NATURE OF IMRAN MALIK

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2011-06-09T04:55:00.000-07:00

Art of Kissing | Animals Pics

2009-12-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

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Top 10: Crazy Theories About The Universe That Were Proved True

2009-12-08T03:44:00.001-08:00

No.10 - Round Earth
This is an idea that is fully accepted by most people, but it was not always held with such certainty. While it is a misconception to think that most people believed in a flat earth well into the early modern period, it was certainly a commonly held belief in early Chinese thought, and it was not until the great Greek mathematicians that Europeans started to accept the spherical earth theory. Pythagoras is the man most commonly associated with the idea, but it was really only in the Renaissance, and the beginning of voyages that circumnavigated the earth, that his ideas became proved beyond all doubt.

No.9 - Perturbation theory and the existence of Neptune
Sir Isaac Newton’s laws on gravity allowed him to calculate the orbital paths of the planets of our solar system. We won’t try to explain the math; it's way over our heads, but when Newton’s theory was tested, the orbit for Uranus was inaccurate. It was proposed in 1843 that an invisible planet was causing this disturbance -- or perturbation -- of Uranus’s orbit. Only in 1846 was Neptune finally recognized, within one degree of the mathematical predictions for its location. To suggest an extra planet which no one had ever noticed before may have seemed far-fetched, but turned out to be remarkably precise.

No.8 - Comets being a celestial phenomenon
For centuries, comets were seen as dire predictions of things to come. Halley’s Comet appeared before the Battle of Hastings in 1066. But what they actually were was again the work of Aristotle, who suggested that they were spontaneous combustions of gas in the upper atmosphere. While this view was popular among many, the Roman writer Seneca the Younger was the first to challenge this view, suggesting that they were a celestial phenomenon. It was Tycho Brahe, the preeminent observational astronomer, who proved that they must in fact exist way beyond the moon, in space.

No.7 - The expanding universe
The size of the universe is one question that, as of yet, has no answer. It was suggested by no less a figure than Albert Einstein that the universe was of fixed dimensions, and became known as the Cosmological Constant. In 1929, a man named Edwin Hubble (you may have heard of him) observed that the universe was expanding, due to the fact that objects moving away from earth appeared in the red part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hubble’s Law, as it became known, transformed the perception of the universe as being static, and blew the question of its size wide open.

No.6 - Atoms
The word atom derives from a Greek term meaning something that cannot be divided, and therefore reckoned to be the smallest particle possible. It was undoubtedly strange, going against the widely accepted notion that all things were made up of the four elements -- earth, wind, water, and fire. The likes of Leucippus and Democritus held that all things had the same building blocks, which were simply rearranged to form different objects. While it took centuries for the scientific community to prove the idea, it is now a cornerstone of scientific thought.

No.5 - Quarks
If the idea of an atom seemed crazy -- being so minute it was undetectable for centuries -- imagine how it would seem to then talk about an even smaller, subatomic particle. Described as an “elementary particle,” quarks are believed to be constituent parts of atomic particles (i.e., protons, neutrons and electrons). When the idea was introduced in the 1960s, it was seen by some as merely an abstract concept to help explain things we didn’t understand. Over the following decade, further research and mounting evidence supported the quark model, finally convincing people of its validity.

No.4 - Tycho Brahe and the "stella nova"
Since antiquity, men believed that the universe beyond the moon was fixed and unchangeable (a theory known as celestial immutability). In 1572, a very bright star suddenly appeared in the sky. Because of this notion of celestial immutability, it was believed by many observers to be something happening in the atmosphere, or somewhere between the earth and the moon. Tycho Brahe went against the accepted wisdom of his age, believing it to be a new star. We now know that what he witnessed was a supernova, and his assertion that the universe was in fact mutable is now beyond doubt.

No.3 - Black holes
Imagine being the first person to hear the idea that in space there were these objects that were so dense and had such a strong gravitational pull, that nothing could escape from them, not even light. The idea was first proposed in 1783, by a geologist no less, which made it seem even less plausible. Over the years, the mathematics gradually reached a point where the idea of black holes is widely accepted. Astronomical observation has also added weight to the argument, with phenomena such as gravitational lensing and gamma ray bursts seeming to indicate their presence.

No.2 - Heloicentric solar system
Narrowly missing out on the top spot, the idea that the earth revolved around the sun, rather than vice versa, was one of the most controversial astronomical theories ever. First espoused by Nicolas Copernicus, who knew how controversial the idea was, it was echoed by Galileo Galilei, who spent 10 years under house arrest because of his beliefs. Seen as heretical and “contrary to scripture” the heliocentric solar system went against the geocentric view that held sway at the time. Only in the 18th century were texts in support of heliocentricism finally removed from the church list of banned books.

No.1 - The Big Bang
Appropriately, the biggest question of all, the birth of the universe, claims the top spot. No one knows for certain how the universe started, but this theory built upon the expanding universe idea, which suggested that at some point everything was much closer together. It is now supported by the majority of scientists, and there is a huge body of evidence to support it.
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Beach Shade, Moloaa, Kauai, Hawaii

2009-12-07T11:58:00.001-08:00

Beach Shade, Moloaa, Kauai, Hawaii

Chinaman's Hat, Oahu, Hawaii

Golf Hawaii

Hanauma Bay, Oahu, Hawaii

Island Seascape, Kauai, Hawaii

Jaws, Maui, Hawaii

Kaanapali Beach, Maui, Hawaii

Kaluahine Waterfall, Waipio Valley, Hamakua Coast, Hawaii

Kealia Shoreline, Kauai, Hawaii

Kee Beach, Kauai, Hawaii

Kona Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Lanikai Shoreline, Oahu, Hawaii

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Different Photos of Nature | Beautiful views

2009-11-29T13:57:00.001-08:00

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The 15 Most Beautiful Flowers In The World

2009-11-29T13:55:00.000-08:00

Canna

Cannas not only feature pretty blossoms, but also beautiful leaves (often likened to that of the banana plant) that come in a variety of stunning colors. Popularized in Victorian times, Cannas are popular garden plants.

Cherry Blossom

The unofficial flower of Japan, the spectacular display of blossoms that arrive in the spring are celebrated by festivals both in Japan and the U.S. The most popular colors are white and pink. They are beautiful while on the trees and remain a stunning sight even after carpeting the ground.

Colorado Columbine

Growing high in the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Columbine is a welcome reward for the enterprising climbers of Colorado’s 14,000-foot high mountains. Picking one in the wild carries a fine ($5-$50 depending on the Ranger who catches you)!

Hydrangea

Magical snowball puffs in fall: gorgeous. The clusters of star-shaped blossoms, often found in delicate pastel hues, embody innocence. They are popular in wedding bouquets and as garden flowers.

Lily of the Valley

A delicate and fragrant sign of spring, the Lily of the Valley has inspired a number of legends. One such Christian legend explains that the tears that Mary shed at the cross turned to Lilies of the Valley, prompting the flower to sometimes be referred to as “Our Lady’s Tears.” Another legend tells of Lilies of the Valley springing from the blood of St. George during his battle with the dragon.

Calla Lily

While visually stunning and elegant, this beautiful flower is actually a member the poisonous species, Zantedeschia. All parts of the plant are highly toxic, with the capability to kill livestock and children if ingested.

Black Eyed Susan

The black eyed susan, a cheerful wildflower, is a perennial that serves as a beautiful back drop in any garden. The contrast of the bright gold yellow petals and dark middle makes it any easy one to spot and recognize. This official drink of the Preakness stakes horse race is named after this flower, consisting of 2 parts Bourbon whiskey, 1 part citrus vodka, 3 parts sweet & sour mix, one part orange juice and garnished with orange and a cocktail cherry.

Bleeding Heart

These whimsical, almost fairy-like blossoms are a traditional favorite in shady gardens. The flowers are either red, pink or white and appear in April-June.

Blue Bells

In spring, many European woods are covered by dense carpets of this flower; these are commonly referred to as “bluebell woods”. It is thought that they were named by the romantic poets of the 19th century, who felt they symbolized solitude and regret.

Lantana

These delicate flowers, with their pink and yellow petals, are butterfly magnets. The bush can grow to be quite large and the color of the petals change as the plant ages. Beware – Lantana is considered a weed by many that is quite difficult to get rid of.

Rose

Roses are one of the most romantic and wonderfully scented of flowers. The giving of roses is steeped in tradition and cultural meaning, from the yellow rose of friendship to the deep red rose of true love.

Oriental Poppy

This perennial poppy has a delicate and striking color. After flowering in the spring, their foliage dies back entirely, only to grow new leaves once again with the autumn rains. The Oriental Poppy is the flower of The Wizard of Oz.

Mussaenda erythrophylla (Ashanti Blood, Red Flag Bush, Tropical Dogwood)

These plants are native to the Old World tropics, from West Africa through the Indian sub-continent, Southeast Asia and into southern China. The beautiful red and yellow petals are a real showstopper. A favorite of not only of gardeners, but also butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

Begonia

The first Begonia was introduced into England in 1777. Now one of the most popular flowers grown in the United States, Begonias are prized for their flowers as well as their leaves. This versatile plant can be grown either inside or out.

Ixora

Ixora flowers, also commonly called West Indian Jasmine, are often used in Hindu worship, as well as in Indian folk medicine. This plant has traditionally been associated with enhanced sexuality and the re-kindling of passion. Who wouldn’t want that as a gift!

Dendrobium

Dendrobium is a large genus of tropical orchids that include over a thousand species. The sprays of flowers are so delicate and yet so perfectly formed, they appear magical.

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75 Beautiful Aquarium Furniture | Fish tank Furniture

2009-11-29T13:53:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Aquarium Furniture Handmade high quality aquarium furniture fitted with a patented filtering system, creative, stylish and easy to maintain. An aquarium involves the bringing together of various elements primarily to simulate the natural habitats of the resident fishes.

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Beautiful Birds The Splash of Colors

2009-11-29T13:52:00.000-08:00

Those little nimble musicians of the air, that warble forth their curious ditties,
with which nature hath furnished them to the shame of art and they so beautiful.

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The age of humankind and its origins

2009-11-25T03:24:00.000-08:00

Skeletons of these “creatures” are in the same layers of soil as the dinosaurs, so they have at least the same age.
Darwinists claim that man descended from apes, then from who had these giants descended from? Perhaps the mythology doesn’t just tell stories
__________________

SOME INTERESTING GEOGRAPHY

2009-11-25T02:51:00.000-08:00

SOME INTERESTING GEOGRAPHY
Alaska
More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska .
Amazon
The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States .

Antarctica
Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica . This ice also represents seventy % of all thefresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, i.e.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.

Brazil
Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.

Canada
Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning ' Big Village .'
Chicago
Next to Warsaw , Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.

Detroit
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan carries the designation M-1, so named because it was the first paved road any where.

Damascus , Syria
Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.

Istanbul , Turkey
Istanbul (AKA Constantinople), Turkey , is the only city in the world located on two continents.

Los Angeles
Los Angeles' full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula -- and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.

New York City
The term 'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930's who used the slang expression 'apple' for any town or city. Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple.
There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Ohio
There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio , every one is man made.

Pitcairn Island
The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia , at just 1.75 sq. miles.

Rome
The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome , Italy in 133 B.C. There is a city called Rome on every continent.

Siberia
Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.

S.M.O.M
The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order ofMalta ( S.MO .M.). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area of two tennis courts, and as of 2001 has a population of 80, 20 less people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vatican is.

