THE LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA
The first documented lighthouse was the Lighthouse of Alexandria, built in 200 BC on the island of Pharos by the Egyptian Emperor Ptolemy. On the base an inscription proclaims that Sostratus of Cnidus dedicated it to the "savior gods" on behalf of navigators. It is considered as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, it is thought to have been 150 metres (492 ft) high - about three times taller than modern lighthouse and that the light was provided by "eternal" fires of resinous wood and/or oil.

Technorati tags: Seven Wondres of the World , Lighthouse , Lighthouse of Alexandria

Colourless Precious Stone
The colourless Cullinan, is the biggest diamond ever found, weighed 0,62kg (one and a quarter pound) uncut.The world's biggest diamond was found in South Africa in 1905. It weighed 3,106.75 carats uncut. It was cut into the Great Star of Africa, weighing 530.2 carats.
The Lesser Star of Africa, which weighs 317.40 carats, and 104 other diamonds of nearly flawless colour and clarity now form part of the British crown jewels.

Technorati tags: Precious Stones , Diamonds , Cullinan

The Most Poisonous Octupus
The blue-ringed octopus is the size of a golf ball but its poison is powerful enough to kill an adult human in minutes. There's no known antidote. The only treatment is hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poison has worked its way out of your system. The last thing the victim sees are the blue rings - visible only when it is about to attack.
The poison is not injected but is contained in the octopus's saliva, which comes from two glands each as big as its brain. Poison from the one is used on its main prey, crabs, and is relatively harmless to humans. Poison from the other gland serves as defence against predators. The blue-ringed octopus either secretes the poison in the vicinity of its prey, waits until it is immobile and then devours it, or it jumps out and envelops the prey in its 8 tentacles and bites it.
There are two species of blue-ringed octopus: the Hapalochlaena lunulata, which is the larger and grows up to 20cm (8 in) across its stretched tentacles. The other, the Hapalochlaena maculosa, is small and more common, weighing a mere 28 grams (1 oz). They are found in the shallow coral and rock pools of Australia. And they're rather cute, being brown or yellow in colour. But don't pick one up - by the time you see the electric-blue rings, it's too late!

Technorati tags: Aquatic Organism , Octopus , Blue-ringed Octupus , Hapalochlaena lunulata , Hapalochlaena maculosa

Do you know that cats are the descendants of the Felis silvestris species, which is divided into the African wildcat, European wildcat and Steppe wildcat.
The smallest of the descendants is the rusty-spotted cat found in Sri Lanka. It is about half the size of the domestic cat. The largest is the tiger,the male Siberian or Amur Tiger.
The lion is the king of the cats. It stands out from the other cats, not just in its distinctive appearance but also in being the only feild that lives in organised social groups.
The fastest cat, the cheetah, is also the fastest land animal. Unlike other big cats it does not roar - it makes high pitched yelps, barks and chirruping sounds. And like your kitty, it does purr.

Technorati tags: Animals , Cats , Felis silvestris , Tiger , Lions ,Cheetah

Quote of the day
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.
ANNE FRANK

MOUNT AGUNG
Isn't this lovely? This how Mount Agung looks during sunset. Mount Agung the most revered and the highest peak in Bali stands tall at over 3100 meters. The Balinese consider Mount Agung to be the center of the world. All temples in Bali point towards Mount Agung. On its slope, the Mother Temple of Besakih, with its uncountable steps, solemnly wait for the arrival of the gods and the goddesses, for when they step down from heaven, they come to Besakih by way of Mount Agung.

Technorati tags: Bali , Mountains , Mount Agung

PELICANS SAVED FROM STARVATION
I usually wonder how animals,vegetations survive due to our practises. I was surfing the net when I came across an article on 10 brown pelicans that were saved from starvation. This incidence prompted The International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia to go in search of others that may be in the same condition as the ones found and luckily they found two dozens, most of them found near Santa Cruz and Monterey, all of which are two to four months old. Megan Prelinger, a specialist at the Research Center said,"Pelicans can eat up to five pounds of fish per day once they recover". He also that the birds are recieving treatment. I wish those birds quick recovery and MORE POWER TO THE INTERNATIONAL BIRD RESCUE RESEARCH CENTER AT CORDELIA.

Technorati tags: Endangered Species , Birds , Pelicans , Brown Pelicans

Biggest Shrimp ever
Believe it or not the biggest shrimp in Bogotá, Colombo is 15 inches long; usually the sizes of shrimps are about 8 inches long. This fascinated a Colombian biologist to purchase the shrimp at the cost of $800.

via: dominicantoday.com

Technorati tags: Marine Animals , Shrimps

Are Eagles Bald?
Recently, my friend and I had a heated argument on whether Eagles were bald. My friend insisted that they were but I adamantly refused that they weren’t, so this prompted me to find out and guess what! They are not bald. Their heads are covered with short white feathers. Bald eagles are on occasion called American Eagles, Fishing Eagles, Washington eagles and White-headed Eagles. They belong to a scientific group of eagles called Sea Eagles or Fish Eagles. Their favorite food is Fish but when fish is scarce they hunt rabbits, squirrels, birds or even young deers

Technorati tags: Birds , Eagles , Bald Eagles , American Eagles , Fishing Eagles , White-headed eagles , Washington Eagles , Sea/fish Eagles

A Place to be
If there’s any place in the world I would like to visit is the Niagara Falls which is a massive waterfall located on the Niagara River in Eastern American, on the border between United States and Canada. This lovely waterfall comprises of three separate waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls (sometimes called the Canadian Falls), the American Falls and an adjacent fall, Bridal Veil Falls. It is the most powerful waterfall in north America. It is renowned for its beauty and is both a valuable source of hydroelectric and challenging project for environmental preservation. It is a popular site for tourists. So try to visit this falls and I know that you would not regret every moment spent at the fall.

