White Cockroach

Cockroaches live in a wide range of environments around the world. Pest species of cockroaches adapt readily to a variety of environments, but prefer warm conditions found within buildings. Many tropical species prefer even warmer environments and do not fare well in the average household.
Cockroaches leave chemical trails in their feces as well as emitting airborne pheromones for swarming and mating. Other cockroaches will follow these trails to discover sources of food and water, and also discover where other cockroaches are hiding. Thus, cockroaches can exhibit emergent behavior, in which group or swarm behavior emerges from a simple set of individual interactions.
Research has shown that group-based decision-making is responsible for complex behavior such as resource allocation. In a study where 50 cockroaches were placed in a dish with three shelters with a capacity for 40 insects in each, the insects arranged themselves in two shelters with 25 insects in each, leaving the third shelter empty. When the capacity of the shelters was increased to more than 50 insects per shelter, all of the cockroaches arranged themselves in one shelter. Researchers found a balance between cooperation and competition exists in group decision-making behavior found in cockroaches. The models used in this research can also explain the group dynamics of other insects and animals.
Cockroaches are mainly nocturnal and will run away when exposed to light. A peculiar exception is the Asian cockroach, which is attracted to light. Another study tested the hypothesis that cockroaches use just two pieces of information to decide where to go under those conditions: how dark it is and how many of their friends are there. The study conducted by José Halloy and colleagues at the Free University of Brussels and other European institutions created a set of tiny robots that to the roaches appear to be other roaches and can thus alter the roaches' perception of critical mass. The robots were also specially scented so that they would be accepted by the real roaches.
Additionally, researchers at Tohoku University engaged in a Classical Conditioning experiment with cockroaches and discovered that the insects were able to associate the scent of vanilla and peppermint with a sugar treat.

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Tsunami

A tsunami (pronounced /(t)suːˈnɑːmi/) is a series of waves created when a body of water, such as an ocean, is rapidly displaced. Earthquakes, mass movements above or below water, some volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions, landslides, underwater earthquakes, large asteroid impacts and testing with nuclear weapons at sea all have the potential to generate a tsunami. The effects of a tsunami can be devastating due to the immense volumes of water and energy involved. Since meteorites are small, they will not generate a tsunami.

The Greek historian Thucydides was the first to relate tsunamis to submarine quakes, but understanding of the nature of tsunamis remained slim until the 20th century and is the subject of ongoing research.

Many early geological, geographic, oceanographic etc; texts refer to "Seismic sea waves" - these are now referred to as "tsunami."

Some meteorological storm conditions - deep depressions causing cyclones, hurricanes; can generate a storm surge which can be several metres above normal tide levels. This is due to the low atmospheric pressure within the centre of the depression. As these storm surges come ashore the surge can resemble a tsunami, inundating vast areas of land. These are not tsunami. Such a storm surge inundated Burma (Myanmar) in May 2008.

Titan Arum

The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, "without form, misshapen" + phallos, "penis", and titan, "giant") is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The largest single flower is borne by the Rafflesia arnoldii; the largest branched inflorescence in the plant kingdom belongs to the Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera). The titan arum was originally discovered by an Italian botanist, Odoardo Beccari, in Sumatra in 1878. Though found in many botanic gardens around the world it is still indigenous only to the tropical forests of Sumatra. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the "Corpse flower", or "Corpse plant" (in Indonesian, "bunga bangkai" – bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforests of Sumatra). The popular name titan arum was invented by the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, for his BBC TV series The Private Life of Plants, in which the flowering and pollination of the plant were filmed for the first time. Attenborough felt that constantly referring to the plant as Amorphophallus on a popular TV documentary would be inappropriate.

The titan arum's inflorescence can reach over 3 metres (almost 10 ft.) in height. Like the related cuckoo pint and calla lily, it consists of a fragrant spadix of flowers wrapped by a spathe, which looks like the flower's single petal. In the case of the Titan Arum, the spathe is green on the outside and dark burgundy red on the inside, and deeply furrowed. The spadix is hollow, pale yellow and resembles a large loaf of French bread. The upper, visible portion of the spadix is covered in pollen, while its lower extremity is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. The "fragrance" of the inflorescence resembles rotting meat, attracting carrion-eating beetles and Flesh Flies (family Sarcophagidae) that pollinate it. The flower's deep red color and texture contribute to the illusion that the spathe is a piece of meat. During bloom, the tip of the spadix is approximately human body temperature, which helps the perfume volatilize; this heat is also believed to assist in the illusion that attracts carcass-eating insects.

Kingdom: Plant

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Liliopsida

Order: Alismatales

Family: Araceae

Genus: Amorphophallus

Species: A. titanum

Binomial name

Amorphophallus titanum

Both male and female flowers grow in the same inflorescence. The female flowers open first, then a day or two following, the male flowers open. This prevents the flower from self-pollinating.

