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interestingfactsquotes · 4 years

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Interesting Facts About Mandarinfish

Mandarinfish Facts Synchiropus splendidus - mandarinfish This small but brightly colored member of the dragonet family is simply stunning and magnificent in appearance. It is native to the Pacific Ocean and ranges from the Ryukyu Islands and south to Australia. Like the tibetan mastiff and red panda and moon bear, the mere appearance of this creature can cause onlookers to stare in wonder and excitement. Synchiropus picturatus, the Spotted Mandarinfish, is known under Many different names in English, including Picture dragonet Picturesque dragonet, Green Spot Mandarin Dragonet, Green Spot Mandarin Goby and Spotted Mandarin. Just like its relative the Green Mandarinfish, it is sometimes known Psychedelic Dragonet or as fish. You might come across the names Pterosynchiropus and Callionymus picturatus if you look in sources. The Spotted Mandarinfish hasn't been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Distributions, habitat and habit - The Spotted Mandarinfish lives from the Indo West Pacific. To the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, it is found up On the north. To the south, it's found down to Australia. This species only lives in tropics waters and doesn't migrate. The Spotted Mandarinfish occupies lagoons that are protected and shallow reefs. The fish is famous for its body that's decorated with a profusion of blue black and orange spots. Mind and fins are as eloquent as the body's remainder. Spotted Mandarinfish maintenance - The Spotted Mandarinfish is considered hard to care for as it's difficult to let it to eat in the aquarium. Keep at least 100 pounds \/ 45 kg of live rock for each fish. You may read more about the Spotted Mandarinfish's needs further down. It is not advisable to keep the Spotted Mandarinfish in an aquarium smaller than 30 gallons \/ 115 liters and the aquarium must naturally be large enough to house a large amount of live rock. This fish is a peaceful and reef safe species which will leave fish and most invertebrates alone from the aquarium, with the exception of course of suitable prey. Keeping one or more Spotted Mandarinfish from the aquarium can be tricky, unless it's a compatible pair or you've a very large and cleverly adorned aquarium. Bear from mind that the aquarium must have sufficient prey animals to sustain your mandarins, adding too many might lead to starvation. The aquarium where you keep the spotted Mandarinfish must contain a whole lot of suitable hiding spots. The recommended water temperature is 23-29 C \/ 74-83 F and the salinity should be maintained in the 1.021-1.025 range. The amount of salt is very critical. Keep the pH value between 8.2 and 8.4 and the alkaline from 8dKH to 12dKH. Feeding Spotted Mandarinfish - The carnivore Spotted Mandarinfish is a specialized feeder and copepods dominate its diet. Your mandarin might start eating small amounts of other food types from the aquarium, but a prosperous copepod population is needed you want your Spotted Mandarinfish to endure and remain healthful in the long run. https://youtu.be/DN0-hIEcCHg https://youtu.be/KivINH0ka_A Ryukyu Islands Miles .Okinawa Island with a population of over a million and an area of 485 sq miles is the biggest of the islands. The islands have for ages been occupied, possibly since the Neolithic Age. The people seem to be descendants of Japanese and South-East Asians who migrated during prehistory into the Ryukyus. There has to have been some connections with Japan and China, as well as the Ryukyuans socioeconomics systems reflect both Chinese and Japanese influences. In the past the islands formed an independent kingdom. By the fourteenth century sovereignty which imitated an interval of trading contact was, approved by a faction of the Ryukyuan direction, located in Okinawa. This led to an assimilation of civilization. In time, Japan was comprised by trade connections with the mainland from Korea to Vietnam on the south, which influenced culture systems on the north and Indonesia. Influence was growing from the century over central and northern Ryukyu Islands, and in the nineteenth century. Across all of the Ryukyu Islands, control was assumed by Japan Since the connections in the exerted pressures in these times. From the year 1879 the Ryukyus became an essential part of Japan. Towards also the end of World War II, also the US took control of also the islands, and also the military authorities was replaced at 1951 by a civil government based in Naha, the capital and biggest city of the islands, controlled largely by Japan. Following Japanese unrest over also the return of also the islands, Japan took more than the Ryukyu Islands, from the US, but the U. Continued to preserve military installations and troops on Okinawa Island. Less than 50% of the islands are permanently inhabited, a lot of the smaller islands are only coral reefs. The bigger ones are volcanic in nature, and a few are large enough to provide some agricultural land. The population is mainly rural, along with agriculture is also the dominant occupation of also the people today. Yams and rice are the staple crops and there is also some wheat. The traditional economics was badly upset throughout the World War 11. An artificial economics significantly impacted by also the American military presence has since developed. There's some pineapple production now along with tuna fishing became important. Three fourths of also the Oki nawan population is made up of smallholding sugarcane growers. Sugar refining along with pineapple canning are the main manufacturing activities, with also the products going to Japan. Tea and tobacco are destined for home consumption. The Ryukus stay, however, a food shortage area for the local population, majority of also the food products are consumed by also the American military installations. Okinawa has suffered a surge at urbanization since World War II.Nahas population estimated into be close into half that a million has doubled since 1970. The very first thing you must understand is that the fish you are likely to catch in the surf know what they're doing. Saltwater fish have a tendency to be more expensive and harder to take care of than freshwater fish. When you select saltwater aquarium fish, you've got to take into account that they're a little more costly than the freshwater varieties. If you're going to introduce fish to a tank with Coral and invertebrates it is necessary to spot which are inclined to be a threat to them. Depending on what sort of aquarium you're keeping there are many fish you wish to keep away from since they aren't compatible in some specific scenarios. There are a large number of marine aquarium fish in the business to satisfy just about anyone. There are several kinds of fish. A very simple thing you need to bear in mind is that fish don't wish to die. If you buy a fish that only nips a specific kind of coral you may think about avoiding that piece later on. It's also vital that you avoid aggressive fish. It is vital not to introduce new fish unless that your aquarium is operating perfectly for the previous month. In essence with only a tiny common sense, responsibility and research you'll be well on your way to getting a flourishing fish or reef aquarium. Read the full article

