11 Horrifically Violent Animal Mating Rituals

  Quolls: Death By Fornication

While you may not have already heard of a quoll, if you know enough about their mating rituals, you won't soon forget the species. Every winter, thefemales all go into heat at the same time, causing a breeding frenzy within the species. The males will try to mate with as many females as possible, grabbing their newest mate by the neck and dragging them off to do the nasty. Average mating sessions last up to three hours, but can go on as long as a full day. That's because the males don't release very many sperm at a time, so they must ejaculate multiple times to ensure their genes are passed on. Like many human males trying to compensate for something, the quoll males are violent and ruthless. In fact, throughout all the biting, scratching and screeching, many females end up killed in the process, only to be eaten by their angry partner.

As if nature wished to compensate the females for their suffering, many of the males put out so much energy during the mating season that they lose weight, start balding and die within only a few weeks of their sexual rampage. 

 Bedbugs: Impaler? I Hardly Know Her

Why bother courting and mating when you can instead just impale and run? That seems to be the thought process behind the bedbug's reproduction method. Indeed, rather than finding the female's reproductive organs and getting a little frisky, this quick-moving bug just stabs his lady in her stomach, deposits his sperm and leaves. The sperm then travel through the female's blood stream into sperm receptacles and eventually into her waiting ovaries.

This type of mating behavior is known by the terrifying title of “traumatic insertion,” and it certainly lives up to its name. At least when it's happening to something as horrible as bed bugs it's a lot harder to feel bad for the victims. 

 Squid: Those Slippery, No-Good Cephalopods

Squids may not seem like the sexiest animals around, but as it turns out, they might be some of the kinkiest. The male bioluminescent Dana Octopus Squid uses its beak and sharp claws to pierce holes in its mate before using a penis-like appendage to insert sperm into the cuts. On the other hand, the Greater Hooked Squid just bypasses the stabbing step by using sperm that independently burrow their way into the female's skin, using an enzyme that dissolves tissue.

The Sharpear Enope Squid is the first-known transgender squid, as some males not only resemble females in appearance, but even have female sex glands. While the debate is still out on what evolutionary benefit this provides, some researchers speculate that it allows these individuals to get closer to potential mates without being detected. 

 Seals: Humping Their Way Onto The Endangered Species List

Is there anything cuter than a baby seal? There is when it's been crushed to death by a horde of frisky male seals who wanted to get in the action when they heard another couple mating. Think that's a rare occurrence? Think again. Some colonies have been known to lose 2/3 of their cubs this way. That's why the babies grow up so darn fast –the sooner they bulk up, the sooner they can avoid being crushed to death. 

Of course, babies aren't the only ones at risk. The male Southern Elephant Seal often crushes the female's skull in his jaws during copulation and female Monk Seals are often mobbed to death by excited males when they go into heat. In fact, endangered seal species are some of the only at-risk creatures to be put on libido-suppressing drugs in order to stop them from sexing themselves into extinction.

Extreme cold weather hits Europe

Frigid temperatures have gripped Europe in the last week, with the mercury reaching as low as 35 degrees Celsius below zero. After what had been a relatively mild winter, the sudden cold caught many unprepared. Eastern Europe is hardest hit, with over 100 deaths in Ukraine, and with over 11,000 people in remote villages cut off by snow in Serbia. Most of the fatalities recorded have been homeless people found frozen to death outside, and emergency tents with hot meals have been set up to help them in several affected countries. Russia and Poland are mobilizing help for the homeless. Travel in Romania has been chaos as a blizzard hampered efforts to clear both rails and roads. Recorded temperatures in Italy were the lowest in 27 years. -- Lane Turner (45 photos total)

A woman looks out a bus in Bucharest on February 2, 2012. (Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press)

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Snow paints a scene in Rubi, Spain on February 2, 2012. (Manu Fernandez/Associated Press) #

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Skiers approach Wendelstein church near Bayrischzell, Germany on January 31, 2012. (Lukas Barth/dapd/Associated Press) #

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A homeless man emerges from Warsaw's underground heating duct where he lives on February 2, 2012. (Janek Skarzynski/AFP/Getty Images) #

The love of an 80 year old couple

A wonderful and peaceful film  about an old couple in India,

It’s a 10 minute film from India, An Excellent Short Film.Watch it all the way to the end to enjoy it.  
This film teaches us to valuewhat we have in life right now. 

