The Amazing Citizens of the Sea

Transparent baby slipper lobster
All images courtesy of Dr. Nancy Knowlton and used with permission

Even though we know a lot about our Earth, we are often surprised by new discoveries every day. Especially when it comes to marine life, we must admit that it is much more complex than we think and God knows what hidden wonders are there beneath sea level. Among the many surprises, you may find sea-spiders the size of dinner plates and shrimp-like creatures more than a foot in length.
When the Census of Marine Life was launched, its goal was to answer basic questions about oceanic creatures and their life. As a scientific leader of Marine Life, Dr. Nancy Knowlton has devoted her life toward the life of sea creatures. She is the Sant Chair of Marine Science at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and proud founder of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

"Citizens of the Sea" is a wonderful book written by Dr. Knowlton that draws our attention toward the many discoveries of the Census of Marine Life, in engaging detail. But why not speak with Dr. Knowlton and let us know about it in her own words? In a brief interview, Dr. Knowlton spoke with Environmental Graffiti about her new book and her passion for sea creatures.

EG: What made you to write this book?

Dr. Knowlton: "I was invited to write this book by the Census of Marine Life and jumped at the opportunity. It allowed me to share all the wonderful ocean stories I have been collecting in my head since I started studying the ocean more than 35 years ago."
EG: What were the surprises and challenges, you had while writing this book?

NK: "The biggest challenge was really the deadline, since it had to be finished in less than a year! The biggest surprise was how much fun I had doing it, even with the time pressure. And of course all the wonderful details we uncovered while researching each story were also surprising - for example the facts that some birds fly the equivalent of three round trips to the moon in their lifetimes and that a quart of seawater has more than 20,000 kinds of bacteria.

EG: The book is full of hidden wonders of the sea. Do you think there are still big discoveries to be made yet?

NK: "There is so much still to be discovered - the ocean covers over 70% of the surface of the earth and over 95% of its habitable real estate. We have only begun to scratch the surface, literally, since the deep sea is mostly unexplored. We have visited the moon more often than the deepest part of the ocean, and even in shallow water, the diversity is so high that we continue to make new discoveries every day."

EG: In closing, any 'green' message to our readers, about the health of the ocean and what we ordinary people could do about it?

NK: "The ocean is in trouble - between over-fishing, pollution, invasive species, and greenhouse gas emissions (which make the ocean warmer and more acidic), many species and ecosystems are threatened. But each of us can help by treading lightly on the planet. This means eating only sustainable seafood, using energy efficiently, and minimizing waste (much of which winds up in the ocean)."
For many decades, scientists from all over the world have been discovering many unknown species hidden in the deep sea and are still working hard toward the future of marine life.

"Citizens of the Sea: Wondrous Creatures from the Census of Marine Life" is a new National Geographic book, brilliantly captured by underwater photographers, and written with fun as an easygoing, detailed documentation. It not only brings readers face-to-face with the hidden denizens in the deep-sea, but also reveals a miraculous array of sea creatures. You will get to know more about your neighbors, once you will read the book.

My sincere thanks to Dr.Nancy Knowlton for her answers and sharing such an incredible book with us.

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Huge Solar Storm Triggers Unusual Auroras

Aurora Over Quebec
Photograph courtesy Ian Diamond
Auroras create green curtains of light August 4 over the Rupert River in Waskaganish (see map), a Cree Nation community in Quebec, Canada.
Last week's northern lights—which lasted a few days—were products of a large burst of plasma, or charged gas, from the sun known as a coronal mass ejection. A NASA orbiter called the Solar Dynamics Observatory saw last Sunday's eruption, which was aimed directly at Earth and sparked predictions of a shimmering sky show.
Now it seems aurora fans may be in for another treat: A solar flare spotted Saturday by NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory was even more powerful than the previous eruption. Although this time the bulk of the plasma burst isn't aimed right at Earth, scientists say it could still trigger another round of colorful auroras.
Beach Aurora
Photograph courtesy Federico Buchbinder
An aurora created by last week's coronal mass ejection glimmers over Laurentian Beach, on the shores of Lake Manitoba in Canada (map), on August 6.
Auroras happen when energized particles from the sun wash over Earth and flow down the planet's magnetic field lines toward the Poles. Along the way, the charged partices bang into nitrogen, oxygen, and other atoms in our atmosphere.
The charged solar particles give Earth's atmospheric atoms an energy boost, which then gets released as light, producing the shimmering curtains of greens, reds, blues, and other colors. (Related: "Aurora 'Power Surges' Triggered by Magnetic Explosions.")
Purple Haze
Photograph courtesy Shawn Malone, LakeSuperiorPhoto.com
Seen from the shores of Lake Superior, an August 4 aurora glows green topped with blueish-purple. Auroras glow in different colors based on the types of atoms in the atmosphere and how high they are in the sky.
Humans mostly see auroras in shades of yellowish-green. That's because the eye sees a light show created by oxygen atoms at lower altitudes, about 62 to 186 miles (100 to 300 kilometers) above the surface.
Blues and purples are created by lighter gases such as hydrogen and helium, while low-level nitrogen can add red fringes to the bottoms of green auroral curtains.

