Diphelleia grayi is the Skeleton Flower that turns transparent when it rains

Diphelleia grayi(scientific name), more commonly known as the Skeleton Flower, can be found in only three parts of the world. The plant grows on moist, wooded mountainsides in colder regions of Japan, China and the Appalachian Mountains in the United States, and is instantly recognizable by its large, umbrella-like leaves.

When the the leaves dry out, they turn back to being white.

Diphylleia grayi is a little-known relative of the more popular mayapple (podophyllum) and fairy wing (epimedium). Diphylleia grayi is native to moist wooded mountainsides in colder regions of China and Japan, where you'll find the large fuzzy green, umbrella-like, bold foliage topped by small clusters of white, may apple-like flowers in late spring. In late summer, the stalks of eye-catching cobalt blue fruit replace the faded flowers. Diphylleia grayi does not like hot summer temperatures, so plant it where in a cool moist woodland site.

Sharks and Fanged Fishes live in a Volcano, for real (underwater volcano) - Australia and Solomon Islands

Sharks in a volcano !

Sharkcano - Scientists filming unexplored depths of the South Pacific have observed a surprising range of animals—including sharks, rays, and jellyfish—living inside Kavachi, a highly active undersea volcano near the Soloman Islands, a remote archipelago east of Papau New Guinea. The animals seem unruffled by what were presumed inhospitable temperatures and acidity.

Scaleless Blackfish, Australia

The more we learn about undersea volcanoes, the more we realize that life can thrive almost anywhere. Now, an Australian research vessel has discovered a new kind of fish living in volcanoes off the coast of the continent. It’s called a scaleless blackfish and it’s adorably ugly.

From Pluto with Love - Confessions of a dwarf planet

Pluto's heart

Discovered in 1930, Pluto has remained a distant enigma for 85 years. Now, we’re getting our first close look at the last planet(dwarf planet) .

Why is Pluto not a planet now ?

Because a team of scientists decided that Pluto was not really a planet because of its size and location in space. Basically, it is not big enough to clear a path for its orbit.

IF PLUTO was closer to the sun, it could have been a planet.

IF PLUTO was bigger, it could have been a planet.

Conversely, if Mercury was in Pluto's orbit, it would also be depromoted to dwarf planet.

So Pluto and objects like it(Ceres) are now called dwarf planets. Pluto is also called a plutoid. A plutoid is a dwarf planet that is farther out in space than the planet Neptune.

First, it wasn't just one scientist that made the decision to take Pluto off of the planet list. After studying over a group of 40 bodies in our solar system similar to Pluto, researchers attended a meeting of the International Astronomical Union where they overwhelmingly voted that Pluto fit the description of dwarf planet better than planet. This was after they spent a year figuring out the definition of what constituted a planet.

Just before the meeting that resulted in Pluto's demotion, scientists discovered an object in the Kuiper belt that was the same size as Pluto: Eris. If Pluto stayed a planet, Eris, too, would be a planet. But it isn't. So therefore, neither is Pluto.

There are sound astronomical reasons for such a pitiless verdict. Pluto’s elliptical, sharply inclined orbit — not to mention its icy, rocky anatomy — clearly mark it as a rogue object, gravitationally lassoed from the Kuiper Belt. This is an entirely different origin from the eight true planets, which swirled into life from leftover dust as the sun itself was forming, and for that reason orbit neatly in the solar plane. 

The New Horizons Spacecraft just passed Pluto today.

At the time of the spacecraft’s closest approach, New Horizons was almost 3 billion miles from Earth.

No data were beamed home during the encounter period. Because of the way it’s designed, New Horizons has to choose between collecting data and talking to Earth—and observations trump phone calls during the close encounter.

25 facts about Pluto

Selfie stick and GoPro save teen from drowning in a Riptide - no, seriously. Watch out for riptides !

Earlier this week, a teen and her father were pulled out into sea by a riptide while swimming at Surfside Beach in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The strong outward current pulled them into the ocean, not allowing them to swim back to shore.

Fortunately, a man on the shore and the lifeguards saw the pair were in trouble.
The good samaritan used the selfie stick Erynn was still holding to pull her out of the current.


