Thursday, November 7, 2013

local man stops robbery by quoting pulp fiction

nadeau

Nadeau Charlotte's Photobucket of Inventory

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

In traditional Afghan weddings, brides are unveiled and often wear revealing dresses and heavy makeup. At this wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan, the bride wears green, a color associated with prosperity and paradise in Islamic tradition. Her sober expression reflects the fact that marriage is an enormous milestone in an Afghan woman's life, not just a celebratory event.

In the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Berber brides are dressed for a traditional mass wedding that includes four days of ceremonial rituals. In one, brides purify themselves with water gathered from a river.

Bridal couples pose at a mass wedding at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan.

Adorned with symbols of royalty, a Zulu king dances at his wedding to a Swazi princess in Nongoma, South Africa. The photo was originally published in the January 1978 issue of National Geographic.

A Yemeni Jewish bride near Gaza wears a wedding costume styled centuries ago in this picture that originally appeared in the July 1985 issue of National Geographic.

In keeping with tradition, Samburu families arrange marriages for their daughters when they’re as young as ten. Several days of elaborate ceremonies, such as the warrior dance pictured here in Kenya, are designed to counteract superstitions and bring the new couple good luck.

natgeo

Mount Sinabung Volcano Erupts, Spews Ash 4 Miles High

Mount Sinabung, a volcano in western Indonesia, erupted on November 3 for the third time in recent months, according to news reports.

The 8,530-foot-high (2,600-meter-high) mountain spewed ash up to 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) high, requiring the evacuation of villagers living around its base, theChristian Science Monitor reported.

Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano's status from caution to alert—the second-highest level—after the mountain rumbled back to life. (See pictures of Indonesia's active volcanoes.)

According to Reuters, the military helped evacuate 1,293 people from four villages near the volcano, which is located about 55 miles (88 kilometers) from the capital of the North Sumatra Province, Medan.

About 14,000 people evacuated in September when Mount Sinabung became active. The mountain is one of about 20 volcanoes currently erupting around the world, several of which are found in Indonesia.

The archipelago sits along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a series of fault lines that stretches from the Pacific coasts of the Americas through Japan and into Southeast Asia. (See "Deadly Java Quake Highlights 'Ring of Fire' Dangers.")

Earth-Like Worlds "Very Common"

One in five sunlike stars harbors an Earth-size world that orbits in a "habitable zone" friendly to oceans and perhaps life, a new study suggests.

The findings, detailed in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are based on a statistical analysis of observations made by NASA's now-crippled Kepler space telescope. (Related: "New Role for Disabled Kepler? Finding Exotic Alien Worlds.")

The astronomers estimate that 22 percent of sunlike stars may be orbited by small, rocky planets that reside within so-called habitable zones, where they receive Earth-like levels of sunlight.

natgeo

Anomalocaris and Lobopods

Anomalocaris group. going clockwise from the lower left, the animals are: Anomalocaris canadensis, Amplectobelua symbrachiata, Hurdia victoria, Opabinia regalis, Kerygmachela kierkegaardi, Schinderhannes bartelsi, Pambdelurion whittingtoni and Laggania cambria.

Lobopods. Clockwise from top: Microdictyon sinicum, Hallucigenia sparsa, Onychodictyon ferox and Aysheaia pedunculata. Note, by the way, that what appear to be “eyes” on Microdictyon, Hallucigenia and Onychodictyon are actually sclerotized armor plates.

if christ is lord...

Meet the Prehistoric Giant Platypus

by Shannon Palus

An indigenous Australian legend has it that the first platypus was the odd offspring of a duck named Tharalkoo and a rat. In a nod to the tale, researchers have named a newly identified ancient giant platypus species Obdurodon tharalkooschild.

All that was found of the creature was a single tooth at a site in Queensland, estimated to be between 5 million and 15 million years old. The molar (above, right) shows wear that indicates that the platypus probably crushed hard-shelled prey, like turtles (above, left), also found fossilized at the site.

Modern adult platypuses do not have teeth, but their ancestors did. Based on a comparison of the size of the molar to the teeth of other extinct platypuses, the team reports today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology that O. tharalkooschild was probably about a meter long—bigger than any other platypus and twice the size of the species alive today…

(read more: Science News/AAAS)

warmer climate, more parasites, fewer moose

Thanks To Parasites, Moose Are Looking More Like Ghosts

The news for moose is not good across the country's northern tier and in some parts of Canada. A recent and rapid decline of moose populations in many states may be linked to climate change, and to the parasites that benefit from it.

In Minnesota, moose populations have dropped from a high of more than 12,000 two decades ago to fewer than 3,000 now. Moose in some parts of Manitoba have declined by 50 percent and more.