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diarrheaworldstarhiphop · 5 years

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Intelligence is a hot topic of discussion these days. Human intelligence. Plant intelligence. Artificial intelligence. All kinds of intelligence. But while the natures of human and plant intelligence are subjects mired in heated debate, derision, and controversy, the subject of artificial intelligence inspires an altogether different kind of response: fear. In particular, fear for the continued existence of any human civilization whatsoever. From Elon Musk to Stephen Hawking, the geniuses of the Zeitgeist agree. AI will take our jobs and then, if we’re not careful, everything else too, down to every last molecule in the universe. A major Democratic presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, has turned managing the rise of AI into one of the core principles of his political platform. It is not a laughing matter.

But artificial general intelligence is not the type of intelligence that humanity should fear most. Far from the blinking server rooms of Silicon Valley or the posh London offices of DeepMind, another type of intelligence lurks silently out of human sight, biding its time in the Lovecraftian deep. Watching. Waiting. Organizing. Unlike artificial intelligence, this intelligence is not hypothetical, but very real. Forget about AGI. It’s time to worry about OGI—octopus general intelligence.

In late 2017, it was reported that an underwater site called “Octlantis” had been discovered by researchers off the coast of Australia. Normally considered to be exceptionally solitary, fifteen octopuses were observed living together around a rocky outcropping on the otherwise flat ocean floor. Fashioning homes—dens—for themselves out of shells, the octopuses were observed mating, fighting, and communicating with each other. Most importantly, this was not the first time that this had happened. Another similar site called “Octopolis” had been previously discovered in the vicinity in 2009.

One of the researchers, Stephanie Chancellor, described the octopuses in “Octlantis” as “true environmental engineers.” The octopuses were observed conducting both mate defense and “evictions” of octopuses from dens, defending their property rights from infringement by other octopuses. The other “Octopolis” site had been continuously inhabited for at least seven years. Given the short lifespans of octopuses, lasting only a few years on the high end, it is clear that “Octopolis” has been inhabited by several generations of octopuses. We are presented with the possibility of not only one multi-generational octopus settlement chosen for defense from predators and engineered for octopus living, but two. And those are just the ones we’ve discovered. The oceans cover over 70% of Earth’s surface.

None of the three experts I spoke with for this article would rule out the possibility of further octopus settlements.

The octopus is a well-known creature, but poorly understood. The primal fear inspired by the octopus frequently surfaces in horror movies, pirate legends, political cartoons depicting nefarious and tentacled political enemies, and, understandably, in Japanese erotic art. For all that, the octopus is, to most people, just another type of seafood you can order at the sushi bar. But the octopus is more than just sushi. It’s more than the sum of its eight arms. A lot more, in fact—it may be the most alien creature larger than a speck of dust to inhabit the known ecosystems of the planet Earth. Moreover, it’s not just strange. It’s positively talented.

Octopuses can fully regenerate limbs. They can change the color and texture of their skin at will, whether to camouflage themselves, make a threat, or for some other unknown purpose. They can even “see” with their skin, thanks to the presence of the light-sensitive protein rhodopsin, also found in human retinas. They can shoot gobs of thick black ink with a water jet, creating impenetrable smokescreens for deceit and escape. Octopuses can use their boneless, elastic bodies to shapeshift, taking on the forms of other animals or even rocks. Those same bodies allow even the larger species of octopuses to squeeze through holes as small as one inch in diameter. The octopus’ arms are covered in hundreds of powerful suckers that are known to leave visible “octo-hickeys” on humans. The larger ones can hold at least 35 lbs. each. The suckers can simultaneously taste and smell. All octopus species are venomous.

Despite all of these incredible abilities, the octopus’ most terrifying feature remains its intelligence. The octopus has the highest brain-to-body-mass ratio of any invertebrate, a ratio that is also higher than that of many vertebrates. Two thirds of its neurons, however, are located in its many autonomous arms, which can react to stimuli and even identify and grab food after being severed from the rest of the octopus, whether still dead or alive. In other words, the intelligence of an octopus is not centralized. It is decentralized, like a blockchain. Like blockchains, this makes them harder to kill. It has been reported that octopuses are capable of observational learning, short- and long-term memory, tool usage, and much more. One might wonder: if octopuses have already mastered blockchain technology, what else are they hiding?

