Attack by Fisher Cat:

The fisher (Martes pennanti) is a medium-sized mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family, commonly referred to as the weasel family. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American Marten (Martes americana). The fisher is a forest-dwelling creature whose range covers much of the boreal forest in Canada to the northern fringes of the United States. Names derived from aboriginal languages include pekan, pequam, and wejack. It is also sometimes referred to as a fisher cat, although it is not a feline.

Males and females are similar in appearance but the males are larger. Males are 90–120 cm (35–47 in) in length and weigh 3.5 to 6 kilograms (8–13 lb). Females measure 75–95 cm (30–37 in) and weigh 2–2.5 kg (4–6 lb). The fur of the fisher varies seasonally, being denser and glossier in the winter. During the summer, the color becomes more mottled, as the fur goes through a moulting cycle. Fishers prefer to hunt in full forest. While they are agile climbers, most of their time is spent on the forest floor. They also prefer to forage where there is fallen dead wood on the forest floor. Fishers are omnivorous and feed on a wide variety of small animals and occasionally fruits and mushrooms. They show a preference for the snowshoe hare and are one of the few predators able to successfully hunt porcupine. Despite their name, fishers seldom eat fish.

The reproductive cycle of the fisher lasts almost the entire year. Female fishers give birth to a litter of three or four kits in the spring. They nurse and care for their kits up until late summer, when they are old enough to set out on their own. Females enter estrus shortly after giving birth and leave the den to find a mate. Implantation of the blastocyst is delayed until the following spring when they give birth and the cycle is renewed.

Fishers have few predators aside from humans. They have been trapped since the 18th century for their fur. Their pelts were in such demand that they were extirpated from several parts of the United States in the early part of the 20th century. Conservation and protection measures have allowed the species to rebound, but their current range is still reduced from its historic limits. In the 1920s, when pelt prices were high, some fur farmers attempted to raise fishers. However, their unusual delayed reproduction made breeding difficult. When pelt prices fell in the late 1940s, most fisher farming ended. While fishers usually avoid human contact, encroachments into forest habitats have resulted in some conflicts. There are anecdotal reports of fishers attacking pets and, in a 2009 case in Rhode Island, a 6-year-old boy

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Water and Development: Cases of Brazil and Viet Nam

 
Water and Development: Cases of Brazil and Viet Nam:

Artificial fluoridation of water, salt, and milk varies from country to country. Water fluoridation has been introduced to varying degrees in many countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ireland, Malaysia, the U.S., and Vietnam,and is used by 5.7% of people worldwide.Continental Europe largely does not fluoridate water, although some of its countries fluoridate salt; locations have discontinued water fluoridation in Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries.Although health and dental organizations support water fluoridation in the countries that practice water fluoridation,there has been considerable opposition to water fluoridation whenever it is proposed.

Only 1 percent of the world's fresh water is readily available for human use. Currently 700 million people in 43 countries face water stress and by 2030 around 40 percent of population will face water shortages. Given these challenges, the implementation of water efficient projects that combine nature conservation elements with making water available where there is a need is critical. This video profiles cases of Brazil and Viet Nam where World Bank implemented water projects. Video is narrated by Ron Parker, Author of the Independent Evaluation Group's (IEG) study on Water and Development: Evaluation of World Bank Support (1997-2007).

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Giant clouds over Beijing

Giant clouds over Beijing:                                                                

 

Huge Mushroom Cloud over Beijing:                                             

                                         

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The Kingfisher Bird

The Kingfisher Bird:

Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australasia. The group is treated either as a single family, Alcedinidae, or as a suborder Alcedines containing three families, Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water kingfishers). There are roughly 90 species of kingfisher. All have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey as well as fish, usually caught by swooping down from a perch. Like other members of their order they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the ground. A few species, principally insular forms, are threatened with extinction. In Britain, the word 'kingfisher' normally refers to the Common Kingfisher.
Kingfishers are a group of small to medium sized brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species being found in the Old World and Australasia. The group is treated either as a single family, Alcedinidae, or as a suborder Alcedines containing three families, Alcedinidae (river kingfishers), Halcyonidae (tree kingfishers), and Cerylidae (water kingfishers). There are roughly 90 species of kingfisher. All have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails. Most species have bright plumage with little differences between the sexes. Most species are tropical in distribution, and a slight majority are found only in forests. They consume a wide range of prey as well as fish, usually caught by swooping down from a perch. Like other members of their order they nest in cavities, usually tunnels dug into the natural or artificial banks in the ground. A few species, principally insular forms, are threatened with extinction. In Britain, the word 'kingfisher' normally refers to the Common Kingfisher.

 

Thank you

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Cardinal (bird)

Cardinal:

Kingdom:        Animalia
Phylum:           Chordata
Class:              Aves
Order:             Passeriformes
Suborder:        Passeri
Family:           Cardinalidae

 Cardinals, which make up the family Cardinalidae, are passerine birds found in North and South America. They are also known as cardinal-grosbeaks and cardinal-buntings. The South American cardinals in the genus Paroaria are placed in another family, the Thraupidae (previously placed in Emberizidae).

These are robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. The family ranges in size from the 12-cm (4.7 inches), 11.5-gram (.40 oz) Orange-breasted Bunting to the 25-cm (9.8 inches), 85-gram (2.99 oz) Black-headed Saltator[verification needed]. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinctive appearances. The Northern Cardinal type species was named by colonists for the male's red crest, reminiscent of a Catholic cardinal's mitre.

The "buntings" in this family are sometimes generically known as "tropical buntings" (though not all live in the tropics) or "North American buntings" (though there are other buntings in North America) to distinguish them from the true buntings, whose family does contain North American birds, but they are referred to as American sparrows (unrelated to Old World sparrows), juncos, and towhees rather than buntings. Likewise the grosbeaks in this family are sometimes called "cardinal-grosbeaks" to distinguish them from other grosbeaks. The name "cardinal-grosbeak" can also apply to this family as a whole.

Most species are rated by the IUCN as least concern, though some are near threatened.

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World's Deadliest - Cheetah Hunts Gazelle

World's Deadliest - Cheetah Hunts Gazelle:

The cheetah is a large feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. It is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx. The cheetah can run faster than any other land animal— as fast as 112 to 120 km/h (70 to 75 mph) in short bursts covering distances up to 500 m (1,600 ft), and has the ability to accelerate from 0 to over 100 km/h (62 mph) in five seconds.

This cat is also notable for modifications in the species' paws. It is one of the few felids with semi-retractable claws.

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Cloud of dust at the centre of the Milky Way, smells of rum and tastes of raspberries:

Astronomers have concluded that a giant dust cloud at the heart of the Milky Way would taste of raspberries and smells of rum. The astronomers used the IRAM telescope in Spain to analyse the electromagnetic radiation emitted by Sagittarius B2, a vast dust cloud at the centre of the galaxy. They were searching for amino acids (one of the basic building blocks of life) when they identified a substance called ethyl formate. Ethyl formate is the chemical responsible for the flavour of raspberries, and also for the smell of rum. Dr Belloche and his colleague Robin Garrod at Cornell university of New York have collected over 4000 distinct signals from the cloud, but have only analysed around half of these. So far they have identified about 50 molecules in their survey,  two of them had not been identified before.

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