Category Archives for nature

Leopard

Leopard

The leopard Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four “big cats” in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its range of distribution has decreased radically because of hunting and loss of habitat. It is now chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa; there are also fragmented populations in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Indochina, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Because of its declining range and population, it is listed as a “Near Threatened” species on the IUCN Red List.[1]

Jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar  is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar’s present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Apart from a known and possibly breeding population in Arizona (southeast of Tucson), the cat has largely been extirpated from the United States since the early 20th century.

Lion

Lion

The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight,[4] it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia, with an endangered remnant population in Gir Forest National Park in India, having disappeared from North Africa and Southwest Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans. They were found in most of Africa, across Eurasia from western Europe to India, and in the Americas from the Yukon to Peru.[5] The lion is a vulnerable species, having seen a major population decline of 30–50% over the past two decades in its African range.[2] Lion populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are currently the greatest causes of concern. Within Africa, the West African lion population is particularly endangered.

Black Panther

Black Panther

A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. In Latin America, wild ‘black panthers’ may be black jaguars (Panthera onca); in Asia and Africa, black leopards (Panthera pardus); in Asia, possibly the very rare black tigers (Panthera tigris); and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars (Puma concolor – although this has not been proven to have a black variant), or smaller cats.[1][2]

Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia or Uncia uncia) is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia.[4] The classification of this species has been subject to change and is still classified as Uncia uncia by MSW3 as of 2000[5] and CITES Appendix I.[6] However with more recent genetic studies,[7][8] the snow leopard is now generally considered as Panthera uncia and classified as such by IUCN.[9] Classically, two subspecies have been attributed but genetic differences between the two have not been settled. The snow leopard remains on the endangered species list classified as C1

Cheetah

The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large-sized feline (family Felidae, subfamily Felinae) inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx. The cheetah achieves by far the fastest land speed of any living animal—104 km/h (65 mph)[3][4] in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in three seconds.[5]

This cat is also notable for modifications in the species’ paws. It is one of the few felids with semi-retractable claws, and with pads that, by their scope, disallow gripping.[6] Thus, cheetahs cannot climb upright trees, although they are generally capable of reaching easily accessible branches by leaping.

Cetoscarus bicolor

Cetoscarus bicolor

Cetoscarus bicolor, the bicolour parrotfish, is a species of fish from reefs in the Indo-Pacific. It is monotypic within the genus Cetoscarus, although it has been suggested that the scientific name C. bicolor should be reserved for the population in the Red Sea, in which case the remaining populations are named C. ocellatus.[1] It is among the largest parrotfishes, growing to a length of up to 90 centimetres (35 in). As in many of its relatives, it is a sequential hermaphrodite, starting as female (known as the initial phase) and then changing to male (the terminal phase). The initial phase is dark brown with a large cream patch on the upper part of the body. The terminal phase is very colourful, overall green with pink spotting to the body and edging to the fins. Juveniles are white with a black spot on the dorsal fin and an orange band through the eye.

Parrotfish

Parrotfish

Parrotfishes are a group of fishes that traditionally has been considered a family (Scaridae), but now often are considered a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses.[1] They are found in relatively shallow tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, but with the largest species richness in the Indo-Pacific. The approximately 90 species are found in coral reefs, rocky coasts and seagrass beds, and play a significant role in bioerosion.

General Sherman

General Sherman

The General Sherman is a giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) tree located in the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park in Tulare County, California. By volume, it is the largest known living single stem tree on Earth.[1] The General Sherman Tree is neither the tallest known living tree on Earth (that distinction belongs to the Hyperion tree, a Coast redwood),[2] nor is it the widest (both the largest cypress and largest baobab have a greater diameter), nor is it the oldest known living tree on Earth (that distinction belongs to the Methuselah tree, a Great Basin bristlecone pine).[3] With a height of 83.8 metres (275 ft), a diameter of 7.7 metres (25 ft), an estimated bole volume of 1,487 cubic metres (52,513 cu ft), and an estimated age of 2,300 – 2,700 years,[4][5][6] it is however among the tallest, widest and longest-lived of all trees on the planet.

