Light eye colour map
Map of Empires
The Unique Dragon Tree
Dracaena cinnabari, the Socotra dragon tree or dragon blood tree, is a dragon tree native to the Socotra archipelago in the Arabian Sea. It is so called due to the red sap that the trees produce.
The dragon blood tree has a unique and strange appearance, with an “upturned, densely packed crown having the shape of an uprightly held umbrella”. This evergreen species is named after its dark red resin, which is known as “dragon’s blood”. Unlike most monocot plants, Dracaena displays secondary growth, D. cinnabari even has growth zones resembling tree rings found in dicot tree species. Along with other arborescent Dracaena species it has a distinctive growth habit called “dracoid habitus”. Its leaves are found only at the end of its youngest branches; its leaves are all shed every 3 or 4 years before new leaves simultaneously mature. Branching tends to occur when the growth of the terminal bud is stopped, due to either flowering or traumatic events (e.g. herbivory).
Socotra, also spelled Soqotra, is an island and a small archipelago of four islands in the Arabian Sea. Socotra is part of Yemen. It had long been a part of the Aden Governorate. In 2004 it became attached to the Hadhramaut Governorate, which is much closer to the island than Aden (although the nearest governorate was the Al Mahrah Governorate). In 2013, the archipelago became its own governorate.
Completely appears to be the surface of an Alien planet light years away.
Earth’s “night lights” from Space
NASA has released new, high-definition satellite images of Earth’s “night lights” for the first time since 2012.
Europe
South Asia and Oceania
India
United States and Mexico
Chicago
The Bakken oil fields of northwest North Dakota
Western North America and Alaska
Middle East
Australia and New Zealand
Winnipeg
Awesome Iceberg brings tourists to tiny Newfoundland town
A new natural attraction drew scores of tourists to a small town of around 500 people in Newfoundland, Canada over Easter weekend. A massive iceberg appeared near the coast, and photographers dashed to the area to snap pictures.
The Southern shore highway close to Ferryland filled with traffic over the weekend as tourists came to view the impressive iceberg. The Newfoundland coast area is commonly called iceberg alley due to the ice blocks that float down during the spring from the Arctic, but this particular huge iceberg might stay right where it is, according to Ferryland Mayor Adrian Kavanagh, who told The Canadian Press it’s the biggest one he’s ever seen in the area.
Usually just the tip of an iceberg is visible, with the rest of the mass beneath the waves, so many run aground when they float near the coast. Local Don Costello told CBC News the iceberg probably won’t be moving unless winds keep blowing because it’s stuck on shallow ground. He estimated the iceberg’s highest point is roughly 150 feet.
The BBC reported more icebergs are drifting through iceberg alley than is normal for this point in the year, with hundreds of icebergs in the Atlantic. This particular iceberg has moved around some and broken apart, but it appears it’ll stick around for a while.
I think the name of the town “Ferryland” should also cause tourism.
In this corner: Trump the Terrible; in the other corner: Kim Jong-un the Yummy Tummy
Let the demagogues fight until one taps out, or submits by getting his head turned to mush!
The Hottest Cities in the World
Winnipeg can experience sustained heat in the summer. Some days it gets up to +34-35. But this heat is nothing compared to the cities below. I doubt everyone in these cities have air conditioning. The people obviously can take the heat.
At least two cities contend closely for the title of ‘Hottest City in the World’. What city ranks the hottest depends on how you look at the temperatures. Here we compare the world’s most sweltering cities in terms of highest temperatures, hottest nights, and most days of extreme heat. So you can judge which is the World’s Hottest City.
In the world’s hottest cities, temperatures get above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) nearly every day for months at a time. Dozens of cities in the Middle East and Africa have extended periods of 40-degree weather. It’s in deserts along the Persian Gulf, on the Arabian Peninsula and in Iraq and Iran, where cities have exceptionally searing summers. In two cities here, the heat rises above the rest. Only Kuwait City and Ahwaz report having months with daily maximum temperatures averaging above 46 °C (115 °F).
Kuwait City lies on the coast near the head of the Persian Gulf. Capital of the tiny country of Kuwait, the city itself houses just over 30 thousand people, but it adjoins other cities that together form a large metropolitan area extending into the desert.
Kuwait City
Ahwaz, also spelled Ahvaz, sprouts from the desert of western Iran with a population of close to a million. Although inland from the Persian Gulf, Ahwaz sits at just 23 metres (75 feet) above sea level.
The only cities that come close to the regular 46-degree temperatures of Kuwait City and Ahwaz lie roughly between the two cities. In southern Iraq, maximum temperatures average 44.8 °C (112.6 °F) in July and August at An Nasiriya, while Al Amarah has average highs of 45.5 °C (113.9 °F) in July and 44.9 °C (112.8 °F) in August.
