13 Above: 10/19/08

World's Most Strangest Underground Smuggler's Tunnel

Posted by Editor John On Friday, October 24, 2008 0 comments

Hundreds of Gaza merchants throng around the border area of Rafah every day to pick up merchandise coming to Gaza from Egypt via subterranean passages.

Gaza's markets are seriously lacking in merchandise due to strict Israeli restrictions on what the country may and may not import. Goods are dropped into and received from the underground network via elaborate pulley systems.

They are then carried down the length of the 1,000 metre tunnels. The network operators have the ability to handle all sorts of products including fuel, computers and clothes.

Underground livestock smuggling has increased dramatically ahead of Eid Al-Adha, a day when Muslims the world over slaughter animals and feed the poor to seek God's forgiveness. The tunnels also ferry people who cannot leave or enter Gaza, but no one may smuggle arms or drugs through the tunnels.

After travelling through the underground tunnel, the frightened cattle is sold, making a heavy profit for those who risk their lives in the dangerous tunnels. Palestinian officials say at least 45 workers have died this year because of cave-ins.

Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007, see the tunnels as an act of defiance against Israel. They, therefore, endorse them and it is even claimed that taxes are imposed upon the underground routes.

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World's Most Strange Species - Geoducks !

Posted by Editor John On Friday, October 24, 2008 0 comments

Geoducks...What?!

They are definitely not "ducks", nor do they have any relation to "geo"-logy. In fact, they seem alien enough to be "from Mars" and, for all I know, possess a malign intelligence.

They are found mostly around Pacific Coast of the US and Canada, and in Japan they seem to serve as inspiration for "manga" of certain tentacled variety.

Modern biologists easily classify it as large saltwater clam, a bivalve mollusk with a huge "neck", or a "siphon". How huge, you'll ask? Up to two meters in length.

Deep Diggers of the Depths : Even their name is wrong, because it's pronounced "GOOEY duck". You'd think an epithet "gooey" would seem more appropriate for this bizarre creature, but it's not gooey in any sense. The name comes from a misspelling of "gweduc" (a native word), which means to "dig deep". Also, the "Elephant Trunk Clam" monicker fits them quite well.

You'd need to hook up with your buddy to dig them out, especially if you're going to use the "hold-breath" method. It's not so easy to spot the protruding siphon, either.

Sometimes they are confused with "piddocks", which are smaller mollusks.

But once spotted, they can't escape you, or dig further down. In fact, the body of an adult geoduck remains in one spot for its entire life. Sea stars would nibble at them, but once they bury themselves almost a meter deep, no predators can get at them - so they end up living REALLY long.

Old and Wise : Treat them with respect. They'll outlive any of you - they get up to 160 years old . It's the second longest-living organism on Earth (after giant tortoises, which can live almost 200 years). As they grow, they accumulate rings on their shell, much like a tree does.

The average adult geoduck that you'll likely to meet will be the same age as you - 25 to 50 years old, but it hardly has the same experiences as you are, being buried all its life in one spot.

Here is a good-sized geoduck on display in a curiosity shop in Seattle.

"Their large, meaty siphon are prized by some for its savory flavor and crunchy texture." It is a delicacy in Asia, each costing $200 - $300, so if you ever considered opening a private geoduck farm... be also ready to deal with their reputation to increase the "male potential".

The average female produces up to 5 billion eggs in her lifetime. Here is a picture of a bunch of geoduck-like mollusks clinging to a log of wood in Ardmore.

Geoduck is an official mascot for the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington - which also has a (very appropriate) motto. "Let It All Hang Out".

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Unusual Camel Spider

Posted by Editor John On Thursday, October 23, 2008 1 comments

The camel spider stories began to spread during the 1990-91 Gulf War. Now, with the continued presence of U.S. forces in the Middle East, the stories are becoming legendary .. Many of the stories on the internet are completely untrue. These creatures are (usually) not dangerous to humans. But, dangerous or not, these creatures are horrifying to encounter. I pity anyone who encounters one for the first time.

Soldier in Iraq bitten by a Camel Spider. Yes, they can bite. If they do, there is always the possibility of infection.

Camel spiders can move at speeds over 30 MPH, screaming while they run. Camel spiders can be as large as a frisbee. Camel spiders venom is an anesthetic that numbs their prey.

Camel spiders can jump three feet high. Camel spiders can jump three feet high. They eat or gnaw on people while they sleep. Due to the numbing effect of their venom, the victim is unaware until they awake. They actually aren't spiders at all, they're solpugids.. Along with spiders, they are members of the class Arachnida.

THE FACTS :

1. Camel spiders top speed - appox. 10 mph. Which is very fast.

2. Size: Up to 6 inches although many of our readers report larger.

3. They have no venom.

4. They don't jump. However, many of our readers describe them leaping onto their legs, etc..

5. Called camel spiders because they live in the desert.

They actually aren't spiders at all, they're solpugids.. Along with spiders, they are members of the class Arachnida.

