolution and analyzed its impact on humans. I came to a conclusion that more needs to be done to satisfy the curiosities of the human mind. My book is an answer to the curiosity in your mind, a curiosity passed from generation to generation, to you.

This book will provide you answers for which you always had questions but never an answer. You must also read this book because to understand our origins and how we have become us, is basic science, which every human on this planet must understand. We have a need to understand our past and we must understand our present. Than only will you be able to understand the future. This book is the tool, which will let you accomplish this goal. This is why you must read this book.

In this book, I will carry you on a journey, which will be fascinating, dreamy, frightening and exhilarating to very core. It will jolt the very foundations of science; it will jolt the very foundations of your beliefs. You may be disturbed. But, this will be transient. Than a calmness and tranquility will engulf you, which you have never experienced before.
It will give you ideas, which you never thought possible. It will give you answers when you thought there were none. It will create paths, where you thought never existed.

Though, this book will leave you depleted both physically and mentally but it will leave a calmness, a firmness, a hope, a dream which will bring spring in your stride, a hope of something, which your never envisioned nor felt in your life.

For those of you who are religiously minded and might not see any virtue in reading a book on evolution, I quote from “To Pray as  a Jew A Guide to the Prayer Book and the Synagogue service” by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin,
“Side by side with deep faith is the existence of God and in his providence, there is an awareness of God’s mystery. After we exhaust all philosophical speculation, rational analysis, or mystical insights, God still remains beyond our understanding. His secret remains impenetrable.”

If we go by the above quotation by one of the premier Mesopotamian Rabbi and intellectual, God is a mystery that we again and again try to demystify because it caters to our inherent desire to know our creator. ‘Theory of Stability: Origin and Evolution of Life’ is an honest and humble attempt to understand our creator and its creation. In this way, this book will answer the very basic, intellectual question that exists in human mind and psyche. It will quench some of the thirst for that understanding but is not attempted to replace other thoughts or intellectual answers. The thirst for this understanding of our origins and destiny is the very essence of our soul.

So the reader may happily and safely read, “Theory of Stability: Origin and Evolution of Life”, knowing fully well that this work is not to belittle the philosophical or scientific explanations of others but is a vehicle to facilitate the process of understanding our creation and creator. Amen!

COPYRIGHT © Tanvirnebuchadnezar