Mautam

Mautam is a cyclic ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48 years in Mizoram; a tiny state of 900,000 people squeezed between India's borders with Bangladesh and Burma - and is linked to the flowering of a rare species of bamboo, melocanna baccifera at one time across a wide range, dropping millions of protein-rich seeds that are devoured by the rats, followed invariably by a plague of rats which multiply in response to the temporary windfall of seeds; when the seed supply is exhausted the rats move to crops and granaries; which in turn causes devastating famine.




The last plague, in 1958-59, provoked a rural uprising that saw the indigenous Mizo people launch a violent 20-year rebellion against the federal government.

Stories of the rats still abound in the tribes' oral traditions. "The rats would wipe out three to four hectares of paddy cropland in one night," an elder said. "We would see our crop standing the night before but next day it would all be gone, eaten away by the rats." It has been estimated that around two million rats were killed and collected by the locals, after a bounty of approximately 1 US cent was placed on each. However, even after the increase in the rat population was noted, preparations by the government to avoid a famine were limited.

Natural Wonders

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.

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 of the most famous such examples is the Giant's Causeway on the coast of Ireland; 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.

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 be hundreds 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.






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 for hundreds 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.

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; though no human exposure are known to have been fatal.

A horizontal 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 relative to 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.

Beautiful Fishes

Angelfishes are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantis, Indian and western Pacific oceans. With their vibrant colors and deep, they are some of the more conspicuous residents of the reef. Most angelfishes restrict themselves to the shallows of the reef, seldom venturing deeper than 50 m. They are mainly diurnal, hiding amongst the nooks and crevices of the reef by night .






Albino Peacock Cichlid belong to the family of Cichlidae, which is both large and diverse. There are at least 1300 scientifically described species. Cichlids span a wide range of body sizes, from species as small as 2.5 centimeters in length to much larger species approaching 1 meter .

Cichlids have a great variability in body shape, ranging from compressed and disc-shaped, or triangular shaped to elongate and cylindrical. Cichlids are largely freshwater fish and are less commonly found in brackish and salt water habitats.

Barbarism

Residents in Dantesque , Faroe Island , an autonomous province in Kingdom of Denmark, slaughter and eat pilot whales annually. Faroese are descendants of Vikings, they crowd these animals into a bay and kill them, cutting the dorsal area through to the spinal cord. In the process, their main arteries get cut.

This absolute atrocious act commit against several hundred of whales annually normally performed in a traditional custom call Grindadrap is diminishing the population of 5,000 islanders. Many of them get sick and die from high mercury levels in the whales.

Where is Green Peace ? The organization that make the loudest noise about Japanese commercial whaling and shark hunting, but remain largely oblivious about this act of barbarism in Denmark.

Snakes

Cobra is poisonous, when disturbed, most of these snakes can rear up and spread their neck (or hood) in a characteristic threat display. Their preferred preys are rodents and birds. Most Cobra snakes are found in desert regions of Africa and Asia.

The Cottonmouth is large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite (venomous), it is a common aquatic snakes found in wetland areas, rivers, lakes etc. It eats a lot of different prey includes other snakes, fish, lizards, turtles, frogs, small birds and alligators and mammals. It doesn't swallow its prey until the prey is dead. The snake is a strong swimmer, successfully colonizing islands off both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. When threatened, this species will often stand its ground and gape at an intruder, exposing the white lining of its mouth.

Rattlesnakes belong to the class of venomous snakes known commonly as pit vipers, they like to eat mice, rats and ground squirrels.

Copperhead is generally quiet, almost lethargic, preferring to lie motionless when encountered or making to make a slow retreat. When sufficiently agitated, however, they can strike vigorously with fatal bite (venomous). It grows to an average length of 24-36 in, with a maximum of 52 in. Commonly found in eastern United States.

King snakes are non-poisonous; they eat rattlesnakes as well as other reptiles and mammals.

Racer snake, its name implies a very fast snake; they eat fence lizards, alligator lizards and small rodents and insects.

Pythonidae is a common name for nonpoisonous snakes of boa and python family. Python snakes are large and muscular, and kill their prey by squeezing, or constricting, until it suffocates, they feed on small mammals, some large species can kill and swallow small pigs and goats.