We can see octopuses frequently putting this intelligence to good use, and not only in their burgeoning aquatic settlements. Some octopuses are known to use coconut shells for shelter, even dismantling and transporting the shell only to reassemble it later. In laboratory settings, octopuses are able to solve complex puzzles and open different types of latches in order to obtain food. They don’t stop there, though. Captive octopuses have been known to escape their tanks, slither across the floor, climb into another tank, feast on the helpless fish and crabs within, and then return to their original tank. Some do it only at night, knowingly keeping their human overseers in the dark. Octopuses do not seem to have qualms about deceiving humans. They are known to steal bait from lobster traps and climb aboard fishing boats to get closer to fishermen’s catches.

One octopus in New Zealand even managed to escape an aquarium and make it back to the sea. When night fell and nobody was watching, “Inky”—his human name, as we do not know how octopuses refer to themselves in private—climbed out of his tank, across the ground, and into a drainpipe leading directly to the ocean.

Given the advanced intelligence and manifold abilities of octopuses, it may not be a surprise, in hindsight, that they are developing settlements off the coast of Australia. By establishing a beachhead in the Pacific Ocean, a nascent octopus civilization would be well-placed to challenge the primary geopolitical powers of the 21st century, namely, the United States and China. Australia itself is sparsely inhabited and rich in natural resources vital for any advanced civilization. The country’s largely coastal population would be poorly prepared to deal with an invasion from the sea.

I spoke with Piero Amodio, a graduate student at the University of Cambridge who has been interviewed by The New York Times on his research into octopus intelligence. “[Octopuses] live in almost all marine habitats, from ocean depths to shallow waters, and from tropical to polar regions,” he said. “The fact that octopuses tend to have a solitary lifestyle is something extremely interesting because they differ from many other groups of large-brained animals.” Amodio linked me to a paper documenting food and den sharing among octopuses. What if they are, in fact, not so different? What if they become social on a scale matching or surpassing humans? Is humanity prepared to grapple with an organized challenge rising from all corners of the globe?

This new information does raise one important question: what are the state of human-octopus relations, and how might they develop in the future? Currently, octopuses are more than just aware of us. They are able to recognize individual human beings and develop preferences for them. If you are on good terms with an octopus, you may be grabbed and pulled into a tank, perhaps for a hospitable visit to the den. Alternately, you may be blasted and soaked with cold water. No octo-hickeys for you. Although many octopuses have shown obvious displeasure with captivity, they are fortunately not generally known to attack humans. There is, however, video footage of at least one dangerous altercation with a human diver. Graziano Fiorito, a senior researcher at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, Italy, told me that aggression is “very rare” and done in self-defense. But with an animal as intelligent and disciplined as the octopus, could that same peaceful nature become warlike aggression if provoked?

Roko’s Basilisk is a well-known thought experiment postulating that a supremely powerful artificial intelligence might retroactively punish humans who did not work to bring it into existence. In this light, it is fortunate that octopuses have been legally protected by animal welfare laws during experimentation—the only invertebrates to receive this protection. We can only imagine what horrible, tentacled punishments for humanity may have been avoided in the event of an octopus intelligence singularity.

Animal welfare laws notwithstanding, human-octopus relations are clearly insufficiently advanced to guarantee stable and productive cooperation in the future. Octopus meat remains a fixture of many national cuisines. Octopus farming is a major industry, despite warnings and objections from the scientific community. Not one national government in the world has clarified its policies regarding octopus civilization. (Emails to the White House requesting the administration’s comment on this matter went unanswered.)

The first step to improving human-octopus relations would be a global shutdown of all consumption and internment, whether for research or commercial purposes, of octopuses. As this plan is patently unrealistic and completely absurd, more creative solutions will have to be developed in order to route around sclerotic global institutions unwilling or unable to meet the challenge of intelligent cephalopod life. One option may be to establish persistent contact with leaders in the octopus community to communicate our goodwill. While the linguistic barrier remains an unsolved problem, the incentives to solve it are enormous. Cultural and scientific exchange with octopuses could greatly enrich humanity’s understanding of undersea life, blockchain technology, and non-standard tactile numeracies.

Hostile approaches must also remain on the table in case peaceable cooperation proves to be impossible. Although the advents of aviation and long-range missiles have rendered coastal fortifications somewhat deprecated in modern military conflict, human regimes would do well to bolster their brown water borders in the event of a kinetic assault by octopodal forces. Extension of maritime frontiers into international waters would also provide a much-needed geopolitical buffer zone, provided it did not veer into encroachment upon cephalopod territory. With powerful suckers studding an arm span up to 4 meters long, distance is key to defense from the octopus. Sanctions could prove useful in denying octopuses any strategic reserves of coconut shells or other armor.

There is a more speculative moonshot option as well. Given the relatively short lifespans of octopuses, it would be possible to intern a number of them in a research station with the goal of selectively breeding them for intelligence, combat aptitude, and most importantly, loyalty to humans. With adequate funding, a team could make significant progress in just a few decades towards developing a new species of killer octopus bred to defend humanity against the threat of a rival octopus civilization. Just as OpenAI took the lead in confronting the problem of artificial intelligence by aiming to deliberately develop friendly AI, OctoAI may need to take the lead in confronting the problem of octopus intelligence by developing it ourselves in a humanity-friendly direction. We may have to fight ink with ink.

