The Earth retains its atmosphere through it interacting with the emission/gravitational field of the Earth. Over time, the density of the emission/gravitational field of the Earth increases resulting in an increase in the retention of carbon emissions. This occurs irrespective of the carbon emissions from human activity.

The amount of the reduction in carbon emission will need to increase over time to counter the increasing density of the emission/gravitational field of the Earth.

The materialist paradigm of physics is located on the Internet at the following web site: http://members.westnet.com.au/paradigm/essay.pdf

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the greenhouse effect have to do with global warming?

The “greenhouse effect” refers to the natural phenomenon that keeps the Earth in a temperature range that allows life to flourish. The sun’s enormous energy warms the Earth’s surface and its atmosphere. As this energy radiates back toward space as heat, a portion is absorbed by a delicate balance of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere—among them carbon dioxide and methane—which creates an insulating layer. With the temperature control of the greenhouse effect, the Earth has an average surface temperature of 59°F (15°C). Without it, the average surface temperature would be 0°F (-18°C), a temperature so low that the Earth would be frozen and could not sustain life.

“Global warming” refers to the rise in the Earth’s temperature resulting from an increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.

What is causing global warming?

Scientists have concluded that human activities are contributing to global warming by adding large amounts of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. Our fossil fuel use is the main source of these gases. Every time we drive a car, use electricity from coal-fired power plants, or heat our homes with oil or natural gas, we release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the air. The second most important source of greenhouse gases is deforestation, mainly in the tropics, and other land-use changes.

Since pre-industrial times, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by 31 percent. Over the same period, atmospheric methane has risen by 151 percent, mostly from agricultural activities like growing rice and raising cattle.

As the concentration of these gases grows, more heat is trapped by the atmosphere and less escapes back into space. This increase in trapped heat changes the climate, causing altered weather patterns that can bring unusually intense precipitation or dry spells and more severe storms.

What is the best source of scientific information on global warming?

In 1988, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to examine the most current scientific information on global warming and climate change. More than 2,500 of the world’s leading climate scientists, economists, and risk experts contributed to the panel’s most recent report, Climate Change 2001: The Third Assessment Report.

Scientists from about 100 countries were involved in this new report—more than in any previous report and with greater participation from developing countries. These scientists reviewed all the published and peer-reviewed scientific information produced during the previous few years to assess what is known about the global climate, why and how it changes, what it will mean for people and the environment, and what can be done about it.

The Third Assessment Report is the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of global warming. As the new benchmark, it serves as the basis for international climate negotiations.

Is global warming already happening?

Yes. The IPCC concluded in its Third Assessment Report, “An increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the climate system.” The kinds of changes already observed that create this consistent picture include the following:

Examples of observed climatic changes

Increase in global average surface temperature of about 1°F in the 20th century

Increase in the frequency of extreme precipitation events in some regions of the world
Examples of observed physical and ecological changes

Thawing of permafrost

Earlier egg-laying in birds

Are humans contributing to global warming?

In 1995, the world’s climate experts in the IPCC concluded for the first time in a cautious consensus, “The balance of evidence suggests that there is a discernible human influence on the global climate.”

In its 2001 assessment, the IPCC strengthened that conclusion considerably, saying, “There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities.”

Scientists have found significant evidence that leads to this conclusion:

The observed warming over the past 100 years is unlikely to be due to natural causes alone; it was unusual even in the context of the last 1,000 years.

There are better techniques to detect climatic changes and attribute them to different causes.

Simulations of the climate’s response to natural causes (sun, volcanoes, etc.) over the latter half of the 20th century alone cannot explain the observed trends.

Most simulation models that take into account greenhouse gas emissions and sulphate aerosols (which have a cooling effect) are consistent with observations over the last 50 years.
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How much warmer is the Earth likely to become?

The IPCC’s Third Assessment Report projects that the Earth’s average surface temperature will increase between 2.5° and 10.4°F (1.4°-5.8°C) between 1990 and 2100 if no major efforts are undertaken to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases (the “business-as-usual” scenario). This is significantly higher than what the Panel predicted in 1995 (1.8°-6.3°F, or 1.0°-3.5°C), mostly because scientists expect a reduced cooling effect from tiny particles (aerosols) in the atmosphere.

Scientists predict that even if we stopped emitting heat-trapping gases immediately, the climate would not stabilize for many decades because the gases we have already released into the atmosphere will stay there for years or even centuries. So while the warming may be lower or increase at a slower rate than predicted if we reduce emissions significantly, global temperatures cannot quickly return to today’s averages. And the faster and more the Earth warms, the greater the chances are for some irreversible climate changes.

Would a temperature rise of a couple degrees really change the global climate?

An increase of a few degrees won’t simply make for pleasantly warmer temperatures around the globe. Even a modest rise of 2°- 3°F (1.1°-1.7°C) could have dramatic effects. In the last 10,000 years, the Earth’s average temperature hasn’t varied by more than 1.8°F (1.0°C). Temperatures only 5°-9°F cooler than those today prevailed at the end of the last Ice Age, in which the Northeast United States was covered by more than 3,000 feet of ice.

Scientists predict that continued global warming on the order of 2.5°-10.4°F over the next 100 years (as projected in the IPCC’s Third Assessment Report) is likely to result in:

a rise in sea level between 3.5 and 34.6 in. (9-88 cm), leading to more coastal erosion, flooding during storms, and permanent inundation

severe stress on many forests, wetlands, alpine regions, and other natural ecosystems

greater threats to human health as mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects and rodents spread diseases over larger geographical regions

disruption of agriculture in some parts of the world due to increased temperature, water stress, and sea-level rise in low-lying areas such as Bangladesh or the Mississippi River delta.

Is global warming connected to the hole in the ozone layer?

NASA image — Ozone layer hole

Global warming and ozone depletion are two separate but related threats. Global warming and the greenhouse effect refer to the warming of the lower part of the atmosphere (also known as the troposphere) due to increasing concentrations of heat-trapping gases. By contrast, the ozone hole refers to the loss of ozone in the upper part of the atmosphere, called the stratosphere. This is of serious concern because stratospheric ozone blocks incoming ultraviolet radiation from the sun, some of which is harmful to plants, animals, and humans.

The two problems are related in a number of ways, including:

Some human-made gases, called chlorofluorocarbons, trap heat and destroy the ozone layer. Currently, these gases are responsible for less than 10 percent of total atmospheric warming, far less than the contribution from the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide.

The ozone layer traps heat, so if it gets destroyed, the upper atmosphere actually cools, thereby offsetting part of the warming effect of other heat-trapping gases. But that’s no reason to rejoice: the cooling of the upper layers of the atmosphere can produce changes in the climate that affect weather patterns in the higher latitudes.

Trapping heat in the lower part of the atmosphere allows less heat to escape into space and leads to cooling of the upper part of the atmosphere. The colder it gets, the greater the destruction of the protective ozone layer.

Reducing ozone-depleting gases is crucial to preventing further destruction of the ozone layer, but eliminating these gases alone will not solve the global warming problem. On the other hand, efforts to reduce all types of emissions to limit global warming will also be good for the recovery of the ozone layer.

Is there anything we can do about global warming?

Yes! The most important action we can take to slow global warming is to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gases. Governments, individuals, and businesses can all help.

Governments can adopt a range of options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, including

increasing energy efficiency standards

encouraging the use of renewable energy sources (such as wind and solar power)

eliminating subsidies that encourage the use of coal and oil by making them artificially cheap

protecting and restoring forests, which serve as important storehouses of carbon
Individuals can reduce the need for fossil fuels and often save money by

driving less and driving more fuel-efficient and less-polluting cars

using energy-efficient appliances

insulating homes

using less electricity in general

Businesses can increase efficiency and save substantial sums by doing the same things on a larger scale. And utilities can avoid building expensive new power plants by encouraging and helping customers to adopt efficiency measures.

Will responding to global warming be harmful to our economy?

Reducing our impact on the global climate does not have to hurt the world’s economies. The answer depends much on the “how” and “when.”

The challenge is to strike a balance between responding early enough to avoid major negative (costly) impacts, and responding some time later in order to avoid taking big, expensive steps now which then may turn out to be unnecessary or inappropriate. This type of challenge is typical in business and industry; decision-making under uncertainty is the daily bread of most managers.

Clearly, global warming still involves many unknowns, but the remaining uncertainties in our scientific understanding no longer warrant a “wait and see” stance. Science tells us with increasing certainty that we are in for a serious long-term problem that will affect all of us.

