Stix Blog

A Fat Cat

This is one big fat cat. A 44 pound cat was found outside a shelter in New Jersey.

WHOLE LOTTA LOVE: Meet A 44-Pound Cat

'Princess Chunk' Awaiting Owner At Camden Shelter

BLACKWOOD, N.J. (CBS) ― Here kitty kitty … very
large kitty.

It's not every day someone loses a 44-pound fat cat. But
apparently someone has. Or perhaps the big kitty doesn't take orders well and
just walked away on its own accord. Either way, the huge mass of feline flesh is
looking for a home.

The original owner has until Saturday to reclaim her
before the kitty is eligible for adoption.---wcbstv.com

Earthquake hits So Cal

A 5.8 earthquake hit near Los Angelesthis mornign and shook buildings and rattled people, but no immediate reports of damage or any injuries. I hope that everyone is safe and sound.

Some interesting creatures

Sorry for the long break, but I had a bachelor party on Sat and yesterday I went and saw Cruefest

Today my mom sent me these intersting creatures over at Dark Roasted Blend

Here is my favorite:

Check out the others also

Panda's

Now for some cute little animals.  They are so cuddly.

One zoo in southwest China has its hands full with 16 baby pandas. The Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center is dealing with the results of a breeding boom where 16 pandas have been born. The brood includes five sets of twins. The cubs are weighed and measured every five days (see pics)

The heaviest tips the scale at just over 24 pounds, while the lightest weighs about 11 pounds. The pandas are due to stop suckling soon - just about the time they'll start learning to walk. Once weaned , the panda cubs will attend panda kindergarten. In the meantime, more little ones are expected at the centre since 38 giant pandas were artificially impregnated.

SO CUTE!!!!!

New Element Discovered

Discovery-New Element

New Element Research has led to the discovery of the heaviest element
yet known to science. The new element, Governmentium (Gv),has one
neuron, 25 assistant neurons, 88 deputy neurons, and 198 assistant deputyneurons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons,which are
surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would normally take less than a second can take from four days to four years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2-6 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neurons and deputy neurons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neurons, forming isodopes.This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an
element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Julia h/t to cousin Mike in Seattle

Boomdeyada! I Love the Whole World

Earthquakes in China, volcanoes spouting in Chile and Italy, stock market queezy, elections looming.  Enough bad news in the world.  Let this make your day lovely for a change.

Hat tip to The Anchoress at http://theanchoressonline.com/

Julia

Midwest Floods

This pretty much happens every year,but this year we had some torrential rains and we haven't even gotten to the snow melt yet.  It will be interesting if we will have another 500 year flood, because up north they hav had record amounts ofsnowfall.

Heavy Rains Cause Flooding Across Midwest

Jim Perotti, head of maintenance for Holiday Shores Lake, clings to a depth gauge after becoming trapped by the suction force of a drain in Illinois on March 19.

Perotti was stuck in the frigid water for more than an hour before he was rescued and airlifted to a hospital in serious condition.

The torrential downpours that battered the Midwest also took two lives in southern Illinois, when floodwaters swept a truck off a rural road, the Associated Press reported.

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—Photograph by John Badman/The Telegraph/AP

National Geographic

Rebirth of the Eagle

A great powerpoint about the symbol of our country.  The Bald Eagle.

Download RebirthoftheEagle.pps

Amur leopard

H/T to Barking Moonbat Early Warning System

A Amur leopard cub has hit the spotlight in England.  The rare Amur leopard is foundmainlyin Russia now because of trophy hunters and fur traders.  These are magnificentcreatures and why anyone wouldwantto harm these animals is beyondme. they are beautiful and shouldbe protected from the idiots pocahers and trophy hunters.

Amur leopard cub goes outside for first time

Last Updated: 4:01pm GMT 28/02/2008

A rare Amur leopard cub has finally ventured out into the world at a British zoo today.

Born in captivity, the female cub is part of a breeding programme aimed at conserving the species whose numbers are thought to be fewer than 35 in the wild.--The Telegraph

Go and look at all the pics, this is one cute feline.

Pretty Bird

Scientist have found the fossils of the smallest pterosaurs found yet.  It was the size of a swallow.

February 11, 2008—An illustration shows a newfound "mini pterodactyl," which lived in the canopies of ancient gingko forests in what is now China about 120 million years ago.

The sparrow-size Nemicolopterus crypticus, whose discovery was announced this week by Chinese and Brazilian scientists, is one of the smallest pterosaurs known.

