Sharks are a group of fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorpha (or Selachii) and are the sister group to the rays. However, the term "shark" has also been used for extinct members of the subclass Elasmobranchii outside the Selachimorpha, such as Cladoselache and Xenacanthus, as well as other Chondrichthyes such as the holocephalid eugenedontidans. Under this broader definition, the earliest known sharks date back to more than 420 million years ago.Acanthodians are often referred to as "spiny sharks"; though they are not part of Chondrichthyes proper, they are a paraphyletic assemblage leading to cartilaginous fish as a whole.
Since then, sharks have diversified into over 500 species. They range in size from the small dwarf lanternshark (Etmopterus perryi), a deep sea species of only 17 centimetres (6.7 in) in length, to the whale shark (Rhincodon typus), the largest fish in the world, which reaches approximately 12 metres (40 ft) in length. Sharks are found in all seas and are common to depths of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft). They generally do not live in freshwater although there are a few known exceptions, such as the bull shark and the river shark, which can survive and be found in both seawater and freshwater.Sharks have a covering of dermal denticles that protects their skin from damage and parasites in addition to improving their fluid dynamics. They have numerous sets of replaceable teeth.
Well-known species such as the great white shark, tiger shark, blue shark, mako shark, and the hammerhead shark are apex predators—organisms at the top of their underwater food chain. Many shark populations are threatened by human activities.
Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's musculature.[1] An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive amateur and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders appear in lineups doing specified poses, and later perform individual posing routines, for a panel of judges who rank competitors based on criteria such as symmetry, muscularity and conditioning. Bodybuilders prepare for competition through a combination of dehydration, fat loss, oils, carb loading to achieve maximum vascularity, and tanning (or tanning lotions) which make their muscular definition more distinct. Well-known bodybuilders include Charles Atlas, Steve Reeves, Reg Park, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Juliana Malacarne, Ralf Moeller and Lou Ferrigno.
The winner of the annual IFBB Mr. Olympia contest is generally recognized as the world's top male professional bodybuilder. The title is currently held by Phil Heath of the United States. The winner of the Women's Physique portion of the competition is widely regarded as the world's top female professional bodybuilder. The 2015 title is currently held by Juliana Malacarne, a Brazilian-born American IFBB Pro fitness and figure competitor and Ladies All-Star Wrestling Professional. Since 1950, the NABBA Universe Championships has been considered the top amateur bodybuilding contest with many notable winners such as Steve Reeves, Bill Pearl, Reg Park, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lee Priest.
The Giant Jellyfish also known Nomura's Jellyfish was sighted only a couple of times in the past couple of years but has struck people with awe for decades.
The lion's mane jellyfish (Cyanea capillata), also known as the giant jellyfish or the hair jelly, is the largest known species of jellyfish. Its range is confined to cold, boreal waters of the Arctic, northern Atlantic, and northern Pacific Oceans. It is common in the English channel, Irish Sea, North Sea and in western Scandinavian waters south to Kattegat and Øresund. It may also drift in to the south-western part of the Baltic Sea (where it cannot breed due to the low salinity). Similar jellyfish, which may be the same species, are known to inhabit seas near Australia and New Zealand. The largest recorded specimen found, washed up on the shore of Massachusetts Bay in 1870, had a bell with a diameter of 2.3 metres (7 ft 6 in) and tentacles 37.0 m (121.4 ft) long.Lion's mane jellyfish have been observed below 42°N latitude for some time in the larger bays of the east coast of the United States.
The lion's mane jellyfish uses its stinging tentacles to capture, pull in and eat prey such as fish, sea creatures and smaller jellyfish.
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. lanatus, family Cucurbitaceae) is a vine-like (scrambler and trailer) flowering plant originally from southern Africa. It is a large, sprawling annual plant with coarse, hairy pinnately-lobed leaves and white to yellow flowers. It is grown for its edible fruit, also known as a watermelon, which is a special kind of berry botanically called a pepo. The fruit has a smooth hard rind, usually green with dark green stripes or yellow spots, and a juicy, sweet interior flesh, usually deep red to pink, but sometimes orange, yellow, or white, with many seeds.
Considerable breeding effort has been put into disease-resistant varieties and into developing a seedless strain. Many cultivars are available, producing mature fruit within 100 days of planting the crop. The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked.
The heights of the tallest trees in the world have been the subject of considerable dispute and much exaggeration. Modern verified measurements with laser rangefinders, or with tape drop measurements made by tree climbers (such as those carried out by canopy researchers), have shown that some older measuring methods and measurements are often unreliable, sometimes producing exaggerations of 5% to 15% or more above the real height.[1] Historical claims of trees growing to 130 m (430 ft), and even 150 m (490 ft), are now largely disregarded as unreliable, and attributed to human error.
The following are now accepted as the tallest reliably measured specimens from the top 26 species. This list shows only currently standing specimens:
1. Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens): 115.61 m (379.3 ft), "Hyperion", Redwood National Park, California, United States
2. Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans): 99.8 m (327.4 ft), "Centurion", Arve Valley, Tasmania, Australia
3. Coast Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii): 99.76 m (327.3 ft), Brummit Creek, Coos County, Oregon, United States
4. Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis): 96.7 m (317 ft), Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California, United States
5. Giant Sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum): 95.8 m (314 ft), Sequoia National Forest, California, United States
6. Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis): 91 m (299 ft), "White Knight", Evercreech Forest Reserve, Tasmania, Australia
7. Southern Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus): 90.7 m (298 ft), Tasmania, Australia
8. Yellow Meranti (Shorea faguetiana): 89.5 m (294 ft), Maliau Basin Conservation Area, in Sabah on the island of Borneo
9. Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis): 87.9 m (288 ft), Tasmania, Australia
10. Philippine Rosewood (Petersianthus quadrialatus): 87.78 m (288.0 ft), Next to national highway in eastern outskirts of San Francisco town, Alegria, Agusan del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines.
11. Brown Top Stringbark (Eucalyptus obliqua): 86 m (282 ft) "King Stringy", Tasmania, Australia.
12. Mengaris (Koompassia excelsa): 85.76 m (281.4 ft) Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo
13. Karri(Eucalyptus diversicolor): 84.99 m (278.8 ft) "Stewart's Karri", near Manjimup, Western Australia.
14. Shorea argentifolia: 84.85 m (278.4 ft) Gaharu ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.
15. Shorea superba: 84.41 m (276.9 ft) Gergassi Ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.
17. Sugar Pine (Pinus lambertiana): 83.45 m (273.8 ft) near Yosemite National Park, California.
18. Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla): 83.34 m (273.4 ft) was discovered in November 2014 by Mario Vaden and Chris Atkins in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, California.
19. Hopea nutans: 82.82 m (271.7 ft) Gaharu ridge of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.
20. Shorea johorensis: 82.39 m (270.3 ft) Coco-Park boundary of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.
21. Shorea smithiana: 82.27 m (269.9 ft) Coco-Park boundary of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.
22. Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa): 81.77 m (268.3 ft) in Myers Creek drainage of Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest, Oregon.
23. Grand Fir (Abies grandis): 81.4 m (267 ft) in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, Washington.
24. Shorea gibbosa: 81.11 m (266.1 ft) River Flats of Tawau Hills National Park, in Sabah on the island of Borneo.
25. Lawson Cypress (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana): 81.08 m (266.0 ft), In Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, California.
26. Noble Fir (Abies procera): 80.50 m (264.1 ft), Washington State, United States.
There are also some other very tall tree species with claimed heights of 80 metres (260 ft) and even more:
