The new home of the hippopotamus

They were once found in sub-Saharan Africa.  But with the evolution of time, as human traffic increased, they started to be hunted by hunters and people started living in their areas.

Ooty is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu

Ooty Or Ootacamund Is The Capital Of The Nilgiris District. It Is One Of The Most Famous Hill Stations In India. The Place Lies At An Altitude Of 2,240 Meters Above Sea Level. The Blue Smoky Mist, The Eucalyptus Forests And The Rare Kurunji Flower Are The Special Features Of Ooty

Days needed to visit: 1 or 2 days.

Botanical Gardens
Government Rose Gardens
Doddabetta Peak
Tea Factory
Ooty Lake
Avalanche Lake
Pykara River
Mudumalai National Park
Emerald Lake

Photo of the Nubra Valley, Ladakh

To get to Nubra Valley, you will have to pass through Khardung La, the iconic mountain pass that’s on every motorcycle enthusiast’s wish list. Here you have the opportunity to be on one of the highest motorable passes in the world. Check out Nubra Valley for its sand dunes, Bactrian camels, and monasteries.

Birds of the New Zealand Moa Bird

New Zealand's giant flightless bird

New Zealand’s largest birds probably became extinct within one hundred years of humans first arriving in New Zealand, around 1300 A.D.. However, there were unsubstantiated sightings of moa by whalers and sealers into the 18th and even 19th centuries. Moa were a family of eleven species of flightless birds that were only found within New Zealand. The largest species grew up to 3.7 m (12 ft) tall and weight up to 230 kg (510 lb) – no wonder they were hunted by Maori! They were the only wingless birds known to have existed – even their cousin the flightless kiwi still has little vestigial wings hidden under its feathers. Prior to their extinction, they were the dominant plant-eater in New Zealand’s forests and only had one predator, Haast’s Eagle; the largest eagle ever known to exist and also the victim of extinction following the demise of the moa to hunting by Maori.



Photo by Sciencemag.org

Kiwi were long regarded as the closest relative to the moa, but recent studies suggest that either the Australia emu and cassowary or tinamous birds from South America are likely the closest cousins. Female moa grew considerably larger than their mates and weighed almost three times as much, in some cases. Although most images of reconstructed moa skeletons or artists’ impressions of the birds show them standing upright, it is likely that they actually moved along with their head out in front, just like a kiwi does. Despite almost always being portrayed as giants, some species of Moa were actually significantly smaller, much shorter than the height of a person, and some possibly as small as chickens!

Of course, completely lacking wings the question has been asked “how did the moa get to the islands of New Zealand”. It’s thought most likely that moa were already roaming New Zealand prior to it breaking away from the super-continent of Gondwana about 80 million year ago.

Many moa bones, eggs (including over 30 whole eggs), feathers, dehydrated skin and nesting materials have been found from a number of caves and other locations around New Zealand, in particular from the dry Central Otago region.

The Newt Gingrich: There are dinosaurs (real ones) outside your window : just look

Look outside your window and you will probably see dinosaurs. They are flying, hopping, chirping and perching on trees. You call them birds, but they are dinosaurs.

Look at the nearly complete Cinderella Castle color scheme from inside the Magic Kingdom

First look at the nearly complete Cinderella Castle color scheme from inside the Magic Kingdom

Despite the construction shutdown as a result of COVID-19, the re-imagining of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom resumed a few weeks ago, and here is a look at the latest progress.

Jul 07, 2020 in "Cinderella Castle"

PHOTOS: Take a Look Inside the NEW “Building a Dream

With the Castle of Magical Dreams finally complete and open to the public at Hong Kong Disneyland, the park has also opened a special exhibition dedicated to the construction process behind the first re-imagining of a Disney Park castle! The exhibition is designed to take Guests on a full journey of Walt Disney Imagineering’s process behind the design and construction of the castle. The exhibition is divided in to four areas, which we will take you through!

The Book of Why The New Science of Cause and Effect

The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect [Paperback] Pearl, Judea and Mackenzie, Dana

Correlation does not imply causation.' This mantra was invoked by scientists for decades in order to avoid taking positions as to whether one thing caused another, such as smoking and cancer and carbon dioxide and global warming. But today, that taboo is dead. The causal revolution, sparked by world-renowned computer scientist Judea Pearl and his colleagues, has cut through a century of confusion and placed cause and effect on a firm scientific basis. Now, Pearl and Science journalist Dana Mackenzie explain causal thinking to General readers for the first time, showing how it allows us to explore the world that is and the worlds that could have been. It is the essence of human and artificial intelligence. And just as pearl's discoveries have enabled machines to think better, the book of why explains how we can think better.

The secret history of Curious George and his escape from the Nazis

The curious little monkey always got into trouble and ended up OK; his creators needed a little of his luck.

Burning Match Anticipates the New Day

Perception of truth starts like a burning matchstick in a windy night.  
 
The apprentice lights it in a most careful way, and the match goes out. The apprentice lights another match and the wind blows it out. The student goes on trying until he sees the box of matches is empty.  By this time, due to an apparent coincidence, a lighted lamp emerges out of nothing, ready to be used by the pilgrim.
 
The lamp then enlightens uncomfortable things.  “Should I put the light out?”, the student questions himself, and yet he perseveres. The light gets stronger: it shows beautiful, higher things and ugly aspects of life as well. 
 
As the pilgrim learns to bear truth, he suspects he is surrounded by blind men. He is tempted to make believe he is blind, too, so that he can remain in touch with the consensually established delusions. He is afraid of the solitude if he follows truth. Yet he is losing his ability to support established collective falsehoods.  As he stops struggling against the feeling of solitude, he sees other people in the same situation. Mutual help starts: the light of one adds to the light of another. 
 
The awakening gets deeper and the challenges are not small. He sees that the key to victory lies in keeping the central focus of consciousness on the ideal of right action. Secondarily he examines with rigor and severity anything that is not correct. When the pilgrim finally notices his lamp is running out of fuel, he looks to the East and, below the radiance of Venus, the morning star, he sees the unlimited light of a new day is arriving in time.