Inductance

Inductance

In electromagnetism and electronics, inductance is that property of a circuit by which a change in current in the circuit “induces” (creates) a voltage (electromotive force) in both the circuit itself (self-inductance)[1][2][3] and any nearby circuits (mutual inductance)[4][5]. This effect derives from two fundamental observations of physics: First, that a steady current creates a steady magnetic field (Oersted’s law)[6] ; second, that a time-varying magnetic field induces voltage in a nearby conductor (Faraday’s law of induction)[7]. From Lenz’s law[8], in an electric circuit, a changing electric current through a circuit that has inductance induces a proportional voltage which opposes the change in current (self inductance). The varying field in this circuit may also induce an e.m.f. in a neighbouring circuit (mutual inductance).

Opalescent Glass

Opalescent Glass

Opalescence is a type of dichroism seen in highly dispersed systems with little opacity. The material appears yellowish-red in transmitted light and blue in the scattered light perpendicular to the transmitted light. The phenomenon is named after the appearance of opals.

There are different degrees of opalescent behaviour. One can still see through a slightly opalescent phase. The more particles and the bigger the particles are, the stronger the scattering arising from them and the cloudier the particular phase will look. At a certain concentration the scattering is so strong that all light passing through is scattered, so that it is not transparent any more.

Examples are the blue sky in the daytime and the yellowish-red sky at sunset. Another example can be made by adding a few droplets of milk to a glass of water. The liquid appears bluish but if one looks through the glass at a light source, it becomes yellowish-red. Opalescence is an effect exploited in lustreware pottery.

Copepod

Copepod

Copepods (play /ˈkoʊpɪpɒd/; meaning “oar-feet”) are a group of small crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (drifting in sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), and some continental species may live in limno-terrestrial habitats and other wet terrestrial places, such as swamps, under leaf fall in wet forests, bogs, springs, ephemeral ponds and puddles, damp moss, or water-filled recesses (phytotelmata) of plants such as bromeliads and pitcher plants. Many live underground in marine and freshwater caves, sinkholes, or stream beds. Copepods are sometimes used as bioindicators.

Olindias formosa

Olindias formosa

The flower hat jelly (Olindias formosa) is a rare species of jellyfish occurring primarily in waters off Brazil, Argentina, and southern Japan. Characterized by lustrous tentacles that coil and adhere to its rim when not in use, the flower hat jelly’s bell is translucent and pinstriped with opaque bands, making it easily recognizable.

The flower hat jelly can grow to be about 15 cm (6 inches) in diameter. Its sting is painful but non-lethal to humans. Its diet consists mostly of small fish.

Chrysaora fuscescens

Chrysaora fuscescens

Chrysaora fuscescens (commonly known as the Pacific sea nettle or West Coast sea nettle) is a common free-floating scyphozoa that lives in the Pacific Ocean.

Sea nettles have a distinctive golden-brown bell with a reddish tint. The bell can grow to be larger than one meter (three feet) in diameter in the wild, though most are less than 50 cm across. The long, spiraling, white oral arms and the 24 undulating maroon tentacles may trail behind as far as 3.6 to 4.6m (12 to 15 feet). For humans, its sting is often irritating, but rarely dangerous.

Chrysaora fuscescens has proven to be very popular for display at public aquariums due to their bright colors and relatively easy maintenance. It is possible to establish polyps and culture Chrysaora in captivity. When provided appropriate aquarium conditions, the medusae do well under captive conditions.[1]

Cirrina

Cirrina

Cirrina is a suborder of octopuses. Cirrate octopuses have a small, internal shell and two fins on their head, while their sister suborder Incirrina has neither.

The suborder is named for small cilia-like strands on the arms of the octopus. There is a pair of cirri for each sucker. These are thought to play some role in feeding, perhaps by creating currents of water that help bring food closer to the beak. Cirrate octopuses are noteworthy for lacking an ink sac.

Amanita muscaria

Amanita muscaria

Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric (play /ˈæɡərɪk/) or fly amanita (play /ˌæməˈnaɪtə/), is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungus, one of many in the genus Amanita. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, Amanita muscaria has been unintentionally introduced to many countries in the southern hemisphere, generally as a symbiont with pine plantations, and is now a true cosmopolitan species. It associates with various deciduous and coniferous trees. The quintessential toadstool, it is a large white-gilled, white-spotted, usually deep red mushroom, one of the most recognizable and widely encountered in popular culture. Several subspecies, with differing cap colour, have been recognised to date, including the brown regalis (considered a separate species), the yellow-orange flavivolvata, guessowii, formosa, and the pinkish persicina. Genetic studies published in 2006 and 2008 show several sharply delineated clades that may represent separate species.

