Animals have superpowers too

So far, superheroes are only fictional. But some of their powers already exist in the world, possessed by a whole range of strange species. Some creatures have even more amazing, surprising, weird, funny or disgusting powers than any superhero.

Sure, some animals can leap the equivalent of a tall building in a single bound. But others have ultra-strong faces, crazy loud voices, toxic blood, the ability to devour virtually anything, and indestructibility. Can you guess what the penis bug’s superpower is? Here are some of the less-celebrated but truly awesome animal superpowers.

Superpower: Heat Sensing
Pit vipers (several species, including Cryptelytrops albolabris, above)
Pit vipers, as well as some pythons and boas, can sense the body heat of their prey from several feet away. Small pit organs on the snakes’ faces detect infrared radiation, allowing them to create a thermal profile of, say, a nearby mouse.

Nerves connect the pit organs to the brain’s somatosensory system, which processes the sense of touch, suggesting that the snakes literally feel the heat. In 2010, scientists identified the heat-sensing receptor molecule. The human version of this receptor is thought to be responsible for the mild burn that comes with swigging carbonated drinks, as well as the stronger burn of wasabi.

Image: Thomas Brown/Flickr (viper)/David Julius lab, via Nature (mouse)

Superpower: Incredible Mimicry
Lyrebird (Menura)
The Australian lyrebird loves to sing songs to woo its mates. The male’s courtship display includes beautiful tunes that each individual creates, mixed in with a bunch of stolen sounds from its environment. Because they have the most complexly-muscled vocal chords of any songbird, lyrebirds can reproduce an insane variety of sounds both natural and artificial, including chainsaws, car engines, barking dogs, and human voices. If you ever get bitten by a radioactive lyrebird, you can probably expect a Top 40 pop career while moonlighting as a masked vigilante fighting crime with the power of voice.

Image: Fir0002/Flagstaffotos/Wikimedia

Superpower: Loud Lovesongs
Water Boatman, aka Singing Penis Bug (Micronecta scholtzi)
The loudest animal on Earth, relative to its body size, is the water boatman. Singing songs of love from its perch on a river bottom, a male boatman can be as loud as an orchestra.

Turns out, the sweet serenade comes from the bug’s penis.

Water boatmen “sing” by rubbing their penises along abdominal grooves, a process called stridulation. Their resulting melodies can reach 100 decibels and can be heard through the water by people walking along the riverbank.

Not bad for a bug the size of a grain of rice, eh?

Photo: Jerome Sueur

Superpower: Invisibility
Cuttlefish (Sepiida)
There’s nothing to see here. Nope.

In reality, the yellow thing in the photo above is a cuttlefish doing its best to impersonate an aquarium plant. Shapeshifting masters of camouflage, cuttlefish can rapidly blend in with the scenery to avoid predators. They can disguise themselves to look like just about anything aquatic, assuming a vast array of postures and colors — the latter being the result of pigment-containing sacs in their skin. A cuttlefish can control the size of the sac, called a chromatophore, and change color accordingly.

The end result is a spooky feat of invisibility that’s much more successful than James Bond’s car.

Image: Justine Allen, Marine Biological Laboratory

Superpower: HORROR
Hairy Frog (Trichobatrachus robustus)
When threatened, the hairy frog breaks its own bones, then pushes them through its skin to make claws. Kind of like Wolverine, except not quite.

Photo: Gustavocarra/WikiMedia

Superpower: Sneaky Stealth
Various animals
Though true invisibility remains the stuff of comics, many creatures have evolved the ability to sneak up on their prey with eerily silent stealth. Among the best known are owls, which can swoop down on field mice with nary a sound fluttering from their wings. Though no one knows exactly how the special shape of their wings and feathers eliminate aerodynamic noise, scientists are studying the ability to better mitigate loud aircraft sounds.

