Oracle octopus Paul dies

Paul the Octopus, the tentacled tipster who fascinated football fans by correctly predicting results at this year's World Cup, died Tuesday.

Paul had reached the octopus old age of 2 1/2 years and died in his tank on Tuesday morning in an aquarium in the western German city of Oberhausen, spokeswoman Ariane Vieregge said.

Paul seemed to be in good shape when he was checked late Monday, but he did not make it through the night. He died of natural causes, Vieregge added.

"We had all naturally grown very fond of him and he will be sorely missed," Sea Life manager Stefan Porwoll said in a statement.
The aquarium has not yet decided how best to commemorate their most famous resident, he said.

"We may decide to give Paul his own small burial plot within our grounds, and erect a modest permanent shrine," Porwoll said.

After rising to global prominence during the World Cup in South Africa in June and July, Paul retired from the predictions business after the final between Spain and the Netherlands - the result of which he also forecast correctly - and returned to his prime role of making children happy.

The invertebrate was stepping "back from the official oracle business," Tanja Munzig, a spokeswoman for the Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen, told AP Television News at the time.

"He won't give any more oracle predictions - either in football, nor in politics, lifestyle or economy," she said. "Paul will get back to his former job, namely making children laugh."

Paul correctly tipped the outcome of all seven of Germany's games. He made his predictions by opening the lid of one of two clear plastic boxes, each containing a mussel and bearing a team flag.

After his World Cup soothsaying skills were revealed, the English-born Paul was appointed as an ambassador to England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup. He had English roots, having been hatched at Weymouth Sea Life Center on England's south coast in 2008.

Imitators sprang up all over the world, including Mani the Parakeet in Singapore and Lorenzo the Parrot in Hannover, Germany.

The latest was a saltwater crocodile named Dirty Harry, who predicted Spain's World Cup final win and called the result of Australia's general election by snatching a chicken carcass dangling beneath a caricature of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

"El Pulpo Paul" became so popular in Spain that the northwestern Spanish town of O Carballino tried to borrow him and made him an "honorary friend."

In response to hundreds of requests to bring Paul to Spain, the Madrid Zoo asked Sea Life if it would be willing to make a deal to bring him in as a tribute to the Spanish football team's victory, either temporarily or for good. But the German aquarium turned down that offer, too.

Paul also had an agent and Paul's name will live on the Greek island of Zakynthos, where a permanent sea turtle rescue center funded in part by donations generated by the famous octopus is being established. - AP

Kuasa Yang Maha Esa tiada tandingannya.

YOGYAKARTA, 27 Okt (Bernama) -- Mbah Maridjan, Jurukunci Merapi yang berkeras enggan meninggalkan gunung berapi berusia 400,000 tahun itu, dipercayai meninggal dunia dalam kejadian letusan gunung itu petang Selasa.

Pihak berkuasa termasuk doktor percaya satu jenazah melecur yang ditemui dalam keadaan bersujud ke arah kiblat dalam bilik tidur di rumahnya di kaki gunung itu di Cangkringan daerah Sleman, adalah Mbah Maridjan, berusia 83 tahun.

Mereka bagaimanapun enggan mengesahkan perkara itu sehingga hasil ujian DNA diperolehi.

Menurut Dr Kresno Heru Nugroho dari Hospital Sardjito di sini, mayat berkenaan mempunyai ciri-ciri fizikal Mbah Maridjan, termasuk satu ibu jari tangannya yang bengkok, serta warna dan pakaian terakhir yang dikenakannya sebelum bencana itu petang Selasa.

Beberapa hari sebelum ini Mbah Maridjan dilaporkan memberitahu saudara maranya bahawa beliau tidak akan meninggalkan gunung Merapi kerana memikul amanah sebagai Abdi Dalem Kraton Jogja (menghamba diri kepada Sultan Jogja) sebagai penjaga gunung itu.

Pasukan penyelamat malam tadi menemui 15 mayat di dalam dan luar rumah beliau yang melecur akibat suhu tinggi awan panas debu volkanik yang turun sebagai hujan abu dalam kejadian letusan Merapi petang Selasa.