Pythons range from 1 to 10 m long and weigh up to 140 kg, they are found in the tropical and subtropical regions of Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific islands.

Octopus

Octopuses are characterized by their eight arms usually bearing suction cups. Most have almost entirely soft bodies with no internal skeleton. They have neither a protective outer shell nor any vestige of an internal shell or bones, like cuttlefish or squid.

Octopuses have a relatively short life expectancy, for as little as six months. Larger species, may live for up to five years under suitable circumstances. Reproduction is a main cause of death; males can only live for a few months after mating, and females die shortly after their eggs hatch. Endocrine secretions from the two optic glands are the cause of genetically-programmed death

Octopus blood contains the copper-rich protein hemocyanin, in cold conditions with low oxygen pressure, hemocyanin oxygen transportation is more efficient than hemoglobin oxygen transportation. The hemocyanin is dissolved in the plasmas instead of being bound in red blood cells and gives the blood a blue color.

Octopuses are highly intelligence, probably more intelligent than any other order of nvertebrates.Problem solving experiments have shown that they do have both short and long memory. Their short lifespans limit the amount they can ultimately learn. There has been much speculation to the effect that almost all octopus behaviors are independently learned rather than instinct-based, although this remains largely unproven. They learn almost no behaviors from their parents, with whom young octopuses have very little contact.

An octopus's primary defense is to hide, other defenses include the use of ink sacs, camouflage, and auto missing limbs. An octopus's camouflage is aided by certain specialized skin cells which can change the apparent color, opacity, and reflectiveness of the epidermis.

Octopuses have keen eye sight and have an excellent sense of touch. Jet propulsion is their fastest means of locomotion, followed by swimming and bipedal walking.

The north pacific giant octopus - ' Enteroctopus dofleini', is often cited as the largest octopus species. Adults usually weigh around 15 kg , with an arm span of up to 4.3 m. 0ne such record is of a specimen. weighing 272kg and having an arm span of 9 m .

Squid

An underwater camera at an oil and gas drilling site off the coast of Texas has captured a rare sight: a squid with "elbows." The creature was spotted last November roughly a mile and a half below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

This alien-like, long-armed, and--strangest of all--"elbowed" Magnapinna squid has undulating, wing like flaps that gave Magnapinna ("big fin") its name--as well as the distinctive tentacles, extended at right angles and trailing like fishing lines. Whereas giant squid and other cephalopods have eight short arms and two long tentacles, Magnapinna have ten appendages that all appear to be the same length.

First identified ten years ago, adult Magnapinna squid can range from 5 to 23 feet long ; by contrast, the largest known giant squid measured about 52 feet long.

Ocean

Ocean waters are growing more acidic faster than previously thought and pose a threat to sea life. In addition, the increase acidity correlates with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. "Of the variables the study examined that are linked to changes in ocean acidity, only atmospheric carbon dioxide exhibited a corresponding steady change," researchers from the University of Chicago said.

The increasingly acidic water has begun causing harm to some sea animals and could reduce the ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide. The University scientists' study is based on 24,519 measurements of ocean pH taken during an eight-year period at Tatoosh Island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Washington.

"The acidity increased more than 10 times faster than had been predicted by climate change models and other studies. This increase will have a severe impact on marine food webs and suggests that ocean acidification may be a more urgent issue than previously thought, at least in some areas of the ocean."

California Fire

Image shows region around north west Las Angeles where smoke spreading far to the west over the Pacific Ocean ;.on Nov 16, the Sayre Fire north of San Fernando was 8,000 acres and 20 percent contained. The Freeway Fire was 5,800 acres and 5 percent contained.




(aerial view of area destroyed by fire)






Fears that hot, strong Santa Ana winds would whip the blazes into firestorms overnight and Tuesday morning did not materialize, though gusts remained strong. Crews were still working to put out major fires statewide that have burned 26,800 acres and destroyed 64 structures, including number of homes today.

Stingrays

The spectacular scene was captured as the magnificent creatures made one of their biannual mass migrations to more agreeable waters.

Gliding silently beneath the waves they turned vast areas of blue water to gold off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. The surface of the water was covered by warm and different shades of gold and looked like a bed of autumn leaves gently moved by the wind; it's hard to say exactly how many there were but in the range of a few thousand; according to the amateur photographer who took the above photo.

