Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Lightning Striking Volcano (inspirational quotes)

The word "volcano" is used to refer to the opening from which molten rock and gas issue from Earth's interior onto the surface, and also to the cone, hill, or mountain built up around the opening by the eruptive products. This slide set depicts ash clouds, fire fountains, lava flows, spatter cones, glowing avalanches, and steam eruptions from 18 volcanoes in 13 countries. Volcano types include strato, cinder cone, basaltic shield, complex, and island-forming.

Galunggung, Indonesia;07.25 S 108.05 E;2,168 m elevation - This stratovolcano with a lava dome is located in western Java. Its first eruption in 1822 produced a 22-km-long mudflow that killed 4,000 people. The second eruption in 1894 caused extensive property loss. The photo depicts a spectacular view of lightning strikes during a third eruption on December 3, 1982, which resulted in 68 deaths. A fourth eruption occurred in 1984. Photo credit: R. Hadian, U.S. Geological Survey


The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) website is provided as a public service by the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS). Information presented on these web pages is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

This file is a work of R. Hadian, U.S. Geological Survey, taken or made during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the file is in the public domain.

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Lightning Strikeing Volcano by sookietex

This text is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF. Works published before 1923, are now in the public domain.

This image is also in the public domain in countries that figure copyright from the date of death of the artist (post mortem auctoris), in this case Plutarch (c. 46 – 120 AD), and that most commonly runs for a period of 50 to 70 years from the last day of that year. +sookie tex



Saturday, August 25, 2012

Cats playing Chess "White to Move"

THE origin of the cat has puzzled the learned, and the stock from whence it sprang is still, in the opinion of some, a mystery for the zoologist to solve.

Historians tell us that the feline race came into existence about the same time as the horse. Reference is made to the cat in Sanskrit writings over 2,000 years old, and still earlier records are found in the monumental figures, inscriptions, and cat mummies of ancient Egypt. These carefully-preserved relics of the past assist us in answering the question as to how this least tameable of animals became domesticated. There are many legends concerning Puss and the manner in which she first sprang into existence. A surprising account of he cat's creation is found in the works of an Arabian naturalist. It is as follows:

"When Noah made a couple of each kind of animal enter the Ark, his companions, as well as the members of his family, said to him, 'What security can there be for us and for the animals so long as the lion shall dwell with us in the same vessel?' The patriarch betook himself to prayer and entreated the Lord God. Immediately fever came down from Heaven and seized upon the king of beasts, so that tranquility of mind was restored to the inhabitants of the Ark. But there was in the vessel an enemy no less harmful—this was the mouse. The companions of Noah called his attention to the fact that it would be impossible for them to preserve their provisions and their clothes intact. After the patriarch had addressed renewed supplications to the Most High, the lion sneezed, and a cat ran out of his nostrils. From that time forth the mouse became so timid that it contracted the habit of hiding itself in holes."



"White to Move"( Photo: Mrs. S. F. Clarke. )

This image (or other media file) is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the United States, where Works published prior to 1978 were copyright protected for a maximum of 75 years. See Circular 1 "COPYRIGHT BASICS" PDF. Works published before 1923, in this case 1903, are now in the public domain. #Caturday

TEXT and IMAGE CREDIT: The Book of the Cat. Authors: Frances Simpson, Frances Simpson (Miss.) Publisher: Cassell and Company, limited, 1903. Original from: the University of Michiga. Digitized: May 22, 2008. Length: 380 pages. Subjects: Cats. Children's apperception test.