Ahead Of The Curve: Hudson Bay’s Semicircular Nastapoka Arc
August 2, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steve in Geography & Travel & Nature & Ecosystems & Science & Research. ]
Billions of years of bombardment by space rocks of all sizes have left our planet remarkably unscathed, yet if one looks closely the traces of enormous ancient impact craters are all too obvious. Or are they? Hudson Bay’s Nastapoka Arc may superficially resemble the many frozen lava “seas” of the moon but its actual origins are much more down to Earth.
Great Whitewater North
(image via: Wikipedia)
Hudson Bay, known to many from its prominent place in the center of Canada (and the Canada Dry ginger ale label), was first discovered by European explorers on this date in 1610. Henry Hudson had thought he had found the fabled Northwest Passage but ended up being abandoned by a mutinous crew who didn’t share his desire to confirm the possibility.
(images via: Son of the South and Wikipedia)
Hudson lost out twice: this seemingly endless body of water was merely an enclosed bay, and although Hudson is memorialized by having it named for him, he received nary a farthing for the naming rights. We can possibly add a third fail, as Hudson sailed across the huge Nastapoka Arc without even realizing it. Oh Henry!
(images via: Ye Olde Jonathan Birge, WN.com and TravelJournals)
Looking at a map of Hudson Bay one quickly notices two salient features. One is James Bay, a southeastward-pointing fingerlike projection. The other is the Nastapoka Arc, a strikingly semicircular stretch of coastline that, if expanded beyond its over 155° natural arc, would form a nearly perfect circle some 280 miles (450 km) in diameter.
Knowers Arc?
(images via: BBC, Science Daily and AOAS)
The Earth bears the scars of hundreds of meteor and asteroid impacts, most of them well under a mile or so in diameter. Where are the really big impact craters, like those so plainly visible on the Moon? Most have vanished due to the actions of weathering, erosion, glaciation and plate tectonics over hundreds of millions of years, and most of the larger impacts occurred very early in the Earth’s history.
(images via: Ogle Earth, Daily Galaxy and KEN14)
When a large crater is discovered, it’s often through the analysis of magnetic and/or gravitational anomalies that reveal subsurface evidence of the impact. If any surface features are found, time has distorted them such that their relation to an ancient impact would not be guessed at without the invisible data. A prime example is the Wilkes Land Crater in Antarctica, a 300-mile (480 km) wide basin estimated to be up to 500 million years old.
(image via: Oceandots)
Assuming the Nastapoka Arc is the remnant of an ancient asteroid impact, it sure doesn’t act like one! Only two aspects of the area ring meteoric alarm bells: the exquisite, cookie-cutter sweep of the shoreline and the offshore Belcher Island archipelago which sits just about where a large crater’s central peak would be found. There’s no raised crater rim, though grounds could be made for repeated episodes of glaciation having shaved it flat.
(images via: Manitoba Historical Maps and WorldAtlas)
Here’s another neat anomaly about the Nastapoka Arc. Early mapmakers had neither the knowledge or the instruments required to draw accurate maps, and so many early maps show geographic features in a rounded, less fractal-like style (see 1886 map, above left). As time passed and better maps became available, however, the Nastapoka Arc seemed to regress to a more rounded configuration. This led to a number of geographers, geologists and astronomers to wonder if the feature’s origins didn’t evolve, well, naturally.
Lunar Tunes
(images via: DailyMail UK, FARK.com and Tower Records)
I mention astronomers because the emergence of modern maps roughly coincided with the first clear photographs of our near neighbor in space, the Moon. Our battered satellite displays an abundance of impact craters, some of which were later flooded by lava and became the Lunar Maria. The features were so named due to their dark tints, homogenous surfaces and distinct “shorelines” (actually crater walls). They looked like the oceans of Earth… but did earthly seas look like lunar maria?
(images via: Michael A. Covington, Newport Geographic’s photostream and Vaz Tolentino)
They do indeed… at least, in one particular place: the Nastapoka Arc. Circular reasoning dictates the “unnatural” arc must have been formed by an impact event, a cosmic cookie-cutter as it were. These reasoners thought they had the perfect pair of pairs all lined up: the Nastapoka Arc off of Hudson Bay, and the Sinus Iridium off the lunar Mare Imbrium.
(image via: Our Amazing Planet)
On the face of it, it’s easy to draw conclusions based on a host of circumstantial evidence. “It walks like a duck, it talks like a duck, therefore it must be a duck!” Trouble is, ducks don’t talk… and geologists now look for a number of essential clues to confirm if a crater-like feature has a celestial origin. Above is Crater Lake in Oregon, USA… not the crater you were thinking of.
Derp Impact
(images via: Ottawa-RASC and Barnes & Noble)
Following the 1968 publication of On the possibility of a catastrophic origin for the great arc of eastern Hudson Bay by C.S. Beals, a 1972 investigative expedition headed by Dr. Robert S. Deitz and J. Paul Barringer failed to find any of the now-recognized markers of an interstellar impact: shatter cones, unusual melted rocks such as suevite, pseudotachylite or mylonite, radial faults or fractures, signature injection breccias, or other related evidence of what geologists call “shock metamorphism”.
(images via: God Was Love, USRA and SubarcticMike)
Even the Belcher Islands didn’t fit the mold of an impact’s central peak (or remains thereof), being instead composed of ancient rocks of many types – none of them unearthly or with a direct or indirect impact-related origin. Sorry folks, show’s over, nothing to see here, just plate tectonics at work. You can fool the casual eye but you can’t fool Mother Nature. Then again, maybe we just haven’t found the right evidence yet. As someone once said, “the truth is out there.”
(image via: Nunatsiaq Online)
It’s somewhat ironic that early astronomers once thought the impact-related Lunar Maria were the seas of the moon while the Nastapoka Arc – a sea of the Earth – formed though tectonic processes occurring deep within the Earth. So much for WYSIWYG… geology sometimes takes a long and complex route to an ending that only seems obvious to us.
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Mud Men: Scientists Find an Ocean of Rare Earths
July 5, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steve in News & Politics & Science & Research & Technology & Gadgets. ]
I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah! A Japanese expedition has discovered a wealth – literally – of rare earth minerals in mud samples taken from the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Should the discovery pan out, the rewards could be richer than gold. Even better, refining the bounty involves much more environmentally friendly processes compared to those used in highly toxic traditional mining.
Trash to Treasure
(images via: Mining.com, Nature News and The Australian)
A stunning discovery by a Japanese research team could ripple the waters of science, technology and geopolitics for years to come… “ripple” being the key word as the report concerns samples of seafloor mud dredged from thousands of feet beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
(images via: Investors Insight and iOffer)
Mud, you say? Indeed, the gooey gloop that’s been accumulating for millions of years harbors an unseen but much desired treasure: rare earth minerals, said by some to be “21st-century gold” based on their rarity and value. These attributes are a function of demand, which has been on the rise due to the explosion of new, high-tech products and applications requiring these formerly uncommon elements.
(images via: DachaMetals, New Scientist and NewsWhip)
Now just to clarify, “uncommon” refers to concentrated deposits of rare earth minerals suitable for commercial mining. The elements themselves (the metals Scandium and Yttrium, plus 17 minerals in the Lanthanide series of the Periodic Table) are relatively common components of the earth’s crust – Cerium, for example, is about as common as Copper.
(images via: Qwiki and UCL Graduate School)
The three rare earth elements mentioned above are joined by Lanthanum, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium and Lutetium. Their atomic numbers range from 57 through 71 inclusive, plus 21 for Scandium and 39 for Yttrium. Besides sharing similar properties, many of the rare earths have similar names derived from the Swedish village of Ytterby, where rare earths were first identified in the early 19th century.