Ahwaz, Iran
How Hot is That?
A 46 °C climate is so hot that it’s well beyond the hottest weather ever experienced in many other countries. Forty-six Celsius tops by a degree ( 1.8 degrees F) Canada’s record high temperature and is 7.5 degrees C (13.5 degrees F) warmer than the hottest day in the United Kingdom. Temperatures that would break records in some counties are normal weather, day after day, for several months a year in the world’s hottest cities.
The only place in the United States with 46-degree heat is North America’s hottest spot, Death Valley in eastern California. Summer temperatures at Death Valley soar to average highs of 46.5 °C (115.7 °F) in July and 45.4 °C (113.8 °F) in August.
Death Valley, California
Highest Daily Temperatures
Ahwaz and Kuwait are nearly equal in their average maximum temperatures during the year’s two hottest months. For both cities in July, highs average 46.7°C (116.1 °F).
Most Extreme Heat
Despite Kuwait City having a marginally greater average, Ahwaz leads the way in extreme temperatures. Several times Ahwaz has achieved temperatures higher than those ever recorded in Kuwait City.
From 1970 to 2000, Ahwaz made it to 52 °C (125.6 °F) or more on three days. Ahwaz had a high of 52.0 on July 12, 1971 and 52.2 °C (126 °F) on July 1, 2000. Neither of those broke any temperature records for the city, since it had already reached 54.0 °C (129.2 °F) on July 15, 1967.
Meanwhile, 52 °C has never been officially documented, as of 2010, in Kuwait City.
City With the Hottest Nights
In most hot cities when daytime temperatures top 40 °C, it usually cools down at night to the mid-20s. Just a few cities have a month of nighttime lows that stay above 30 °C (86 °F), and Kuwait City is one.
During the hottest months of the year, Ahwaz at night normally gets about a degree Celsius cooler than Kuwait City. But the Kuwaiti nights are not the warmest among cities.
Even hotter nights occur in Oman, a country located south of Kuwait on the Arabian Peninsula. Several cities in Oman stay above 30 °C at night in summer, including Buraimi, Sur and Rustaq, plus the capital, Muscat. The country’s hottest city that measures weather is Samail, where from June to August nights generally don’t go below 30 degrees. Samail’s hottest nights are in July, which average 31.4 °C (88.5 °F), while the days climb to around 43 °C (109.4 °F).
| Month | Kuwait City | Ahwaz, Iran | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | Low | High | Low | |
| January | 19.5 | 8.5 | 18.1 | 8.9 |
| February | 21.8 | 10.0 | 20.9 | 9.8 |
| March | 26.9 | 14.0 | 25.6 | 13.4 |
| April | 33.9 | 19.5 | 32.8 | 19.1 |
| May | 40.9 | 25.4 | 40.2 | 24.3 |
| June | 45.5 | 28.9 | 45.0 | 27.3 |
| July | 46.7 | 30.7 | 46.7 | 29.8 |
| August | 46.9 | 29.5 | 46.8 | 29.1 |
| September | 43.7 | 26.2 | 42.7 | 24.7 |
| October | 36.6 | 21.5 | 36.4 | 20.3 |
| November | 27.8 | 14.5 | 26.6 | 13.8 |
| December | 21.9 | 9.9 | 19.7 | 10.0 |
| Annual | 34.3 | 19.9 | 33.5 | 19.2 |
North Korea: Proof that Insanity is Hereditary
North Korea is the first and only communist totalitarian family dynasty the world has seen. I wonder what Marx and Lenin would think of this. Sort of goes against the idea of equality and justice for all.
The Kim dynasty, officially called Mount Paektu Bloodline, is a three-generation lineage of North Korean leadership descending from the country’s first leader, Kim Il-sung, in 1948. Kim came to rule the North after the end of Japanese control in 1945 split the region. He began the Korean War in 1950 in an attempt to reunify the peninsula. Kim developed a cult of personality closely tied to their state philosophy of Juche, which was passed on to his successors: his son Kim Jong-il and grandson Kim Jong-un.
In 2013, Clause 2 of Article 10 of the new edited Ten Fundamental Principles of the Korean Workers’ Party states that the party and revolution must be carried “eternally” by the “Baekdu bloodline”.
Russian anti-alcohol posters from the late Soviet era
1972-1988
Soviet anti-alcohol posters
In Soviet Russia, alcohol consumes YOU!
c. 1986
“Little by little, and you end up with a hooligan. Tolerance of drinking is dangerous. There is but a step from drinking to crime.”
From the 1960s through the 1980s, artists throughout the Soviet Union designed propaganda posters to warn the public of the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption.
With striking, colorful graphics and stark metaphors, the posters cast alcoholism as a snake choking the life from vivacious young men, a bottle as a prison, and more.
