AudiePedia

The Greatest, Largest and Most Massive of all Rocks

2014-12-29T05:19:00.000-08:00

What if you found yourself stepped into a giant rock ?

Uluru Rock viewed from an Helicopter

The Uluru or the Ayers Rock is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory in central Australia. It lies 335 km (208 mi) south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs, 450 km (280 mi) by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park. Uluru is sacred to the Anangu, the Aboriginal people of the area. The area around the formation is home to a plethora of springs, waterholes, rock caves, and ancient paintings. Uluru is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Uluru is one of Australia's most recognisable natural landmarks. The sandstone formation stands 348 m (1,142 ft) high, rising 863 m (2,831 ft) above sea level with most of its bulk lying underground, and has a total circumference of 9.4 km (5.8 mi). Both Uluru and the nearby Kata Tjuta formation have great cultural significance for the Aṉangu people, the traditional inhabitants of the area, who lead walking tours to inform visitors about the local flora and fauna, bush foods and the Aboriginal dreamtime stories of the area.

Arial view of Ayers Rock

Uluru is notable for appearing to change colour at different times of the day and year, most notably when it glows red at dawn and sunset.

Kata Tjuta, also called Mount Olga or The Olgas, lies 25 km (16 mi) west of Uluru. Special viewing areas with road access and parking have been constructed to give tourists the best views of both sites at dawn and dusk.

The Mutitjulu Arkose is believed to be of about the same age as the conglomerate at Kata Tjuta, and to have a similar origin despite the rock type being different, but it is younger than the rocks exposed to the east at Mount Conner, and unrelated to them. The strata at Uluru are nearly vertical, dipping to the south west at 85°, and have an exposed thickness of at least 2,400 m (7,900 ft). The strata dip below the surrounding plain and no doubt extend well beyond Uluru in the subsurface, but the extent is not known.

The rock was originally sand, deposited as part of an extensive alluvial fan that extended out from the ancestors of the Musgrave, Mann and Petermann Ranges to the south and west, but separate from a nearby fan that deposited the sand, pebbles and cobbles that now make up Kata Tjuta.

Black-flanked Rock-wallaby

Historically, 46 species of native mammals are known to have been living near Uluru; according to recent surveys there are currently 21. Aṉangu acknowledge that a decrease in the number has implications for the condition and health of the landscape. Moves are supported for the reintroduction of locally extinct animals such as Malleefowl, Common Brushtail Possum, Rufous hare-wallaby or Mala, Bilby, Burrowing Bettong and the Black-flanked Rock-wallaby. The Mulgara, the only mammal listed as vulnerable, is mostly restricted to the transitional sand plain area, a narrow band of country that stretches from the vicinity of Uluru to the Northern boundary of the park and into Ayers Rock Resort. This area also contains the marsupial mole, Woma Python and Great Desert Skink.

The bat population of the park comprises at least seven species that depend on day roosting sites within caves and crevices of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Most of the bats forage for aerial prey within 100 m (330 ft) or so from the rock face. The park has a very rich reptile fauna of high conservation significance with 73 species having been reliably recorded. Four species of frog are abundant at the base of Uluru and Kata Tjuta following summer rains. The Great Desert Skink is listed as vulnerable.

Aṉangu continue to hunt and gather animal species in remote areas of the park and on Aṉangu land elsewhere. Hunting is largely confined to the Red Kangaroo, Bush Turkey, Emu, and lizards such as the Sand Goanna and Perentie.

Trees at the bottom of the Uluru

Of the 27 mammal species found in the park, six are introduced: the house mouse, camel, fox, cat, dog, and rabbit. These species are distributed throughout the park but their densities are greatest near the rich water run-off areas of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park flora represents a large portion of plants found in Central Australia. A number of these species are considered rare and restricted in the park or the immediate region. There are many rare and endemic plants in the park.

The growth and reproduction of plant communities rely on irregular rainfall. Some plants are able to survive fire and some are dependent on it to reproduce. Plants are an important part of Tjukurpa, and there are ceremonies for each of the major plant foods. Many plants are associated with ancestral beings.

The development of tourism infrastructure adjacent to the base of Uluru that began in the 1950s soon produced adverse environmental impacts. The Aṉangu request that visitors do not photograph certain sections of Uluru, for reasons related to traditional Tjukurpa beliefs. These areas are the sites of gender-linked rituals and are forbidden ground for Aṉangu of the opposite sex to those participating in the rituals in question. The photographic restriction is intended to prevent Aṉangu from inadvertently violating this taboo by encountering photographs of the forbidden sites in the outside world.

A Dicouragement panque warned the tourists
about the hazards of climbing the Uluru

Despite being discouraged by its traditional owners, some visitors still climb Uluru. A chain handhold added in 1964 and extended in 1976 makes the hour-long climb easier, but it is still a long (800 m/0.5 mi) and steep hike to the top, where it can be quite windy. It is recommended individuals drink plenty of water whilst climbing, and those who are unfit, suffer from vertigo or medical conditions restricting exercise, do not attempt it.

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Culture and Customs of Mongols

2014-12-29T04:05:00.001-08:00

One of the largest horse riding nomad civilization will be uncovered in this article !

A Mongolian Ancient cave painting

A Yurt

The Culture of Mongolia has been heavily influenced by the Mongol nomadic way of life. Other important influences are from Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism, and from China. Since the 20th century, Russian and, via Russia, European culture have had a strong effect on Mongolia.

The ger (yurt) is part of the Mongolian national identity. The Secret History of the Mongols mentions Genghis Khan as the leader of all people who live in felt tents,called gers, and even today a large share of Mongolia's population lives in ger, even in Ulaanbaatar. Ger also means home, and other words are derived from its word stem. For example, gerlekh means to marry.

A Golden Buddha Statue

A Naadam at Ulaan Bataar

Since ancient times Tengrism was the dominant belief system of the Mongols and still retains significant importance in their mythology. During the era of the Great Khans, Mongolia practiced freedom of worship and is still a defining element of the Mongol character. In the 17th century, Tibetan Buddhism became the dominant religion in Mongolia. Traditional Shamanism was, except in some remote regions, suppressed and marginalized. On the other hand, a number of shamanic practices, like ovoo worshiping, were incorporated into Buddhist liturgy. Since the 1990s, a number of Christian sects are trying to gain a foothold in Mongolia. About 4% of the Mongolian population is Muslim.

Mongolians traditionally were afraid of misfortunes and believe in good and bad omens. Misfortune might be attracted by talking about negative things or by persons that are often talked about. They might also be sent by some malicious shaman enraged by breaking some taboo, like stepping on a yurt's threshold, desecrating waters or mountains, etc.

The most important public festivals are the Naadam (English: game). The biggest one is held each year on July 11–13 in Ulaanbaatar, but there are also smaller ones on aimag and sum levels. A Naadam involves horse racing, wrestling, and archery competitions.

For families, the most important festival is Tsagaan Sar (English: white month), which is roughly equivalent to the Chinese New Year and usually falls into January or February. Family members and friends visit each other, exchange presents - very popular presents for all opportunities are the khadag - and eat huge quantities of buuz. Under the Soviet influence, New Year became a big event, and it is one of the biggest celebrations, comparable to Christmas in the West.

Sita (White) Tara by Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar.

The oldest completely passed down work of Mongolian literature is probably also the most well-known abroad: The Secret History of the Mongols. It does, however, contain passages of older poetry. Otherwise, few examples of Mongolian literature from the time of the Mongol Empire have come down in written form: fragments of a song about the mother and the area where one grew up were found in a soldier's grave at the Volga river in 1930, 25 manuscript and block print fragments were found in Turpan in 1902/03, Pyotr Kozlov brought some fragments from Khara-Khoto in 1909.

Before the 20th century, most works of the fine arts in Mongolia had a religious function, and therefore Mongolian fine arts were heavily influenced by religious texts. Thangkas were usually painted or made in applique technique. Bronze sculptures usually showed Buddhist deities. A number of great works are attributed to the first Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, Zanabazar.

