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The cost of water in the Middle East
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If you live in North America, you've probably never given the cost of water a second thought. In fact, you've probably taken its value for granted probably because it costs very little or because it's vastly abundant. In places like Saudi Arabia, however, a liter of water costs five times as much as a liter of gasoline. This is because much of the water in Saudi Arabia is seawater that is purified in desalinization plants ( Al Jubail desalination plant shown above). This price relative to fuel is quite different in the United States. For example, a liter of water (from a tap) is virtually free, while a liter of gasoline is around $0.75 (about $3.00 per gallon). As a result of this significant difference in cost, it plays a major effect on hu ...
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1223 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
A Chinese mystery, can you guess what these are?
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The photo shown below was taken at a market in Shanghai, China. Can you guess what they are?If you guessed, water caltrop 菱, you're right! Water caltrops ( Trapa natans) are the seeds of a floating annual aquatic plant that's native to warm temperate parts of Eurasia and Africa. The plant grows in slow-moving water up to 5 m deep, and bear an ornately shaped fruit that resembles the head of a bull or the silhouette of a flying bat. Each fruit contains a single very large, starchy seed. T. natans and T. bicornis have been cultivated in China and the Indian subcontinent for at least 3,000 years for the edible seeds that are used in pastries, served steamed or boiled from street vendors, and even as a remedy for inebriation. ...
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15208 |
bio_man |
7 years ago |
8 glasses of water a day might be excessive
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A new study that's challenging the popular idea that we should drink eight glasses of water a day for health purposes shows that a 'swallowing inhibition' is activated by the brain after excess liquid is consumed. This inhibition mechanism helps maintain tightly calibrated volumes of water in the body. The lead scientist has pointed out that if we just do what our body demands us to, we'll probably get it right. In other words, it is the best practice to just drink according to thirst rather than an elaborate schedule. Building on a previous study, the researchers asked participants to rate the amount of effort required to swallow water under two conditions; following exercise when they were thirsty and later after they were persuaded to drin ...
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12179 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
What do elephants and fish have in common?
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Nothing, except for this fish, appropriately named the elephantnose fish ( Gnathonemus petersii) for its peculiar, elongated spout. The fish is widespread in the flowing waters of West Africa and hunts insect larva at dawn and dusk. Its nose is actually a sensitive extension of its mouth, that it uses for self-defense, communication, navigation, and finding worms and insects to eat. This organ is covered in electroreceptors, as is much of the rest of its body. The elephantnose uses a weak electric field, which it generates with specialized cells called electrocytes, which evolved from muscle cells, to find food, to navigate in dark or turbid waters, and to find a mate. The elephantnose fish live to about 6 to 10 years. ...
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5495 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
Check out the footage of this tricky plant
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To tap into scarce water supplies, most desert plants have extensive root systems that burrow deep or spread wide. But one desert moss has a different trick up its sleeve: a thirst-quenching structure called an awn. Awns are tiny, hairlike structures that project from the end of each leaf to capture water (above). For the first time, scientists have examined in detail how this moss ( Syntrichia caninervis) pulls water right from the air using its awns. At the smallest scale, the awns are covered with grooves about 100 nanometers deep and 200 nanometers wide, the perfect size for dew to condense within them when conditions are right. Those nanogrooves lie within larger troughs that measure about 1.5 micrometers deep and 3 micrometers wide, a ...
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4082 |
duddy |
7 years ago |
Surfing spider discovered
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The creature you see above is a spider that can actually surf on top of waves and hunt for a wide variety of animals including not only insects but also fish and toads. Dubbed the Dolomedes briangreenei, this species of spider floats on top of water and senses vibrations below to detect potential prey. The spider can even submerge itself underwater for up to an hour to hunt down prey, which makes it doubly frightening for any creatures caught in its path. The largest animals that the spider has been known to eat are cane toads, which can measure up to nine inches in length. For comparison, the D. briangreenei is about the size of a human palm. ...
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21337 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Nature's scuba divers
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Some bugs, such as water scorpions, long-toed water beetle and predaceous diving beetles (shown below) use the molecular properties of water to create miniature scuba diving tanks and spacesuits. The cohesive forces between water molecules essentially makes water molecules "stick" together, allowing bubbles to form against a wall of tension. These little insects are small enough to take advantage of this, by trapping a bubble in their outer wings or tiny bristles on their shell. ...
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8024 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
What some fish will do to survive
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Shallow waters will sometimes get too hot, forcing one fish to make a break for the shore. The tiny mangrove rivulus (shown above) avoids neurological damage from hot swamps by escaping to land. Retreating to land allows the fish to cool down through a process called evaporative cooling, which is akin to human sweating but using water from the environment. Previously, scientists had suggested that the fish, besides simply escaping hot water, might be taking advantage of evaporative cooling. Source: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/10/20150689 ...
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20464 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
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9181 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Definitive proof of water found on Mars
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Since its discovery in 2010, researchers have been trying to solve the mystery of dark streaks that appear and disappear seasonally on the planet's surface (shown above). Scientists are now claiming that this phenomenon, known as the recurring slope lineae, is caused by a bath of saltwater. What is still unknown, however, is where the water is coming from, or if the chemistry is even right for supporting life.
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19306 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Nearly every seabird may be eating plastic by 2050
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There’s so much trash floating in some parts of the ocean that each square kilometer of surface water there holds almost 600,000 pieces of debris. Indeed, because there's so much of it, by 2050 birds of almost every ocean-foraging species may be eating plastic.
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30677 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Did you know that a rat's ribs are hinged at the spine
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It's true, and this enables them to easily squeeze through the tightest spaces - like the pipes draining your toilet. And rats are great swimmers too; they can hold their breath for up to three minutes and swim non-stop for more than 48 hours! For more information, watch the video. ...
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13513 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
Coolest elevator ride ever
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The AquaDom is a 25 m (82 ft) tall cylindrical acrylic glass aquarium built at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Berlin, Germany. You can ride the transparent elevator it has in the center!
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4206 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
An alien-looking dolphin species
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Meet the Irrawaddy dolphin ( Orcaella brevirostris), a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin found in discontinuous subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. Genetically, the Irrawaddy dolphin is closely related to the killer whale (orca). As evident in the collage, its forehead is high and rounded, and unlike most dolphins, the beak is lacking, giving it a you know what appearance - don't get any funny ideas now! ...
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5792 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
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1850 |
ehd123 |
8 years ago |
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