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Stairway … ! by diverstef Sail Rock, Thailand
How Jellyfish Work
by Stephanie Watson
Jellyfish are probably some of the most unusual and mysterious creatures that you’ll ever encounter. With their gelatinous bodies and dangling tentacles, they look more like something from ahorror movie than a real animal. But if you can get past the weirdness – and the fact that getting too close to one results in a nasty sting – you’ll discover that jellyfish are pretty fascinating. They’ve been around for more than 650 million years, and there are thousands of different species, with more species discovered all of the time.
In this article, we’ll learn all about these mysterious animals and find out what to do if you do happen to get in the way of a stinging jellyfish tentacle.
Marine Life Image Gallery
Jellyfish live mainly in the ocean, but they aren’t actually fish – they’re plankton. These plants and animals either float in the water or possess such limited swimming powers that currents control their horizontal movements. Some plankton are microscopic, single-celled organisms, while others are several feet long. Jellyfish can range in size from less than an inch to nearly 7 feet long, with tentacles up to 100 feet long.
Jellyfish are also members of the phylum Cnidaria, (from the Greek word for “stinging nettle”) and the classScyphozoa (from the Greek word for “cup,” referring to the jellyfish’s body shape). All cnidarians have a mouth in the center of their bodies, surrounded by tentacles. The jellyfish’s cnidarian relatives includecorals, sea anemones and the Portuguese man-o’-war.
Jellyfish are about 98 percent water. If a jellyfish washes up on the beach, it will mostly disappear as the water evaporates. Most are transparent and bell-shaped. Their bodies have radial symmetry, which means that the body parts extend from a central point like the spokes on a wheel. If you cut a jellyfish in half at any point, you’ll always get equal halves. Jellyfish have very simple bodies – they don’t have bones, a brain or aheart. To see light, detect smells and orient themselves, they have rudimentary sensory nerves at the base of their tentacles.
A jellyfish’s body generally comprises six basic parts:
The epidermis, which protects the inner organs
The gastrodermis, which is the inner layer
The mesoglea, or middle jelly, between the epidermis and gastrodermis
The gastrovascular cavity, which functions as a gullet, stomach, and intestine all in one
An orifice that functions as both the mouth and anus
Tentacles that line the edge of the body
An adult jellyfish is a medusa (plural: medusae), named after Medusa, the mythological creature with snakes for hair who could turn humans to stone with a glance. After the male releases its sperm through its orifice into the water, the sperm swim into the female’s orifice and fertilize the eggs.
read more from HowStuffWorks
How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?
Humans, like all animals, need sleep, along with food, water and oxygen, to survive. For humans sleep is a vital indicator of overall health and well-being. We spend up to one-third of our lives asleep, and the overall state of our “sleep health ” remains an essential question throughout our lifespan. Most of us know that getting a good night’s sleep is important, but too few of us actually make those eight or so hours between the sheets a priority. For many of us with sleep debt, we’ve forgotten what “being really, truly rested” feels like.
To further complicate matters, stimulants like coffee and energy drinks, alarm clocks, and external lights—including those from electronic devices—interferes with our “circadian rhythm” or natural sleep/wake cycle.
Sleep needs vary across ages and are especially impacted by lifestyle and health. To determine how much sleep you need, it’s important to assess not only where you fall on the “sleep needs spectrum,” but also to examine what lifestyle factors are affecting the quality and quantity of your sleep such as work schedules and stress.
To get the sleep you need, you must look at the big picture.
How Much Sleep Do We Really Need: Revisited
Eighteen leading scientists and researchers came together to form the National Sleep Foundation’s expert panel tasked with updating the official recommendations. The panelists included six sleep specialists and representatives from leading organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of Anatomists, American College of Chest Physicians, American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Geriatrics Society, American Neurological Association, American Physiological Society, American Psychiatric Association, American Thoracic Society, Gerontological Society of America, Human Anatomy and Physiology Society, and Society for Research in Human Development. The panelists participated in a rigorous scientific process that included reviewing over 300 current scientific publications and voting on how much sleep is appropriate throughout the lifespan.
“Millions of individuals trust the National Sleep Foundation for its sleep duration recommendations. As the voice for sleep health it is the NSF’s responsibility to make sure that our recommendations are supported by the most rigorous science,” says Charles Czeisler, MD, PhD, chairman of the board of the National Sleep Foundation and chief of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, “Individuals, particularly parents, rely on us for this information.”
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
Though research cannot pinpoint an exact amount of sleep need by people at different ages, our new chart, which features minimum and maximum ranges for health as well as “recommended” windows, identifies the “rule-of-thumb” amounts experts agree upon.
Nevertheless, it’s important to pay attention to your own individual needs by assessing how you feel on different amounts of sleep.
Are you productive, healthy and happy on seven hours of sleep? Or does it take you nine hours of quality ZZZs to get you into high gear?
Do you have health issues such as being overweight? Are you at risk for any disease?
Are you experiencing sleep problems?
Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day?
Do you feel sleepy when driving?
These are questions that mustbe asked before you can find the number that works for you.
Sleep Time Recommendations: What’s Changed?
“The NSF has committed to regularly reviewing and providing scientifically rigorous recommendations,” says Max Hirshkowitz, PhD, Chair of the National Sleep Foundation Scientific Advisory Council. “The public can be confident that these recommendations represent the best guidance for sleep duration and health.”
A new range, “may be appropriate,” has been added to acknowledge the individual variability in appropriate sleep durations. The recommendations now define times as either (a) recommended; (b) may be appropriate for some individuals; or © not recommended.
The panel revised the recommended sleep ranges for all six children and teen age groups. A summary of the new recommendations includes:
Newborns (0-3 months ): Sleep range narrowed to 14-17 hours each day (previously it was 12-18)
Infants (4-11 months): Sleep range widened two hours to 12-15 hours (previously it was 14-15)
Toddlers (1-2 years): Sleep range widened by one hour to 11-14 hours (previously it was 12-14)
Preschoolers (3-5): Sleep range widened by one hour to 10-13 hours (previously it was 11-13)
School age children (6-13): Sleep range widened by one hour to 9-11 hours (previously it was 10-11)
Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range widened by one hour to 8-10 hours (previously it was 8.5-9.5)
Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range is 7-9 hours (new age category)
Adults (26-64): Sleep range did not change and remains 7-9 hours
Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours (new age category)
Improve Your Sleep Today: Make Sleep a Priority
To begin a new path towards healthier sleep and a healthier lifestyle, begin by assessing your own individual needs and habits. See how you respond to different amounts of sleep. Pay careful attention to your mood, energy and health after a poor night’s sleep versus a good one. Ask yourself, “How often do I get a good night’s sleep?” Like good diet and exercise, sleep is a critical component to overall health.
To pave the way for better sleep, follow these simple yet effective healthy sleep tips, including:
Stick to a sleep schedule, even on weekends.
Practice a relaxing bedtime ritual.
Exercise daily.
Evaluate your bedroom to ensure ideal temperature, sound and light.
Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows.
Beware of hidden sleep stealers, like alcohol and caffeine.
Turn off electronics before bed.
If you or a family member are experiencing symptoms such as sleepiness during the day or when you expect to be awake and alert, snoring, leg cramps or tingling, gasping or difficulty breathing during sleep, prolonged insomnia or another symptom that is preventing you from sleeping well, you should consult your primary care physician or find a sleep professional to determine the underlying cause.
You may also try using the National Sleep Foundation Sleep Diary to track your sleep habits over a one- or two-week period and bring the results to your physician.
Most importantly, make sleep a priority. You must schedule sleep like any other daily activity, so put it on your “to-do list” and cross it off every night. But don’t make it the thing you do only after everything else is done – stop doing other things so you get the sleep you need.
Source: National Sleep Foundation
Happy Bat Appreciation Day! Bats are amazing creatures with often human-like behavior so it’s no wonder that these little mammals have their own special day dedicated to them on the calendar. Bats sometimes get a bad rap, but we have photographic evidence that they are far more adorable than you might think.
Rescued Bear Cub Returns To Forest, Goes Absolutely Bonkers
By Ameena Schelling
This little sun bear has the best reason wild animals shouldn’t be kept as pets: her pure joy at being reintroduced to the forest she was taken from.
Like many young bears, Kala was a victim of the illegal wildlife trade. Her mother was likely killed by poachers so the little cub could be sold as an exotic pet. Fortunately, the person who bought her quickly surrendered her to officials and she ended up at the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center (BSBCC) in Malaysia in January, already emaciated and malnourished from her brief time in captivity.
Kala quickly perked up at BSBCC, and carers began to take her out on forest walks in late February. The result was unbridled excitement.
Pictures show the young sun bear looking ecstatic as she explores her newfound freedom. Back in the forest for the first time since she was taken from her mother, the little bear can be seen biting at branches, exploring everything in sight and rolling around on the forest floor in sheer happiness.
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Over Under by Michelle de Villiers
Maranon Poison Dart Frog
Boophis elenae
This is Boophis elenae (Mantellidae) a species endemic to Madagascar distinctive by having thin reddish horizontal stripes or a broad ring in the iris.
References: [1]
Photo credit: ©Stephen Zozaya | Locality: Ambatolahy, Ranomafana area, Madagascar (2015)
Tony 3 by GerardoAizpuru this beauty just passing by near a coral reef.
Lett-uce now appreciate this fine artwork
Macro Photography by Joni Niemela
Badass women of the future:
Malavath Poorna, the youngest person ever to reach Mount Everest’s summit at the age of 13 years, 11 months
Ann Makosinksi, Canadian inventor of a flashlight powered strictly by body heat at age 16
Mo’Ne Davis, first girl to throw a Little League World Series shutout in history, with fastballs reaching speeds of up to 70mph, at age 13
Alia Sabur, youngest university professor in the world, appointed to Konkuk University in South Korea at age 18
Asia Newson, owning and operating a candle sales business alongside her father, is Detroit’s youngest entrepreneur at age 10
Water Balloons Falling (and Bouncing) in Slow Motion.
Rewatch the video.
commonly misused words - learn the proper usage of these words to get your way up to any English proficiency exams - IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, etc.
This is beautiful.
VIDEOS: Qatar residents urged to 'challenge' cancer taboos
Local health officials have released a pair of short videos that feature prominent Qataris urging local residents to shed the stigma around cancer and “challenge” the disease head-on.
Despite being one of the leading causes of death in the country, some Qataris have an aversion to being tested and seeking treatment, according to…
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These are amazing!
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