Increasing Sound Might Cause Ecologycal Imbalance

A recent research has reviled that number of frogs are declining in Australia,scientists are very much confused in search of the reason of it.But after a long discussions and research they all they all concluded to the fact that increasing traffic noises of Australia is the main reason behind it..!!


Traffic noise could be ruining the sex lives of urban frogs by drowning out the seductive croaks of
amorous males, an Australian researcher said.

A well-projected and energetic croak is the male frog's most important asset in the quest to
attract mates to his pond, Melbourne University ecologist Kirsten Parris said.But competition from traffic noise in Melbourne could be a reason why frog numbers have declined in Australia's
second-largest city since her survey of more than 100 ponds began in 2000, she said.

"If there are a number of different males calling, the one that sounds the best often gets the
girl," Parris told The Associated Press. "You have to be pretty clear about your assets if you're a
male frog."


Generally, if he's putting a lot of energy into calling — if he's calling loudly or quickly or for
a long time or all those things combined — it shows he's fit and strong and generally those things
tend to correlate with female choice," she added.Parris found the distance at which a frog suitor
can be heard by a potential mate is slashed by city noise.

"This makes it much harder for frogs to attract mates and this could then mean that their breeding success is reduced," Parris said.

Frog species with low-pitched croaks are most disadvantaged because they are competing against the low-pitched rumble of traffic and machinery such as air conditioners, she said.The southern brown tree frog has adapted by raising the pitch of its croak in areas where there is traffic din, she found.



In the noisiest parts of Melbourne, the frog's usual pitch cannot be heard by other frogs beyond 21 yards (19 meters). At the higher pitch, the croaks carry an additional 16 feet (5 meters).The
popplebonk frog's call can be heard by females from 875 yards (800 meters) without background noise. That range shrinks to only 46 feet (14 meters) near busy roads.

Parris presented her research on Thursday to the 10th International Ecology Congress in the eastern city of Brisbane.Ken Thompson, a University of Sheffield ecologist who edits the British journal, Functional Ecology, described Parris' findings of reduced mating because of traffic noise as "highly plausible."

"There is accumulating evidence that noise in urban habitats is having an effect on the behavior of animals," Thompson said.He said his own university's research found British birds were singing at night because their habitats had become too noisy during the day.

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Top 5 No Bullshit Vacations

Not all vacations are about lying on a beach drinking a Corona or touring old European villages. Some stress you physically and mentally. These are those vacations. Check out the list by scrolling down !

BOSS 28-Day Standard Field Course : The Boulder Outdoor Survival School (BOSS) 28-Day Standard Field Course is a program that places you out in the desert and canyons of southern Utah, with only minimal supplies (only a knife, poncho, and blanket). Over the next four weeks, you and your group hike and learn the skills needed to survive. Without tents, you learn to forage for shelter. Without food, you learn to find edible plants and ensnare small game. In fact, near the beginning of the course, students are introduced to a live sheep and instructed to cut its throat. Then, instructors teach the students the best way to harvest and store the meat. As you can imagine, when the 28 days are over, you're ready to give Survivorman a run for his money.

BASE Jump Across Europe : BASE jumping refers to parachuting off either a Building (B), Antenna (A), Span (S), or Earth (E). With its towering bridges and impressive cliffs, Europe is full of amazing locations to jump. Typically, most BASE jumpers start with skydiving. BASE jumpers recommend you have at least 150 skydives logged (some say you should have as many as 1000) before your first BASE jump. Though many aspects of skydiving differ from BASE jumping, this will allow you to gain familiarity with freefalling, the equipment, and tracking. Most skydiving schools will get you started with an AFF (Accelerated Freefall) course, typically beginning with a tandem jump. But be warned, BASE jumping is probably one of the most dangerous sports around.

Climb Denali : If you ever want to climb Mt. Everest, then Denali will probably be one of the climbs on your way to that summit. But be warned, 98 people have died trying to climb Denali. Many of those Asian climbers, spurring the its morbid nickname, the "Orient Express." As for difficulty, only 1 out of every 2 climbers reach its peak.