Satu daripada empat jenazah itu, yang ditemui dalam rumah Mbah Maridjan dikenalpasti sebagai wartawan portal berita vivanews.com berdasarkan dokumen pengenalan diri di mayat itu.

Mayat selebihnya ditemui bergelimpangan di halaman rumah jurukunci Merapi itu turut melecur.

Selain mereka, seorang bayi juga mati akibat hujan abu panas gunung merapi itu.

Puluhan ternakan lembu penduduk kampung di lereng gunung Merapi juga ditemui mati dalam kejadian berkenaan.

Sungguhpun sudah mengambil alih sebagai Jurukunci Merapi sejak awal tahun 1980-an, nama Mbah Maridjan hanya menjadi popular semasa bencana letusan Merapi 2006 ketika beliau enggan berpindah meninggalkan rumahnya dengan alasan belum mendapat perintah Sultan Jogja untuk meninggalkan gunung itu.

Ketika itu, katanya beliau menerima tugas sebagai Jurukunci Merapi dari Almarhum Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX dan belum ada perintah dari sultan sekarang untuk beliau pergi dari situ.

Padahal masa itu Sultan Hamengku Buwono X yang juga Gabenor Yogyakarta (anak Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX) sudah mengeluarkan perintah beliau berpindah namun Mbah Maridjan menganggap putera Sultan HB IX itu bukan raja, melainkan hanya seorang gabenor.

-- BERNAMA

Awas!!!! bakteria "Superbug" kembali lagi

Apa Kata Menteri?

Kementerian Kesihatan telah mengambil langkah berjaga-jaga bagi mengesan kes jangkitan yang melibatkan bakteria 'superbug', kata menterinya, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

Berikutan itu, katanya, Institut Penyelidikan Perubatan (IMR) telah diarah menjalankan ujian bagi mengenal pasti serta pengesahan kehadiran bakteria yang membawa gen NDM-1 di Malaysia.

"Sejak kejadian jangkitan bakteria 'superbug' mula dikesan pada tahun 2008, lebih banyak kes melibatkan 'superbug' mula direkodkan di seluruh dunia atau secara lebih spesifik di India, Pakistan dan United Kingdom," katanya dalam satu kenyataan.

Menurutnya, langkah pengawasan telah dimulakan di mana semua hospital di seluruh negara diarah menghantar sampel bakteria yang menunjukkan corak kerintangan tinggi terhadap kebanyakan antibiotik yang diuji, kepada kepada IMR, untuk ujian lanjut.

"Sehingga ini, tidak ada pesakit yang dijangkiti oleh 'superbug' tersebut yang dirawat di negara ini.

"Pihak IMR telah menyaring 18 isolat bakteria yang menunjukkan corak kerintangan yang tinggi dan hanya satu isolat yang positif terhadap gen NDM-1 yang dikesan di Malaysia.

"Isolat yang positif tersebut hanyalah merupakan 'colonizer' iaitu ia tidak menyebabkan penyakit dalam seseorang pengidap penyakit barah tetapi hanyalah pembawa.

"Ujian susulan terhadap sampel dari pengidap barah tersebut adalah negatif," tambahnya.

Liow berkata, kementerian kesihatan akan terus menjalankan pemantauan bagi mengesan awal dan mengambil langkah pencegahan bagi memastikan kejadian kes jangkitan bakteria ini, tidak merebak di Malaysia.

Yangtze River

River Name

Yangtze River, also spelled Yangtse River, Yangzi River and Yangtze Kiang, is derived from Yangzi Jiang listen (help·info), the local name for a stretch of the lower Yangtze near Yangzhou. “Yangzi” was the name of a village and site of an ancient ferry crossing, and Jiang is one of the Chinese names for river.[8] In the 13th century, the famous Song Dynasty official, Wen Tianxiang penned a poem entitled Yangzi Jiang. Later, Western missionaries heard the name and applied it to the entire river.

