Archive - 2009

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Marine biologists say the jellyfish numbers are rocketing because they need not die. Dr Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute said: "We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion."

The jellyfish are originally from the Caribbean but have spread all over the world. Found in warm tropical waters Turritopsis is believed to be spreading across the world as ships’ ballast water is discharged in ports.

Turritopsis Nutricula is technically known as a hydrozoan and is the only known animal that is capable of reverting completely to its younger self. It does this through the cell development process of transdiff- erentiation. Scientists believe the cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering it potentially immortal.

Though solitary, they are predatory creatures and evolve asexually from a polyp stage. While most members of the jellyfish family usually die after propagating, the Turritopsis nutricula has developed the unique ability to return to a polyp state.  read more »

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Family without a home
Sayed Abdul Karim, 80, sits with his 9-year-old granddaughter, Camina, left, on Feb. 8 in a camp for displaced Afghans three hours from their village in Galochi district, bombed in a recent U.S. military raid on militants in Laghman, Afghanistan. The military operation destroyed 270 homes, driving hundreds of families out of their villages.

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Photos courtesy of Paula Bronstein / Getty Images

Original Source: MSNBC

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Nepal became the world's newest republic in 2006, and in May 2008 ended the country's 240-year monarchy. However, the centuries-old Hindu-Buddhist tradition of worshipping a young virgin as the living embodiment of a powerful goddess has survived, and the Nepalese president now receives blessings from the girl - “living goddess”.

The three-year-old daughter of a Nepalese watch repairer became a "living goddess" after being approved by the country's new atheist government. Despite Nepal being a Maoist republic after the monarchy was unseated in May, the centuries-old tradition of worshipping a young virgin as the living embodiment of a powerful Hindu goddess has survived.  read more »

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Live rooftop concert shuts down part of Dundas Street
Re-enactment of The Beatles famous last concert together

Downtown London got back to 1969 over the noon hour as hundreds of fans cheered a band playing a re-creation of the Beatles' final public performance 40 years ago to the day. Led by London musician and Beatles expert Yuri Pool, the group played the songs in the same order, starting and finishing with versions of Get Back, the Beatles played in their legendary concert on the roof of Apple Records in London, England on Jan. 30, 1979. Hundreds of fans, standing in the cold, lined up 10 or 12 deep along a block of Dundas Street in downtown London.

How The Beatles Conquered America: the story of how the Beatles first became successful in America is a fascinating tale - filled with astonishing coincidences.

Friday January 10th 1964  read more »

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Gaza War has strained the relationship between Israel and Turkey, Israel’s closest Muslim ally. Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize Israel as a state, and it has built up more than $3 billion in annual trade with Israel, far more than for any other Middle Eastern country. “It’s not a business-as-usual relationship anymore,” said Cengiz Candar, a columnist for Radikal, a Turkish daily. “It’s a very uneasy sort of cohabitation in this region now.”

Israel’s Arab allies stood behind it in the war, but Turkey, a NATO member whose mediating efforts last year brought Israel into indirect talks with Syria, protested every step of the way in a month of angry remarks capped when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stalked off the stage during a debate in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 29.

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