Sahara Desert
In the Sahara Desert , there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years. Technically though, the driest place on Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island . There has been no rainfall there for two million years.
Spain
SPAIN literally means 'the land of rabbits.'

St. Paul, Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota , was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first business there.
Roads
Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A: 1%, in Canada : 75%.

Texas
The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas . It is as deep as 20 empire state buildings but only 3 inches wide.

United States
The Interstate System requires that one-mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

Waterfalls
The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet. IT is 15 times higher than Niagara Falls

10 Most Poisonous Animals Around

2009-11-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

1. Box Jellyfish

The top prize for “The World Most Venomous Animal,” would go to the Box Jellyfish. It has caused at least 5,567 recorded deaths since 1954. Their venom is among the most deadly in the world. It’s toxins attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. And the worst part of it is that jelly box venom is so overpoweringly painful, that human victims go in shock, drown or die of heart failure before even reaching shore. Survivors experience pain weeks after the contact with box jellies.

You have virtually no chance to survive the venomous sting, unless treated immediately. After a sting, vinegar should be applied for a minimum of 30 seconds. Vinegar has acetic acid, which disables the box jelly’s nematocysts that have not yet discharged into the bloodstream (though it will not alleviate the pain). Wearing ***** hose while swimming is also a good prevention measure since it can prevent jellies from being able to harm your legs.

Jelly box can be found in the waters around Asia and Australia.

2. King Cobra

The King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the world’s longest venomous snake - growing up to 5.6 m (18.5 ft) in length. Ophiophagus, literally means “snake-eater” as it eats other snakes. One single bite of this deadly snake can easily kill a human. This snake is even capable of killing a full-grown Asian Elephant within 3 hours if the larger animal is bitten in a vulnerable area such as the trunk.

It’s venom is not as toxic as other venomous snakes, but King Cobra is capable of injecting 5 times more venom than black mamba and can result in mortality up to 5 times faster than that of the black mamba. It is quite widespread, ranging across South and South-east Asia, living in dense highland forests.

3. Marbled Cone Snail

This little beautiful looking Marbled Cone snail can be as deadly as any other animal on this list. One drop of its venom is so powerful that it can kill more than 20 humans. If you ever happen to be in warm salt water environment (where these snails are often found) and see it, don’t even think of picking it up. Of course, the true purpose of its venom is to catch its prey.

Symptoms of a cone snail sting can start immediately or can be delayed in onset for days. It results in intense pain, swelling, numbness and tingling. Severe cases involve muscle paralysis, vision changes and breathing failure. There is no antivenom. However, only about 30 human deaths have been recorded from cone snail envenomation.

4. Blue-Ringed Octopus

The Blue-Ringed Octopus is very small, only the size of a golf ball, but its venom is so powerful that can kill a human. Actually it carries enough poison to kill 26 adult humans within minutes, and there is no antidote. They are currently recognized as one of the world’s mostvenomous animals.

Its painless bite may seem harmless, but the deadly neurotoxins begin working immediately resulting in muscular weakness, numbness, followed by a cessation and breathing and ultimately death.

They can be found in tide pools in the Pacific Ocean, from Japan to Australia.

5. Death Stalker Scorpion

Contrarily to the popular belief most of the scorpions are relatively harmless to humans as stings produce only local effects (pain, numbness or swelling). However, the Death Starker Scorpion is highly dangerous species because its venom is a powerful cocktail of neurotoxins which causes an intense and unbearable pain, then fever, followed by coma, convulsions, paralysis and death. Fortunately, while a sting from this scorpion is extremely painful, it would be unlikely to kill a healthy, adult human. Young children, the old, or infirm (with a heart condition) are at the biggest risk.

Death stalker scorpions are spread in North Africa and Middle East.

6. Stonefish

Maybe Stonefish would never win a beauty contest, but it would definitely win the top prize for being “The World Most Venomous Fish”. Its venom causes such a severe pain that the victims of its sting want the affected limb to be amputated. It is described as the worst pain known to man. It is accompanied with possible shock, paralysis, and tissue death. If not given medical attention within a couple of hours It can be fatal to humans.

Stonefish stores its toxins in gruesome-looking spines that are designed to hurt would-be predators.

Stonefish mostly live above the tropic of Capricorn, often found in the shallow tropical marine waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans, ranging from the Red Seato the Queensland Great Barrier Reef.

7. The Brazilian wandering spider

The Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria) or banana spider appears in the Guinness Book of World Records 2007 for the most venomous spider and is the spider responsible for most human deaths.

This spider is believed to have the most potent neurotoxic venom of any living spider. Only 0.006mg (0.00000021oz) is sufficient to kill a mouse. They are also so dangerous because of their wandering nature. They often hide during daytime in highly populated areas inside houses, clothes, boots, and cars.

Its venomous bite causes not only intense pain, the venom of the spider can also cause priapism - uncomfortable *****ions lasting for many hours that lead to impotence.

8. Inland Taipan

The prize for “The World’s Most Venomous Snake” goes to the Inland Taipan of Australia. Just a single bite from this snake contains enough venom to kill 100 human adults or an army of 250,000 mice. Its venom is at least 200 - 400 times more toxic than a common cobra. The Inland Taiwan’s extremely neurotoxic venom can kill an adult human in as little as 45 minutes. Fortunately this snake is very shy and there have been no documented human fatalities (all known bites were treated with antivenin).

9. Poison Dart Frog

If you ever happen to be running through the rain forests somewhere in Central or South America, do not ever pick up beautiful and colorful frogs - it can be the Poison Dart Frog. This frog is probablythe most poisonous animal on earth.The 2 inch long (5cm) golden poison dart frog has enough venom to kill 10 adult humans or 20,000 mice. Only 2 micrograms of this lethal toxin (the amount that fits on the head of a pin) is capable of killing a human or other large mammal. They are called “dart frogs” because indigenous Amerindians’ use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of their blow-darts. Poison dart frogs keep their poison in their skins and will sicken or kill anybody who touches or eats it.

10. Puffer Fish

Puffer Fish are the second most poisonous vertebrate on earth (the first one is golden dart Frog). The meat of some species is a delicacy in both Japan (as fugu) and Korea (as bok-uh) but the problem is that the skin and certain organs of many puffer fish are verypoisonous to humans.

This puffy fish produce rapid and violent death..Puffer’s poisoning causes deadening of the tongue and lips, dizziness, vomiting, rapid heart rate, difficulty breathing, and muscle paralysis. Victims die from suffocation as diaphragm muscles are paralyzed. Most of the victims die after four to 24 hours. There is no known antidote, Most deaths from fugu happen when untrained people catch and prepare the fish.

Statistics show that there were 20 to 44 incidents of fugu poisoning per year between 1996 and 2006 in all of Japan and up to six incidents per year led to death. Since Fugu’s poison can cause near instantaneous death, only licensed chefs are allowed to prepare it.

Top 10 strangest frogs

2009-11-24T11:13:00.001-08:00

1 Malagasy Rainbow Frog

The Malagasy rainbow frog lives in the rocky dry forests of Madagascar's Isalo Massif, where it breeds in shallow temporary pools found in canyons. This species is well adapted to climbing in its rocky surroundings, and can even scale vertical surfaces! When threatened, this frog will inflate itself as a defence mechanism against predators.

2 Transparent Frog

Hyalinobatrachium pellucidum, also called as glass or crystal frog because you can see through its transparent flesh (right down to its guts). This guy's not new, but he's definitely endangered, so the finding is heartening for environmentalists

3 Atelopus Frog

The atelopus frog is known by many names such as the clown frog or the Costa Rican Variable Harlequin Toad. Whatever you call the frog, it is a neo-tropical toad that was once quite wide spread living throughout Costa Rica and Panama. Thespecies is listed as critically endangered and is thought to be living primarily in Panama today.

4 World's Smallest Frog

Generally speaking, higher altitude means larger animals. But the world's smallest known frog species lives high in the Andes Mountains of southern Peru, between 9,925 and 10,466 feet.

5 World's Largest Frog

The goliath frog or Conraua goliath is the largest extant anuran on Earth. It can grow up to 13 inches (33 cm) in length from snout to vent, and weighs up to 8 lb (3 kg). This animal has a relatively small habitat range, mainly in West Africa (near Gabon). The goliath frog can live up to 15 years. Goliathfrogs eat scorpions, insects and smaller frogs. These frogs have acute hearing but no vocal sac.

6 Red Mantella Frog

As suggested by the name, the Red Mantella has an orange/red dorsal surface. These frogs are small, reaching a size of 2.5 centimetres (1 in) in length. It is is a small, terrestrial frog native to Madagascar.

7 Poison Dart Frog

Poison dart frog, like this sapphire-blue species, is the common name of a group of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae which are native to Central and South America. Unlike most frogs, species are active during the day, and often exhibit brightly-colored bodies. Although all dendrobatids are at least somewhat toxic in the wild, levels of toxicity vary considerably from onespecies to the next, and from one population to another. Many species are critically endangered. These amphibians are often called "dart frogs" due to indigenous Amerindians' use of their toxic secretions to poison the tips of blowdarts.

8 Ornate Horned Frog

The ornate horned frog can grow up to six inches long and inhabits Uruguay, Brazil, and northern Argentina. While it may look like a lifeless pincushion, it's quick to lunge when lizards, small rodents, birds, or otherfrogs blunder by.

9 Chile Darwin's frog

The Chile Darwin's frog was fairly regularly seen until around 1978, since when it seems to have disappeared, and the species may now be extinct. This species, which lives in the leaf litter on the forest floor, has an unusual method of parental care; the male takes the fertilised eggs from the nest into his vocal sac where they hatch into tadpoles after approximately eight days. When he starts to feel the newly hatched tadpoles wriggling, the male carries them to a stream where he expels the young. Here they complete metamorphosis.

10 Vietnamese Mossy Frog

Theloderma corticale, or the Vietnamese mossy frog, is a species of frog in the Rhacophoridae family. It is found in Vietnam and possibly China. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, intermittent freshwater marches, and rocky areas. The common name of the mossy frog arises from the fact that its skin is a mottled green and black that resembles moss growing on rock, and forms an effective form of camouflage.

Some people have this frog as a pet. The price of this beautiful animal is about $45-$75 (each).

Awesome Close-Ups of the Sun

2009-11-24T11:10:00.001-08:00

Awesome Close-Ups of the Sun

The sun (not the earth!) is the center of our solar system. Here are some interesting facts of this quintessential planet to live on earth that we so easily take for granted.

* Containing more than 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System, the Sun is by far the largest object in the Solar System.
* 109 Earths would be required to even fit across the Sun’s disk, and the Sun’s interior could hold over 1.3 million Earths.
* Within the core of the Sun, the temperature (15,000,000 K) and pressure (340 billion times Earth’s air pressure at sea level) of it is so intense that nuclear reactions actually take place.
* The Sun’s energy output, produced by these nuclear fusion reactions, is approximately 3.86e33 ergs/second or 386 billion billion megawatts.
* This energy, released as heat as well as light, takes a million years to reach the surface.
* The Sun also emits low density streams of particles, also known as the solar wind. These winds blow through the solar system at 450 km/sec and consist mostly of electrons and protons.
* The Sun consists of the core, photosphere, chromosphere and corona, each with differing temperatures and components.
* Existing for about 4 and a half billion years, it has burnt up about half of the hydrogen in its core. This leaves the Sun’s life expectancy to 5 billion more years, at which time, the Sun’s elements will “swell” up, swallow Earth, and eventually die off into a small white dwarf.

