my mind begins to hum...

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Thu May 17, 2007 4:59 pm

In the geologic past Antarctica belonged to a giant land mass
called Gondwana that straddled the equator.
The land mass, which also included Africa, Australia, India and the tip of South America,
started breaking apart more than 100 million years ago.
About 60 million years ago, Antarctica had drifted close to the South Pole,
and oceans rise to fill the gaps between Antarctica and Africa and India.
By 40 million years ago, the continent had become completely encircled by oceans,
now called the Southern Ocean.

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:03 pm

Carnivorous sponges,
blind creepy-crawlies adorned with hairy antennae and ribbed worms
are just some of the new characters found to inhabit the dark abysses
of the Southern Ocean,
an alien abode once thought devoid of such life.

Recent expeditions have uncloaked this polar region,
finding nearly 600 species of organisms never described before
and challenging some assumptions that deep-sea
biodiversity is depressed.
The findings also suggest that all of Earth's marine life originated
in Antarctic waters.

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:11 pm

Scientists had assumed
that the deep sea of the South Pole would follow similar trends in biodiversity
documented for the Arctic.
"There are less species in the Arctic than around the equator,"
said one of the scientists behind the study, Brigitte Ebbe,
a taxonomist at the German Center for Marine Biodiversity Research.
"People assumed that it would be the same
if you went from the equator south,
but it didn't prove to be true at all."

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:16 pm

Biodiversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms
within a given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth.
Biodiversity is often a measure of the health of biological systems
to indicate the degree to which the aggregate of historical species
are viable versus extinct.

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:19 pm

The word biodiversity itself may have been coined by W.G. Rosen in 1985
while planning the National Forum on Biological Diversity
organized by the National Research Council (NRC)
which was to be held in 1986,
and first appeared in a publication in 1988
when entomologist E. O. Wilson used it as the title of the proceedings of that forum.
The word biodiversity was deemed more effective
in terms of communication
than biological diversity

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:23 pm

Since 1986 the terms and the concept have achieved widespread use
among biologists, environmentalists, political leaders,
and concerned citizens worldwide.
It is generally used to equate to a concern
for the natural environment and nature conservation.

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:28 pm

The most straightforward definition is
"variation of life at all levels of biological organization".

A second definition holds that biodiversity is a measure
of the relative diversity among organisms present
in different ecosystems.
"Diversity" in this definition includes diversity within a species
and among species, and comparative diversity among ecosystems.

A third definition that is often used by ecologists is the
"totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region".
An advantage of this definition is that it seems to describe
most circumstances and present a unified view
of the traditional three levels at which biodiversity has been identified:

genetic diversity - diversity of genes within a species.
There is a genetic variability among the populations
and the individuals of the same species. (See also population genetics.)

species diversity - diversity among species in an ecosystem.
"Biodiversity hotspots" are excellent examples of species diversity.

ecosystem diversity - diversity at a higher level of organization, the ecosystem.
To do with the variety of ecosystems on Earth.

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:34 pm

The Peacock Mite (Tuckerella sp.)
a beautiful but important pest on citrus in the tropics
is shown on a tea stem. Magnified 260X
(with a low-temp scanning electron microscope).

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:43 pm

Robert Harrill, known as "The Fort Fisher Hermit",
was born on February 2, 1893 in Shelby, North Carolina in the United States.
He became a hermit in 1955 at the age of 62
after a string of unsuccessful and unsatisfying jobs and a failed marriage.
Harrill hitchhiked to Fort Fisher on the North Carolina Coast
from Morganton, North Carolina, a distance of 260 miles (418 km).
He had been committed to a mental hospital in Morganton by his in-laws,
after his wife, Katie Hamrick, left him and asked for a divorce.
Harrill apparently walked away from the hospital
or made a key from an old spoon and used the key to escape the facility.

The name "The Fort Fisher Hermit" came from Fort Fisher State Recreation Area,
where he settled after leaving the mental institution in Morganton.
Soon after arriving at Fort Fisher, Robert Harrill was arrested as a vagrant
and sent to his hometown of Shelby by the sheriff's department.
He returned the following summer
and set up a simple home in an abandoned World War II era bunker
near the Cape Fear River along a salt marsh.
He was able to gather much of the food that he needed
from the salt marsh and the nearby oyster beds.

The Fort Fisher Hermit was not a hermit in the truest sense of the word.
A hermit (from the Greek á¼”Ï

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:03 pm

"variation of life at all levels of biological organization".

On May 12, 2007, at least forty-one people were killed
in riots erupting across Karachi, capital of the province of Sindh a
nd the most populous city in Pakistan.
Roads were blocked, cars burned and hundreds of people injured and arrested.
The violence erupted when MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement),
the coalition partner in the provincial government,
announced a rally
on the same day when Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
came to address the city bar association
on the 50th anniversary of establishment
of the Sindh High Court Bar Association.

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:11 pm

"variation of life at all levels of biological organization".

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:16 pm

"variation of life at all levels of biological organization".

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:22 pm

"variation of life at all levels of biological organization".

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Thu May 17, 2007 6:25 pm

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:14 pm

no one said they wanted useful conversations

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:18 pm

and why did they invade where i was destined to appear
while prohibiting me the use of the natural alchemist's tools?

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 12:22 pm

and when will ANYONE show some initiative
in furthering the mind's capacity by leaps and bounds?

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:56 pm

i knew samhadi before i studied samhadi

i went to discern between the environmantle aspects of it

i am equipped with the understanding to move forward
conscientiously with the experiments

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:12 pm

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:16 pm

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:18 pm

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:21 pm

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:23 pm

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:27 pm

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:30 pm

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:33 pm

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:35 pm

the fire elf · Post by **the fire elf** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:39 pm

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:40 pm

mayavin · Post by **mayavin** » Fri May 18, 2007 2:42 pm