And there is much we can do now that makes sense in terms of the economic bottom line while helping to reduce our impact on the global climate and on our local environment and health. The United States and other developed countries should seize the opportunity to take the lead in developing new, clean, energy-efficient technologies, and help developing countries take a greener path to economic prosperity. All of this can be done in a cost-effective manner, while creating jobs and new business opportunities.

More questions?

If you have other questions about global warming, check out our briefings, updates, recommendations, analyses, guides, and links.

In addition, there are many web sites that answer frequently asked questions. We recommend the following:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf

/content/ClimateScienceFAQ.html

The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center

http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/pns/faq.html

The United Nations Environment Programme/World Meteorological Organization:

http://www.gcrio.org/ipcc/qa/cover.html

Source: Union of Concerned Scientists
Gardening Care Forum Website – www.gardeningcare.co.nr

Based on the above data for the resolution of the human eye, let’s try a “small” example first. Consider a view in front of you that is 90 degrees by 90 degrees, like looking through an open window at a scene. The number of pixels would be
90 degrees * 60 arc-minutes/degree * 1/0.3 * 90 * 60 * 1/0.3 = 324,000,000 pixels (324 megapixels).
At any one moment, you actually do not perceive that many pixels, but your eye moves around the scene to see all the detail you want. But the human eye really sees a larger field of view, close to 180 degrees. Let’s be conservative and use 120 degrees for the field of view. Then we would see
120 * 120 * 60 * 60 / (0.3 * 0.3) = 576 megapixels.
The full angle of human vision would require even more megapixels. This kind of image detail requires A large format camera to record.

Source: Clark Vision

How do googlebot really works? If a person search for example “nature”, do googlebot automatically go to your site and take the information that you have about nature at the same time and displays at the search results? I mean, all in real time. “

Many web developers are using different tips to improve their site rankings but, when it comes to Googlebot, they’re all afraid that a wrong crawling process can affect the number of visitors.

Vanessa Fox, a Google employee, described the way that Googlebot works, to help webmasters develop their websites.

So, if you have your site down for maintenance, you’re probably afraid that Googlebot will index your page as a down for maintenance page. “You should configure your server to return a status of 503 (network unavailable) rather than 200 (successful). That lets Googlebot know to try the pages again later,” Vanessa said.

If you’re asking yourself what’s more useful between using meta robots tag and a robots.txt file, Vanessa Fox offers the answer: “Googlebot obeys either, but meta tags apply to single pages only. If you have a number of pages you want to exclude from crawling, you can structure your site in such a way that you can easily use a robots.txt file to block those pages (for instance, put the pages into a single directory).”

“Googlebots” are effectivly spyware for the Internet. At scheduled times, say once a day / week / month the bots are sent through every single url link on any page found. These bots scan the Internet for new pages, or updated pages and then report back to Google server which categorizes the web page by the text content.
Then it is assigned a search keyword(s) to which the site it produced to match the key word a user of Google may type in.

As a conclusion, if you have more questions about how Googlebot works, you should read all the documentation provided by Google and, if you didn’t find the answer, ask help from the company’s employees.

Have you ever wonder what Googlebot might look like? Well, the folks at the Google Datacenters like to have fun at work — very usual of Google employees — so Ben Rathbone from Hardware Operations created his impression of Googlebot and brought it to us thanks to their blog:

He says, “The whole thing took 70 hours of work. It’s 8′ high x 22′ long.” Wow! great work!

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They are all innocent enough looking. The user sets up their registration normally – with no link to any website – and I think “great, a new user, maybe this site is going to start getting busier”. Then the user never posts anything once I have approved them.

So when I go back through the email addresses, I find that a large number of the people who I thought were legit are actually using email addresses @cashette.com

Until now I have been unaware of Cashette.com but on investigation it seems to be a place where you can set up an email address and if you happen to get any spam through on it, they will pay you some money. In theory, that’s great – you can get an email address where they virtually guarantee no spam, and if it does get through they pay you for it.

But then the dark side of the web hears about it and people try as hard as they can to get spam to their Cashette email address. Which means leaving their email address everywhere they possibly can in the hope that spam bots will get some spam through to them.

Luckily, once you know about it it is pretty easy to ban email addresses from a certain domain (well, it is in PHPBB) so I shouldn’t see any more of them now that I know about it.

These people must think they are being very clever, manipulating the system and all that. But honestly, it’s like leaving litter in the street. Stop it.