Rare Earths, Abundant Uses
(image via: Allvoices)
Before we delve into the particulars of the Japanese ocean discovery, let’s take a look at the many uses of rare earths and why they’re so important today, as opposed to 100, 50 or even 10 years ago. Can you imagine living without your cellphone, MP3 player or other portable electronic devices? What would the modern world be like without hybrid vehicles, flat-screen TVs, night vision goggles, superconducting magnets or anything made by Apple?
(images via: Bloomberg, China Rare Earths and Hurriyet)
Pretty grim, huh? What’s even grimmer is knowing that 97 percent of the current supply of rare earth minerals is controlled by a single nation, China, and boy oh boy do they know it! Annoy China and you just might see your rare earth imports cut to the bone… and by “you”, we mean Japan.
(images via: Asiabizz, Euronews and East Asia Forum)
In November of 2010, an incident occurred in the East China Sea near the disputed Senkaku Islands (Japanese) or Diaoyu Islands (Chinese). While attempting to stop and arrest the captain of a Chinese fishing boat deemed to be trespassing, a Japanese Coast Guard vessel was rammed by the Chinese ship. Check out this video captured by a Japanese crewman and leaked without authorization:
Leaked China-Japan boat crash video sparks row, via RT
(images via: ChattahBox and Blogs/WSJ)
Amid the diplomatic fallout caused by Japan’s taking the Chinese trawler captain into custody, rare earth exports from China to Japan dropped precipitously and remained at lower than normal levels for months. As Japan is a major manufacturer of leading edge electronics and hybrid vehicles, shortages of rare earth elements would be expected to seriously affect these industries while those in China enjoyed unrestricted access to these crucial raw materials. Japanese companies have accelerated rare earth recycling programs but these worthwhile efforts are stopgaps at best. How did we arrive at such a situation?
China Crisis
(images via: Telegraph UK and Reuters)
When one considers mining for rare earths, the NIMBY factor comes into play in a big way. Put plainly, a rare earth mineral mine is about the last thing you’d want in your backyard. Separating the minerals from the waste products involves the use of toxic chemicals and produces particulate pollution on a massive scale. The waste itself is toxic – rare earths are often found in conjunction with radioactive elements such as Uranium and Thorium.
(images via: Latest China and Business Insider)
Voters in the United States and Australia – two nations with large reserves of rare earth minerals – simply won’t tolerate rare earth mining. China, on the other hand, has a totalitarian form of government that puts the needs of China as a whole before those of the “voters”. Even so, there have been rumblings from farmers and agricultural cooperatives in China’s rare earth mining and smelting regions whose crop yields have plummeted as a result of extensive pollution.
(images via: Straits Times and China Daily)
One of the stated reasons China has reduced its exports of rare earth minerals is due to these environmental concerns, though many China-watchers dismiss this as green-washing to hide the real issues: Chinese strategic control over rare earth minerals and the prices charged for them.
(images via: Treehugger and New York Times)
Some might say that rare earth importers have only themselves to blame for the current supply imbalance, and that may indeed be true. There’s the moral issue to consider as well: while we enjoy our iPhones and Prius’s (Prii?), millions of poor Chinese farmers suffer from ill health and reduced quality of life. Wouldn’t it be nice if somebody could find an abundant source of these essential minerals and a cheap, easy and non-polluting method of refining them?
Bounty From the Sea
(image via: CBC)
A recent announcement published in Nature Geoscience would seem too good to be true, which is perhaps why the researchers behind the story ensured that their testing was both vigorous and voluminous in scope before revealing their discovery. According to the researchers, led by Yasuhiro Kato of the University of Tokyo’s department of systems innovation, “Just one square kilometer (0.4 square mile) of (oceanic rare earth) deposits will be able to provide one-fifth of the current global annual consumption.”
(images via: Geeky Gadgets, SBS and Asahi News)
Professor Kato and his team tested over 2,000 sediment samples retrieved from the seafloor at 78 different sites in the central Pacific Ocean – in international waters, one might add. It gets even better: the oceanic rare earth deposits are nearly twice as concentrated as underground deposits in China and they boast a higher ratio of heavier to lighter rare earth elements. Serendipitously, heavier rare earths are more important than lighter minerals in manufacturing technology products.
(images via: Dawn, TCE Today and Geology.com)
Since the oceanic rare earths are suspended in viscous mud and not locked into solid rock, refining them would be a simpler process. No need for blast furnaces or the strong acids that have wreaked so much environmental havoc around land-based mines. Radioactivity from associated trace elements is not a concern as the Japanese researchers measured their occurrence at just 1/5 that of typical underground ores. What’s more, these rare earths are anything BUT rare. According to professor Kato, rare earths contained in the seafloor deposits could amount to 80 to 100 billion metric tons. Estimated global reserves confirmed by the USGS for all land-based sources including China only total 110 million tonnes. Investors may not be happy to hear this news but just about everyone else should be!
(images via: Nature Geoscience, 2Space and Canadian Mining Review)
The only fly in the ointment is bringing the rare earth-infused sea mud to the surface in quantity. The researchers’ samples were extracted from cores ranging from 11,500-20,000 ft (3,500 to 6,000 meters) below the ocean surface. Where there’s a will there’s a way, however, and necessity is the mother of invention after all. “Sea mud can be brought up to ships and we can extract rare earths right there using simple acid leaching,” stated professor Kato. “Within a few hours we can extract 80–90 percent of rare earths from the mud.” Sounds like a plan!
The possibility of cheap, abundant, pollution-free rare earth minerals is as exciting as the prospects of low-cost, sustainable and renewable solar power… though the latter still lurks somewhere in the future. At least there’s hope, both for consumers and for China’s long-suffering farmers and rural villagers. The day may come when, like the 1970s funk-rock band Rare Earth, we all can celebrate another day of living, another day of…LIFE!
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Disaster-Proof Architecture: 13 Super-Strong Structures
April 22, 2011 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design. ]
High-profile earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters have made it more clear than ever that in the face of climate change, stronger buildings able to withstand such events are not just advisable but necessary. These 13 designs range from fantastical concepts for entire floating cities to real homes that have already proven themselves disaster-proof, and from large-scale billion-dollar projects to low-cost housing solutions for the poor.
Earthquake-Proof ‘Coral Reef Island’ for Haiti
(images via: vincent callebaut)
After 2009′s massive earthquake wiped out much of Haiti’s infrastructure, the nation is still struggling to rebuild, and imaginative architect Vincent Callebaut has a suggestion: disaster-proof floating housing inspired by coral reefs. The Coral Reef Project consists of 1000 modular residences in dual wavy stacks, supported on an artificial pier built on seismic piles in the Caribbean. With energy harvested from the waves, hydro-turbines and sea thermal energy conversion, the structure improves the standard of living, providing green terraces for each plug-in ‘pod’ and simplifying delivery of supplies.
Soccer Ball-Shaped Floating Houses
(images via: treehugger)
From a doghouse to a 540-square-foot family dwelling, the ‘Barier’ is an earthquake-proof home shaped like a soccer ball that becomes a floating rescue ship in the event of a natural disaster. The 32-sided urethane-walled surface of the house distributes force, and the base acts as a ballast, ensuring that it stays upright if swept away in a tsunami.
Noah’s Ark – A Floating Hotel
(images via: yellowpelow)
In the event of an earthquake or flood, this hotel would be one of the safest buildings in town. The concept, designed by Remistudio, is structured to resist seismic impact and has an entirely transparent facade to create a biosphere that could allow food production if necessary. Solar panels and rainwater collection would provide inhabitants with energy and water and the bottom half of the hotel rests in a depression in the ground, allowing it to come loose and float.
Earthquake-Proof Solar-Powered Volcano Towers
(images via: ofis)
Looking like a strange sort of man-made volcano, the All-Seasons Tent Tower by OFIS Architecture is a multi-function cylindrical tower powered with solar energy and covered in a mesh skin that filters sunlight for temperature regulation. A system of concrete cores protects the interior – filled with apartments, shops, restaurants, offices and recreational space – from the impact of earthquakes.