Despite its small stature and 10-inch (25-centimeter) wingspan, the toothless reptile may be the ancestor of gigantic pterodactyls that stretched 20-feet (6-meters) from wing tip to wing tip.

This fossil “opens a new chapter on the evolutionary history of this group of [flying] reptiles,” said study lead author Alexander Kellner, of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.

The study was published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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—Image courtesy Michael Skrepnickaption

National Geographic

The Taming of the Giant Shrew

Wel it is not exactly huge, but it is the biggest Shrew species found to date.  It is about %50 biggfer than the next biggest Shrew.

The newly discovered gray-faced sengi is the world's largest known elephant shrew, scientists announced today.

The insect-eating mammal is up to 8.3 inches (21 centimeters) longer, counting the tail, and 25 to 50 percent heavier than any other elephant shrew species, researchers say.

Photograph courtesy California Academy of Sciences

National Geographic

You Dirty Rat

There was some pretty big rats a few thousand years ago. 

January 16, 2008—An illustration (top) and sculpture flesh out the fossilized skull of the largest rodent ever found. (Read full story.)

The South American "rat" lived two to four million years ago and weighed about 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms), based on an analysis of its 21-inch-long (53-centimeter-long) skull, a new study says.

The rodent may have used its bulk and fearsome teeth to fend off attacks from saber-toothed cats and giant meat-eating birds, the researchers added.
--National Geographic

It's raining Iguanas

Well it is raining Iguanas in Florida, it must be Manbearpig.

It rains iguanas at Bill Baggs park

By TIM CHAPMAN

tchapman@MiamiHerald.com

Wednesday night's bitter cold came like a giant Sominex for the tree-dwelling iguanas of South Florida.

When the temperature falls below a certain level, the large green lizards drop out of the trees and litter the ground.

They aren't dead. At least a lot of them aren't. It is as if they are in suspended animation, said Robert Yero, park manager at Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne.

Miami Herald

Oh it is because ti is cold, not because it is hot.   My bad I thought Manbearpig had a hand in it.

Benedict the Science Guy Challenges ManBearPig

From the Cranmer blog in the UK, which is usually very snarky about Popes and such.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Pope: Global warming assessment must be based on ‘science not dogma’

It is something of a topsy-turvy world when a pope tells us to base our thinking on ‘science, not dogma’, and doubtless an aggrieved Galileo may feel somewhat vindicated, but here is a man on the world stage who is prepared express doubts about the ‘Green’ movement which is just as dogmatic in its assumptions as any religion. This declaration from the Pope is consistent with the man’s propensity to favour the virtues of rationalism, which he has already applied to interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims.

The Roman Catholic Church is not anti-scientific. While its treatment of Galileo may have been acknowledged to have been ‘an error’, Copernicus dedicated his famous heliocentric work, ‘On the Revolution of the Celestial Orbs’, to Pope Paul III. Copernicus then bequeathed this work to Andreas Osiander, a Lutheran clergyman who knew that Protestant reaction to it would be negative, since Luther himself was not favourable to the new theory. And Kepler also found opposition among his fellow Protestants for his heliocentric views, yet found a welcome reception among a group of Jesuits who were noted for their astronomical interests.

And it is the Pope of Rome who is now challenging the orthodoxy of the political aspects of the global warming movement around the world. That, of course, is true acknowledgement of the scientific method: a world apart from the hysteria surrounding the half-baked theories of pseudo-scientists and ignoramuses like Al Gore. Here we have a pope who is defending the protestants of postmodernity, confronting head-on the climate change ‘prophets of doom’ with the warning that any solutions to global warming ‘must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology’.

He dismisses talk of man-made emissions melting the ice caps as ‘scare-mongering’, and demands that assessment ‘be carried out prudently, in dialogue with experts and people of wisdom, uninhibited by ideological pressure to draw hasty conclusions, and above all with the aim of reaching agreement on a model of sustainable development capable of ensuring the well-being of all while respecting environmental balances’.

And now there has been a 'breakthrough' in Bali, with the administration of President Bush apparently conceding on the matter and now joined by Australia’s new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, there is an inexorable spiritual drive to inculcate the population of the world with the worship of Mother Earth, to indoctrinate with the dogma of Gaia, against which the Pope alone declares: 'Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.'

posted by Cranmer at 12:10 PM

Source:  http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2007/12/it-is-something-of-topsy-turvy-world.html

Smart guy, that Benedict.