“Text taken from: http://www.adamchristie.co.uk/, I’ve just modified the Forum name and link, because the text just fits on my issue, so I wanted to scream to the world that This cashette site must be closed!”

The New Southern is a richer, more balanced blend of folks, including many warm and wonderful ones who are Southerners by choice, not by birth. But for gardeners, the Southern is still– and always will be-about roots.

Because of the relative warmth of our climate, our soils never get deeply affected by frost. Even in the dead of winter, a Southern garden is alive. You can stand in the middle of a cold, quiet garden and almost feel the actionall those roots vibrating deep in the unfrozen ground beneath your feet.

There is, in fact, no absolute dormant season for most of us in the Middle and Lower South. You can get by with ignoring your garden, perhaps, during the worst heat of summer and for the whole two weeks of winter. It might ease up enough then, if you’re lucky, and you’ll be able to catch back up. It’s sort of like running for a freight train as it slows for a level crossing. There are pauses as one clutch of plants plays out and another bunch is still in the process of springing up to replace it. But the Southern garden, just like that steaming freight train, never comes to a full stop.

Consequently, neither does the Southern gardener. Sometimes it seems there’s too much to deal with. Mud and floods and fire ants, droughts that crack the cotton-depleted soil, wild temperature swings, and wilder weeds are just a few of our regular gardening companions. It can make you want to fling your trowel into the azaleas and head back into the air conditioning. But in exchange for all of this, we are given the most remarkable gift of constancy-constant color, constant growth, constant participation in nature-the constancy of those never-sleeping roots.

A lot of folks say there’s no rest for the weary. What I’ve learned, as a Southern gardener, is that there’s really no rest for the blessed. And this is where I want my garden to grow– right here in the Southern, where I will always, every day, be able to feel the living roots.

Favorite Tips

The garden editors at Southern Living are all enthusiastic, hands-on gardeners. Their collective experience is impressive and diverse, based on their individual interests. Here’s what they’ve learned after all these years.

If you’re planting in the ground, make the time to prepare your soil. Just doing this will take care of 90% of the work needed for having a healthy garden.

One universal tip from our garden editors is to get a soil test so you know what you’re dealing with.

In areas with rocky or poor soils, don’t fight Mother Nature. Making raised beds to grow vegetables and flowers is easier than struggling to fix problem soil.

Look at plants when they are blooming, and buy them when they’re not. By the time they’re in bloom at the nursery, they are past the perfect planting stage.

Whether you’re planting a cell-pack annual or a potted shrub, be sure to water the plant thoroughly before sticking it in the ground.

Always check out a nursery’s guarantee and return policy before making a major plant purchase. Some will warrant trees and shrubs for a year and replace a dead plant; some will not.

If you’re buying lots of one kind of azalea or crepe myrtle, buy them all in bloom. That way you won’t be stuck with 14 red plants and 2 lavender ones.

If you’re using pine straw as mulch, consider shredding it first. The chopped needles are easy to dust off any plants that might have gotten buried.

The key to watering if you don’t have an irrigation system is to get a goodquality, kink-free hose.

Add organic material as you start a new flowerbed, and replenish seasonally, before each planting.

Always plant annuals with a timedrelease fertilizer.

Near the end of July, cut back flowering annuals halfway. Feed with a liquid blossom booster, and you’ll have fabulous flowers in September and October.

Wait until fall and winter to move established plants that need relocating.

If you’ve just moved to a house with a preexisting garden, watch the garden through a full cycle of seasons. Then you’ll know what’s really there, like hidden clumps of bulbs or low spots that hold water after rain.

Spring is great, but learn to love autumn. It’s a superb season in the Southern garden, with gorgeous flowers and great weather. It’s also the best time to plant perennials, roses, trees, and shrubs.

Finally, the editors offer some unusual gems of advice.

- Always stretch a bit before taking on any big gardening task.

- Try planting a tall rosebush next to your birdbath. As the blooms fade and drop into the bowl, it creates a floating potpourri.

- Use branches and twigs to stake up flowers that have fallen over. The natural shapes work well in the garden, and you can’t beat the price.

- Build a compost heap. Experienced gardeners always have one and pretend it’s to improve the soil. Actually it’s a guilt-free place to put the corpses of plants we’ve inadvertently killed.

If you are interested for more gardening tips, PLEASE JOIN OUR FORUM today, and take your doubts, share you knowledge and let´s make the gardeners community grow like never did!