Harvest City: Floating Concept for Haiti
(images via: yanko design)
Yet another natural disaster-proof concept takes Haiti from the land to the sea, creating an offshore haven complete with agriculture and industry. Harvest City by E. Keven Schopfer is a complex of floating modules measuring 2 miles in diameter, with four zones connected by a linear system of canals. Cables secure the whole complex, which includes a harbor ‘city center’, to the sea bed. The design even makes use of debris from the 2009 earthquake, putting concrete rubble to work as breakwater filler.
Sticky Rice Mortar in China
(image via: physorg)
Ancient Chinese construction workers found a secret recipe for mortar that has helped their buildings survive for centuries: it’s made with sticky rice. Chemists determined in 2010 that a complex carbohydrate in the ‘sticky rice soup’ which was mixed with lime and used to fill in gaps between stones over 1500 years ago is largely responsible for the strength of the structures, which have withstood multiple earthquakes and even bulldozers.
“Analytical study shows that the ancient masonry mortar is a kind of special organic-inorganic composite material,” the scientists explained. “The inorganic component is calcium carbonate, and the organic component is amylopectin, which comes from the sticky rice soup added to the mortar. Moreover, we found that amylopectin in the mortar acted as an inhibitor: The growth of the calcium carbonate crystal was controlled, and a compact microstructure was produced, which should be the cause of the good performance of this kind of organic-organic mortar.”
Floating Shipping Container Houses for Pakistan
(images via: inhabitat)
Millions of people remain homeless in Pakistan after disastrous 2010 floods – could low-cost, eco-friendly shipping container houses be the solution? The Amphibious Container concept by Richard Moreta is made with reused shipping crates and pallets, resting on a foundation of truck inner tubes which serve as a flotation device in the event of high waters. It can handle a maximum water level of 7.5 feet.
Lilypad Floating City Concept
(images via: vincent callebaut)
Floating mega-cities are Vincent Callebaut’s specialty, and the Lilypad Floating Ecopolis is an especially beautiful example of imagination run wild. Designed for “ecological refugees” in the year 2100, the Lilypad is an amphibious self-sufficient city able to accommodate 50,000 people along with enough plants and animals to sustain them. The lower portion includes a submerged lagoon which filters rainwater.
Low-Income Disaster-Proof Bamboo Housing
(images via: inhabitat)
What if we could keep all of a home’s key elements in a disaster-proof core, surrounded by a bamboo structure that would be inexpensive to replace if a natural disaster destroyed it? That’s the idea behind this low-income housing concept by a group of Indian architects, a design that won the Design Against the Elements competition to create disaster-proof housing. Each three-story apartment complex contains an earthquake, wind and water-resistant core holding water and power lines, bathrooms, kitchens and stairways and an escape hatch to the roof. This provides a safe haven for a low cost, raising survival rates among the most vulnerable populations.
Hurricane-Proof Dome House in Florida
(images via: cyber sharp)
There are lots of cool concepts, but what about disaster-proof homes that have already been built and proven effective? This unusual-looking dome house in Pensacola Beach, Florida has survived four hurricanes including the devastating Katrina, Dennis and Ivan. Owners Mark and Valerie Sigler came up with this $7 million design after Hurricane Opal destroyed their previous house in 1995, leaving them without a residence for 14 months. During Hurricane Dennis in 2004, an NBC News crew stayed in the house and had this to say about it: “You have a one-piece concrete house with five miles of steel in it. The house did exactly what it’s supposed to do.”
Raised Home Escapes Hurricanes, Brush Fires & Floods
(images via: inhabitat)
The owners of this raised house, located on an island off the coast of South Carolina, were determined that their home be able to survive brush fires, hurricanes and floods. The resulting off-grid pre-fabricated house made of recycled steel and SIP panels is engineered to FEMA flood zone requirements and built on helical foundations to withstand 140-mile-per-hour winds. All that space under the house isn’t wasted – in fair weather, it functions as a screened-in shade porch.
The Citadel: Floating Apartment Complex in the Netherlands
(images via: citadelhetnieuwewater.nl)
Not content to simply talk about the dangers of rising sea levels (like much of the rest of the world), the Dutch have begun taking matters into their own hands with architecture that can withstand dramatic changes in the canals that are such an integral part of the Netherlands. As part of a new development called “New Water”, Koen Oltuls of Waterstudio designed ‘The Citadel’, Europe’s first floating apartment complex. 60 luxury apartments, a car park, a floating road and boat docks will work with the changing water levels rather than against them
Foundation (9 Boxes): Absurdist Architecture by Luke O’Sullivan
(images via: luke o’sullivan)
Technically, this isn’t an architecture concept; it’s a work of art – screenprint on wood by Luke O’Sullivan. But Foundation (9 Boxes) still offers an absurdist take on solutions to flood-proof housing, and one that makes a very simple point: build higher.
Says the artist, “‘Foundation (9 Boxes)’ was inspired by dystopian films, absurd architectural concepts, and natural disaster prevention. It was around the time when the housing market crashed, and I was thinking a lot about modular housing units, and façades.”
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Red Tides: When Tiny, Toxic, Single-Celled Animals Attack!
March 29, 2011 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steve in Animals & Habitats & Food & Health & Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Red tides kill huge schools of fish, poison oyster and shellfish beds, and leave swimmers’ skin itchy, irritated and inflamed. Is this fearful phenomenon a case of nature running amok, or is human activity at least partly to blame?
Roll Tide!
(images via: Water Babies, Alan Guisewite and Underwater Times)
Crimson tides are cool when you’re sitting in a stadium cheering on your team. In the ocean or the odd freshwater lake, not so much. Though they may appear exotic and beautiful – especially at night in some cases – red tides often mean bad news for sea creatures and those who consume them… like us.
(images via: Island Nature, Life In Freshwater and CNRS)
Let’s clear up a few misconceptions. Red tides aren’t tides per se, and their appearance bears no relation to the sea’s natural tidal cycle. The term “red tide” originated at a time when observers didn’t have the technology to look closer – MUCH closer – at what was tinting the water red.
(images via: Expateek and Worth1000)
Though it’s probable that red tides have been appearing for many thousands of years, if not longer. The toxic red tides that continue to plague Florida’s coasts in modern times were first documented in the ship’s logs of 16th century Spanish explorers. Speaking of plagues, the phenomenon may have been noted even earlier, in the Bible’s Old Testament. The first of the Ten Plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians was described in the Book of Exodus thusly: “… and all the waters that were in the river turned to blood. And the fish that were in the river died, and the water stank.”
Whip It, Whip It Good
(images via: Marine Science, Underwater Times and Pixdaus)
With the invention of the microscope, biologists were for the first time able to determine the nature of red tides and the type of tiny creatures that produce them. Turns out the culprits are dinoflagellates, a type of protist or single-celled creature that has characteristics of both plants and animals. The term “dinoflagellate” is derived from the Greek word dinos, meaning “whirling”, and the Latin word flagellum which translates to “whip.”
(images via: Coastal Care, Sir Francis Drake Highschool, Rashid’s Blog and Green Prophet/M.Godfrey)
Basically, these tiny creatures propel themselves through the water by whirling and whipping a threadlike extension of their bodies. Though some dinoflagellates are semi-transparent and colorless, others are tinted various shades including red. When the populations of dinoflagellates boom; or “bloom”, as is often stated, their abundance can change the hue of large expanses of ocean to red, pink, purple, orange, gold – and every hue in between. The spectacular red tide bloom just above was caused by dinoflagellates of the species Noctiluca Scintillans, and occurred just off the coast of New Zealand.
