Continued: Animals When We're Not Looking

Not that I’m quite that desperate for more blog ideas but I’m really interested in these pictures that photographers all over the world were lucky enough to get so this will be a continued post from the one titled: Animals When We’re Not Looking.

We’ve all seen that cute movie Happy Feet, right? Well it shows some pretty accurate things like how penguins aren’t quite the top of the food chain and need to be cautious when fishing. What Happy Feet didn’t inform me of was that the way penguins move so fast through the water and shoot up onto the ice is they squeeze their little feathers together, close to their body and the trapped air bubbles in their feathers are released, reducing friction and almost “rocket” the penguin wherever they want to go. This penguin is done fishing and doesn’t see any predators but wants to get out of the water fast.

This lion just woke up from a nap in a tree and was listening to a female calling in the distance. That’s when the photographer got his shot. Another person held a spotlight on the lion while the photographer got a 5 second window where the lion looked at them. This is so cool. I’ve never seen a lion in a tree like this on animal planet or in the zoo. I bet they don’t hang out in trees all too often.

 



Okay, really don’t have much to say about this picture but the cheetah in the background just made me laugh. I mean, look at its face! And the cheetah that is the main subject… well, I still can’t tell what is going on or where body parts are but there is apparently a wildebeest that the cheetah just attacked.

 

This is just amazing. I can’t imagine how a bear gets so desperate that it climbs down a cliff just to steal some eggs. Really, I’ve never seen or heard of anything like this.



This is my favorite. Out of all the pictures I have ever seen this one is among my favorites. The only words I can come up with for this is pretty much beautiful or peaceful. It looks like Buda or something. The Japanese macaque is in a hot spring to keep warm in the cold weather. The monkeys also socialize in springs like this. This particular macaque is asleep.

 

Animals When We're Not Looking

I feel like Yahoo to me, is like Pintrest to most girls (although I do like Pintrest too). I’m just kind of addicted to looking at every article (except for the sports related ones unless it’s a super cool video about a play) and learning about all the things in the world that just happen to be unless pieces of information (most of the time). Anyhoo, every once in a while, Yahoo will have things posted like really cool pictures from all over the world or even just some persons back yard. I’m really interested in photography though and love to look at these. The most recent article/slideshow of pictures are of wildlife in their natural habitats. Most people never get to see these things occur unless a lucky photographer captures it for us. Here are some pictures that I really liked and learned from:

You don’t usually see humans and tigers so close, but at the Tiger Temple, this tame tiger walks alongside tourists all the time. I assumed that this was the mother of the cubs trotting behind but really, its the father. This was a rare day that the cubs got to tag along with their dad.

I’ve watched countless animal planet shows about how mothers teach their babies how to hunt. But mostly, id only seen killer whales in action, trapping seals on blocks of ice and creating waves to push them off but they would just play with the seal and let it go if they were training. Well, same here. These cheetah cubs are learning how to hunt. This poor gazelle happens to be the bait. A photographer watched as a grown female captured but didn’t kill the little gazelle and he knew what was up. She brought the game back to her cubs and released it, letting them chase it down together. When the gazelle was still, the cheetahs didn’t care, but when the gazelle tried to run, instinct took over and the cubs tried to get it.

Earthquake in Italy

Italy, in 2009, experienced a devastating earthquake that killed over 300 people and left many homeless. They had to sleep in tent camps for months afterwards. In 2011, about scientists were accused of not fully or accurately warning the people nearby of the danger of the potential earthquake. Residents and people who lost their loved ones in the mess claim that the scientists should go to jail for “taking their job lightly”. Scientists around the world and other seismologists say that it is totally unfair what they are being accused of. The tremors that the scientists picked up were warning signs that an earthquake COULD happen but in this area, nothing is exact. Even the best scientists can’t predict exactly how devastating an earthquake will be if or when it comes. Scientists claim “the trial is ridiculous.” If they had released all of the information they knew and told people there was a possibility of an earthquake, it would have created panic. If they released information about every tremor, there would be chaos.

 I understand where residents and people who have lost loved ones would feel that someone is to blame because they clearly had some warning signs that they failed to inform people about. But, first of all, I would believe the scientists. Maybe not so much if just the scientists accused were saying there was no definite way to know but really, other seismologists agree. Second, I’m in geology right now and we just got done with a unit about earthquakes and volcanoes. I agree with the scientists on their position that they really didn’t know. Tremors happen more often than not. the earth is always shifting and changing. Yes, some signs give more information about future quakes than others but scientists can’t predict everything that’s going to happen, they only get ideas because history may or may not repeat it’s-self.