Denali is reached via Anchorage to Talkeetna, a small climbing town at the edge of Denali National Park. Unlike many other climbs, Denali is more of an expedition. Crews trek from camp to camp hauling heavy supplies-laden sleds. Along with fatigue, climbers are faced with edema, crevasses, frost bite, avalanches, and climbing injuries throughout the 3-4 week push.



Fight Mixed Martial Arts : By now, everyone knows about Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Mostly through the UFC, people have seen the broken legs and arms, cut up and bruised faces, and knock outs of its fighters. Well, guess what? That could be you. Most major cities have schools that teach the disciplines used in MMA: grappling, striking, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling. In class, you'll learn the basics of each of these techniques.

When you're ready, talk to your instructor and he'll probably be able to set up a match with another student. Once the fight is set, you're training will find a new level of intensity, as your very survival could be at stake.


Cross The North Pole : This is really a no bullshit vacation. Adventure Consultants offer expeditions that cross the North Pole. From northern Canada you travel 440 miles, navigating across drifting ice fields to the North Pole. Then you have to turn around and do it all over again. This takes 60 days, at least. The trek requires you to ski for 8-10 hours a day in minus 40 degree temperatures, all while hauling a 220 pound sled. And don't even think about getting injured (why would you?), because rescue is unlikely because you're at the friggin' North Pole.

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Amazing Stairway To The Heaven Discovered

Big brothers ... Mount Gower and its smaller brother Mount Litchbird dominate New South Wales' Lord Howe Island.

Howe fantastic ... Lord Howe Island is a natural paradise and is just a two-hour flight from Sydney or Brisbane.

Rocky road ... the 8-10 hour climb to the summit reveals clues to the island's fiery creation and is not for the faint-hearted.

Rope trick ... bolted to the stark cliff face, or attached to trees, lengths of rope are dotted along the trail to help climbers man oeuvre around ledges or pull themselves up steep inclines.

Water retreat ... Erskine Creek is a tranquil outcrop with a freshwater stream flowing from deep within the mountain, over the cliff face and out to sea.

Mountain man ... known throughout the island as "Mister", Malcolm Schik comes from a family of mountain guides.

Bird's-eye-view ... petrels follow walkers along the climb in search of any unwanted food scraps and admire the view of Mount Litchbird.

In the frame ... Mount Litchbird (777m) dominates the view from the Saddle, while Mt Eliza, North Bay and Old Settlement Beach are pushed to the background. .

Green scene ... near the summit, palms compete with flimsy ferns while moss covers every trunk, rock and patch of ground.

Top of the world ... after 5 ½ hours of battling boulders, grappling ropes and death-defying ledges – Lee Taylor pumps the air of summit.

Elusive bird ... the Lord Howe Island woodhen is one of the rarest birds in the world, so you'll have to do the climb to find one.

Picture perfect ... the view from the summit of Mount Gower will last forever for those brave enough to take the challenge. No postcard comes close to the real deal.

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World's Most Ancient Underwater Reef Discovered

A 650-million-year-old underwater reef, 10 times higher than the Great Barrier Reef, has been discovered in the middle of Australia's outback.

The ancient reef, formed nearly 100 million years before the first known animal life evolved, is the only one of its age in the world. Scientists believe it may hold evidence of the earliest examples of primitive animal life.

The reef was discovered by three Melbourne scientists in the Northern Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Formed hundreds of millions of years before dinosaurs roamed the earth, it existed for five to 10 million years in a tropical period sandwiched between two ice ages.

The scientists, from the School of Earth Science at Melbourne University believe the reef could also explain the extent of climate change in earth's early history. 

"Some of the complex organisms we have seen in the reef have never been discovered previously," associate Professor Malcolm Wallace, told The Times Online. "There is nothing like these fossils in any modern setting but they have structures that are similar to some animals." 

The oldest known animal fossils are 570 million years old. The Flinders Ranges reef is 80 million years older than that and was, he said: "The right age to capture the precursors to animals."