Stingrays are commonly found in the shallow coastal waters of temperate seas. They spend the majority of their time inactive, partially buried in sand, often moving only with the sway of the tide.

Stingray's eyes are on top of their body and their mouths on the underside, stingrays cannot see their prey, instead they use smell and electro-receptors similar to those of sharks. Stingrays feed primarily on mollusks, crustaceans, and occasionally on small fish. Coral reefs are favorite feeding grounds and are usually shared with sharks during high tide.

Barbecued stingray is commonly served in Singapore and Malaysia.

Seal Cull

The world's sickest and cruelest cull once more got under way as Canadians begin their annual festival of slaughter - clubbing and shooting tens of thousands of seal pups around the Gulf of St Lawrence.

The Canadian seal cull take the lives of over 220,000 seal pups this year. Minister Loyola Hearn of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) introduced new regulations to make what he and his predecessors have long called a 'sport' more humane. The Canadian government's new policies for killing seals include severing their arteries before skinning them for the fur.

These sicko in Newfoundland usually kill seal pups by shooting and then hooking and dragging them into boats. Aiming for the head and reluctant to shoot twice (prices for 'damaged pelts' are worth too little to bother.) Many seal pups were injured and dragged into boats conscious during the process.

Hurricane Ike

Ike Projected Path



Hurricane Ike tripled in size in the central Gulf of Mexico as it churned on a weekend collision course with the 5.6 million residents of the Houston area. The system's strongest winds extend as far as 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the eye.

Ike's wind field is now larger than that of Katrina. The total amount of energy is more powerful than Katrina, so we could be seeing a storm surge that could rival Katrina. The storm is so large ``the location doesn't matter much; it is going to inundate a huge part of the Texas coast.''

Galveston, parts of southern Houston and areas south of the city and near the Texas coast were under a mandatory evacuation order today,the coast may see a storm surge of as much as 20 feet (6 meters). Ike is following a track similar to the 1900 Galveston hurricane that killed 8,000 people.

Ike's central pressure is more like that associated with a Category 3 or 4 storm, the storm is moving west-northwest at 10 mph, with landfall south of Galveston on Sept. 13. Because of its size, Ike will be felt along the Texas coast long before its eye makes landfall.

Ike may strengthen to at least a major hurricane with Category 3 intensity, meaning sustained winds of at least 111 mph, before landfall. Other forecasters predict Ike may become a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, packing winds from 131 to 155 mph.

Hurricane

After tropical storm Hanna churns off the east coast of Florida early Friday morning, hurricane Ike, moves west across the open Atlantic.

The two storms come on the heels of hurricane Gustav, which hit Louisiana on Sept. 1. . Although the storm just sideswiped its city as a Category 2 hurricane, other parts of the state were flooded by Gustav's heavy rains.

Ike's eye was just east of Great Inagua Island in the southeastern Bahamas, with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph. It was moving west-southwest at 14 mph and was expected to remain a major hurricane. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Ike's eye was expected to move over eastern Cuba Sunday night and into central Cuba on a track that will likely take it into the Gulf of Mexico.

The evacuation of New Orleans becomes mandatory at 8 a.m. Sunday along the vulnerable west bank of the Mississippi River, and at noon on the east bank. Mayor of New Orleans emphasized that the city will not offer emergency services to anyone who chooses to stay behind.

Gustav had already killed more than 80 people in the Caribbean, and if current forecasts hold up, it would make landfall Monday afternoon somewhere between the East Texas and western Mississippi.

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said they were surprised at how quickly Gustav gained strength as it slammed into Cuba's tobacco-growing western tip. It went from a tropical storm to a Category 4 hurricane in about 24 hours, and was likely to become a Category 5 — with sustained winds of 156 mph or more — by Sunday.

Levee building on the city's west bank was incomplete, a storm surge of 15 to 20 feet would pour through canal and flood the neighboring Jefferson Parish.

The National Hurricane Center also issued a hurricane watch for Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and part of Texas, meaning hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.

Whipped Cream Ocean

Cappuccino Foam - Stretch of beach front was invaded by foam in a sheer displayed of freaky nature at Yamba, in New South Wales, Australia.