After the flower dies back, a single leaf, which reaches the size of a small tree, grows from the underground corm. The leaf grows on a semi-green stalk that branches into three sections at the top, each containing many leaflets. The leaf structure can reach up to 6 m (20 ft) tall and 5 m (16 ft) across. Each year, the old leaf dies and a new one grows in its place. When the corm has stored enough energy, it becomes dormant for about 4 months. Then, the process repeats.

Largest tree

Hey friends, now its time to know about the world’s largest tree…Trees growing larger is not a matter at all, but growing his much larger is a noticeable one. The General Sherman tree is the largest tree (by volume) in the world. It can be found in Sequoia National Park. The General Sherman tree isn't the oldest in the park, however it is the largest. There is no other living thing in the world that is larger in volume than this tree.

Each year it adds enough wood to itself to make a tree one foot in diameter and more than 100 feet tall.

More stats:

Estimated Age: 2150 years

Height 274.9ft or 83.8m

Circumference at Ground 102.6ft or 31.1m

Maximum Diameter at Base 36.5ft or 11.1m

Diameter of Largest Branch 6.8ft or 2.1m

Height of First Large Branch above the Base 130.0ft or 39.6m

Average Crown Spread 106.5ft or 32.5m

SR 71

The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird entered the U.S. Air Force's inventory in 1966 as the fastest aircraft in the world and still holds that distinction to this day. In 1990 the U.S. Air Force withdrew the SR 71 from operational duties.

In 1995 the USAF brought 2 SR-71's back to service (somebody made in 1990 the wrong decision) and believe it or not: Finaly the new SR71 squadron was operational and one week later Bill Clinton killed the program.

The SR 71 Blackbird has captured several world speed records. In September 1974, crews of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SRW) broke the existing record of four hours, 46 minutes for a trans-Atlantic crossing between New York and London. Their time was an amazing one hour, 55 minutes. In 1976 they set a new absolute world speed record over a 25 kilometer straight course (2.193 mph, 3528 km/h) and flew the Blackbird to 85,069 feet (27983 meters) to set world absolute altitude record for horizontal flight.

The Lockheed SR 71-A Blackbird is an American made two-seat reconnaissance aircraft.

SR-71 BLACKBIRD PERFORMANCE: Wing span: 16,94 m. Length: 32,74 m. Height: 5,64 m. Max. speed: Mach 3.5+(3500+ km/h,2175+mph.) Empty weight: 60,000 lbs.(27216 kg.) Max. weight: 170,000 lbs.(77111 kg.) Powerplant: two Pratt & Whitney J-58 bleed turbojets Thrust : 32,500 lbs.(14742 kg.) (each)

About SR 71...

Role: Strategic Reconnaissance

Manufacturer: Lockheed Skunk Works

Designed by: Clarence "Kelly" Johnson

First flight: 22 December 1964

Introduced: 1966

Retired: 1998

Primary users: United States Air Force NASA

Number built: 32

Developed from: Lockheed A-12

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, that was built under Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

While the white domed marble and tile mausoleum is most familiar, Taj Mahal is an integrated symmetric complex of structures that was completed around 1648. Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer of the Taj Mahal.

About its construction…

The Taj Mahal was built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharajah Jai Singh with a large palace in the center of Agra in exchange for the land. An area of roughly three acres was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage and leveled at 50 meters above riverbank. In the tomb area, wells were dug and filled with stone and rubble as the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen estimated it would take years to dismantle. According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A fifteen kilometer tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the construction site. Teams of twenty or thirty oxen were strained to pull blocks on specially constructed wagons. An elaborate post-and-beam pulley system was used to raise the blocks into desired position. Water was drawn from the river by a series of purs, an animal-powered rope and bucket mechanism, into a large storage tank and raised to large distribution tank. It was passed into three subsidiary tanks, from which it was piped to the complex.

The plinth and tomb took roughly 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex took an additional 10 years and were completed in order of minarets, mosque and jawab and gateway. Since the complex was built in stages, discrepancies exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on "completion". For example, the mausoleum itself was essentially complete by 1643, but work continued on the rest of the complex. Estimates of the cost of the construction of Taj Mahal vary due to difficulties in estimating construction costs across time. The total cost of construction has been estimated to be about 32 million Rupees at that time which now runs into trillions of Dollars if converted to present currency rates.

The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. Over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials during the construction. The translucent white marble was brought from Rajasthan, the jasper from Punjab, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, twenty eight types of precious and semi-precious stones were inlaid into the white marble.

An Artist's impression of the Taj Mahal, from the Smithsonian Institution

A labour force of twenty thousand workers was recruited across northern India. Sculptors from Bukhara, calligraphers from Syria and Persia, inlayer from southern India, stonecutters from Baluchistan, a specialist in building turrets, another who carved only marble flowers were part of the thirty-seven men who formed the creative unit

Thus a lot of care is taken for building this “Sign of Love”.

More to say about this… But will be too wage…

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