Incredible Astronomical Clocks ...

2009-11-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Incredible Astronomical Clocks ...

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Antique and Medieval Technology Blended With Art

Many believe early man saw the universe as a living thing: each flash of lightning, every star in the sky, the rain that fell, the ground beneath their feet – everything around them was part of some huge, living and breathing creature.

But then that changed. The Greeks, and their intellectual ancestors, looked at the world and while they saw life they also began to see a mechanism to it all, a precise and ordered regularity

The Antikythera Device

Alhough we know the ancient Greeks were extremely intelligent, just how smart was hinted at in 1901 – and then confirmed many years later. At first the hunk of rusted iron that was pulled from the sea near the Greek island of Antikythera was just a curiosity, a bit of archeological weirdness. It was only decades and decades later that modern science was finally able to pry apart the secrets of ancient science. Very, very ancient science

The Antikythera Mechanism, as it’s called, is a meticulous and precise assembly of 72 gears – a simply staggering work of craftsmanship. What’s even more astounding is that scientists think the device was an astronomical calculator: an elaborate, incredibly accurate computer that was built in 150 to 100 BC.

A model of the mechanism by Tatjana van Vark

Other Antikythera Mechanism reconstruction projects and working models

All the instructions of the mechanism are written in Greek. This is the case when you can say "this manual is all Greek to me" and be entirely correct. Surprising details about this artefact are still being uncovered, for example, the various back dials of theAntikythera Mechanism - including a dial dedicated to the four-year Olympiad Cycle of athletic games in ancient Greece

What’s even more chilling -- as well as exciting – isn’t that the Antikythera device existed but that it could very well be the first hint at how technologically advanced the ancient engineers were. The device is certainly miraculous but it was also a common working machine; not a rarity but instead what could be something that navigators used everyday. Who knows what other mechanisms and devices have yet to be found?

Beautiful Astronomical Clock in Prague

A few hundred years later the universe was still a mechanical place but the engineering that went into creating machines to predict and understand it became even more complicated and elaborate. Clocks got a shot in their developmental arm because they – when used with star charts and sextants – were essential navigation tools. It wasn’t long until clock mechanisms were used to track not just the hours, minutes and seconds of commerce and shipping but also the stars and planetsin the sky.

One of the more incredible astronomical clocks is the legendary Prague Astronomical Clock. To say that it’s elaborate would be a ridiculous understatement. The clock is an insanely complicated instrument to not only tell the time but also to track the movements of the stars and planets – at least the ones they knew about in the 1400s when the clock was built. It's easy to think that making something as complicated as the Prague clock was a one time, supremely rare thing.

Although the clock wasn’t a common working gizmo like the Antikythera device, it also used technology and craftsmanship that existed in many other Medieval cities – and even, a century or so later, insanely miniaturized to the point where, if you were rich, you could carry what was basically a tiny version in your pocket. Read this article about the grim fate of the clockmaster... which is only a tale, but an atmospheric one at that.

While complicated, one of the greatest things about the Prague clock is that it isn’t just a working clock; it almost deserves to be called a monumental kinetic sculpture. It ticks and tocks and ticks and tocks in ways, to quote from the Bible, that are “a wonder to behold.” So wondrous, in fact, that you can find computer models online demonstrating just how elegant and beautiful the mechanism is – which says a lot that we use 21st century technology to appreciate the skill of a 1400 clock maker.

Wells Cathedral Astronomical Clock

Another beautiful example of astronomical clock engineering is the famous Wells Cathedral Clock. Begun a few years before Prague’s, the clock is another accurate and heavenly (literally as well as figuratively) mechanism. Like its Prague kin, the clock is a beautiful as well as accurate view of the world as an enormous clockwork machine, a carefully assembled, meticulously crafted, creation.

Unfortunately, the growing ubiquitousness of these clocks’ technology spelled their doom. As more and more people could afford to carry watches there was less and less of a need for a huge, central – and, naturally, elaborate, town hall clock. It simply didn’t make financial sense to keep building them – which is a sign that humanity's evolvingview of the world was mechanical: tocks and tocks as well as dollars and sense.

What’s ironic is that with the coming of the 21st century – and, living in a world ruled by the careful calculations of software -- humans are starting to understand, and even plan to use, the uncertainty of a quantum universe: an existence where things are never quite what they seem and chaos is part of How Everything Works

Still, the incredible Antikythera device, the Prague and Wells Cathedral clocks, are beautiful in their antique mechanisms – as well as the nostalgia of when the world was as precise and orderly as the back and forth swing of a pendulum.

Astronomical Clock at Hampton Court Palace, London, UK (1540):

Zimmertoren Astronomical Clock on Zimmer Tower in Lier, Belgium (left) and Strasbourg's Cathedral Astronomical Clock (right image):

Lund's Cathedral Astronomical Clock, 1424:

Lyon's Cathedral Astronomical Clock

The Mysterious World of Mummies

2009-11-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

Visitors to Discovery’s TLC site unwrap a world of mummies as they explore “how the dead are living’” The Unwrapped site tells the stories of more than 20 naturally and artificially preservedmummies from around the globe—from South America’s Andes and China’s deserts, to Europe’s bogs and Egypt’s tombs. As audiences explore the site, they find and unravel the secrets of both ancient time travelers and surprisingly modernmummies . A blend of science and imagination reveals how each lived, died, and came to survive the ravages of time. A re-creation of an ancient Egyptian tomb lets audiences discover, unwrap, and create an Egyptian mummy, then explore the tomb as it might have looked when the mummy was first sealed in its sarcophagus.

Designed for audiences with high-speed connections, Unwrapped combines animation, story text, music, streaming video, and audio commentary to create an environment that is both cinematic and user-responsive. The site’s design and functionality are inspired by archaeological metaphorsand the spirit of exploration. Users probe beneath a layer of linen mummy wrappings to move between story levels and find the mummies hidden underneath. Within each story, a controller lets the user pace the narrative and pause to access media-rich content embedded within animation sequences. In theEgyptian tomb , re-created by 3-D illustrator Jim Ludtke, a custom cursor simulates a flashlight, while a sliding controller lets users make and unwrap a classic Egyptian mummy. Each mummy has a custom soundtrack that transforms 10-second loops into complex, seamless musical scores.

The Great Sahara Desert

2009-11-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Great Sahara Desert

I thank God sent you to me,
For you and I were meant to be.
We have a bond too strong to break,
We have a love no one can take.

In you, I have found a love so true,
My heart is filled with love for you.
Every time I see you, my heart skips a beat,
You make my life whole, you make my life complete.

My love for you grows more with each passing day,
The thought of your gorgeous face takes my breath away:
Those brown eyes fill my soul with happiness,
Those luscious lips I love to kiss.

The day when I become your wife,
Will be the happiest day of my life.
Even thinking of that day makes me smile,
I can't wait 'till I walk down that aisle.

I dream of that day when we'll both say, I do
For always and forever... I will love you.

Martian Skies!

2009-11-24T04:23:00.000-08:00

June 19th announcement by NASA of the discovery of water ice on Mars by its Phoenix Lander probe made big news everywhere. The discovery involved the observation of water ice sublimating into the air - that is, the water went from solid to vapor state without reaching the liquid stage. The Martian atmosphere has perfect conditions for sublimation - extremely thin, dry and cold. How cold? Well, you can check the Live Martian Weather Report, with data from a station on board the Phoenix Lander. Today will see a high temperature of a toasty -26 degrees F.

What more do we know about Mars' atmosphere? It's hundreds of times thinner than Earth's atmosphere and is made of 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, and contains traces of oxygen, water, and methane. We also know, from observations that it can support dust storms, dust devils, clouds and gusty winds. With an amazing number of six current live probes exploring Mars (two rovers, a lander, and three orbiters), there are many thousands ofimages available. Only a few, however show atmospheric phenomena. Presented here are some of the best images of Martian atmosphere (and beyond) in action.

High, wispy clouds cover a large portion of Mars, seen in this, the first true-colour image of Mars generated with the OSIRIS orange (red), green and blue color filters. The image was acquired by an instrumenton the ESA's Rosetta probe on Feb. 24, 2007 from a distance of about 240,000 km. Image resolution is about 5 km/pixel. (Credits: ESA © 2007 MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/RSSD/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA)

Mars' northern orange sky and horizon, seen by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The lander's solar panel and Robotic Arm with a sample in the scoop are also visible. The image was taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager looking west during Phoenix's Sol 16 (June 10, 2008), or the 16thMartian day after landing. The image was taken just before the sample was delivered to the Optical Microscope. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University)

The brownish gray sky at sunset as it would be seen by an observer on Mars - true color mosaic taken by Mars Pathfinder on sol 24 (June 22, 1996) The sky near the sun is a pale blue color. (NASA/JPL)

High ice cloud over Mars' limb. This composite of red and blue Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images acquired on 6 July 2005 shows an isolated water ice cloud extending more than 30 kilometers (more than 18 miles) above the Martian surface. Clouds such as this are common in late spring over the terrain located southwest of the Arsia Mons volcano. (NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems)

Clouds over crater - the dust storm season in the southern hemisphere of Mars was well underway. This image of an unnamed crater southeast of Hellas Basin shows the encroachment of a storm in the region. Image acquired in 2001 by Mars Odyssey orbiter (17 meter/pixel resolution). (NASA/JPL/ASU)

Dust devil from above. This image taken by the Hi-RISE Camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter catches a dust devil blowing across theMartian surface. Dust devils generally form in the afternoon because the sunlight needs sufficient time to warm the surface. When this image was taken, the local time was about 3:08 p.m. The bright material is the dust within the vortex, and a dark shadow cast by the dust devil is visibleto the left. The diameter of this dust devil is about 200 meters, but at the surface it is probably much smaller. Based on the length of the shadow in this image, the dust devil is on the order of 500 meters tall. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Martian skies seen above a rolling horizon in this image, part of a larger image called the "McMurdo" panorama, taken in the Martian winter of 2006 by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The tracks in the soil are from Spirits wheels as it rolled through the area earlier. (NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Clouds above the rim of "Endurance Crater" in this image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. These clouds occur in a region of strong vertical shear. The cloud particles (ice in thismartian case) fall out, and get dragged along away from the location where they originally condensed, forming characteristic streamers. Opportunity took this picture with its navigation camera during the rover's 269thmartian day (Oct. 26, 2004). (NASA/JPL)

Early Spring Dust Storms at the North Pole of Mars. Early spring typically brings dust storms to northern polar Mars. As the north polar cap begins to thaw, the temperature difference between the cold frost region and recently thawed surface results in swirling winds. The choppy dust clouds of several dust storms are visible in this mosaic of images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in 2002. The white polar cap is frozen carbon dioxide. (NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems)

An exaggerated color image mosaic of images from NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity. The clouds can be composed of either carbon dioxide ice or water ice, and can move swiftly across the sky. (NASA/JPL/Cornell)

Large dust storms cover much of Mars' surface in this July, 2001 image, acquired by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera. By early July, themartian atmosphere was so hazy that opportunities for high resolution imaging of the planet were very limited. (NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems)

The air is certainly thick enough to fill a parachute. On May 25th, 2008, the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this dramatic oblique image of the arrival of its sister probe from NASA, the Phoenix Lander, descending on its parachute. Phoenix and its parachute can be barely seen in the larger image with 10 km wide crater informally called "Heimdall" in the background. Although it appears that Phoenix is descending into the crater, it is actually about 20 kilometers in front of the crater. Given the position and pointing angle of MRO, Phoenix is at about 13 km above the surface, just a few seconds after the parachute opened. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

On May 19th, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this stunning view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. This Panoramic Camera mosaic was taken around 6:07 in the evening of the rover's 489th martian day, or sol. Spirit was commanded to stay awake briefly after sending that sol's data tothe Mars Odyssey orbiter just before sunset. The image is a false color composite, showing the sky similar to what a human would see, but with the colors slightly exaggerated. (NASA/JPL/Texas A&M/Cornell)

Higher in the Martian skies, we see one of its two moons. The HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this dramatic view of the Martian moon, Phobos, on 23 March 2008, from a distance of 6,800 kilometers. The illuminated part of Phobos is about 21 km across. The most prominent feature is the large impact crater Stickney, in the upper left. With a diameter of 9 km, it is the largest feature on Phobos. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Even higher in the Martian sky, the Earth and Moon hang in space, as seen from Mars. The HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this image at 5:20 a.m. MST on October 3rd, 2007, at a range of 142 million kilometers, while orbiting Mars

Mystical Creatures

2009-11-24T03:54:00.000-08:00

Angels
Winged messengers from heaven

Represent loving, guiding forces who assist God. Angels are often depicted as healing, resucing, comforting, or otherwise helping human beings who are in need. These supernatural beings are believed widely in many religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and even Hinduism. Angels are mystical beings that serve as a link or an intermediary between man and his Supreme Creator.

