Himalayas were born 47 mn years ago

Sydney/Washington: An international team of scientists has discovered the first oceanic microplate in the Indian Ocean— identifying when the initial collision between India and Eurasia occurred leading to the birth of the Himalayas. The team of Australian and US scientists believe the collision occurred 47 million years ago when India and Eurasia initially smashed into each other. Although there are at least seven microplates known in the Pacific Ocean, this is the first ancient Indian Ocean microplate to be discovered. "The age of the largest continental collision on Earth has long been controversial. Knowing this age is particularly important for understanding the link between the growth of mountain belts and major climate change," said lead author Dr Kara Matthews from University of Sydney's school of geosciences. Radar beam images from an orbiting satellite have helped put together pieces of this plate tectonic jigsaw and pinpointed the age for the collision, whose precise date has divided scientists for decades. The new research shows that 50 million years ago, India was travelling northwards at speeds of some 15 cm a year — close to the plate tectonic speed limit. Soon after, it slammed into Eurasia crustal stresses along the mid-ocean ridge between India and Antarctica intensified to breaking point. The crustal stresses...
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Venus flytrap

. The Venus flytrap (also Venus's flytrap or Venus' flytrap), Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids— with a trapping structure formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces. When an insect or spider crawling along the leaves contacts a hair, the trap closes if a different hair is contacted within twenty seconds of the first strike. The requirement of redundant triggering in this mechanism serves as a safeguard against a waste of energy in trapping objects with no nutritional value. Dionaea is a monotypic genus closely related to the waterwheel plant and sundews, all of which belong to the family Droseraceae. Description: The Venus flytrap is a small plant whose structure can be described as a rosette of four to seven leaves, which arise from a short subterranean stem that is actually a bulb-like object. Each stem reaches a maximum size of about three to ten centimeters, depending on the time of year, longer leaves with robust traps are usually formed after flowering. Flytraps that have more than 7 leaves are colonies formed by rosettes that have divided beneath the ground. Illustration from Curtis's Botanical...
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The Legend of Man eating tree of Madagaskar

. In 1881 a magazine called the South Australian Register ran a story by a traveler called Carle Liche. He tells us that while travelling through Madagascar, he was horrified to watch the native Mdoko tribe sacrifice a woman to a man-eating tree. He stated that the , a young girls is forced to drink the liquid from the tree. Then she is compelled to get up into the middle of the tree. The leaves raise slowly and completely hide the girl. The tree's tendrils took the woman by the neck and strangled her, before apparently engulfing the body. As her screams fade, the leaves rise until she is visible no more. Upon returning to the site ten days later, Liche finds nothing but a grinning skull within the plants’ now-lowered leaves. The story of the Man-Eating Tree of Madagascar is one of the great tall tales of the colonial era. It first appeared in the South Australian Registar, apparently having been written by Liche himself. It was repeated in several books thereafter. In central America, reports of a similar tree called the Ya-Te-Veo appeared around 1887.In his 1924 book "Madagascar, land of the man-eating tree" former Michigan Governor Chase Osborn recounted Liche's tale, and mentioned that missionaries and locals in Madagascar all knew of the deadly tree. The tree, is described as similar to a colossal pineapple. It is about...
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Top 9 Most Dangerous Birds

When you think about birds, you probably think of small, cute animals flying through the air, swooping down to reach their nest. Maybe you think of those “pretty” song birds in the morning. I, personally find them annoying. In any case, the image of a bird generally doesn’t produce anything terrifying. However, not all birds are cute, and not all of them are nice, so to speak. There are hundreds of birds that could attack a human, and do a lot of damage. Here is a list of nine most dangerous bird. . Cassowary 1. Cassowaries Cassowaries, an endangered species, are large, flightless birds that live in the rainforests, woodlands and swamps of Australia. Cassowaries are unpredictable, aggressive and are known to kick up their large, clawed feet. Their kicks are capable of breaking bones, and their claws have been likened to daggers. . Ostrich 2. Ostriches:  Ostriches are suspicious, skittish and can be dangerous. They're the largest living bird (they can reach over 9 feet tall and 350 pounds) and they can outrun you (a steady 30 miles an hour for 10 miles straight). Like the cassowary, they have strong legs (their kick can kill a hyena) and sharp claws. .. Canada-Goose 3. Canada Geese: Canada geese are very aggressive and, particularly if you (purposely or inadvertently) come...
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Tendulkar bats for green energy

Gurgaon, July 26, (IANS) Legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar Friday advised his fans not to waste natural resources and double up efforts to save the environment. Tendulkar was in the city to launch Toshiba's environment conservation initiative 'Bat for the Planet'. "We should save our natural resources by taking small steps on our behalf because the change cannot happen overnight. As we keep ourselves healthy, we should keep our earth healthy. In the dressing room after a good performance on the field, we are asked to double up the good performance likewise we should double up our efforts to save environment," Tendulkar said. The master blaster distributed prizes to the winners of a painting competition, which had a theme based on various environmental issues, for children from 40 different schools. "The kids are very creative and aware of the energy problem. We will raise money for under privileged children by auctioning the painting," Tendulkar said. Source: News Track India, Image: flickr.co...
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