"The colder the weather, the more moose you're going to see," says hunter Nat Rockwell, as he brings a female moose he bagged in New Hampshire's White Mountains to a weigh station.

The 70-year-old tool and die machinist watches as the moose is hoisted and clipped to a scale. She weighs in at 630 pounds. Rockwell asks New Hampshire's moose project leader, Kristine Rines, to check for ticks.

Though most ticks have already abandoned the moose body, Rockwell's concern about ticks is well-placed. Biologists and hunters around the nation say that declines in moose populations have often been accompanied by a surge of infestations of the winter tick. A single moose can carry more than 100,000 of the bloodsuckers.

Sometimes, Rines says, anemic, infested animals are transformed into "ghost moose."

That happens when the moose "have scratched all winter long trying to get the ticks off, and they break their hair all off, and because the hair follicle is broken you see the white inner portion," she says. "And they literally look like ghosts."

One recent year, nearly every moose calf-tracked by New Hampshire biologists died. Rines says several factors are at work. Those include shorter winters, with less snow on the ground. That helps the ticks, which die if they drop off an animal onto snow, but survive and breed if there is bare ground to land on.

Climate change, Rines says, could spell the fate of the moose in New Hampshire. Not only do shorter winters benefit the ticks, they also benefit white-tailed deer, which act as a reservoir for a parasite known as brain worm. That parasite doesn't harm the deer, but it'sfatal for moose.

Which Companies Dominate Your State’s Politics?

Voters across America are heading to the polls today for state and local elections, and just like in federal elections, big business has been writing big checks to campaigns across the country. To follow the money in your state, see which industry topped the list of campaign contributions in the last election cycle.

Using data from www.FollowTheMoney.org, we mapped which industries gave the most to state-level campaign donors for the 2012 election (ballot initiatives and party PACs excluded) and limited our search to the top business in each state. We also excluded unions, law firms and nonprofits, since political giving from these entities can be associated with a variety of industries…

(read more: Moyers Journal)

Monday, November 4, 2013

indian bottle accent lamp

world market

10 super cool sharks you probably haven't heard of

Angel Shark (Squatina)
There are 23 different species of angel shark and all live in shallow, warm seas, though some migrate to warmer waters during the summer. Most types grow to a length of 5 ft (1.5 m). They hunt at night in their own territories. Unlike rays, they have sharp teeth for feeding on shelled prey and small fish. They disguise themselves from prey by covering their bodies in sand and often having sandy-colored skin. An angel shark is hard to see as it lies on the seabed. Its body is so flat that it appears no more than a low mound in the sand. Unlike a ray, it uses its tail rather than its large fins to swim. Read more about this shark
Australian Ghost Shark (Elephant Shark) (Callorhinchus milii)
A chimaera; their length is 2 to 4 ft (60 to 120 cm). Males of the species mature at about 2.13 ft (65 cm). The club-like projection on the snout of the ghost shark is used to search for prey. The end is covered in pores that sense movement and weak electrical fields. Ghost sharks feed primarily on shellfish and molluscs. Recently, the ghost shark was proposed as a model cartilaginous fish genome because of its relatively small genome size. The genome of the ghost shark is estimated to be 910 Mb long (Mb = megabases = 1 million basepairs) which is the smallest among all the cartilaginous fishes. Recently, an Elephant Shark Genome Project has been launched to sequence the whole genome of the elephant shark. Read more about this shark
Blue Shark (Prionace glauca)
A requiem shark; the largest blue shark on record measured 12.6 ft (3.83 m) in length, but they are rumored to get as large as 20 ft (6.09 m). Blue sharks are the great travelers of the world, covering huge distances each year. They do not dive deeply for food, but hunt almost any kind of surface-living fish. They particularly like whale meat and are known to gather in “feeding frenzies” when they find a whale carcass. Blue sharks often school segregated by sex and size, and this behavior has led to their nickname “wolves of the sea”. Read more about this shark
Goblin Shark (Mitsukurina owstoni)
Grows to about 13 ft (4 m) in length. The goblin shark was first discovered off the coast of Japan over 100 years ago, yet little is known about it. Goblin sharks live in water between 330-2,300 ft (100-700 m) deep. They have sensory pores on their long snout which detect prey and their flabby body suggests an inactive lifestyle. Also known as the elfin shark. Sometimes called a “living fossil” as it is the only extant representative of the family Mitsukurinidae, a lineage some 125 million years old. Read more about this shark
Porbeagle (Lamna nasus)
A mackerel shark; reaches a maximum total length of about 12 ft (3.66 m). Porbeagle sharks prefer more temperate seas and may be seen near the British and North American coasts in summer. They are heavily built and partly warm-blooded, being able to keep their body temperature several degrees higher than surroundings. Read more about this shark
Puffadder Shyshark (Haploblepharus edwardsii)
A catshark; typically reaches 2 ft (60 cm) in length. When threatened, the puffadder shyshark (and other members of its genus) curls into a circle with its tail covering its eyes, giving rise to the local names “shyshark” and “doughnut”. It is a predator that feeds mainly on crustaceans, polychaete worms, and small bony fishes. Read more about this shark
Pyjama Shark (Poroderma africanum)
A catshark; it grows up to 3.6 ft (1.1 m) long. This abundant, bottom-dwelling species can be found from the intertidal zone to a depth of around 330 ft (100 m), particularly over rocky reefs and kelp beds. When threatened, it curls into a circle with its tail covering its head. The primarily nocturnal pyjama shark spends most of the day lying motionless, hidden in a cave or crevice among vegetation. It often forms groups, particularly during summer. Also known as the striped catshark. Read more about this shark
Sawshark (Pliotrema and Pristiophorus)
There are 7 species of sawshark; they can range up to 5.6 ft (1.7 m) in length. Sawsharks stir up the seabed with their long, toothed snout, feeling for small fish and crabs with their barbels. Baby sawsharks’ teeth are covered with skin up to the time they are born, so they don’t injure their mother or one another. Read more about this shark
Velvet Belly lanternshark (Etmopterus spinax)
A dogfish; generally no more than 18 in (45 cm) long. Lives in deep water. The velvet belly is so named because its black underside is abruptly distinct from the brown coloration on the rest of its body. Like other lanternsharks, the velvet belly is bioluminescent, with light-emitting photophores forming a species-specific pattern over its flanks and abdomen. These photophores are thought to function in counter-illumination, which camouflages the shark against predators. They may also play a role in social interactions. Read more about this shark
Zebra Shark (Stegostoma fasciatum)
A carpet shark; attains a length of 8.2 ft (2.5 m). Its long tail accounts for half its length. The zebra shark is named after the stripes that break up its shape as it lies in shallow water. The stripes make it difficult to see in shallow water. The stripes become less vivid as the shark ages.Read more about this shark