A moonshot project such as this has the added perk that it could be easily funded and carried out by a rogue government agency or single eccentric billionaire, such as SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son. The Farallon Islands off the coast of San Francisco, for example, would provide an ideal research site. They are a short boat ride away from the capital of unconventional moonshot projects in Silicon Valley, as well as being located in the natural territory of the Giant Pacific Octopus. The islands’ status as a nature preserve would provide a convenient cover story for the public. Intruders, spies, and conscientious objectors could be thrown into the octopus tank for disposal and their disappearances blamed on harsh Pacific weather. In fact, given the ideal conditions of the site, this may already be happening. Is it a coincidence that the Farallon Islands are closed to the public?

If all fallbacks fail, mutually assured destruction will be the only surefire way to prevent octopus civilization from annihilating humanity and conquering the cosmos. ”I tend to think that future-of-evolution questions are always limited by how long this planet continues to sustain life,” said Joseph Vitti, a doctoral student at Harvard University who has published on cephalopod cognition. “I tend to think that a natural or man-made disaster could easily wipe us out before enough evolutionary time passes for such major changes [in octopus social systems] to occur in the coleoid cephalopod lineage.” If we cannot save ourselves, we just may have to produce such a man-made disaster in order to save the rest of the universe.

The future may look bleak. Just as our social institutions enter a time of stagnation, crisis and despair, a heavily armed challenger surfaces from the untraversed depths. But humanity has faced terrible problems before and emerged not only victorious, but stronger too. To survive, our governing institutions will need to have robust but flexible coordination, quick and skilled decision-making, and the capacity for subterfuge, dissimulation, and intelligence. Just like the octopus. And that is what Palladium Magazine is all about.

This story is satire. It’s April 1st. All quotes, however, are real, as are more of the octopus facts than you would like to believe.

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spacetimewithstuartgary · 6 years