Life could be so tough, but still it has green patches of True Love and Care.

WATCH OUT FOR TOXINS

GOING TO THE OFFICE? WATCH OUT FOR TOXINS

People who work long hours in the office end up with higher levels of some toxic chemicals in their blood.

THE GIST

• Offices account for more than a third of a type of toxic chemical called PFCs in people’s blood.
• Newer buildings and newly renovated offices contain higher levels of PFCs in the air than do older buildings.
• The more time people spend in their offices, the more chemicals accumulate in their blood.

Many office workers are unknowingly exposed to significant levels of toxic chemicals which have been linked to reproductive, developmental, liver and immune problems in animals and people.

People who spend the most time at the office have the highest levels of polyfluorinated compounds (PFC) levels in their blood, found a new study, which also showed a direct link between chemical levels in the air of a person’s workplace and the amount of PFCs in his/her blood.

More than 95 percent of Americans harbor PFCs in their bodies, according to national health survey data. The new findings help narrow down major sources of exposure, opening up potential ways to reduce the burden of chemicals in our bodies.

“When we think of occupational exposures, it’s easy to think about construction workers or welders, but an even larger population is office workers,” said Michael McClean, an environmental health scientist at the Boston University School of Public Health. “We wanted to look at those environments and see what was in the air.”

PFCs are a group of chemicals that offer water-resistant and stain-resistant properties to a wide range of products, including carpets, furniture, food wrappings and nonstick pots and pans. Investigations have turned up significant levels of several PFCs in the environment and in people, but few studies have systematically considered where most of those chemicals come from.

McClean and colleagues decided to look at offices because people spend a lot of time at work, and because offices are full of stain-resistant furniture, paint, carpeting and other objects that can emit PFC-containing dust.

The team recruited 31 adults who live and work in Boston-area offices. About a quarter of their offices were in a new building that had been built the previous year and was decorated with brand new carpets, upholstered chairs and other furnishings. A quarter of workplaces were in older buildings with no recent history of renovation.

The remaining half of offices sat in a building that had been partially renovated the year before with new carpeting in the hallways and about 10 percent of rooms. All offices were painted from floor to ceiling, had closed-air ventilation, and at least one computer on a desk. And all had doors that were closed at night.

For a week during the winter, from 8 a.m. on a Monday to 8 a.m. on a Friday, air pumps collected particulate and gaseous matter from the air in each office. At the end of the week, researchers also collected blood and dietary information from every worker.

Levels of a chemical called FTOH were highest n the air of the new building and lowest in the air of the old one, the researchers reported in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Our bodies break down FTOH into a PFC called PFOA.

When levels of FTOH were high in an office, people who worked in that office had higher levels of PFOA in their blood compared to people who worked in offices with lower levels. People who worked longer hours also inhaled more chemicals and accumulated higher levels of PFOA in their blood than did people who worked fewer days or shorter days.

Overall, the level of chemicals in the air of an office accounted for 36 percent of PFC levels in the blood.

“The fact that air in an office environment can explain more than a third of PFOA that you find in the blood,” McClean said, “is actually pretty striking.”

Scientists have long assumed that diet was the main source of PFCs in our bodies, said John Meeker, an environmental health scientist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Based the new findings, he said, it will now be useful to zero in on offices and figure out what it is about them that produces the most PFCs. The answers could lead to more regulations of products or safer renovation processes.

For now, it’s too soon to offer advice to office-workers about how best to reduce their exposures.

“We’re not going to tell people to stop going to the office,” Meeker said.

source

Top 10 Highly Developed Countries

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic used to rank countries according to their development levels from “very high” to “low.” Countries are placed based on life expectancy, education, standard of living, child welfare, health care, economic welfare, and population happiness. Formulas are used to factor all the variables and determine the scores of countries. Critics have cited the HDI as inaccurate or vague, but coming up with top ten highly developed countries list on my own opinion would have been very subjective and probably badly ranked. Thus, I have simply listed the first ten countries on the HDI and displayed their scores, while providing explanations. Enjoy.

