Stories: Indonesia

Stories connected to Indonesia.

• This barnacle feeds when the current is strong.The rose barnacle catches plankton with feathery limbs. It extends them to feed only when the current is stro…
• Two arms walk along the seabed. Six more help disguise the body.Off Indonesia, researchers observed coconut octopuses moving on two curled arms while using the other six as…
• A tiny sea slug that looks like a sheep. Its cells keep borrowed chloroplasts.Costasiella kuroshimae was discovered off Kuroshima, Okinawa. This 5–10 mm sea slug retains chloroplasts from…
• Walk into his backyard. There is a museum about him.Former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso has a house in Bekasi, Indonesia. In its backyard stands the Bang Yos Museum…
• The wreck was found in 2002. By 2016, only its outline remained.The Dutch cruiser De Ruyter sank in World War II and its wreck was found in 2002. A memorial expedition in 20…
• These beetles look much alike. Their genitals reveal the differences.A 2014 revision of the tiny Caccothryptus beetles, found across parts of Asia, reorganized seven recognized s…
• Tensions ran deep in colonial Java. A road project helped ignite war.The Java War of 1825–1830 pitted rebels led by Diponegoro against Dutch colonial forces. Succession disputes…
• After rebellion damaged a Javanese town, it reappeared on the map as Bojonegoro.Rajekwesi was a base during Sasradilaga's 1827–1828 rebellion in Java. The rebel commander lost it in Februar…
• After a defeat, a Javanese leader wrote about more than battlefield tactics.Prince Diponegoro's rebels lost heavily at Gawok in 1826 during the Java War. In his later account, he partly…
• A sultan named his grandson heir while the boy's father was still heir too.In 1790, Hamengkubuwono I of Yogyakarta designated his grandson Surojo as crown prince even though Surojo's f…
• During the 1812 sack of Yogyakarta, records and instruments were taken too.British forces looted court archives, manuscripts and gamelan instruments along with valuables. Accounts say…
• A kingdom's origin story begins with a man emerging from bamboo.An origin myth of the Mori polity in present-day Sulawesi, Indonesia, tells of a supernatural man emerging fr…
• A tree trunk that looks splashed with paintRainbow eucalyptus is native to the Philippines, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Its bark peels in strips, ex…
• The towering bloom warms up to release a powerful odorThe titan arum’s central spadix heats as its inflorescence opens and releases a strong odor associated with r…
• A bird’s outer covering can contain toxic compoundsThe hooded pitohui of New Guinea can contain toxins in its skin and feathers. Researchers think it acquires t…
• The attacking route leaves the ordinary gridIn Surakarta, circular loops beyond the grid are used when capturing an opposing piece. They are not simply d…
• A nearly solid casque is used in male clashesThe helmeted hornbill has a nearly solid casque above its bill, unlike the structure in other hornbills. Male…
• This tree-dwelling monkey also swims across riversBorneo’s proboscis monkey is striking for its nose, but its behavior offers another surprise. It swims across…
• The Sunda flying lemur does not fly by flappingThe Southeast Asian Sunda flying lemur glides among trees rather than flying by flapping. Its membrane extend…
• The greater lophorina presents a different frontal shapeIn courtship, the male greater lophorina of New Guinea spreads its black cape feathers and blue-green breast…
• Murtabak wraps its filling in thin doughMurtabak folds thin dough around fillings such as egg, minced meat and onion before pan-frying. Found in plac…
• The crater lakes change independentlyKelimutu in Indonesia has three crater lakes of differing colours. Their colours can change with volcanic gas…
• The octopus hides six arms to resemble a sea snakeThe mimic octopus alters shape and behaviour as well as colour. To resemble a sea snake, it hides six arms an…
• A male babirusa’s upper tusks grow through its snoutMale babirusas from Indonesian islands have upper canine tusks that penetrate the skin of the snout and curve…
• A sweeping roof and a name about sittingTongkonan are ancestral houses of the Torajan people in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi. Their large upswept roofs…
• A towering structure is carried to the seaIn Pariaman, West Sumatra, Indonesia, Tabuik is a Muharram remembrance tradition. Tall ceremonial structures…
• Bali marks a new year with silenceNyepi is Bali’s day of silence for the new year. For a day from morning until the following morning, people r…
• This giant hermit-crab relative gives up its borrowed shellCoconut crabs inhabit islands of the Indian and Pacific oceans. Young ones use empty gastropod shells, like o…
• A kissing fish’s gesture can be a form of aggressionKissing gouramis, native to Southeast Asia, extend their mouths and press them together. The gesture supplied…
• A Tenggerese ceremony sends offerings into Mount Bromo’s craterDuring Yadnya Kasada in East Java, Tenggerese devotees pray at Mount Bromo and throw offerings into its crate…
• Black-and-white tapirs begin with stripes and spotsAdult Malayan tapirs in Southeast Asia have striking black-and-white colouring. Their calves instead have bro…