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A Yellowstone guide to life on Mars UC geologists are looking for an elemental biosignature that might help NASA identify life on the red planet during the Mars 2020 rover mission. A University of Cincinnati geology student is helping NASA determine whether life existed on other planets. Doctoral candidate Andrew Gangidine is working with UC geology professor Andrew Czaja to develop a marker for ancient bacterial life on Mars. The research could help scientists put to rest one of our most fundamental mysteries. "We're trying to answer the question: How rare is life in the universe?" Gangidine said. Czaja, an assistant professor in UC's McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, serves on a NASA advisory committee that will decide where on Mars to send the next remote-controlled rover. Among other objectives, the rover will look for evidence that life once existed on the red planet. The advisory committee has narrowed the list of landing-site candidates to three and will recommend a finalist later this year. Meanwhile, Gangidine is studying microbial life in silica hot springs to come up with a useful indicator of life on Mars. For the past two years, he has conducted fieldwork in the geyser basins of Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park to examine what elements are associated with bacteria that live in these geothermal pools. "We want to remain objective. Some people think there has to be life on Mars," Gangidine said. "Others think there certainly isn't life on Mars. And either side has a good chance of being correct. Both have valid arguments. Which is why if we go there and don't see anything, it won't be 'mission fail.'" Gangidine presented his research April 25 at the Second International Mars Sample Return conference in Berlin, Germany. Today, we know that life cannot exist on Mars, at least not on its dry surface. Solar radiation split most of its surface water into its elemental parts nearly 3 billion years ago when the red planet lost its protective magnetic field. But scientists are debating whether life might exist somewhere deep underground, among pockets of water trapped around geothermal areas similar to Yellowstone's geysers. Finding evidence of life on Mars is surprisingly complicated. If Mars ever sustained life, it's possible that it was wiped out when most of its atmosphere vanished in the solar wind, Czaja said. So NASA scientists must be prepared to look for fossil evidence of bacterial life dating back that far. Gangidine said the good news is that similar fossils of early bacterial life more than 3.5 billion years ago have been found on Earth. This makes him optimistic that if similar life ever existed on Mars, NASA has a chance of finding a fossil record of it. "We can look at life being preserved in these silica deposits today. We have evidence of this happening throughout geologic time," Gangidine said. "What we're trying to do is catch fossilization as it happens. What happens to the microbes themselves? And what happens to the trace elements we think are associated with them while they're alive?" To unearth clues about ancient life on Mars, geologists look to hot springs such as those found in America's first national park. Gangidine and his colleagues need permits to collect samples in the park's backcountry. But exploring the geyser basins can be tricky and dangerous. A tourist died in 2017 after falling into one of the basin's boiling pools while hiking off-trail. "These things really can strip the flesh off your bones," Gangidine said. "At the bottom of hot springs we study you see skulls of bison and other animals that were unfortunate enough to wander too close." Gangidine's team includes an experienced backcountry field researcher, UC postdoctoral fellow Jeff Havig who is now with the University of Minnesota. They pick their way carefully across the caldera. Sometimes, they can see where a bison's hoof has broken through the thin crust to reveal steaming mud. The geology work takes them across "quaking bogs," a thin layer of peat and grass covering deep shifting mud. Gangidine was walking alongside a colleague on one such hike when he sank above his knees in the treacherous mire. "Luckily, that place wasn't super hot. But I was walking just a foot away from someone else. The ground can really change quickly," he said. "When we go into these settings, we have to be very careful." Boiling acid and lava-like mud aren't the only hazards for researchers in the geyser basins. They also have to be careful not to spend too long around the steam vents, which contain a mix of gases such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and methane that can asphyxiate a person under the right conditions. The U.S. Geological Survey documented this phenomenon in 1888 in part of the park nicknamed "Death Gulch," a natural depression between two steep hills where toxic gases bubble up from Cache Creek. Harvard University geologist T.A. Jaggar Jr. returned to the area in 1899 and found six bears, an elk and various small animals that died apparently after succumbing to the toxic fumes. But even in the fresh air, the gas rising from the ground can have a cumulative effect, Gangidine said. "These hot springs emit a lot of gases you don't want to breathe in. They bind to the hemoglobin that carries oxygen through your body. Breathing that in, you get very fatigued," Gangidine said. "That's why we try to schedule a day out of the field for every three days we work in the field. If you're there for four days, you can really feel like a zombie. It's really hard to think, hard to move." As a biology undergraduate at UC, Gangidine worked with UC biology professor Dennis Grogan to examine microbial life called extremophiles that live in hostile places such as Yellowstone's acidic or alkaline hot springs. Now as a geologist, Gangidine is studying the fossils these hardy single-celled creatures leave behind. "Hot springs make silica deposits that preserve life really well," Gangidine said. "When left exposed on a planet's surface, it doesn't crystallize and doesn't metamorphose. So these samples should be relatively well preserved if we find them." In UC professor Czaja's geology lab, Gangidine peers through a microscope at slides he prepared from chunks of Yellowstone silica he took from a mountainous steam cone geyser. The bacterial filaments from samples taken at the top of the geyser are full of color. But the older samples, some perhaps thousands of years old, are colorless, even if they hold their shape. So for more clues about this basic form of life, Gangidine subjects the bacterial samples to elemental analysis using a secondary ion mass spectrometer. The analysis renders the elements in vivid color: deep yellows, reds and greens representing chromium or gallium perhaps associated with the bacterial life. If Gangidine finds a correlation between the concentrations and spatial distributions of particular elements and the bacteria, it might serve as a biosignature that scientists can use to identify past life on Mars. "The reason we chose gallium is it's not known to be associated with life. But when we look at the fossilized bacterial samples, we find it, so there must be something going on," Gangidine said. "Do the bacteria store certain elements preferentially as opposed to what you would find elsewhere in these rocks?" Gangidine is working with researchers in Australia, home to some of the world's oldest fossils, some dating back 3.5 billion years. "If I want to create a biosignature, I have to prove that it persists throughout time," Gangidine said. "It exists in these relatively younger samples. But does it exist in these ancient samples, too? That will be crucial to figure out." Gangidine also plans to build an artificial hot spring in a lab aquarium using similar elements found in geysers. By introducing a super-saturation to the water, the excess silica will precipitate much the same way it does in nature. Then he can add trace chemicals associated with life and study what happens in a miniature world absent of life. "To prove we found a biosignature, we have to prove the signature doesn't occur without life," he said. "Gallium is the one we were surprised by," Czaja said. "It is associated with silica near the bacteria but isn't in the bacteria." Like Gangidine, Czaja got his start in the sciences by studying biology before pursuing a career in paleontology. Czaja's NASA advisory committee will meet in October to decide where on Mars they would like to send the rover among the three preferred destinations. The rover is tentatively slated for launch in July or August of 2020, arriving on Mars about seven months later. "NASA tends to like to go new places to push the frontier. Geologists like to go back to the same places over and over to ask new questions," Czaja said. The rover will collect samples in sealed containers for shipping back to Earth in a later mission. So it could be many years before geologists such as Czaja and Gangidine know whether their hunches about where best to look for life on Mars were correct. Helping to frame a question that you may never live to see answered is one of science's most selfless pursuits, Czaja said. "One thing I like about these NASA missions is the long-term thinking and planning," he said. "People working on these projects now may never see the results. But they're still willing to put in the work because it's such a fascinating question." The Mars 2020 mission will not be a failure if scientists find no evidence of life. Quite the contrary, Gangidine said. "If we find it, we can say maybe life is not that rare among planets," Gangidine said. "But if we don't find life in places that would be the most ideal and best preserved candidates, then maybe life is pretty rare." But if NASA does find evidence of life on Mars, that might suggest that sparking life from a primordial soup isn't so extraordinary after all. And the first question will be how life on Mars compares to life on Earth, Czaja said. Was there a common ancestor? "Maybe we're all Martians," Czaja said. Any claim about the existence or absence of life on Mars will be subjected to worldwide scrutiny and skepticism. Czaja said researchers must be prepared to provide a wealth of evidence to fortify their findings. "It's not nearly enough to find something that looks like a bacterial cell," Czaja said. "There are nonbiological things that could look like that. But if you have a cascade of traits -- this and this and this added together -- it's hard to explain it any other way except for life." TOP IMAGE....UC geologists stand near one of Yellowstone National Park's famed hot springs in its geyser basin. UC hopes to find an elemental marker that could help NASA identify life on Mars. CREDIT Annie Gangidine LOWER IMAGE....A UC analysis using a secondary ion mass spectrometer reveals elements such as gallium associated with bacteria found in silica deposits in Yellowstone's geyser basin. CREDIT Andrew Gangidine/UC

#space #science #Astronomy #astrophysics #planetary science #Mars #astrobiology #geology #yellowstone

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lotusdentaltravel0 · 4 years

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Nha Trang_ Winning combination of Dental care and Tourism-3

Recently, the tourism in Nha Trang (Vietnam) has been making outstanding growth. Turnover of tourism has risen by 15 – 25% each year from 2010 up to now. Specifically, in 2010, the number of visitors was 1.8 million, including 387,0000 international ones. Along with the fast growth of the normal tourism, a new and appealing industry - dental tourism in Nha Trang has been making significant development in the past few years.