Julia

Reality-Based Scientists Have Their Say in Bali

Skeptical Scientists Urge World To ‘Have the Courage to Do Nothing' At UN Conference

December 11, 2007

From Senator Inohe's Website - some reality-based scientific info for the Bali meeting.

Posted By Marc Morano - Marc_Morano@EPW.Senate.Gov - 7:45 AM ET

Skeptical Scientists Urge World To ‘Have the Courage to Do Nothing' At UN Conference

BALI, Indonesia - An international team of scientists skeptical of man-made climate fears promoted by the UN and former Vice President Al Gore, descended on Bali this week to urge the world to "have the courage to do nothing" in response to UN demands.   

Lord Christopher Monckton, a UK climate researcher, had a blunt message for UN climate conference participants on Monday.

"Climate change is a non-problem. The right answer to a non problem is to have the courage to do nothing," Monckton told participants. 

"The UN conference is a complete waste of our time and your money and we should no longer pay the slightest attention to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,)" Monckton added. (LINK)

Monckton also noted that the UN has not been overly welcoming to the group of skeptical scientists.   

"UN organizers refused my credentials and appeared desperate that I should not come to this conference. They have also made several attempts to interfere with our public meetings," Monckton explained.

"It is a circus here," agreed Australian scientist Dr. David Evans. Evans is making scientific presentations to delegates and journalists at the conference revealing the latest peer-reviewed studies that refute the UN's climate claims.

"This is the most lavish conference I have ever been to, but I am only a scientist and I actually only go to the science conferences," Evans said, noting the luxury of the tropical resort. (Note: An analysis by  Bloomberg News on December 6 found:  "Government officials and activists flying to Bali, Indonesia, for the United Nations meeting on climate change will cause as much pollution as 20,000 cars in a year." - LINK)

Evans, a mathematician who did carbon accounting for the Australian government, recently converted to a skeptical scientist about man-made global warming after reviewing the new scientific studies. (LINK)

"We now have quite a lot of evidence that carbon emissions definitely don't cause global warming.  We have the missing [human] signature [in the atmosphere], we have the IPCC models being wrong and we have the lack of a temperature going up the last 5 years," Evans said in an interview with the Inhofe EPW Press Blog.  Evans authored a November 28 2007 paper "Carbon Emissions Don't Cause Global Warming." (LINK)

Evans touted a new peer-reviewed study by a team of scientists appearing in the December 2007 issue of the International Journal of Climatology of the Royal Meteorological Society which found "Warming is naturally caused and shows no human influence." (LINK)

"Most of the people here have jobs that are very well paid and they depend on the idea that carbon emissions cause global warming. They are not going to be very receptive to the idea that well actually the science has gone off in a different direction," Evans explained.   

[Inhofe EPW Press Blog Note: Several other recent peer-reviewed studies have cast considerable doubt about man-made global warming fears. For most recent sampling see: New Peer-Reviewed Study finds 'Solar changes significantly alter climate' (11-3-07) (LINK) & "New Peer-Reviewed Study Halves the Global Average Surface Temperature Trend 1980 - 2002" (LINK)  & New Study finds Medieval Warm Period '0.3C Warmer than 20th Century' (LINK) For a more comprehensive sampling of peer-reviewed studies earlier in 2007 see "New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming Fears" LINK ]

‘IPCC is unsound'

UN IPCC reviewer and climate researcher Dr. Vincent Gray of New Zealand, an expert reviewer on every single draft of the IPCC reports since its inception going back to 1990, had a clear message to UN participants.

"There is no evidence that carbon dioxide increases are having any effect whatsoever on the climate," Gray, who shares in the Nobel Prize awarded to the UN IPCC, explained. (LINK)

"All the science of the IPCC is unsound. I have come to this conclusion after a very long time.  If you examine every single proposition of the IPCC thoroughly, you find that the science somewhere fails," Gray, who wrote the book "The Greenhouse Delusion: A Critique of "Climate Change 2001," said.

"It fails not only from the data, but it fails in the statistics, and the mathematics," he added.

‘Dangerous time for science'

Evans, who believes the UN has heavily politicized science, warned there is going to be a "dangerous time for science" ahead.

"We have a split here. Official science driven by politics, money and power, goes in one direction. Unofficial science, which is more determined by what is actually happening with the [climate] data, has now started to move off in a different direction" away from fears of a man-made climate crisis, Evans explained.

"The two are splitting. This is always a dangerous time for science and a dangerous time for politics. Historically science always wins these battles but there can be a lot of causalities and a lot of time in between," he concluded.