Morin Khuur

Mongolia has a very old musical tradition. Key traditional elements are throat-singing, the Morin Khuur (horse head fiddle) and other string instruments, and several types of songs. Mongolian melodies are typically characterized by pentatonic harmonies and long end notes.

The Mongolian cuisine is primarily based on meat and dairy products, with some regional variations. The most common meat is mutton, supplemented in the desert south by camel meat, and in the northern mountains by beef (including yak). Dairy products are made from mare's milk (Airag), from cattle, yaks, and camels (e.g. clotted cream). Popular dishes include buuz (a type of meat dumpling), khuushuur (a meat pastry), khorkhog (a meat stew, usually a special meal for guests), and boortsog (a sweet biscuit). The meal commonly known as Mongolian barbecue is not Mongolian at all, but Taiwanese in origin.

A Mongolian Traditional Dress

Mongolian dress has changed little since the days of the empire, because it is supremely well-adapted to the conditions of life on the steppe and the daily activities of pastoral nomads. However, there have been some changes in styles which distinguish modern Mongolian dress from historic costume. The deel, or kaftan, is the Monglian traditional garment worn on workdays and special days. It is a long, loose gown cut in one piece with the sleeves; it has a high collar and widely overlaps at the front. The deel is girdled with a sash. Mongolian deels always close on the wearer's right and traditionally have five fastenings. Modern deels often have decoratively cut overflaps, small round necklines, and sometimes contain a Mandarin collar.

It's usually has a bright color, consisting of red, blue, green and yellow

Mongolian Chess

Popular board games are chess and checkers. The chess figures are noyon (noble = king), bers (cp. bars "tiger" = queen), temee (camel = bishop), mori (horse = knight), tereg (cart = castle), khüü (boy = pawn). The rules used today are the same as in European chess.

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The Legendary Himalayan Jumping Spider

2014-12-29T03:17:00.001-08:00

A Creature that stands above everything living on earth !

Mount Everest is where they lived !

Hides in the icy caps of the Himalayas, The Himalayan Tiny black Jumping Spider is the creature that it's habitat located far above any other's. It lived in the Himalayan Mountains (Particularly Mount Everest). It lives at elevations of up to 6,700 meters (22,000 feet) above the sea level . Binominally it's named Euophrys omnisuperstes (It literally means black jumping spider that is standing above everything).

4 Eyes, 8 Legs, Bright Color, Big Fangs

They are known to lurk in crevices among rocky debris, feeding on tiny, stray springtails and flies that are blown up the mountainside from lower altitudes. It's clearly highly tolerant to height, ambushing and scavenging on insects. They're also cold tolerant and venomous. They use visual communications.

The creature itself aren't well studied or documented, the venom of it are presumably unharmful (because of it's scavenging habit).

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Most Readed Book In The World

2014-12-29T01:44:00.004-08:00

What's the most read book among your the shelves of a library?

Books are the most reliable source of knowledge and entertaiment, based on the number of books sold (not printed) we could determine the top 10 book readed for last 50 years (Many titles has more copy than the books in this list, but because they can;t stand the amount of copies sold we'l assume the unsold is unreaded).

1. The Holy Bible

Author : Various Phropet, Translated by Various Languish

Year Published : Unknown, Printed Version published 1456 AD.

Copies Sold : 4.000.000.000

It's first book written at least 1445 BC, The Holy Bible is also the oldest lasting and most translated book, translated into more than 2.000 language (almost 7.000 present in the world) Its mainly divided into two part : the Old Testament about the history of ancient Israel and Judah. The Second Part, the New Testament (Written around 0-30 AD) majorly about Jesus Christ. It's mainly binded with black covers.

2. Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung

Author : Mao Tse-Tung

Year Published : 1964

Copies Sold : 820.000.000

One of the most popular handbook in China, this little red book filled with selected statements from speeches and writings by Mao Tse-tung, former leader of Chinese Communist Party. The most popular versions were printed in small sizes that could be easily carried and bounded in bright red covers, becoming commonly known in the West as the Little Red Book.

3. Harry Potter Trilogy

Author : Joanne Kathleen Rowling

Year Published : 1997

Copies Sold : 400.000.000

This Series Novel were one of the most popular novel of all time, The Same thing happen to its movie trilogy. It Consists of 7 Titles (The Philosopher/Sorcerers Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, The Order of Phoenix, The Half Blooded Prince and The Deathly Hallows). It tells us the Adventure of Harry Potter, A Teenager Wizard from England.

4. The Lord of the Rings

Author : John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Year Published : 1954

Copies Sold : 103.000.000

One of the most influential high fantasy work of all time, This book (That then splited into three titles, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King) That than actually adapted into box office movies. The Lord of the rings has been translated into more than 38 language. The story itself is a sequel to J.R.R. Tolkien Earlier work, The Hobbit.

5. The Alchemist

Author : Paulo Coelho

Year Published : 1988

Copies Sold : 65.000.000

The Alchemist is a novel by Paulo Coelho first published in the year 1988. Originally written in Portuguese by its Brazilian-born author, it has been translated into at least 56 languages as of September 2012. The Alchemist follows the journey of an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. Believing a recurring dream to be prophetic,

6. The Da Vinci Code

Author : Daniel Brown

Year Published : 2003

Copies Sold : 57.000.000

This Controversial Novel is a mystery-detective novel written by Dan Brown. It follows symbologist Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu after a murder in the Louvre Museum in Paris, when they become involved in a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility of Jesus having been married to Mary Magdalene.

7. The Twillight Saga

Author : Stephenie Morgan Meyer

Year Published :

Copies Sold : 43.000.000

Twilight is a series of four vampire-themed fantasy romance novels (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn) by American author Stephenie Meyer. It charts a period in the life of Isabella Swan, a teenage girl who moves to Forks, Washington, and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen. The Novels are also adapted to several movies with the same title which are considered as one of the teenagers favorite.

8. Gone with the Wind

Author : Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell

Year Published : 1936

Copies Sold : 33.000.000

A Historical-Fiction Novel set in Clayton County, Georgia, and Atlanta during the American Civil War and Reconstruction era. It depicts the experiences of Scarlett O'Hara. It was popular with American readers from the onset and was the top American fiction bestseller in the year it was published and in 1937.

9. Think and Grow Rich

Author : Napoleon Hill

Year Published : 1937

Copies Sold : 30.000.000

Think and Grow Rich is a 1937 motivational personal development and self-help book by Napoleon Hill inspired by a suggestion from Andrew Carnegie. While the title implies that this book deals with how to get rich, the author explains that the philosophy taught in the book can be used to help people succeed in all lines of work and to do or be almost anything they want

10. The Diary of a Young Girl / The Diary of Anne Frank

Author : Annelies Marie Frank

Year Published : 1947

Copies Sold : 27.000.000

The Diary of a Young Girl is a book of the writings from the Dutch language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The family was apprehended in 1944, and Anne Frank itself died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

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The Paradox of Schrödinger's cat

2014-12-28T23:55:00.002-08:00

Curios how our curiosity could kill a cat ?

Erwin Schrödinger the guy
who is responsible for this

Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, sometimes described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects. The scenario presents a cat that is randomly put in a state where alive and dead are both possibilities, requiring further observation to determine which. For Example, A kitty with an unstable explosive which has a 50/50 possibilities to explode in the next minute. The thought experiment is also often featured in theoretical discussions of the interpretations of quantum mechanics. In the course of developing this experiment, Schrödinger coined the term Verschränkung (entanglement).

Simply we could illustrate it like this : the cat explained above will have a superpostition of dead or alive and the gunpowder has a superposition of exploded or not exploded. The Only way we could sure about the cat's condition is too look it right ?

Schrödinger intended his thought experiment as a discussion of the EPR article—named after its authors Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen—in 1935. The EPR article highlighted the strange nature of quantum superpositions, in which a quantum system such as an atom or photon can exist as a combination of multiple states corresponding to different possible outcomes. The prevailing theory, called the Copenhagen interpretation, said that a quantum system remained in this superposition until it interacted with, or was observed by, the external world, at which time the superposition collapses into one or another of the possible definite states. The EPR experiment showed that a system with multiple particles separated by large distances could be in such a superposition. Schrödinger and Einstein exchanged letters about Einstein's EPR article, in the course of which Einstein pointed out that the state of an unstable keg of gunpowder will, after a while, contain a superposition of both exploded and unexploded states.