Why is Nha Trang an appealing destination for dental tourism?

1. The developing tourism in Nha Trang

During the past years, Nha Trang has a sharp growth in tourism turnover and relevant figures, especially international visitors. Nha Trang is the germ in the eyes of every travel-addicted, which features charming nature with blue sea and white sand. You will definitely enjoy a rich underwater world with plentiful creatures of Nha Trang, especially the corals. The city also has a lot of attractive spots you can’t miss such as Vinpearl Land, Diamond Bay, Ponaga Temple, Monkey Island...Another attraction of the coral city is the chance to experience the cuisine and 5-star seafood. All have turned Nha Trang into a vitality city, which left good impressions in millions of visitors every year.

Recently, the city’s tourism has been making outstanding growth. Turnover of tourism has risen by 15 – 25% each year from 2010 up to now. Specifically, in 2010, the number of visitors was 1.8 million, including 387,0000 international ones. In 2018, Nha Trang welcomed nearly 443.000 Russian visitors, accounted for 73% of Russian visitors traveling to Vietnam. In the first 9 months of 2019, there are 340.870 Russian visitors choosing Nha Trang, increasing by 2,2% over the previous year (According to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism).

Along with the growth of the number of visitors, accommodation is developing fast. Till February 2017, the city has 714 hotels, 83 of them are ranked 3 – 5 stars. The high-grade hotels aim to welcome visitors with highly-spending and long-staying.

2. Accessibility

Flights to Nha Trang are numerous and affordable. There are 17 direct flights per week from Guangzhou to Nha Trang, which last for more than 2 hours. The direct flight from Moscow to Nha Trang only last in 10 hours.

Most flights from Canada or Australia to Nha Trang require 1 or 2 transitions. If flying from Australia, you can transit in Guangzhou, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. The ticket price is often between 800$ and 1,300$ for a 12-hour to 14-hour flight. In case you fly from Canada, you can take the 25-hour flight and transit in Guangzhou. The ticket price is approximately 1,500$.

3. Incredible savings of dental cost

When traveling to Nha Trang for a dental vacation, you don’t have to pay high prices but you can get the same quality like in your hometown. Most clinics in Nha Trang are accredited with different global standards, besides, the dentists have been educated from developed countries such as Australia, the USA...The treatment prices in Nha Trang are not only lower than in other countries but also lower than in other cities in Vietnam. You can see how much you can save if choosing Nha Trang as the destination of your dental vacation as listed below:

Dental tourism in Nha Trang

Ly Tran - Managing director of Lotus Dental Travel, said the growth of travel industry, the cost advantages and the upgrade of healthcare facilities and services in Nha Trang are fueling the appeal of dental tourism and dental treatments including cosmetic dentistry and restorative dentistry procedures for patients abroad.

1. Most chosen dental procedures are cosmetic

Dental Clinics in Nha Trang have attracted thousands of dental tourists for mainly dental procedures: teeth whitening, restorative dentistry and cosmetic dentistry. Veneers and crowns are popular choices due to huge savings and flexible schedule. Teeth whitening is also chosen procedure by many tourists when they travel to Nha Trang. Dentists in Nha Trang mostly use the up-to-date teeth whitening methods so the treatment takes only one visit, while the cost is about $150 on average, compared with the average price of $550 for in-office teeth whitening in Australia.

Most dental procedures in international dental clinics are conducted to a detailed and time-saving treatment plan. Understanding the needs of spending more time on tourism activities of dental patients, dental clinics are very flexible in the procedures to fit patient’s travel schedules.

2. Top quality dentists, state-of-the-art technology

Dentists and staff who work at international dental clinics are mostly proficient in English, some can speak Chinese or Russian. Dental tourists have no trouble communicating with their dentists or staff at the clinics. Dentists in international dental clinics in Nha Trang graduates from top dental schools in Vietnam such as Hanoi Medical University or Ho Chi Minh city’s Medicine and Pharmacy University, a lot of them have taken part in international dental training programs and achieved global certificates.

When it comes to facility aspect, many dental clinics in Nha Trang are equipped with state-of-the-art dental technology such as CBCT machine and 3D scanner. Besides, some dental clinics have their own laboratory, which enables them to make artificial teeth in considerably short time.

One another important factor is that infection control procedures are strictly followed by most dentists and staff to ensure the best quality of care. Some dental clinics also provide rooms for patients to stay to keep track on their treatment.