Carbon trading ‘fraud?'

New Zealander Bryan Leland of the International Climate Science Coalition warned participants that all the UN promoted discussions of "carbon trading" should be viewed with suspicion.

"I am an energy engineer and I know something about electricity trading and I know enough about carbon trading and the inaccuracies of carbon trading to know that carbon trading is more about fraud than it is about anything else," Leland said. 

"We should probably ask why we have 10,000 people here [in Bali] in a futile attempt to ‘solve' a [climate] problem that probably does not exist," Leland added.

‘Simply not work'

Owen McShane, the head of the International Climate Science Coalition, also worried that a UN promoted global approach to economics would mean financial ruin for many nations.

"I don't think this conference can actually achieve anything because it seems to be saying that we are going to draw up one protocol for every country in the world to follow," McShane said. (LINK)

"Now these countries and these economies are so diverse that trying to presume you can put all of these feet into one shoe will simply not work," McShane explained.   

"Having the same set of rules apply to everybody will blow some economies apart totally while others will be unscathed and I wouldn't be surprised if the ones who remain unscathed are the ones who write the rules," he added.

‘Nothing happening at this conference'

Professor Dr. William Alexander, emeritus of the University of Pretoria in South Africa and a former member of the United Nations Scientific and Technical Committee on Natural Disasters, warned poor nations and their residents that the UN policies could mean more poverty and thus more death.

"My message is specifically for the poor people of Africa. And there is nothing happening at this conference that can help them one little bit but there is the potential that they could be damaged," Alexander said. (LINK)

"The government and people of Africa will have their attention drawn to reducing climate change instead of reducing poverty," Alexander added.

Related Links:

New UN Children's Book Promotes Global Warming Fears to Kids (11-13-2006)

Scientists Counter AP Article Promoting Computer Model Climate Fears

New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming Fears

Newsweek Editor Calls Mag's Global Warming 'Deniers' Article 'Highly Contrived'

Newsweek's Climate Editorial Screed Violates Basic Standards of Journalism

Latest Scientific Studies Refute Fears of Greenland Melt

EPA to Probe E-mail Threatening to ‘Destroy' Career of Climate Skeptic

Prominent Scientists Reverse Belief in Man-made Global Warming - Now Skeptics

Senator Inhofe declares climate momentum shifting away from Gore (The Politico op ed)

Scientific Smackdown: Skeptics Voted The Clear Winners Against Global Warming Believers in Heated NYC Debate

Global Warming on Mars & Cosmic Ray Research Are Shattering Media Driven "Consensus'

Global Warming: The Momentum has Shifted to Climate Skeptics

Prominent French Scientist Reverses Belief in Global Warming - Now a Skeptic

Top Israeli Astrophysicist Recants His Belief in Manmade Global Warming - Now Says Sun Biggest Factor in Warming

Warming On Jupiter, Mars, Pluto, Neptune's Moon & Earth Linked to Increased Solar Activity, Scientists Say

Panel of Broadcast Meteorologists Reject Man-Made Global Warming Fears- Claim 95% of Weathermen Skeptical

MIT Climate Scientist Calls Fears of Global Warming 'Silly' - Equates Concerns to ‘Little Kids' Attempting to "Scare Each Other"

Weather Channel TV Host Goes 'Political'- Stars in Global Warming Film Accusing U.S. Government of ‘Criminal Neglect'

Weather Channel Climate Expert Calls for Decertifying Global Warming Skeptics

ABC-TV Meteorologist: I Don't Know A Single Weatherman Who Believes 'Man-Made Global Warming Hype'

The Weather Channel Climate Expert Refuses to Retract Call for Decertification for Global Warming Skeptics

Senator Inhofe Announces Public Release Of "Skeptic's Guide To Debunking Global Warming"

# # #

Julia

Fossil Jellyfish found

October 31, 2007—They didn't have any bones to leave behind, but ten fossilized jellyfish recently discovered in Utah have made an impression in more ways than one.

At half a billion years old, the fossils represent the oldest jellyfish ever found and push back the known existence of jellies 205 million years, scientists say.

The newfound fossils also offer much greater detail than more recent specimens, which has allowed researchers to link the ancient animals to types of jellyfish living today.

"The fossil record is full of circular-shaped blobs, some of which are jellyfish," Paulyn Cartwright, a University of Kansas biologist who was on the research team, said in a press statement.

"That's one of the reasons the fossils we describe are so interesting, because you can see a distinct bell shape, tentacles, muscle scars, and possibly even the gonads."

