http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/07/cephalopod_development_and_evo.php
Monday, February 1, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
meet the folks
1 HOMO HABILIS ~ NICKNAME: Handyman LIVED: 2.4 to 1.6 million years agoHABITAT: Tropical Africa DIET: Omnivorous – nuts, seeds, tubers, fruits, some meat
2 HOMO SAPIEN ~ NICKNAME: Human LIVED: 200,000 years ago to presentHABITAT: All DIET: Omnivorous - meat, vegetables, tubers, nuts, pizza, sushi
3 HOMO FLORESIENSIS ~ NICKNAME: Hobbit LIVED: 95,000 to 13,000 years agoHABITAT: Flores, Indonesia (tropical) DIET: Omnivorous - meat included pygmy stegodon, giant rat
4 HOMO ERECTUS ~ NICKNAME: Erectus LIVED: 1.8 million years to 100,000 years ago HABITAT: Tropical to temperate - Africa, Asia, Europe DIET: Omnivorous - meat, tubers, fruits, nuts
5 PARANTHROPUS BOISEI ~ NICKNAME: Nutcracker man LIVED: 2.3 to 1.4 million years ago HABITAT: Tropical Africa DIET: Omnivorous - nuts, seeds, leaves, tubers, fruits, maybe some meat
6 HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS ~ NICKNAME: Goliath LIVED: 700,000 to 300,000 years ago HABITAT: Temperate and tropical, Africa and Europe DIET: Omnivorous - meat, vegetables, tubers, nuts
7 HOMO NEANDERTHALENSIS ~ NICKNAME: Neanderthal LIVED: 250,000 to 30,000 years ago HABITAT: Europe and Western Asia DIET: Relied heavily on meat, such as bison, deer and musk ox
olympus mon
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano on Mars. This shield volcano, similar to volcanoes in Hawaii, measures 624 km (374 mi) in diameter by 25 km (16 mi) high. It is 100 times larger than Mauna Loa on Earth. Located on the Tharsis Plateau near the equator, Olympus Mons is bordered by an escarpment. The caldera in the center is 80 km (50 mi) wide and contains multiple circular, overlapping collapse craters created by different volcanic events. The radial features on the slopes of the volcano were formed by overflowing lava and debris.
benz
Above is a Mercedes Benz owned by an Abu Dhabi, an oil billionaire (naturally).
Featuring the newly developed V10 quad turbo with 1,600 horsepower and 2800nm of torque. It goes 0-100km/h in less than 2 secs, 1/4 mile in 6.89 secs running on biofuel.
And that is NOT stainless steel; it is WHITE GOLD! - which I would guess is 80-90 % nickel because it is very durable and hard, maybe some silver or palladium and a very small amount of the element of real gold. Car door handles made of nickel back in the 40’s can be still corrosion free and smooth- like new.
White gold is kind of like white chocolate. There is no cocoa in white chocolate- just sugar, cocoa butter, and milk solids.
So feel good about the price of gas, look what your
hard earned dollars go for...
gold digger
While pure gold is yellow in color, gold can also appear to have other colors. These colors are generally obtained by alloying gold with other elements in various proportions. For example, alloys which are mixed 14 parts gold to 10 parts alloy create 14-karat gold, 18 parts gold to 6 parts alloy creates 18 karat, and so on. This is often expressed as the result of the ratio, ie: 14/24 equals 0.585 (rounded off), and 18/24 is 0.750. There are hundreds of possible alloys and mixtures, but in general the addition of silver will color gold green, and the addition of copper will color it red. A mix of around 50/50 copper and silver gives the range of yellow gold alloys the public is accustomed to seeing in the marketplace.
White gold
White gold is an alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel or palladium. Like yellow gold, the purity of white gold is given in karats. White gold's properties vary depending on the metals and proportions used. As a result, white gold alloys can be used for different purposes; while a nickel alloy is hard and strong, and therefore good for rings and pins, gold-palladium alloys are soft, pliable and good for white gold gemstone settings, sometimes with other metals like copper, silver, and platinum for weight and durability, although this often requires specialized goldsmiths. The term white gold is used very loosely in the industry to describe karat gold alloys with a whitish hue. Many believe that the color of the rhodium plating, which is what they see on many commercial pieces, is actually the color of white gold. The term white covers a large spectrum of colors that borders or overlaps pale yellow, tinted brown, and even very pale rose. The jewelry industry often hide these off-white colours by rhodium plating.
Rhodium-plated white gold wedding ring
About one person in eight has a mild allergic reaction to the nickel in some white gold alloys when worn over long periods of time. A typical reaction is a minor skin rash.[1] White gold alloys made without nickel are less likely to be allergenic.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
roden crater, arizona
For the past 30 years or so an astounding renovation has been underway below Roden Crater, a 3 km-wide dormant volcanic cinder cone located northeast of Flagstaff, the brilliance of which probably won’t be apparent until this large-scale artistic endeavor opens when ready, apparently in 2012.
The artist responsible, James Turrell, purchased the crater in 1979. He studied ‘optics and perceptual psychology’ and is known as a sculptor of light. Over the years, he has used natural and artificial light to help create his work (many in the form of optical illusions) and challenge people’s perceptions of the world around them.
Many of his pieces involve something called a “skyspace,” essentially a room which has had precisely calculated sections of the ceiling and/or walls removed in order for light to enter the room at a specific angle.
The Roden Crater project is an enormous task which is surely one of the most ambitious art projects ever undertaken. After years of meticulous planning, Turrell set about sculpting and hollowing the upper parts of the volcano by removing endless tons of earth. He has since filled those spaces with numerous light-filled chambers and a huge 854-ft long concrete tunnel which serves as an entrance from the side of the volcano.
Depending on the location of these chambers and/or the current position of the sun, moon and stars, different light shows will be experienced by the viewer and various astronomical events will be given a truly unique viewpoint.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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