(image via: NASA Earth Observatory)
Red tides are often reddish but their color depends on both the concentration and the type of the responsible protists. Photosynthetic algae can burst into huge greenish blooms that can be seen from orbit. Red tides and other harmful algae blooms (HABs, for short) have also been spied by satellites, as the image above shows: check out Florida’s southwest coast.
(images via: Microbial Life, Growing Algae and NASA Earth Observatory)
Being the color of blood alone was enough to worry ancient mariners but the effects of red tides sealed their reputation as harbingers of death and destruction – to sea life, at least. Some (but not all) of the dinoflagellates responsible for red tides produce a potent neurotoxin that is released when they’re ingested. A single dinoflagellate pumps out a tiny amount of toxin, but multiply that by multi-billions and you’ve got poison in the poisson… pardon my French.
Selfish Shellfish
(images via: Slate, Smithsonian NMNH and FEIS)
Massive fish kills – at times numbering in the millions – are often associated with red tide events but it’s what lies beneath that concerns health-conscious seafood consumers. Commercial shellfish such as clams, scallops and oysters can survive red tides but in doing so, they concentrate the neurotoxins in their tissues.
(images via: Lonelee Planet and Serious Eats)
Eating contaminated shellfish (which aren’t red, by the way) can induce symptoms of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), the effects of which are similar to those induced by toxins ingested in poorly prepared Fugu (Puffer fish) at sushi restaurants.
(images via: Kleepet, The National Academies and LIFE)
Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) has been noted on both the east and west coasts of the United States and a range of dinoflagellate species have been implicated as the original source of the toxins – the species of dinoflagellate known as Alexandrium Fundyense is blamed for red tides in the American northeast coast and the Gulf of Maine.
(images via: Texas Parks and Wildlife, BC/CDC and Alaska Tsunami Papers)
It’s not even necessary to EAT contaminated seafood in order to be adversely affected by red tide toxins. The red tide organism Karenia Brevis, which blooms on a near-annual basis in the Gulf of Mexico, exudes a neurotoxin known as Brevitoxin. Winds blowing inshore can pick up the toxin as an airborne aerosol, causing people living up to several miles inland to suffer respiratory irritation, coughing, sneezing, and tearing. The aerosol can affect marine mammals such as seals, manatees and whales as well. The Humpback whale shown above right washed up on a Massachusetts beach after feeding in a red tide.
(images via: Coastal Care)
In response to the perceived dangers red tides can cause, both the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department regularly issue and update online status reports on red tides along their respective coastlines.
Don’t You Make My Red Tide Blue
(image via: The Jetpacker)
“Red tides at night, red tides at night, oh OH…” Can you see a red tide at night? Yes and no… the customary red hue is invisible by night but a different color is often easily and spectacularly evident: blue! many red tide organisms are also bioluminescent – that is, they produce and emit ghostly blue light through through a chemical reaction that occurs within their bodies.
(images via: The Olsons, Comcast Forums and Photoshelter)
Wave action, stormy weather and other sorts of disturbance will provoke these tiny creatures to pump out blue light, but swimmers should keep in mind light isn’t the only thing dinoflagellates can produce.
(image via: Panoramio/Joeyrigatoni)
Waves washing onto beaches can also bring dinoflagellates onto dry land. The tiny creatures can remain alive for some time on or in wave-soaked beach sand, and tales have been told of beachcombers leaving eerie blue footprints as they stroll along the seashore.
Red Tides, Dead Zones… Red Zones?
(image via: Harmful Algae)
Red tides and other algae blooms are prompted by a sudden influx of nutrients into lakes or oceans – yes, even lakes can experience red tides, as seen in the photo of an Italian alpine lake above.
(images via: WIRED and Mongabay)
Nitrate- and phosphate-rich agricultural runoff is one such nutrient source. Not only can runoff spark red tides, over a period of time the result can be a marine “dead zone” like the one in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
(images via: Esquire and Shorecrest)
Excess fertilizer, untreated sewage, farm waste and other organic material washed down the Mississippi river pour into the Gulf, cause massive algae blooms, and deoxygenate the water as billions of protists die and sink to the ocean floor. Similar scenes occur with regularity on the coasts of dense urban conglomerations such as Hong Kong (above).
(images via: Daily KOS, National Geographic and WN.com)
Nutrients aren’t always organic or farm-related, however. Scientists have established a distinct correlation between windblown dust from the Sahara Desert and algae blooms in coastal Florida waters: the iron oxide in the dust acts as a nutrient to certain types of algae.
(image via: National Geographic)
El Niño events and natural upwelling of nutrients caused by ocean currents also play a role in the formation of red tides but it can be stated that without human activity, there would be a corresponding reduction in the frequency and severity of many red tides and algae blooms.
I Sea Red
(images via: Coastsider, Harmful Algae and Daily Telegraph)
If red tides have one saving grace, it’s their redness: it acts as a giant, liquid STOP sign for those who would normally enjoy seafood and shellfish oblivious to any consequences. To that we can probably add their often quite astonishing beauty, as illustrated in the many striking images that accompany this article.
(images via: MSauder and North County Times)
Better red than dead? Absolutely – not a single human fatality has occurred over the long history of Florida’s frequent red tides so look, admire and enjoy nature’s colorful show… and don’t plan any clambakes.
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Brush Your Beak: 10 Amazing Birds With Teeth
September 28, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steve in 7 Wonders Series, Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Do birds have teeth? Ask any biologist and the answer will be “absolutely not!”, but “absolute” is a relative term and when one stretches the definitions of what makes a bird or a tooth, birds with teeth aren’t absolutely impossible anymore.
Greylag Goose Grazes Grasses
(images via: Digital Nature Photography and Mike Milo’s Journal)
The Greylag Goose is very common in Europe and western Asia though most people haven’t seen one up close. If they did, they might back away, and quickly. This is no “silly goose”, at least not if those rows of teeth along its upper and lower jaws mean anything. It’s close relative, the Canada Goose, shares the Greylag’s disconcertingly un-birdlike choppers. If you thought a goose’s bark was worse than its bite, maybe it’s time to reconsider.
(images via: Darrell Gallant and Mark David)
Tooth-like serrations called Tomia run along the outside edges of the Greylag’s beak, top and bottom, and help it neatly clip the shoots and grasses that make up the major portion of its meals.
Domestic Goose’s Devilish Grin
(images via: The Nature of Framingham and GooseGoddessS)
Domestic Geese may be white but they’ve sure got a bite; being closely related to the Greylag Goose they share their progenitor’s toothless – but tooth-like – dentition. Just imagine the glint off these pearly… yellows?… when a gaggle of domestic geese swagger into the barnyard. You talkin’ to me??
(image via: Indiana Public Media)
Making like a snake isn’t going to improve the above goose’s popularity much… guess he’ll have to just grin and bear it. Looks like he’s doing exactly that.
Not Your Average Baby Teeth
(images via: Conservation Report and Kintired)
Awww, cute cuddly baby birds! Hear them go “cheep cheep cheep”. Gently touch their warm, soft, downy feathers. Watch them open their tiny mouths wide and… Oh. My. Gawd!! No need to adjust your screen, there’s nothing wrong with this picture… well, not visually but certainly viscerally. Many species of birds have, to a greater or lesser degree, spiky tooth-like rearward-facing spines in their mouths that ensure what goes in won’t get out. Take another look at the above images – I ensure they’ll be in your dreams tonight.
Penguins Use Tongue Fu
(images via: Allan Hansen and ChrisRay64)
Penguins are chock full of amazing evolutionary adaptations that enable them to perform as efficient fish-catching, meal-processing machines that turn speed-eating into a lifestyle. You’d think that snatching fish in mid-swim would be a challenge without a mouthful of teeth to do the snatching with, but penguins have a trick up their natty sleeves… or in their mouths, to be exact.