Cartwright and her colleagues studied these anatomical features and found that the fossils may represent early ancestors of three modern jellyfish groups. The researchers liken the two fossils pictured here to living species from the genus Cunina (top) and Periphylla (bottom).

If verified, these connections would suggest that jellies either evolved into their current, complex form very quickly around 500 million years ago, or they evolved slowly and have existed much longer than has been estimated.

Cartwright's team reports its findings today in the online journal PLoS One.

—Blake de Pastino

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Top fossil photo by B. Lieberman. Cunina photo by K. Raskoff; bottom fossil photo by B. Lieberman. Periphylla photo by Dhugal Lindsay, Copyright JAMSTEC

National Geographic

 

Best Wildlife Photos of 2007

This is by far my favorite picture.

National Geographic

Chinese Painting Come to Life

And speaking of Chinese -I came across this gorgeous piece of animation on YouTube.  It reminds me of the Korean paintings I have of a Peony with a bee and another of colored carp jumping in water.  A lot of artistry and well as technical know-how went into making this short film. 

I also have some little sketches of chickens, birds and a rainy landscape I got in Korea.  I'll have to look and see if this guy has done other short films like this.  You'll notice that at the end he gives a short glimpse of how he did this one.

Julia

10,000 Wildebeest drown

10,000 Wildebeest Drown in Migration "Pileup"

Scores of wildebeest lay dead along the banks of the Mara River in Kenya, having washed downstream after a bizarre mass death that occurred early last week.

An estimated 10,000 of the animals drowned while attempting to cross the river during an annual migration, wiping out one percent of the total species population.

Photograph courtesy Terilyn Lemaire/Mara Conservancy/WildlifeDirect

National Geographic

Valcano rips apart island

A Volcano erupted in the Red Sea and tore apart an island.

Island ripped apart by massive volcano eruption

A massive volcano eruption triggered by an earthquake has ripped apart a tiny island in the Red Sea.

 

Terrified witnesses reported lava spewing hundreds of yards into the air with plumes of volcanic ash also rising from the site.

 

Officials said today that part of Jazirt Mount al-Tair, which is about 80 miles from Yemen, had collapsed after the eruption at around 5.30pm on Sunday.

Eruption: Lava and smoke billowing out of the volcano

A huge rescue operation was still underway for survivors with at least four soldiers reported dead and another five still missing.

 

Squadroons of troops, who are based on the Red Sea island, had to be evacuated to the port city of Hodeida in the immediate aftermath.

 

One said: "Four of our comrades have died, burned by the lava.

 

Another added: "They were killed immediately after the eruption of the volcano at 5:30 pm on Sunday."

 

The Canadian frigate HMCS Toronto had been sailing towards the Suez Canal and was called in to help.

On Sunday evening, Canadian Navy spokesman Ken Allen told reporters in an e-mail that the entire island was "aglow with lava and magma as it pours down into the sea.

 

 

"The lava is spewing hundreds of feet into the air, with the volcanic ash also 1,000 feet in the air."

 

 

 

 

The Yemeni defence ministry said that there had been considerable seismic activity around the island ahead of the eruption, adding that an earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale had been recorded on Friday.

 

 

The volcano last erupted in the 19th century.

 

Search and rescue teams, alongside the Canadian navy, were still hunting for survivors today.

Daily Mail

 

 

A fish only its mother could love

This is one ugly fish.

Photo in the News: "Ugly" Albino Ratfish Captured

September 25, 2007—This ghostly animal is a completely different kettle of fish.

The albino white-spotted ratfish caught this summer during a marine survey in Washington's Puget Sound is the first albino fish ever spotted by local scientists.

Ratfish, bottom-dwelling relatives of skates and stingrays, are usually brown with white spots that act as camouflage.

The fish probably owe their name to their exceptionally long tails and rodentlike teeth that crush up clams and other prey lurking in the mud.

"They're pretty ugly," John Reum, the University of Washington doctoral student who caught the fish, told the Associated Press news agency.

The foot-long (30-centimeter-long) pearly white female seen here had pale green eyes and was estimated to be about two or three years old—just an adolescent.

"This animal would stand out like a beacon," fisheries professor Ted Pietsch told the AP. "I don't know why it wasn't eaten long before."

But the rare creature's luck ran out—it died shortly after capture.

It now sparkles as the only albino specimen in the university's collection of 7.2 million fish.