3. Dental clinics are using both traditional and non-traditional marketing channels

Dental clinics in Nha Trang put a lot of effort into reaching out to their potential customers overseas, utilizing both online and offline marketing channels. Many dental clinics in Nha Trang use referral marketing and advertising their services on booking platforms and the websites of travel companies, travel blogs, hotels and spa and wellness services. Dental tourists can have online consultation, get personal treatment plan and reserve their appointment before their trip. Once tourists set their feet in Nha Trang, they can receive brochures, leaflets which contain details of dental services of the nearby clinics in Nha Trang at their hotels or restaurants. Tourism and dental services turn out to be a winning combination to bring excellent experience to foreign tourists.

Dental clinics in Nha Trang are continuously upgrading the quality of their services and facilities to optimize the recovery time and provide pain-free treatments for patients. Thanks to the top-notch dental experts and high-quality facilities of dental clinics Nha Trang, dental tourists can make the most out of their vacations while achieving the expected treatment results.

What are the best travel experiences in Nha Trang?

Nha Trang is a paradise for travel lovers, especially ones like discovering the amazing marine life, water sports, and seafood culinary. Nha Trang is known as an entertainment paradise of Vietnam, with series of complexes bringing the most enjoyable experience to tourists from luxury resorts, a giant amusement park with Guinness record for 3320-meter long sea-crossing cable car system to a romantic dinner cruise on the sea. Check out the top travel experiences below and start planning your tropical dental vacation:

1. Snorkeling tour at Hon Mun island

Hon Mun Island is a spectacular island with the diversification of marine life. Tourists freely immerse themselves in the pristine beauty of the island from the boat. Diving deep down in clear water to discover the beauty of the coral reefs or join with colorful schools of tropical fish is the most amazing experience for tourists.

2. Sailing cruise

If you are not an avid fan of water sports but still in love with the beauty of the sea, sailing cruise is the perfect choice. Imagine you are in the scenery of the movie Titanic, sipping on your favorite cocktail while listening to live music on the boat. The light of sunset is mingling on the deck and in the wavy water creates an unforgettable scene. Besides, enjoying fresh and delicious seafood to end a perfect day.

3. Vinpearl land amusement park

Vinpearl land amusement park, located on an island across the bay from the beach, is a giant theme park featuring water slides, aquarium and other fun games. The 3320-metre long ride offers an overview of the whole bay. An impressive aquarium with over 300 species of colorful fish make it be the biggest kind in Vietnam. If you want to get away from the hustle and find peace of mind, the 400-metre long sandy beach is the place for relaxing and watching the sunset.

4. City tour

You can enjoy a wonderful half-day tour in Nha Trang. After a pick-up at your hotel at 8 a.m or 9 a.m, you will be on your way to an exciting trip. You will have the chance to visit many historical and interesting spots including Nha Trang Cathedral, Long Son Pagoda, Chong Promontory Rocks, Ponagar Towers and Dam market, just to name a few. Don’t forget to buy some souvenirs for your family at Dam Market, a massive three-storey market. This 4 hour-long tour concludes with a drive back to your hotel.

5. Seafood

As you may know, many tourists come back to Nha Trang again and again for its fresh and delicious seafood. Most restaurants have aquariums at the entrance filled with a variety of fish along with crab and shrimp. You can choose luxury restaurants with cozy space while sipping red wine. Otherwise, you can choose local restaurants that are near the beach and quite vibrant. There are some seafood that you really don’t want to miss out such as lobster, banh can, cheese oysters…

Author

Ly Tran is the managing director of Lotus Dental Travel - a dental tourism facilitator based in Vietnam.

Resources:

Lotus Dental Travel is the number one dental tourism facilitator in Vietnam. We connect international patients to an exclusive network of highly qualified dentists in Vietnam. Our comprehensive approach has taken every aspect of our patients’ dental vacation in Vietnam into consideration. We collaborate with dental clinics in Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh city to come up with offers of dental treatment with the highest quality in dental technology and the best staff you will ever find! Contact us today to learn more about our special offers, or to schedule a free consultation with our highly qualified dentists:

For More Info: https://lotusdentaltravel.com/

Join us on an amazing trip to Vietnam and get a brand new smile in one of the top clinics in Vietnam, at the price you'll definitely love!

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travelworldnetwork · 5 years

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Oceanographic Museum of Monaco . Photo: Michel Dagnino

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An unwanted visitor from Australia lurks inside the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco. White-spotted jellyfish hitched a lift from Queensland to the Mediterranean in ship's ballast in the 1960s and have since been doing rather well in their new environment. Their descendants float about, stinging unsuspecting swimmers off Spanish beaches and threatening native shrimp.

The white-spotted jellyfish in the museum's aquarium is rather beautiful though, resembling a placid, floating pincushion of vivid white dots. It has the trailing, feathery skirts of a can-can dancer. Not so attractive is the jellyfish's sex life. Males release sperm in the water and females gather it into their mouths, where they hold eggs until they hatch.

If you want to be alternatively enchanted and revolted, then Monaco's Oceanographic Museum is the place to be. It's the principality's unexpected treat, at once a serious scientific research centre, an entertainment and an education. Founder Prince Albert I was a scientist and oceanographer, and Jacques Cousteau was once director. It has cutting-edge displays, yet parts are endearingly old fashioned, hearkening back to the days when Edwardian-era aristocrats had unlimited budgets and a liking for the weird and wonderful.

Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. Photo: Oceanographic Museum of Monaco

The 1910 neoclassical museum building is Monaco's most prominent structure. Many mistake it for the palace. It looms on a clifftop like the mad retreat of a James Bond villain, with a facade encrusted with motifs of crabs and scorpionfish and octopus. Its main hall is a magnificent cabinet of curiosities from another era. You can clamber into a 1776 Bushnell Tortoise submarine, which resembles a giant wine barrel with a screw cap. There are strange diving suits, a stuffed polar bear, sea fossils, ship models and marble busts.

In the Whale Room, gigantic skeletons dangle from the ceiling. They look like dinosaurs and have open jaws of serrated teeth. The narwhal brandishes a javelin-like horn. Touch screens below tell you more, and an hourly sound-and-light show entrances kids.

There are some 6000 live specimens, too. This is one of the world's oldest aquariums. A moray eel acquired in 1969 is still alive and well, and some sharks and other fish are 40 years old. There have been tropical tanks here since the 1930s, and Monaco was among the pioneers of the delicate task of keeping notoriously temperamental coral in artificial environments.

Its centrepiece is a 450,000-litre tank holding an entire coral ecosystem. Some of its corals are now 20 years old, a first in the history of aquariums. The most stunning display is a pool of fluorescent coral, including luminous purple and pink Montiposa, waving green Galaxea and lurid Blastomusa that look like 1970s lava lamps.

The Shark Lagoon is rather grey in comparison, but its creatures are splendid. There are several types of shark, rays, a rather lonely hawksbill turtle and an outsized guitarfish that looks like a stealth bomber from the distant future. The kids can touch a baby shark and shark's eggs at the touch tank, as well as crabs and starfish. If you've never seen a shark's egg before, you'll be astonished.

Don't leave without heading roof-wards for glorious views over Monaco and the French Riviera. Below on the rocks, pygmy cormorants breed. Squint out to sea and you might see one of the slender fin whales that live off the coast. There may be 800 of them, but no one is quite sure. We don't know much at all about our oceans and seas. To its great credit, the Oceanographic Museum makes you think what a shame that is, because even its own modest show of marine life is a marvel.

TRIP NOTES

Brian Johnston was a guest of Visit Monaco and Silversea Cruises.

traveller.com.au/monaco

visitmonaco.com

FLY

Emirates flies from Sydney and Melbourne to Dubaiwith onward connections to Nice in France , a half-hour from Monaco. See emirates.com

STAY

Hotel Hermitage Monte-Carlo features opulent Belle-Époque decor, while guestrooms have quiet luxury, some with magnificent harbour views. See hotelhermitagemontecarlo.com

VISIT

The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco is open every day except Christmas Day and Grand Prix weekend. Adults €11-16 ($17-25), depending on season, with reduced prices for children and teenagers. See oceano.mc

from traveller.com.au

#Travel Guide

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friedwolfbird-blog · 7 years

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Raising Coral In Saltwater Aquariums

The Indian Ocean double-saddle butterfly (C. falcula) grows slightly greater than C. ulietensis, reaching upwards of 7 inches in length. As its common name suggests, this species ranges throughout the indian Ocean from the east coast of Africa to indonesia and from India south to Western australia. Juvenile threadfin butterflies sport an eye-sized black spot in the soft dorsal fin. The Red Sea specimens lose this spot as they grow, different types of online from all the other areas save this spot throughout life. Wind up hurting the fish that reach our tanks are collected in the Philippines or Indonesia. Before an individual started with reef aquariums though, you want to do some research on these kind of people. Reef tanks are more difficult than fresh or salt water tanks seeing that environment might be more aggressive. Water requirements need to create the exact balance of chemicals and the currents reason to be stronger to boot. Make a mistake here and everything with your tank may be ill. Do not be afraid, just take your time and start slowly. First before you can determine what your tank will empty your pockets need to comprehend what sort of saltwater tank you actually want. Need a basic and very inexpensive fish only system as a result decorated with artificial barrier. This is normally what most beginners start in addition to. Where to grow mangrove? In the primary tank: Instantly use the mangroves in order to use plant them directly generally tank to mimic some interesting biotopes like fringing reef that surrounds an is. Mangroves will provide habitat for the fish. Some snails exactly like the Cerith Snail and the Dwarf Planaxis Snail love to burrow around mangrove's root system. This won't work using a light hood; tanks requirement to be open above so in the have space to increase in numbers. A Seneye Reef Monitors can look a bit daunting but it surely isn't that complicated. A reef tank does have an overabundance parts to barefoot jogging than a fish only tank but that's because a reef tank is greater an actual coral reef habitat. It is a display tank, where your fish will live; a stand, or perhaps something tank is correctly supported; a sump tank, a tank for mechanical equipment with regard to example filters and water movement equipment; refugium tank, this tank usually paired with the sump tank and is perfectly for beneficial micro-fauna, microflora, and macroalgae; lighting and canopy, these are listed together because reef tank lights are housed typically the hood from the aquarium. Instead a pinch of fish food can hasten the process, or if you can get a scoop of sand within the seasoned reef tank quite possibly piece of live rock n roll. Both of these will have already got the nitrifying bacteria to them and will jump start the process. Another sight worth seeing during the evening may be the Fountains of Bellagio. Each of the ingredients free watching and even though shows start before dark on some evenings the worth waiting until at night to get the most from the lights, music and effects which have been laid on for attendees.

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