(images via: PenguinScience and New Zealand Penguins)
The Adelie penguin above is showing off its spine-covered tongue (left) and similarly bristly upper palate (right). The spines function much as teeth would, holding captured fish securely as the penguin prepares to swallow it. The spines are raked backwards just in case any red herrings decide they want to make a break for it. Oh, and if you’re wondering how penguins kiss, the answer is… very carefully.
Toucan Chew
(image via: Liography)
“It’s hard to soar with eagles when you’re surrounded by turkeys…” Or Toucans, for that matter. It’s hard to take toucans seriously – between their ridiculously enlarged beaks and an unfortunate association with Froot Loops breakfast cereal its a wonder they haven’t been laughed out of the rainforest by now. Then there’s this guy, who stands his ground with a hint of a grin… a sinister smile that appears to reveal a brace of bodacious bird bicuspids! We’re unsure whether flashing faux dentition works to intimidate predators but one thing’s for certain: when Toucan Sam channels Yosemite Sam, any fur-bearin’ varmints in the area had best take notice!
Take A Seat, Tooth-billed Catbird
(image via: Oiseaux.net)
The Tooth-billed Catbird is a type of Bowerbird found in the forests of Queensland in northeastern Australia. There are several different species of catbirds but only the Tooth-billed Catbird has a tooth-like bill… and a seriously badass name to go with it.
(images via: Brooklyn Arts Council, Amazon.com and BB the Renegade)
The tooth-like appearance of the Tooth-billed Catbird’s bill really puts it in the catbird seat… wait a minute, what the heck is a “catbird seat”?? Derived from a folk expression originating in the American South, to be in the catbird seat means being in an enviable or advantageous position. Depending upon who you want to believe, the expression was popularized either by humorist James Thurber in his 1942 short story “The Catbird Seat”, or by the legendary late baseball broadcaster Red Barber who often used it when describing situations in which the batter had run the count to 3 balls and no strikes. The more you know!
Breakout The Egg Teeth
(images via: Backyard Chickens, Della Micah and Honolulu Zoo)
When the going gets tough, the tough get… an egg tooth? Yes indeed, birds have evolved egg teeth (an Egg Tooth, actually) on the end of the beak to assist about-to-be-born baby birds in breaking through their eggshells from the inside. Once they’re out, however, the egg tooth either quickly falls off or is reabsorbed. Though known as an egg “tooth”, the actual structure is more like that of a horn or a bone spur.
(images via: Gravityx9 and Ugly Overload)
All birds (except Kiwis) are born with egg teeth and the protuberance is also common to other egg-laying animals including snakes, crocodiles, turtles, certain types of frogs and -wait for it – spiders!
Prehistoric Toothed Birds
(images via: Life In The Fast Lane, Dalje and EMC/Maricopa)
Birds had teeth through much of their history, from the very ancient Archaeopteryx up to the relatively recent Pelagornithidae. These pseudotooth birds, looked a lot like modern seabirds with two major differences: most species were much larger and all had jagged, bony protrusions of their upper and lower jawbones that gave them a decidedly sinister appearance. It’s thought that these tooth-like projections helped the birds grasp slippery fish and squid, but that begs the question: if today’s seabirds also eat these foods, why lose these useful pseudoteeth?
(images via: IO9 and Coolislandsong24)
The last toothed birds died out early in the Pleistocene Epoch around 2.5 million years ago, possibly their specialized lifestyles rendered them vulnerable to severe environmental changes resulting from changing ocean currents and the advent of recurring ice ages. Their huge size may have also contributed to their demise, as some of these toothed birds really pushed the envelope when it came to practical limitations of the size vs flight equation. The extinct toothed bird Pelagornis Chilensis above, for example, had an estimated wingspan of 5.2 meters (17 feet) while the wingspans of other toothed seabirds approached 9 meters (30 feet)!
Fighting, Biting Warbirds
(images via: Spitcrazy, Tomahawks.us and Amazon.com)
Though the term “warbird” can denote most any retired military aircraft, what comes to mind to most folks are the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters flown with great distinction by the Flying Tigers in World War II. Now these birds had teeth… and were more than happy to use them.
(images via: Wikipedia and WW2Total)
As iconic as the sharkmouth P-40 may be, the actual history of the motif isn’t what most would expect. The first fighter pilots to paint their P-40s in this fashion were not Americans, but British – from RAF 112 Squadron, flying Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks against Rommel’s Afrika Corps out of Egyptian bases in the summer of 1941. That isn’t the end of the story, either. The pilots from 112 Squadron got their inspiration from seeing Messerschmitt Bf-110 fighter-bombers from the Luftwaffe’s Zerstorergeschwader 76 “Haifisch” (shark) Group, formed in the spring of 1940.
Cartoon Birds & Mouthy Mascots
(image via: Sodahead)
Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, Heckle & Jeckle and more… these classic cartoon character birds were embodied by their creators with a wide variety of exaggerated expressions including some very expressive, toothy grins.
(images via: Upcoming Discs, Dinosaur.org, Railbirds and JohnKStuff)
No one (until now, at least) really questioned why these animated avians had teeth, let alone now you see ‘em, now you don’t choppers – and there’s a very good reason: pointing it out to someone like Duckman might just get you a “What the HELL you starin’ at?!!” in return.
(images via: Seahawks Central, Tom McMahon and HD Wallpapers)
From pro sports to beer leagues to school teams, birds have always been popular mascots but the recent trend is to make them look as fierce as possible. Even historic mascots and logos have gotten buff: check out the helmet logos of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, for example.
(images via: Chris Creamer, Fiveprime, Sportslogos.net and Sportslogos.net)
Sometimes though, a frown just ain’t enough; baring teeth bestows a much greater degree of ferocity on even the most timid of songbirds. The logos above all feature toothy birds who add some bite to their beaks… just beak cause, that’s why.
(image via: Morriscourse)
Can’t handle the tooth? Saying fangs with faint praise? Think canines belong on canines and ONLY canines? Fair enough, but just remember: birds with teeth really aren’t impossible, just implausible. Or, just maybe… inci-dental.
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Sky Cities: 12 Hover Homes & Flying Urban Designs
September 13, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Home & Garden, Technology & Gadgets. ]
If we make the land less than habitable, the human race grows too large or we simply develop the means and decide to use it, there’s another place to go aside from the oceans, and that’s up. With some hovering in the sky like giant air balloons and others that are more like semi-stationary aircraft, these 12 interesting concepts for floating and flying cities offer breathtaking visions of high-elevation life.
Tolgahan Gungor’s Floating City
(image via: tolgahan gungor)
Silhouetted in a hazy sky, artist Tolgahan Gungor’s digital city almost looks like it’s simply reflected in a pool of water, until you take a closer look. Hovering in the clouds above the mountains with a land-based city in the background, Gungor’s futuristic creation features airy catwalks that make you wish for a panoramic view.
Buckminster Fuller’s Cloud Nine
(image via: steve dejonckheere)
Buckminster Fuller always had big ideas, including a massive floating city that would have housed 6,000 residents off the coast of Tokyo. The inventor of the geodesic dome imagined taking his spherical creations into the sky with ‘Cloud Nine’, an airborne habitat composed of free-floating or tethered spheres, each one mile in diameter and housing thousands of people. These spheres would function as hot air balloons, and residents would get back and forth with solar-powered aircraft.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky
(image via: io9)
Hayao Miyazaki’s animated film Castle in the Sky sees Laputa, the floating island from Gulliver’s Travels, as the last remaining mythical sky city in an alternate-reality of Victorian Times, resembling the visions of author Jules Verne. Laputa itself is half crumbling ruins overtaken by the greenery of nature, but still futuristic in a steampunk sort of way.
