12 Surprising Facts About Starfish

12 Surprising Facts About Starfish Starfish (or sea stars) are beautiful marine animals found in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. All starfish resemble stars, and though the most common have only five arms, some of these animals can grow up to 40 arms. The amazing sea creatures- part of a group of animals known as echinoderms- travel using their tube feet. They can regenerate lost limbs, and they can swallow large prey using their unusual stomachs. Sea Stars Are Not Fish Carlos Agrazal/EyeEm/Getty Images Although sea stars live underwater and are commonly called starfish, they are not true fish. They do not have gills, scales, or fins like fish do. Sea stars also move quite differently from fish. While fish propel themselves with their tails, sea stars have tiny tube feet to help them move along. Because they are not classified as fish, scientists prefer to call starfish sea stars. Sea Stars Are Echinoderms Starfish and purple sea urchin. Kathi Moore/EyeEm/Getty Images Sea stars belong to the phylum Echinodermata. That means they are related to sand dollars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, and  sea lilies. Overall, this phylum contains over 6,000 species. Many echinoderms exhibit radial symmetry, meaning their body parts are arranged around a central axis. Many sea stars have five-point radial symmetry because their body has five sections. This means that they do not have an obvious left and right half, only a top side and a bottom side. Echinoderms also usually have spines, which are less pronounced in sea stars than they are in other organisms such as  sea urchins. There Are Thousands of Sea Star Species Colorful sea star in the Galapagos. Ed Robinson/Getty Images There are about 2,000 species of sea stars. Some live in the intertidal zone,  while others live in the  deep water  of the ocean. While many species live in tropical areas, sea stars can also be found in cold areas- even the polar regions. Not All Sea Stars Have Five Arms Sun star with many arms. Joe Dovala/Getty Images While many people are most familiar with the five-armed species of sea stars, not all sea stars have just five arms. Some species have many more, such as the sun star, which can have up to 40 arms.   Sea Stars Can Regenerate Arms Sea star regenerating four arms. Daniela Dirscherl/Getty Images Amazingly, sea stars can regenerate lost arms, which  is useful if the sea star is injured by a predator. It can lose an arm, escape, and grow a new arm later. Sea stars house most of their vital organs in their arms. This means that some species can even regenerate an entirely new sea star from just one arm and a portion of the stars central disc. It wont happen too quickly, though. It takes about a year for an arm to grow back. Sea Stars Are Protected by Armor Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster planci) on Coral Reef, Phi Phi Islands, Thailand. Borut Furlan/WaterFrame/Getty Images Depending on the species, a sea stars skin may feel leathery or slightly prickly. Sea stars have a tough covering on their upper side, which is made up of plates of calcium carbonate with tiny spines on their surface. A sea stars spines are used for protection from predators, which include birds, fish, and sea otters. One very spiny sea star is the aptly named crown-of-thorns starfish. Sea Stars Do Not Have Blood Closeup of the arms of a sea star under a pier, showing its tube feet. pfly/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0 Instead of blood, sea stars have a circulatory  system  made up  primarily of sea water. Seawater  is pumped into the animals  water vascular system  through its sieve plate. This is a sort of trap door called a  madreporite, which is often visible as a light-colored spot on the top of the  starfish. From the madreporite, the  sea water moves into the sea stars  tube feet, causing the arm to extend. Muscles within the tube feet are used to retract the limb. Sea Stars Move Using Their Tube Feet Tube Feet of Spiny Starfish. Borut Furlan/Getty Images Sea stars move using hundreds of tube feet, which are located on their underside. The tube feet are filled with sea water, which the sea star brings in through the madreporite on its top side. Sea stars can move quicker than you might expect. If you get a chance, visit a tide pool or aquarium and take a moment to watch a sea star moving around. It is one of the most