Technorati tags: Falls , Niagara Falls , Horseshoe falls , American Falls , Bridal Veils Falls , Tourist Attraction

Coastlines, what about it?
Coastlines only make up about 8 percent of the Earth’s land, but they have about 26 percent of all biological diversity. This world of seabirds, clams, crabs, starfish, anemones, fish, kelp, and marine mammals, among many others, is a beautiful place with many different types of plants and animal communities. Yet it can be a harsh and difficult place as well, battered by waves, soaked in salty sea spray, and constantly changed by tides and erosion. Coastlines are usually divided into rocky, sandy, or muddy, and each type supports its own ecosystems.Unlike some of the animals that inhabit oceans and coastlines, birds, fish, turtles, and marine mammals can travel, some for long distances, to take advantage of the best temperatures, light, and food available. The migrations of the gray whale and the leatherback sea turtle, for example, are impressive, and the speed and distance that dolphins can travel is quite a feat.

Technorati tags: Habitats , Sea Creatures , Oceans , Coastlines

The True Nature of Dolphins.
I love dolphins because of their natural abilities to swim fast and leap clear of the water, this makes them such entertaining performers. They are the most agile and speedy of all marine mammals. They are known to travel with ships, leaping in front of the bow and swimming in the wake. Dolphins live and play in schools of five to hundreds of animals. Some can swim and roll in formation, just like harmonized swimmers. Dolphins also work together to help when one animal is sick, hurt, or giving birth. They take turns pushing the hurt or young dolphin to the surface so it can breathe. Pods of dolphins will attack an intruder as a group and can even kill a large shark by ramming it as a group!

Technorati tags: Mammals , Dolphins

The Worst Cyclone Disaster.
According to reinsurers Swiss Re, Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the coast of Louisiana, USA on August 29, 2005, caused damage expected to reach a total of $45 billion (£25 billion). Katrina was the first category 5 hurricane of the 2005 hurricane season.

via: guinnessworldtoday

Technorati tags: Natural Disasters , Cyclone , Hurricane Katrina

The Misunderstood Wolf.
Most of us grew up hearing stories about the "big, bad wolf." The fact is that wolves are not really big or bad. They aren’t even harmful to humans. Wolves are just animals trying to survive in the world, just like we are. Wolves belong to the same family of animals as the dog you may have as a family pet, the Canidae. Wolves are predators that hunt and eat other animals. In some places they are considered a endangered species. There are many wolf organizations and government agencies working to both save wolves and educate people about them.

Technorati tags: Predators , Endangered Species , Dogs , Wolves

A Variety of Birds

There are more than 8,800 known species of birds. The smallest is the Bee Hummingbird Mellisuga Helenae, which weighs only 0.05 ounces (1.5 grams). The largest bird is the Ostrich Struthio Camelus, which can weigh up to 340 pounds (154 kilograms). The bird with the most feathers is the whistling Swan Cygnus Columbianus, which has more than 25,000 feathers. The bird that flies the fastest is the White-throated Spine-tail swift Hirundapus Caudacutus, at 110 miles per hour (177 kilometers per hour), and the bird that lives the longest is the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua Galerita, which has been recorded to live more than 80 years.

Technorati tags: Birds , Bee Hummingbird , Ostrich , Swan Cygnus , Hirundapus Caudacutus , Cockatoo Cacatua Galerita

Most Dangerous Parasite
Malarial parasites of the genus Plasmodium, which are carried by Anopheles mosquitoes, have probably been responsible for half of all human deaths (excluding wars and accidents) since the Stone Age.
Malaria, the most important parasite disease in the world, is thought to be responsible for 300 million cases of illness and up to a million deaths annually, more than 90% of which occur in sub-Saharan Africa.
Researches were done on the insects whereby the DNAs of the parasite were extracted and those that were analyzed were the offspring’s of wild mosquitoes from a village in Mali where malaria is endemic.
Researches are going to help bring this widespread to a minimum.

Technorati tags: Parasites , Anopheles Mosquitoes

The World's Heaviest Fruits.

The heaviest apple weighed 1.849 kg (4 lb 1 oz)? It was grown and picked by Chisato Iwasaki at his apple farm in Hirosaki City, Japan.
A cabbage grown by Bernard Lavery of Llanharry, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Wales, weighed 56.24 kg. (124 lb.).
The heaviest lemon weighed 5.265 kg (11 lb 9.7 oz) and was grown by Aharon Shemoel (Israel) on his farm in Kefar Zeitim, Israel.
A pear grown by Warren Yeoman of Arding, New South Wales, Australia weighed 2.1 kg (4 lb 8 oz)
The heaviest pumpkin weighed 666.32 kg (1,469 lb) when it was presented by Larry Checkon (USA) at the Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Growers Association Weigh-off, on October 1, 2005.

Technorati tags: Fruits , Heaviest Fruits

DID YOU KNOW?
I was surfing the net and I found out that a person who loves cats is called an ailurophile; cat haters are known as ailurophobes. So check yourself and find out which of them you are.
HAPPY FINDING!

Technorati tags: Cats , Ailurophile ,Ailurophobes

The World's tallest Tree

The world's tallest living tree is the Stratosphere Giant measuring 112.7 m (370 ft) as of July 2004. This coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) was discovered by Chris Atkins (USA) in August 2000 in the Rockefeller Forest of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California, USA. The precise location of the giant tree is always kept secret by the Park Rangers in case enthusiastic tree fans accidentally damage its fragile environment. The second tallest tree living, known as The Federation Giant, measures 112 m (368 ft) and also lives at the Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Technorati tags: Trees , Stratosphere Giant