Floating City of Platina from Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia
(image via: creative uncut)
The Playstation 2 game Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia was set on a floating landmass called ‘Sol Ciel’, near which floats the city of Platina and its imposing tower, Ar tonelico. The city is rendered in detail in this concept drawing, showing the land mass in the background and train tracks resembling a roller coaster which provide access to the city and wind around it.
Cloud City by Alex Popescu
(image via: aksu)
Resembling a mirror image of itself complete with upside-down towers, artist Alex Popescu’s Cloud City does have a sort of Star Wars aesthetic which may or may not be reflected in its name. Popescu says he created it for a Romanian music video.
Alderaan Floating City by Ralph McQuarrie
(image via: chienworks)
As head production designer, Ralph McQuarrie is responsible for much of the imagery that Star Wars fans hold so dear. And thanks to McQuarrie, those same fanatics can finally get a look at Imperial capital city Alderaan before it was destroyed by the Death Star.
Fish-Inspired Floating City by John Berkey
(image via: io9)
Like Ralph McQuarrie, John Berkey is best known for his work as a Star Wars concept artist, but some of his creations were even more fantastic and futuristic than the original Star Wars poster art. This bizarre floating city in the sky is like a flying-fish-turned-aircraft, complete with a mouth and a single eye.
Dome Floating City by JF Liesenborghs
(image via: jfliesenborghs)
This spectacular hovering city by artist JF Liesenborghs looks as if it rivals some of the world’s biggest urban centers in sheer size, but it’s all contained within a spaceship-like dome, miles above the surface of the earth.
Migrating Floating Gardens
(image via: rael san fratello)
As green space has gone from ground level to rooftops in urban areas, at least one architect believes they’re due to go higher still. Rael San Fratello imagines ‘Migrating Floating Gardens’, trailing from large remotely controlled floating aircraft that would move around the city and even migrate seasonally to warmer locales.
Avatar’s Floating Mountains
(images via: the daily mail)
Inspired by the real-life (but sadly not floating) Hallelujah Mountains of China, Avatar’s floating mountains on the fictional planet of Pandora may not be physically possible, but they sure are beautiful. In fact, China liked them so much that it decided to rename its own incredible towering hunks of rock the ‘Avatar Hallelujah Mountains’.
The Floating House from Pixar’s ‘Up’
(image via: wired)
How many balloons would it really take to lift a house? In Pixar’s ‘Up’, a huge bunch of balloons was simply tied to the fireplace grate through the chimney. Keeping in mind that this is a fictional animated film, Wired did the calculations to determine whether balloons could really lift a house. Their conclusion: it would take 105,854 balloons, each measuring three feet in diameter, to make a 100,000 pound house buoyant.
Sky-Terra Tower Cities
(images via: inhabitat)
They may retain a tenuous connection to the ground, but the Sky-Terra Towers – living up to their name – would bring a variety of city functions far up into the clouds on landscaped platforms. City residents could escape the pollution at ground level and enjoy public parks, jogging paths, pools, amphitheaters and more high in the sky. Given annoying obstacles like fuel consumption and gravity, such sky towers may be the closest we’ll get to floating cities for a very long time.
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Floating Cities: 15 Last-Hope Homes for a Watery World
September 6, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Steph in Art & Design, Geography & Travel, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
With so many visions of humanity’s future involving the devastating effects of climate change, architects are looking toward a life without land: entire self-contained cities purposefully built on water complete with housing, schools, hospitals, restaurants and shops. These floating city concepts range from recycled oil rigs to what could be the largest structure ever built (if we ever discover a material strong enough to bear the weight, that is.)
Embassy of Drowned Nations
(images via: oculus)
As sea levels rise, it seems that some nations will inevitably sink beneath the depths, leaving behind thousands or perhaps millions of displaced residents. We may hope that the Embassy of Drowned Nations is never actually needed, but time will tell. The artificial island, conceived by Australian design firm Oculus, would temporarily house climate change refugees.
Drowned London, Rebuilt on Oil Rigs
(images via: io9)
If London, too, falls victim to climate change, where will everyone go? Perhaps they’d evacuate to abandoned oil rigs and recycled ship hulls, as in this concept by Anthony Lau. Says the designer, “By utilising the flooded landscape, a floating city of offshore communities, mobile infrastructure and aquatic transport will allow the city to reconfigure through fluid urban planning. Wave, tidal and wind energy will be ideal for this offshore city and the inhabitants will live alongside the natural cycles of nature and the rhythms of the river and tides.”
New Orleans Arcology Habitat
(images via: greener ideal)
Five years later, New Orleans is just beginning to feel like its old pre-Katrina self again – but that could change all too quickly if another major hurricane happened to hit the city. Perhaps residents should aim for a solution that works with rather than against the water they’re surrounded by – like this concept for a ‘New Orleans Arcology Habitat’, a floating metropolis in the Mississippi River. It’s not just a last-ditch emergency shelter: with housing, hotels, cultural facilities, a school system and even casinos, it’s a self-contained community for everyday living.
Boston Arcology
(images via: ahearn schopfer)
Boston may not be living under the constant threat of flooding like New Orleans, but rising seas could still be a problem for this bustling coastal city. Designer Kevin Schopfer would bring 15,000 Boston residents out into the harbor with the BOA development, a floating pedestrian-only city with all the amenities one would expect in any urban setting.
Seasteading San Francisco
(images via: seasteading.org)
For some libertarians, no government is good government – and that’s why they’d like to find a way to live in self-contained, self-sustainable floating cities located in international waters. The Seasteading Institute imagines “homesteading on the high seas” on mobile platforms. The group’s first project may be ‘ClubStead’, a 200-person resort seastead in the San Francisco Bay.
Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid
(image via: wikimedia commons)
If you’re interested in futuristic architecture concepts on the opposite end of the spectrum from the “tiny house movement”, look no further than Japanese firm Shimizu, which has come up with all manner of mega-projects ranging from electricity-collecting belts for the moon to this “Mega-City Pyramid”, which if built would be the largest building ever constructed. A self-contained city for one million people situated on a river delta, the 1.25-mile-high structure isn’t technically possible yet because no known material can support that kind of weight.
Green Float – Lilypad Skyscraper City
(images via: shimizu)
Another big idea from Shimizu is “Green Float”, which is just as much a sky city as a floating city, given that it places housing in tall skyscrapers perched on lilypad-like platforms. Each skyscraper is insanely tall at one mile high each, and would house 1 million residents, with the ‘stem’ of each tower containing vertical gardens.
Disney’s 1984 Sea City of the Future
(image via: paleofuture)
In 1984, Walt Disney had some interesting ideas of what agriculture would be like in farming areas near the sea by the year 2050. Published in a book called ‘The Future World of Agriculture’, this image was accompanied by the following text: “Robots tend crops that grow on floating platforms around a sea city of the future. Water from the ocean would evaporate, rise to the base of the platforms (leaving the salt behind), and feed the crops.”
1968 Sea City
(image via: darkroastedblend)
Dark Roasted Blend bemoaned the fact that, when it comes to visions of futuristic architecture, “the future’s gotten too damned small.” But that’s definitely not the case with those Shimizu projects, or with this mysterious concept, which the blog identifies as “Sea-City, 1968 – architect Hal Moggridge for Pilkington Glass Company.” The design is sadly bereft of further information but it’s certainly a striking image with its illuminated strip of buildings forming an artificial harbor.
Freedom Ship: City at Sea
(images via: freedomship.com)
Aesthetically speaking, the Freedom Ship isn’t quite on the level of most other floating city designs – but that may actually make it easier to achieve. An amazing mile long, this mega-stretched-out cruise ship could house over 50,000 people with living quarters, work space, retail, education and health care. It has its own full-size airstrip on the roof as well as a giant port for smaller leisure boats and visiting vessels.