i hate star wars...GTFO

Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus)

Also known as the Maori or Napoleon Wrasse or the Napoleon fish, C. undulatus is a species of wrasse that is distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific. Adult humphead wrasse typically inhabit coral and lagoon reefs and are opportunistic predators, feeding on a wide variety of animals ranging from crustaceans, molluscs, fish and echinoderms. They are also one of the few animals that can prey on toxic animals like boxfish (Ostraciidae) and Sea hares (Aplysia). C. undulatus will hunt during the day and at night they will retire to caves or ledges at night.

Currently Cheilinus undualtus is listed as endangered and faces threats from habitat loss, capture for the aquarium trade and fishing. To try and combat this C. undulatus is protected in several countries.

Classification:

Animalia-Chordata-Actinopterygii-Perciformes-Labridae-Cheilinus-C. undulatus

Images: J. Brew and Patryk Krzyzak

Long Before Trees Overtook the Land, Earth Was Covered by Giant Mushrooms

by Colin Schultz

From around 420 to 350 million years ago, when land plants were still the relatively new kids on the evolutionary block and “the tallest trees stood just a few feet high,” giant spires of life poked from the Earth. “The ancient organism boasted trunks up to 24 feet (8 meters) high and as wide as three feet (one meter),” said National Geographic in 2007. With the help of a fossil dug up in Saudi Arabia scientists finally figured out what the giant creature was: a fungus. (We think.)

The towering fungus spires would have stood out against a landscape scarce of such giants, said New Scientist in 2007.

Fossils of the organisms, known as Prototaxites, had peppered the paleontological findings of the past century and a half, ever since they were first discovered by a Canadian in 1859. But despite the fossil records, no one could figure out what the heck these giant spires were.

That all changed in 2007 when a study came out that concluded the spires were a fungus, like a gigantic early mushroom. But not everyone was sold on the idea that Prototaxites was an early fungus. No one’s questioning the spires’ existence—people just have trouble trying to imagine that such a huge structure could be a fungus…

(read more: Smithsonian Magazine)

Illustration by Mary Parrish, National Museum of Natural History; photograph reprinted from Review of Paleobotany and Palynology,Vol. 116, “Rotted wood—alga—fungus: the history and life ofPrototaxites Dawson 1959,” by Francis Hueber, p. 146, Smithsonian Institution