Brownies - invisible elves who live with families in houses and assist those who live there.

Brownies are invisible brown elves or household goblins who live in farmhouses and other country buildings within Scotland. While the members of the household are asleep they go about doing labours for the house owners. Brownies are protective creatures and become attached to the families if the family move the Brownie will move with them. If a brownie is treated badly by the family or is offered payment the brownie vanishes without trace. Children because of their innocent nature can only seeBrownies, though this does not prevent the brownies from helping adults.

Centaurs
Half man, half horse.

Creatures who are half-man and half-horse who appear in many mythological stories. They have the body of a horse from the waist down & are best known for their lust. Chiron was a Centaur who was famous for his great wisdom and then later became the constellation Sagitarius.

Cerberus
The three-headed dog of Hades and guardian of the underworld

He was the protector of the underworld and could be very violent to those who tried to enter or exit without authority. However, it has been noted that he could be lulled by different forms of music.

Cherubim
A spirit of heaven

Cherubims are usually childlike and human but sometimes depicted as a winged animal. They are benevolent beings who assist humans in many ways, including finding love.

Doppleganger
A duplicate of a person or creature

Sometimes, a Doppleganger can appear as flesh and blood, other times it can be an astral projection or a ghost.

Dragons
A mythical creature that is charmed by music

May be evil or good. Some are seen as protector-guardians, either of people or places. Others are fierce and cruel and one must slay them.

Dryads
Feminine spirits of nature that reside in the forest

Different ones protect and nurture various species of plant life and/or trees. Often, it is said, they seek revenge upon those who have damaged the forest.

Elves
Mischievous Creatures

Are human-like in characteristic, but are not little people. Mischievous in nature

Gargoyles
Winged creatures that sit atop tall buidings and keep watch

Their purpose is to ward off evil spirits. They can sit so still, they appear to be made of stone but at any moment they can dive down upon their prey below.

Giants -
Huge & often violent human-like creatures

Cause fear in the people who encounter them. In ancient Greece, giants were defeated in battle and were imprisoned under the earth. It is said whenever a volcano erupts, it is a giant trying to get out.

Gnomes
Very small human-like folks

who stand just one or two feet tall. They like to live in gardens and are protectors of nature. Most of them are friendly enough to humans, but some of them can be tricky as well.

Griffin
The largest of all birds

The Griffin was a creature that had the wings of an Eagle and the legs of a Lion. Can be a great asset to humans if fighting on their side because they are very fierce. Huge creatures, they can easily carry a human being through the air. The Griffin was very sacred to Apollo and was the suns guardian. When the Griffin spread its wings it blocked out the sun.

Leprechaun
Merry little human-like creatures

They live close to humans but do not like to be seen by them very often. They can be very helpful, like Brownies, and will exchange good luck and other treasures for goods they can use.

Merfolk
People with fish tails

Mermaids are sometimes reportedly seen sitting on rocks in the sea and singing to the sailors. When in trouble, Merfolk can call all the creatures of the sea to come to their aid.

Ogres
Human-like folks who stand twice as tall

They are built very strong and heavy. They are not very smart, but they are not cruel or evil, although they do enjoy a good fight.

Pegasus
A white winged horse that flies

Highly intelligent, they can assist humans in many adventures by carrying them across land and sea.

Phoenix
A bird who sings a beautiful song and carries human prayers on its wings to heaven

When the Phoenix dies, it dies in fire and from this fire, a new Phoenix rises from the ashes.
In Arabian legend the Phoenix sits in a nest that is ignited by solar rays. In China the Phoenix was regarded as an envoy from the heavens.
In medieval Europe it featured as a symbol of resurrection and the triumph of life over death. In Alchemy it represented the Philosophers Stone.

Pixie
Tiny folks living in the countryside

They are hard workers and can help crops and flowers to grow, but they also like to play tricks on humans. They have been known to even come inside houses in order to hide things so they cannot be found, or to make a mess.

Sphinx
A winged creature with a lion's body and a human head

They can be very dangerous and will sometimes kill those who cannot answer their riddles.

Unicorn
A horse-like creature with healing powers

Healing powders are held within a horn growing out of its forehead & which can prevent poison from harming people. Unicorns are very magical and powerful, and keep themselves hidden from humans so that their powers are not misused. The Unicorn was considered both masculine and feminine. & as a symbol of purity and spiritual unity.
It was believed that only a virgin holding a mirror could tame a Unicorn.

Werewolves
A human/animal creature

They are basically human, but have the ability to shape-shift into an animal form, being that of a type of wolf. The werewolf can change of its own accord, or may be forced by such things as cycles of the moon. People become werewolves through birth, being bitten by a werewolf, or being cursed. The werewolf has a constant regeneration of tissue, so it does not grow old. Werewolves are however, not immortal. Destroying the brain or heart will kill a werewolf.

Big Foot/ Yeti

These hairy apemen are probably the most consistently witnessed unknown creatures in the world. Whether they are called Bigfoot, Sasquatch, Yeti, Skunk Ape or Yowie, they have been seen in isolated woodlands and mountain areas in virtually every corner of the globe.And the descriptions - from the North American northwest to Florida to Australia - are remarkably consistent:

* taller than an average man (seven to eight feet)
* covered with long brown or auburn hair (or white hair in the case of the Yeti)
* a strong, repugnant odor
* large feet, as evidenced by castings of footprints
* an aversion to man
* a piercing, eerie howl

The vast number of sightings, many by highly reliable witnesses, gives Bigfoot, in my estimation, the best likelihood of being a real creature as yet unknown to science. But what is it? A missing link? Some ancient relative of humans that somehow has survived in the wilderness? An unknown species of ape?

We may find out someday soon. Sightings seem to be on the increase as mankind encroaches deeper and deeper on the wilderness. And technology may aid in the search. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization recently announced its intention to place motion-triggered digital webcams in various areas of US forest where the hairy beast has been seen. This 24-hour surveillance with potentially thousands of computer-based witnesses looking on will dramatically increase the chances of obtaining credible evidence.

For the diehard skeptic, nothing less than a captured specimen will do - or at least some other tangible evidence. And one that could qualify has recently emerged: an impression of Bigfoot's butt. No kidding. Researchers in the American northwest have found what appears to be the impression in the ground of where a large hairy primate has sat. Hey, he's got to rest those big feet sometime.

Loch Ness Monster

The Loch Ness monster, or Nessie, is undoubtedly the most well-known of these aquatic mysteries. But other deep, cold lakes around the world have their own legendary beasts: Chessie in Chesapeake Bay, Storsie in Sweden's Lake Storsjön, Selma in Norway's Lake Seljordsvatnet and "Champ" in New York's Lake Champlain among others.

Descriptions of this creature, too, are amazingly similar:

* a large creature with a long neck
* a horse-like head
* a humped back

Most sightings report the humps protruding from the surface of the water (which skeptics dismiss as being almost anything, from schools of fish to floating logs), but occasionally a lucky witness will see the creature stretch its neck high above the water and look around a bit before submerging.

Photo and video evidence is rare. And although some of the photos are tantalizing (most notably the famous "flipper" photo taken by the Rines expedition in 1975), most such "proof" is fuzzy or inconclusive at best.

If the creature does exist, many researchers suspect that it could be a kind of plesiosaur - an animal from the age of the dinosaurs that is thought to have become extinct more than 66 million years ago. Could a lineage of these incredible creatures possibly have survived?

Mariana Trench - The Deepest location in the Earth

2009-11-24T03:46:00.000-08:00

Dictionary says Abyss is an immeasurably deep chasm, depth, or void. Especially unknown deepest parts of sea are known as Abyss. Here is one of such deepest parts of the earth. But it’s the deepest part in the earth as per the discoveries made as on date.

The Mariana Trench

The Mariana Trench is located in the Pacific Ocean, just east of the 14 Mariana Islands (11″21′ North latitude and 142″ 12′ East longitude ) near Japan. As you probably already know, it is the deepest part of the earth’s oceans, and the deepest location of the earth itself. It was created by ocean-to-ocean subduction, a phenomena in which a plate topped by oceanic crust is subducted beneath another plate topped by oceanic crust.

But just how deep is the Mariana Trench?

First off, here are the average depths of the earth’s oceans; the Arctic Ocean is 1,038 meters (3,407 feet) deep, the Indian Ocean is 3,872 meters (12,740 feet) deep, the Atlantic Ocean is 3,872 meters (12,254 feet) deep and thePacific Ocean is 4,188 meters (13,740 feet) deep.

The deepest point in each of the earth’s oceans are as follows; the Arctic Ocean’s Eurasian Basin at 5,450 meters (17,881 feet) deep, the Indian Ocean’s Java Trench at 7,725 meters (25,344 feet) deep, the Atlantic Ocean’s Puerto Rico Trench at 8,648 meters (28,374 feet) deep and the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench at 11,033 meters (36,201 feet) deep.

The deepest point of the Mariana Trench is called The Challenger Deep , so named after the British exploration vessel HMS Challenger II, and it is located 210 miles south-west of Guam. This depth was reached in 1960 by the Trieste, a manned submersible owned by the U.S. Navy.

In order to better illustrate the actual depth of the Mariana Trench, consider the following; if Mount Everest, which is the tallest point on earth at 8,850 meters (29,035 feet), were set in the Mariana Trench, there would still be 2,183 meters (7,166 feet) of water left above it.

The deepest part of the Mariana Trench is the Challenger Deep, so named after the exploratory vessel HMS Challenger II; a fishing boat converted into a sea lab by Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard.

The Mariana Trench - Exploration

The Mariana Trench was first pinpointed and surveyed in 1951 by the British Survey ship Challenger II., which gave its name for the trench’s deepest point, “The Challenger Deep”.

