Andrzej Missala

 Tonight I read an article entitled "Five ways the pandemic surge in hand sanitisers may not be great news in the long term" It is true that the use of hand sanitisers and other antibacterial and antiviral cleaning products has sharply increased worldwide since the pandemic started. It has certainly helped to stop the increase in viral infections, however, it has some side effects. I learned that one study found that the regular use of ethanol to sanitize hands resulted in relatively low but measurable levels of ethanol in the blood. While this was below acute toxicity levels, continued use can result in "chronic toxicity", increasing the risk of health problems such as eczema or skin cancer. It can even be fatal at times. Repeated use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers can cause antimicrobial resistance and increase other infections. Research has also shown that ethanol leaking into lakes, ponds, rivers and oceans can harm aquatic species. I believe that despite the

One week ago I read an article entitled "Five vampire traits that exist in the natural world" by Louise Gentle. The author of the text has produced five examples of animals with the features of a mythical vampire. The first was a vampire bat that feeds only on blood. They must feed every two days to survive. I found out that these bats share their food with other bats. The second example is tardigrades. You could say that they are almost immortal, just like vampires. The jellyfish is “immortal” because it can change from a medusa back into a polyp when stressed. This reverting back to a previous form then redeveloping into the latter form could aid our understanding of repairing and regenerating damaged tissues. Another example is the rat naked mole that avoids sunlight, these moles are known for their longevity. The fourth example are bears and sharks, which have an acute sense of smell just like vampires. The last example are facial octopuses that can change their shape. I

 Two days ago I read a very interesting article entitled "Crocodiles today look the same as they did 200 million years ago - our study explains why" by Max Stockdale. Surely everyone has heard that crocodiles are called "living fossils". Scientists have explained where the name comes from in the article. They examined the found remains of prehistoric crocodiles and found out that these reptiles did not differ much from today crocodiles. I think the lack of change is unique and very interesting considering that there are so many different species of animals on the earth today and there are only 25 species of crocodiles in the world. Research by scientists suggests that crocodiles have remained unchanged for such a long time because they have reached a state of equilibrium that does not require frequent changes. When crocodiles evolve at a pace, it is likely because their environment has changed and it forced them to adapt. However, it turned out, that these great rep

 Recently I read an interesting article entitled "Spitting cobras may have evolved unique venom to defend from ancient humans" by Taline Kazandjian, Harry Greene, Nicholas Casewell and Wolfgang Wüster.  I learned a lot about cobras and their habits. These fascinating snakes are mainly known for their defense mechanism called hooding, when the sides of their necks flare out. However, as the authors write, hooding is not the only defense mechanism of these animals. Some cobras can spit venom up to 2.5 meters away, generally hitting their opponent's eyes with poison. I found out that this unique adaptation had evolved three times independently in a small group of Afro-Asian snakes. Spitting cobras use their venom only for defense, not for preying on other animals. Scientists have the theory that it was man who influenced the evolution of cobras. The timing of the venom spitting evolution coincides with key dates in the evolution of early human ancestors. This kind of defense