World News Update.

Dog sledding

As winter begins to wind down, we are still in the middle of sled dog racing season. The Iditarod in Alaska had its ceremonial start in Anchorage last Saturday (the 7th), the Yukon Quest race from Canada’s Yukon Territory to Alaska took place back in mid-February, and the Can-Am Crown races were held in Maine only a couple of weeks ago. The most well-known of the races, the Iditarod Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, covers 1,868 km (1,161 mi), and takes anywhere from 8 to 12 days for mushers and their teams of 16 dogs to complete. Collected here are several photos from recent sled dog races and training sessions around the Northern Hemisphere.

A Dog belonging to Rhonda O’Hearn of Sandown, NH, who is competing in the Willard Jalbert, Jr. CAC 60, a 60-mile race, waits before the start of the race at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Fort Kent, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

Jean Claude Valette of France is pulled by his Siberian Huskies in front of mount Eiskogel during the Sled Dog World Championships in Werfenweng in Austria’s Salzburg province February 15, 2009. (REUTERS/Heinz- Peter Bader)

Ed Obrecht of Ladysmith, Quebec develops ice on his beard during the Irving Woodlands CAC 250 at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Portage Lake, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

Dogs belonging to Rhonda O’Hearn of Sandown, NH, a competitor in the Willard Jalbert, JR CAC 60, anticipate the start of the race at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Fort Kent, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

A dog owned by Marc Alain of St. Etienne des Gres, Quebec accumulated ice on its chin during a 60-mile run in the Willard Jalbert, JR CAC 60 at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Fort Kent, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

A dog sits in a vehicle outside of the Portage Lake checkpoint during the Irving Woodlands CAC 250 at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Portage Lake, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

Jason Barron of Lincoln, MT readies his dogs for rest at the Allagash checkpoint, the last checkpoint of the race, during the Irving Woodlands CAC 250 at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Allagash, ME on Sunday, March 1, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

Dogs take a rest at the first checkpoint during the Irving Woodlands CAC 250 at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Portage Lake, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

Dogs at rest at the first checkpoint during the Irving Woodlands CAC 250 at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Portage Lake, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

Christine Richardson of Canaan, NH, makes her way across the snow near Portage Lake during the Irving Woodlands CAC 250 during the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Portage Lake, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

A dog team races down the trail during the ceremonial start of the 2009 Iditarod Race in Anchorage, Alaska March 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder)

Christine Richardson holds her dog close before competing in the Irving Woodlands CAC 250 at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Fort Kent, ME on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

Mac, one of Jeff Holt’s sled dogs, peeks out of its box as he waits to join the team and begin the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Willow, Alaska, Sunday, March 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)

A dog team charges down the trail shortly after leaving the gate during the ceremonial start of the 2009 Iditarod Race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska March 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder)

The two-time defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Lance Mackey sits with his lead dog Larry at the Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska, Wednesday, March 4, 2009. Mackey, who the won Iditarod and Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race twice in a row in 2007 and 2008, is the only musher to win both of the long distance sled dog races in the same year. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)

Jeff Holt’s team heads down the trail during the official restart of the Iditarod Race in Willow Alaska March 8, 2009. Under sunny skies, teams of mushers and their dogs, mostly Alaskan huskies, lined up with start times every two minutes, then rode through downtown streets to the cheering of dog-sled fans. (REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder)

The dog team of Canada’s Warren Palfrey relaxes in the truck before getting harnessed for the ceremonial start of the 2009 Iditarod Race in Anchorage, Alaska March 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder)

Four-time Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Martin Buser races out of the chute during the official restart of the Iditarod Race in Willow Alaska March 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder)

Sam and Tom, owned by Andre Longchamps of Pont-Rouge, Quebec, look exhausted after running the 250 miles in the Irving Woodlands CAC 250 during the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Fort Kent, ME on Monday, March 2, 2009. Longchamps finished 9th. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

A Russian musher driving a team of sled-dogs past a radar antenna 40km outside of Moscow in Chulkovo, Russia. Members of the Concord Dog Lovers Club held a training session for an upcoming competition. (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/ Getty Images)

A Russian musher handles his team of sled-dogs 40km outside of Moscow in Chulkovo, Russia. (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/ Getty Images)