The challenger deep is located near the southwestern extremity of the Mariana Trench and was first explored in 1960 by Swiss scientist Jacques Piccard & US Navy Lt. Donald Walsh in bathyscaph “Trieste”, a US Navy owned submersible manned vessel (Designed by Jacques Piccard’s father Auguste) which set a record by diving to a depth of 10, 900 meters (35,810 feet).

The scientist had the brilliant idea to use 70 tons of gasoline to fill the 50 foot long sub’s floats, knowing that gasoline was lighter than water, which in turn was used to flood the submersible’s air tanks, enabling its descent. As the depth increased, the gasoline compressed, which reduced the sub’s buoyancy and accelerated its progress until about 5 hours later, the Trieste had reached the ocean floor, withstanding over 16,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.

The Challenger expedition gave us our first glimpse of deep ocean basins and other characteristics of the ocean floor. In addition to exploring theMarianaTrench, the Challenger gathered important data on the features and species of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, covering nearly 130,000 kilometers, (approx. 71,000 nautical miles). Nearly 5000 new species of sea creatures were discovered during the 4 year expedition.

In March of 1995, the Japanese unmanned submarine Kaiko was used to conduct further research deep within the Mariana Trench. The Kaiko is a sophisticated vessel with a highly accurate positioning system, allowing scientists to gather important data without the need to endanger a human diver.

Nereus is a new type of deep-sea robotic vehicle, called a hybrid remotely operated vehicle (HROV).

Nereus dove to 10,902 meters (6.8 miles) on May 31, 2009, in the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean, reports a team of engineers and scientists aboard the research vessel Kilo Moana.

The dive makes Nereus the world’s deepest-diving vehicle, and the first vehicle to explore the Mariana Trench since 1998.

Oldest thingS on EARTH....

2009-11-24T03:44:00.001-08:00

Oldest thingS on EARTH....

World’s Oldest Yoga Instructor (83-year-old)
Yoga instructor Bette Calman may be 83, but she’s still bending over backwards to spread the benefits of the ancient Indian discipline. The nimble grandmother can really pull some shapes and with her set hair and pearl earrings she looks as glamorous as Greta Garbo in a pink jumpsuit. With 40 years of teaching under her belt, the Australian wonder is living proof that a lifetime’s dedication to yoga will keep you flexible as a rubber band.

World’s Oldest Mother (70-year-old)
Meet Rajo Devi Lohan, the Indian woman who, in November 2008, gave birth to her first child – at the age of 70. She said she had waited for more than 40 years for this child and that she plans to breastfeed her for at least three years. And, who knows, maybe she will.

World’s Oldest Conjoined Twins (57-year-old)
When Maureen Galyon gave birth in 1951, she had no idea she was expecting two babies – let alone conjoined twins. The tots, joined at the torso, were not expected to survive the night as baffled doctors tried to work out if they could be separated. Now, at 57, Ronnie and Donnie are the world’s oldestconjoined twins and have amazed the medic world by hanging onto life for so long. And, as their health declines and they near their dying days, the pair have opened their doors to a documentary team to reveal the secrets of their extraordinary life together. Although every day is a struggle as the men have to coordinate the simplest of tasks, they have a close, loving relationship and are able to live together in their own home in Dayton, Ohio

World’s Oldest Father (90-year-old)
The world’s oldest father has done it again recently, fathering a child for at least the 21st time, at the age of 90. Indian farmer Nanu Ram Jogi, who is married to his fourth wife, boasts he does not want to stop, and plans to continue producing children until he is 100. Mr Jogi admits he is not certain how many children his series of four wives have borne him – but counts at least 12 sons and nine daughters and 20 grandchildren

World’s Oldest Cat (29-year-old)
Until he passed away at the ripe old age of 31 in July 2001, the world’s oldest catwas chasing spiders without the equivalent of a feline walking cane. Spike, a British ginger and white tom, had been certified as the world’s oldest living cat by the Guinness Book of Records in 1999, when the sprightly kitty was just 29.
Measured in human years, Spike was an amazing 140 years old, though many veterinarians dispute the validity of such human/cat comparisons. (Perhaps it’s just jealousy; Spike retained all his original teeth and hair!) Either way, Spike beat the odds – domestic longhairs have a life span of about 15 years. His owner, Mo Elkington, an aromatherapist from Dorset, England, purchased Spike in 1970. She fed him a steady diet of fish and cat food, with a little aloe vera mixed in to protect him against arthritis and rheumatism.

World’s Oldest Flute (35,000-year- old)
discovered, according to archaeologists, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture. A team led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard assembled the flute from 12 pieces of griffon vulture bone scattered in a small plot of the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany. Together, the pieces comprise a 8.6-inch instrument with five holes and a notched end. Conard said the flute was 35,000 years old

World’s Oldest Model (80-year-old)
In an age obsessed with youth and beauty, Daphne Selfe is a welcome reminder that the two are not inextricably linked. The grandmother is in the 60th year of an extraordinary modelling career thanks to her graceful posture, striking cheekbones and her long, lustrous – and unashamedly grey – hair.At the age of 80, she is Britain’s oldest catwalk model, gracing runways for Dolce & Gabbana, Tata-Naka and Michiko Koshino

World’s Oldest Bottle of Champagne (184-year-old)
One tasted white truffles, another gingerbread. But the esteemed wine critics that gathered to taste the world’s oldest Champagne were at least agreed on one thing: that they were enjoying the opportunity of a lifetime. 12 of the wine industry’s top tasters had been given the rare chance to give their verdict on the world’s oldest bottle of Champagne. Only two bottles now remain of the Perrier-Jouet 1825 Vintage, recognised by TheGuinness Book of Records as the oldest remaining Champagne in the world.

World’s Oldest Brand (124-year-old)
Lyle’s Golden Syrup has been named as Britain’s oldest brand, with its green and gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. TheGuinness Book of Records gave the breakfast and teatime sweetener, whose tins bear the image of a lion and a biblical quotation, the prized honour.

World’s Oldest Sculpture (35,000-year- old)
Scientists have discovered the oldest piece of sculpture ever created – and it depicts a voluptuous ‘pin-up’ woman. The 35,000-year- old carving shows a woman with enormous breasts and other sexual characteristics like an enlarged stomach and large thighs. The six-centimetre carved mammoth tusk, which is thought to have been a symbol of fertility for early man, is known as ‘Venus’ and was discovered in several fragments which were then pieced together. Radiocarbon dating showed that the figurine, which was found in a German cave, is at least 35,000 years old, predating later similar finds by 5,000 years or more. The fragments were recovered along with stone, bone and ivory tools used by the first Home Sapien populations to settle in Europe.

World’s Oldest Working Microwave (40-year-old)
They are part and parcel of most kitchens now. But in the Swinging Sixties, microwave ovens were cutting-edge technology. Frederick Stephens was among the first in Britain to buy one and 150,000 meals later, it is still going strong. The 78-year-old believes it is the country’s oldest still in everyday use. He paid $300 – equivalent to more than $3,900 in today’s money – for the brown Panasonic NE-691 and has used it every day in the four decades since

World’s Oldest Joke (3900-year-old)
You might think your dad’s joke about what you call blood-sucking referrees (”vumpires” haha) is old, but that’s nothing. A team of academics from the University of Wolverhampton have discovered the world’s most ancient gag. Guess what it’s about? Yep. Farts.
“Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband’s lap,” goes the joke, which apparently dates back to ancient Sumeria circa 1900 BC.

Phenomenal Wonders of the Natural World

2009-11-24T03:34:00.000-08:00

The classical natural wonders are huge and hard to miss - vast canyons, giant mountains and the like. Many of the most fantastic natural phenomena, however, are also least easy to spot. Some are incredibly rare while others are located in hard-to-reach parts of the planet. From moving rocks to mammatus clouds and red tides to fire rainbows, here are seven of the most spectacular phenomenal wonders of the natural world.

1) Sailing Stones

The mysterious moving stones of the packed-mud desert of Death Valley have been a center of scientific controversy for decades. Rocks weighing up to hundreds of pounds have been known to move up to hundreds of yards at a time. Some scientists have proposed that a combination of strong winds and surface ice account for these movements. However, this theory does not explain evidence of different rocks starting side by side and moving at different rates and in disparate directions. Moreover, the physics calculations do not fully support this theory as wind speeds ofhundreds of miles per hour would be needed to move some of the stones.

2) Columnar Basalt

When a thick lava flow cools it contracts vertically but cracks perpendicular to its directional flow with remarkable geometric regularity - in most cases forming a regular grid of remarkable hexagonal extrusions that almost appear to be made by man. One ofthe most famous such examples is the Giant’s Causeway on the coast of Ireland (shown above) though the largest and most widely recognized would be Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. Basalt also forms different but equally fascinating ways when eruptions are exposed to air or water.

3) Blue Holes

Blue holes are giant and sudden drops in underwater elevation that get their name from the dark and foreboding blue tone they exhibit when viewed from above in relationship to surrounding waters. They can behundreds of feet deep and while divers are able to explore some of them they are largely devoid of oxygen that would support sea life due to poor water circulation - leaving them eerily empty. Some blue holes, however, contain ancient fossil remains that have been discovered, preserved in their depths.

4) Red Tides

Red tides are also known as algal blooms - sudden influxes of massive amounts of colored single-cell algae that can convert entire areas of an ocean or beach into a blood red color. While some of these can be relatively harmless, others can be harbingers of deadly toxins that cause the deaths of fish, birds and marine mammals. In some cases, even humans have been harmed by red tides though no human exposure are known to have been fatal. While they can be fatal, the constituent phytoplankton in ride tides are not harmful in small numbers.

5) Ice Circles

While many see these apparently perfect ice circles as worthy of conspiracy theorizing, scientists generally accept that they are formed by eddies in the water that spin a sizable piece of ice in a circular motion. As a result of this rotation, other pieces of ice and flotsam wear relatively evenly at the edges of the ice until it slowly forms into an essentially ideal circle. Ice circles have been seen with diameters of over 500 feet and can also at times be found in clusters and groups at different sizes as shown above.

6) Mammatus Clouds

True to their ominous appearance, mammatus clouds are often harbingers of a coming storm or other extreme weather system. Typically composed primarily of ice, they can extend forhundreds of miles in each direction and individual formations can remain visibly static for ten to fifteen minutes at a time. While they may appear foreboding they are merely the messengers - appearing around, before or even after severe weather.

7) Fire Rainbows

A circumhorizontal fire rainbow arc occurs at a rare confluence of right time and right place for the sun and certain clouds. Crystals within the clouds refract light into the various visible waves of the spectrum but only if they are arrayed correctly relativeto the ground below. Due to the rarity with which all of these events happen in conjunction with one another, there are relatively few remarkable photos of this phenomena.

>> Most fascinating Galaxies of the Universe <<

2009-11-24T03:28:00.000-08:00

Supernova 1987A

Two decades ago, astronomers spotted one of the brightest exploding stars in more than 400 years: a doomed star, called Supernova 1987A. This image shows the entire region around the supernova. The most prominent feature in the image is a ring with dozens of bright spots. A shock wave of material unleashed by the stellar blast is slamming into regions along the ring's inner regions, heating them up, and causing them to glow. The ring, about a light-year across, was probably shed by the star about 20,000 years before it exploded. In the next few years, the entire ring will be ablaze as it absorbs the full force of the crash. The glowing ring is expected to become bright enough to illuminate the star's surroundings, providingastronomers with new information on how the star expelled material before the explosion. The image was taken in December 2006 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and R. Kirshner; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

Galaxy NGC 1512

A barred spiral galaxy located some 30 million light years away toward the constellation Horologium, Galaxy NGC 1512 is bright enough to be seen with amateur telescopes. The galaxy is some 70,000 light years across, which is nearly as large as our own Milky Way galaxy. The core of the galaxy is remarkable for its "circumnuclear" starburst ring, which is an amazing circle of young star clusters that spans some 2400light years across. Galaxy "starbursts" are episodes of vigorous formation of new stars and are found in various galaxy environments.