Shanghai Expo’s Floating City
(images via: treehugger)
It never did materialize, but if this 2007 vision for a floating city had really been constructed, it certainly would have been the most innovative and eye-catching display at the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Dutch designers envisioned an eco-friendly series of honeycomb semi-spheres floating on the Shanghai River, packed with a 3D cinema, pubs, a shopping mall and a restaurant.
Ark City from ‘Brink’
(images via: io9)
The stunning “seagoing eco-city gone wrong” that serves as the setting for the game Brink was inspired by the writings of Geoff Manaugh, founder of BLDGBlog, and by concepts like the Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid. “It was familiar enough to draw on zeitgeist-ish current concerns, but distant enough in time and space that players wouldn’t have seen it before,” wrote Brink developer Ed Stern.
Buckminster Fuller’s Triton City
(images via: a place to stand)
From WebUrbanist’s ‘Retro-Futurism: 13 Failed Urban Design Ideas‘ – “If not for a certain tell-tale 1960s aesthetic, Buckminster Fuller’s ‘Triton City’ could easily fit among today’s designs for floating eco-friendly cities. The futurist, architect and inventor was ahead of his time as usual when he imagined this tetrahedronal metropolis for Tokyo Bay, a seastead for up to 6,000 residents. Fuller wrote about the possibility of desalinating and recirculating seawater ‘in many useful and non-polluting ways’ and using materials from obsolete buildings on land, which were hardly popular ideas at the time.”
The Gyre: Floating Oceanic Skyscraper
(images via: zigloo.ca)
From WebEcoist’s ‘Underwater Cities: 12 Sci-Fi Visions & Real Design Ideas’ – “Technically, the Gyre isn’t a floating skyscraper – it’s more like a seafloor-scraper. Rather than reaching high into the air, the tip of the Gyre descends 400 meters under the ocean’s surface from a floating platform with four arms that buoy the building and create harbors for massive ships. The Gyre, powered by the solar, wind and wave energy, would house a research station and a resort complete with shops, restaurants, gardens, parks and entertainment.”
Sea City 2000
(image via: futuresavvy)
FutureSavvy.net scanned this unidentified article about ‘Sea City 2000′, a concept based on the ideas of both Buckminster Fuller and Paolo Soleri, which features a pyramid-shaped building covered in solar panels on a floating platform. The pyramid contains apartments, shops, gardens and schools while the equipment underneath it would support jobs like fish farming and “mining the sea bed for minerals – sure to be an important activity in the 21st century.”
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Road Warriors: 4 Extreme Long-Distance Animal Travelers
June 13, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Chris in Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
(Images via: BBC, Birding Alaska, Kimberley Accommodation, Flickr, The Americas Group)
Life is a long, arduous road full of many twists and turns. Just ask bar-tailed godwits, European eels, estuarine crocodiles and Northern elephant seals: four animal explorers that certainly accumulate their fair share of annual travel points, some via unique and even clever modes of transportation.
Hitch A Ride on the Wings of a Bar-Tailed Godwit
(Images via: Birding, Real Birder, Surf Birds, Dig Deep)
Twice a year, a bird known as the bar-tailed godwit travels almost 14,000 miles on a trip from Alaska to New Zealand in the fall and then back to its original location in the spring. Big deal, you say. I mean this bird has plenty of time to rest, right? Well, sure it does, but here’s what’s really impressive. The bar-tailed godwit can make this one-way trip in eight days straight, without once stopping for food or rest. Compare this to all other birds, which can only complete trips that are twice as short without stopping. Or to a man-made aircraft that can stay in the air for 82 straight hours (roughly 3 days and 10 hours). How does the record holding bar-tailed godwit accomplish this amazing feat, all the while never getting lost? Well, it is extremely fuel efficient, consuming only .41 percent of its body weight during each hour of any flight, and also aerodynamic in shape. Furthermore, it may have an inner compass that utilizes the Earth’s magnetic field. Whatever the case, this bird is truly something to behold in terms of its travel capabilities.
How Does It Feel to be A Traveling European Eel?
(Images via: Sustainable Sushi, Lazy Lizard Tales, BBC, Desdemona Despair)
Speaking of impressive travelers, European eels are known for swimming approximately 3,418 miles from Europe to the Sargasso Sea (located in the North Atlantic, with the Gulfstream to the west, the Greater Antilles south, and Berumda north), all for the purpose of mating and laying eggs. Once their larvae hatch, these eels swim back to Europe. In comparison to the bar-tailed godwit, these eels are more advantageous travelers in that they consume less energy; however, they are not as fast as these birds. According to a Lund’s University researcher, it would take these eels 345 days to complete the 6,835-mile trip of the bar-tailed godwit. No thanks.
Unlikely/Dangerous Ocean Surfers: Estuarine Crocodiles
(Images via: The Epoch Times, NT News, Odyssey Safari, Yet Another Tentacled Thing)
Reaching up to 23 feet in length and 1,000 pounds in weight, estuarine crocodiles don’t have bodies like the bar-tailed godwit to travel long distances, right? Yet these crocodiles are found in all different parts of the world and known for showing up in unlikely areas. How is this possible? Well, once a sly croc, always a sly croc, as these crocodiles have been known to surf the ocean currents to far away destinations. In the past, people have been surprised to see what appeared to be estuarine crocodiles far from shore. It turns out that these crocodiles, which usually reside in rivers, swamps and brackish estuaries, will turn to the oceans when the tides turn, thus allowing them anywhere from 6 to 8 hours of speedy and effortless travel. When the tides change to undesired directions, these ocean-riding crocodiles will come to shore to rest. With that said, an important question must be asked: how do these crocodiles know where they’re going? Well, it turns out that crocodiles are more like birds that we thought, specifically with internal magnetic compasses that help them determine direction.
The Migratory Lives of Northern Elephant Seals
(Images via: Daily Kos, Kid Cyber, Flickr)
A resident of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Northern elephant seal spends most of its year traveling (spread out during two migration patterns annually) to feeding areas that include the Gulf of Alaska. More specifically, male Northern elephant seals spend roughly 250 days at sea each year, traveling more than 13,000 miles. As for female Northern elephant seals, they spend more time migrating, specifically 300 days a year, while covering more than 11,000 miles in the process. No other mammal spends more time traveling each year than Northern elephant seals. When not migrating, Northern elephant seals are either mating or moulting (i.e. shedding their skin in layers). With so much required of Northern elephant seals, it certainly pays off that these mammals are able to dive great depths and remain submerged for extremely long periods of time. And that they have enough blubber to go around and provide abundant amounts of energy. Happy trails.
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This Plastic World: Recycled Island Made of Old Bottles
April 30, 2010 by admin · View Comments
[ By Delana in Art & Design, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Most of us have heard by now of the floating island of plastic trash in the Pacific Ocean, sometimes called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. While other oceans have similar islands of plastic garbage, the Pacific island has been widely publicized as a prime example of our overconsumption of plastics and our poor methods of dealing with plastic waste. Dutch architects WHIM Architecture would like to put a more positive spin on the plastic island by making it into the first habitable ocean-bound floating garbage heap ever.
There have been plenty of ideas lately about farming and populating the oceans, but this appears to be one of the most ambitious ones. Its possibility would depend largely on how effectively an artificial island could be built of plastic, and just how permanent that island would be. Whether it would hold the weight of a population and its crops – not to mention having some sort of safety measures in place for when storms hit – is still a mystery. Nonetheless, it will be fascinating to see this and other seasteading ideas develop as architects and designers continue to look toward the vast oceans as our future habitat.
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Emerald Kitty: 10 Amazing Green Animals
April 13, 2010 by thegreenchildrenfoundation · View Comments
[ By Steve in 7 Wonders Series, Animals & Habitats, Nature & Ecosystems. ]
Green Insects
(images via: Cae2k, Maniacworld and Wild Madagascar)
Insects are the original green mimics, adopting the predominant shade of the plants they live amongst as a way to hide from predators and conceal themselves from their prey.