Baby Calf is Rescued

Elephant conservationists learned of a baby elephant stuckin a well in Kenya and conducted a rescue. The team starts out in a video by pushing the mother of the calf away from the well that the baby had fallen into. These were of course safety measures the team was forced to make. After the mother was out of sight or at least a fair distance away, the team of about 3 got to work. They assessed which side of the well would be easiest to get the elephant out of and tried to coax the baby to face that way. The calf didn’t respond though because her mother was calling her from the opposite direction. After trying and trying to get some rope hooked on to her they tried to pull the calf and didn’t succeed. After a second time though they drug the baby up the less steep side and got her out. The team then jumped into their jeep and “herded” the calf back to its mother who let out a cry as her baby came closer. At the end of the video, the mother is seen somewhat wrapping her trunk around the calf for an embrace.

Its really cool that this team was able to get the baby out of the well by themselves. Also, I think its awesome that there was a team who could come to this calf’s rescue. Im sure that if there wasn’t a team, some locals would figure out a way to help but who knows how long that would have taken. Im not sure if elephants give up that easily but im sure most mothers after a while would accept that their baby wasn’t getting out. Elephants I know are more connected so im not sure. But the baby would have exhausted its self trying so hard to get out that by the time a local team came, it wouldn’t be much help to them if it couldn’t move or lift its legs to get rope around its body.

World's Oldest Father... Again

Everyone matures and moves through life at their own speed which is only natural, but some make decisions that affect their life in different ways. Now days, there’s bound to be one or two teenaged girls at almost every high school that is pregnant or already a mother. Sure, that was the norm a hundred or more years ago but now, we need educations to get us “desirable” lifestyles and jobs. The better your schooling, the better the job you will probably get. But having a kid makes that difficult so it’s now more acceptable to have a child or start your family later in life. After college and finding a house you can afford. Different cultures have their own beliefs though and in some, girls don’t need to be educated and have a house with a husband. They start early just as most Americans did a while ago.

Im not totally sure what cultures are like in India, but a 96 year old male farmer just set the world record. What for? Becoming the world’soldest new father…. Again. So, to me, this is a little strange. Not even just strange, unfortunate. I mean, even though it was planned between him and his 52 year old wife, he will probably die too soon for the child to learn and grow up with his dad. He won’t be able to learn customs and traditions and stories. His mother who is still quite a bit older than her husband will have to raise two kids on her own.

To give this couple some credit in my mind, they did meet later in their lives and as any couple would, decided they would love to have children together. And yes, this man claims he’s healthy, but I really think they should consider the well-being of their children and their lives before their own happiness. I wouldn’t want to be orphaned early in life because my parents didn’t plan any better.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

     Felix Baumgartner became the first person to break the sound barrier when he jumped from a height of 24 miles above the earth. Felix was about to jump and says all he could hope was “to come back alive.” There were more than 30 cameras capturing the whole thing. People watched live all over the world on the internet and on TV. The Discovery Channel showed it live.
    
     Kittinger, a man who tried to break the sound barrier in 1960, jumped from 19.5 miles above the Earth. He was there at mission control the day Felix jumped. Kittinger didn’t succeed in breaking the sound barrier. He did reach speeds of around 614 miles per hour though which is very impressive. Although Felix had farther to fall, he didn’t break the world’s longest free-fall record which was actually set by Kittinger when he jumped in 1960. Felix missed it by 16 seconds but he has the excuse that he didn’t know exactly when to pull the shot because his mask was fogging up.
    
     Felix spun uncontrollably for a while after jumping. He “felt pressure building in his head but wasn’t close to passing out.” He stated, “Of course it was terrifying. I was fighting all the way down because I knew that there must be a moment where I can handle it.”
    
     This jump was the last of many high altitude dives for Felix. He plans on flying helicopters for fire and rescue missions in the U.S. and Austria.
   
     It’s so awesome that Felix had the courage to attempt something like this. I’m not sure I could even try skydiving id be so terrified. I’m surprised that I didn’t hear more about this event before it happened. It sounds like it was a really big deal in some countries and everyone tried to watch it.

Alien Planet

A link on Yahoo brought me to a really cool article about an alien planet. This planet has two suns apparently just like something from star wars. I’m not really sure what the star wars version is but that’s how the article compared it. This planet is the first known of its kind and is a bit larger than Neptune in size. They call it PH1. PH1 was discovered by a couple of amateur astronomers.

The alien planet spends about 138 days orbiting once around its suns. The suns or stars themselves orbit around each other once every 20 days. PH1 is really hot and reaches temperatures over 600 degrees. It also has two other stars near it that aren’t even its main suns. Astronomers have been studying this planet and gaining so much information just “by studying light from one of its parent stars.”