Galaxy NGC 3370

A dusty spiral galaxy located some 98 million light years away toward the constellation Leo, the center of NGC 3370 shows well delineated dust lanes and an uncommonly ill-defined nucleus. This view of NGC 3370 was obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope using the Advanced Camera for surveys and is sharp enough to identify individual Cepheid variable stars in the galaxy. Cepheid variable stars are used to establish extragalactic distances. In 1994, a Type Ia sypernova exploded in NGC 3370. (Credit: NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team and A. Riess; STScI)

M81

The big and beautiful spiral galaxy M81, in the northern constellation Ursa Major, is one of the brightest galaxies visible in the skies of planet Earth. This superbly detailed view reveals its bright nucleus, grand spiral arms and sweeping cosmic dust lanes with a scale comparable to the Milky Way. Hinting at a disorderly past, a remarkable dust lane runs straight through the disk, below and right of the galactic center, contrary to M81's other prominent spiral features. The errant dust lane may be the lingering result of a close encounter between M81 and its smaller companion galaxy, M82. Scrutiny of variable stars in M81 (aka NGC 3031) has yielded one of the best determined distances for an external galaxy -- 11.8 million light-years.

Hoag's Object

A non-typical galaxy of the type known as a ring galaxy, the appearance of Hoag's Object has interested amateur astronomers as much as its uncommon structure has fascinated professionals. Is this one galaxy or two? This question came to light in 1950 when astronomer Art Hoag chanced upon this unusual extragalactic object. On the outside is a ring dominated by bright blue stars, while near the center lies a ball of much redder stars that are likely much older. Between the two is a gap that appears almost completely dark. How Hoag's Object formed remains unknown, although similar objects have now been identified and collectively labeled as a form of ring galaxy. Genesis hypotheses include a galaxy collision billions of years ago and perturbative gravitational interactions involving an unusually shaped core. The above photo taken by theHubble Space Telescope in July 2001 reveals unprecedented details of Hoag's Object and may yield a better understanding. Hoag's Object spans about 100,000light years and lies about 600 million light years away toward the constellation of Serpens. Coincidentally, visible in the gap is yet another ring galaxy that likely lies far in the distance.

The Sombrero Galaxy

The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as M104 or NGC 4594) is an unbarred spiral galaxy in the constellation Virgo. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust laneand the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +9.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes. The large bulge, the central supermassive black hole,and the dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers.

Black Eye Galaxy

A spiral galaxy in the Coma Berenices constellation, Messier 64, the famous "Black Eye" galaxy or the "Sleeping Beauty galaxy," has a spectacular dark band of absorbing dust in front of the galaxy's bright nucleus. It is well known among amateurastronomers because of its appearance in small telescopes.

2MASX J00482185-2507365 occulting pair

The 2MASX J00482185-2507365 occulting pair is a pair of overlapping spiral galaxies found in the vicinity of NGC 253, the Sculptor Galaxy. Both galaxies are more distant than NGC 253, with the background galaxy, 2MASX J00482185-2507365, lying at redshift z=0.06, and the foreground galaxy lying between NGC 253 and the background galaxy (0.0008 <>

The Whirlpool Galaxy

Also known as Messier 51a, M51a, or NGC 5194, the Whirlpool Galaxy is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy located at a distance of approximately 23 million light-years in theconstellation Canes Venatici. It is one of the most famous spiral galaxies in the sky. The galaxy and its companion (NGC 5195) are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may even be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy is also a popular target for professional astronomers , who study it to further understanding of galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions.

Grand spiral galaxy

Also known as NGC 123, this fascinating galaxy is dominated by millions of bright stars and dark dust, caught up in a gravitational swirl of spiral arms rotating about the center. Open clusters containing bright blue stars can be seen sprinkled along these spiral arms, while dark lanes of dense interstellar dust can be seen sprinkled between them. Less visible, but detectable, are billions of dim normal stars and vast tracts of interstellar gas, together wielding such high mass that they dominate the dynamics of the inner galaxy. Invisible are even greater amounts of matter in a form we don't yet know - pervasive dark matter needed to explain the motions of the visible in the outer galaxy.

More About Natural Disasters....

2009-11-24T03:21:00.000-08:00

EARTHQUAKE.....

Some 80 percent of all the planet's earthquakes occur along the rim of the Pacific Ocean, called the "Ring of Fire" because
of the preponderance of volcanic activity there as well. Most earthquakes occur at fault zones, where tectonic plates—
giant rock slabs that make up the Earth's upper layer—collide or slide against each other. These impacts are usually gradual
and unnoticeable on the surface; however, immense stress can build up between plates. When this stress is released quickly,
it sends massive vibrations, called seismic waves, often hundreds of miles through the rock and up to the surface.
Other quakes can occur far from faults zones when plates are stretched or squeezed.

Scientists assign a magnitude rating to earthquakes based on the strength and duration of their seismic waves.
A quake measuring 3 to 5 is considered minor or light; 5 to 7 is moderate to strong; 7 to 8 is major; and 8 or more is great.

On average, a magnitude 8 quake strikes somewhere every year and some 10,000 people die in earthquakes annually.
Collapsing buildings claim by far the majority of lives, but the destruction is often compounded by mud slides,
fires, floods, or tsunamis. Smaller temblors that usually occur in the days following a large earthquake can
complicate rescue efforts and cause further death and destruction.

Loss of life can be avoided through emergency planning, education, and the construction of buildings that
sway rather than break under the stress of an earthquake.

Safety Tips

* Have an earthquake readiness plan.
* Consult a professional to learn how to make your home sturdier, such as bolting bookcases to wall studs,
installing strong latches on
cupboards, and strapping the water heater to wall studs.
* Locate a place in each room of the house that you can go to in case of an earthquake.
It should be a spot where nothing is likely to fall on you.
* Keep a supply of canned food, an up-to-date first aid kit, 3 gallons (11.4 liters) of water per person,
dust masks and goggles,and a working battery-operated radio and flashlights.
* Know how to turn off your gas and water mains.

If Shaking Begins

* Drop down; take cover under a desk or table and hold on.
* Stay indoors until the shaking stops and you're sure it's safe to exit.
* Stay away from bookcases or furniture that can fall on you.
* Stay away from windows. In a high-rise building, expect the fire alarms and sprinklers to go off during a quake.
* If you are in bed, hold on and stay there, protecting your head with a pillow.
* If you are outdoors, find a clear spot away from buildings, trees, and power lines. Drop to the ground.
* If you are in a car, slow down and drive to a clear place. Stay in the car until the shaking stops.

FLOODS.....

There are few places on Earth where people need not be concerned about flooding. Any place where rain falls is vulnerable, although rain is not the only impetus for flood.

A flood occurs when water overflows or inundates land that's normally dry. This can happen in a multitude of ways. Most common is when rivers or streams overflow their banks. Excessive rain, a ruptured dam or levee, rapid ice melting in the mountains, or even an unfortunately placed beaver dam can overwhelm a river and send it spreading over the adjacent land, called a floodplain. Coastal flooding occurs when a large storm or tsunami causes the sea to surge inland.

Most floods take hours or even days to develop, giving residents ample time to prepare or evacuate. Others generate quickly and with little warning. These flash floods can be extremely dangerous, instantly turning a babbling brook into a thundering wall of water and sweeping everything in its path downstream.

Disaster experts classify floods according to their likelihood of occurring in a given time period. A hundred-year flood, for example, is an extremely large, destructive event that would theoretically be expected to happen only once every century. But this is a theoretical number. In reality, this classification means there is a one-percent chance that such a flood could happen in any given year. Over recent decades, possibly due to global climate change, hundred-year floods have been occurring worldwide with frightening regularity.

Moving water has awesome destructive power. When a river overflows its banks or the sea drives inland, structures poorly equipped to withstand the water's strength are no match. Bridges, houses, trees, and cars can be picked up and carried off. The erosive force of moving water can drag dirt from under a building's foundation, causing it to crack and tumble.

In the United States, where flood mitigation and prediction is advanced, floods do about $6 billion worth of damage and kill about 140 people every year. A 2007 report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that coastal flooding alone does some $3 trillion in damage worldwide. In China's Yellow River valley, where some of the world's worst floods have occurred, millions of people have perished in floods during the last century.

When floodwaters recede, affected areas are often blanketed in silt and mud. The water and landscape can be contaminated with hazardous materials, such as sharp debris, pesticides, fuel, and untreated sewage. Potentially dangerous mold blooms can quickly overwhelm water-soaked structures. Residents of flooded areas can be left without power and clean drinking water, leading to outbreaks of deadly waterborne diseases like typhoid, hepatitis A, and cholera.

But flooding, particularly in river floodplains, is as natural as rain and has been occurring for millions of years. Famously fertile floodplains like the Mississippi Valley in the American Midwest, the Nile River valley in Egypt,and the Tigris-Euphrates in the Middle East have supported agriculture for millennia because annual flooding has left millions of tons of nutrient-rich silt deposits behind.

Most flood destruction is attributable to humans' desire to live near picturesque coastlines and in river valleys. Aggravating the problem is a tendency for developers to backfill and build on wetlands that would otherwise act as natural flood buffers.

Many governments mandate that residents of flood-prone areas purchase flood insurance and build flood-resistant structures. Massive efforts to mitigate and redirect inevitable floods have resulted in some of the most ambitious engineering efforts ever seen, including New Orleans's extensive levee system and massive dikes and dams in the Netherlands. And highly advanced computer modeling now lets disaster authorities predict with amazing accuracy where floods will occur and how severe they're likely to be.

Safety Tips

Before a Flood

* Avoid building in a floodplain.
* Construct barriers (levees, beams, floodwalls) to stop floodwater from entering your home.
* Seal walls in basements with waterproofing compounds to avoid seepage.
* If a flood is likely in your area, listen to the radio or television for information.
* Know the difference between a flood watch and a flood warning. A watch means flooding is possible.
A warning means flooding is occurring or will occur soon.

When a Flood is Imminent

* Be prepared! Pack a bag with important items in case you need to
evacuate. Don't forget to include needed medications.
* If advised to evacuate your home, do so immediately.
* If there is any possibility of a flash flood, move immediately to higher ground.
* If possible, bring in outdoor furniture and move essential items to an upper floor.
* Turn off utilities at the main switches or valves if instructed to do so. Disconnect electrical appliances.

During a Flood

* Do not walk through moving water. As little as 6 inches (15 centimeters)
of moving water can make you fall.
* If you have to walk in water, wherever possible, walk where the water is
not moving. Use a stick to check the firmness of the ground in front of you.
* Do not drive into flooded areas. If floodwaters rise around your car,
abandon the car and move to higher ground if you can do so safely.
* Do not touch electrical equipment if you are wet or standing in water.