A musher interacts with a sled-dog 40km outside of Moscow in Chulkovo, Russia. (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/ Getty Images)

A dog team charges down the trail shortly after leaving the gate during the ceremonial start of the 2009 Iditarod Race in downtown Anchorage, Alaska March 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder)

A husky sled-dog runs through deep snow 40km outside of Moscow in Chulkovo, Russia. (DMITRY KOSTYUKOV/AFP/ Getty Images)

A dog from Ramey Smyth’s team is pictured moments before heading into the chute during the official restart of the Iditarod Race in Willow Alaska March 8, 2009. (REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder)

Race veteran Wayne Hall, of Eagle, Alaska, leans into a turn on the trail while driving his dog team along the Takhini River after the start of the 2009 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009, in Whitehorse, Yukon. This year marked the 26th running of the 1,000-mile race between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, Alaska. (AP Photo/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Eric Engman)

A dog handler is licked by a member of the team before harnessing the dog for the ceremonial start of the 2009 Iditarod Race in Anchorage, Alaska March 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder)

March 10, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Robotic systems

Robotic systems continue to evolve, slowly penetrating many areas of our lives, from manufacturing, medicine and remote exploration to entertainment, security and personal assistance. Developers in Japan are currently building robots to assist the elderly, while NASA develops the next generation of space explorers, and artists are exploring new avenues of entertainment. Collected here are a handful of images of our recent robotic past, and perhaps a glimpse into the near future.

Twendy-One demonstrates its ability to hold delicate objects by manipulating a drinking straw between its fingers at the Department of Mechanical Engineering laboratory in Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009. The sophisticated robot has been developed by the university’s team, led by Dr. Shigeki Sugano, in hope of supporting people in aging societies. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

NASA’s Limbed Excursion Mechanical Utility Robot (LEMUR) is being designed as an inspection/maintena nce robot for equipment in space. A scaled-up version of Lemur IIa, could help build large structures in space. The Lemur IIa pictured here is shown on a scale model of a segmented telescope. (NASA/Planetary Robotics Laboratory)

Surgeons use a robot named da Vinci to aid a hernia operation, at the University Hospital Geneva, in Geneva, Switzerland, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008. The University Hospitals of Geneva opened the department for robotic surgery in 2008, where between 50 and 80 surgeons from around the world will have the possibility to train with da Vinci each year. (AP Photo/Keystone, Salvatore Di Nolfi)

Spanish Queen Sofia King Juan Carlos, Japan’s Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko react after watching watching a performance of a robotic suit called HAL (Hybrid Assistive Limb), which can lift up to 30kg rice bags, at Tsukuba University north of Tokyo on November 12, 2008. (KATSUMI KASAHARA/AFP/ Getty Images)

Humanoid robots Wakamaru, produced by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, named Momoko (R) and Takeo (L) in the performace, take part in a drama for the world’s first robot and human experimental theatre, written and directed by Japanese playwright Oriza Hirata, at Japan’s Osaka University in Osaka, western Japan on November 25, 2008. (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)

An Explosive Ordinance Disposal robot places an explosive device next to a suspicious package during a demonstration conducted by members of the Special Operations Command Central Command Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit for participants of the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference 72, at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, Oct. 21, 2006. (Defense Dept. photo by Cherie A. Thurlby)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel poses with a robot called “Bruno” at the stand of the Darmstadt University of Technology during the third national IT summit in Darmstadt November 20, 2008. (REUTERS/Alex Grimm)

Tokyo Fire Department’s rescue robot transfers a mock victim onto itself during an anti-terrorism exercise in the response to a radiological dispersal device in Tokyo, on November 7, 2008. Tokyo Metropolitan government conducted the exercise with eleven organisations including Metropolitan Police Department. (TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/ Getty Images)

A biomimetic underwater robot, named “RoboLobster”, designed by Professor Joseph Ayers, is seen, Aug. 17, 2007, in Nahant, Massachusetts. RoboLobster is intended to be used to recognize changes in seawater and to locate and destroy underwater mines. (Robert Spencer)

Two All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer (ATHLETE) rovers traverse the desert terrain adjacent to Dumont Dunes, CA. The ATHLETE rovers are being built to be capable of rolling over Apollo-like undulating terrain and “walking” over extremely rough or steep terrain for future lunar missions. (NASA)