It stretched for 30 miles out into the Pacific in a phenomenon not seen at the beach for more than three decades. Scientists explain that the foam is created by impurities in the ocean, such as salts, chemicals, dead plants, decomposed fish and excretions from seaweed. All are churned up together by powerful currents which cause the water to form bubbles. These bubbles stick to each other as they are carried below the surface by the current towards the shore. As a wave starts to form on the surface, the motion of the water causes the bubbles to swirl upwards and, massed together, they become foam.

Lightning

Thunder storm is becoming much common in the country now, chances one unfortunately get caught in a lightning storm also increase proportionately, below is few of the steps you need to beware of in case you are in the situation.

If you are caught outside in a storm, always look for appropriate shelter. Do not take any chances, lightning can use you as a path to the earth just as easily as it can use any other object. Appropriate shelter would be a building or a car.

If you do not have anywhere to go, then you should avoid taking shelter under trees.Trees attract lightning,put your feet as close together as possible and crouch down with your head as low as possible without touching theground.

Never lie down on the ground, If you are indoors, stay off the phone, If you must call someone, use a cordless phone if possible,when powerful enough lightning strikes the phone line, the strike will travel to every phone on the line (and potentially to you if you are holding the phone).

In the case of protecting your household appliances, it is in the bestinterest of yourself to turn off your computer since voltage spike can fry your circuit board if it is not protected by power surge adapter. It is critical to know that the sudden surge in voltage in our electric powercable grid has unforeseen destructive power to fry every sensitive electronic equipments in our household if no protective measure is in place.

If you happen to find refuge in a public shelter like bus stop, or a cover lamp post, please donot put yourself in contact with any conductors in that structure like steel or iron column, post ,etc. as there is a potential the high current can use your body as medium to reach the groundif lightning strike that structure, always avail yourself to insulator if it is possible.

Last but not least, do not get fool by the beautiful sight of lightning as the photo shown, ignorance on your part can cost your life.

Baldness

A California company has developed an at-home DNA test that it claims will identify a genetic variant that 95 percent of all bald men share. Those who test positive have a 60 percent chance of going bald before 40.

The test also identifies whether a man has a less-common variant that means an 85% chance of not going bald by that age.

For $149, men can swab the inside of their cheek and send off the DNA sample to the company, which sends back results three to four weeks later that give all the hairy details about what is in store for their scalp.

An associate professor of genetics and development at Columbia University who is skeptical of the test's reliability because very few genes connected to hair loss have been identified.

It's the best great new for the bald head man that science has ever provide.

Ocean In Danger

Ocean Regions Threatened:

American Association for the Advancement of Science 19-member research team mapped the varying impacts on the oceans and then through overlays of the maps they were able to compile which areas were most affected. Marine ecosystems around the world that have been affected by human activities. High impact areas are shown in red, followed by dark orange, light orange, yellow, green and blue, which signals low impact.

Areas at risk from rising seas in USA:

1) USA northeast

2) Boston Fish Pier

3) Southern tip of Manhattan - Brooklyn and Long Island.

4) Florida Coast

5) Louisiana Wet land and along Mississippi river

6) Galveston

7) San Francisco Bay: Fisherman's Wharf

Agarwood

Agarwood Trade and use

Agarwood is used in Arab countries (especially in the Persian Gulf) as incense. In Japan, it is used in Kōdō or "incense ceremony" along with Sandalwood. Agarwood (Aloeswood) was used by the Ancient Egyptians for embalming dead bodies. Agarwood extract is rarely used in western perfumery due to its prohibitive price.

Due to its rarity and the high demand for it, agarwood and its extracts bring high prices. Indiscriminate cutting of trees of the relevant species in the hope of finding agarwood has resulted in depletion of wild trees. Projects are currently underway in some countries in southeast Asia to infect cultivated Aquilaria trees artificially to produce agarwood in a sustainable manner.

In the past, Malaysia was a popular spot for traders to seek perfumes. The native perfumes produced from real woods and petals successfully attracted traders from all over the world, especially from Portugal and Britain. However, the popularity of agarwood in Malaysia faded after the colonization of Malacca.

Today, gaharu (Malay word for agarwood) is becoming more popular in Malaysia. This is due to a movement by En Sulaiman Bin Doss Mohammed Khan, originating in Muar Johor, to create awareness of the precious sources of agarwood in Malaysia especially in Tenggaru and Pahang.