After a Flood

* Listen for news reports to learn whether the community's water supply is safe to drink.
* Avoid floodwaters; water may be contaminated by oil, gasoline, or raw sewage.
Water may also be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines.
* Avoid moving water.
* Be aware of areas where floodwaters have receded. Roads may have
weakened and could collapse under the weight of a car.
* Stay away from downed power lines, and report them to the power company.
* Return home only when authorities indicate it is safe.
* Stay out of any building if it is surrounded by floodwaters.
* Service damaged septic tanks, cesspools, pits, and leaching systems as
soon as possible. Damaged sewage systems are serious health hazards.
* Clean and disinfect everything that got wet. Mud left from floodwater can
contain sewage and chemicals.

TSUNAMI....

A tsunami is a series of ocean waves that sends surges of water, sometimes reaching heights of over 100 feet (30.5 meters), onto land.
These walls of water can cause widespread destruction when they crash ashore.

These awe-inspiring waves are typically caused by large, undersea earthquakes at tectonic plate boundaries. When the ocean floor at a plate boundary rises or falls suddenly it displaces the water above it and launches the rolling waves that will become a tsunami.

Most tsunamis, about 80 percent, happen within the Pacific Ocean’s “Ring of Fire,” a geologically active area where tectonic shifts make volcanoes and earthquakes common.

Tsunamis may also be caused by underwater landslides or volcanic eruptions. They may even be launched,
as they frequently were in Earth’s ancient past, by the impact of a large meteorite plunging into an ocean.

Tsunamis race across the sea at up to 500 miles (805 kilometers) an hour—about as fast as a jet airplane.
At that pace they can cross the entire expanse of the Pacific Ocean in less than a day.
And their long wavelengths mean they lose very little energy along the way.

In deep ocean, tsunami waves may appear only a foot or so high. But as they approach shoreline and
enter shallower water they slow down and begin to grow in energy and height.
The tops of the waves move faster than their bottoms do, which causes them to rise precipitously.

A tsunami’s trough, the low point beneath the wave’s crest, often reaches shore first. When it does,
it produces a vacuum effect that sucks coastal water seaward and exposes harbor and sea floors.
This retreating of sea water is an important warning sign of a tsunami, because the wave’s crest
and its enormous volume of water typically hit shore five minutes or so later. Recognizing this phenomenon can save lives.

A tsunami is usually composed of a series of waves, called a wave train, so its destructive force may
be compounded as successive waves reach shore. People experiencing a tsunami should remember
that the danger may not have passed with the first wave and should await official word that it is
safe to return to vulnerable locations.

Some tsunamis do not appear on shore as massive breaking waves but instead resemble a quickly
surging tide that inundates coastal areas.

The best defense against any tsunami is early warning that allows people to seek higher ground.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, a coalition of 26 nations headquartered in Hawaii,
maintains a web of seismic equipment and water level gauges to identify tsunamis at sea.
Similar systems are proposed to protect coastal areas worldwide.

Safety tips

* When in coastal areas, stay alert for tsunami warnings.
* Plan an evacuation route that leads to higher ground.
* Know the warning signs of a tsunami: rapidly rising or falling coastal
waters and rumblings of an offshore earthquake.
* Never stay near shore to watch a tsunami come in.
* A tsunami is a series of waves. Do not return to an affected coastal area
until authorities say it is safe.

LIGHTNING......

Contrary to the common expression, lightning can and often does strike the same place twice,
especially tall buildings or exposed mountaintops. Cloud-to-ground lightning bolts are a common phenomenon—
about 100 strike Earth’s surface every single second—yet their power is extraordinary.
Each bolt can contain up to one billion volts of electricity.

This enormous electrical discharge is caused by an imbalance between positive and negative charges.
During a storm, colliding particles of rain, ice, or snow increase this imbalance and often negatively
charge the lower reaches of storm clouds. Objects on the ground, like steeples, trees, and the Earth itself,
become positively charged—creating an imbalance that nature seeks to remedy by passing current between the two charges.

A step-like series of negative charges, called a stepped leader, works its way incrementally
downward from the bottom of a storm cloud toward the Earth. Each of these segments is about 150 feet (46 meters) long.
When the lowermost step comes within 150 feet (46 meters) of a positively charged object it is met by a
climbing surge of positive electricity, called a streamer, which can rise up through a building, a tree, or even a person.
The process forms a channel through which electricity is transferred as lightning.

Some types of lightning, including the most common types, never leave the clouds but travel between
differently charged areas within or between clouds. Other rare forms can be sparked by extreme forest fires,
volcanic eruptions, and snowstorms. Ball lightning, a small, charged sphere that floats, glows,
and bounces along oblivious to the laws of gravity or physics, still puzzles scientists.

Lightning is extremely hot—a flash can heat the air around it to temperatures five times hotter than the sun’s surface.
This heat causes surrounding air to rapidly expand and vibrate, which creates the pealing thunder we hear a short
time after seeing a lightning flash.

Lightning is not only spectacular, it’s dangerous. About 2,000 people are killed worldwide by lightning each year.
Hundreds more survive strikes but suffer from a variety of lasting symptoms, including memory loss,
dizziness, weakness, numbness, and other life-altering ailments.

Safety Tips

* If outside, seek refuge in a car or grounded building when lightning or thunder begins.
* If inside, avoid taking baths, or showers, and washing dishes. Also avoid using landline phones,
televisions, and other appliances that conduct electricity.
* Stay inside for 30 minutes after you last see lightning or hear thunder. People have been struck by
lightning from storms centered as far as 10 miles (16 kilometers) away.
* If caught outside away from a building or car, stay clear of water bodies and tall objects like trees.
Find a low spot or depression and crouch down as low as possible, but don't lie down on the ground.
Lightning can move in and along the ground surface, and many victims are struck not by bolts but by this current.

VOLCANO....

Volcanoes are awesome manifestations of the fiery power contained deep within the Earth.
These formations are essentially vents on the Earth's surface where molten rock, debris,
and gases from the planet's interior are emitted.

When thick magma and large amounts of gas build up under the surface, eruptions can be explosive,
expelling lava, rocks and ash into the air. Less gas and more viscous magma usually mean a less dramatic eruption,
often causing streams of lava to ooze from the vent.

The mountain-like mounds that we associate with volcanoes are what remain after the material
spewed during eruptions has collected and hardened around the vent. This can happen over a
period of weeks or many millions of years.

A large eruption can be extremely dangerous for people living near a volcano. Flows of searing lava,
which can reach 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,250 degrees Celsius) or more, can be released,
burning everything in its path, including whole towns. Boulders of hardening lava can rain down on villages.
Mud flows from rapidly melting snow can strip mountains and valleys bare and bury towns.
Ash and toxic gases can cause lung damage and other problems, particularly for infants and the elderly.
Scientists estimate that more than 260,000 people have died in the past 300 years from volcanic eruptions and their aftermath.

Volcanoes tend to exist along the edges between tectonic plates, massive rock slabs that make up Earth's surface.
About 90 percent of all volcanoes exist within the Ring of Fire along the edges of the Pacific Ocean.

About 1,900 volcanoes on Earth are considered active, meaning they show some level of activity and are likely to explode again.
Many other volcanoes are dormant, showing no current signs of exploding but likely to become active at some point in the future.
Others are considered extinct.

Safety Tips

• Stay away from active volcanoes.

• If you live near an active volcano, keep goggles and a mask in an emergency kit,
along with a flashlight and a working, battery-operated radio.

• Know your evacuation route. Keep gas in your car.

If a Volcano Erupts in Your Area

• Evacuate only as recommended by authorities to stay clear of lava, mud flows, and flying rocks and debris.

• Avoid river areas and low-lying regions.

• Before you leave the house, change into long-sleeved shirts and long pants and use goggles or eyeglasses, not contacts.
Wear an emergency mask or hold a damp cloth over your face.

• If you are not evacuating, close windows and doors and block chimneys and other vents, to prevent ash from coming into the house.

• Be aware that ash may put excess weight on your roof and need to be swept away. Wear protection during cleanups.

• Ash can damage engines and metal parts, so avoid driving. If you must drive, stay below 35 miles (56 kilometers) an hour.

AVALANCHE....

While avalanches are sudden, the warning signs are almost always numerous before they let loose. Yet in 90 percent of avalanche incidents, the snow slides are triggered by the victim or someone in the victim's party. Avalanches kill more than 150 people worldwide each year. Most are snowmobilers, skiers, and snowboarders.

Many avalanches are small slides of dry powdery snow that move as a formless mass. These "sluffs" account for a tiny fraction of the death and destruction wrought by their bigger, more organized cousins. Disastrous avalanches occur when massive slabs of snow break loose from a mountainside and shatter like broken glass as they race downhill. These moving masses can reach speeds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour within about five seconds. Victims caught in these events seldom escape. Avalanches are most common during and in the 24 hours right after a storm that dumps 12 inches (30 centimeters) or more of fresh snow. The quick pileup overloads the underlying snowpack, which causes a weak layer beneath the slab to fracture. The layers are an archive of winter weather: Big dumps, drought, rain, a hard freeze, and more snow. How the layers bond often determines how easily one will weaken and cause a slide.

Storminess, temperature, wind, slope steepness and orientation (the direction it faces), terrain, vegetation, and general snowpack conditions are all factors that influence whether and how a slope avalanches. Different combinations of these factors create low, moderate, considerable, and high avalanche hazards.

If caught in an avalanche, try to get off the slab. Not easy, in most instances. Skiers and snowboarders can head straight downhill to gather speed then veer left or right out of the slide path. Snowmobilers can punch the throttle to power out of harm's way. No escape? Reach for a tree. No tree? Swim hard. The human body is three times denser than avalanche debris and will sink quickly. As the slide slows, clear air space to breathe. Then punch a hand skyward.

Once the avalanche stops, it settles like concrete. Bodily movement is nearly impossible. Wait—and hope—for a rescue. Statistics show that 93 percent of avalanche victims survive if dug out within 15 minutes. Then the survival rates drop fast. After 45 minutes, only 20 to 30 percent of victims are alive. After two hours, very few people survive.

Safety Tips

• Evaluate the avalanche hazard before attempting a rescue.

• Constantly evaluate avalanche of conditions.

• Areas with fresh accumulations of wind-driven snow are particularly vulnerable.

• Extremely steep slopes particularly in shaded areas near a ridge are also risky.

• Always travel with a partner. Descend risky areas one by one and watch for avalanche signs.

• Wear an avalanche rescue beacon that signals your location.

• Carry a small shovel and a long probe to locate a buried partner.

• Learn how to use the rescue equipment.

• Practice using the rescue equipment.

• Practice some more.

• If caught in a slide, try to get off the slab or grab a tree.

• If swept away, swim to the surface.

• Evaluate the avalanche hazard before attempting a rescue.

HURRICANE....

Hurricanes are giant, spiraling tropical storms that can pack wind speeds of over 160 miles (257 kilometers) an hour and unleash more than 2.4 trillion gallons (9 trillion liters) of rain a day. These same tropical storms are known as cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal, and as typhoons in the western Pacific Ocean.

The Atlantic Ocean’s hurricane season peaks from mid-August to late October and averages five to six hurricanes per year.