A Toyota Motor Corporation robot is pictured at a showroom in Tokyo December 11, 2008. (REUTERS/Michael Caronna)

Milton Hospital urologist Dr. Clifford Gluck at the controls of the da Vinci surgical system on April 23, 2008 in Milton, Massachusetts (Boston Globe/Milton Hospital)

Japan’s Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe sits with an assistive robot called “My Spoon” during a demonstration of health care robots in Tokyo on November 10, 2008. “My Spoon”, developed by Japan’s Secom is designed to help disabled people eat meals with joystick for controls using one’s jaw, hand and feet. (AFP PHOTO/JIJI PRESS)

Toyota Motor Corporation partner robots play instruments at the company’s showroom in Tokyo on May 4, 2008. (REUTERS/Toru Hanai)

A mock intruder, tangled in a net that was launched by the remote-controlled security robot T-34, lies on the floor while posing beside the robot in Tokyo January 21, 2009. T-34 users can see live images from the robot’s camera and control the robot using a mobile phone. The robot, which has sensors that react to body heat and sound, can launch a net against an intruder by remote-control during its surveillance. (REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon)

Farmer Wu Yulu drives his rickshaw pulled by a his self-made walking robot near his home in a village at the outskirts of Beijing January 8, 2009. This robot is the latest and largest development of hobby inventor Wu, who started to build robots in 1986, made of wire, metal, screws and nails found in rubbish sites. (REUTERS/Reinhard Krause)

A man shakes hands with robot ‘Berti’ at the Science Museum in London, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009. The robot, a life size humanoid robot, is built to mimic human gesturing, and is on show at London’s Science Museum from Feb. 17 to 19. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

NASA’s K-10 Rover “Red”, an experimental survey and exploration robot, uses its 3-D scanning systems during field tests in the “frost rubble zone” of Earth near Moses Lake, WA in June of 2008. (NASA/Ames Research Center)

Thai and U.S. soldiers look at the display of a robot called “Big Dog” during the opening ceremony of the Cobra Gold military exercise at a hotel in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Apichart Weerawong)

Fair visitors look at the humanoid robotic system “Rollin’ Justin” preparing a tea on March 2, 2009 at the world’s biggest high-tech fair CeBIT in Hanover, central Germany. (RONNY HARTMANN/AFP/ Getty Images)

A Royal Marine poses for photographers with the Unmanned Vehicle Robot, Testudo, at the launch of the Defence Technology Plan in London February 26, 2009. (REUTERS/Luke MacGregor)

Clara Vu, a software architect with Harvest Automation, tests “Mr. Incredible”, a second generation robot prototype, in the firm’s Groton, MA office August 29, 2008. Mr. Incredible is a container handling system for greenhouses, automatically moving potted plants into a widening grid as they grow and need more space. (Ellen Harasimowicz for The Boston Globe)

A two-legged robotic Tyrannosaurus Rex, stands on during the Digital Content Expo 2008 in Tokyo, Japan on October 23, 2008. (Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images)

A student of the Tokyo Institute of Technology displays a prototype security robot “bino3” during a demonstration at a security show in Tokyo on March 3, 2009. The bino3 has four “eyes”, which are two wide-angle stereo camera lenses and two tele-photo stereo camera lenses which can follow an subject or intruder smoothly. (AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO)

Vince Martinelli, an account manager at Kiva Systems, right, checks packages on the “pods”, or shelves with dummy merchandise as robots run through a demonstration of an inventory check at the company’s “demo warehouse” used to show their warehouse automation robots in action. (Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe)

Matthew W. Fisher with Hanson Robotics makers of conversational, character robots holds up a synthetic face to show how light and easy it is to move and show human expressions in Boston. MA on May 15th, 2007. (David L. Ryan/Boston Globe)

A Navy Talon 3B robot approaches a claymore land mine on a sand dune during a training exercise at a training range in Djibouti, Africa, on April 14, 2005. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians from Mobile Unit 4 operate the robot from safe locations through the use of monitors and video equipment attached to the robot. (DoD photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Robert R. McRill, U.S. Navy)

