Albatrosses achieve "Dynamic Soaring"

Albatrosses perform a fascinating and complicated flight maneuver called dynamic soaring, in which energy can be extracted from horizontally moving air and transferred to the bird so that an energy gain is achieved which enables it to fly continuously without flapping. Dynamic soaring is possible when the wind speed changes with altitude. This type of wind, which is called shear flow, exists in the boundary layer above the ocean surface in areas in which albatrosses are found.

Dynamic soaring is energetically efficient. The heart rate of a Wandering Albatross was recorded over a two-day period and its heart rate was just above resting rates when soaring, suggesting that dynamic soaring requires little more energy than resting on land.

From: http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/554notes3.html

Time-lapse Images From International Space Station

View from the ISS at Night from Knate Myers on Vimeo.

 "An iceberg twice the size of Manhattan tore off one of Greenland's largest glaciers, illustrating another dramatic change to the warming island.

For several years, scientists had been watching a long crack near the tip of the northerly Petermann Glacier. On Monday, NASA satellites showed it had broken completely, freeing an iceberg measuring 46 square miles.

A massive ice sheet covers about four-fifths of Greenland. Petermann Glacier is mostly on land, but a segment sticks out over water like a frozen tongue, and that's where the break occurred.

Many of Greenland's southern glaciers have been melting at an unusually rapid pace. The Petermann break brings large ice loss much farther north than in the past, said Ted Scambos, lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado."

 Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/07/18/glacier-twice-as-big-as-manhattan-snaps-off-greenland-ice-sheet/#ixzz227alOwY4

Short Sex-Filled Life of an Australian Dumpling Squid

 "This promiscuous species of squid pays a dear price for an insatiable sex-drive. After three hours of lovemaking, southern dumpling squid are so exhausted that their ability to avoid predators and forage for food is sorely reduced. An ability to blend into their surroundings helps them survive this post-coital lapse - but only to some extent.

However, their methods aren't always effective. Most dumpling squid only manage to survive for less than a year, which the researchers believe might be a direct result of their risky, sex-filled lifestyle."

 Zoologist Amanda Franklin led the study published in Biology Letters (DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2012.0556).

Snake Venoms Effect on Blood

"Snake venom contains a vast number of toxins that target proteins in platelets," Yonchol Shin, an associate professor at Kogakuin University who specializes in snake toxins told ScienceDaily. "Some of those toxins prevent platelets from clotting, which can lead to profuse bleeding in snake bite victims. Others, like the one we've focused this research on, potently activate platelets, which results in blood clots. Identification of the molecular targets of many of these toxins has made an enormous contribution to our understanding of platelet activation and related diseases."

Sculpturist Kate MccGwire

London-based artist Kate MccGwire has a unique form of art. Her material of choice? The molted feathers of pigeons. She uses these feathers in great numbers to create vivid pieces of artwork.

Owl Ears and Hearing

 "Because Owls are generally active at night, they have a highly developed auditory (hearing) system. The ears are located at the sides of the head, behind the eyes, and are covered by the feathers of the facial disc. The "Ear Tufts" visible on some species are not ears at all, but simply display feathers.

 Some owl species have asymmetrically set ear openings (i.e. one ear is higher than the other) - in particular the strictly nocturnal species, such as the Barn Owl or the Tengmalm's (Boreal) Owl. These species have a very pronounced facial disc, which acts like a "radar dish", guiding sounds into the ear openings. The shape of the disc can be altered at will, using special facial muscles. Also, an Owl's bill is pointed downward, increasing the surface area over which the soundwaves are collected by the facial disc. In 4 species (Ural, Great Gray, Boreal/Tengmalm's & Saw-whet), the ear asymmetry is actually in the temporal parts of the skull, giving it a "lop-sided" appearance.

An Owl uses these unique, sensitive ears to locate prey by listening for prey movements through ground cover such as leaves, foliage, or even snow. When a noise is heard, the Owl is able to tell its direction because of the minute time difference in which the sound is perceived in the left and right ear - for example, if the sound was to the left of the Owl, the left ear would hear it before the right ear. The Owl then turns it's head so the sound arrives at both ears simultaneously - then it knows the prey is right in front of it. Owls can detect a left/right time difference of about 0.00003 seconds (30 millionths of a second!)

An Owl can also tell if the sound is higher or lower by using the asymmetrical or uneven Ear openings. In a Barn Owl, the left ear left opening is higher than the right - so a sound coming from below the Owl's line of sight will be louder in the right ear."

 From: http://www.owlpages.com/articles.php?section=Owl+Physiology&title=Hearing

Bikaner, Rajahstan, India

Photos taken in Svalbard, Norway. These icy islands of the Arctic Ocean are located halfway between Norway and the North Pole.

 "Rising temperatures caused by global warming has seen the polar bear's natural habitat fall apart in recent years, resulting in them having to swim longer distances to reach a food supply. Last year scientists at the University of Colorado in Boulder revealed water flowing from the North Atlantic into the Arctic is at its warmest level for more than 2,000 years. According to their research, the sea in the Gulf Stream between Greenland and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard reached an average of 6C (42F) in recent summers, warmer than at natural peaks during Roman or Medieval times. Scientists fear the temperature spikes could lead to an ice-free Arctic in years to come and could endanger polar bears, who need the ice in order to survive. Studies show between 1979 and 2009 an area larger than the state of Alaska disappeared."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2169124/Adorable-images-polar-bear-cub-hitching-ride-mothers-swim-Arctic-Ocean.html#ixzz1zl9yahA5

Lac Rose in Senegal

This is a series of photographs of Lake Retba in Senegal. It's pink. The lake has an unusually high salt concentration (like the Dead Sea), in which Dunaliella salina micro-algae thrive, giving it its pink hue.

Baby Octopi

 "Shortly after being put on exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences, this Caribbean Octopus vulgaris took up residence inside a glass bottle, on full view for adoring fans. Just as quickly, it moved back under a rock and started denning, and laying eggs. While eggs being laid in captivity is generally an exciting event, this particular species, like many but not all octopus, stops eating after it lays eggs and dies soon after they hatch which tends to put a damper on the joyous occasion. The biologist responsible for their care, Richard Ross, caught the hatching of the eggs from start to finish on film, and describes it as a waterfall flowing upwards toward the water's surface. Now, Ross faces the difficult task of trying to support thousands of tiny hatchlings. This species is "small egged" meaning it produces large numbers of very small planktonic 'paralarvae' which are notoriously difficult to feed and raise. The adult female and hatchlings will be on display for as long as possible in the Staff Picks area of Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Sciences." From www.zooborns.com