"With the movement over millions of years on Australia's tectonic plates, the reef has been turned 90 degrees skywards from its once horizontal position," said Professor Wallace's colleague Jonathan Giddings. "This has exposed the whole depth of the reef. These tectonic forces have resulted in very ancient history being pushed up to the present. 

"Today's advances in satellite imagery are helping us to see the reef very easily," he said. "Geologists had seen this mass before but had not really recognised it as being once a reef."

"This reef is much too old to be made of coral, " said Professor Wallace. "It was constructed by microbial organisms and other complex, chambered structures that have not been discovered before." 

The escarpment of the reef would have been 1100 metres at its highest point, ten times higher than the 100 metre high escarpment of the Great Barrier. The section of the reef that has been preserved is 20 km wide, but there is evidence that it extended across around 100 kilometress, comparable to the Great Barrier which stretches for 2,600 kilometres.

Source

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The Most Alien Looking Place In The World

Socotra Island: you have to see it to believe it

We covered some otherwordly places before (see, for example, Bolivian Salt Lake, or The Richat Structure), but this island simply blows away any notion about what is considered "normal" for a landscape on Earth.

Imagine waking up on the Socotra Island and taking a good look around you (let's say your buddies pulled a prank on you and delivered you there, and lets also assume that you don't have any hangover from abuse of any substances). After a yelp of disbelief, you'd be inclined to think you were transported to another planet - or traveled to another era of Earth's history. 

The second would be closer to the truth for this island, which is part of a group of 4 islands, has been geographically isolated from mainland Africa for the last 6 or 7 million years. Like the Galapagos Islands, this island is teeming with 700 extremely rare species of flora and fauna, a full 1/3 of which are endemic, i.e. found nowhere else on Earth.

The climate is harsh, hot and dry, and yet - the most amazing plant life thrives there. Situated in the Indian Ocean 250 km from Somalia and 340 km from Yemen, the wide sandy beaches rise to limestone plateaus full of caves (some 7 kilometers in length) and mountains up to 1525 meters high.

The name Socotra is derived from a Sanscrit name, meaning "The Island of Bliss"... Is it the beaches? The isolation and quiet? or the strange and crazy botanical allure?

Alien-looking plants: H. P. Lovecraft's secret inspiration?

Was the famous Chtulhu myths creator aware of these forbidding mountains with their hauntingly weird flora (think of plant mutations from his "The Color out of Space") ? We almost tempted to call Socotra the other "Mountains of Madness" - the trees and plants of this island were preserved thru the long geological isolation, some varieties being 20 million years old... 

We begin with the dracena cinnibaris or Dragon's Blood Tree, the source of valuable resin for varnishes, dyes, and "cure-all" medicine; also (predictably) used in medieval ritual magic and alchemy -

The branches spread out into the sky and from below appear to hover over the landscape like so many flying saucers... and from above they have a distinct mushroom look:

There is also the Desert Rose (adenium obesium) which looks like nothing so much as a blooming elephant leg. Dorstenia gigas - apparently does not require any soil and sinks roots straight into the bare rock.

Somewhat similar to the weird Dorstenia gigas, is this "bucha" vegetable, found as far north as Croatia. I hope it's not pregnant with anything malignant inside this sack. John Wyndham (with his "The Day of the Triffids") would've loved it. Also found in Socotra's landscape is the ever-strange and extremely rare Cucumber Tree (dendrosicyos socotranum) - and yes, it's related to what's sitting in a pickle jar in your fridge.

Want to see some fairy-tale (and possibly haunted) shipwrecks? There are diving tours available... Hopefully some IMAX crew would film it in all its glory one day.

Al Hajarah, Yemen - Walled city in the mist.

Computer game designers take note - this mysterious city in the foggy Yemen's Haraz Mountains can surely fire up imagination of anybody who decides to explore it.

Dune? Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique? Pack your bags, for this is on our good old planet Earth, no interstellar visa required.

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