Category: Biology

From Forbidden Fruit to Linguistic Roots: The Curious Case of Currants and Smorodina | July 17 2025, 13:09

You know, 99.9% of Americans have never tried blackcurrant. It was legally banned here in 1911 because blackcurrants carried a disease that killed pine trees. And along with it, gooseberries and Kinder Surprise were banned too. It even got to the point where in the USA, purple Skittles are grape-flavored, while in Europe, they taste of blackcurrant.

But today I am thinking about something else. I wondered why in Russian blackcurrant is called ‘smorodina,’ and in English, it’s called ‘currant.’ It turns out that ‘smorodina’ is related to the word ‘smrad,’ which meant a strong smell because, according to our ancestors, it smelled bad. ‘Smrad’ used to mean any strong smell. I don’t know how unpleasant it was for them, but this differentiated it from gooseberries, both of which grew along rivers, hence in Ukrainian and Polish, it’s also called ‘porzeczka’ and ‘porichka,’ especially the red and white varieties. To me, gooseberries even smell stronger.

The English name is also interesting. The English ‘currant’ stems from the Middle English ‘rayson of Corantes’ (‘grapes from Corinth’), where ‘Corantes’ is a distortion of the Greek city Corinth. In the Middle Ages, small dried grapes were actively imported into England from Greece (specifically the region around Corinth) and these dried berries were called ‘raisins of Corinth,’ which later shortened to ‘currant.’ Originally, ‘currant’ referred specifically to raisins, dried grapes (essentially, small raisins). And it still means that in some places.

But then a shift in meaning occurred. Later, when shrubs of the Ribes genus (currant bushes), specifically Ribes rubrum (red currant) and Ribes nigrum (black currant), began to be cultivated in Northern Europe, they were given the same name, since their berries were also small and dark like the Greek raisins. Thus, the word ‘currant’ came to be used to denote both currants and gooseberries 🙂 but later on they were differentiated. Yes, gooseberries and currants turned out to be related both biologically and etymologically.

And do you remember the fairy tale about the good heroes and warriors Dobrynya Nikitich, who fought the three-headed Chudo-Yudo on the Kalinov Bridge spanning the River Smorodina? Well, that river, Smorodina, marked the boundary between the world of the living (Yav) and the world of the dead (Nav).

Pearls and Mother-of-Pearl: Nature’s Fascinating Defense Mechanism | July 14 2025, 20:58

I realized that I don’t know much about pearls and started reading up on them today. It turns out that pearls are formed as a natural defense by oysters to irritation: when a micro-particle (a grain of sand, a piece of shell, or a microorganism) gets into the shell, the oyster begins to cover it with layers of nacre. Nacre (nacre) — the inner layer of shells, thin layers of calcium and protein. Interestingly, nacre and pearls are essentially the same in composition. The word “nacre” comes from German and means “mother of pearl” (Perlmutter). A single layer of nacre can form several times a day to several weeks, and it takes up to 2 years for a full pearl to form.

Wild pearls are extremely rare (one in 10000), as not all mollusks are capable of producing them — only some species can. There is also black pearl, found only in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean, and the colors of natural pearls vary from white and grey to green, blue, and red.

Most of the pearls on the market are cultured: humans manage to “trick” the oyster by placing a bead or a piece of fabric inside the shell so it starts the process of covering it with nacre. In other words, to put it simply, almost all the pearls in the market have a plastic bead inside, and nacre is just a thin “skin” around it. Cultivation of pearls occurs on special farms, where oysters are provided ideal conditions for growth and are regularly cared for. The mortality rate of mollusks after transplant is between 10-40%.

Pearls can burn: this is an organic material (97% calcium and 3% water and proteins), and it does not withstand high temperatures, it also dissolves in vinegar.

It turns out, edible oysters also produce pearls, but they are not as shiny.

Exploring the Luminescent Life of Fireflies | July 05 2025, 05:02

While walking with Yuka, suddenly the owner falls on his knees and digs around in the grass for a while. That’s when I found a firefly and wanted to capture it lighting up. The firefly Photinus pyralis is quite common here, but I never got around to studying it closely.

Interestingly, the females of another genus of fireflies, Photuris, use the flashes of Photinus males to locate and eat them. It has been discovered that the females acquire special steroids called lucibufagins from their prey, which repel spiders.

(While figuring this out, I learned something new. Luciferase, an enzyme responsible for the glow, is extracted from these fireflies. It’s named after the word Lucifer, Latin for “light-bearer.” Interestingly, Greece also had its Lucifer, “light-bearer,” known as the god Phosphorus. Incidentally, the element Phosphorus was discovered by alchemist Hennig Brand through the evaporation of urine. He named the discovered element phosphorus mirabilis, from Latin meaning “miraculous light-bearer.” This just shows how many things in the world are connected.)

A Close Encounter with a Scentless Fawn | June 04 2025, 15:13

I walked with Yuki and he passed by a little deer less than a meter away without noticing. This is a dog that can smell a hare running past the house by scent. It turns out that fawns are born almost odorless, and this saves their lives.

It is precisely because of their nearly complete lack of smell that does leave their young alone for extended periods. Mothers leave fawns for several hours at a time during the first weeks after birth so that their own smell does not transfer to the babies. During this time, the mother returns several times a day to feed her young. Although she may not be continuously near the fawn, she is usually somewhere close by, and surely worried about seeing us around her baby.

However, it’s not only the lack of smell that helps fawns remain hidden from potential predators. The white spots on their fur are another protective measure. When a fawn walks, the spots may seem obvious, but when the mother leaves it to hide in tall grass or other covers, these spots mimic dappled sunlight falling on the forest floor, as noted by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Such spotted coloring, combined with the faint smell, makes it difficult for predators to find fawns. Typically, the spots disappear by winter when young deer are old enough to survive on their own.

It is said that fawns are born in late May-early June. Today is precisely June 4. They’re right on schedule!

Despite the fact that he is lying in the open sun in thirty-degree heat, overall, if necessary, he can move on his own. Fawns are born generally ready for life in the wild and are generally able to run immediately after birth (albeit poorly).