amazing sights in the ocean. Tube feet also help the sea star hold its prey, including clams and mussels. Sea Stars Eat With Their Stomachs Inside-Out Karen Gowlett-Holmes/Getty Images Sea stars prey on bivalves like mussels and clams, as well as small fish, snails, and barnacles. If youve ever tried to pry the shell of a clam or mussel open, you know how difficult it is. However, sea stars  have a unique way of eating these creatures. A sea stars mouth is on its underside. When it catches its food, the sea star will wrap its arms around the animals shell and pull it open just slightly. Then it does something amazing. The sea star pushes its stomach through its mouth and into the bivalves shell. It then digests the animal and slides its stomach back into its own body. This unique feeding mechanism allows the sea star to eat larger prey than it would otherwise be able to fit into its tiny mouth. Sea Stars Have Eyes Common Sea Star (visible eye spots circled). Paul Kay/Getty Images Many people are surprised to learn that starfish have eyes. Its true. The eyes are there- just not in the place you would expect. Sea stars have an eye spot at the end of each arm. This means that a five-armed sea star has five eyes, while the 40-armed sun star has 40 eyes. Each sea star eye is very simple and looks like a red spot. It doesnt see much detail but it can sense light and dark, which is just enough for the environments the animals live in. All True Starfish Are in the Class Asteroidea Marcos Welsh/Design Pics/Getty Images Starfish belong to the animal class Asteroidea. These echinoderms all have several arms arranged around a central disk. Asteroidea is the classification for true stars. These animals are in a separate class from brittle stars and basket stars, which have a more defined separation between their arms and their central disk. Sea Stars Have Two Ways to Reproduce Doug Steakley/Getty Images Male and female sea stars are hard to tell apart because they look identical. While many animal species reproduce using only one method, sea stars are a little different. Sea stars can reproduce sexually. They do this by releasing sperm and eggs (called  gametes) into the water. The sperm fertilizes the gametes and produces swimming larvae, which eventually settle on the ocean floor, growing into adult sea stars. Sea stars can also reproduce asexually through regeneration, which is what happens when the animals lose an arm.

End of the Cold War essays

End of the Cold War essays During World War II, many countries of the world came together to fight against the oppressive nations of Germany, Italy, Japan, and their allies. The United States, Russia, and Great Britain, who emerged as leaders of the fight against these adversaries, formed an alliance that was eventually able to overcome the threat that these three countries posed. However, after the war ended, the relationship between the United States and Russia went sour. While the friendship between the United States and Great Britain remained strong, tension between the Americans and Russians continued to escalate. Both countries built up their nuclear capabilities, while at the same time embarking on large-scale espionage missions against each other. In what later became known as the Cold War, the world was constantly on the brink of total nuclear war, and that threat did not conclude until the late 1980s, some forty years after the stalemate began. President Reagan, along with Soviet Secretary Gene ral Mikhail Gorbachev, diplomatically ended one of the most tense and militarily dangerous periods in the history of the world. Reagans strategic negotiating with the Soviets was the major catalyst that began the end of the Cold War. Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Jimmy Carter in the fall of 1980 to win the Presidency of the United States. Reagan, the former movie star and governor of California, was known for his great communication skills, and his ability to stand strong on his issues while not seeming over-bearing. He came to power on the promise of pulling the United States out of its worst economic state since the Great Depression by cutting taxes, slashing government spending, and lifting a grain embargo against the Russians to aide American farmers. Reagan won easily over Carter, whose term had been plagued by economic struggles and foreign diplomacy blunders such as the Iran hostage affair that ended soon after Reagan took offic...