I have always been interested in astronomy and think it’s really cool that amateur astronomers were the ones to discover this. I wish I could spend more time looking at stars and planets especially with a telescope that is really powerful. The planet and its suns are really cool too. I want to learn more about why this is the only one known of its kind. Why doesn’t this happen more often that we can tell? It is hard to believe that we can even see stuff like this thousands of light years away. That’s so hard for me to comprehend how far away that is. I really wish we knew more about what is out there. I bet there are tons of planets like PH1 that we don’t know about and many others that are even more surprising than having 4 stars near it. I am really glad that we have the technology we do to know about what is out there even as far as the moon. I don’t even know what I would think if we didn’t scientifically know all this stuff.

Dog Stress Levels

       In an article I found on Yahoo, they conducted a study and researched dog stress levels in Japan. The dogs in the study were rescued from the earthquake in 2011 and other dogs not from the disaster that were abandoned.
       Dogs and humans are both obviously very stressed in disaster situations. Dogs that had lived through a disaster such as the earthquake that occurred in Japan were five to ten times more stressed than other dogs that were abandoned in Japan. Stress hormones found in the dogs urine are what gave researchers these findings.
       Fukushima dogs were ultimately found to be less aggressive to strangers than other dogs but they were also found to be less attached to the people who cared for them and training them was more difficult.
       Numbers for the research were very minimal and not extensive by any means which leaves many more variables and possibilities to not be presented. Age of the dogs may also be a factor in the study because the dogs from the disaster tended to be younger than the others who were rescued in 2009 and ’10. Age didn’t seem to have much effect though on abandonment. Stress was linked to less ability to retain and learn in all ages of dogs.
       I think this is an interesting area to research. I haven’t heard of people researching dog stress levels before in disaster and non-disaster areas. I am not exactly sure what this information will do for us because it seems sort of unsurprising to me that stress has a large impact on dog’s lives such as learning ability, attachment, and aggressiveness toward strangers or familiar handlers and caregivers. I suppose someone has to scientifically do it otherwise its unofficial.
       I hope that they can use the information though to create awareness about abandonment even though during the disasters people are sometimes forced to abandon pets.

A Gain in Ice?

     I’m not the most up to date on global warming or all the theories out there about the climate but when I came across this article I thought it was sort of different from what I have heard. We have all known for a while that the Arctic has been losing ice every year for whatever reasons they say but what I hadn’t known or maybe heard or paid attention about was that the ice in the Antarctic has been increasing.
     The increase in ice may be due to the ozone hole over the Antarctic. This increase may not be a good thing though. The reason for the difference in ice because of the ozone hole is ultimately because of humans. The ozone gap or hole is bigger than the size of North America.
     The cause of the ice increase, they believe, is because of the different patterns and strength of winds. The winds push the ice outward creating more of it.
     The research that has been done is not very extensive and little is really known. This scientific work is dangerous and of course extremely cold and difficult. The work isn’t top priority for most scientists studying these conditions. Also as the article puts it, “scientists are ignoring the southern continent because it's not convenient.” So there is much to learn.
     The article mentions how eerie and empty the landscape is sometimes, how cold it is, and even how the other day, a team of researchers were stranded because of the ever changing ice. It broke and left a gap the team couldn’t cross until they were rescued by an inflatable bridge.
     I will be the first to volunteer that I am a baby when it comes to the cold and I sincerely give props to the people who risk their lives in freezing weather to learn and educate others about that part of the world.

Running For President

I read an article that was linked on the World Humanities page about a man who is originally from Sierra Leone and now lives in Cedar Rapids. He moved to Cedar Rapids 38 years ago and has started a family and worked here in that time. Now, he plans on moving back to Sierra Leone to become president.

 Josh Carew realized about three years ago that he saw injustice in his home country and wants to “shift power to the people”. He believes that “everyone has a special skill and should use it”.

Carew wants to fix the system that he believes is responsible for the death of his sister during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Their civil war was fought by many child soldiers and was especially gruesome. Families lost everything including their neighbors, homes, valuables, and each other. The country is referred to as “the poorest of the poor”, which he doesn’t think is right.

 Winning the presidency is a long shot according to Carew and Momodu Kamaram, who is a friend of his. There are two other people running for the presidency and are expected to come out on top.

Carew cashed his 401(k) to support his campaign which is focused on education for the youth in Sierra Leone. Carew wants to adjust his ideas to the peoples’, to give them what they want.