Hurricanes begin as tropical disturbances in warm ocean waters with surface temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.5 degrees Celsius). These low pressure systems are fed by energy from the warm seas. If a storm achieves wind speeds of 38 miles (61 kilometers) an hour, it becomes known as a tropical depression. A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm, and is given a name, when its sustained wind speeds top 39 miles (63 kilometers) an hour. When a storm’s sustained wind speeds reach 74 miles (119 kilometers) an hour it becomes a hurricane and earns a category rating of 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Hurricanes are enormous heat engines that generate energy on a staggering scale. They draw heat from warm, moist ocean air and release it through condensation of water vapor in thunderstorms.

Hurricanes spin around a low-pressure center known as the “eye.” Sinking air makes this 20- to 30-mile-wide (32- to 48-kilometer-wide) area notoriously calm. But the eye is surrounded by a circular “eye wall” that hosts the storm’s strongest winds and rain.

These storms bring destruction ashore in many different ways. When a hurricane makes landfall it often produces a devastating storm surge that can reach 20 feet (6 meters) high and extend nearly 100 miles (161 kilometers). Ninety percent of all hurricane deaths result from storm surges.

A hurricane’s high winds are also destructive and may spawn tornadoes. Torrential rains cause further damage by spawning floods and landslides, which may occur many miles inland.

Safety Tips

* Coastal residents should form evacuation plans before a warning is issued to identify a safe shelter and a route to get there.
* Stock up on emergency supplies including food, water, protective clothing, medications, batteries, flashlights,
important documents, road maps, and a full tank of gasoline.

Uncontrolled blazes fueled by weather, wind, and dry underbrush, wildfires can burn acres of land—and consume everything in their paths—in mere minutes.

On average, more than 100,000 wildfires, also called wildland fires or forest fires, clear 4 million to 5 million acres (1.6 million to 2 million hectares) of land in the U.S. every year. In recent years, wildfires have burned up to 9 million acres (3.6 million hectares) of land. A wildfire moves at speeds of up to 14 miles an hour (23 kilometers an hour), consuming everything—trees, brush, homes, even humans—in its path.

There are three conditions that need to be present in order for a wildfire to burn, which firefighters refer to as the fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source. Fuel is any flammable material surrounding a fire, including trees, grasses, brush, even homes. The greater an area's fuel load, the more intense the fire. Air supplies the oxygen a fire needs to burn. Heat sources help spark the wildfire and bring fuel to temperatures hot enough to ignite. Lightning, burning campfires or cigarettes, hot winds, and even the sun can all provide sufficient heat to spark a wildfire.

Although four out of five wildfires are started by people, nature is usually more than happy to help fan the flames. Dry weather and drought convert green vegetation into bone-dry, flammable fuel; strong winds spread fire quickly over land; and warm temperatures encourage combustion. When these factors come together all that's needed is a spark—in the form of lightning, arson, a downed power line, or a burning campfire or cigarette—to ignite a blaze that could last for weeks and consume tens of thousands of acres.

These violent infernos occur around the world and in most of the 50 states, but they are most common in the U.S. West, where heat, drought, and frequent thunderstorms create perfect wildfire conditions. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and California experience some of the worst conflagrations in the U.S. In California wildfires are often made worse by the hot, dry Santa Ana winds, which can carry a spark for miles.

Firefighters fight wildfires by depriving them of one or more of the fire triangle fundamentals. Traditional methods include water dousing and spraying fire retardants to extinguish existing fires. Clearing vegetation to create firebreaks starves a fire of fuel and can help slow or contain it. Firefighters also fight wildfires by deliberately starting fires in a process called controlled burning. These prescribed fires remove undergrowth, brush, and ground litter from a forest, depriving a wildfire of fuel.

Although often harmful and destructive to humans, naturally occurring wildfires play an integral role in nature. They return nutrients to the soil by burning dead or decaying matter. They also act as a disinfectant, removing disease-ridden plants and harmful insects from a forest ecosystem. And by burning through thick canopies and brushy undergrowth, wildfires allow sunlight to reach the forest floor, enabling a new generation of seedlings to grow.

TORNADO....

Tornadoes are vertical funnels of rapidly spinning air. Their winds may top 250 miles (400 kilometers) an hour and can clear-cut a pathway a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide and 50 miles (80 kilometers) long.

Twisters are born in thunderstorms and are often accompanied by hail. Giant, persistent thunderstorms called supercells spawn the most destructive tornadoes.

These violent storms occur around the world, but the United States is a major hotspot with about a thousand tornadoes every year. "Tornado Alley," a region that includes eastern South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, northern Texas, and eastern Colorado, is home to the most powerful and destructive of these storms. U.S. tornadoes cause 80 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries per year.

A tornado forms when changes in wind speed and direction create a horizontal spinning effect within a storm cell. This effect is then tipped vertical by rising air moving up through the thunderclouds.

The meteorological factors that drive tornadoes make them more likely at some times than at others. They occur more often in late afternoon, when thunderstorms are common, and are more prevalent in spring and summer. However, tornadoes can and do form at any time of the day and year.

Tornadoes' distinctive funnel clouds are actually transparent. They become visible when water droplets pulled from a storm's moist air condense or when dust and debris are taken up. Funnels typically grow about 660 feet (200 meters) wide.

Tornadoes move at speeds of about 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 kilometers) per hour, although they've been clocked in bursts up to 70 miles (113 kilometers) per hour. Most don't get very far though. They rarely travel more than about six miles (ten kilometers) in their short lifetimes.

Tornadoes are classified as weak, strong, or violent storms. Violent tornadoes comprise only about two percent of all tornadoes, but they cause 70 percent of all tornado deaths and may last an hour or more.

People, cars, and even buildings may be hurled aloft by tornado-force winds—or simply blown away. Most injuries and deaths are caused by flying debris.

Tornado forecasters can't provide the same kind of warning that hurricane watchers can, but they can do enough to save lives. Today the average warning time for a tornado alert is 13 minutes. Tornadoes can also be identified by warning signs that include a dark, greenish sky, large hail, and a powerful train-like roar.

Safety Tips

• Prepare for tornadoes by gathering emergency supplies including food, water, medications, batteries, flashlights,
important documents, road maps, and a full tank of gasoline.

• When a tornado approaches, anyone in its path should take shelter indoors—preferably in a basement or an interior first-floor room or hallway.

• Avoid windows and seek additional protection by getting underneath large, solid pieces of furniture.

• Avoid automobiles and mobile homes which provide almost no protection from tornadoes.

• Those caught outside should lie flat in a depression or on other low ground and wait for the storm to pass.

* As a storm unfolds, evacuees should listen to local authorities on radio or television.
Evacuation routes often close as a storm develops.
* Dedicated professionals and improved technology have made hurricane forecasting more accurate than ever before—
but it’s far from precise.
* If forced to weather a storm, get inside the most secure building possible and stay away from windows.
* Remember that a lull often signifies the storm’s eye—not its end. Anyone riding out a hurricane should wait for
authorities to announce that the danger has passed.

tru pics of alliens

2009-11-24T02:58:00.000-08:00

7 Extinct Wonders of the Animal Kingdom

2009-11-24T02:52:00.000-08:00

Giant Sea Scorpion: Big Bad Bug

400 million years ago, the ancestors of today’s scorpions and spiders were the undisputed kings of their watery environment. Growing up to 8 feet (2.5 meters) long, the Eurypterids were mean, mad and VERY hungry – and they packed a pair of viciously serrated claws to back it up. We may have to extend our thanksto the Eurypterids… our very distant amphibian forbears may have finally made the leap to living on land partly in response to predation by these relentless killing machines.

What if the Eurypterids had survived to the modern day? The above photoshopped image by Takeshi Yamada purports to display just such a creature – at just 15-inches long it STILL looks exceptionally freaky.

Ammonites: A Face Only Lovecraft Could Love

Cross a squid, a snail, Futurama’s Dr. Zoidberg and Great Cthulhu for good measure and you get something approximately like an Ammonite – and one heck of a mess to clean up. These extremely successful relatives of octopi, squids and the chambered nautilus had an exceptionally long tenure as lifeforms go, first appearing about 440 million years ago and vanishing along with the dinosaurs 370 million years later.

Active carnivores and a major food source for ocean-dwelling Mosasaurs and Icthyosaurs, Ammonites are quite numerous as fossils and some of their shells are surprisingly large. Sometimes the mother-of-pearl lining of Ammonite shells fossilizes into “ammolite”, which is used to make distinctly colored jewelry.

Dimetrodon: Sail On Sailor

Not only is there a sale at Penney’s, there’s a sail on Dimetrodon – get ‘em while they’re hot! Unfortunately Dimetrodon hasn’t been remotely warm for at least 275million years , give or take a few million. So tell me, is Dimetrodon the weirdest dinosaur, yes or no? The answer is… there IS no answer. It’s a trick question – Dimetrodon isn’t a dinosaur. Living in the Permian period 50-oddmillion years before the Mesozoic Era even began, Dimetrodon was a synapsid, or mammal-like reptile. He and his kin were the world’s best and brightest until a massive extinction event known colloquially as The Great Dying wiped out 70 percent of the planet’s land-based vertebrate species.

Oh, that sail? Dimetrodon employed it as an early and somewhat ungainly method of regulating its body temperature. Other mammal-like reptiles and even a few later dinosaurs used the sail method but Dimetrodon remains its fiercest proponent. Literally.

Raptorex: Prehistoric Pitbull

Say you’re the prehistoric version of an urban gangsta and you want an intimidating pet to put the fear of Thog into the ‘hood: you need a Raptorex kriegsteini, in other words, a mini T. Rex. Raptorex roamed what is now northern China 125million years ago, and you can bet there weren’t any leash laws to hold it back.

Nine feet long from tooth to tail, this Mini Me of Master T weighed about 150 lbs (70 kg) but a lightweight it wasn’t – according to discoverer Paul Sereno (above), “What we’re looking at is a blueprint for a fast-running set of jaws.” Nice doggie, good boy.

Terror Bird: The Ostrich From Hell

Anyone who thought the asteroid that ended the Age of Dinosaurs ushered in a lasting era of peace and quiet didn’t figure on the Terror Birds. Aptly named and fiendishly beaked, the members of the Phorusrhacid family resembled their dinosaur predecessors in body plan, feeding habits and bad attitude. The last Terror Birds died out a mere 2million years ago, just before modern humans stepped onto the stage – an excellent bit of good timing if there ever was!

They say everything’s bigger in Texas… that goes for prehistoric meat-eating birds like 7-foot tall Titanis Walleri (skull shown above), who made life miserable for smaller creatures from Texas through Florida roughly 5million years ago. “Polly want a cracker” indeed.

So hungry you could eat a horse?

Megalodon: The Greatest White Shark

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”… like, maybe an aircraft carrier, if you’ve got Megalodon in your sights. This 60-foot (18 meter) long extinct shark makes today’s Great White look rather piddling. Megalodon cruised the oceans from 18 million to 1.5million years ago. What did such a monstrous shark eat? Anything it wanted!

Being the largest carnivorous fish ever to swim the seas, Megalodon economized by selecting very large prey, like whales. This begs the question: whales never died out, so why did Megalodon? It may be that warm-blooded whales avoided Megalodon predation by frequenting cold polar waters that were inhospitable to a shark’s cold-blooded metabolism. Better to be chilly than chili, I always say.

History’s freak show has played out for the better part of a billion years and we can be sure Mother Nature still has a few tricks up her sleeve. Even so, we can all be thankful some of the most bizarre and frightening creatures to have evolved on Earth survive only as bits of fossilized bone. Whew!