Beauty in every grain: For the first time remarkable photographs reveal hidden charms of ordinary SAND By Daily Mail Reporter Created 3:12 PM on 5th July 2011 Viewed at a magnification of over 250 times real life, tiny grains of sand are shown to be delicate, colourful structures as unique as snowflakes. When seen well beyond the limits of human eyesight, the miniature particles are exposed as fragments of crystals, spiral fragments of shells and crumbs of volcanic rock. Professor Gary Greenberg who has a PhD in biomedical research from University College London said: ‘It is incredible to think when you are walking on the beach you are standing on these tiny treasures. Magnified:The grains are shown to be delicate, colourful structures each as unique as a snowflake. Colourful: The miniature particles are exposed as fragments of crystals, spiral fragments of shells and crumbs of volcanic rock. HOW SAND IS MADE Sand is tiny fragments of rock that have been worn away over thousands of years. Contrary to popular belief, sand is made as rocks crash and break in rivers and streams on their way to the sea, rather than the ebb and flow of the tides. Deposits left by breaking rocks in the sea turns to silt and is much lighter so is dispersed over a much wider area out to sea, rather than on the shore line. Some of the rock is soluble, but other bits remain and as they are slowly rubbed down over time they get smaller and smaller until they become what we know as sand. ‘Every time I look through my microscope I am fascinated by the complexity and individuality created by a combination of nature and the repeated tumbling of the surf on a beach.’

Prof Greenberg, who searches through thousands of tiny rocks with acupuncture needles to find and arrange the most perfect specimens, then uses a painstaking technique to create his images. He has spent five years searching the globe for remarkable sand grains like these to photograph. He said: ‘Extreme close up photography normally gives a very shallow depth of field so I had to develop a new process to make the pictures that I wanted. ‘I take dozens of pictures at different points of focus then combine them using software to produce my images. ‘Although the pictures look simple each grain of sand can take hours to photograph in a way that I am happy with. ‘The beach nearest my lab is Haiku, Hawaii but my pictures show sand from all round the world from Japan to Ireland.’

Gary’s pictures are available from his website http://sandgrains.com and his book “A Grain of Sand’  is available on Amazon.

This was sent via an email and is worth sharing…

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Keep
Cats

Indoors!

There
are 60 to 90  million pet cats in the United States
today [1], and it is
estimated that 25 to 66% of cat
owners allow their cats outdoors [2].  
Add
to that the tens
of millions of strays and feral cats, and there is certainly
a sizable
population of free-ranging cats in our country.  Studies [3]
have
indicated that 60 to 70% of a cat’s prey
is small mammals, 20 to 30% birds, and 10% other animals including
reptiles,
amphibians, and insects.

Free-roaming
cats clearly have an impact on wildlife! 
If each outdoor cat only killed one bird per year, it would equal over
60 million birds annually.  Here are some references:

• The
  University of Wisconsin’s
  Dr. Stanley Temple estimates
  that rural cats kill
  39 million birds every year in Wisconsin alone.
• Here’s
  is another well-reasoned calculation, by one of Audubon’s senior
  scientists,  where the estimate is  over
  a billion birds per year.
• This
  January 2003 paper to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offers
  detailed discussion on
  the impact
  of
  free-roaming cats in Florida (requires Adobe
  Acrobat reader to view).  
• Here
  is the abstract of another paper,
  written by Michigan State University researchers:

Fluctuations of bird abundances have been
attributed to such factors as supplemental feeding, landscape change,
and
habitat fragmentation. Notably absent from consideration, however, is
the
role of private landowners and their actions, such as owning
free-ranging
domestic cats (Felis catus; cats allowed free access
to the outdoors).
To understand the impacts of cat predation on birds, we surveyed all
1694
private landowners living on three breeding bird survey (BBS) routes
(~120
km) that represent a continuum of rural-to-urban landscapes in
Southeastern
Michigan, where the majority (>90%) of land is privately owned.
Our data
indicate that among the 58.5% of landowners that responded, one quarter
of them owned outdoor cats. On average a cat depredated between 0.7 and
1.4 birds per week. A total of 23+ species (12.5% of breeding species)
were on the list of being killed, including two species of conservation
concern (Eastern Bluebirds and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds). Across
the
three landscapes there were ~800 to ~3100 cats, which kill between
~16,000
and ~47,000 birds during the breeding season, resulting in a
minimum
of ~1 bird killed/km/day. While the number and density (no./ha) of
free-ranging
cats per landowner differed across the rural to urban landscapes,
depredation
rates were similar. Landowner participation in bird feeding showed no
relationship
with the number of free-ranging cats owned. Similarly, selected
demographic
characteristics of landowners were not significantly related to the
number
of free-ranging cats owned. Our results, even taken conservatively,
indicate
that cat predation most likely plays an important role in fluctuations
of
bird populations and should receive more attention in wildlife
conservation
and landscape studies. 

(Reprinted
from Biological
Conservation 155:191-201, Lepczyk et al. “Landowners and cat
predation
across rural-to-urban landscapes,” 2003, with permission from Elsevier.)

