Sunday, April 26, 2009

Transparent Animals

Here are the most interesting transparent animals, from ice fish to jellyfish to frogs to butterflies! Nature sure is very interesting!

1.Transparent Frog


Native to Venezuela , the Glass Frogs belong to the amphibian family Centrolenidae (order Anura). While the general background coloration of most glass frogs is primarily lime green, the abdominal skin of some members of this family is transparent, so that the heart, liver, and digestive tract are visible through their translucent skin.

2.Transparent Head Fish

This bizarre deep-water fish called the Barrel eye (Macropinna micro stoma) has a transparent head and tubular eyes. It has extremely light-sensitive eyes that can rotate within his transparent, fluid-filled shield on its head, while the fish's tubular eyes, well inside the head, are capped by bright green lenses. The eyes point upward (as shown here) when the fish is looking for food overhead. They point forward when the fish is feeding. The two spots above the fish's mouth are not eyes: those are olfactory organs called nares, which are analogous to human nostrils. (Photo by MBARI).

3.Transparent Butterfly

Found in Central America, from Mexico to Panama , the Glasswing Butterfly (Greta Oto) is a brush-footed butterfly where its wings are transparent. The tissue between the veins of its wings looks like glass.

4.Transparent Squid


Found on the southern hemisphere's oceans, the Glass Squid (Teuthowenia pellucida) has light organs on its eyes and possesses the ability to roll into a ball, like an aquatic hedgehog. It is prey of many deep-sea fish (eg goblin sharks) as well as whales and oceanic seabirds
.

5.Transparent Zebrafish created by scientists


This see-through zebrafish was created in 2008 by scientists so they can study disease processes, including the spread of cancer. The transparent fish are allowing researchers at Children's Hospital Boston to directly view fish's internal organs and observe processes such as tumor growth in real-time in living organisms.

6.Transparent Icefish


Fund in the cold waters around Antarctica and southern South America , the crocodile icefish (Channichthyidae) feed on krill, copepods, and other fish. Their blood is transparent because they have no hemoglobin and/or only defunct erythrocytes. Their metabolism relies only on the oxygen dissolved in the liquid blood, which is believed to be absorbed directly through the skin from the water. This works because water can dissolve the most oxygen when it is coldest. In five species, the gene for myoglobin in the muscles has also vanished, leaving them with white instead of pink hearts.

7. Transparent Amphipod

Called Phronima, this unusual animal is one of the many strange species recently found on an expedition to a deep-sea mountain range in the North Atlantic . In an ironic strategy for survival, this tiny shrimplike creature shows everything it has, inside and out, in an attempt to disappear. Many other small deep-sea creatures are transparent as well, or nearly so, to better camouflage themselves in their murky surroundings, scientists say.

8.Transparent Larval Shrimp


Found in the in the waters around Hawaii , this transparent larval shrimp piggybacks on an equally see-through jellyfish.

9. Transparent Salp


This jellyfish-like animals known as Salps feed on small plants in the water called phytoplankton (marine algae). They are transparent, barrel-shaped animals that can range from one to 10cm in length.

10. Transparent Jellyfish

Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. They are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. Many jellies are so transparent that they are almost impossible to see. The one above is from the Arctapodema genus, with a size of an inch-long (2.5-centimeter-long).

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Thailand: The Tiger Temple pictures

The Tiger Temple or Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua is a Theravada Buddhist temple in Thailand and has been a sanctuary for many endangered animals including several tigers that walk around freely once a day and can be petted by tourists. Tigers out there are harmless.

The temple received several tiger cubs where the mothers had been killed by poachers. As of 2007, over 21 cubs have been born at the temple and the total number of tigers is about 12 adult tigers and 4 cubs.

The tigers are tamed by being fed with cooked meat to avoid giving them a taste for blood. The staffs keep the tigers under control and the abbot will intervene if the tiger gets agitated. They are treated as family members in the temple and visitors are asked to give a donation
(money)
if they want to take photos with the tigers.










Friday, April 3, 2009

ICC World T20, 2009: Match Schedule


The T20 carnival is set to begin with the IPL scheduled to start on the April 18th. And when the excitement of IPL sets down, World T20 comes calling for the cricket fans. The premier T20 tournament will be held in England from June 5 and with go on till 21st June and a total of 27 matches are set to be played. India who went into the last edition without any expectations, will go into this years edition as a firm favourite and will hope to defend their title.

Twenty20 World Cup 2009 : Match schedule & start timings
Date & Match Versus Venue Start Time
05 June 2009, M01 Eng vs Neld Lords 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
06 June 2009, M02 NZ vs Scld Oval 10.00am GMT, 2.30pm India
06 June 2009, M03 Aus vs WI Oval 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
06 June 2009, M04 Ind vs Bng Nottingham 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
07 June 2009, M05 RSA v Scld Oval 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
07 June 2009, M06 Eng v Pak Oval 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
08 June 2009, M07 Ireld vs Bng Nottingham 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
08 June 2009, M08 Aus vs SL Nottingham 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
09 June 2009, M09 Pak v Neld Lords 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
09 June 2009, M10 NZ vs RSA Lords 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
10 June 2009, M11 SL vs WI Nottingham 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
10 June 2009, M12 Ind v Ireld Nottingham 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
11 June 2009, M13 D1 vs A2 Nottingham 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
11 June 2009, M14 B2 vs D2 Nottingham 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
12 June 2009, M15 B1 vs C2 Lords 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
12 June 2009, M16 A1 vs C1 Lords 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
13 June 2009, M17 C1 vs D2 Oval 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
13 June 2009, M18 B1 vs D1 Oval 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
14 June 2009, M19 A2 vs C2 Lords 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
14 June 1009, M20 A1 vs B2 Lords 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
15 June 2009, M21 B2 vs C1 Oval 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
15 June 2009, M22 B1 vs A2 Oval 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
16 June 2009, M23 D1 vs C2 Nottingham 1.30pm GMT, 6.00pm India
16 June 2009, M24 D2 vs A1 Nottingham 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
18 June 2009, M25 1st Semi-Final Nottingham 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
19 June 2009, M26 2nd Semi-Final Oval 5.30pm GMT, 10.00pm India
21 June 2009, M27 Grand Final Lords 3.00pm GMT, 7.30pm India

New York:Gunman shoots self after killing 13



America came in for some shock on Friday as a gunman opened fire at the American Civic Association, New York. It was reported that a lone gunman began shooting in immigration services building in Binghamton, New York, killing at least 14 people. It was also suspected that a killer might have taken around 20-40 people as hostages. Rumours started to pour in suggesting of a possible Terror attack on the United States. The shooter was identified as Linh Phat Voong from Johnson City, New York. He had come into the building wearing a bright green nylon jacket and dark-rimmed glasses. Voong's body was found on first floor with a hunting knife jammed into the waistband of his pants and the identification found from him showed that he was 42 years of age. May the soul of all the victims rest in peace. Really a terrible incident!!!!!!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Lightning on Dubai Burj tower : Pictures

On March 29th, 2009 lightning hit the world's tallest tower standing at over 2700ft!! For as long as half hour lightning hit the tower and the thunder sounded all over the neighouring areas! It was an unforgettable night! Enjoy the pictures.












Enjoy....