Giant Weta - The World's Largest Insect

If you want to study one of these strange organisms, you had better have a good justification. It's not good to study gene organisation in some obscure insect that no one's ever heard about.
~Thomas R. Cech

Giant wetas are the largest insect species in the world. A couple of days ago, the largest ever giant weta was found and photographed on Little Barrier Island in New Zealand, the only known place where giant wetas still live. This particular giant weta weighs 71g (about 2.5 oz) - about as much as three mice and more than a sparrow.

Some giant weta facts:

• Giant wetas average 6" length and have  a 7" wingspan.
• They cannot fly.  
• Their antennae are usually twice their body length 
• They are nocturnal.
• The giant weta species has existed for 190 million years and has remained mostly unchanged in appearance.
• Giant weta are an endangered species.
• The Maori name for giant weta is wetapunga or "god of the ugly things."

Giant wetas are slow moving creatures and eat mainly the leaves of the trees they live in. They cannot fly or jump, or bite and rely on a heavy exoskeleton and stealth for defense. They can also make a hissing sound when disturbed.

They have a long life cycle for an insect, taking 18 months to reach maturity and living 6 months beyond that. They mate close to the end of their lifecycle. Giant weta eggs are laid in the soil - the female must leave the tree to lay them. The nymphs will moult 10 times before reaching adulthood.

Giant wetas thrived all across New Zealand before the arrival of humans and the mammals they brought with them. Polynesian rats in particular became predators of giant wetas. Between being eaten by rats and deforestation, the habitat of the giant weta has greatly decreased. This has earned them endangered status and there are conservation efforts being made to save the giant weta.

Note: I showed this story and picture to my kids, now they want a giant weta for christmas!

Something else I learned:Some people do not freak out when they are holding an insect the size of a rat in their hand.

Bolon Yaxche Mayan God: Guardian of the Dark Rift in the Galactic Centre

...people hear about the so-called end date of the Mayan calendar, and today some people have even created the illusion that the Mayan calendar was designed only to point out this end date. In reality, there is nothing to indicate that the ancient Maya who developed the Long Count calendar had any interest in what would happen as this calendar came to an end. Instead what the ancient Mayan scriptures talk about is its beginning. The exact date for this beginning was apparently based on the day of the year, August 11, when the sun was in zenith in Izapa...
~Carl Johan Calleman 

The Mayan Calendar is mythologized through varied interpretations that extend well beyond the popular "the world will end in 2012." Maybe not, as it turns out (I hope so though, because my sister has an awesome party planned!). According to Sven Gronemeyer (a "German expert") the inscriptions on the Mayan calendar actually describe the return of Bolon Yokte The Mayan Lord of Creation. Read article

"The Mayan calendar marks the end of a 5,126 year old cycle around December 12, 2012 which should bring the return of Bolon Yokte, a Mayan god associated with war and creation."
~Mayan experts

According to Mayan religion:
August of 3114 BC was the start of a new age and when the creation Lord was reborn.  Bolon Yokte K’u, is closely associated with war, conflict, the underworld and is a god that is often present during Creation events. His image and the date 3114 BC appear on the Vessel of the Seven Lords. 3114 BC is the beginning of the 13-Baktun cycle we are currently in. The beginning of the next 13- Baktun cycle occurs on December 21, 2012, the so-called end of the Mayan Calendar.

Bolon Yokte as depicted on the Vessel of the Seven Lords:

Legible text, according to recent translations by David Stuart, reads: “At the end of 13 Baktuns, on 4 Ahau 3 Kankin, 13.0.0.0.0; something occurs when Bolon Yokte descends.”  The occurring "something" is illegible. However, the creation lord Bolon Yokte is depicted. So 2012, most popularly thought of as the end of the world, is more likely to be a creation or recreation of the world.

Bolon is the name given to the nine gods of the underworld, and Yaxche (Yokte) is the Mayan sacred tree of heaven "under which good souls rejoice." Bolon Yokte is also referred to as the Mayan God of Judgement and the Diety Attending the World renewal. Bolon Yaxche is a mysterious god to many researchers of the Mayan religion and calendar. Not sure where the "Guardian of the Dark Rift in the Galactic Centre" came from, but I think every religion should have one.

Note: The calendar and other artifacts left by the Mayans have been subjected to westernized misinterpretations. I don't think the world will end in 2012. Do you?

Something else I learned: There seem to be a lot of people taking this "world ends on December 21, 2012" very seriously.

Neti Pot

Today I learned what a Neti Pot is. That is all I have to say about that.

Turning in Found Money - Who Does It?

Fort Collins police are honoring three teenage girls who turned in more than $1,100 in stolen cash they found in a field near their homes.
~Denver News

A google search for "Turning in Found Money" yields results similar to the above story and also links to the "What if you found $5K in a wallet with no identification in a parking lot?" type of question. There are no news headlines about teens being honored for finding $35 and turning it in. Nor does anyone seem to ask "If you found $13 in a wallet with no identification what would you do?"