To further illustrate, Schrödinger described how one could, in principle, create a superposition in a large-scale system by making it dependent on a quantum particle that was in a superposition. He proposed a scenario with a cat in a sealed box, wherein the cat's life or death depended on the state of a radioactive atom, whether it had decayed and emitted radiation or not. According to Schrödinger, the Copenhagen interpretation implies that the cat remains both alive and dead until the box is opened. Schrödinger did not wish to promote the idea of dead-and-alive cats as a serious possibility; on the contrary, he intended the example to illustrate the absurdity of the existing view of quantum mechanics. However, since Schrödinger's time, other interpretations of the mathematics of quantum mechanics have been advanced by physicists, some of which regard the "alive and dead" cat superposition as quite real. Intended as a critique of the Copenhagen interpretation (the prevailing orthodoxy in 1935), the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment remains a defining touchstone for modern interpretations of quantum mechanics. Physicists often use the way each interpretation deals with Schrödinger's cat as a way of illustrating and comparing the particular features, strengths, and weaknesses of each interpretation.

Facts about Indonesian Archipelago

2014-12-28T22:53:00.004-08:00

Indonesia is one of the largest nation in the world, wanna know more ? find out here !

A Relief of Patih Gajah Mada and his Majapahit Army

Republic of Indonesia is the first nation liberated in the aftermath of World War II and its the 70th oldest nation in the world. Indonesia is the only and the first nation that resigned form the United Nations (7th January 1965) and rejoined 1966. Indonesia Is the most winner of Thomas Cup Championship. The word “Indonesia” was first used by the British in the mid-19th century. The word comes from the Greek word nesos, which means ‘island’, and the Latin name Indus which means land beyond the Indus river. Dutch colonists preferred to call Indonesia the Dutch East Indies or the Malayan Archipelago and so the name was adopted by the anti-colonial movement in the early 20th century.

Indonesia was a regional superpower before it was colonized by the Dutch. The Sri Vijaya and Majapahit Empires spanned the entire Indonesian archipelago, even including the present-day Malaysia and even the southern islands of the Philippines and Singapore.

The Asmat tribe from Papua

Indonesian Republic are the largest archipelago country with 17.504 islands (Including 9.634 Unnamed islands and 6.000 occupied islands). Three of the largest islands in the world possessed by Indonesia (Kalimantan/Borneo - third largest 539.460 square kilometers wide, Sumatra 473.606 square kilometers and Papua/Irian 421.981 kilometers square). Indonesia are also the largest maritime country in the world (93.000 square kilometers wide waters and 81.000 kilometers coastline or 25% of global coastline). 60% of Indonesian citizen liven in the java island that only includes 7% of Indonesian region, making it the world most dense island. Indonesia are also the nation with the most tribes, there are more than 740 tribe / ethnic in indonesia (at least 270 in papua). There are also 583 dialect and more than 67 mother native language. The National laguage is Indonesian. 88% or 216.000.000 occupants of Indonesia are Muslims, Making it the largest Islam nation in the world. Indonesia is strict when it comes to…religion. The government only recognizes six religions – Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Protestantism, Catholicism, and Confucianism – and every citizen must officially subscribe to one of those religions, regardless of what he or she may actually believe. Two individuals with different religions are not allowed to marry, unless one of them converts.

Borobudur's Stupa

The Largest Buddha Temple (or Candi in Indonesian) could be found in Indonesia, The name is Borobudur, built by the Syailendra dynasty more than a thousand years ago. The ancient humanoid Pithecanthropus erectus from 1.8 million years ago was found in Indonesia. Indonesia is the largest LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) supplier in the world (20% of world consumption). Indonesia has the largest stock of it reaching 202.000.000.000.000 feet cubic in Natuna Block. Indonesia also has the largest tropical forest in the world (39.549.447 hectare!), Indonesia also the main agriculture supplier of cloves and nutmeg, the second largest for Natural Rubber and Crude palm oil. 80% of World Plywood comes from Indonesia. 18% of world coral reef belong to this nation. Indonesia exports 3,000 tons of frogs’ legs to France each year. Bet you didn’t know that.

Varanus komodoensis

The greatest Biodiversity of Orchids comes from Indonesia, The largest amount of mangrove forest also from indonesia. There are also an ancient lizard called the Komodo Dragon thet is the largest reptile in the world. The Largest a meter long flower (Rafflesia arnoldii) grows in the forest of Bengkulu, The smallest primate (Tarsius Pumillus) inhabit the island of Sulawesi. The 8 milimeters translucent smallest fish in the world could be found in the waters of sumatra, Speaking of volcanoes, Indonesia is home to the world’s largest volcanic lake. Lake Toba is situated in Sumatra is the site of a massive super-volcanic eruption that is estimated to have occurred around 69,000 to 77,000 years ago. It marks the largest known explosive eruption on Earth in the last 25 million years. A new island has formed in the center of Lake Toba, called Pulau Samosir. It now serves as the cultural center of the Batak tribe – former headhunters who are now mostly Christian.

Kimilsungia

The official national flower of North Korea the "Kimilsungia" comes from Indonesia and named by Indonesian proclamator and first president Soekarno. US President Barrack Husein Obama once lived in Menteng, a district from Jakarta, Indonesia, Indonesian Third President Habibie, has 46 patents on Aeronautic, The largest instant noodle manufrator comes form Indonesia, the name is Indofood. NATO Army camouflage anti bullet uniform was produced by Sritex from middle java. The Bung Karno Stadium was the second largest stadium in the world.

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James Cook the Explorer

2014-12-28T21:17:00.001-08:00

One of the greatest British navigator and Sailor, Read his biography here.

Potrait of James Cook

Early life, 1728-1755

James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in the village of Marton in Yorkshire and baptised on 3 November in the local church of St. Cuthbert, where his name can be seen in the church register. He was the second of eight children of James Cook, a Scottish farm labourer from Ednam near Kelso, and his locally born wife, Grace Pace, from Thornaby-on-Tees. In 1736, his family moved to Airey Holme farm at Great Ayton, where his father's employer, Thomas Skottowe, paid for him to attend the local school. In 1741, after five years schooling, he began work for his father, who had by now been promoted to farm manager. For leisure, he would climb a nearby hill, Roseberry Topping, enjoying the opportunity for solitude. In present day we still could see Cooks' Cottage, his parents' last home, which he is likely to have visited, is now in Melbourne, having been moved from England and reassembled, brick by brick, in 1934.

In 1745, when he was 16, Cook moved 20 miles (32 km) to the fishing village of Staithes, to be apprenticed as a shop boy to grocer and haberdasher William Sanderson. Historians have speculated that this is where Cook first felt the lure of the sea while gazing out of the shop window.

After 18 months, not proving suitable for shop work, Cook travelled to the nearby port town of Whitby to be introduced to friends of Sanderson's, John and Henry Walker. The Walkers were prominent local ship-owners and Quakers, and were in the coal trade. Their house is now the Captain Cook Memorial Museum. Cook was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice in their small fleet of vessels, plying coal along the English coast. His first assignment was aboard the collier Freelove, and he spent several years on this and various other coasters, sailing between the Tyne and London. As part of his apprenticeship, Cook applied himself to the study of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation and astronomy—all skills he would need one day to command his own ship.

His three-year apprenticeship completed, Cook began working on trading ships in the Baltic Sea. After passing his examinations in 1752, he soon progressed through the merchant navy ranks, starting with his promotion in that year to mate aboard the collier brig Friendship. In 1755, within a month of being offered command of this vessel, he volunteered for service in the Royal Navy, when Britain was re-arming for what was to become the Seven Years' War. Despite the need to start back at the bottom of the naval hierarchy, Cook realised his career would advance more quickly in military service and entered the Navy at Wapping on 17 June 1755.

