Rare Tongue-Eating Parasite Discovered
Posted By Ben Goulding, 18 March, 2010 | permalink
A rare parasite which burrows into host fish before eating and replacing their tongues with itself has been discovered off the coast of Jersey.
Fishermen found the isopod, a type of louse, inside a weaver fish. Marine researcher Paul Chambers, who was part of the fishing party describes the moment the isopod was found:
“When we emptied the fish bag out there at the bottom was this incredibly ugly looking isopod.
“Really quite large, really quite hideous – if you turn it over its got dozens of these really sharp, nasty claws underneath and I thought ‘that’s a bit of a nasty beast’.
“I struggled for weeks to find an identification for this thing until, quite by chance I stumbled across something that looked similar in a Victorian journal.
“Apparently there’s not too much ill effect to the fish itself except it’s lost its tongue.”
Mr Chambers added: “It doesn’t affect humans other than if you do actually come across a live one and try and pick it up – they are quite vicious, they will deliver a good nip.”
Link Via Discoveryon
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Water Consumption During Olympic Gold Medal Hockey Match
Posted By Ben Goulding, 10 March, 2010 | permalink
The water utility in Edmonton, EPCOR, published the most incredible graph of water consumption last week. The graph compares and contrasts water consumption on a normal day in Edmonton (Feb 27th) and the day of the gold medal hockey match between the USA and Canada (Feb 28th).
With 80% of Canadians watching the game, they all used water at the same time during different periods of the day. Who doesn’t go to the bathroom during the break anyway?
Comments Off | Posted in: SportWeird Fact of the Day (02/18/10)
Posted By Ben Goulding, 18 February, 2010 | permalink
Blood Falls is an odd feature on the Taylor Glacier in Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys. Red liquid will occasionally pour out of the glacier, giving it the appearance that it is gushing with blood.
The ‘blood’ is actually caused by a very salty lake called Lake Bonney, which is situated under 1,300 feet of ice. When the water seeps to the surface, it oxidises and turns red.
Want to know more about Blood Falls? Info in the link.
Comments Off | Posted in: Sci/TechRingo Star’s Face Seen In Water Droplet
Posted By Ben Goulding, 4 November, 2009 | permalink
The face of the Beatles’ drummer, Ringo Starr, has been seen in a droplet of water bouncing on a lotus leaf.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, this is scientific evidence – it was discovered by a group of researchers from Duke University in North Carolina, who were taking high-speed images, showing water drops bouncing on the surface of a leaf.
No arguments there then.
Comments Off | Posted in: Entertainment | Sci/TechWater is Found on the Moon
Posted By Ben Goulding, 24 September, 2009 | permalink
It’s the discovery that scientists had waited and hoped for, and it’s finally official – there IS water on the moon.
The Deep Impact observations of the Moon not only unequivocally confirm the presence of [water/hydroxyl] on the lunar surface, but also reveal that the entire lunar surface is hydrated during at least some portion of the lunar day.
Despite this however, the moon remains drier than any desert on Earth, with water only existing in very small quantities. One ton of the top layer of the lunar surface would hold about 32 ounces of water.
Now we’ve just got to find some gravity and an atmosphere, and we can start packing.
Comments Off | Posted in: Sci/TechSolar Shower Changes Outdoor Showering Forever
Posted By Ben Goulding, 17 August, 2009 | permalink
Most outdoor camping showers use a container of water that’s heated by the sun and then sprayed, however this means that there’s not a lot of water, unless the container is impractically large. The Solar Power Shower is much more sophisticated and solves this problem.
Fill the tank at the bottom of the shower, leave in the sun for a couple of hours and you have 8 liters of 140-degree water. Then simply pump in the cool water from the garden hose and you’ll be left with plenty of optimally warm shower water. Fresh!
1 Comment | Posted in: Lifestyle | Sci/TechDaredevil Captures Monster Wave
Posted By Ben Goulding, 17 August, 2009 | permalink
Clark Little, from Oahu, Hawaii, took this amazing shot capturing the uncompromising power of the ocean.
Mr Little took the photograph of the 10+ foot monster wave at the Ke Iki beach. With 35 years surfing experience, he knows hows to be in the right place at the right time to capture the shorebreaks…without getting hurt. Luckily the surfer in the picture wasn’t hurt either.
