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The Hindu
4 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
What's a glass frog
'There! Found you,' exclaimed Silvery, propping himself comfortably on a high tree branch, beaming with delight over his new find. Perched on a leaf, obscuring itself into the leaves with his masquerading skills was the Northern glassfrog. Like a ninja in the dead of the night, the glass frog was in stealth mode. 'GLASSY! I thought I might never find you. I have been searching for you for quite a long time,' Silvery's voice cut through the stillness of the night. 'You are one hard person to find!' 'Pretty much the point, don't you think?' asked Glassy, disapprovingly. The glass frog had given up. It will be dawn soon and it was better to dismiss this citizen journalist fast, thought Glassy. 'Yes, yes, I'm sorry to interrupt your nightly pursuits. But I just thought I would have a quick chat with you and your incredible gift of transparency.' 'Not transparency. I'm not completely transparent. I'm translucent.' 'Well, Potato potahto...' added Silvery, grinning. 'Not quite. My skin is not completely clear. I'm translucent and have a partially see-through body. I have a unique form of transparency which helps me camouflage myself and hide from predators.' 'I'm listening.' In the forests of southern Mexico, there thus began a long, deep talk between Silvery and Glassy, a northern glass frog (Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni) also known as the Fleischmann's glass frog. Glass frogs are a group of tree frogs found in the rainforests of South and Central America. 'Well, the skin on our back is light green. The legs are more translucent than the body. It is a trick to fool the eyes. The eyes are sensitive to edges, you see. You distinguish something using the outline. When you see the contrasting colours or edges meet, that's when you notice the edges. But when the edges cannot be seen, you cannot differentiate. That's why I have translucent legs. As I sit on the leaves, legs wrapped around my body, there is no contrast. I blend smoothly with the colour of the leaves. So it becomes harder to determine the edges. And by masking the body outline, I get to disappear into the leaves.' 'Wow!' 'It's called edge diffusion. When viewed from above, I blend into the leaves because of the colour and edge diffusion tactics.' 'I see, leaves are your armour. Your kind is arboreal, right?' 'Yes, we spend a lot of time on trees. We are also called tree frogs. And, if you didn't know by now, we are nocturnal as well.' 'Yes, yes, I'm aware. Which is why I tried to find you at night. I was sure your disappearing skills are even more pronounced during the day, when you sleep.' 'Yes, you aren't wrong there. It's actually a scientific feat, one can say.' 'Oh, how so?' 'Listen. Your story series in Wild Tales is not probably in our best interests. If I give away all of my tricks, it will expose our kind.' 'No no, I'm sure that even if your predators knew your skills they still wouldn't be able to find you. You are a Ninja.' 'Does it always work? 'What?' 'Flattery!' 'Well, sometimes,' grinned Silvery. 'This trick of yours, of being see-through. It's quite rare in land animals. Did you know that?' 'Okay, let me tell you something even more interesting. So during the day, we sleep on the bottom of large leaves. It's important to escape predators. So when we sleep, we hide our blood. We are capable of moving some 89% of the red blood cells into our liver. This further makes us almost invisible or more transparent, as the bright red blood cells will lay hidden and out of view. I can thus perfectly match the colours of the vegetation.' 'Wow. And you can do this without your blood clotting?' 'Yes. When we are up, our circulatory system is red in colour. When we are asleep, we hide the colour by sending the red cells into the liver. Our liver also doubles in size. My underbelly becomes see-through. You can even see our internal organs. If you turn me upside down, you can see right inside my body.' Silvery started. 'I'm just telling you, please do not do that.' 'Okay, sorry. This underbelly transparency, I didn't know that. Yet you are so tiny. I'm just wonderstruck at what even a tiny species like you is capable of!' 'Body shaming, are we?' 'No, no, I'm in awe.' 'Our species is rather small. I don't normally grow more than 25 millimetres.' 'Who are your predators?' 'Big wasps, snakes, also habitat degradation. Deforestation. We are losing our natural habitats as we lose these trees.' 