Here is the full video :

Now, rip currents don't pull you under the water like so many television shows use as a plot device; instead, they pull you away from shore very quickly. If you're ever caught in one, don't panic. You'll start drifting away from the shore and your first instinct will be to panic and try to swim back as quickly as possible. Even the best swimmers can't swim against a rip current—since you can't fight the power of the water, you have to be smarter than the water.

79 Interesting bits of Trivia About Spain

Many different groups of people have settled in Spain throughout history, including Iberians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, Celts, Basques, and the Moors (Muslims who came from North Africa).f The quill pen is thought to have originated in Spain about 1,400 years ago.f The most enduring contribution of Spain to the world is its language, which was imported to the Americas with the expansion of the Spanish Empire in the 16th century. Now, more than 400 million people speak Spanish in 22 countries, including 35 million who speak it in the United States.a Since the Pyrenees Mountains were such a significant barrier in the north, and Spain is just 9 miles from Morocco in the south, Spain shares much of its early history with Africa.c The official name of Spain is the Kingdom of Spain.f The Iberian Peninsula was one of several refuges during the last ice age, so it was largely from Spain that northern Europe was repopulated after the ice age ended.c Famous Spaniards include Seneca, Hadrian, Antonio Banderas, Penelope Cruz, Salvador Dalí, El Greco, Pablo Picasso, Francisco de Goya, Jose Carreras, and Plácido Domingo.a Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo (1499-1543) discovered California.fIn 2006, 58 million tourists visited Spain and its islands. Foreign tourists spent $51 billion in 2006. Spain is the second most visited country in the world after France.a In 1603, Spanish sailor Gabriel de Castilla (1577-1620) became the first man ever to see Antarctica.f Spanish sailor Juan Sebastián Elcano (1476-1526) was the first man to circumnavigate the world.f Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475-1519) was the first European to see the Pacific Ocean.f The first novel, Tirant lo Blanc (1490), was written by Spanish author Joanot Martorell (1413-1468). Translated as Tirant the White, it played an important role in the development of the Western novel.f The Phoenicians who entered Spain in the 8th century B.C. called the peninsulaSpan or “the hidden land.”e The official language of Spain is Castilian Spanish (74%), though Catalan (17%) Galician (7%), and Basque (2%) are also spoken.a Tomás de Torquemada (1420-1498) was the first Grand Inquisitor in the Spanish Inquisition. His name has been associated with the Inquisition’s horror, fanaticism, and bigotry. Ironically, he was a descendent of a converso, or someone who had converted to Christianly from Judaism or Islam. In 1832, his tomb was raided and his bones were stolen and burned.f During the last ice age, most of Europe was covered in glaciers, but most of Spain was far enough south to escape the ice. Consequently, plants that were wiped out across Europe survived in Spain. Europe as a whole has 9,000 plant species; there are over 8,000 plant species in Spain alone, with 2,000 of them being unique to the country.c Spanish inventor Manuel Jalón Corominas (1925-2011) invented the mop in 1956.f Spanish sailor and engineer Isaac Peral (1851-1895) designed the first fully operative military submarine.f Spanish surgeon and scientist Miguel Servet (1511-1553) was the first European to describe pulmonary circulation.f

Lyrics for Venga Boys - "We're Going To Ibiza" . Its an Island, in the Mediterranean Sea and part of Spain.

"We're Going To Ibiza"

Hello Party People!

This Is Captain Kim Speaking 

Welcome Aboard Venga Airways 

After Take Off Will Pump Up The Soundsystem 

Cause We're Going To Ibiza!