Early Navy Career, 1755-1757

Cook's Signature

Cook's first posting was with HMS Eagle, sailing with the rank of master's mate. In October and November 1755 he took part in Eagle's capture of one French warship and the sinking of another, following which he was promoted to boatswain in addition to his other duties. His first temporary command was in March 1756 when he was briefly the master of the Cruizer, a small cutter attached to the Eagle while on patrol.

In June 1757 Cook passed his master's examinations at Trinity House, Deptford, which qualified him to navigate and handle a ship of the King's fleet. He then joined the frigate HMS Solebay as master under Captain Robert Craig.

Conquest of Canada, 1758-1763

During the Seven Years' War, Cook served in North America as master of Pembroke. In 1758 he took part in the major amphibious assault that captured the Fortress of Louisbourg from the French, after which he participated in the siege of Quebec City and then the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. He showed a talent for surveying and cartography, and was responsible for mapping much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River during the siege, thus allowing General Wolfe to make his famous stealth attack on the Plains of Abraham.

Cook's surveying ability was put to good use mapping the jagged coast of Newfoundland in the 1760s, aboard HMS Grenville. He surveyed the north-west stretch in 1763 and 1764, the south coast between the Burin Peninsula and Cape Ray in 1765 and 1766, and the west coast in 1767. At this time Cook employed local pilots to point out the "rocks and hidden dangers" along the south and west coasts. During the 1765 season, four pilots were engaged at a daily pay of 4 shillings each: John Beck for the coast west of "Great St. Lawrence", Morgan Snook for Fortune Bay, John Dawson for Connaigre and Hermitage Bay, and John Peck for the "Bay of Despair."

His five seasons in Newfoundland produced the first large-scale and accurate maps of the island's coasts and were the first scientific, large scale, hydrographic surveys to use precise triangulation to establish land outlines. They also gave Cook his mastery of practical surveying, achieved under often adverse conditions, and brought him to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society at a crucial moment both in his career and in the direction of British overseas discovery. Cook's map would be used into the 20th century—copies of it being referenced by those sailing Newfoundland's waters for 200 years.

Following on from his exertions in Newfoundland, it was at this time that Cook wrote that he intended to go not only "farther than any man has been before me, but as far as I think it is possible for a man to go."

First Voyage, 1768-1771

In 1766 the Royal Society engaged Cook to travel to the Pacific Ocean to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun. Cook, at the age of 39, was promoted to lieutenant and named as commander of the expedition. The expedition sailed from England on 26 August 1768,[21] rounded Cape Horn and continued westward across the Pacific to arrive at Tahiti on 13 April 1769, where the observations of the Venus Transit were made. However, the result of the observations was not as conclusive or accurate as had been hoped. Once the observations were completed, Cook opened the sealed orders which were additional instructions from the Admiralty for the second part of his voyage: to search the south Pacific for signs of the postulated rich southern continent of Terra Australis. Cook then sailed to New Zealand and mapped the complete coastline, making only some minor errors. He then voyaged west, reaching the south-eastern coast of Australia on 19 April 1770, and in doing so his expedition became the first recorded Europeans to have encountered its eastern coastline.

Cook's Endeavour beached at present day Cooktown

On 23 April he made his first recorded direct observation of indigenous Australians at Brush Island near Bawley Point, noting in his journal: "…and were so near the Shore as to distinguish several people upon the Sea beach they appear'd to be of a very dark or black Colour but whether this was the real colour of their skins or the Clothes they might have on I know not." On 29 April Cook and crew made their first landfall on the mainland of the continent at a place now known as the Kurnell Peninsula. Cook originally christened the area as "Stingray Bay", but he later crossed it out and named it Botany Bay after the unique specimens retrieved by the botanists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. It is here that James Cook made first contact with an aboriginal tribe known as the Gweagal.

After his departure from Botany Bay he continued northwards. On 11 June a mishap occurred when the Endeavour ran aground on a shoal of the Great Barrier Reef, and then "nursed into a river mouth on 18 June 1770". The ship was badly damaged and his voyage was delayed almost seven weeks while repairs were carried out on the beach (near the docks of modern Cooktown, Queensland, at the mouth of the Endeavour River). The voyage then continued, sailing through Torres Strait and on 22 August Cook landed on Possession Island, where he claimed the entire coastline that he had just explored as British territory. He returned to England via Batavia (modern Jakarta, Indonesia where many in his crew succumbed to malaria), the Cape of Good Hope (Africa), and arriving on the island of Saint Helena on 12 July 1771.

Cook's journals were published upon his return, and he became something of a hero among the scientific community. Among the general public, however, the aristocratic botanist Joseph Banks was a greater hero. Banks even attempted to take command of Cook's second voyage, but removed himself from the voyage before it began, and Johann Reinhold Forster and his son George Forster were taken on as scientists for the voyage. Cook's son George was born five days before he left for his second voyage.

Second Voyage, 1772-1775

Shortly after his return from the first voyage, Cook was promoted in August 1771, to the rank of commander. In 1772 the Royal Society commissioned him to search for the hypothetical Terra Australis. On his first voyage, Cook had demonstrated by circumnavigating New Zealand that it was not attached to a larger landmass to the south. Although he charted almost the entire eastern coastline of Australia, showing it to be continental in size, the Terra Australis was believed to lie further south. Despite this evidence to the contrary, Alexander Dalrymple and others of the Royal Society still believed that a massive southern continent should exist.

Cook commanded HMS Resolution on this voyage, while Tobias Furneaux commanded its companion ship, HMS Adventure. Cook's expedition circumnavigated the globe at an extreme southern latitude, becoming one of the first to cross the Antarctic Circle (17 January 1773). In the Antarctic fog, Resolution and Adventure became separated. Furneaux made his way to New Zealand, where he lost some of his men during an encounter with Māori, and eventually sailed back to Britain, while Cook continued to explore the Antarctic, reaching 71°10'S on 31 January 1774.

Cook Witnessing human sacrifices at Tahiti

Cook almost encountered the mainland of Antarctica, but turned towards Tahiti to resupply his ship. He then resumed his southward course in a second fruitless attempt to find the supposed continent. On this leg of the voyage he brought a young Tahitian named Omai, who proved to be somewhat less knowledgeable about the Pacific than Tupaia had been on the first voyage. On his return voyage to New Zealand in 1774, Cook landed at the Friendly Islands, Easter Island, Norfolk Island, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu.

Before returning to England, Cook made a final sweep across the South Atlantic from Cape Horn and surveyed, mapped and took possession for Britain of South Georgia, which had been explored by Anthony de la Roché in 1675. Cook also discovered and named Clerke Rocks and the South Sandwich Islands ("Sandwich Land"). He then turned north to South Africa, and from there continued back to England. His reports upon his return home put to rest the popular myth of Terra Australis.

Cook's second voyage marked a successful employment of Larcum Kendall's K1 copy of John Harrison's H4 marine chronometer, which enabled Cook to calculate his longitudinal position with much greater accuracy. Cook's log was full of praise for this time-piece which he used to make charts of the southern Pacific Ocean that were so remarkably accurate that copies of them were still in use in the mid-20th century.

Upon his return, Cook was promoted to the rank of post-captain and given an honorary retirement from the Royal Navy, with a posting as an officer of the Greenwich Hospital. He reluctantly accepted, insisting that he be allowed to quit the post if an opportunity for active duty should arise. His fame now extended beyond the Admiralty; he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, and awarded the Copley Gold Medal for completing his second voyage without losing a man to scurvy. Nathaniel Dance-Holland painted his portrait; he dined with James Boswell; he was described in the House of Lords as "the first navigator in Europe". But he could not be kept away from the sea. A third voyage was planned and Cook volunteered to find the Northwest Passage. He travelled to the Pacific and hoped to travel east to the Atlantic, while a simultaneous voyage travelled the opposite route.

