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World's newest island
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The world's newest island, Niijima, keeps on growing, and is now eight times the size it was when it first emerged off the coast of Japan on 20 November. Having merged with its neighbouring uninhabited island, Nishino Shima - which sat 500 metres away in November - the pair bears an uncanny resemblance to Snoopy the cartoon dog.
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6336 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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This Island has More Sheep than Humans
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 The Falkland Islands is an archipelago (meaning a cluster of smaller islands) in the South Atlantic Ocean, 300 miles (483 kilometres) east of Argentina. The 700+ islands have a combined area of 4,700 square miles (12,000 square kilometers), with a population of approximately 4,500 people. The Islands economy is largely based on sheep farming, with an emphasis on high-quality wool exports. The current sheep population scattered throughout the land exceeds 500,000, which equates to roughly 111 sheep per person; per capita, that's 106 sheep per square mile (41.6 per square kilometer). Since the Islands are located north of Antarctica, sheep farming had to have been introduced at some point in history. Early settlers who were of British origin ...
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4081 |
bio_man |
4 years ago |
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This Chinese ghost town became one with nature
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An old fishing village on the island of Shengshan on the Yangtze River was abandoned for economic reasons, only to become one with nature. The island, a few hours east of Hangzhou Bay, is a stark contrast to the vibrant metropolitan skyline of nearby Shanghai - an image conjured up in many westerners' minds when imagining populous China. Some of the islands at the mouth of the Yangtze river are popular tourist destinations and have been described as a paradise for seafood lover, while others are inhabitable. The stunning scenery on Shengshan Island is the result of the houses and outbuildings being slowly consumed by nature. The seaside village now lies empty because it was more economical for the fishermen to move and work on the mainland ...
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2656 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
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The coconut crab
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The coconut crab (Birgus latro) is a species of terrestrial hermit crabs that's known for the largest land-living arthropod in the world, weighing up to 4.1 kg (9.0 lb). It is found on islands across the Indian Ocean and parts of the Pacific Ocean, mirroring the distribution of the coconut palm. Like other hermit crabs, juvenile coconut crabs use empty gastropod shells for protection, but the adults develop a tough exoskeleton on their abdomen and stop carrying a shell. Coconut crabs have evolved organs known as branchiostegal lungs, which are used instead of the vestigial gills for breathing. They cannot swim, and will drown if immersed in water for long. They have also developed an acute sense of smell, which has evolved convergently with ...
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1614 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
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New island forms in Pakistan after a major earthquake
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Barely half an hour after being jolted by a major earthquake on Tuesday, people of the Pakistani coastal town of Gwadar had another shock when they saw a new island emerge in the sea, just over a kilometre from the shore. It has a rough surface, much of which is muddy and some parts are mostly made up of fine- to coarse-grained sand. ...
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5295 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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