I Don't Wanna Be A Busdriver 

All My Life 

I'm Gonna Pack My Bags And Leave This Town 

Grab A Flight 

Fly Away On Venga Airways 

Fly Me High 

Ibiza Sky 

I Look Up At The Sky 

And I See The Clouds 

I Looked Down At The Ground 

And I See The Rainbow Down The Drain 

Fly Away On Venga Airways 

Fly Me High 

Ibiza Sky 

Whoah! We're Going To Ibiza 

Whoah! Back To The Island 

Whoah! We're Going To Ibiza 

Whoah! We're Gonna Have A Party 

Whoah! In The Mediterranean Sea 

Ioh Ioh, Oh We Oh

Ioh Ioh, Oh We Oh 

Ioh Ioh, Oh We Oh 

Ioh Ioh, Oh We Oh 

Far Away From This Big Town 

And The Rain 

It's Really Very Nice To Be 

Home Again 

Fly Away On Venga Airways 

Fly Me High, Ibiza Sky 

Whoah! We're Going To Ibiza 

Whoah! Back To The Island 

Whoah! We're Going To Ibiza 

Whoah! We're Gonna Have A Party 

Whoah! In The Mediterranean Sea 

Ioh Ioh, Oh We Oh 

Ioh Ioh, Oh We Oh 

Ioh Ioh, Oh We Oh 

Ioh Ioh, Oh We Oh 

Thank You For Flying Venga Airways 

We Are Now Approaching Ibiza Airport 

As You Can See The Sky Is Blue 

And The Beach Is Waiting For You 

Whoah! We're Going to Ibiza 

Whoah! Back To The Island 

Whoah! We're Going To Ibiza 

Whoah! We're Gonna Have A Party 

Whoah! In The Mediterranean Sea 

Whoah! We're Going To Ibiza 

Whoah! Back To The Island 

Whoah! We're Going To Ibiza 

Whoah! We're Gonna Have A Party 

Whoah! In The Mediterranean Sea

Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, the three Marsketeers

XKCD comic

There are now three (NASA) Robots on Mars - Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity.(No idea if the Beagle lander can be counted) All of them worked far beyond their expected lifetime. Spirit and Opportunity were designed for only 90 days of operation because the engineers at NASA decided that Martian dust would cover the solar panels and prevent further recharging. But, as it turns out, the winds on Mars cleaned up the solar panels and allowed it to continue for almost 10 years.

Skycrane deployed for landing Curiosity

Curiosity, on the other hand, is powered like a nuclear battery(like Iron Man's Arc Reactor, but lower power). Curiosity's landing itself was a another great engineering feat. They wanted to have a soft landing, so the used what they called a SkyCrane. SkyCrane was a rocket powered parachute that used rocket boosters to slow down the landing. It looked awesome.

What Operating system do these robots run ? Windows, Linux or OsX ?

Margaret Hamilton - NASA Apollo programmer

These robots are running on WindRiver's VxWorks RTOS Operating System, not Linux, Windows or OsX. And it runs on a really robust hardware that does not high high processing power. IT is designed to be resistant to cosmic radiation damage. And the code is designed to have timed failsafes - if something is taking too long, it resets the process.

RTOS is a pretty stable OS meant for the IoT(Internet of Things). The code is mostly C. Curiosity 2.5 million lines of C on a RAD750 processor manufactured by BAE.

The Apollo mision's source code is actually now open source and free : being released on the 40th anniversary of the mission on Google Code. One of the programmers was Margaret Hamilton, Director of the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed on-board flight software for the Apollo space program. Hamilton is credited with coining the term "software engineering". In this field she was one of those who developed the concepts of asynchronous software, priority scheduling, end-to-end testing, and human-in-the-loop decision capability, such as priority displays which then became the foundation for ultra reliable software design.

Alternative ending for the xkcd Mars rover webcomic

5 Amazing bike trails in New Zealand

New Zealand is a beautiful, mostly undiscovered country. Most people go to Australia for a vacation but forget about New Zealand. Well, New Zealand is the place where The Lord of the Rings was shot and there are tours arranged to the movie set locations.

Another thing you can do is go on a biking or cycling trip in New Zealand. Here are five amazing cycling trails in New Zealand.

SEE TE ARA AHI

Brilliant sightseeing tour on a two wheeler, Te Ara Ahi is a 50-kilometre trail winding between the geothermal fields that bubble and boil around the pungent Rotorua.

Beginning in town, the ride incorporates four of the area's major geothermal fields: Whakarewarewa, Waimangu Volcanic Valley, Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland and Waikite Valley Thermal Pools.

The cycling is quite gentle (if rather sulphuric), but it's only part of the experience on this pedalling glimpse into the Earth's power. Check out the steaming, orange-rimmed Champagne Pool at Wai-O-Tapu; watch the geysers blow at Whakarewarewa; and stop for a soak in the thermally heated waters of Kerosene Creek.