Another aerial predator, the Western Barbastelle bat, has also figured out how to remain invisible to the moths it eats: the creatures whisper their echolocation to avoid detection. The species’ echolocation pinging is 10 to 100 times lower in amplitude than their bat-cousins, preventing prey from being alerted to their presence. Underwater, the scariest thing to encounter (if you’re a tiny plankton) is the North American comb jelly. While these squishy ctenophores don’t seem formidable, they voraciously chow down on zooplankton. The comb jelly (below) uses tiny hairs inside its mouth to generate a gentle current that makes it hydrodynamically invisible to zooplankton, which remain completely oblivious until they are devoured.

Images: rayand/Flickr

Superpower: Iron Stomach
Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
Hyenas can eat pretty much anything. Their powerful jaws can crush bone, and they can consume up to a third of their body weight in meat in a single meal. Fresh kills, rotting corpses — it’s all good. They’ve even been known to consume anthrax-ridden cattle carcasses without ill effects. But even this super stomach has its kryptonite: Hyenas can’t digest hair, hooves, and horns. Those bits get barfed up in pellets.

Image: lydurs/Flickr

http://www.360celsius.com/uncategorized/animals-have-superpowers-too/

Now you can apply to start a Mars colony!

After this PR fiasco over at Reddit , where the community ripped into the founder for not being an engineer or scientist, and the whole thing being a scam. Like user MoonTouch said, “Can you provide any proof that you’re not running a hoax?”.

And what about that thread over on Slashdot where user DerekLyons stated “after reading their [laughable] ‘FAQ’, I’d expand that to “what are you smoking?’.”

There are certainly skeptics out there, but there is still a glimmer of hope for those that think this is a good idea.

With NASA backing down from long distance manned space flight and the private space sector heating up, it was only a matter of time that a concept like Mars One came about. Mars One is an idea that, though some think is crazy, could quite possibly work.

One of our sources from within the space industry stated “I think it’s a great idea, I really hope they can pull it off”. That’s pretty much everyone’s thoughts at this point. We all really want someone to set foot on Mars.

Mars One capsule landing on the Red Planet

SpaceX has proven that a private company can build a rocket and capsule that can dock with the International Space Station. They built their own rocket factory to accomplish it, therefore also building a rocket factory for anyone that will buy their services.
The Mars Curiosity Rover proved , without a shadow of doubt, that we can fly a mini cooper sized craft to Mars and land it safely. This is great news for a manned mission like that being proposed by Mars One. If they use similar technology to the rover landing, minus the cable dropping mechanism, it should work if all goes as planned.

Though it sounds like an awesome idea, the mission will be full of challenges. A manned mission to Mars is very expensive, Mars One estimates at least 6 billion dollars USD for the entire project. Industry sources think that estimate is too low and will end up costing somewhere around 15-20 billion USD once everything is said and done.

NASAs Mars Curiosity Rover.
Photo: NASA JPL

That being said, Bas and the good people over at Mars One seem to have figured out how to make money, they will sell advertising throughout every stage of the mission. A Pepsi logo on the side of the landing craft while the whole world watches, that’s awesome. You can’t pay enough for advertising like that. But the question is, will anyone actually pay for that?

Think for a second about NASCAR. It’s the same idea, people doing insanely death defying, some times stupid things. Large companies pay millions for a small sticker on the bumper of one of these cars. I’d assume they would do the pay more for a small logo on the astronauts jumpsuit or helmet.

Mars One Rover Concept.

It will be the most elaborate reality TV show of all time. The whole thing will be like The Real World in space with no way to get home. There will be no return shuttle, there’s no hope of escape if anything goes wrong. These people will live the rest of their lives on Mars as pioneers and will die heroes and explorers. Or they will self destruct on the way there and leave us with one of the most amazing reality TV show endings of all time. Either way, there’s advertising real estate to sell. The suspense is killing me and the show hasn’t even been produced yet.
We will all witness some of the bravest men and women from this planet leave everything behind, their loved ones, their kids, wives, husbands, home towns, and ultimately their home planet Earth to make a new life on an alien planet millions of miles away with no means of getting home. They will be pioneers that first step foot onto a planet we’ve dreamt about visiting for generations.