10 Sweden

Score: 0.904

The socialist and largely liberal European country of Sweden (officially the Kingdom of Sweden) is led by Prime Minister Fredrick Reinfeldt and is about the size of the US state of California (or Spain if unfamiliar with the CA) and has an approximate population of 9.3 million with the capital and largest city being Stockholm. The Swedish people are rated as one of the happiest in the world and have high marks in income ($35,876 GDP per capita, and a regular GDP of $485 billion), life expectancy (80.9 years), and education. In addition, the country has very low unemployment and poverty rates, has equal and free access to health care, and has been one of the most active supporters of environmental sustainability today and pushes for other countries to “Go green.” Sweden also serves as a major tourist destination for millions of international travelers, as the country has a long and rich history.

9 Germany

Score: 0.905 Score

The Federal Republic of Germany, or Germany, has the largest economy in the European Union, and one of the largest populations at 82.2 million, as well as its bustling capital and economic center of Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel is the head of a government with a people of very high education standards, with a nearly 100% attendance rate and 99% literacy rate. Germany thrives in industry and manufacturing and is a major exporter of electrical and engineering products, such as cars (Volkswagen anyone?), and are renowned globally for their skilled work force. The GDP is $3.5 trillion and GDP per capita is $40,631, and poverty rates are low, although the unemployment rate is about 7%. Germany also, like Sweden, is a prime tourist destination for its historic beauty, and the wonderful people (aside from Adolf and the Nazis back in the 1930-40s) have a life expectancy of 79.4 years.

8 Liechtenstein

Score: 0.905

The Principality of Liechtenstein is one of the smallest and least populated countries in the world, with a landmass of just 160 square kilometers (62 sq miles, about the size of Washington, US) and a population of 35,000. Even so, this parliamentary democracy manages to have one of highest GDP per capita’s in the worlds ($141,000) and has virtually zero debt, poverty, and unemployment rates, while having prominent literary and education ratings. Liechtenstein has very low taxes imposed on its citizens and is a center of investment from countries and the wealthy. If ever feeling the desire to travel to this rather interesting country, visit the capital of Vaduz, where you can view the huge Vaduz castle, home to the prince and his family, while also getting acquainted with the city’s 5,100 inhabitants.

7 Ireland

Score: 0.908

The Republic of Ireland has a relatively small population of 4.5 million, is a parliamentary democracy, and its capital is Dublin. Ireland has a very high literacy rate of 99% and high education standards, as well as a strong life expectancy of 78.9 years. It also has a well balanced infrastructure, with a GDP of $203.89 billion and a GDP per capita rate of $45,497. The country is ranked #7 for its press freedom, economic freedom, and political freedom it offers to the public. Ireland was in the process of rapid economic growth and development when the global recession began in 2008. Ireland than experienced negative GDP and accumulated massive debt, being rated as one of the five European “P.I.I.G.S.” (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain) and losing two points on the Human Development Index Scale. Still, the Taoiseach (or Prime Minister) Enda Kenney is collaborating with EU leaders (France and Germany) to relieve this problem and continue developing forward.

6 Canada

Score: 0.908

Canada is, geographically, the second largest country next to Russia and shares the longest international border in the world with the United States. Canada is governed by a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy and keeps it ties with the United Kingdom close, being one of the few countries with two anthems (“O Canada,” the national anthem, and “God Save the Queen,” the Royal Anthem) with Queen Elizabeth II being the Head of State. The country is very economically advanced with a GDP $1.758 trillion and GDP per capita of $51,147. It has an intelligent population with high education and literacy rates, and a large percentage of the population is even bilingual or trilingual (English and French are the official languages, but Spanish doesn’t hurt). Canada is known for its free health care system (on top of an 80.7 life expectancy) and poses minimal taxes on the 34.7 million inhabitants. And of course, it is a great tourist destination, as you can visit the world-renowned waterfall of Niagara Falls, or the capital of Ottawa, or maybe even the historical landmarks at the largely French-rooted city of Quebec.