Can u draw better than an elephant?

     You must have heard of animals with extra-ordinary qualities. But I bet you must have never imagined an elephant drawing. Yes, here's an elephant who did a self portrait of the royal wedding of Prince Williams and Kate Middleton all by himself.

     Boon Mee is a male elephant born in 1996 at Bureerum, Thailand. He is the only elephant known who can make self portraits. Below is the image if Boon Mee busy working on his masterpiece.

     For people who still doubt his ability and think its fake, click on this link below to see the artist in action...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG5HQe6XigE&feature=player_embedded

Cell Phones that look like....?

  Many cell phones launch in our country attracting buyers all over. However there are some cell phone designs that are created but their being available to us is always under a cloud of questions. Here are some designs you might admire, laugh at or craze about- that's actually a part where U decide what to do.

     Here are a few unusual designs for cell-phones. U might as well be the first to see the models before they are launched or are not... Enjoy the models and follow my blog if u like them...

  

Lucky dog survives a 60 feet fall, rescued after about a couple of days...

     Enough Laws for humans, but what about animals. Oh I might have just missed it, there is one heard of in our locality- The SPCA (Society for the prevention of cruelty to Animals). But what if they be cruel to animals? Any laws for that?

     Recently a dog had a bad day and he fell 60 feet in a dry well. A noble man named Nozar Bharucha tried calling for help. He called the PMC head quarters for help and they gave a we-don't-care response. Next he tried contacting the SPCA and they responded saying that it was not under their jurisdiction. Now all I want to know is if animal cruelty is against what they are, then what are they doing to the dog? Being cruel? I guess that is not how they define 'Prevention of Cruelty'. I question these people- who defines the limit of service for them? Time being a factor, weight of the situation, how large the animal cruelty is or under what area it is? Is their sole motive just not to protect the animals who need protection?

     I was not at all pleased at how they reacted in the situation. If they do not have a means to protect the animals in practice, they better start it. Or else it's useless being an SPCA.

     Luckily for the dog, there was this brave fire-brigade team who took the initiative to aid the dog on time. They never said 'No' when contacted for help. With proper planning against all odds, they managed to rescue the dog. Hats Off to you people, there are others who just need to learn from you.

(Reference: The TOI, Pune Mirror, 30 June 2011)

The China GHOST city...

Residents in China were baffled to discover a giant ghost city towered across the horizon along the Xin'an river in Huanshan City in East China. The apparition appeared earlier this June 2011 on the 16^th after heavy rainfall and humid conditions along the river.

                Experts who had visited the city were stunned to see that there were actually no buildings in that area where the ghost city was spotted. It is believed that this happened due to the formation of mirage- an illusion caused when moisture in air became warmer than the temperature of water below.

Although mirages had previously occurred occasionally, this was the clearest of all ever recorded. Some amazed residents even suggested that it could have been a vortex to a lost civilization.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsMmef04qGs&feature=related You can click on the link to have an access of the original video footage of the mirage.

Spongebob sqaurepants has got scientific recognition...

      Peay, Bruns and Kennedy were busy researching Borneo’s Sarawak State when they came across this amazing sponge-like mushroom. They handed it over to Dennis E. Desjardin a mycologist at the San Fransisco State University. After examining the specimen under a microscope he realized that the genus of the specimen closely matched with the one he discovered in Thailand about two years ago. Thus the new genus was named for both the cases and he named it after spongebob squarepants.

     An average mushroom contains of a cap and a stem. The cap helps in maintaining moisture and prevents it from drying out and the stem helps to lift it up from the ground so that it can be easily spread by the wind and animals passing by. This particular species has however found it's own means of survival. The sponge-like body allows it to remain moist by soaking in moisture from the atmosphere of the rainforest.

Dennis E. Desjardin had to convince the editors of the journal Mycologia to name the species Spongiforma Squarepentsii. He insisted that the name be accepted because he was the one who discovered it and had the full right to name it as he liked.

Zombie Ants

     These ants seem to get a special makeover, except that they don't get washed or removed. These makeover lingers to them till their death and they mean no good to the ants.

     As unbelievable as they seem these are ants infected by a special species of fungus Ophiocordyceps Camponoti-rufipedis. These species of fungus is one of the few new discoveries from the rainforests of Brazil. They apparently infect the carpenter ant of the ant family and turn them into zombies. After infecting the ant body it adds on leaves, sprout, fruiting bodies and spreads spores to other ants. Each of the four recently discovered species of fungus which infects the ant body bear a resemblance in their life-cycle. They terminate with the appearance of a large sporocarp growing from the neck region of the host. (see image 1)

All the four species of fungus yet discovered are from Zona da Mata Atlantic rainforest system from south-eastern Brazil and they are assumed to represent only a small part of the zombie-ant fungus diversity.