Valentine's Day dinner conversation starters from BioTRIZ

Here is an example of true art in Nature. We can argue day and night about what art is and what the definitions are but general understanding is that it is something more of aesthetic nature than practical. In general terms that is. Something to do with emotion, feeling and love being a king of them all. Or a queen! Anyway, there is a bird, which builds installations of no practical use, but only for the female to enjoy! It is not a nest, it is not a love-making pad – none of that. It is JUST a present: an equivalent of bouquet of flowers if you like. Amazing! And it gets better: there..

"I offer you my hand, my heart, and a share of all my possessions" – these romantic words make perfect marriage proposal. But there is one creature who literally gives “hands” to the loved one. Squids, Cephalopod mollusks – the slithery swimmers of the deep waters have romantic way in breeding. Males literally give their “hands” away to their ladies. They detach long tentacles loaded with sperm, let them swim towards the female and crawl into reproductive ducts of her body. That’s it. With no further sweet talk male can swim away, hands will do the business. Happy days! &nbs..

Our 8-legged friends have a reputation for being ruthless even with their loved ones - female spider can eat the groom even before they start to introduce themselves.  So, when a male spider “gets to know” the female spider it is not a conventional date with low light and wine, music playing softly with a quiet rumbling noises of the restaurant. None of that. Males simply give food to their females - flies that they recently caught in their webs. And while females are eating the males are onto their sexy business. But as fast as they may be, females are eating faster.  So some..

Some fish have funny ways to show their affection and generally they are pretty weird. Why? They change their gender. Wake up one day and you are SLIGHTLY different. Hope it’s of no surprise to them as it comes naturally to keep the right proportion of males and females in a school. Clown fish is one of those creatures. All young clownfish are males and later they become females. We doubt that they celebrate it in any shape or form but who knows? Clown fish has a name for a reason! Party-party! And wake up with a different gender….  ..

Birds like no other kind of creatures know how to be festive. A Wading bird called ruff (a piper) lives in Northern Eurasia. It has a very elaborate collar, which is individual to each bird. Birds use it to attract females. The name “ruff”  has direct connotation to flamboyant large collar, which was fashionable in Europe in the Middle Ages. Fantastic party outfit! Shame it can’t be changed as they are born with it but it is what it is. If a female bird doesn’t like it: that’s it. No second set of collars and no second chance. And what if THAT kind of collar goes out of fashion? Tough luc..

There is an exotic bird called Hornbill. It lives all over Asia, Africa and Malenesia. It has a funny-shaped beak and a behaviour, which goes with its looks. Funny kind of behaviour. It lays eggs in cavities and crevices of rocks. Then the bird seals it with whatever it can find: mud, fruit mass and… their own poo. It is a strange bouquet that looks and smells slightly iffy no doubt. What’s bizarre is that the female stays inside white it sits on the eggs. There is a tiny hole left in this improvised wall through which the male feeds his female and later the hatched chicks. It gives the female..

There is an expression that goes: “Love arrows of Cupid” Those are piercing the heart of the one who fell in love. Sweet. Deep and romantic. Now lets get to what happens to some species in good old Mother Nature. Snails do exactly  what the saying says. Literally. Here is how it goes: they are darting one another with sharp little spires called gypsobellums. Then after stabbing one another they “dance” slowly and then copulate. It turns out the whole prickling/stabbing thing doesn’t just excite our slimy crawlies, but it stimulates their fertility. How did it come about that way – nobody ..

Dragonflies show that they care. Previously Nature was perceived mostly as one brutal place where you either eat or get eaten. Not so much now! Glimpses of mutual help twinkle here and there. Some creatures don’t do the one night stand and get going after. Some species of dragonflies are like that. When their females go underwater to lay eggs down there, their males wait for them patiently. When females surface they are exhausted and their males help them out. Literally help them to get out of water and then defend from predators and competitors. Here is a glimpse of care and courtship in Moth..