Hans T. Fogelberg

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Sokokis Forest Cats from Kenya - those 3 might be looking for me, but the one right above found me!!

Here's another choice - a beautiful Singapura. Hooah!! If she gets cold, I will snuggle her. Poor little girl - no fluff! Oh, now she's flirting - well gotta go for now. This Katzenjammer Kid has to make his move now.

I want one!

By Katy Rank Lev

If you thought the world’s fastest animal was a cheetah, you’d be mistaken. If you thought the strongest animal was the elephant, you’d also be wrong. A tiny critter called a copepod is the best jumper and the fastest, strongest multicellular animal known to man. According to an article on Discovery News, the copepod (which measures about 1 millimeter in length) can demonstrate some amazing feats when fleeing its predators.

With an acceleration speed of 500 body-lengths per second, the copepod could make Usain Bolt green with envy as the crustacean zooms away from its underwater attackers. The article reports that, “the tiny leg muscles used to execute such leaps are the most forceful in the world relative to their size.”

The article references a Danish study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, in which lead researcher Thomas Kiørboe studied the two different propulsion systems found on the copepod. Kiørboe and his team threatened the copepods by tapping their aquarium, and then photographed their movements to study the different muscular systems at work. Discovery News reports that, “the researchers think this astounding power is made possible by an optimal design of the swimming legs, copepod musculature and overall body shape.”

The copepod’s efficiency and ability to avoid becoming dinner could be the keys to its abundance — it outnumbers any other multicellular animal on the planet, Kiørboe told Discovery News.

Other scientists are studying the copepod’s jumping mechanisms in hope of replicating the skills in robots for possible space exploration, according to the article, though these researchers would be hard-pressed to duplicate the speed and force of such a streamlined creature. Science Daily reports that the copepod is anywhere from 10 to 30 times more powerful than any animal or machine currently in existence.

The trick behind the speed and strength is in those two separate and differently geared “propulsion mechanisms,” according to Kiørboe and Science Daily. Copepods have vibrating limbs in addition to swimming or jumping legs. These legs are only used occasionally and, thus, avoid fatigue. Kiørboe and his team from the National Institute of Aquatic Resources at the Technical University of Denmark intend to study the propulsion mechanisms and their nerve transmissions to fully understand the most powerful creature alive.

Photo credit: ibsut/Flickr

Friday, April 30, 2010

last day of april

Today is the end of April, tomorrow May 1st, her favorite day of the year by far. April is a fickle month especially this year it seemed to her, but Mayday - "May Flowers wrapped in paper cones to be secretly delivered to neighbors' front doors" is her beginning. Knowing if she was caught, only smiles would scold her. Her elm tree now in leaf beckoned her to climb to her hiding place - a green room with air to breathe and thoughts to be contemplated. There she meditated and looked at a different world from higher up. This is for Mama on Mayday.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

My Birthday (April 17) - I'm a 1 year old now

It's my birthday?

Oh. I've played with those before.

This takes the cake -

hey, where's the cake?

The balloons?

The PRESENTS??

(maybe next year they'll think ahead, sigh)

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Flat-headed cat

This is a very rare wild cat. It's very small and weighs about 3-4 lbs. It lives in the SE Asia swamps and marshes and has webbed feet so they can swim through the swamps where they live and eat. They are endangered with only a few thousand left in the world. A webfooted cat that swims - it would be sad for them to disappear!