Article Review #4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Article Review #4 - Essay Example The planners of this operation knew that in order to do so, the true scale of the convoy must be hidden from Axis knowledge; once the Axis do learn of it, their leaders must be kept from knowing its true objectives and their forces must be kept preoccupied far from the intended landing sites of the Allied forces. In his article â€Å"Fortuitous endeavor: intelligence and deception in Operation Torch†, Commander Patch pieced together the planning and execution of this ambitious undertaking and underscored the significance of military deception and signals intelligence to its success. Torch planning commenced in August 1942 with the formation of the Armed Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) led by General Eisenhower. During the planning, signals intelligence (SIGINT) of Allied forces was greatly enhanced when the British’s Government Code and Cipher School (GCCS) broke down high-grade Axis cipher codes, providing a source of intelligence information known as ULTRA. The intelligence information gathered by Allied forces helped shaped the strategic and operational framework of Torch. Particularly, SIGINT sources provided decrypts and Y-intelligence that informed Torch planners about weather conditions in Axis-controlled areas, accounts of Axis order of battle, movements of Axis shipping and naval assets, intentions of Axis leaders, and the Axis’ perceptions of the intent of Allied Forces. The latter helped Torch planners gauge the efficacy of their deception measures, a strategy they employed to help secure their covert operation. Deception measures in war strategies have been valued as far back as the time of Sun Tzu but it has never been used in the scale that Operation Torch intended. Here again, signals intelligence played a key role. The extensive double-agent network controlled by British forces planted information that was to confuse the Axis forces regarding the true objectives of the massive

The Making Of the Black Revolutionaries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Making Of the Black Revolutionaries - Essay Example These small steps come from the struggles faced in everyday life, at school, in church, and the local restaurant. By remaining true to his personal convictions throughout his life, the revolutionary inside was allowed to grow. The book traces this evolution in Forman, and the people that he worked with in the civil rights movement, from being political activists to becoming powerful forces behind revolution. The book is divided into two parts and highlights the evolutionary change from political thought to action for social change. Book One, "A Constant Struggle", details the experiences of the author's early life and his experiences with the state of race relations in America from the 1930s through the 1950s. It is in these years that Forman forms his political views and forges his hunger to pursue social justice. The author is faced with the everyday hatred and discrimination that confronted blacks during this period, yet he does not preach about their evils. The author is a master at describing the situation and letting the reader draw their own conclusions. He tells the story of a black sharecropper that was evicted from her land and home because she registered to vote in Fayette County Tennessee in 1960. The author tells the story in Georgia Mae Turner's own words and simply reminds us, "The price is high for all acts of rebellion and Georgia Mae had paid dearly for hers" (124). It is this constant struggle that is addressed in Book One and contends that revolution is the continuous addressing of these injustices. One of the major threads that run throughout the book is that being a political revolutionary is a day to day struggle that deals with real people and real events. Forman sets the stage for the book in the opening chapters by describing his life in Mississippi and Chicago. Faced with discrimination and segregation, he was able to complete school, serve in the Air Force, and graduated from college. It's in these early years that the author forms his political ideas and their radical overtones. He writes, "This was economic in origin, but not just a matter of money. The issue was sheer survival, the survival of the black working-class in a hostile world" (54). Forman viewed the hostility in the world from the philosophy of W.E.B. DuBois and would be determined to use his talents to correct even the smallest injustice. The book is more than just the author's personal accounts of the struggle for civil rights. Book Two "A Band of Sisters and Brothers, in a Circle of Trust" is an accurate historical record of some of the most important organizations of the period. He details his work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). The author is able to take the reader behind the scenes and meet the players who were influencing their policies and doing the difficult work. The stories are a reminder that the job of revolutionary is often confronted with compromise. When the SNCC, SCLC, and CORE leaders met to discuss their stand on Vietnam in 1966, there was wide disagreement on how to