Oslo Light Show
Photograph courtesy Otto L. Motzke
Green light curls over Oslo, Norway, August 4 in an auroral display caused by last Sunday's coronal mass ejection.
In the Northern Hemisphere, auroras are more commonly seen at high latitudes near the Arctic Circle, such as northern Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia.
But scientists predicted that last Sunday's strong burst would bring the light show to slightly lower parts of the globe. In fact, sky-watchers were snapping pictures of auroras as far south as Oslo, Lake Manitoba in Canada, and Lake Superior (map) in the United States.
"Superior" Aurora
Photograph courtesy Shawn Malone, LakeSuperiorPhoto.com
The view from a Michigan shore of Lake Superior included multicolored auroras on August 3, as seen in a panoramic picture.
A solar storm headed for Earth isn't a guarantee of auroras. Without more sun-watching satellites, scientists are hard-pressed to know the exact effects a coronal mass ejection will have on Earth's atmosphere.
Last week Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics had put the odds of the August 1 solar flare producing auroras at about 50-50.
Sky Glows Green
Photograph courtesy Miguel Yetman
Clouds over Manitoba, Canada, are bathed in green light from an August 4 aurora.
The solar ejections that cause auroras can also create geomagnetic storms that can affect spacewalking astronauts, Earth-orbiting satellites, and even communications and power systems on the ground.
But like the previous solar storm, which was strong but relatively slow, the oncoming burst of charged particles shouldn't create significant problems for people, according to the website SpaceWeather.com. Instead, the site says, "high-latitude sky-watchers should be alert for auroras when the cloud arrives, probably on August 10."
Green Glow, Orange Clouds
Photograph courtesy Tania A. Berntsen
Green aurora borealis curtains light up the skies over a beach in Grimstad, Norway (map), just after midnight on August 4.
The cloud of solar particles that sparked last week's northern lights weighed about a billion tons, according to NASA. The space agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory and other sun-studying spacecraft are about more than just advance notice of sky shows.
Because solar wind can disrupt communications systems and power grids, "one of the main reasons to have these instruments in space is so that you can issue alerts or warnings, pretty much like you would with a hurricane," Golub said.
That way "people can know ahead of time when there is a possibility of an event that will have an impact on Earth."
Solar Extreme
Image courtesy NASA
A bright swirl (left of center) on the sun marks the spot where a tumult of plasma sent out the August 1 coronal mass ejection that sparked last week's auroras, as seen in a mosaic picture taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Different colors show regions of temperature variation on the sun.
Solar activity rises and falls on a regular cycle of about 11 years. The last period of peak activity ended in 2001, and it led into a long-lasting quiet spell. (See "Sun Oddly Quiet—Hints at Next 'Little Ice Age'?")
Along with a recent flurry of sunspots, the August eruptions seem to be signs of the star's reawakening—good news for aurora fans, but potential trouble for satellites, astronauts, and some Earthly technologies.

Unusual Snake With Foot Discovered

A snake with a single clawed foot has been discovered in China, according to reports.
Dean Qiongxiu, 66, said she discovered the reptile clinging to the wall of her bedroom with its talons in the middle of the night.
"I woke up and heard a strange scratching sound. I turned on the light and saw this monster working its way along the wall using his claw," said Mrs Duan of Suining, southwest China.
Mrs Duan said she was so scared she grabbed a shoe and beat the snake to death before preserving its body in a bottle of alcohol.
The snake – 16 inches long and the thickness of a little finger – is now being studied at the Life Sciences Department at China's West Normal University in Nanchang.

Snake expert Long Shuai said: "It is truly shocking but we won't know the cause until we've conducted an autopsy."

A more common mutation among snakes is the growth of a second head, which occurs in a similar way to the formation of Siamese twins in humans.
Such animals are often caught and preserved as lucky tokens but have very little chance of surviving in the wild anyway, especially as the heads have a tendency to attack each other.

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Artist Made Wonderful Art on his Head

Artist uses his head as canvas
Balding artist Philip Levine uses his head and comes up with a smart idea - to use his head. Rather than shaving as a statement of defeat in the fight against baldness, he has embraced it and uses the smooth surface as his canvas. A lesson in how to turn a problem into an asset.


















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Unusual and Creative Concept Hats

Mmmm... Cheesy!
At the Royal Ascot annual horse races in England, a woman wears a hat shaped like a platter of blue cheese and grapes. Think this hat is insane? Scroll down the gallery for other weird ones..

King Kong Would Love This One
A model wears a felt hat shaped like a gorilla's hand.
Gooooooaaaal! Royal Ascot 2004
Yep, the Sink's in There Too: Royal Ascot '08
Just Say Neigh: Royal Ascot 2007
Someone Is Very Patriotic... Royal Ascot 2007
Guess Who's the Butt of the Joke: Royal Ascot '07
The Race Is On! Royal Ascot '06
Head Stands: Royal Ascot '06
We Bet This One Got a Great Reception: Royal Ascot 1992
All That Jazz
A model displays her headwear on the runway at the Basso & Brooke fashion show at London Fashion Week.
A Hat of Note
A model displays her headwear on the runway at the Basso & Brooke fashion show at London

How Dainty! Watercress Sandwiches, Royal Ascot '06

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Unusual and Funny Shoes with Faces

Gwen Murphy transforms old shoes into unique characters with scary faces.

The artist uses clay and acrylic paint to give each recycled shoe its own personality and facial expression.









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