Good morning........Don’t Take Tension…

Don’t Take Tension…   The moment you are in TENSION You will lose your ATTENTION Then you are in total CONFUSION                                                                               and you'll feel IRRITATION           This may spoil your personal RELATION Untimately, you won't get COOPERATION   And get things into COMPLICATION Then you may raise CAUTION.   And you have to take MEDICATION Why not try understanding the SITUATION   And try to think about the SOLUTION Which will work out better in your PROFESSION   Don't think this is a free SUGGESTION It is only for your PREVENTION If you understand my INTENTION You'll never come again into TENSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Why bigger animals aren't always faster

The Hindu Above a certain size, lizards were changing the way they ran, according to a new research. File Photo: K. Gopinathan 

 

Researchers have shed light on why bigger is not always better when it comes to running speed.

"Typically, bigger animals tend to run faster than smaller animals, because they have longer legs,” said Christofer J. Clemente of Harvard University, who led the research. "But this only works up to a point. The fastest land animal is neither the biggest nor the smallest, but something in between. Think about the size of an elephant, a mouse and a cheetah.” Clemente and his team studied monitor lizards to show that that the same principle applies within species as well as across species, and to identify why this is the case. Because adult monitor lizards vary substantially in size, they are an ideal species for testing how size affects speed. The researchers timed and photographed monitors ranging from two to 12 pounds, as sprinted across a 45-foot track.

The researchers found that the midsize lizards were fastest-and they discovered why.

Using high-speed cameras and markers placed at key spots on the lizards’ bodies, the researchers created computer models comparing characteristics of the lizards’ running strides.

"We then looked at how the mechanics of the stride changed with body size, and we found that the changes in the stride were consistent with the changes in speed,” Clemente said. "Above a certain size, lizards were changing the way they ran, perhaps due to a decreased ability of the bones and muscles to support a larger body mass.” Testing this phenomenon within a single species helps clear up questions about why the biggest animals aren’t the fastest. Large animals tend to be closely related evolutionarily. So it’s hard to tell whether slower speeds are due to biomechanical issues stemming from size, or from any number of other factors stemming from a shared evolutionary history.

Looking at individuals within a species rather than making cross-species comparisons helps to eliminate this phylogenetic bias. The results bolster the hypothesis that large size creates biomechanical constraints.

"Larger lizards’ legs can no longer support their body weight, and they have to change their style of running, making them slower,” Clemente added.

The study has been published in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.

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When the Titanic Sank.....

Click the link below to view/download the graphic.

This Day That Age... as reported by The Hindu in 1912.

Click here to view/download the graphic in .PDF format.

The inputs are from The Hindu Archives and images are from Agencies. Imaging and Infographics: Pratap Ravishankar

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The Pinta Island tortoise is the rarest animal in the world.

 

The Pinta Island tortoise is the rarest animal in the world. There is ONLY ONE LEFT on Earth. His name is "Lonesome George"

Lonesome George is the last member of the Pinta Island subspecies of Galapagos tortoises. He was discovered in 1972, and brought to the Charles Darwin research station on the island of Santa Cruz. He is roughly 90 to 100 years old..

Currently, researchers are trying to get George to mate. They haven't found a female Pinta Island tortoise (if you found one, the reward is $10,000). Instead, they're trying to get him to mate with some other Galapagos tortoises from a different subspecies. That way, even though the babies wouldn't be purebred Pinta Island turtles, at least some of George's genes would pass on..

So far, George has failed to produce any offspring. He lives with two females but the eggs they have been laying have been inviable and won't hatch..

Courtesy: My GK woRld

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A CAMEL STORY...................

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These pics are really cute and expressive... especially to the animal lovers' out there...

I told you, don't pull my ears, didn't I?


I've got my hair cut done at the famous hair saloon across the road!








You are too young for my spring chicken meal...


My new toilet bowl


Woo...high tide, don't block my way!


I am still sleepy, hmmm


kongfu fighting. don't even try!  


This has got nothing to do with the length of my tongue


hehehe....   The new Titanic  



My dear, let us celebrate after my face-lift




I have to work harder to feed a big family of 20  


Didn't she know I won't get any taller?  


Oh God! Please take me with you! I can't live any longer without him!


Is this child yours?  


I knew it! You love the bear more than me!  


mum!

 

Please papa, don't leave me behind! 

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Most Unusual Birds ..................

 
1. Himalayan Monal


2. Formosan Magpie


3. Flamecrest

4. Golden Pheasant

5. Green Jay

6. Kingfisher

7. Lady Amherst's Pheasant


8. Bleeding Heart Pigeons

9. Nicobar Pigeon

10. Quetzal

11. Winson's Bird Of Paradise

12. No Idea What Bird This Is, But It's Totally Awesome


13. Peacock

14. Sup, Polish Chicken

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