On his last voyage, Cook again commanded HMS Resolution, while Captain Charles Clerke commanded HMS Discovery. The voyage was ostensibly planned to return the Pacific Islander, Omai to Tahiti, or so the public were led to believe. The trip's principal goal was to locate a Northwest Passage around the American continent.After dropping Omai at Tahiti, Cook travelled north and in 1778 became the first European to begin formal contact with the Hawaiian Islands.After his initial landfall in January 1778 at Waimea harbour, Kauai, Cook named the archipelago the "Sandwich Islands" after the fourth Earl of Sandwich—the acting First Lord of the Admiralty.From the Sandwich Islands Cook sailed north and then north-east to explore the west coast of North America north of the Spanish settlements in Alta California. He made landfall on the Oregon coast at approximately 44°30′ north latitude, naming his landing point Cape Foulweather. Bad weather forced his ships south to about 43° north before they could begin their exploration of the coast northward. He unknowingly sailed past the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and soon after entered Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island. He anchored near the First Nations village of Yuquot. Cook's two ships remained in Nootka Sound from 29 March to 26 April 1778, in what Cook called Ship Cove, now Resolution Cove, at the south end of Bligh Island, about 5 miles (8 km) east across Nootka Sound from Yuquot, lay a Nuu-chah-nulth village (whose chief Cook did not identify but may have been Maquinna). Relations between Cook's crew and the people of Yuquot were cordial if sometimes strained. In trading, the people of Yuquot demanded much more valuable items than the usual trinkets that had worked in Hawaii. Metal objects were much desired, but the lead, pewter, and tin traded at first soon fell into disrepute. The most valuable items which the British received in trade were sea otter pelts. During the stay, the Yuquot "hosts" essentially controlled the trade with the British vessels; the natives usually visited the British vessels at Resolution Cove instead of the British visiting the village of Yuquot at Friendly Cove.

After leaving Nootka Sound, Cook explored and mapped the coast all the way to the Bering Strait, on the way identifying what came to be known as Cook Inlet in Alaska. In a single visit, Cook charted the majority of the North American north-west coastline on world maps for the first time, determined the extent of Alaska, and closed the gaps in Russian (from the West) and Spanish (from the South) exploratory probes of the Northern limits of the Pacific.

The Bering Strait proved to be impassable, although he made several attempts to sail through it. He became increasingly frustrated on this voyage, and perhaps began to suffer from a stomach ailment; it has been speculated that this led to irrational behaviour towards his crew, such as forcing them to eat walrus meat, which they had pronounced inedible.

Returning to Hawaii and Death, 1779

Resolution and Discovery at Hawaii

Cook returned to Hawaii in 1779. After sailing around the archipelago for some eight weeks, he made landfall at Kealakekua Bay, on 'Hawaii Island', largest island in the Hawaiian Archipelago. Cook's arrival coincided with the Makahiki, a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for the Polynesian god Lono. Coincidentally the form of Cook's ship, HMS Resolution, or more particularly the mast formation, sails and rigging, resembled certain significant artefacts that formed part of the season of worship. Similarly, Cook's clockwise route around the island of Hawaii before making landfall resembled the processions that took place in a clockwise direction around the island during the Lono festivals. It has been argued (most extensively by Marshall Sahlins) that such coincidences were the reasons for Cook's (and to a limited extent, his crew's) initial deification by some Hawaiians who treated Cook as an incarnation of Lono. Though this view was first suggested by members of Cook's expedition, the idea that any Hawaiians understood Cook to be Lono, and the evidence presented in support of it, were challenged in 1992.

After a month's stay, Cook attempted to resume his exploration of the Northern Pacific. Shortly after leaving Hawaii Island, however, the Resolution's foremast broke, so the ships returned to Kealakekua Bay for repairs. Tensions rose, and a number of quarrels broke out between the Europeans and Hawaiians at Kealakekua Bay. An unknown group of Hawaiians took one of Cook's small boats. The evening when the cutter was taken, the people had become "insolent" even with threats to fire upon them. Cook was forced into a wild goose chase that ended with his return to the ship frustrated. He attempted to take as hostage the King of Hawaiʻi, Kalaniʻōpuʻu. That following day, 14 February 1779, Cook marched through the village to retrieve the King. Cook took the aliʻi nui by his own hand and led him willingly away. One of Kalaniʻōpuʻu's favorite wives, Kanekapolei and two chiefs approached the group as they were heading to boats. They pleaded with the king not to go until he stopped and sat where he stood. An old Kahuna (priest), chanting rapidly while holding out a coconut, attempted to distract Cook and his men as a large crowd began to form at the shore. The king began to understand that Cook was his enemy. As Cook turned his back to help launch the boats, he was struck on the head by the villagers and then stabbed to death as he fell on his face in the surf. He was first struck on the head with a club by a chief named Kalaimanokahoʻowaha or Kanaʻina (namesake of Charles Kana'ina) and then stabbed by one of the king's attendants, Nuaa. The Hawaiians carried his body away towards the back of the town, still visible to the ship through their spyglass. Four marines, Corporal James Thomas, Private Theophilus Hinks, Private Thomas Fatchett and Private John Allen, were also killed and two others were wounded in the confrontation.

The Death of Captain James Cook,
an unfinished painting by Johann Zoffany

The esteem which the islanders nevertheless held for Cook caused them to retain his body. Following their practice of the time, they prepared his body with funerary rituals usually reserved for the chiefs and highest elders of the society. The body was disembowelled, baked to facilitate removal of the flesh, and the bones were carefully cleaned for preservation as religious icons in a fashion somewhat reminiscent of the treatment of European saints in the Middle Ages. Some of Cook's remains, thus preserved, were eventually returned to his crew for a formal burial at sea. Clerke assumed leadership of the expedition, and made a final attempt to pass through the Bering Strait. Following the death of Clerke, Resolution and Discovery returned home in October 1780 commanded by John Gore, a veteran of Cook's first voyage, and Captain James King. After their arrival in England, King completed Cook's account of the voyage.

Cook's Statue at Hawaii

David Samwell, who sailed with Cook on the Resolution, wrote of him: "He was a modest man, and rather bashful; of an agreeable lively conversation, sensible and intelligent. In temper he was somewhat hasty, but of a disposition the most friendly, benevolent and humane. His person was above six feet high: and, though a good looking man, he was plain both in dress and appearance. His face was full of expression: his nose extremely well shaped: his eyes which were small and of a brown cast, were quick and piercing; his eyebrows prominent, which gave his countenance altogether an air of austerity."

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Leonardo Da Vinci, Leading Figure of the Ressenaince

2014-12-26T07:17:00.000-08:00

The Mastermind behind the Renaissance, Has his Biography here.

Early life, 1452–1466
Leonardo was born on April 15, 1452, "at the third hour of the night" in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci, in the lower valley of the Arno River in the territory of Florence. He was the illegitimate son of Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine notary, and Caterina, a peasant who may have been a slave from the Middle East. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense, "da Vinci" simply meaning "of Vinci": his full birth name was "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci", meaning "Leonardo, son of (Mes)ser Piero from Vinci."

Little is known about Leonardo's early life. He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano, then lived in the household of his father, grandparents and uncle, Francesco, in the small town of Vinci. His father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera, who loved Leonardo but died young. In later life, Leonardo only recorded two childhood incidents. One, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face. The second occurred while exploring in the mountains. He discovered a cave and was both terrified that some great monster might lurk there, and driven by curiosity to find out what was inside.

Leonardo's early life has been the subject of historical conjecture. Vasari, the 16th century biographer of Renaissance painters tells of how a local peasant requested that Ser Piero ask his talented son to paint a picture on a round plaque. Leonardo responded with a painting of snakes spitting fire which was so terrifying that Ser Piero sold it to a Florentine art dealer, who sold it to the Duke of Milan. Meanwhile, having made a profit, Ser Piero bought a plaque decorated with a heart pierced by an arrow, which he gave to the peasant.

Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio

Verrocchio's workshop, 1466–1476
In 1466, at the age of fourteen, Leonardo was apprenticed to one of the most successful artists of his day, Andrea di Cione, known as Verrocchio. Verrocchio's workshop was at the centre of the intellectual currents of Florence, assuring the young Leonardo of an education in the humanities. Other famous painters apprenticed or associated with the workshop include Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Botticelli, and Lorenzo di Credi. Leonardo would have been exposed to a vast range of technical skills and had the opportunity to learn drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics and carpentry as well as the artistic skills of drawing, painting, sculpting and modeling.