Chinese Names

The Chinese use distinct official names for different stretches of the river.
Chang Jiang (" Cháng Jiāng, lit. "Long River") is the name for the last 2,884km of the Yangtze from the confluence with the Min River (Sichuan) at Yibin to its mouth at Shanghai. In ancient times, this river was simply known as Jiang or the Da Jiang (the great river). Stretches of Chang Jiang have local names such as the Chuanjiang ( for the Sichuan portion of the river from Yibin to Yichang), Jingjiang ( for the Jingzhou section of the river) and Yangzi Jiang (near Yangzhou). The entire Chang Jiang is navigable and also known as the Golden Waterway.

Jinsha River or Gold Sands River (Jīnshā Jiāng, lit. "Golden Sands River") refers to 2,308km of the Yangtze upstream from Yibin to the confluence with the Batang River, near Yushu.
Tongtian River (lit. "river passing through heaven") refers to the 813km stretch of the Yangtze from Yushu upstream to the confluence of the Tuotuo River and Dangqu, which together forms the Tongtian.
Tuotuo River refers to the longest of the headwater streams of the Yangtze. It arises from glaciers south of the Geladandong Mountain in Qinghai and flows west for 343km where it meets with the Dangqu and forms the Tongtian.

Tibetan Names

The source and upper reaches of the Yangtze are located in ethnic Tibetan areas of Qinghai. In Tibetan, the headwater steams of the Tuotuo are called Naqinqu. The Tuotuo River is known in Tibetan as Maqu (Red River). Tuotuo is derived from the Mongolian name for the river, Tuoketuonaiwulanmulun (or the frothy red river). The Tongtian is known in Tibetan as the Drichu (Tibetan: འབྲི་ཆུ་ [9]; Wylie: 'bri chu, lit. "river of the female yak"). Dangqu

 another leading headwater stream of the Yangtze is Tibetan for "marsh river"
 

The Sutong Yangtze River Bridge, between Nantong and Suzhou, was one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world when it was completed in 2008.

The Yangtze River, or Chang Jiang is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for 6,300 kilometres (3,915 mi) from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the biggest rivers by discharge volume in the world. The Yangtze drains one-fifth of China's land area and its river basin is home to one-third of China's population.[5] Along with the Yellow River, the Yangtze is the most important river in the history, culture and economy of China. The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of China's GDP. The river is an important physical and cultural dividing line between North and South China. Chinese living north of the Yangtze speak varying dialects of Mandarin. Most of the provinces south of the river have native Sinitic languages that are unintelligible to Mandarin-speakers.

The Yangtze River flows through a diverse array of ecosystems and is itself habitat to several endemic and endangered species including the Yangtze River dolphin, Chinese alligator, and the Yangtze sturgeon. For thousands of years, man has used the river for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking and war. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world.[6][7] In recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, agricultural run-off, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some sections of the river are now protected as nature reserves. A stretch of the Yangtze flowing through deep gorges in western Yunnan is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Ever Mysterious Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle has been a topic of conversation and has generated much interest worldwide for over 100 years. Also known as the Devil’s Triangle, this imaginary area lies between the West Indies and the south eastern coast of USA and can be roughly outlined on a map. Within this area there have been a number of unexplained disappearances of ships and planes.

For many years, alien interception have been blamed for the strange events, which have caused the disappearance of 1000 lives along with their ships and planes as there appeared to be no other reasonable explanations. Today however, there are other explanations besides those of aliens with some saying accidents happen and while they have happened inside the imaginary triangle, so have they occurred outside of it. Today, there are still those who believe it has something to do with the paranormal.

During WWI in March 1918, the USS Cyclops vanished in the Bermuda Triangle which was recorded as a possible casualty of war, but when in December 1945, Flight 19 a training squadron of five US Navy torpedo bombers along with 14 crewmen disappeared after sending out several distress messages, this became the most notorious of disappearances associated with the Bermuda Triangle. The aircraft that was sent out to search for the missing squadron also vanished.