There are some logistical challenges to overcome. Mostly, in my opinion, getting qualified engineers and scientists to support such a brave new concept. The Mars Curiosity Rover used a staggering 2.5 million lines of C code. Finding the right people to do that and for it to all work flawlessly will be a monumental task. Not only to write the code, but to support it from the ground if something were to happen between here and Mars. Once they have the right people supporting the project and guaranteeing that it will be feasible I think the advertisers will come out of the woodwork, like a long lost relative when someone wins the lottery.

If they get the backing of reputable companies this venture would do amazing things and Mars One would certainly provide them an opportunity to do the most amazing engineering task of all time.
We haven’t heard anything for Bas Lansdorp and the Mars One crew in a little while. I’m sure they are doing their best to make this happen.

In 2023 the first humans will land on Mars according to Mars One.

If I were Mars One I’d take some cover until something concrete is announced. This was recently posted to their facebook page.

The world will be waiting to hear what’s next up for this interesting company and we will make sure to keep you all in the loop with the latest news.

Tell us what you think in the comments below.

http://www.360celsius.com/news-2/now-you-can-apply-to-start-a-mars-colony/

Stunning portraits of the world’s most powerful leaders

Platon is famous for getting big personalities to open up in front of his camera. He’s worked with many of the world’s most eccentric leaders — Putin, Gaddafi, Ahmadinejad — but always found a way to make a picture.

That’s why he didn’t stress when Mark Zuckerberg showed up for a recent portrait acting — as the Facebook founder has become known for — a bit awkward and nervous.

“He was very polite, but he was pacing the room like a wild animal put in a cage,” says Platon.

It took some coaxing, a little yelling and a promise from Platon that the strings on his sweatshirt would appear at an even length, for Zuck to eventually open up.

“He finally gave in for a few seconds and I caught something that was beautiful and elegant,” Platon says. “There is an openness to his soul that is not usually there.”

It’s a testament to the scope and quality of Platon‘s work that he has achieved single-name status in the photography world (his full name is Platon Antoniou). Even if you don’t recognize the name, you almost certainly know his work. His portraits of Putin, Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi have been on the cover of TIME magazine. In 2009 he photographed dozens of world leaders at the United Nations in a series called Portraits of Power that was published in The New Yorker magazine and also became the book Power. More recently he’s also turned his camera on those who’ve stood up to power. In 2010 The New Yorker published a striking portrait series of still-living civil rights leaders and he’s photographed human rights leaders across the world.

Now he’s captured many of tech’s biggest leaders for Wired’s 20th anniversary issue, out this month, of which Zuckerberg is one. His secret to working with powerful and important people, he says, is that he doesn’t pay attention to titles. It doesn’t matter if he’s photographing a president, the leader of the web’s biggest social media site or a random person on the street.

“It’s irrelevant to me who they are,” he says. “All that matters is if it’s a good picture or a bad picture. That’s all I care about.”

A good picture for him revolves around a moment. A glance, a breath. Something that peals back the façade and reveals the personality of the subject.

“Photography is just the technique, it’s the grammar, but it’s never the content,” he says.

Congressman Bobby Rush — a former Black Panther — was one of the people photographed for the Civil Rights series in The New Yorker. He told Wired that Platon’s ability to capture the humanity in all of his subjects is what he admires most.

“He is able to take the vicissitudes of our vast human experience and capture them in a single shot,” he says. “He creates a common language that we can identify with and respond to.”

Finding that moment and common language is harder with some people and easier with others. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, like Zuckerberg, put up a fight. Platon says Ballmer walked in and immediately tried to establish his authority.

“I told him, ‘Let’s get one thing straight. I’m not scared of you at all. I have no fear but I do admire you.’ As soon as I said those two things he was mine,” Platon says. “It was like doing a president. It was very familiar territory.”

The result is a compelling and uncharacteristic picture, with Ballmer facing sideways with his eyes closed. Many of the photos Platon made for the Wired portfolio show the tech leaders in poses and with expressions we’ve never seen.

Platon, who just turned 45, is not always fierce. He’s also very charming and can make conversation with anyone. There’s a famous story of him using a common love of the Beatles to break the ice with Putin, and in interviews and and speeches he’s articulate and prepared.

MaryAnne Golon was the Director of Photography at TIME who assigned the Putin portrait. She says she’s always admired Platon’s ability to work with people.

“He’s got an amazing presence and personality and he really is fantastic at putting people at ease,” she says.

Golon, who is now an Assistant Managing Editor and the Director of Photography at The Washington Post, says she remembers another TIME cover he shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Bloomberg together. Looking through his take she says the two leaders were stiff in the earlier photos but began to loosen up as time went on.

“They started to clown around which is what we were hoping for,” she says. “You could see that he was working his magic.”

Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of Reddit, told Wired it was fun to work with Platon and called him “effervescent.” He says he was humbled to be photographed and instead of fighting him wanted to do everything in is power to help Platon make a good picture.

“It really blew my mind when I realized that [people like President Obama] had been in the same position being photographed by the same photographer,” says Ohanian. “It was undoubtedly a moment of imposter syndrome.”

Not so for Platon. He says he sees Ohanian and the other tech leaders he photographed as on equal footing with any of the power brokers he’s ever photographed. At a time when people are using Facebook and Twitter to overthrow presidents, tech leaders have the potential to overshadow the traditional political elite.

“They have really empowered people with tools that hold our leaders accountable,” says Platon. “And that is an incredible revolution.”

http://www.360celsius.com/news-2/stunning-portraits-of-the-worlds-most-powerful-leaders/

Shapeways, the Etsy of 3D printing, raises $30M

The 3D printing movement is well under way — albeit with some hype built in — and Shapeways, a marketplace where people can design, create, and sell their own products, is leading the charge.

Shapeways, sometimes known as the Etsy for 3D printing, now has 10,000 “shop owners” — people who have designed products, from iPhone cases to jewelry and shoes, that they print out and sell via Shapeways. The New York-based company is building out its recently opened 3D printing factory in the Queens borough of New York City, where its printers are cranking out roughly 1,000 products a day. By the end of the year, co-founder and CEO Peter Weijmarshausen said that he expects to be printing products a rate of 2 million to 3 million a year.
“The Internet has made it easy for software entrepreneurs, and we’re enabling people to become product entrepreneurs,” Weijmarshausen said. “Anyone can launch a product company.”
It’s a vision that the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz says could help Shapeways become eBay-like in size, as more and more people with an idea and knack for design start selling their own wares.
Andreessen Horowitz is leading a $30 million investment round in Shapeways that was announced today. Shapeways is already backed by Union Square Ventures and Lux Capital, among others. As part of the investment, Andreessen Horowitz partner Chris Dixon, who co-founded Hunch and has invested in such startups as Pinterest and Kickstarter, is joining Shapeways’ board.
“Think about what the Internet has done to reduce costs,” Dixon said, referring to publishing and e-commerce. “Up until now, physical goods has resisted that trend. That’s one of the exciting things about Shapeways and 3D printing in general. You can create thing that even only a few might buy and it’s economically viable.”
There are limitations, of course. For now, 3D printers still can only print one material at a time, although printers are now able to make products using all sorts of materials — from plastics and steel to ceramics. Parts for aircrafts and cars are now made with 3D printers, and the technology is improving as costs keep coming down.
“Our plan is to build more factories and overcome tech challenges, to make it as easy as possible for anyone,” said Weijmarshausen. “The key problem is making it really easy, fun and affordable.”

(Credit: Shapeways)

http://www.360celsius.com/news-2/shapeways-the-etsy-of-3d-printing-raises-30m/

3 Years Of The Sun In 3 Minutes

We all deserve a break from the past week’s news. This NASA video could be just the right thing.

According to the space agency, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) “captures a shot of the sun every 12 seconds in 10 different wavelengths.” The video features images from the past three years, “at a pace of two images per day.”