Much of the painted production of Verrocchio's workshop was done by his employees. According to Vasari, Leonardo collaborated with Verrocchio on his Baptism of Christ, painting the young angel holding Jesus’ robe in a manner that was so far superior to his master's that Verrocchio put down his brush and never painted again.

Baptism of Christ

This is probably an exaggeration. On close examination, the painting reveals much that has been painted or touched up over the tempera using the new technique of oil paint, the landscape, the rocks that can be seen through the brown mountain stream and much of the figure of Jesus bearing witness to the hand of Leonardo.

Leonardo himself may have been the model for two works by Verrocchio, including the bronze statue of David in the Bargello and the Archangel Michael in Tobias and the Angel.

By 1472, at the age of twenty, Leonardo qualified as a master in the Guild of St Luke, the guild of artists and doctors of medicine, but even after his father set him up in his own workshop, his attachment to Verrocchio was such that he continued to collaborate with him. Leonardo's earliest known dated work is a drawing in pen and ink of the Arno valley, drawn on 5 August 1473.

Professional life, 1476–1513
Court records of 1476 show that Leonardo and three other young men were charged with sodomy, and acquitted. From that date until 1478 there is no record of his work or even of his whereabouts, although it is assumed that Leonardo had his own workshop in Florence between 1476 and 1481. He was commissioned to paint an altarpiece in 1478 for the Chapel of St Bernard and The Adoration of the Magi in 1481 for the Monks of San Donato a Scopeto.

In 1482 Leonardo helped secure peace between Lorenzo de' Medici and Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan. Leonardo wrote a letter to Ludovico, describing his engineering and painting skill. He created a silver lyre in the shape of a horse's head, with which he was sent to Milan.

Leonardo continued work in Milan between 1482 and 1499. He was commissioned to paint the Virgin of the Rocks for the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, and The Last Supper for the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie. While living in Milan between 1493 and 1495 Leonardo listed a woman called Caterina among his dependents in his taxation documents. When she died in 1495, her list of funeral expenditure suggests that she was his mother.

The Virgin and Child with St. Anne
and St. John the Baptist

His work for Ludovico included floats and pageants for special occasions, designs for a dome for Milan Cathedral and a model for a huge equestrian monument to Francesco Sforza, Ludovico's predecessor. Leonardo modelled a huge horse in clay, which became known as the "Gran Cavallo", and surpassed in size the two large equestrian statues of the Renaissance. Seventy tons of bronze were set aside for casting it. The monument remained unfinished for several years, which was not unusual for Leonardo. In 1492 the model was completed, and Leonardo was making detailed plans for its casting. Michelangelo rudely implied that Leonardo was unable to cast it. In November 1494 Ludovico gave the bronze to be used for cannons to defend the city from invasion by Charles VIII.

At the start of the Second Italian War in 1499, the invading French troops used the life-size clay model for the "Gran Cavallo" for target practice. With Ludovico Sforza overthrown, Leonardo, with his assistant Salai and friend, the mathematician Luca Pacioli, fled Milan for Venice, where he was employed as a military architect and engineer, devising methods to defend the city from naval attack.

Mona Lisa

On his return to Florence in 1500, he and his household were guests of the Servite monks at the monastery of Santissima Annunziata and were provided with a workshop where, according to Vasari, Leonardo created the cartoon of The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and St. John the Baptist, a work that won such admiration that "men and women, young and old" flocked to see it "as if they were attending a great festival". In 1502 Leonardo entered the service of Cesare Borgia, the son of Pope Alexander VI, acting as a military architect and engineer and travelling throughout Italy with his patron. He returned to Florence where he rejoined the Guild of St Luke on 18 October 1503, and spent two years designing and painting a great mural of The Battle of Anghiari for the Signoria, with Michelangelo designing its companion piece, The Battle of Cascina. In Florence in 1504, he was part of a committee formed to relocate, against the artist's will, Michelangelo's statue of David.
The Famous painting Mona Lisa, thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, is in oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel, and is believed to have been painted between 1503 and 1506

In 1506 he returned to Milan. Many of Leonardo's most prominent pupils or followers in painting either knew or worked with him in Milan, including Bernardino Luini, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio and Marco D'Oggione. However, he did not stay in Milan for long because his father had died in 1504, and in 1507 he was back in Florence trying to sort out problems with his brothers over his father's estate. By 1508 he was back in Milan, living in his own house in Porta Orientale in the parish of Santa Babila.

Old age
From September 1513 to 1516, Leonardo spent much of his time living in the Belvedere in the Vatican in Rome, where Raphael and Michelangelo were both active at the time. In October 1515, François I of France recaptured Milan. On 19th December, Leonardo was present at the meeting of Francois I and Pope Leo X, which took place in Bologna. It was for Francois that Leonardo was commissioned to make a mechanical lion which could walk forward, then open its chest to reveal a cluster of lilies. In 1516, he entered François' service, being given the use of the manor house Clos Lucé near the king's residence at the royal Chateau Amboise. It was here that he spent the last three years of his life, accompanied by his friend and apprentice, Count Francesco Melzi, supported by a pension totalling 10,000 scudi.

A sketched portrait of old Leo

Leonardo died at Clos Lucé, France, on May 2, 1519. François I had become a close friend. Vasari records that the King held Leonardo's head in his arms as he died, although this story, beloved by the French and portrayed in romantic paintings by Ingres, Ménageot and other French artists, may be legend rather than fact. Vasari also tells us that in his last days, Leonardo sent for a priest to make his confession and to receive the Holy Sacrament. In accordance to his will, sixty beggars followed his casket. He was buried in the Chapel of Saint-Hubert in the castle of Amboise. Melzi was the principal heir and executor, receiving as well as money, Leonardo's paintings, tools, library and personal effects. Leonardo also remembered his other long-time pupil and companion, Salai and his servant Battista di Vilussis, who each received half of Leonardo's vineyards, his brothers who received land, and his serving woman who received a black cloak of good stuff with a fur edge.

Some twenty years after Leonardo's death, François was reported by the goldsmith and sculptor Benevenuto Cellini as saying: "There had never been another man born in the world who knew as much as Leonardo, not so much about painting, sculpture and architecture, as that he was a very great philosopher.

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Newton's Law of Motion

2014-12-26T06:07:00.003-08:00

The Basics of Classical Mechanics is Here !

Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that together laid the foundation for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between a body and the forces acting upon it, and its motion in response to said forces. They have been expressed in several different ways over nearly three centuries

The First Law

Lex I: Corpus omne perseverare in statu suo quiescendi vel movendi uniformiter in directum, nisi quatenus a viribus impressis cogitur statum illum mutare.

The first law states that if the net force (the vector sum of all forces acting on an object) is zero, then the velocity of the object is constant. Velocity is a vector quantity which expresses both the object's speed and the direction of its motion; therefore, the statement that the object's velocity is constant is a statement that both its speed and the direction of its motion are constant.

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica,
The Book that contained The Three Newton Kaws

F=0 <=> dv/dt=0

The Second Law

Lex II: Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.

The second law states that the net force on an object is equal to the rate of change (that is, the derivative) of its linear momentum p in an inertial reference frame. Mathematically its :

F=m.a <=> F=m.dv/dt

The Third Law

Lex II: Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.

The third law states that all forces exist in pairs: if one object A exerts a force A on a second object B, then B simultaneously exerts a force B on A, and the two forces are equal and opposite (The Action And Reaction Principal.

Fa=Fb

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Largest Deserts on Earth

2014-12-26T05:25:00.003-08:00

Have You Ever Questioned to Yourself, What's Earth largest unfriendly terrain ?

A desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are (literary) hostile for plant and animal (and also human) life. Deserts are not necessarily completely devoid of vegetation, but have large areas where vegetation is very limited in height or extent.

An Illustration about a Desert

The Largest Desert Known is the Sahara, The Sahara Itself is an Arabic word for desert. Spread more than 9.400.000 square kilometers, It's Contains One of the most Thick sand dunes Some of the sand dunes can reach 180 meters in height.