(images via: G Living, CrocMusic and Amy Hogan)
Beetles, caterpillars, spiders, flies and more incorporate green pigments into their exoskeletons and skins; an incredible achievement in color matching that has evolved incrementally over hundreds of millions of years!
(images via: SoulPix, Aphids.com and Firefly Forest)
One of the biggest, greenest, and arguably meanest of insects is the Praying Mantis. Approximately 2,200 mantis species have been identified and all are exclusively predatory. Larger mantises have been known to take down frogs, lizards, snakes, rodents and even birds! Of course, the Praying Mantis’ main claim to fame is the fatal attraction the female mantis has for her mate. As Don Dixon puts it in his classic homage to predatory females of ANY species, “She wanted his body so much, she ate his brain.”
Green Fish
In contrast to insects that have embraced the color green while living in a verdant world of plant life, animals of the oceans, lakes and rivers are usually tinted anything but green. The examples of green marine life above owe much to ambient lighting conditions for their bilious hues.
(image via: LiveScience)
There are some outstanding exceptions to the rule of green sea creature rarity, such as the sea slug Elysia Chlorotica. Though unarguably an animal, this unappealing animal has incorporated green chloroplast cells from algae it has eaten into its skin, allowing it to derive energy from sunlight just as plants do. Pretty cool… for a slug!
Green Frogs
(images via: Treehugger, Cam Battley and The View From Here)
As amphibians, frogs are air-breathing but need sources of water to keep their skins moist and to act as growth mediums for their gilled larval stages. As such, frogs are usually found in rainforests and wetlands where being green serves as a natural form of camouflage. Green frogs can be striped, spotted, and in the case of actual Green Frogs, solid green.
(image via: GameSpot)
Tree frogs are among the greenest of the frogs if one uses color intensity as a benchmark. In many cases, however, their brilliant green skins are complemented by big, bulbous eyes of a contrasting color. Green-skinned tropical frogs are usually not poisonous; those that are, typically have skins that are extremely visible against the constant green of rainforest foliage.
Green Lizards
(images via: Scoop NZ, Petzotics and Benweb 3.1)
Lizards often display bright green coloration to help them blend in with the flora within which they eat, sleep and live their lives. Many pet owners are familiar with Green Anole lizards, popular pets that are native to southeastern United States. Anoles are not chameleons but can change their skin color in a broad range from brilliant green to dusky brown to match their local habitat.
(image via: TropicaLiving)
The young Green Iguana above looks like it has no need to hide from anyone or anything – it appears almost dinosaur-like. No surprise that iguanas were often used as “actors” in early sci-fi or horror films when a Battle Of Prehistoric Monsters was called for.
Green Turtles
(images via: Weblo and Underwater.com)
Green Turtles can be found in all the world’s warmer oceanic waters and over a lifespan estimated at up to 80 years they can grow to enormous sizes – the heaviest on record weighed in at 395 kilograms (870 pounds). True marine turtles with flippers for limbs, Green Turtles can migrate extremely long distances from their feeding grounds to their preferred nesting beaches.
(image via: All About Sea Turtles)
Although decidedly greener in hue than other large sea turtles, Green Turtles get their name not from their outside but their inside. Specifically, the turtles have a layer of green-tinged fat that separates their internal organs from the inner side of the carapace.
Green Snakes
(images via: Free Best Wallpapers, The Wallpaperhunter and Dreamstime)
Snakes of various species can exhibit some of the most beautiful shades of green seen on any living creatures. The green pigmentation of snakes has less to do with their species than with their habitat – like other animals, green serves as an effective camouflage whether one is catching dinner, or avoiding being one. Most North Americans have seen the Smooth Green Snake or Grass Snake, a small (up to 1 meter or 3 feet) insect-eating snake common in the United States and southern Canada.
(image via: ScienceRay)
Another exquisitely tinted – though extremely dangerous – green snake is the Green Mamba, found in forested areas of eastern and southern Africa. Green Mambas are smaller and less aggressive than their feared cousins, the Black Mambas, but untreated bites are often fatal as their potent venom quickly paralyzes the victim’s heart and lungs.
Green Birds
(images via: Arcticpuppy, Chockstone Photos and Your Lovely Pets)
The bird at above top is a yellow-green grosbeak, found in Panama and the northern part of South America. If you’re looking for seriously green birds, however, the parrot family is a great start. From common budgies to strikingly beautiful (and surprisingly intelligent) Amazon Parrots, these large and loud birds highlight their predominantly green feathers with dashes of red, yellow and blue.
(image via: Kelli L)
Scaly-breasted Lorikeets like the one pictured above really stand out among other green birds, though you’d be hard pressed to spot one in its natural habitat of Australia’s woodlands. So closely do their green feathers, yellow trim and scalloped patterning resemble the appearance of a fully leafed-out tree that skilled naturalists look instead for the coral-colored beak – most often, there’s a Scaly-breasted Lorikeet attached to it.
Green Sloths
(images via: Firefly Forest and Deoxy)
There are no green mammals per se, but there IS one that often appears green: the Tree Sloth. Whether it’s of the Two-toed or Three-toed variety, sloths are SLOW… so slow, blue-green algae grows in and on their fur during rainier parts of the year. This isn’t a bad thing, as sloths are preyed upon by Harpy Eagles and blending in with their leafy surroundings (and moving very, very slowly) makes it harder for those eagle-eyed eagles to spy them.
(image via: ABDN)
Sloths have evolved a symbiotic relationship with algae, as over time greener sloths would have a survival rate and therefore, more children. The hair of a sloth, when seen through a microscope, is grooved lengthwise and is very pitted, offering algae a hospitable environment.
Green Polar Bears
(image via: Anita)
Polar Bears in their natural habitat appear white, light tan or – in older individuals – very pale yellow. It’s only when they are kept in captivity that another shade rears its ugly head.
(images via: 2Zod, Greenpacks and Sydney Morning Herald)
Zoos in warmer, humid countries like Japan have had problems controlling algae growth on their resident Polar Bears. This isn’t a problem for the bears, though visitors to these zoos may be surprised and concerned by the sight of green bears. The algae issue is different from that of green sloths: the sloths encourage algae growth while the bears are unable to prevent it.
(image via: Anorak)
Algae aside, Polar Bears aren’t actually green but they aren’t white either, they just look that way because their transparent hairs are hollow, trapping light (and heat). If one really wants to be particular, it could be said that Polar Bears are black: without their hair, the bears’ skin is visibly very dark brown to black in color.
Green Transgenic Animals
(image via: Daily Mail UK)
From fruit flies to fish to man’s best friend, a ghostly green glow shines out from a gaggle of genetically modified animals – and you can guess who’s next. You might ask, what’s the point of getting animals to glow in the dark? Well, that eerie green (or sometimes red) glow acts as both a test to see if the introduced gene has “took”, and a marker to indicate whether another gene has been incorporated successfully by the host creature.
(images via: The Viewspaper, Times Online, Freewebs and IO9)
If the offspring of so-called transgenic animals also glow, researchers know that the new gene has been passed on to the next generation. Much easier to just shine a UV light then to kill the animal to perform lengthy diagnostic tests.
(images via: Times Online and Kirmizibaykus)
The genes used in these tests typically come from bioluminescent animals like jellyfish. Often, there’s no way to tell if a creature is transgenic until the UV light is turned on. In other cases the odd greenish tint is obvious to the naked eye under normal lighting conditions. The possibilities of this type of research are very exciting, not to mention, er, colorful.
Bonus Green-ness: Little Green Men (and Women)
As mentioned, these experiments are paving the way for radical new medical treatments humanity will benefit from in the future. One wonders, though, if side-effects from gene transfer research will have us, like today’s transgenic animals, glowing green as well.
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