Mental commitment robotic baby seals named “Paro” are recharged at robot exhibition Robo Japan 2008 in Yokohama, Friday, Oct. 10, 2008. The 350,000 yen (US$3,480) Paro, a cooing baby harp seal robot fitted with sensors beneath its fur and whiskers, is developed by Japan’s Intelligent System Co, to soothe patients in hospitals and nursing homes. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

Robots work on an Iranian made Samand car at the Iran Khodro auto plant, west of Tehran, on September 30, 2008. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

CEO of Intel Craig R. Barrett, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and German Chancellor Angela Merkel react to a robotic arm during the opening ceremony of the world’s biggest high-tech fair, the CeBIT, in Hanover on March 2, 2009. (NIGEL TREBLIN/AFP/ Getty Images)

The MSI produced robot named “Rich” demonstrates giving a tour walking down a garden trail in the Grand Hills apartment showroom of the Far Glory property company in Linkou, Taipei County, Taiwan on October 18, 2008. (REUTERS/Nicky Loh (TAIWAN)

NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover in the course of its assembly, before additions of its arm, mast, laboratory instruments and other equipment, seen in August of 2008. Its six wheels are half a meter (20 inches) in diameter. The deck is 1.1 meter (3.6 feet) above the ground. The MSL rover is being assembled and tested for launch in 2011. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

March 9, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Six Sri Lankan cricket players wounded in bus attack in Pakistan

Six members of the Sri Lankan cricket squad were wounded when around a dozen gunmen attacked their bus as it drove under police escort on Tuesday to a stadium in the Pakistani city of Lahore, witnesses and officials said.

Lahore Police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said five people were killed in the attack by the unidentified gunmen, who fired AK 47s and rockets and hurled grenades as the team bus drove to the 60,000-seater Gaddafi stadium in the eastern city.

Sri Lanka’s sports minister said five players and an assistant coach were wounded, two of whom were being treated in hospital.

“Police are chasing the terrorists,” police chief Habib-ur-Rehman said. “They appeared to be trained men.”

The attack had echoes with one on the Indian city of Mumbai in November which led to the Indian cricket team cancelling its planned tour of Pakistan.

India blamed that attack on Pakistan-trained militants and the incident sharply raised tension between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

Sri Lanka, which had been invited to Pakistan after India pulled out, immediately cancelled the rest of the tour.

“We are trying to bring the team back as quickly as possible,” a Sri Lankan cricket official said.

Pakistan TV showed footage of gunmen with rifles and backpacks running through the streets and firing on unidentified vehicles.

The driver of the Sri Lankan team coach said one of the attackers had thrown a grenade under the bus, but it did not detonate.

A witness told Reuters he believed two police commandos were killed along with a regular policeman and a traffic warden.

Shopkeeper Ahmed Ali said the two police commandos had been driving behind the team bus when they were hit.

“It was a very heavy firing and I heard at least two explosions at the time,” said a Reuters witness who had been on his way to cover the test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Cricketer Thilan Samaraweera seemed to be the worst hit, suffering a thigh injury, a player on the team bus who did not wish to be identified told Reuters by phone.

It was unclear whether injuries were caused by bullets, shrapnel or flying shards of glass.

March 3, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

COLORFUL SEA CREATURES

The waters of Bali, Indonesia, are home to this otherworldly creature, a peacock mantis shrimp(Odontodactylus scyllarus). The shrimp feeds by smashing open its prey until it can feed on its tissue.

A smooth trunkfish (Lactophrys triqueter) swims through its coral habitat off Grand Turk Island in the Caribbean. Solitary in nature, the trunkfish blows water out of its mouth to expose prey such as mollusks, crustaceans, worms, and sponges.

A goby fish (Trimma okinawae) peers out of a sea anemone in the Solomon Islands. Gobies are serial sex-changers: They can go through both male and female phases.

A flamingo tongue sea snail (Cyphoma gibbosum) feeds from the top of a sea fan in the waters off Grand Turk Island. These predatory mollusks leave a noticeable trail of dead coral tissue in their wake.

Komodo National Park in Indonesia showcases a carnival of marine life, including this green-and-black nudibranch, seen here devouring a tunicate. The coloring of these carnivorous mollusks comes from the foods they eat.