Tennis Elbow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Tennis Elbow - Essay Example Tennis elbow is likewise observed in individuals who lift a lot at the elbow and who usually do tedious wrist movements. Tennis elbow is now commonly being referred to as tennis epicondylosis, discarding the "itis" suffix, due to the absence of pathological evidence behind the inflammation (Servier and Wilson, 375 and Xplain, 1). The muscles responsible for straightening the fingers and wrist originate from a small bone protrusion on the outer part of the elbow. The pain brought about by lateral epicondylitis is focused on this side of the elbow, from which it might gradually spread through the upper arm and the outer region of the forearm. The soreness is especially felt around the projection if the outer side of the elbow is strained and if the wrist is bent upwards against opposing force. The pain may be occasionally felt farther in the hand while grasping. Once the elbow tendons are inflamed, the tissues would hardly heal by themselves since they are frequently used when the hand grasps or is utilized in daily activities (Conway, 43). Tennis elbow affects both men and women, and is more common to those at the age of 40 and above. The acute type of the injury is commonly observed in active, young athletes while the chronic form exists in older individuals (Brown, 267). A case study involving an individual suffering from tennis elbow was done and will be presented in this paper. The anatomy and causes of the injury were examined; and available treatments were compared based on their efficiency and advantages. Case Report A 50-year old man, fond of playing tennis as recreation, suffered from tennis elbow on his right arm that had been persistent for five months after a tournament. The patient was no longer capable of playing tennis. He already resorted to physical therapy wherein he attended twelve sessions for one and a half months, but his condition appeared to lack significant improvement. The patient was administered cortisone as part of the treatment but the medication provided only minimal comfort and temporary relief. After being injected with the therapeutic drug, he was able to play tennis again with his elbow brace or strap to provide support. However, the temporary comfort lasted for only two weeks. The symptoms eventually returned and the patient described the damage to be his worst experienced pain. Anatomy Involved in the Injury Muscles The muscles important in elbow function are the biceps, triceps, wrist flexors attached to the medial epicondyle, and wrist extensors which are connected to the lateral epicondyle (Thomas and others, 459). Bones and Joints The main bones of the elbow are that of the upper arm and the forearm. The elbow joint has a complex mechanism of movement. The end of the radius bone at the elbow can be characterized as a knob with a cup. It is smooth enough to allow gliding of the edges with the bone ulna (Servier and Wilson, 376). The elbow is the joint that helps bend the arm and rotate the wrist. It is composed of the humerus or the bone of the upper arm, and the radius and ulna which comprise the forearm. These bones are moved at the joints with the aid of muscles, which are in turn attached to the bones by tissues collectively known as tendons.

Religion In Life Of Pi Theology Religion Essay

Religion In Life Of Pi Theology Religion Essay If you stumble about believability, what are you living for. Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe. Life of Pi is a tale about survival, belief in God and coming of age that unfolds while the protagonist is floating in a lifeboat on the Pacific Ocean. Belief in God is clearly a major theme in this novel, and has been the most controversial in reviews of the book. Throughout the novel, Pi makes his belief in and love of God clear. This exhilarating story begins with an old man in Pondicherry who tells the narrator, I have a story that will make you believe in God. The protagonist explores the different issues of religion and spirituality from an early age and survives even 227 days shipwrecked in the ocean. Storytelling and religious beliefs are two closely linked ideas in the novel. On a literal level, each of Pis three religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, come with its own set of tales and fables, which are used to spread the teachings and illustrate the beliefs of the faith. This book defends not only the common spirit behind these three religions, but the rituals and ce remonies of each. Its as if all three religions find harmonious common ground in this character. Seems unlikely, but then again, the protagonist argues passionately that the miraculous happens in our darkest moments. These three religions are really all the same except for small differences in the practice of their faith. Hindus have a great capacity for love; Muslims see God in everything; and Christians are quite devout. In this case, Pi enjoys the wealth of stories, but he also senses that, as Father Martin assured him was true of Christianity, each of these stories might simply be aspects of a greater, universal story about love. Pi remains unattached to any one interpretation of God. Sure, he believes each religion but he doesnt guard their specific tenets jealously. Pi shares a rich parable: Each time the milkmaids try to possess Krishna he vanishes. Likewise, each time a religious faith tries to claim sole ownership of God, true religion vanishes. This story reveals a few of the workings of Pis complex religious beliefs. You may have wondered how anyone could ever hold Hindu, Christian, and Muslim beliefs all at once. Pis answer: without a trace of jealousy. Stories and religious beliefs are also linked in Life of Pi because Pi