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Monday, 13 July 2015

Solar powered sea slugs

Elysia chlorotica, common name the eastern emerald elysia, is a small-to-medium-sized species of green sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc. This sea slug superficially resembles a nudibranch, yet it does not belong to that clade of gastropods. Instead it is a member of the clade Sacoglossa, the sap-sucking sea slugs. Some members of this group use chloroplasts from the algae they eat; a phenomenon known as kleptoplasty. Elysia chlorotica is one of the "solar-powered sea slugs", utilizing solar energy via chloroplasts from its algal food. It lives in a subcellular endosymbiotic relationship with chloroplasts of the marine heterokont alga Vaucheria litorea.

Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Box jellyfish


Chironex fleckeri, commonly known as the sea wasp, is a species of box jellyfish found in coastal waters from northern Australia and New Guinea north to the Philippines and Vietnam. It has been described as "the most lethal jellyfish in the world", with at least 63 known deaths in Australia from 1884 to 1996.
Notorious for its sting, C. fleckeri has tentacles up to 3 m (9.8 ft) long covered with millions of cnidocytes which, on contact, release microscopic darts delivering an extremely powerful venom. Being stung commonly results in excruciating pain, and if the sting area is significant, an untreated victim may die in as few as three minutes. The amount of venom in one animal is said to be enough to kill 60 adult humans (although most stings are mild).

Friday, 17 February 2012

PRESSURE INTERCONVERSIONS


Pressure units
pascalbartechnical atmospherestandard atmospheretorrpound per square inch
PabaratatmTorrpsi
1 Pa≡ 1 N/m210−51.0197×10−59.8692×10−67.5006×10−3145.04×10−6
1 bar105≡ 106 dyn/cm21.01970.98692750.0614.5037744
1 at0.980665 ×1050.980665≡ 1 kp/cm20.96784735.5614.223
1 atm1.01325 ×1051.013251.0332≡ p076014.696
1 Torr133.3221.3332×10−31.3595×10−31.3158×10−3= 1 mmHg19.337×10−3
1 psi6.895×10368.948×10−370.307×10−368.046×10−351.715≡ 1 lbF/in2