The Sahara's boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Atlas Mountains and the Mediterranean on the north, the Red Sea on the east, and the Sudan and the valley of the Niger River on the south. The Sahara is divided into western Sahara, the central Ahaggar Mountains, the Tibesti Mountains, the Aïr Mountains (a region of desert mountains and high plateaus), Ténéré desert and the Libyan Desert (the most arid region). The highest peak in the Sahara is Emi Koussi (3,415 metres (11,204 ft)) in the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad.

People lived on the edge of the desert thousands of years ago since the last ice age. The Sahara was then a much wetter place than it is today. Over 30,000 petroglyphs of river animals such as crocodiles survive, with half found in the Tassili n'Ajjer in southeast Algeria.Fossils of dinosaurs, including Afrovenator, Jobaria and Ouranosaurus, have also been found here. The modern Sahara, though, is not lush in vegetation, except in the Nile Valley, at a few oases, and in the northern highlands, where Mediterranean plants such as the olivetree are found to grow. The region has been this way since about 1600 BCE, after shifts in the Earth's axis increased temperatures and decreased precipitation.

Ayers of Uluru Rock, One of the distinctive feature
from the australian deserts

The Second largest desert is the desert that covers 3.400.000 square kilometers area of Australia However, additional areas are considered to have a desert climate based on low rainfall and high temperature. The largest of the landform types covering Australia, deserts – and their arid climatic conditions – are found primarily in the western plateau and interior lowlands of the country.

The Third largest desert spread 2.600.000 square kilometers wide on the Arabian peninsula. The fourth desert was Turkestan desert, spreaded 1.900.000 square kilometers wide. The Fifth and also the last in this list is the Gobi desert, approximately 1.300.000 square kilometers wide.

An Egyptian guiding a camel

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Tardigrandes, The Indestructable Water Bear

2014-12-26T04:11:00.004-08:00

Do You Believe In a creature that lives in water, that are indestructable ?

3D Tardigrades Illustration

Tardigrandes are a very small creature, somehow called water bear or moss piglets. They were first described by the German pastor Johann August Ephraim Goeze in 1773. The name Tardigrada (meaning "slow stepper") was given three years later by the Italian biologist Lazzaro Spallanzani. Since 1778, over 1,150 tardigrade species have been identified.Its sized less than around 0.1-0.5 milimetres. They are short and plump with four pairs of legs, each with four to eight claws also known as "disks". Most tardigrades are phytophagous (plant eaters) or bacteriophagous (bacteria eaters), but some are predatory

Tardigrades form the phylum Tardigrada, part of the superphylum Ecdysozoa. It is an ancient group Scientists has tracked the traces until the cambrian period.

A Sketch of tardigrade

It's (almost) couldn't be killed, Tardigrades can survive in extreme environments. For example, they can withstand temperatures from just above absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water, pressures about six times greater than those found in the deepest ocean trenches, ionizing radiation at doses hundreds of times higher than the lethal dose for a human, and the vacuum of outer space. They can go without food or water for more than 10 years, drying out to the point where they are 3% or less water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce.

A More Detailed 3D Tardigrades Illustration

Johann August Ephraim Goeze originally named the tardigrade kleiner Wasserbär (Bärtierchen today), meaning 'little water bear' in German. Although some species are parthenogenetic, both males and females are usually present, each with a single gonad located above the intestine. Two ducts run from the testis in males, opening through a single pore in front of the anus. In contrast, females have a single duct opening either just above the anus or directly into the rectum, which thus forms a cloaca. Tardigrades are oviparous, and fertilization is usually external.

Another Illustration

A number of morphological and molecular studies have sought to resolve the relationship of tardigrades to other lineages of ecdysozoan animals. Two plausible placements have been recovered: tardigrades most closely related to Arthropoda ± Onychophora (a common result of morphological studies) or tardigrades most closely related to nematodes (found in some molecular analyses).

Tardigrade genomes vary in size, from about 75 to 800 megabase pairs of DNA. The genome of a tardigrade species, Hypsibius dujardini, is being sequenced at the Broad Institute. Tardigrandes isn't completely studied, So not much we know about it

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Festivals on the Land Of Tradition, Scotland

2014-12-26T03:25:00.001-08:00

Scotland Has many Iconic culture, here are some !

Hogmanay

A Photograph of Hogmanay Celebration in Edinburg

Hogmanay is an important holiday in Scotland, People will make a grand dinner with their fasaining (blessing). Like other places in the world, they also light the sky with fireworks at the new years eve. A Typical song that will be singed is Auld Lang Syne.
mily in their houses at the new year's eve. In the morning they will put on their warm clothes and do "the first footing", they will bring some coals and bread to be given to their neighbor, It means to give their neighborhood Warmth and Food for the rest of the year. They will also make some fireballs and swingit around the hall at the night. Scottish people will also do the

Robert Burns Potrait

Burn's Supper

A Burns supper is an important celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, influential author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day or Rabbie Burns Night. The Main Dish Are Usually Haggis, a savoury pudding containing sheep's pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally encased in the animal's (usually sheep's or calf's) stomach and simmered for approximately three hours. They will also Read Aloud Burn's Poem.

Highland Games

A Highland Games

Highland games are events held throughout the year (Usually Summer) in Scotland as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain aspects of the games are so well known as to have become emblematic of Scotland, such as the bagpipes, the kilt, and the heavy events, especially the caber toss. While centred on competitions in piping and drumming, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics, the games also include entertainment and exhibits related to other aspects of Scottish and Gaelic culture. The games are claimed to have influenced Baron Pierre de Coubertin when he was planning the revival of the Olympic Games. De Coubertin saw a display of Highland games at the Paris Exhibition of 1889

Up Helly Aa

An Up Helly Aa celebration with a typical Norse attributes

It refers to any of a variety of fire festivals held in Shetland, in Scotland, annually in the middle of winter to mark the end of the yule (Christmas) season. The festival involves a procession of up to a thousand guizers in Lerwick and considerably lower numbers in the more rural festivals, formed into squads who march through the town or village in a variety of themed costumes.The current Lerwick celebration grew out of the older yule tradition of tar barrelling which took place at Christmas and New Year as well as Up Helly Aa. Squads of young men would drag barrels of burning tar through town on sledges, making mischief. After the abolition of tar barrelling around 1874–1880, permission was eventually obtained for torch processions. The first yule torch procession took place in 1876. The first torch celebration on Up Helly Aa day took place in 1881.

Burning of the Clevie

A Burning "Clevie" Casks Pile

Burning the clavie is an ancient Scottish custom still observed at Burghead, a fishing village on the Moray Firth. The clavie is a collection of casks split in two, lighted as a bonfire in the evening of 11 January, or sometimes Hogmanay by the Julian Calendar. One of these casks is joined together again by a huge nail. It is then filled with tar, lighted and carried flaming round the village and finally up to a headland upon which stands the ruins of an altar, locally called the Douro. It here forms the gathering of the bonfire, which is built up of split casks. When the burning tar-barrel falls in pieces, the people scramble to get a lighted piece with which to kindle the New Year's fire on their cottage hearth. The charcoal of the clavie is collected and put in pieces up the cottage chimneys, to keep evil spirits and witches from coming down from the chimney, banishing them. In present Day this festival will be guarded by a group of firefighters to prevent burning.

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How Much Nation Does World Have ?

2014-12-26T02:07:00.000-08:00

Curious about How Much Nation We Know ? Check This Out !

How Much Nation Does World Have ? Several Organization, Covenant, Convention and People has tried to Answer!

According to the United Nations : 195 Nations

United Nations Logo

According to the United Nations, 193 Nations has joined the United Nations General Assembly. Other Non Member observer are The Holy See (Vatican Government) and Palestine.