asserts that both require faith on the part of the listener or devotee. Surprisingly for such a religious boy, Pi admires atheists. To him, the important thing is to believe in something, and Pi can appreciate an atheists ability to believe in the absence of God with no concrete proof of that absence. Pi has nothing but disdain, however, for agnostics, who claim that it is impossible to know either way, and, who therefore refrain from making a definitive statement on the question of God. So Pi sees that this as an evidence of a shameful lack of imagination. To him, agnostics who cannot make a leap of faith in either direction are like listeners who cannot appreciate the non-literal truth a fictional story might provide. Regarding with the plot of this novel, we begin with a little boy, Pi Patel, who is the main character of Yann Martels novel Life of Pi. Hes the son of a zookeeper who runs a small zoo in India. Despite all his familys ideas of modern secularism, Pi is drawn to religion. In his adolescence he adopts not only the beliefs of Hinduism, but Catholicism and Islam as well. Each religion gives Pi something that he felt was missing in his spiritual life so, because of this, he never feels compelled to choose one belief system over the other. Religion will save us, I said. Since when I could remember, religions had always been close to my heart. So, in this case and because of his family, he was first introduced to Hinduism and describes it as the religion of his birth and a deep part of himself. For him, Hinduism is not a religion to be left behind when he discovers another, but rather the intrinsic framework of his own spirituality. Then, when he finds out Catholicism, he studies it through curiosity for what it entails, not because of any dissatisfaction with his current understanding of Hinduism, largely for his own pleasure. The same is true at the time that he later adds the religion of Islam to his quilt of religious beliefs. While the young boy is comfortable with his firm and serious belief in three seemingly disparate religions, the leaders of these religions are obviously not so happy when they learn of his expanded view of religion. As chance would have it, Pis priest, pandit and imam all happen upon Pi and his parents at the same time. This ensuing conversation captures current religious discord as all of the religious leaders agree that Pi cannot be Hindu, Catholic, and Muslim at the same time and despite their prodding, Pi insists that he simply wants to love and adore God. He says: I just want to love God (Martel 69) and will not choose between religions. Then, during his adolescence, he also discovers atheism through his biology teacher, Mr. Kumar. Though Pi greatly respects Mr. Kumar, and calls him his favourite teacher, Pi isnt comfortable exploring all the ideas of atheism or seeing how science holds its own beauty without need for a deity. He decides that atheists are his brothers and sisters of a different faith, but it is not a belief that he understands or chooses to explore. In fact, the concept of atheism frightens him so much. Pi, who asks many questions when he is presented with other religions, is very silent when Mr. Kumar always offers some of his atheistic views: Religion? Mr. Kumar grinned broadly. I dont believe in religion. Religion is darkness. Pi answers: Darkness? I was puzzled. I thought, Darkness is the last thing that religion is. Religion is light. Was he testing me? Was he saying, Religion is darkness, the way he sometimes said in class things like Mammals lay eggs, to see if someone would correct him? (Only platypuses, sir.)(1.7.9 11) and finally explains: It wasnt for fear of angering Mr. Kumar. I was more afraid that in a few words thrown out he might destroy something that I loved. Pis education includes both science and religion; he comes to love both these disciplines but agnosticism the suspension of belief (e.g., I dont have enough evidence to believe in God so I wont commit one way or the other.) drives the boy bonkers. For Pi, belief is one of the most beautiful actions of human life. To live otherwise is to live statically. One can either choose a rich, dynamic life or a static, uncommitted life. Yet, this religious discussion takes place well before Pi is set adrift in a lifeboat filled with wild zoo animals. Here it is the groundwork that shapes the rest of the story, a wonderful and incredible story that is only and exclusively meant to make listeners believe in god. Part two of the book begins the tale of Pis shipwreck and subsequent survival. When Pi is 16, his family decides to sell the zoo and immigrate to Canada to escape the increasingly undesirable political developments in 1970s India. They will get a better price for many of their animals in America, so the family and several of the animals of the zoo begin their journey on a Japanese cargo ship named Tsimtsum. Midway to Midway the ship suddenly and quickly sinks for unknown reasons. When this unfortunate event takes place, Pi finds himself in a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and an adult Bengal tiger. There are no other human survivors, and it is not long before the animals do away with each other-the hyena dispatches the zebra and the orangutan and the tiger dispatch the hyena-, leaving Pi and the tiger alone in the lifeboat. In the same way, we can clearly assert that Pi Patel wins lots of different challenges covering from his psychic and spiritual learning to his basic and essential