—Christine Dell'Amore

 

 

 

 

HO/Associated Press/University of Washington


National Geographic

 

Destination: The Maldives

After seeing the shark feeding film I got curious about the Maldives island country.  Turns out it is SW of  India in the area of Sri Lanka.  It was devastated by the 2004 tsunami, but since it has no continental shelf the waves peaked at 14 feet.  So - even though it is the flattest country in the world, only 20 or so people died.    

Here is some information about the Maldives tourist industry from Wikipedia.

Natural Beauty

Maldives is famous for its natural beauty which includes the blue ocean and white beaches, accompanied by pleasant temperatures. The climate of the Maldives is ideal for visitors to get engaged in water sports such as swimming, fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling, water-skiing and windsurfing.

Due to its extraordinary underwater scenery and clean water, Maldives is also ranked among one of the best diving destinations of the world. [1]

Overview of a tropical resort

A Maldivian tourist resort

A tourist resort in the Maldives consists of an exclusive hotel on its own island, with its population entirely based on tourists and work force, with no local people or houses.

These islands developed for tourism are approximately 800 by 200 metres in size and are composed of sand and coral to a maximum height of about 2 metres above the sea. In addition to its beach encircling the island, each island has its own "house reef" which serves as a coral garden and natural aquarium for scuba divers and snorkelers. The shallow water enclosed by the house reef also serves as a large natural swimming pool and protects swimmers from the ocean waves and strong tidal currents outside the house reef.

The buildings on a typical resort includes rooms and suites reserved for use by its guests, restaurants, cafes, shops, lounges, bars, discos and dive schools. A portion of the island also contains staff lodgings and support services such as catering, power generators, laundry, and a sewerage plant. On-island shops offer a wide range of products, such as souvenirs and artifacts. The resorts offer a wide variety of activities such as aerobics, volleyball and table tennis.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

And here's some info from the official Maldives website:

1,190 coral islands, forming an archipelago of 26 major atolls. Stretches 820 kilometres north to south and 120 kilometres east to west. 202 are inhabited, 87 are exclusive resort islands.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And here is to die for - a choice of places to stay:     http://www.universalresorts.com/  Be sure to click on the locations listed along the top.

And here is a place called Blue Lagoon:    

More photos of the Blue Lagoon - check out the scuba photos http://www.kuramathi.com/photogallery.html#

 

And a cruise ship for travelling around the islands mainly to scuba that looks like The Belafante from the Bill Murray movie "The Life Aquatic starring Steve Zissou".   Wonder if the safety officer sings David Bowie songs in Portuguese?

Julia   

Mesmerizing Video of Sharks Feeding

Great video of sharks feeding on shoals of fish at the Maldives.  The changing patterns are mesmerizing and cool to see even without the sounds of the surf.  As a bonus there's video of a great turtle at the end.   Found this at The Times of London website.

Never thought a film of sharks feeding would be beautiful and calming.   Shark Week on cable TV gives me nightmares. Makes me want to visit the Maldives.  It appears the film was shot from a bridge or pier near the shore.  Wonder what else you would see in the Maldives.

Julia

National Geographic

From National Geographic

Ponza, Italy, September 14, 2007—Fish swim past Italian scuba divers Debora Vissani, right, and Alessandro Brandetti as they sit on a platform anchored 50 feet (15 meters) underwater on the sea floor.

Vissani and Brandetti are two of six "aquanauts" who will spend 14 days submerged as part of an experiment to study the effects of living underwater for prolonged periods.

The divers have three diving bells for living space and a fourth bell for cooking, eating, and maintaining equipment. The aquanauts—members of the Explorer Team Pellicano—will be monitored by a medical staff and experts from Rome University and the city's hospitals, the news agency ANSA reported.

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—Photograph by Progetto Abissi/Handout/Reuters

 

Best Mountain Photos of 2007

You can see the Best Mountain Photos of 2007 here.   

This one is my favorite:

Best Photo, Yellowstone-to-Yukon Region
Banff Mountain Photography Competition

A rare swift fox pauses on a December morning in Canada's Cochrane Wildlife Reserve.

Canadian photographer Robert Berdan was given permission to photograph the free-roaming animal inside the reserve, part of which is in southwestern Alberta.

In Canada "the swift fox was considered extirpated [extinct in the wild], but due to the efforts of various breeding programs that release foxes into the wild, this species has now been downgraded to endangered" by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, Berdan said in a statement.

National Geographic

The Life Aquatic's foreign language soundtrack

Inspired by the earlier post on foreign language soundtracks, I looked up this great scene towards the end of the Bill Murray movie