Nautilus belauensis

Nautilus belauensis

Nautilus belauensis, also known as the Palau Nautilus, is a species of nautilus native to the waters around the Pacific island nation of Palau.[1] N. belauensis is very similar to Nautilus pompilius and shares with this species a closed umbilicus covered with a callus. It differs on the basis of a modified radula and fine raised ridges across and along the shell, which form a cross-grid texture. N. belauensis is the second largest nautilus after the giant form of N. pompilius pompilius. The shell is usually up to around 210 mm in diameter, although specimens up to 226 mm have been recorded.[2]

Anomalocaris

Anomalocaris

Anomalocaris (“abnormal shrimp”) is an extinct genus of anomalocaridid, which are, in turn, thought to be closely related to the arthropods. The first fossils of Anomalocaris were discovered in the Ogygopsis Shale by Joseph Frederick Whiteaves, with more examples found by Charles Doolittle Walcott in the famed Burgess Shale.[2] Originally several fossilized parts discovered separately (the mouth, feeding appendages and tail) were thought to be three separate creatures, a misapprehension corrected by Harry B. Whittington and Derek Briggs in a 1985 journal article.[2][3]

Mollusca

Mollusca

The Mollusca (pronounced /mɵˈlʌskə/), common name molluscs or mollusks[note 1] (pronounced /ˈmɒləsks/), are a large phylum of invertebrate animals. There are around 85,000 recognized extant species of molluscs. Mollusca is the largest marine phylum, comprising about 23% of all the named marine organisms. Numerous molluscs also live in freshwater and terrestrial habitats. Molluscs are highly diverse, not only in size and in anatomical structure, but also in behaviour and in habitat. The phylum is typically divided into nine or ten taxonomic classes, of which two are entirely extinct. Cephalopod molluscs such as squid, cuttlefish and octopus are among the most neurologically advanced of all invertebrates – and either the giant squid or the colossal squid is the largest known invertebrate species. The gastropods (snails and slugs) are by far the most numerous molluscs in terms of classified species, and account for 80% of the total.

Bigfin reef squid

Bigfin reef squid

Sepioteuthis lessoniana, commonly known as the bigfin reef squid or oval squid, is a commercially important species of loliginid squid. It is one of the three currently recognized species belonging to the genus Sepioteuthis. Studies in 1993, however, have indicated that bigfin reef squids may comprise a cryptic species complex. The species is likely to include several very similar and closely related species.

Bigfin reef squids are characterised by a large oval fin that extends throughout the margins of its mantle, giving them a superficial similarity to cuttlefish. They are small to medium-sized squids, averaging 3.8 to 33 centimetres (1.5 to 13 in) in length. They exhibit elaborate mating displays and usually spawn in May, but it can vary by location. The paralarvae resemble miniature adults and are remarkable for already having the capability to change body colouration upon hatching. Bigfin reef squids have the fastest recorded growth rates of any large marine invertebrate, reaching 600 g (1.3 lb) in only four months. They are a short-lived species, with a maximum recorded lifespan of 315 days.

Cephalopod

Cephalopod

A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural Κεφαλόποδα (kephalópoda); “head-feet”). These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head, and a set of arms or tentacles (muscular hydrostats) modified from the primitive molluscan foot. Fishermen sometimes call them inkfish, referring to their common ability to squirt ink. The study of cephalopods is a branch of malacology known as teuthology.

Black Scorpion

Black Scorpion

Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger. Scorpions range in size from 9 mm (Typhlochactas mitchelli) to 21 cm (Hadogenes troglodytes).[1]

Scorpions are found widely distributed over all continents, except Antarctica, in a variety of terrestrial habitats except the high latitude tundra. Scorpions number about 1,752 described species,[2] with 13 extant families recognised to date. The taxonomy has undergone changes and is likely to change further, as a number of genetic studies are bringing forth new information.

Insanity is doing the sam…

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results. We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction. Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

 - Albert Einstein.

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky, a world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist, spoke at the University of Arizona on Feb. 8, 2012. His lecture, “Education: For Whom and For What?” featured a talk on the state of higher education, followed by a question-and-answer session.

Chomsky, an Institute Professor and a Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he worked for more than 50 years, has been concerned with a range of education-related issues in recent years. Among them: How do we characterize the contemporary state of the American education system? What happens to the quality of education when public universities become more privatized? Are public universities in danger of being converted into facilities that produce graduates-as-commodities for the job market? What is the role of activism in education? With unprecedented tuition increases and budget struggles occurring across American campuses, these are questions that are more relevant than ever.