Cat-sized African rats survive in Florida

It is the largest rat in the world, growing to be as big as a raccoon and weighing up to 4kg (8.8 pounds). The African Giant Pouch rat, also known as the Gambian pouch rat, is a nocturnal pouched rat native to Africa. Gambian pouch rats have been found in Florida's Grassy Key despite efforts to eradicate them. Officials worry that the voracious rats might wipe out some crops and upset the delicate ecological balance if they manage to reach the Florida mainland. The African species first appeared on Grassy Key, Florida in 1999 after eight rats escaped from a local exotic pets breeder. The rats primarily eat fruit and grains but have been known to also eat insects, crabs and snails. Ecologists worry that they will harm crops in Florida.

The rats are trained for the tuberculosis (TB) detection program at Sokoine University in Morogoro Tanzania, and to locate inert anti-personnel mine in southern Mozambique. Also, mine detecting Gambian giant pouch rats (Cricetomys Gambianus) work in mine fields near Vilancoulos in southern Mozambique.

 

What is your opinion of these unique creatures?

Frozen Planet

The ends of the Earth! Penguins, icebergs, Polar Bears, below zero temperatures, and more! Now, thanks to the Discovery Channel, you can travel to this frozen wilderness and experience first hand its beauty & unique qualities.




Streaming video by Ustream
 
Watch penguins zoom through the water at speeds of 24 mph - live via penguin cam.

Live video from your Android device on Ustream

See Penguins turn to a life of crime as they become rock thieves; struggling to build the perfect nest in this barren land.

Play the Criminal Penguin game and see how skillful you would be at building a rock nest!

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/frozen-planet/criminal-penguins-game/#mkcpgn=emdsc2

Tell us - what amazes you about this white wonderland???

Learn a new word!

Scroll to the bottom of the Blog and visit "Word Ahead"! Find a new word - what word did you add to your vocabulary today? What's it mean? can you use it in a sentence? Have fun with WORDS!!!!

What's YOUR Dream??

Meet, Ian Purkayastha, 19-year-old “Truffle Dealer”

In the digital age, most of today's young, hot-shot entrepreneurs are working in the world of high tech, specifically in social networking. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams come to mind.

Then there's Ian Purkayastha, a 19-year old international businessman who's "networking" the old-fashioned way — face to face -- and making a big splash selling and promoting one of the world's most ancient and low-tech products: Truffles. To be sure, there aren't billions to be made in truffles, at least not yet. But truffles are by far the most-expensive ingredient in the culinary world, fetching up to $5000 per pound for the most desired varieties.Truffles may be used in the world's top restaurants but there's nothing fancy about the truffle business. Truffles are subterranean fungi typically harvested in the wild or from specially planted groves

with the aid of trained pigs or, more recently, dogs. It's a dirty business, literally and figuratively: Truffles must be dug up and, especially in Europe, the black market for high-end truffles really is "black": dealers have been known to kill their rival's dogs.

Enter Purkayastha who, at age 15, fell in love with foraging for wild mushrooms in the woods of Arkansas, where he's originally from. Soon thereafter, he tried truffles and it was love at first bite. Purkayastha was so taken with the truffles he ordered some from a French distributor so he could cook with them at home. That might have been the end of the story — a kid with a sophisticated palate and an usual hobby — except that Purkayastha also has an entrepreneurial spirit.

After selling some of his truffle stash to local chefs to help pay for his shipments, Purkayastha realized he had an opportunity to combine two of his greatest passions: truffles and sales.

Watch the video to find out more about this incredible young man - who is living his dream!!!

 

"It sounds cliché and corny but I had a dream and made it happen by working hard," he says. Remember, Purkayastha has done all this before the age of 20 and yet manages to stay grounded, humble and mature well beyond his years. When most of his peers can't pry themselves away from the computer screen, or are living at home because they can't find work, Ian Purkayastha is thriving in a rarified world — and eating very well.

So...what's YOUR dream??? You're not that much younger than Ian was when he started out seeing his dream become a reality!! If you could - what would your dream job be? remember - YOU CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

Monster Titanoboa Snake Invades New York

New York commuters arriving at Grand Central Station will soon be greeted by a monstrous sight: a 48-foot-long, 2,500-pound titanoboa snake.


The good news: It's not alive. Anymore. But the full-scale replica of the reptile -- which will make its first appearance at the commuter hub on March 22 -- is intended, as Smithsonian spokesperson Randall Kremer happily admitted, to "scare the daylights out of people" -- actually has a higher calling: to "communicate science to a lot of people." The scientifically scary-accurate model will go a long way toward that: If this snake slithered by you, it would be waist-high and measure the length of a school bus. Think of it as the T-rex of snakes.


This newly discovered species, known as titanoboa (yes, the words "titan" and "boa" are in there), which lived 65 million years ago, is about to have its close-up. The New York City appearance is promoting an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of Natural History in D.C. opening on March 30, which ties in to a TV special on the Smithsonian Channel called, what else, "Titanoboa: Monster Snake." The two-hour program airs April 1.


Remains of the titanoboa were first discovered in a Colombian coal mine in 2005. One of the researchers specializing in the Paleocene era, the time after the death of the dinosaurs, was Jonathan Bloch. A vertebrate paleontologist from University of Florida's Museum of Natural History, the scientist led multiple expeditions, along with Carlos Jaramillo of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. The team collected remains from the mine, which resulted in the find. Together with ancient-snake expert Jason Head of the University of Nebraska, they named the world's largest snake Titanoboa.


Bloch admitted that when the team was first collecting the skeletons of Titanoboa, he didn't immediately understand what he had found until he returned to the lab. With the help of his students, he was able to identify the fossils as snakes, just much, much bigger than the ones of today. He described the enormous vertebrae as "sort of like if you saw a mouse skull the size of rhino skull."


The predator, which is related to a boa constrictor but actually behaved like an anaconda, lived in water and fed on fish, other titanoboas, and crocodiles (very, very large crocodiles).


If this sounds like Hollywood's next blockbuster, Bloch noted that this time around, truth is actually bigger than fiction: The predator from the movie "Anaconda," for one, is not as big as titanoboa. "This is really an example where reality and the past have exceeded the imaginations of Hollywood"


Watch the short video clip below and then tell us- what do you think of Titanoboa?? Why do you think it disappeared 65 million years ago?? Do you plan on watching the TV special?? I know that I do :)

http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/28688824

ELO Comments Wanted

This is for those dedicated, after school students who spent time today investigating the blog! What do you think?? How did you spend your time?? Tell me at least one thing that you learned today!!