'Tell me about it,' Silvery nodded disapprovingly and melancholically. He took a good look around. The dawn was breaking and the wet, thick forests glimmered under the sunlight. Silvery hopped towards the edge of the branch and opened his eyes wide in joy. From here he could see the golden orb rising in all its glory, casting a caramel orangish glow all around. 'Mornings get so surreal here,' Silvery added enthusiastically, turning towards the tiny frog. But Glassy was nowhere to be seen. 'GLASSY? pull your tricks with me...' He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus harder. 'I have more questions...' No response. Glassy had pulled a Houdini on him. The light was breaking in and Silvery heard a rustle below. The forest was silent again. A sudden fear gripped him. A strange, dark thought occurred. What if.., what if some predator had got to Glassy. All that banter and Glassy must have let his guard down. And when I moved away, could someone have got to him? A deafening silence filled inside him. Silvery slowly climbed down. He shut his eyes, drew a long breath and started down to the stream. His eyes ached. The forest fell unnaturally quiet. He was sorry. He hoped that Glassy was safe. If not, he knew that it was all for the best. Everything in the wild, the laws of nature, it was all for the best. There is a certain check and balance at work in the wild, that only we are aware of. A gazelle is born for the lion. A frog, for the snake; the snake for the bird. That's the law of the wild. Nothing is ever lost... Far above, suctioned underneath a large leaf, Glassy smiled and got ready for his long slumber. 'What a long night!'
News24
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
Survival, snow and sci-fi: Netflix's bold take on Argentina's iconic comic The Eternaut
"The Eternaut," a Netflix series based on a 1950s Argentine comic, explores survival, teamwork, and facing a totalitarian threat. Actor Ricardo Darin leads the resistance in a gruelling role, pushing his physical limits in the sci-fi thriller. The series highlights Argentina's cultural struggles and aims to uplift local cinema amid government budget cuts. Survival through teamwork: It's a tale as old as time with particular resonance today, says Argentine actor Ricardo Darin of his latest project, The Eternaut, which hit Netflix on Wednesday. Based on a 1950s comic with iconic status in the South American country, the sci-fi series tells the story of a mysterious, toxic snowfall that precedes an alien invasion of Buenos Aires. More elementally, it is about ordinary people with few resources and no special powers who collectively stare down a totalitarian threat, Darin, 68, told AFP in an interview. "The communities that managed to survive were those that stood shoulder to shoulder, defended themselves, and did not care only about what happened to them individually," he said of the storyline. In this way, the series "resonates" with the present, said Darin, though he declined to specify which threat in particular he was referring to. Directed and scripted by Argentina's Bruno Stagnaro, The Eternaut is based on the comic by the same name, serialised by writer Hector Oesterheld and illustrator Francisco Solano Lopez between 1957 and 1959. Oesterheld took the series up again in the 1960s, with ever-more political overtones that are believed to have contributed to his kidnapping in 1977 under Argentina's brutal military dictatorship. He was never heard from again, nor were his four daughters and three sons-in-law, all of whom figure among the estimated 30 000 people listed as "disappeared" by agents of the dictatorship, according to rights groups. 'Very, very hard work' Darin, known for his roles in the films Nine Queens, Wild Tales, and The Secret in Their Eyes - which won the Oscar for Best International Feature in 2010 - said he was scared at first of playing Juan Salvo, the resistance hero in The Eternaut. He had no background in science fiction and had to do demanding stunts. "Physically, it was very, very hard work," the actor said. "Each day, the end of filming found us exhausted and with little recovery time." Darin took part in 113 of the 148 days of shooting, often decked out in Salvo's heavy snow-proof outfit on sets covered with tons of cumbersome artificial snow. "Not to mention the things that happen in an action shoot, where you have to roll, jump, fall, crash, fight; a series of things that when you're 25 or 30 years old, it's nothing, but for me, who is 114..." he laughed. Darin is hopeful the series will be a boost for Argentine cinema at a time the government of budget-slashing President Javier Milei has withdrawn state support for the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts and for culture in general. "Nothing like this has ever been done here," said Darin of the project.