Honor and ethics/morality it seems, are defined by the amount of $ in question. That does not make sense to me. 3 teenage girls are cited as deserving honor for doing the right thing. I am glad they did the right thing. I am sorry that it is newsworthy as it implies that most people would NOT do the right thing. Would they be in the news if they found a $20 bill and managed to track down the struggling mother of 3 that really needed that money to buy gas to get to work all week? That seems as newsworthy as any story about finding money. I have not read that story in the news. Have you?

Most people, it seems would keep the $20 and chalk it up to good luck. Yet it's possible that they could be helping someone far more by reuniting them with $20 than the "over $1k" that we base the newsworthy honors on. 

Many companies require prospective employees to take pre-employment tests. On such tests you will be asked questions like "If you found $20 in the parking lot when you were rounding up carts, you would:" and there is a multiple choice selection. Out of 4 choices, 2 are reasonable choices: a) would pocket the cash, or b) would turn the cash in to my superviser. c) and d) are variations of the same.

What is the correct answer? Most people, in any number of surveys, say they would pocket the cash. A job applicant wants to answer correctly. The question seems to set you up as a thief or a liar. There is no guide to answering pre-employment test questions readily available on line.

Note: If I find a penny, I pick it up and keep it. A stray penny is good luck.

Something else I learned: Most people do not find $53k in a wallet lacking identification in random parking lots,

Poetry Again - Arthur Henry Hallam "Written at Caudebec in Normandy"

WHEN life is crazy in my limbs,
And hope is gone astray,
And in my soul’s December fade
The love-thoughts of its May,
One spot of earth is left to me
Will warm my heart again:
’T is Caudebec and Mailleraie
On the pleasant banks of Seine.

The dark wood’s crownal on the hill,
The river curving bright,
The graceful barks that rest or play,
Pure creatures of delight,—
O, these are shows by nature given
To warm old hearts again,
At Caudebec and Mailleraie
On the pleasant banks of Seine.

The Tuscan’s land, I loved it well,
And the Switzer’s clime of snow,
And many a bliss me there befell
I nevermore can know:
But for quiet joy of nature’s own
To warm the heart again,
Give me Caudebec and Mailleraie
On the pleasant banks of Seine.
~Arthur Henry Hallam

Poet Arthur Henry Hallam (1811-1833) was a central figure in a group of intellectuals known as the Cambridge Apostles, a (now famous) secret society. Alfred Tennyson was a member of the same group. Hallam died suddenly at the age of 23 and was the subject of Tennyson’s poem In Memoriam." Hallam is thus remembered mainly as a footnote to Tennyson, but left a substantial amount of his own poetry.

The above poem caught my eye because of the title "Written at Caudebec in Normandy." Caudebec is a family name (although my ancestors have not actually been traced to the village of Caudebec). I like the poem too.
"But for quiet joy of nature’s own
To warm the heart again,"
It makes me wish to visit there. 

Note: I am going to learn more about the Cambridge Apostles.

Something else I learned: Tennyson named his son Hallam.

The Cactus Classification Controversy

People trample over flowers, yet only to embrace a cactus.
~James Joyce

There are 2000 different types of cacti categorized. There is no consensus on the correct way to classify them. Cacti vary greatly in appearance and behavior. It is common to refer to any succulent plant as a cactus, but that is not correct. While all cacti are succulent, not all succulent plants are cacti.

All the cacti belong to the Cactaceae plant family. There are certain characteristics used to group these plants. Features unique to cacti are fleshy stems that perform the functions of leaves, and the spines which are believed to be leaves modified to protect. The occurrence of photosynthesis in the stem, not leaves also differentiates cacti from other plants. Another defining characteristic of cacti is that they produce aereoles. The areolas can appear in different places on the cactus, depending on the specie. Aereoles are composed of two connected perpendicular buds from which new arms, flowers or spikes grow.

Cactus plants were classified amateurs and professionals alike until around 1984 when the International Cactaceae Systematics Group (ICSG) began to attempt a standardization of cacti classification.  The group published a (now out-of-print) book: The New Cactus Lexicon, Volumes I and II: Descriptions and Illustrations of the Cactus Family (Major new handbook on cacti, looks set to become the standard reference for all naturalists and scientists with an interest in the Cactaceae), and as far as I can tell, has never been heard from again.

The process of classifying cacti remains an inexact science. Cacti are plentiful, varied, interesting and often beautiful to behold. That is not disputed.

Note: This much is established: Cactus is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Caryophyllales, family Cactaceae

Something else I learned: All cacti originated in the Americas except Rhipsalis baccifera which is native to Madascar.

Mt Baker in Washington State - The Snowiest Place on Earth

And so we remained till the red of the dawn began to fall through the snow gloom. I was desolate and afraid, and full of woe and terror. But when that beautiful sun began to climb the horizon life was to me again.
~Bram Stoker

Mt. Baker in Washington State averages over 600" of snow a year and holds the world record snowfall in a season of over 1,000".

Note: Mt Baker is the location of a ski resort (unexpected, right?)

Something else I learned:The snowiest place on earth is determined by locations where snow fall can be, and is, accurately measured.