Very little details of these incidents were given out at the time of happening. For example, all the crew of Flight 19 were in training except for their patrol leader who had withdrawn from the flight due to feeling ill. The flight leader decided to navigate by landmarks below on the islands of the Florida Keys after his compass malfunctioned minutes into the flight. A sudden storm made visibility a problem causing the leader to become disorientated.  At this time, Flight 19 was still in radio contact with Fort Lauderdale air base, but after experiencing some mechanical problems, they failed to switch to an emergency frequency.

Recordings indicated that there were some conflicts about which direction they were heading with some of the crew believing they were heading over the Atlantic Ocean instead of the Gulf of Mexico as reported. The search plane that had been sent out was reported to have disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle along with Flight 19, in actual fact, it had exploded seconds after take off.

There have been many documented disappearances that have occurred in the Bermuda Triangle some of which are, a four engine Tudor IV airplane with all 31 aboard, a DC-3 carrying 27 passengers disappeared in 1948 a C-124 Globe master with 53 passengers in 1951, a British York transport plane disappeared 1952 with 33 people aboard, an American freighter the SS Sandra which sunk with a trace, a Lockheed Constellation aeroplane vanished in 1954 along with 42 people, a US Navy seaplane  in 1956 with a crew of 10 a French freighter in 1970  and a German freighter Anita lost in 1972 with a crew of 32.

The Mary Celeste disappeared in 1872, the Marine tank ship Sulphur Queen along with its 39 men disappeared in 1963 and in 1968 a nuclear powered submarine Scorpion with its crew of 99 was lost.

The Mary Celeste set sail from New York to Genoa, Italy and was found unmanned approximately 400 miles off course from the coast of Africa. All personal articles belonging to the crew were found and the food storage areas showed no signs that anything was wrong. A missing lifeboat and a torn sail suggested there had been a storm, but the ships log showed the last entry was nine days before it was found.   There was no mention of any trouble and no evidence that the Mary Celeste had ever entered the area of the Bermuda Triangle, but the questions of the fate of the Mary Celeste to this day remain unanswered.

Some of the theories as to why so many ships and planes have disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle are; the lost continent of Atlantis, Alien Interventions, time warps,  magnetic fields and holes in the sky.

Although there have been endless examinations and research into the disappearing crafts which have found that many of these incidents occurred during raging storms, story tellers and writers fail to mention this, stating the disappearances happened in calm weather and in daylight.

An area in the Pacific Ocean named the Devil’s Sea and the Bermuda Triangle are the only two places where a magnetic compass points true north.

Richard McIver a geochemist introduced his theory in 1981 of the role of methane gas hydrate plays in the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle. He wrote that to the North of the Bermuda Triangle huge landslides occur on the continental shelf which results in sludge and large stone falling rapidly to the sea bed and ultimately rupturing the sea floor which covers a layer of gas. Once the sea bed is ruptured the gas is released quickly as well as methane which causes a huge surge of gas erupting from the surface of the water without warning.  Any ships or planes crossing this area at this time will be in immediate trouble because the water and air no longer have the same density causing the vessels to sink rapidly.

Although this theory is more viable, people still prefer to believe in the more extraordinary like a porthole into another dimension, world or even outer space.

What ever you choose to believe in, you will probably be apprehensive when traveling in the area just incase there is some truth in the stories.

source: www.pattayadailynews.com

Apakah Fenomena ini?

Penemuan saintis Rusia tentang fenomena alam galaksi terbaru ini dikatakan telah menarik perhatian pelukis seluruh dunia untuk melahirkan kesan-kesan istimewa dalam karya mereka.  Salah satunya ialah gambar yang anda saksikan di bawah adalah hasil kerja johnny-PT dalam deviantART nya. Gambar yang cuba membayangkan kejadian letupan bintang yang digelar hipernova atau supernova diangkasa lepas.

 

Gambar di atas adalah hasil karya pelukis.

Di bawah adalah kejadian sebenar. 

Letupan Hipernova atau Supernova

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