A Denise’s pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus denise) takes its place among coral polyps in Indonesian waters. At less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) tall, the seahorse’s size and coloration help camouflage it within the gorgonian coral.

Look closely at this tapestry and you’ll find an emperor shrimp and a crab on a sea cucumber. In this symbiotic relationship, seen here on Fiji’s Rainbow Reef, the sea cucumber offers camouflaged protection (and possibly a ride) but is not harmed by its neighbors.

As if translucent spaceships in a night sky, hooded nudibranchs pulse in the waters of God’s Pocket Marine Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada. These sea slugs flex their bodies to swim and can reach lengths of half a foot (15 centimeters) .

A colorful crab and sea urchins make for a psychedelic scene in Clallam Bay, Washington. Marine invertebrates, sea urchins use their spines to move along the seafloor, and crabs are known to be their natural predators.
(NGC)

March 3, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

ORIGINAL TITANIC IMAGES

British luxury liner “S.S. Titanic” in dock at Southampton prior to her fatal maiden voyage.

Location:Southampto n, United KingdomDate taken:1912

Captain E.J. Simth, who would skipper the Titanic on its fateful voyage.

Date taken:1910

British White Star Lines’ luxury liner “Titanic” being towed through Victoria Channel, into Belfast Lough for her sea trials, April 2, 1912.

Location:Belfast, IrelandDate taken:April 02, 1912

Passengers strolling past lifeboats aboard the ocean liner Titanic.

Date taken:1912

Illustrated cross section of British White Star Lines’ luxury liner “Titanic” showing decks, storage areas etc. as well as probable points of impact w. iceberg below waterline.

Date taken:1912

The sinking of the British luxery liner “Titanic” by Henry Reuterdahl based on material supplied by survivors of the shipwreck.

Date taken:April 1912

Illustration of lifeboats around the ocean liner Titanic as it goes down in the Atlantic Ocean.

Date taken:1912

Passengers in life jackets prepare to abandon ship after the ocean liner Titanic struck an iceberg and began sinking.

Date taken:August 12, 1912

Rescuers from the ship Carpathia helping Titanic’s radio operator Harold Bride off ship, Bride’s SOS alerted public to sinking of the Titanic

Anxious callers outside offices of the White Star line waiting to learn news of survivors of shipwreck of luxury liner “Titanic” which sank off Newfoundland after it struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage.

Location:New York, NY, USDate taken:April 1912

Survivors of the ordeal crying after watching the movie about the “Titanic,” and reminisencing about being in the same lifeboat.

Location:US

A view showing the statue in memory of those who were drowned in the “Titanic” disaster in the Donegall Square in front of the City Hall.

Location:Belfast, IrelandDate taken:1941

March 2, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Firefly (Lightning Bug)

Firefly (Lightning Bug)

Fireflies are familiar, but few realize that these insects are actually beetles, nocturnal members of the familyLampyridae. Most fireflies are winged, which distinguishes them from other luminescent insects of the same family, commonly known as glowworms.
There are about 2,000 firefly species. These insects live in a variety of warm environments, as well as in more temperate regions, and are a familiar sight on summer evenings. Fireflies love moisture and often live in humid regions of Asia and the Americas. In drier areas, they are found around wet or damp areas that retain moisture.

Everyone knows how fireflies got their name, but many people don’t know how the insects produce their signature glow. Fireflies have dedicated light organs that are located under their abdomens. The insects take in oxygen and, inside special cells, combine it with a substance called luciferin to produce light with almost no heat.
Firefly light is usually intermittent, and flashes in patterns that are unique to each species. Each blinking pattern is an optical signal that helps fireflies find potential mates. Scientists are not sure how the insects regulate this process to turn their lights on and off.

Firefly light may also serve as a defense mechanism that flashes a clear warning of the insect’s unappetizing taste. The fact that even larvae are luminescent lends support to this theory.
Females deposit their eggs in the ground, which is where larvae develop to adulthood. Underground larvae feed on worms and slugs by injecting them with a numbing fluid.