HTTP://WWW.GARDENINGCARE.CO.NR

Mturk is a new Amazon product/service which allows people to earn money doing tasks which a person does better than a computer(A subsidiary of Amazon.com that provides a Web services system that use people to perform tasks better handled by humans than computers.), usually an item/event which requires analysis which can’t be programmed.

Requesters post “human intelligence tasks” (HITs) along with the fee paid for completion via the Amazon Web services programming interface. Turkers (the workers) choose their HITs, do the jobs and submit the results. Examples of HITs are locating information on a document, translating foreign languages, transcribing speech, as well as comparing audio to written transcripts. For more information, visit Mturk website..

Who’s the Turk?

The name comes from Wolfgang von Kempelen’s mechanical “Turk” in the mid-1700s, which was an expert chess player dressed up as a wooden mannequin. Defeating challengers throughout Europe, including Napoleon, the Turk sat inside a wooden cabinet wearing a robe and turban. Opening the door to reveal gears and springs inside, Kempelen fooled people into believing this was a mechanical device with artificial intelligence.

Cotton Candy and Little Girls: Pink is a softer, less violent red. Pink is the sweet side of red. It’s cotton candy and bubble gum and babies, especially little girls.
Nature of Pink: While red stirs up passion and action, studies have shown that large amounts of pink can create physical weakness in people. Perhaps there is a tie-in between this physical reaction and the color’s association with the so-called weaker sex.

Culture of Pink: In some cultures, such as the US, pink is the color of little girls. It represents sugar and spice and everything nice. Pink for men goes in and out of style. Most people still think of pink as a feminine, delicate color.

Using Pink: Both red and pink denote love but while red is hot passion, pink is romantic and charming. Use pink to convey playfulness (hot pink flamingoes) and tenderness (pastel pinks). Multiple shades of pink and light purple or other pastels used together maintain the soft, delicate, and playful nature of pink. Add strength with darker shades of pinks and purple and burgundy.

Using Pink with Other Colors: All shades of pink get sophisticated when combined with black or gray or medium to darker shades of blue. Medium to dark green with pink is also a sharp-looking combo.

Language of Pink: The use of pink in familiar phrases can help a designer see how their color of choice might be perceived by others – both the positive and negative aspects.

Good pink

In the pink – healthy
Tickled pink – happy, content
Pink collar – female office worker (sometimes used in a derogatory manner)
Bad or neutral pink
Pink collar – female office worker (sometimes used in a derogatory manner to imply low person on the office totem pole)
Pink – cut, notch, or make a zigzag
Pink Words: These words are synonymous with pink or represent various shades of the color pink.
Salmon, coral, hot pink, fuschia, blush, flesh, flush, fuchsia, rose.

but Why do only girls like colors like pink?

The problem is that there is a difference between liking a color, and liking a color publicly. I’m sure there are guys out there who also like the colors pink and purple…. and some that like glittery things. However, I don’t think they will admit that in public. A lot of this IS society and NORMS being embedded before we are aware of what is going on. The fact that baby boys are usually dressed in manlier colors (blue, green, red, etc..) and baby girls are dressed in more feminine colors (pink, purple, yellow, etc..) I think plays a large role…. as does the upbringing of a child. When a little boy walks into first or second grade with pink pants on, what happens. He gets laughed at. So yes, I do think that it is Society that is assigning colors to genders.

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1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597 2584 4181 etc

This sequence is known as the Fibonacci series, and is well known in mathematics. Each number is the sum of the previous two. The ratio of successive pairs tends to the so-called golden section (GS) – 1.618033989 . . . . . whose reciprocal is 0.618033989 . . . . . so that we have

1/GS = 1 + GS

Plants do not know about this – they just grow in the most efficient ways. Many plants show the Fibonacci numbers in the arrangement of the leaves around the stem. Some pine cones and fir cones also show the numbers, as do daisies and sunflowers. Sunflowers can contain the number 89, or even 144. Many other plants, such as succulents, also show the numbers. Some coniferous trees show these numbers in the bumps on their trunks. And palm trees show the numbers in the rings on their trunks.

Why do these arrangements occur? In the case of leaf arrangement, or phyllotaxis, some of the cases may be related to maximizing the space for each leaf, or the average amount of light falling on each one. Even a tiny advantage would come to dominate, over many generations. In the case of close-packed leaves in cabbages and succulents the correct arrangement may be crucial for availability of space.