 I think it is a great example that this man is putting his thoughts into actions and trying to set things right with the Sierra Leone system and people. He is doing exactly what he believes in. This is probably something he isn’t very experienced on but it is such a brave step for him and his family. And even if he doesn’t become president, he will be satisfied with the effort he gave.

Panda Research

     I became more interested in Giant Pandas after reading an article about a baby panda that died in a zoo of an unknown cause. As I was writing a blog about this article, I realized how little I actually knew about pandas like why they are declining in population, and where they are located around the world.
     After researching I have found some answers to some of my questions. Pandas live naturally in high in forests in western china. Their diet consists of mainly bamboo in which they need to consume about 26-84 pounds per day. Pandas can grow from the size of a stick of butter when born to 330 pounds after they’ve grown up.
     Pandas contribute to the environment by spreading seeds around the forest. In doing so, forests flourish more easily. Also, they bring ecotourism which is great for the economy. But as human populations grow and need for transportation of goods increases, more railways and roads are built through parts of forests where pandas live. Because of new roads and railways, it is harder for pandas to mate. The populations are separated and isolated from each other. More than 50 panda reserves have been established but only 61% of the population is protected by these areas.
     A main effort in helping pandas is breeding. In select places around the world like zoos and special breeding facilities are trying to breed pandas to boost the population. Of course the jobs of these places wouldn’t be as necessary if roads and railways wouldn’t have been built through major panda habitats.
     As with any species, it would be tragic to lose such a beautiful creature. It’s great that there are so many efforts to help pandas like WWF (http://worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda) where I got most of this information from. Pandas are in the middle of a chart that shows stages of extinction. They are endangered meaning they are “facing a high risk of becoming extinct in the wild”.  There is such a stage as being totally extinct meaning there are no known animals of that species living. Then one up in the chart is extinct in the wild which means the only living ones are held in captivity. I hope there will be even more reservations established in the future and less roads blocking populations which seems like a simple resolution in my mind.

A Long Way Gone

            For World humanities, I am reading a book called A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. This book is the author’s experiences as a child before, during, and after the war in Sierra Leone. He tries to educate readers as well as help them feel close to the war he was involved in.

Ishmael tells the reader everything unimaginable and more, holding nothing back. He and his brother are at first separated from each other and walk from village to village with other boys their age. As the story progresses, his situation worsens. He and his brother are separated and he goes off alone for days trying to find food and safety. He comes near to the village his parents and brother are believed to be staying but never sees them before they die in a sudden attack. Ishmael describes what rebels force innocent people to do. Killing babies and watching as family is raped and shot, things we would never dream of unfolds in front of these people’s eyes.

I think this is absolutely horrible. I don’t know who would think it isn’t. I am sure though that I can’t come near to being able to relate even at all with the things I read in this book. I feel disgust, anger, sadness, and sorry for the things I now know went on but there is no way I can fully comprehend what happened. I don’t understand how people could even start such a gruesome act let alone carry it on. I am learning though, that people will do things they are otherwise not capable of if they are put into the situations Ismael is telling the reader about. Good people will do bad things sometimes weather they are trying to get revenge or they are forced to in order to keep themselves or their families alive.

            I am sure that even though I would never have to go through something even similar, I would probably do almost anything to keep myself and/or family alive.

Ban on Gay March

     On Wednesday in Serbia, police banned a gay pride march in fear that another attack, such as the one in 2010, would occur again. It is also mentioned that the police were “complying with a request from Serbia's Christian Orthodox church”. The previous attack in Belgrade was on a similar gathering and was strung out for a day. It left about 100 people injured.

      I don’t know the laws or policies in Serbia but from the article, it sounded as though they have similar rules to the U.S. where freedom of speech is not against the law but I am not sure if it’s a given right. As much as I was opposed to hear that the police wouldn’t let them march, I somewhat understand the reasoning. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt either. But that doesn’t make it right for the police to “comply with a request” especially if the group who requested such a thing doesn’t agree with the gay pride march in the first place.

     I think that freedom of speech is a very important right that should be given to every person in the world. I would very much like to hear every ones opinion even if I don’t agree. In the case of this gay march, I am not trying to write about such a touchy subject but, I am not at all against gay people and I would support anyone I know who happened to feel that way. I believe that churches that don’t believe in it should mind their own business because they, after all, believe things that may be ridiculous or unsettling to others too. This is somewhat beside the point since I didn’t intend to write this about religions or gay pride.

 Basically, I feel like no matter the march’s purpose, no one should feel so opposed as to attack anyone who wants to show their feelings. And the police should have maybe just banned all who posed a threat from the area instead of the march its self.

http://news.yahoo.com/police-ban-gay-pride-march-serbia-christian-orthodox-164308344.html