Shuttle buses run from the trail's end back to Rotorua, or you might prefer to cycle back.

More information at nzcycletrail.com/te-ara-ahi

ALPS to OCEAN

This 312-kilometre ride is a very alluring prospect. Beginning near the foot of New Zealand's highest mountain and heading to the coast at beautiful Oamaru, Alps 2 Ocean descends almost 800 metres across its journey. But there's far more to this rural ride than blessed descents.

From Mount Cook Village it follows a chain of glacial lakes and hydro canals across the foot of the Southern Alps before turning towards the coast. Along the way there are Lord of the Rings film locations, Maori rock-art sites and the surreal karst landscape at Elephant Rocks. Factor around six days of pedalling.


More info at  alps2ocean.com

HAURAKI RAIL TRAIL

As flat as a New Zealand vowel, and yet cutting through one of the country's most spectacular gorges, this 60-kilometre ride offers a couple of easy days in the saddle. This trail begins in the town of Thames, 90 minutes' drive out of Auckland, and heads south along the Hauraki Plain.

At Paeroa, home to the uniquely Kiwi Lemon and Paeroa soft drink, the trail swerves into the Karangahake Gorge through New Zealand's longest cycling tunnel.

The gorge walls close around the trail and there are gold-mining relics, walking tracks and a waterfall to entice you to slow the pace. For variety, you can finish the ride on a heritage train between Waikino and Waihi.

Visit haurakirailtrail.co.nz

OTAGO CENTRAL RAIL TRAIL

The trail that spawned New Zealand's cycling revolution is a 150-kilometre ride that horseshoes gently through the once gold-rich valleys between Clyde and Middlemarch. The trail journeys past character-rich towns and pubs, and brings the disused railway to life as you pedal across former rail bridges and through darkened tunnels.

The gradient never exceeds 2 per cent, making this a great introductory ride, especially if ridden over three or four days.

At the Clyde end, the trail skirts the vineyards of the Central Otago wine region. Sam Neill's Two Paddocks winery is just a few kilometres off the route and there's the chance near Ranfurly to detour for a game at the southern hemisphere's only indoor curling rink.

Website is otagocentralrailtrail.co.nz.

The Great Taste Trail

This 175-kilometre ride is a taste of many things: wine, cafes, coast, mountains, an island, a national park. Looping out from Nelson, a town billed as the sunniest place in New Zealand, the Great Taste Trail heads out across boardwalks along the edge of the birdlife-rich Waimea Estuary and onto Rabbit Island.

Returning to the mainland by boat, the trail ventures to the edge of Tasman National Park before cutting back inland to Nelson. There are vineyards around Motueka and Wakefield and good views of the spectacular Western Ranges ... without the effort of having to climb into them.

Taste nzcycletrail.com/tasmans-great-taste-trail

Swedish dronographer Kalle Ljung to videograph New Zealand after Antarctica

Click here to read this website in Swedish
Klicka här för att läsa denna webbplats på svenska

Kalle Ljung

Using a drone and a commercial drone, Swedish filmmaker Kalle Ljung had made a beautiful 8 minute video of Antarctica this month. He now plans to make a video of the lavish, beautiful fjords and mountains and valleys of New Zealand, the land of Middle Earth.

The Aerial video of Antarctica was filmed on a boating trip with his father from a 14 meter sailing boat. They toured Antarctica for around 16 days and recorded around 250 minutes of awesome video.

New Zealand is a beautiful country to visit. Don't miss this amazing place. The video will be amazing too,

Interesting facts about The Kingdom of Norway - Norge (Bokmål) or Noreg (Nynorsk)