Map: Locator map for the firefly (lightning bug)

Firefly (Lightning Bug) range

Adults eschew such prey and typically feed on nectar or pollen, though some adults do not eat at all. (NGC)

March 2, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Weird Fish With Transparent Head

February 23, 2009–With a head like a fighter-plane cockpit, a Pacific barreleye fish shows off its highly sensitive, barrel-like eyes–topped by green, orblike lenses–in a picture released today but taken in 2004.
The fish, discovered alive in the deep water off California’s central coast by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), is the first specimen of its kind to be found with its soft transparent dome intact.
The 6-inch (15-centimeter) barreleye (Macropinna microstoma) had been known since 1939–but only from mangled specimens dragged to the surface by nets.

The beady bits on the front of the Pacific barreleye fish in this picture released February 23, 2009, aren’t eyes but smell organs.
The grayish, barrel-like eyes are beneath the green domes, which may filter light. In this picture the eyes are pointing upward–the better to see prey above in the darkness of the barreleye’s deep-sea home.

The barreleye lives more than 2,000 feet (600 meters) beneath the ocean’s surface, where the water is almost inky.
The transparent- headed fish spends much of its time motionless, eyes upward, MBARI scientists discovered while watching the barreleye fish from a remotely operated vehicle
(NGC)

February 26, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

February 24, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Scenes from Antarctica 4

25
Ross Island as viewed from Black Island, about 25 miles away. The glow of lights of McMurdo Station (US) can be seen, and the glow of the sun just below the horizon creates a sunrise which will last for weeks. (Chad Carpenter/National Science Foundation)

26
Icebergs near the Antarctic Peninsula in September 2002. (Jeffrey Kietzmann/National Science Foundation)

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An ice cave near Palmer Station, Anvers Island, Antarctica seen on July 24, 2000. (Zee Evans/National Science Foundation)

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Adelie penguins launch themselves out of the frigid water onto the ice on December 31, 2005. (Patrick Rowe/National Science Foundation)

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U.S. Antarctic Program participants handle ropes to secure the docking of a ship at Palmer Station, Anvers Island, Antarctica in the darkness of June 8, 2000. Swirling snow is illuminated above by the ship’s lights. (Zee Evans/National Science Foundation)

30
Soil biologist Dr. Diana Wall, Colorado State University, looks out across the Taylor Valley near Lake Hoare on January 17, 2006. Her group was conducting research on soil biota. (Emily Stone/National Science Foundation)

31
Brooks de Wetter-Smith’ s photograph of an iceberg titled “Ice Tunnel” (Courtesy of Peabody Essex Museum)

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The polar plateau seen on April 20, 2008. The polar plateau is comprised of a flat white snowy landscape as far as the eye can see in every direction. This photo depicts what most of Antarctica looks like – the bedrock of the continent is more than 2 miles below this snow surface. (Keith Vanderlinde/ National Science Foundation)

February 24, 2009 Posted by s web solution | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A. R. REHMAN WINS OSCAR

A. R. REHMAN WINS OSCAR

A. R. Rahman (Allah Rakha Rehman) wins the Oscar for Best Original score.

A R Rahman, the man who has redefined contemporary Indian music, is the pride of the Indian nation and a role model for millions around the world.
A R Rahman, hailed by Time Magazine as the ‘Mozart of Madras’, is one of the most successful artistes of all time and according to a BBC estimate, has sold more than 100 million albums of his works comprising of music from movies.
In 1991, noted filmmaker Mani Ratnam offered A R Rahman a movie ‘Roja’ which was a run-away success and brought nationwide fame and acclaim to the composer.
The movie also led Rahman to receive the Indian National Award for the Best Music Composer, the first time ever by a debutante.
Time magazine rated the soundtrack of ‘Roja’ in their top ten compilation of the all time 100 best movie soundtracks of the world.
A R Rahman is widely considered as the man who single-handedly revived public interest in Indian film music in the nineties.
A R Rahman has won:
18 Filmfare Awards,
3 MTV Awards,
4 IIFA Awards,
6 Tamil Nadu State Awards,
6 Zee Awards,
4 Screen Awards and lots more.
A R Rahman has also been conferred the prestigious ‘Padmashree’, the highest civilian honour by the Government of India in the year 2000 for his outstanding contribution to the Indian film industry.
AND sLUMDOG MILLIONNAIRE WON 8 OSCARS TOO
VIEW IT ON DISCUSSION BOARD: