Not every country is a green and pleasant land. Ever tried to eat sand? Most people in a mild climate, fertile lands with rich streams and lakes should always be happy to have so much ‘life support’ around them. There are some nasty places for us humans out there …
Lanzarote has some of the most obscure and moon like landscapes on this planet. So if you never made through NASA’s boot camp here is your chance to have a similar experience.
I think the Nile and the Ganges are true nation builders. They have created countries and great civilizations. I think they should be worshipped as gods and symbols of nature - nurturing us humans and allowing us to create our civilizations.
Too bad we don’t seem to care much about our life givers. The Ganges is incredibly polluted in some areas and therefore kills people and animals alike. What a shame.
From Wikipedia:
The Ganges River (Ganga in Indian languages; Ganges is the Latin form) is the major river in northern India and Bangladesh. The river has a long history of reverence in India and is often called the ‘holy Ganga’. It originates as the Bhagirathi from the Gangotri Glacier in the Uttaranchal Himalayas and joins the Alaknanda near Deoprayag to form the Ganga. Then on, the Ganga flows across the large plains of North India (called the Gangetic Plains) and empties into the Bay of Bengal after dividing up into many distributaries. One of them is the Hoogli River near Kolkata, another major distributary being the Padma River that enters Bangladesh and merges with Jamuna River, a branch of the Brahmaputra River.
The total length of the river is about 2,510 km (1,557 mi). One of the densest human population belts on earth is built around the Ganga. The region encompassing the delta near the Bay of Bengal coast is known as The Sundarbans (Beautiful Forests) — a region of thick mangrove forests, and one of the major habitats of the Royal Bengal tiger.
The Ganges Basin is incredibly fertile and, at present, about one in every 12 people in the world (8.5%) live in its catchment area. However, due to this incredible concentration of population, pollution and destruction of habitats is increasing at an alarming rate in the region. The Yamuna River — a major river in its own right, and nearly as sacred — is a tributary of the Ganga, and their confluence is near what is the site of the traditional holy Hindu city of Prayag, now known as Allahabad.
Two species of dolphin can be found in the Ganges, the Ganges River Dolphin and the Irrawaddy Dolphin. The Ganges is also notable in that it contains a rare species of freshwater shark, Glyphis gangeticus about which little is known.
Swords into Plough-Shares, Aircraft Carriers into Reefs. Watch this amazing photo documentation of the sinking of the USS Oriskany. Wow!
From BBC News: A method of creating super-nutritious but flatulence-free beans has been developed by scientists. Beans are a cheap and key source of nutrition especially in the developing world, but many people are thought to be put off by anti-social side-effects.
A Venezuelan team says fermenting beans with certain friendly bacteria can cut the amount of wind-causing compounds, and boost beans’ nutritional value. The research appears in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Flatulence is caused by bacteria that live in the large intestine breaking down parts of food - such as soluble fibre - that have not been digested higher in the gut .
So - no reason anymore to blame your dog for anything!
I just can’t help myself - these creatures look aristocratic, snobbish and funny at the same time. They can get pretty big (over 1 meter in length) and heavy (up to 60 kg) - bit like a large dog. They are domesticated in South America for meat.
Actually it would be funny to keep one of these as a pet. I would call mine Lord Mullberry or Lady Waffelhoffel … something like that.
Nature invented the male to create a greater genetic variety in the gene pool of it’s species. There are creature out there that simply clone themselves, but they are much more vulnerable to diseases and parasites.
So guy, we are just there to spread the code!
Volcanoes have always been a threat to humanity - although more on a local then a global scale. But scientist just recently discovered so called supervolcanos (for some good information visit this BBC section). Their eruption could devastate huge areas and influence global climate. If this thing blow Mount St. Helen will look like a tiny firecracker.
So is the end near? Nobody knows for sure. Seismic and volcanic observations are made constantly and the area is certainly active, but there are clear indicators if this thing goes off tomorrow or in a thousand years.
More? Wikipedia entry
An elephant and his mahut are a special kind of family. Sometimes when beloved work elephants die, people erect little temples in their honor. Too bad we hardly have any personal relationship to nature and the other inhabitants of this great planet.
On the other side - I can’t build a temple for every McChicken, Cow and Fish I ate …
Science us the ultimate tools to understand and appreciate the beauty of this great cosmos. Intelligent design doesn’t need an intelligent designer …
The Deep is a brilliant book and web site from Claire Nouvian about deep sea creature. And they are amazing! Who needs alien when we have creatures like the Dumbo Octopus on this very planet!
Make sure to watch the Gallery.
Amazing! Cool! Wunderbar! Nature still creates the most stunning creatures and designs.
Those beautiful silent travelers of the oceans, they are adorable and graceful. It just pains me to realize they are hunted for their eggs and flesh.
Let’s save them!
I wonder if a meditation on the moon would grant us more tranquility? But I would love to visit this place in my lifetime.
Ed sent me this great link: BBC Global Dimming (from 2005). A great documentation about the complexity and effects of climate change. This one concentrates less on CO2 and Methane (the usual suspects) but simply on dirt & dust in the atmosphere.
Here is a more scientific Wikipedia link for some more background information. As usual with BBC stuff: highly recommended.
Thanks Ed!
Did you know that grass is a relativly new ‘invention’? Dinosaurs didn’t chew it, but the around the ice age it got pretty popular.
A have a new favorite animal: the wombat. I always thought these are cute LITTLE marsupials. But they are actually pretty big and even more adorable. According to the great website ‘The Wombat’s Burrow‘ they are absolutely unsuitable as pets. Make sure to watch some of the videos on the case study page (loacted at the end of the page). Thank evolution for Australia and it’s many great beasts!
More? Wombats @ Wikipedia and loads of YouTube videos