To see this page in Norwegian(Bokmal) click here

For å lese denne siden på bokmål klikk her 

1. “Norway” means “path to the North”.
2. Norway has over 20,000 km of coastline.
3. Norway's Top Level Web Domain is .NO ( e.g. www.google.no )
4. The Laerdal road tunnel is the world’s longest road tunnel at 24.5 km (15 miles)
5. Norway along with Sweden and Denmark make up Scandinavia.
6. The Jostedalsbreen, in Norway, is the largest glacier in Northern Europe.
7. Petroleum prices are among the highest in the world, even though Norway is one of the biggest exporters of oil in the world.
8. Norway also has the world’s deepest underwater tunnel at 287 meters deep.
9. Norway is one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
10. It is also the most peaceful country, according to the Global Peace Index.
11. The official Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square in London has come from Oslo for over the last fifty years.
12. The cheese slicer was invented in Norway.
13. Norway is the 6th largest country in Europe, but only ranks 28th as far as population.
14. Ever wondered why Noble peace prize are awarded in Oslo, Norway every year? It has been since 1901 because of their outstanding efforts in keeping peace. The Norwegian King Harald V is also present at the award ceremony in Oslo.
15. Gulf Stream and warm air currents caused by the Coriolis Effect leads to much milder weather than expected. Temperature along the coast of Norway is 5-8°C higher than at comparable latitudes elsewhere.
16. It is the sixth largest country in Europe, but ranks only 28th as far as population is concerned.
17. It is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and according to the global Peace Index, the most peaceful too. Inspite of being one of the biggest exporters of oil in the world, gas prices are amongst the highest in Norway. Also, food prices are so high that many people choose to travel to Sweden to buy their groceries in bulk.
18. When in Norway, don’t even think about drinking and driving. Strict laws and their enforcements have been successfully kept crime at bay. For example, if caught driving under the influence, there is an automatic 30 days in jail, lose your license for a year, and pay fines up to 10% of your annual income. Binge drinking on the weekends is a well-established tradition. Just don’t drive home!
19. Norway is a beautiful place to be. It is a host to a whopping 450,000 lakes. 200 or so are about 4 square miles or more in size.
20. Remember this fact if ever you wish to visit Norway! Grandiosa pizza should be on the top of your ‘must eat’ list. It is the unofficial national food of the country. Nearly 25 million Grandiosa pizzas are eaten by small population of 5 million people.
21. The Viking festival: The festival offers activities and entertainment for all ages. Visitors are invited to participate in craft activities, join a historical sports competition or row a Viking ship. There will also be opportunities to watch a magician, learn how Viking warriors prepared for combat, listen to lectures and learn about life during the Viking Age.
22. Norway has the world’s deepest underwater tunnel at 287 meters deep.It is also the birthpace of cheese slicer and modern day skiing. The word ‘ski’ in Norwegian means for ‘piece of wood’.
23. There are a few rules which might puzzle you, for example- If you own a TV in Norway, you have to pay an annual fee of $300 USD.Food stores cannot be open on Sundays. If you need groceries then, you have to get them at the local gas station, which are allowed to sell food on Sundays.Prisons in Norway are amongst the most glamorous in the entire world. In fact, most Norwagein prisons are higher class than most hotel rooms found in the United States. Having no death penalty and no life sentences one would think that the country would have high crime rate. However, they have one of the lowest in the world. Around 72 inmates per 100,000 people!
24. Known as the Land of the Midnight Sun
25. Head of State: His Majesty, King Harald V of Norway
26. Head of Government: Prime Minister, Erna Solberg (since 2013)
27. System of Government: Constitutional monarchy, Parliamentary democracy
28. Won independence from Sweden in 1905
29. Area: 148,747 square miles (similar in sq. miles to the size of Montana)
30. Population (2014): 5,109,059
31. Capital city: Oslo [Population: 624,000 (statistics 2013)]
32. Languages: 2 official Norwegian languages: Bokmål and Nynorsk), in some districts, Sámi is also an official language Sámi (spoken by the Sámi people), 100% literacy
33. Education dates back as far as the 12th century
34. In 1827 Norway introduced public education (Folkeskole)
35. In the 1970s and 80s the Folkeskole was abolished and the Grunnskole was introduced.
36. Education is free, even higher education.
37. Ministry of Education, Research & Church Affairs prepares the national curriculum for grunnskole (primary & lower secondary education) and videregående skole (upper secondary school)