Express Tribune
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Netflix's 'Eternaut' depicts fight against tyranny
Survival through teamwork: It's a tale as old as time with particular resonance today, says Argentine actor Ricardo Darin of his latest project The Eternaut, which hit Netflix on Wednesday, reported AFP. Based on a 1950s comic with iconic status in the South American country, the sci-fi series tells the story of a mysterious, toxic snowfall that precedes an alien invasion of Buenos Aires. More elementally, it is about ordinary people with few resources and no special powers who collectively stare down a totalitarian threat, Darin, 68, told AFP in an interview. "The communities that managed to survive were those that stood shoulder to shoulder, defended themselves, and did not care only about what happened to them individually," he said of the storyline. Directed and scripted by Argentina's Bruno Stagnaro, The Eternaut is based on the comic by the same name serialised by writer Hector Oesterheld and illustrator Francisco Solano Lopez between 1957 and 1959. Oesterheld took the series up again in the 1960s, with ever-more political overtones that are believed to have contributed to his kidnapping in 1977 under Argentina's brutal military dictatorship. He was never heard from again, nor were his four daughters and three sons-in-law, all of whom figure among the estimated 30,000 people listed as "disappeared" by agents of the dictatorship, according to rights groups. Darin, known for his roles in the films Nine Queens, Wild Tales, and The Secret in Their Eyes - which won the Oscar for best international feature in 2010 - said he was scared at first of playing Juan Salvo, the resistance hero in The Eternaut. He had no background in science fiction and had to do demanding stunts. "Physically it was very, very hard work," the actor said. Darin took part in 113 of the 148 days of shooting, often decked out in Salvo's heavy snow-proof outfit on sets covered with tons of cumbersome artificial snow. "Not to mention the things that happen in an action shoot, where you have to roll, jump, fall, crash, fight; a series of things that when you're 25 or 30 years old, it's nothing, but for me, who is 114..." he laughed. Darin is hopeful the series will be a boost for Argentine cinema at a time the government of budget-slashing President Javier Milei has withdrawn state support for the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts, and for culture in general. "Nothing like this has ever been done here," said Darin of the project.
France 24
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
Netflix's 'The Eternaut' echoes fight against tyranny: actor Ricardo Darin
Based on a 1950s comic with iconic status in the South American country, the sci-fi series tells the story of a mysterious, toxic snowfall that precedes an alien invasion of Buenos Aires. More elementally, it is about ordinary people with few resources and no special powers who collectively stare down a totalitarian threat, Darin, 68, told AFP in an interview. "The communities that managed to survive were those that stood shoulder to shoulder, defended themselves, and did not care only about what happened to them individually," he said of the storyline. In this way, the series "resonates" with the present, said Darin, though he declined to specify which threat in particular he was referring to. Directed and scripted by Argentina's Bruno Stagnaro, "The Eternaut" is based on the comic by the same name serialized by writer Hector Oesterheld and illustrator Francisco Solano Lopez between 1957 and 1959. Oesterheld took the series up again in the 1960s, with ever-more political overtones that are believed to have contributed to his kidnapping in 1977 under Argentina's brutal military dictatorship. He was never heard from again, nor were his four daughters and three sons-in-law, all of whom figure among the estimated 30,000 people listed as "disappeared" by agents of the dictatorship, according to rights groups. 'Very, very hard work' Darin, known for his roles in the films "Nine Queens," "Wild Tales," and "The Secret in Their Eyes" -- which won the Oscar for best international feature in 2010 -- said he was scared at first of playing Juan Salvo, the resistance hero in "The Eternaut." He had no background in science fiction and had to do demanding stunts. "Physically it was very, very hard work," the actor said. "Each day, the end of filming found us exhausted, and with little recovery time." Darin took part in 113 of the 148 days of shooting, often decked out in Salvo's heavy snow-proof outfit on sets covered with tons of cumbersome artificial snow. "Not to mention the things that happen in an action shoot, where you have to roll, jump, fall, crash, fight; a series of things that when you're 25 or 30 years old, it's nothing, but for me, who is 114..." he laughed. Darin is hopeful the series will be a boost for Argentine cinema at a time the government of budget-slashing President Javier Milei has withdrawn state support for the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts, and for culture in general.