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Bizzare Snake Spa

Posted by Editor John On Tuesday, October 21, 2008 1 comments

Meirav Stardinner receives a snake massage from Ada Barak at Barak's snake spa in Israel. Barack's income comes mostly from exhibiting her plants which eat everything from insects to small mammals. She discovered snakes' therapeutic value after letting people hold them after her act "Some people said that holding the snakes made them feel better, relaxed," she says. "One old lady said it was soothing, like a cold compress." Now she uses a combination of big snakes for deep massage and little ones for light massage, though all are non-venemous.

The picture you are looking at (and if you're anything like me, squirming at) depicts an approximately $70 snake massage in northern Israel.
That means people pay for this. People pay to let non-venomous snakes crawl all over them.

Tomer Stardinner holds snakes in his hands at Ada Barak's snake spa.

Snakes crawl on Meirav Stardinner foot as she receives a snake massage from Ada Barak at Ada Barak's snake spa.

A rodent crawls on a girls foot at Ada Barak's snake spa .

A boy stands in a tub as snakes crawl in it at Ada Barak's snake spa .

Meirav Stardinner receives a snake massage from Ada Barak at Barak's snake spa.

Massage therapist Ada Barack says she uses big snakes for deep muscle massage and small snakes for lighter massage. No word on whether or not she speaks Parseltongue, but I'd like to know how she directs these serpents to the places that need massaging and keeps them out of... warm places where they shouldn't go.

I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

Would you pay for a snake massage?

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A Dinosaur Dance Floor !

Posted by Editor John On Monday, October 20, 2008 0 comments

Geologist Winston Seiler with some of the dinosaur tracks he identified for his thesis as a University of Utah master's degree student. The impressions once were thought to be potholes eroded by water. But Seiler and Marjorie Chan, chair of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah, published a scientific paper in the October 2008 issue of the journal Palaios identifying the abundant impressions as comprising a large dinosaur "trample surface" in northern Arizona. There are so many tracks they wryly refer to the site as "a dinosaur dance floor."

University of Utah geologist Winston Seiler walks among hundreds of dinosaur footprints in a "trample surface" that likely was a watering hole amid desert sand dunes during the Jurassic Period 190 million years ago. The track site, which also includes some dinosaur tail-drag marks, is located in Coyote Buttes North area along the Arizona-Utah border.

This Eubrontes dinosaur footprint, including three toes and a heel, measures roughly 16 inches long. Dinosaur footprints are named by their shape because the species and genus of animal that made them isn't known, although Eubrontes tracks are believed to have been made by upright-walking, meat-eaters smaller than Tyrannosaurus rex. Eubrontes is one of four types of dinosaur footprints identified by University of Utah geologists at a Jurassic Period dinosaur "trample surface" in northern Arizona. The footprints previously had been thought to be modern potholes eroded by water. The inset outlines the footprint shape.

Photo on left shows eroded dinosaur footprints, and tail-drag marks highlighted in the diagram at right, at a northern Arizona site that University of Utah geologists are calling "a dinosaur dance floor."

This 4-inch long Grallator dinosaur track is among four types of dinosaur footprints identified by University of Utah geologists at a large dinosaur "trample surface" in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness near the Arizona-Utah border. They were left by a small dinosaur, perhaps only 3 feet tall, some 190 million years ago.

This photo shows a trackway, or set of prints made by the same dinosaur, as it walked through a wet, sandy oasis some 190 million years ago in what is now the Coyote Buttes North area straddling the Utah-Arizona border. University of Utah geologists published a new study showing that numerous impressions at the site are dinosaur tracks, not erosion-caused potholes as was believed previously.
This 14-inch-long Sauropodomorph dinosaur track actually is two footprints in one and was left by a creature that walked on four legs. The imprint includes the deeper central circular portion, which was left when a dinosaur's "pes" or rear foot, stepped into the larger, shallower print left by a "manus" or front foot. The toe prints, top and upper right, were left by the front foot, obscuring prints from the rear toes. The print is one of many identified by University of Utah scientists at a large dinosaur "trample surface" in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona.

University of Utah geologist Winston Seiler walks in the path of dinosaurs. The dinosaur tracks were preserved in a "trample surface" where the reptiles likely gathered to drink water at an oasis among arid sand dunes some 190 million years ago. The site is in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness along the Arizona-Utah border.

The "dinosaur dance floor," formally known as a dinosaur "trample surface," is outlined by white dashes in this photo taken from a hill above the three-quarter-acre site. The site's numerous holes in Jurassic sandstone were identified as dinosaur tracks by University of Utah geologists Marjorie Chan and Winston Seiler.

A dinosaur trample surface has been identified on the Arizona side of that state's border with Utah. Geologists from the University of Utah determined the numerous impressions at the site are dinosaur tracks, not erosion features.

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Amazing Sculpture By The Sea

Posted by Editor John On Sunday, October 19, 2008 0 comments

White fright ... taking place from October 16 until November 2, Sculpture by the Sea is Australia's largest annual outdoor exhibition of sculpture.

The free outdoor exhibition, now in its 12th year, stretches for two kilometres along the Bondi coastline.

The display features over 100 sculptures from seven different countries, including this marble sculpture titled New Man.