This is well described in “Patterns in Nature” by Peter S Stevens (Peregrine Books) ISBN 0 14 055 114X, and, more recently, in “Nature’s Other Secrets” by Ian Stewart (Penguin Books) ISBN 0 14 025876 0. See also the older classic in this field, “On Growth and Form” by D’Arcy Thompson.

So nature isn’t trying to use the Fibonacci numbers: they are appearing as a by-product of a deeper physical process. That is why the spirals are imperfect. The plant is responding to physical constraints, not to a mathematical rule.

The basic idea is that the position of each new growth is about 222.5 degrees away from the previous one, because it provides, on average, the maximum space for all the shoots. This angle is called the golden angle, and it divides the complete 360 degree circle in the golden section, 0.618033989 . . . .

If we call the golden section GS, then we have

1 / GS = GS / (1 – GS) = 1.618033989 . . . .

If we call the golden angle GA, then we have

360 / GA = GA / (360 -GA) = 1 / GS.

The life and numbers of Fibonacci

Fibonacci, or more correctly Leonardo da Pisa, was born in Pisa in 1175AD. He was the son of a Pisan merchant who also served as a customs officer in North Africa. He travelled widely in Barbary (Algeria) and was later sent on business trips to Egypt, Syria, Greece, Sicily and Provence.

In 1200 he returned to Pisa and used the knowledge he had gained on his travels to write Liber abaci in which he introduced the Latin-speaking world to the decimal number system. The first chapter of Part 1 begins:

These are the nine figures of the Indians: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1. With these nine figures, and with this sign 0 which in Arabic is called zephirum, any number can be written, as will be demonstrated.

Sources: http://pass.maths.org.uk/issue3/fibonacci/index.html
http://www.branta.connectfree.co.uk/fibonacci.htm

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Food and Feeding: The ostrich grazes on the scarce but nutritious plant shoots, leaves, flowers, and seeds in its habitat. With the use of its long neck, it gathers food and stores it in its throat, called a gullet, before passing it down the digestive tract. Like many other birds, the ostrich also swallows dirt, sand, and small stones along with its food. This material grinds up the tough plant fibers that accumulate in the gizzard (the bird’s second stomach) and so helps digestion. While grazing, ostriches often scan the horizon for a sign of predators. Their long necks and acute vision are especially helpful for this purpose.

Ostrich and Man: Ostriches were once farmed for their feathers, which were used as hat plumes. Today they are raised for their meat and skin. They have also been trained to scare other birds away from crops and to round up sheep, as well as to be ridden in races. Ostriches were first introduced into Australia in the 1860s. Many of the ostriches being farmed escaped and started breeding in the wild.

Breeding: During breeding season, males make several shallow depressions, called nest scrapes, in the ground within their territories. Each male pairs up with a female – the major hen – who chooses a nest scrape and lays as many as twelve eggs. Thereafter, two to five additional hens also lay their eggs in the same nest. Because of its large size, the ostrich can incubate many eggs. However, if there are more eggs than she can incubate, the major hen will roll some of the minor hens’ eggs to the edge of the nest, where they may fail to hatch. Soon after hatching, the brood joins up with broods from other nests, and the large flock of chicks is guarded by one or two adults.

Males defend their territories by chasing away intruders and making aggressive displays, flicking their wings or raising them in the air. As night falls, the male takes over nest duty. If he has a large troop of minor hens, he may be sitting on up to forty eggs, although only those eggs at the center of the nest, laid by the major hen, are sure to hatch.

Key Facts:
Sizes:
Height: Males, 6-9 ft. Females, 5-6 ft.
Weight: Males, up to 350 lb. Females, up to 200 lb.

Breeding:
Sexual maturity: Males, 3-4 years. Females, 2 years
Mating season: Varies
Eggs: 10-12, cream or white
Incubation: About 42 days
Fledging: 4-5 months

Lifestyle:
Habit: Usually forms small groups
Diet: Grasses, seeds, leaves, and flowers. Very occasionally eats locusts and grasshoppers
Lifespan: Over 40 years

Related Species: Nearest relatives are rheas, cassowaries, kiwis, and emus – all flightless birds.
Distribution: Widespread in the southern Sahara, Somalia, Ethiopia, and parts of East Africa and the Zambesi. Feral populations, descendants of introduced birds, also exist in Australia.
Conservation: Numbers in southern Sahara are decreasing due to hunting. In other places, populations are not threatened but are declining as a result of human intrusion into habitats.

How the Ostrich Runs From Danger: Unique among birds, the ostrich has hoof like feet which help it to run rapidly away from danger. Powered by strong leg muscles, it walks at a speed of 2 mph. When alarmed, it will run at 20 mph. When frightened, an ostrich can sprint at 45 mph. Unable to fly, the ostrich has developed strong feet which enable it to run faster than any other bird.

Did You Know:
It is a common misconception that ostriches bury their heads in the sand. This belief most likely came about because, from a distance, the tiny head of a grazing ostrich may not be visible.
Ostriches in captivity have swallowed an amazing variety of objects. During its lifetime, one ostrich swallowed a roll of film, three gloves, a comb, a bicycle valve, a pencil, a piece of rope, several coins, part of a gold necklace, a handkerchief, and a clock.
One ostrich egg is equal in volume to twenty hen’s eggs.
Ostrich fossils found in India, China, and southern Russia are 7 million years old.

from: Ladywildlife´s Ostrich website

Terrestrial plants have three organ systems: the shoots, the roots and the leaves. In cacti however, these systems have undergone extreme evolutionary modification as a means of adaptation to droughty conditions. Leaves have been sublimated to spines (to reduce water loss), stems evolved succulence to store water and nutrients; and they gained chlorophyll to supplant the leaves in photosynthesis. Typically, the root systems are shallow and wide-spreading to provide maximum access to water from dew, mists or sparse rainfall.

Cacti are perhaps the best known family of the succulents. Other succulents are often mistaken for cacti, based on their similarity of form, but have no direct relationship to cacti. These other succulents belong to any one of about 37 other families. The Cactaceae belong to the class Spermatophyta (seed-bearing plants) and the superfamily Angiospermae (flowering plants).

If a plant lacks any one of the following traits, it is not a cactus.

1. Cacti are dicotyledons. Their seeds always produce two cotyledons or seed leaves upon germination.
2. Cacti are perennial shrubs or herbs, which live on year after year. Annual species do not exist.
3. Cactus flowers usually have an indefinite number of sepals and petals and have numerous stamens.
4. Almost all cactus plants, except for the primitive Pereskia have an epigynous ovary.
5. The cactus fruit is a one-celled berry, smooth or spiny, with seeds scattered throughout.
6. Cacti are caulocarpic: that is, they do not die after flowering.
7. Cacti bear areoles, a unique cushion-like structure on the stems which bear spines or flowers.

Five Common Fallacies
(Adapted from Chidamian, 1958)

All succulents are cacti.
Nonsense! About 37 plant families contain succulent plants. Only true cacti form the unique family Cactaceae.

All succulents grow in full, blazing sunlight.
Not so! Very many xerophytes including some cacti require the shade of shrubs, grasses, rocks, etc. to avoid harmful scorch and dessication. Many cacti of the harsher habitats protect themselves with dense spination (Espostoa), very dark colours (some Lobivias), very low profiles above ground (Ariocarpus, Lophophora) and other strategies.

All succulents grow in the desert.
Although the deserts of the world may contain the largest number and variety of cacti and other succulents, they occur also in alpine, jungle and shoreline habitats. Cacti thrive in the low-lying and warm valleys and plains of Central America, in the full blaze of tropical sun, or they can inhabit the rocky and arid slopes of the high mountain systems of the Andes in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, where extremes of sullen heat and bitter cold are common. Certain species of Opuntia and Mammillaria are covered with snow in winter, in the arid or semi-arid districts of Arizona, Utah and Colorado. Others are epiphytic, living on the mossy trunks of trees in tropical or sub-tropical forests or on ledges of rocks in deep ravines where they receive ample shade, warmth and a moist soil rich in humus.

All succulents can grow in pure sand.
Nothing grows in pure sand! Cacti and other succulents are adapted to a great many different but nutritious environments and soils. Desert sands are often nutrient rich.

Succulents do not need water.
Water is absolutely essential to all life! Although most cacti and other succulents require much less water than other plant families, they must have a sufficient supply of water in order to support life. For example, succulent plants do not exist in very extreme deserts such as the Sahara or Australian outback, where conditions are especially arid.

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