The Complete List of the Nations according to United Nations Membership are (Currently we Have 195 Nation) :

Afghanistan
Albania
Aljazair
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Arabian Union
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahama
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burma / Myanmar
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Cekoslavia
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cyprus
Democratic Republic of Kongo
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Equator
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungarian
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Iceland
Israel
Italy
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Jordanian
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kirghistan
Kiribati
Komoro
Kuba
Kuwait
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya / Jamahiriya Arabia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Madagascar
Maladewa
Malawi
Malaysia
Mali
Malta
Morocco
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia Federation
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New Guinea / Papua Nugini
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Northern Korea
Norwegian
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippine
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of China
Republic of Dominican
Republic of Ireland
Republic of Kongo
Republic of Middle Africa
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
Southern Korea
Southern Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriah
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Swiss
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States of America
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yaman
Zambia
Zimbabwe

And Don't Forget The Observers

Holy See (Vatican)
Palestine

According to the Montevideo Convention : 201 Nations

Montevideo, Uruguay

According to the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, There Are 4 Terms of A Nation :

Has a Sovereign Government
Has a Approved Territory
Has a Permanent Population
Has a Diplomatic Approval with another State

Based on the terms Then We Could add 8 Country to the list :

Abkazhia
Nagono Karbarakh
Northern Cyprus
Somaliland
South Ossetia
Taiwan
Transnistra
West Sahara

According to the Looser Montevideo Convention (Potential Country) : 270 Nations

Worldmap, Borderlands Blurred

If we loosen the terms and scratched the 4th term, we will have even more country. we could add 69 more nation (But they still un-approved by their former "mother" state) :

Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Aland Islands
American Samoa
Anguilla
Aruba
Ashmore and Cartier Islands
Australian Antartic Teritorry
Bajo Nuevo Bank
Baker Islands
Bermuda
Bonaire
Bouvet Island
British Antartic Teritorry
British Indian Ocean Teritorry
Cayman Islands
Christmas Island
Clipperton Islands
Keeling Islands
Cook Islands
Curacao
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
French Polynesia
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
Gibraltar
Greenland
Guam
Guernsey
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
Hong Kong
Howland Islands
Isle of Man
Jan Mayen
Jarvis Islands
Jersey
Johnston Atoll
Kingman Reef
Macau
Marshall
Micronesia F. A.
Midway Island
Montserrat
Navassa Island
New Caledonia
Niue
Norfolk Islands
Northern Mariana Islands
Palau
Palmyra Atoll
Peter I Island
Pitcairn Islands
Puerto Rico
Queen Maud Land
Ross Dependency
Saba
Saint Bartelemy
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Saint Martin
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Serranilla Bank
Sint Eustatius
Sint Maarten
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
Svalbard
Tokelau
Turks and Caicos Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands
Wake Island
Wallis and Futuna

According to the Official Country Top-Level-Domain : 243 Nations

Country-TLD

According to the Official Internationally Registered Country Top-Level-Domain, we will find an 243 national domains Although we can't use it as a count because not every nation put an internet domain as an important thing.

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Unique Facts about Sharks, Dolphins and Orcas

2014-12-25T20:00:00.000-08:00

Wanna know some trivia about these marine inhabits ? Find out here

Sharks

A Megalodon Jaw Fossil

Sharks has roamed Ancient Earth's Ocean since the late Devonian Period (Approximately 400 million years ago), There are 8 Orders of Shark and more than 500 Species of it, Sharks has an endoskeleton made of cartilage rather than solid bone

One of the most popular sharks are megalodons (Charcarodon megalodon), an extinct species lived 15.9 million years ago and extincted 2.6 million years ago (Middle Miocene until the Late Pliocene), Its estimated from the jaws fossil that it length are more than 30 meters and weighed around 150 metric tons, the longest tooth fossil found has a length almost 20 centimeters long.

The Whale Shark

The Largest modern-day Shark is the Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus), the largest speciment confirmed sized 12.7 meters and weighed 21.5 metric tons, Unlike its cousins, the Whale Shark eats plankton and moves slowly. The Dwarf Lantern Shark (Etmopterus perryi) is the smallest shark, limited to grow the lenght 21 centimeters. The Short-fin Mako Shark could reach the speed of 50 kilometers per hour and could jump 6 meters to the air..

A Juvenile Shark will eat their own tooth when they lost it, this will recycle the phosphor and calcium contained in the lost tooth that will be consumed to make a new one. A Shark could lose more than 6000 tooth in a year (average 16.5 tooth a day), mostly gets off while catching its prey, it's new teeth will grow less then 24 hours

Shark don't have any swimming bladder, they have to swim to avoid drowning, even when they're sleeping. Every shark is a solitaire Hunter.

The Great White Shark is the largest sea carnivore known. A Shark will hunt for seals, sea lions, juvenile dolphins and school of fishes. Only 48% of the Great white shark hunting target ended up killed and devoured, mostly their prey could escape with some injuries or even run away before the shark attacked.

280 Unprovoked Shark Attack has been confirmed around the world, resulting 77 fatalities, most of it occur in the Western Coast of USA, Australian beaches and Southern Africa Waters. More Sharks were killed by Human rather humans killed by sharks, the ratio is approximately 1:20 (only sharks hunted for their fins, not including the sharks died by fish bombing, pollution, captured by net, extreme weathers and fish rarity)

The Hammer-Headed Shark from Costa Rica

The Tiger Shark from Oceania

A Female White Shark could have ten offspring once fertilized. A Story Stated a tiger shark giving birth more than eighty young sharks.Sharks reproduce by several ways, sexually (by mating) and asexually (parthenogenesis) and they born their offspring, lay eggs or even having eggs in their body.

The Great White Shark Inhabit almost every Ocean in the world, Smaller Sharks like the tiger shark preferred a warmer and salty waters. The Hammer-headed shark's eyes placed in the both ends of their "hammer". A Shark could sense a small amount of blood in the water 4 kilometers away.

It's a popular story that sharks and dolphins are natural enemies, indeed shark eated dolphins but dolphins didn't attack sharks with their nose.

Dolphins

Yangtze River Rare Dolphin

Dolphins are Mammals, It gives birth their offspring, They breath with lungs. A Dolphin has a blowhole just like a whale. There are 33 species of marine dolphins and 6 kind of river dolphins Dolphins diet includes small fishes, prawns and squids.

Nostrils of Dolphin didn't developed well to smell, they detect particles with their tongue. Dolphin's snout is called Rostrum.

A Pink Boto

Dolphins possesses echolocation that helped them to see in dirty waters. Yangtze river dolphins (Lipotes vexillifer) are called baiji, the're one of the most critically endangered species. Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) sometimes has a unique color of pink, this is caused by genetic albinoism. The Portuguese called it Botos, Normal Botos has a dark colored iris, While the Pink one's iris is red.

Marine Dolphins can dive in limited to the depth, 260 meters. Dolphins can swim up to 30 kilometers per hour. 50 Years are the oldest age a dolphin could reach.

Porpoising Bottlenose Dolphins

Half of the dolphin's Brain remains active while they're sleeping to control them to go to the surface, preventing suffocation. Ironically they could commit suicide by forgetting how to breath. Dolphin's are considerably smarter than sharks. A Dolphin named Fuji in Okinawa has a artificial rubber tail, after it's tail amputated. Trained Dolphin could do several attraction, but the training were censured because of tortures and badly-appreciated dolphins causing stress.

Porpoising is a name given to the typical behavior of Dolphins (and Orcas) that leaps forward out of the water when swimming

Orca

A Killer Male Adult Killer Whale

Killer Whale or Orca (Orcinus orca) or The Killer Whale are actually closer to dolphins than whale. An Orca's Eye is located under the big white spot on it's head. Adult male Orca has a typical tall dorsal fin that points out of the water, just like the one in the sharks while the females orca has a curved dorsal fin. Worldwide Orca population estimates are unclear, but recent consensus suggests an absolute minimum of 50,000. Orcas also trained worldwidely for attractions, just like dolphins.

Orca, Dolphin and Shark Capturing and slaughtering are a terrifying public issue. Many films like The Cove (2009) that explicitly uncover how the people of japan slaughters hundred of dolphins in Taiji. Some People Like the famous Ric. O. Barry that tries to promotes dolphin conservation and protection. Originally, He is a Dolphin Trainer, O'Barry made a radical transition from training dolphins in captivity to assertively combating the captivity industry soon after Kathy, one of the Flipper TV Series dolphins, died in his arms. O'Barry contends Kathy committed suicide.

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