As
The Wildlife Society in its position statement notes (PDF):

“Extensive
popular debate over absolute numbers or types of prey taken
is not productive. The number of cats is undeniably large. Even if
conservative
estimates of prey taken are considered, the number of prey animals
killed
is immense.”

Sandy
Beck, a journalist with the Tallahassee Democrat,
asked
an Internet wildlife rehabilitation chat group: “What percentage of
your
wildlife patients are victims of outdoor cats?” Responses from
professional
rehabbers around the country ranged from 14 to 30 percent.

The American
Bird Conservancy has launched a national campaign to educate
cat owners
and encourage them to keep their cats indoors.  No only does
wildlife
benefit, so do the cats:  While outdoor cats commonly have a
life
expectancy of fewer than 5 years, indoor cats can live for up to 17
years.
With less exposure to disease, other cats and animals, and fewer
opportunities
to have accidents (1.5 million cats are killed by autos annually), vet
bills are less and cats
live healthier lives!

Word Search

Quiz

• Each contest has 15 questions.
• Sure are you know the question twice to earn points
• Questions in different categories

grammar, and vocabulary tests of general knowledge quiz English Quiz t

• Mixed letters falling from above.
• Try to find the longest words
• Jump to a higher level.

Single or multi-user play word search and word find/

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/OddSpot/2011/02/02/Google_creates_virtual_art_galleries_572122.html

Art lovers will be able to stroll through some of the world’s most famous galleries at the click of a mouse after Google put the venues online Tuesday using Street View technology.

In a collaboration with 17 leading galleries in nine countries, the US internet giant has taken equipment from the cars it used to map cities and recorded the galleries so they can be enjoyed by anyone with web access.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York, London’s National Gallery and the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid are three of the galleries that art aficionados will be able to explore by logging on to http://www.googleartproject.com

]]> http://worldschool.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/virtual-art-galleries-online-2/feed/ 0 ladymaggic http://worldschool.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/virtual-art-galleries-online/ http://worldschool.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/virtual-art-galleries-online/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:29:28 +0000 ladymaggic https://worldschool.wordpress.com/2011/02/03/virtual-art-galleries-online/ Continue reading →]]>

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/OddSpot/2011/02/02/Google_creates_virtual_art_galleries_572122.html

Art lovers will be able to stroll through some of the world’s most famous galleries at the click of a mouse after Google put the venues online Tuesday using Street View technology.

In a collaboration with 17 leading galleries in nine countries, the US internet giant has taken equipment from the cars it used to map cities and recorded the galleries so they can be enjoyed by anyone with web access.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York, London’s National Gallery and the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid are three of the galleries that art aficionados will be able to explore by logging on to http://www.googleartproject.com

First 10 pages of this album are displayed. Download album to view the whole contents.

>> View Author’s Gallery ?albumid=20050306075951PAJN2PJZM90

Another thing I read in the article was that onions
and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years
ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

With 22 cities and towns already affected by floodwaters in
Queensland, covering an area the size of New South Wales, there are
warnings the state could remain waterlogged for a month.

And
following the death of a 41-year-old Mt Isa woman,who drowned when her
car was swept into a river, police are again warning of the dangers of
attempting to cross or enter the floodwaters.

Emergency service
officials held a disaster management meeting in Brisbane yesterday
where acting commissioner Alistair Dawson warned Queensland could be
flood affected for a month.

Police say they’ll decide today if
they’ll continue their air, land and water search for a swimmer who was
reported missing in Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River early yesterday.

Authorities say 40 per cent of the city could be affected by the flood peak of 9.4 metres on Wednesday.

Meanwhile,
Bundaberg is moving on to the recovery stage after its worst flooding
in 40 years, and the flood waters are also receding in the central
Queensland city of Emerald, but it remains divided by the swollen Nogoa
River.

In private homes problems arise as well....

My unit in the caravan park was not lived in when I was away and the man next door started using my grassed area for his parking.

This created Tyre tracks, and I asked him not to park his car there, so it could dry out.

When the rains were over-flooding the back road and pouring into the gardens, my nice neighbour dug an angular ditch that not only drained his excess water, but also all the water from the road making my lower area a bog-pond. I told the caravan park about this and was told to fill it in. I did with a pot-plant and 3 bricks, so at least the water flow would be curbed. He retaliated by removing my filling and making the whole ditch deeper and wider, and bow all the waters have drained into my grass and its stale water and a bog.

The voice of a woman is weak, and I have either to accept that my area will stay a bog, or move away.

I am still angry because of the theft of all my pot-plants and purchased plants, including herbs and orchids by the neighbors and the man I asked to water the garden in my 3 month absence. Again, there is nothing I can do because,’they thought I was not returning’.

No plants and now a bog that is getting larger as the waters continue to drain into what was my garden..

Now the small grassed area and the back yard plants, which they did not steal, is dying because of draining stagnant water.

The effects of the flood affect people in different ways. I am
grateful that I still have my unit, but angry with the mentality of
Trailer residents which I now see as something out of ‘Deliverance’ with
frog-pond characteristics. all croaking about their own little lives and sleep-holes, and taking what they can find like dung beetles in cow-pads.