38. Compulsory education: 10 years (Grade 1-10)
39. Upper secondary school is 3 years after 10th grade and divided into general/academic studies track or vocational and apprenticeship tracks
40. Norway has seven universities, nine specialized university institutions, 22 university colleges, two national colleges of the arts and a number of private higher education institutions. Norway’s University of Oslo ranks 89th in the 2013–14 QS University World Rankings, and the University of Bergen at 151st
41. The people of Oslo, Norway donate the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree in London every year in gratitude to the people of London for their assistance during WWII. 
42. It is illegal to spay or neuter your dog in Norway except under specific circumstances regarding health, quality of life, or utility. 
43. Norway has the World’s biggest sovereign fund, where it has been saving almost all the money it gets from the sale of oil and is worth almost a trillion dollars Source: Norway: Is world’s largest sovereign wealth fund too big?
44. To encourage more men to assume a greater share of care-giving responsibilities, Norwegian law states that 14 weeks of parental leave is reserved for fathers. Norway is the first country to introduce compulsory paternity leave Source: Father’s leave still a burning issue
45. King Harald of Norway vowed to remain unmarried for life unless he could marry his true love; the daughter of a cloth merchant. They both later married with help from the Government of Norway and she became the Queen of Norway
46. Norwegian prisons are known to be the most luxurious prisons in the world. Norwegian prisons have also won a design award. Though accommodations may be ultra luxurious, the criminals on release demonstrate the lowest rate of re-offending in Europe, if not the world.
47. A valley settlement in Norway that lives in shadow for nearly half of every year has installed giant mirrors on an adjacent mountain to redirect sunlight into the town’s square, all based on a plan that was thought up 100 years ago
48. If you own a TV in Norway, you have to pay an annual fee of $300 USD.
49. Wondering how much your co-worker, boss, neighbor, friend, or cousin makes? It’d be no secret in Norway where income and wealth are public record; a practice shared by other Scandinavian countries. Making the data public demonstrates the Scandinavian tradition of jantelag, which translates roughly as nobody is better than anyone else.
50. You can only buy alcohol from stores called Vinmonopolet. There are only one or two in each city, and none in the countryside towns.
51. If caught driving under the influence, there is an automatic 30 days in jail, lose your license for a year, and pay fines up to 10% of your annual income!
52. Binge drinking on the weekends is a well-established tradition. Just don’t drive home!Instagram
53. Food stores cannot be open on Sundays. If you need groceries then, you have to get them at the local gas station, which are allowed to sell food on Sundays.
54. Food prices are so high in Norway that many people travel to Sweden to buy their groceries.
55. The Grandiosa frozen pizza is the unofficial national food dish.22 Interesting Facts About Norway
56. Norway is the birthplace of modern skiing. The word “ski” is Norwegian for “piece of wood”.
57. There are about 450,000 lakes in Norway, 200 or so that are 4 square miles or more in size.
58. There are as many Norwegian descendants living in the US as there are Norwegians living in Norway, especially the states of North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
59. If you own a TV in Norway, you have to pay an annual fee of $300 USD.
60. Norway is the world’s 7th largest exporter of oil and the 2nd largest exporter of gas.
61. More than 2.0 million barrels of oil per day (including NGL and condensate) per day. 
62. Seventh largest oil exporter and the fourteenth largest oil producer in the world. 
63. Norway has the world’s largest per capita hydropower production, and is the sixth largest hydropower producer in the world. In a year with normal precipitation, hydropower generation is around 120 TWh, corresponding to approximately 98 percent of Norway’s total power production.
64. 'Deadliest Catch' Star Sig Hansen is from Norway. He is apparently more famous than King Harald V of Norway.

They're Taking the Hobbits to Queenstown not Isengard - Lego Legolas says

Ever since the first The Lord of the Rings movie was released in 2001, New Zealand has been known as the 'Home of Middle-earth'.

The movies were shot on location in New Zealand.
Air New Zealand even made a nice Advertisement for New Zealand Tourism as Middle Earth.
Watch that now.

Take a journey through Middle Earth

Trivia point : Legolas Means "green leaves" in Sindarin, from laeg "green" combined with go-lass "collection of leaves".

In the movie, Legolas (Orlando Bloom) says,

"They're Taking the Hobbits to Isengard"

Here's a video of Lego Legolas saying that :