NASA adds:

“There are several noteworthy events that appear briefly in this video. They include the two partial eclipses of the sun by the moon, two roll maneuvers [by the observatory, as it changes position], the largest flare of this solar cycle, comet Lovejoy, and the transit of Venus. The specific time for each event is listed below, but a sharp-eyed observer may see some while the video is playing.

— “00:30;24 Partial eclipse by the moon

— “00:31;16 Roll maneuver

— “01:11;02 August 9, 2011 X6.9 Flare, currently the largest of this solar cycle

— “01:28;07 Comet Lovejoy, December 15, 2011

— “01:42;29 Roll Maneuver

— “01:51;07 Transit of Venus, June 5, 2012

— “02:28;13 Partial eclipse by the moon” 

This is a composite of 25 separate images spanning the period from April 16, 2012, to April 15, 2013. In a video, NASA has also collected three years’ worth of such images and set them in a new video. NASA/SDO/AIA/S

http://www.360celsius.com/news-2/3-years-of-the-sun-in-3-minutes/

Grieving Dolphine Carries Dead Calf Around for Days

Whale watchers aboard Captain Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Watching Safari had an unexpected and heartbreaking encounter with a pod of bottlenose dolphins yesterday. A deceased dolphin calf was being carried by an adult bottlenose dolphin on its back.

“I believe this calf has been dead for many days, possibly weeks,” explains Capt. Dave Anderson, “you can see the flesh is decaying. In my nearly twenty years on the water whale watching I have never seen this behavior. Nor have I ever seen anything quite as moving as this mother who refuses to let go of her poor calf.”

This video sends a powerful message about how much a dolphin can care. It is a window into a dolphins heart. This animal is laboring under the strain of carrying this dead animal on its back day and night is probably keeping it near the surface so the departed dolphin can breathe. We can assume this because dolphins do not normally swim with their dorsal fins sticking out of the water continuously like this bottlenose did. We can only imagine what happened; over half of all bottlenose calves die from disease and predators before their second birthday, and since we know that the family unit in dolphin pods is the mother and calf, this is almost certainly a mother and calf pair. Did mom start off helping her weak, sick offspring swim to the surface to breathe for days till the tiny dolphin died? When will she give up on her calf? Will she continue carrying her deceased on her back until the carcass begins to disintegrate? This poor grieving mother dolphin takes us, without words, to a place where as one of our passengers said in the video “humans and dolphins are not so different.”

The pair were surrounded by other dolphins, almost as if they were being protected, during this profoundly sad time. The dolphin was seen an hour later by another boat still carrying the calf.

Scientists estimate that 308,000 dolphins and whales die every year worldwide because of fishing gear entanglement. Captain Dave organized Orange County’s first whale disentanglement group in 2008 and has successfully disentangled several gray whales, including Lily, whose disentanglement made national headlines. Capt. Dave authored the award winning book, “Lily, A Gray Whale’s Odyssey”, a magnificent photographic journey of a gray whale’s migration. For more information visit http://www.dolphinsafari.com

All audio and video footage is copyright David Anderson/DolphinSafari.com and may not be used without permission

http://www.360celsius.com/news-2/grieving-dolphine-carries-dead-calf-around-for-days/

Alfred Dunhill

The bags that Alfred Dunhill produce are always the result of time honoured craftsmanship and elegance . New to the Spring Summer 2013 large leather range is the Saltaire collection.

Only the finest materials are used to create the best in modern luxury and this can be seen from the use of both a khaki green wool rich canvas and the natural tan leather which has been applied to the piping and trims. The soft, unstructured, lightweight bags allow for a new aesthetic for the brand, they are more casual and relaxed, yet still functional and luxurious.

Comprising of four styles – the 24 hour bag, perfect for overnight trips; the slim holdall ideal for the weekend; the utility bag which can be used as a functional every style and the double document case for day-to-day business – the range is appropriately named after the village close to where
David Hockney was born, someone whose work has inspired the brand’s Spring Summer 2013 collections.

http://www.360celsius.com/news-2/alfred-dunhill/