Drinkers grow slothful and lazy, abandon their families, endanger their coworkers, or become murderous brutes.
1988
“Underpass — to the ‘next world.'”
IMAGE: S. SMIRNOV/ALCOHOL BY FUEL PUBLISHING
1985
“We will overcome!” (Text on snake: “Alcoholism.”)
IMAGE: E. BOR/ALCOHOL BY FUEL PUBLISHING
1972
“Not among trees or grasses, the serpent has warmed up among us. Don’t suck on him, mammals, or you’ll turn into a reptile yourself.”
1977
“Don’t drink your life away.”
IMAGE: I.M. MAISTROVSKY/ALCOHOL BY FUEL PUBLISHING
1987
“His inner world.”
IMAGE: P.D. YEGOROV/ALCOHOL BY FUEL PUBLISHING
1980
“This is a shameful union — a slacker + vodka!”
IMAGE: V.O. PUSHENKO/ALCOHOL BY FUEL PUBLISHING
Very tough trucks indeed
BBC
Five military trucks you can buy … and one you can’t
Land Rover Defender
Country of origin: Britain
Briefing: Like the scrappy military transport that would become the Jeep Wrangler, the Land Rover Defender has evolved over its 65-year history, but has never jettisoned an ounce of capability. Available in hard-top, double-cab, pickup and bare-chassis configurations, the Defender is found around the globe, with some 55,000 units in active military service.
Price (Britain, exclusive of VAT): From £21,415 (approximately $34,500)
Renault Sherpa
Country of origin: France
Briefing: Renault’s mighty Sherpa owes its appeal not only to the olive drab versions piloted by French and NATO soldiers, but to the charismatic appearances of the civilian model in the grueling Dakar Rally. Available by special order in Russia, Africa and the Middle East, the non-military Sherpa can be had as an unarmoured station wagon or pickup, or, for war-zone duty, a fully-armoured wagon. Power comes from a deafening 4.76-litre four-cylinder diesel engine. Its 215hp and 590lb-ft of torque reach all four wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission.
Price (UAE): Approximately 1m dirham ($272,000)
GAZ Tigr
Country of origin: Russia
Briefing: That the military Tigr bears a passing resemblance to the American Humvee is, to the Russian truck’s vociferous fans, nothing more than coincidence. Beneath its expansive hood rumbles a 5.9-litre diesel engine, which meets a six-speed manual transmission and permanent four-wheel-drive. Production of the civilian Tigr – which can soften its brutality with the addition of such creature comforts as leather, air conditioning and a thumping audio system – is hardly a top priority for GAZ, and acquiring one is neither simple nor inexpensive, but a successful buyer is fairly guaranteed to be the only Tigr-tamer in his okrestnosti.
Price (Russia): approximately 3.5m rubles ($110,000)
Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6×6
Country of origin: Austria
Briefing: As production vehicles go, the Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen, otherwise known as the G Class, is ancient. Merely revised during more than 30 years of production, this bricklike military machine in a civilian paintjob still manages to capture the imagination of those who dream of traffic parting with their approach – business tycoons, action-film stars, the Pope. Like the “standard” G63 AMG, the new G63 AMG 6×6 packs a twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 engine producing 536hp and 560lb-ft of torque. The engine meets the six-by-six drivetrain from Mercedes’ hulking Zetros truck, yielding 15.75in of ground clearance – sufficient to ford water as deep as 40in. Getting behind the wheel of this ultimate G Class, unless you happen to be, say, a James Bond villain, will be tricky. The vehicle is not (legally) destined for North America or right-hand-drive countries, and Mercedes has promised that production volume will be “very small”.
Price (Germany, exclusive of VAT): 379,000 euros (approximately $523,000) VAT- Value Added Tax
Price (Russia): approximately 3.5m rubles ($110,000)
Price (UAE): Approximately 1m dirham ($272,000)
Price (Britain, exclusive of VAT): From £21,415 (approximately $34,500)
Paramount Marauder
Country of origin: South Africa
Briefing: Ten tonnes of South African stoutness, the Marauder is possessed of a double-skin monocoque that helps it resist virtually all forms of light-arms fire, as well as the occasional anti-tank mine. It also, as Top Gear’s Richard Hammond learned, is rather good as a city runabout – provided the pilot steers clear of fast-food drive-throughs.
Price: $485,000
Oshkosh L-ATV
Country of origin: United States
Briefing: How to replace a fleet of aging Humvees that numbers in the tens of thousands? With a bit of technological derring-do. Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense has developed the L-ATV prototype to pick up where the Humvee has left off, carrying a diesel-electric hybrid powertrain that allows the purpose-built vehicle to run near-silent when missions require it. The US government has taken delivery of 22 L-ATV prototypes for testing, but civilian sales do not figure in Oshkosh’s immediate product plans.
Price: N/A
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