Mind Soup

MIND SOUP : In a televised live appearance on the German television, Paul the octupus predicted that Spain will win the World Cup finale which is scheduled on Sunday night. Netherlands fans started getting edgy, especially after seven correct predictions made by the lower invertebrate earlier this season, latest of which was the defeat of Germany to Spain on Wednesday. (Reuters) "That was fast -- it looks like a clear-cut victory for Spain," said Tanja Munzig, spokeswoman for Sea Life in Oberhausen. She was surprised by his speed in picking Spain. For some matches it took Paul 70 minutes to decide. Also, according the Associate Press , Paul has predicted that Germany will win over Uruguay for third place. (Reuters) Meanwhile, other animals are predicting the outcome of the final World Cup game too. "A parakeet, long tailed parrot, named 'Mani' has also been forecasting match results. Mani has become the talk of the town after predicting that the Neth...

[ via ]

OH MY GOD!  Yes! That is a real bug. Appropriately named the rhino beetle, it sure is huge. Imagine if more bugs were this size. Aaghh! It sure is a nightmare for those who are scared of creepy crawlies and even for those who get nervous when they see one close. It does redefine entomophobia, the fear of creepy crawlies. Can you just imagine how one would react to a couple of them crawling within a few feet of distance? These rhino beetles are a wily pest and can destroy coconut crops in a jiffy. Wonder what kind of bird if any has the guts to feed on this giant bug. Nature can have a strange sense of humor. Wonder why she made a bug so huge or may be we should be wondering why she made the others so small. Nature has her share of weird things in the world, so can man be far behind? So many extra large weird stuff, man made are out there to bring our fantasy to another level. Ranging from a gigantic burger, to a coffin shaped like a giant duffel bag or a coffee table...

You’ve heard jokes like these all your life:  What do you get if you cross an octopus with a cow? An animal that can milk itself.  I didn’t find such an animal, but the world has plenty of strange species that at first glance appear to be hybrids of unrelated species because they have attributes that surprise us. However, we are only surprised because our personal experiences don’t encompass all that nature offers. 1. Turtle + Hedgehog = Armadillo Rudyard Kipling wrote the story  The Beginning of the Armadillos , in which the animal came from a tortoise and a hedgehog. They didn’t join to give birth to armadillos; instead, they taught each other their talents. The hedgehog helped the tortoise learn to curl into a ball, and the tortoise taught the hedgehog to swim, which toughened up his spines into armor. Before they knew it, both had turned into armadillos. Here in the real world,  armadillos  are related to both sloths and anteaters and are native to Latin ...

Meet Griffin, the grey parrot, whose astonishing vocal and physical skills are demonstrating just how smart the avian world really is. Griffin has recently begun to play with objects and speaks English in a way that raises fascinating questions about the thought processes going on inside a bird's brain. The parrot will stack different-sized bottle caps in the right order, for example. He will also mix up the English words he has learned, and will say simple phrases, like "wanna green nut". This type of behaviour was once thought to be exclusive to humans, great apes, and monkeys. Griffin suggests Parrots should be added to the list. "Human children start combining their labels at about 22 months," says Dr Irene Pepperberg, who works with Griffin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "So, they start not just identifying 'cookie' and 'milk', but will say 'want milk' or 'want more cookie'. "And they also t...

 

To my readers, "Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams." -- Ashley Smith ... And to capture beauty, great photography skills and amazing photographers are needed. Perhaps I wouldn't have noticed the great detail and the stunning beauty of nature if it wasn't to one of my friends, Mohamad Sakakini, who happens to be the best photographer I have ever met. It is very intriguing how he captures his photos with great patience, detail, vivid color and astonishing focus. Below are my favorite photos of his, and you can view his complete album here . Believe me, you will regret not pressing on that link. Enjoy!

The Peppered moth, which changed its colour from white to black in areas of Britain with heavy pollution, is now reverting back to its original appearance. The moth was white with small black speckles but over time it evolved to being almost black in parts of the UK because of heavy industrial pollution. The change made it less obvious to predators against backgrounds of grime and soot. Having declined by more than two thirds compared to 40 years ago, it is regarded as a classic example of natural selection and has consequently become known as "Darwin's moth." Now in post-industrial Britain, 200 years after Darwin's birth, the moth is changing back to its original white colour. Scientists at Butterfly Conservation, based in Dorset, are now appealing to the public for help in finding out how widespread this change has become. As part of Garden Moths Count 2009 they want people to search their gardens for the moth and log their sightings....