1 Comment | Posted in: LifestyleExtreme Water Slide Jump
Posted By Ben Goulding, 5 August, 2009 | permalink
(Youtube Link)
“Bruno Kammerl built the biggest waterslide on earth and the test run was more than successful.” Fake or not, that’s a pretty big slide!
2 Comments | Posted in: EntertainmentApartment Building Built On Water
Posted By Ben Goulding, 1 August, 2009 | permalink
An architect in the Netherlands has created a 60-unit luxury apartment complex floating on water. It is the first floating apartment complex in the world.
Koen Olthuis of Dutch design firm Waterstudio used the fact that much of the Netherlands is below sea level as inspiration for his design. Polders are continually pumped free of the accumulating rainwater in the country to protect nearby homes and buildings. This consequently means that Koen’s compex will simply rise and fall with changing water levels, making it immune to flooding, and rising sea waters as a result of global warming.
Built atop a floating heavy concrete foundation, The Citadel will house 60 luxury apartments, a parking garage, a floating roadway, and boat docks. Each apartment will naturally have waterfront views via a garden terrace, and greenhouses will be interspersed throughout. But the greenest feature of the Citadel is its cooling system: submerged pipes will pump water throughout the structure to cool it, reducing its energy use by 25 percent compared to a conventional building.
I guess you just have to be careful you don’t fall in the drink!
Previously:
1 Comment | Posted in: Business | Lifestyle | Sci/TechJetLev – Water Powered Jet Pack
Posted By Ben Goulding, 31 July, 2009 | permalink
(Youtube Link)
This is a really cool invention, a jet pack propelled by water. It’s like something you’d see on a James Bond movie. You’ll have to dig deep into your pockets though- it’s $129,000.00 a pop!
Comments Off | Posted in: Lifestyle | Sci/TechWorld’s First Luxury Underwater Hotel
Posted By Ben Goulding, 21 July, 2009 | permalink
Hydropolis will be the first world’s luxury underwater hotel when it is completed later this year.
Hydropolis. Image: mymodernmet
Located in Dubai, guests will arrive at a station on land and be transported via a connecting tunnel to the main area of the hotel. The complex covers an area of one square mile, houses 220 suites and comes at a cost of $490 million.
Hydropolis will be located 65 feet (20m) below the Persian Gulf and will feature restaurants, bars, a ball room, meeting rooms and theme suites. The developer, Joachim Hauser, says “Hydropolis is not a project; it’s a passion.
“We want to create the first ever faculty for marine architecture because I believe that the future lies in the sea, including the future of city planning,” says Hauser. “I am certain that one day a whole city will be built in the sea. Our aim is to lay the first mosaic by colonizing the sea.”
2 Comments | Posted in: Business | Lifestyle | Sci/TechTown Bans Bottled Water
Posted By Ben Goulding, 8 July, 2009 | permalink
A small town in south-east Australia has become the first place in the world to ban bottled water.
The people of Bundanoon, located in New South Wales have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the ban at a public meeting, with 398 out of the 400 people at the gathering wanting bottled water to be banned in the town.
The community realized they needed to act when Norlex Holdings, a drinks company, unveiled plans to tap an underground reservoir in the town, transport the water to Sydney (some 150 km away) and then send it back bottled.
The people believe that this procedure makes unnecessary use of transport fuel and that serving water in bottles is an unnecessary use of plastic.
Shops in Bundanoon will now be banned from stocking and selling bottled water, visitors from the town will be discouraged from drinking it and new filtered water fountains will be placed on the main street in the town so that people can fill up their bottles for free.
This may be good for the environment, but what effect is it likely to have on the local economy? With Australians spending about half a billion dollars on bottled water per year, a knock-on ban in other parts of the country could have devastating effects for the economy.
Perhaps Australia should ban their exports of Fosters Lager which they transport all around the world. There are plenty of other perfectly good brewers in almost every country aren’t there? This would save thousands of tons of fuel and greenhouse gases from being polluted.
Is this really a sensible decision by the people of Bundanoon or are they making a mountain out of a mole hill? You decide.
Comments Off | Posted in: News