instinct and survival throughout his horrific and very hard adventures at sea. The most relevant fact is that his unbelievable believing in God, helps him to survive multiple obstacles that he faces on the lifeboat. His study about all three religions, serves as a great defensive safeguard from the difficult harsh situations of life. It is a very long journey filled with too much danger, loneliness and doubt, but most of all an exploration of faith. This astonishing character maintains all his religious beliefs while on the life boat through his daily ritual prayers, which helps to sustain him. Hes faced with physical difficulty almost all time, ranging from salt-water boils, to the threat of death by a tiger, to cold, to starvation, to dehydration, to dementia and many other difficulties. He continues to pray regularly, an d must plead to God in order to survive his ordeal. He remembers the misery he felt after such a long time away from God, saying: It was natural that, bereft and desperate as I was, in the throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to God (Martel 315). With Pi keeping his ritual prayers going, that helped him to survive. Also, he was able to maintain somewhat the religious lifestyle that he had prior to the sinking of the Tsimtsum. He also makes many religious relationships throughout his journey and lots of comparisons between Orange Juice and the Virgin Mary. She came floating on an island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely as the Virgin Mary (Martel 111). Truly, Pis religious faith remained strong throughout his journey on the Pacific Ocean. Straightway, when Pi eventually washes up on the shores of Mexico, and the tiger dashes off into the jungle never to be seen again, he is nursed back to health by locals. While Pi is recovering, two men from the company that owned the Japanese cargo ship come to visit him. They are very anxious because they are looking for answers about what might have caused the ship to sink so then he tells them the fantastic and amazing tale that he experienced and was presented through the book. Obviously, the men do not believe him so they became very upset and tell Pi that they want to know what really happened. They only want to know a rational truth. After some discussion, Pi agrees to tell them another story, another one that does not involve animals or any marvellous fact. His second boring story involves a handful of human survivors, including one who kills the others, even including Pis mother. He affirms that at the end of the story he kills the killer and is left as the only survivor. N either story sheds any light on why the ship might have sunk. Before the men leave, Pi asks him about which of the two stories is the best, since neither provides factual information that they can use. The men who appears at the beginning, who was listening the whole story, agree that the story with the animals was a better story. This is the point of the book. It is the reason why readers are supposed to now believe in god. When it comes down to a choice between realism and fantasy, or science and religion, which story is the best? Religious minded readers may find comfort in the notion that it is better to believe in an uplifting story over more believable, but less entertaining facts. However, this argument is unlikely to be persuasive to atheists or encourage them to believe in God.

The One and Only :: essays research papers

Here at Archiving Early America, you will discover a wealth of resources -- a unique array of primary source material from 18th Century America. Scenes and portraits from original newspapers, maps and writings come to life on your screen just as they appeared to this country's forebears more than two centuries ago. As you browse through these pages, you will find it easier to understand the people, places and events of this significant time in the American experience. I honestly don't think I have ever seen a better movie than American History X in my entire life! I may only be 14, but I have seen a lot of movies. I am an avid fan of them, and this one just takes the cake. Edward Norton is just unbelievable. He is the most talented actor I've ever laid eyes on. His performance in the movie is phenomenal. He delves so deep into his character that he can convince the whole audience easily of his neo-nazi role. The look on his face as he walks back from killing one man in the first seen is purely horrifying. The entire move was dramatic, intriguing, and powerful. It really is moving and emotional as well as scary. It is so true to life, and provides the viewer with such insight into the life and events that create a monster such as Derek Vinyard. It answers many questions I have long awaited an answer to such as what could possibly make someone act as Derek did in this movie, yet left open-ended many others that people such as myself may have. Almost every single scene in the movie was extremely captivating. I can't even go on to say more about the acting, other than if Edward Norton does not win best actor this year, I will go absolutely nuts. It's bad enough he lost it to Cuba Gooding Jr. when he was in Primal Fear, which was yet another incredible performance by him. Edward Furlong, the little kid from T2 is astounding as the confused brother of Derek. I was stunned walking out of the theater after seeing American History X, and I don't think I will ever have the benefit of seeing another movie as good as this one as long as I live.