The worlds biggest flower

Rafflesia is the world's largest, the heaviest, the rarest and the one of the most stinkiest flowers in the world. It grows to 1 metre wide and weighs about 10 kgs. Rafflesia, a native of rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo in the Indonesian Archipelago, is the largest flower in the world. Interestingly, Rafflesia is a parasitic plant without any leaves, stems and roots (It has only nutrient-absorbing threads to absorb nutrients from the host on which it lives) but for the largest flower.

Kingdom

Plantae

Division

Magnoliophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Rafflesiales

Family

Rafflesiaceae

Genus

Rafflesia

Species

R. arnoldii

Rafflesia is a huge speckled five-petaled flower with a diameter up to 106 cm, and weighing up to 10 kg. Rafflesia flower has a small life of 5-7 days. Rafflesias have their stamens and pistils fused together in a central column, producing a corona, or crown, in the shape of a ring. The reddish brown colors of the petals, are sprinkled with white freckles. The smell attracts the carrion flies and then pollination occurs. After 9 months of maturation, Rafflesia plant opens into a cabbage-sized bud. The sexual organs are located beneath the rim of the disk.

Facts About Rafflesia

• Rafflesia is the largest individual flower. Titan arum bears the largest inflorescence.
• Rafflesia is a parasite which attaches itself to a host plant, Tetrastigma vine, which grows only in undisturbed rainforests, to obtain water and nutrients.
• The genus Rafflesia is named after adventurer and founder of the British colony of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles.
• Dr Arnold is remembered in the species name as Rafflesia arnoldii.
• Rafflesia is the official state flower of Sabah in Malaysia, as well as for the Surat Thani Province, Thailand.
• Rafflesia manillana, the smallest species in the genus Rafflesia is also has 20 cm diameter flowers.
• Rafflesia flowers are unisexual.
• Forest mammals and tree shrews feed on Rafflesia fruit which is 15cm in diameter, filled with smooth flesh and thousands of tiny hard coated seeds.
• It is believed that rafflesia is related to poinsettias, violets, passionflowers, and other members of the order Malpighiales.
• The rotten smell of the flower is due to the reddish tentacle-like, branched ramentae, inside the corolla of petals.
• Rafflesia is an endangered or threatened genus.
• Rafflesia arnoldii does not have chlorophyll, as all the green plants have and so it cannot undergo photosynthesis

Largest Flower - Rafflesia

Rafflesia is the world's largest, the heaviest, the rarest and the one of the most stinkiest flowers in the world. It grows to 1 metre wide and weighs about 10 kgs.

Rafflesia, a native of rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo in the Indonesian Archipelago, is the largest flower in the world. Interestingly, Rafflesia is a parasitic plant without any leaves, stems and roots (It has only nutrient-absorbing threads to absorb nutrients from the host on which it lives) but for the largest flower.

Kingdom

Plantae

Division

Magnoliophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Rafflesiales

Family

Rafflesiaceae

Genus

Rafflesia

Species

R. arnoldii

Rafflesia is a huge speckled five-petaled flower with a diameter up to 106 cm, and weighing up to 10 kg. Rafflesia flower has a small life of 5-7 days. Rafflesias have their stamens and pistils fused together in a central column, producing a corona, or crown, in the shape of a ring. The reddish brown colors of the petals, are sprinkled with white freckles. The smell attracts the carrion flies and then pollination occurs. After 9 months of maturation, Rafflesia plant opens into a cabbage-sized bud. The sexual organs are located beneath the rim of the disk.

Facts About Rafflesia

• Rafflesia is the largest individual flower. Titan arum bears the largest inflorescence.
• Rafflesia is a parasite which attaches itself to a host plant, Tetrastigma vine, which grows only in undisturbed rainforests, to obtain water and nutrients.
• The genus Rafflesia is named after adventurer and founder of the British colony of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles.
• Dr Arnold is remembered in the species name as Rafflesia arnoldii.
• Rafflesia is the official state flower of Sabah in Malaysia, as well as for the Surat Thani Province, Thailand.
• Rafflesia manillana, the smallest species in the genus Rafflesia is also has 20 cm diameter flowers.
• Rafflesia flowers are unisexual.
• Forest mammals and tree shrews feed on Rafflesia fruit which is 15cm in diameter, filled with smooth flesh and thousands of tiny hard coated seeds.
• It is believed that rafflesia is related to poinsettias, violets, passionflowers, and other members of the order Malpighiales.
• The rotten smell of the flower is due to the reddish tentacle-like, branched ramentae, inside the corolla of petals.
• Rafflesia is an endangered or threatened genus.
• Rafflesia arnoldii does not have chlorophyll, as all the green plants have and so it cannot undergo photosynthesis.

Growing Rafflesia

As Rafflesia is one of the rarest plants on earth, people started to study them since 1929. They tried to cultivate the plant artificially, as the plant takes 9 to 21 months until a bud flowers - only to last for less than a week. But all the experiments ended in failure.


LARGEST INLORESCENCE

Similar in line with the Rafflesia, which is the largest single flower, The titan arum - Amorphophallus titanum, is the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world of flowering plants. Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari discovered the Titan Arum in Sumatra in 1878.
Titan arum is also the native of rainforests of Sumatra. Titan arum belongs to the family Araceae. Titan arum is also called as Corpse flower due to its rotten flesh smell when the flower is in bloom. The Titan arum plant can reach to a height of 7 to 12 feet and weigh 170 pounds. In Indonesia its called as bunga bangkai.
In Titan arum, both male and female flowers grow in the same inflorescence at the base of the spadix. The female flowers open first, then in a day or two the male flowers open. This prevents the flower from self-pollinating. In Titan Arum the spathe is green outside and dark burgundy red inside, and is deeply furrowed. The spadix is hollow, and pale yellow. The upper, visible portion of the spadix is covered in pollen, while its lower extremity is spangled with bright red-orange carpels. When the Titan arum reaches full bloom, the spadix collapses from its own weight and the spathe withers away, possibly never to bloom again. In the wild, the leaf can reach 20 feet tall and 15 feet

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The Parrot Fish—A Sand-Making Machine?

WHERE does sand come from? There are many sources. But the one described in this article might surprise you. It is a fish that grinds coral into fine sand—the parrot fish!

Parrot fish live in various tropical waters throughout the world. After swallowing crushed coral, they extract tiny food morsels and then expel the rest in the form of sand. To do its job, the parrot fish uses its powerful beaklike jaws and strong back teeth. Some species can live as long as 20 years, without wearing out their teeth.

In some areas, by busily chomping away on dead coral, the parrot fish produces more sand than any other natural sand-making process. Some researchers estimate that a typical parrot fish produces hundreds of pounds (kg) of sand a year.

Swarthy parrot fish

The parrot fish performs another vital task. As it grazes intensively on dead, algae-coated coral and vegetable material, it also keeps the coral clean. The peculiar diet of parrot fish thus maintains the reef in good condition. Where they and other grazers (herbivores) are absent, the reef quickly gets choked with algae and seaweed. “Some suggest that modern reefs would not exist in their present form if it were not for herbivores,” explains the book Reef Life.

All this activity during the day requires a good rest at night, and here again parrot fish are unusual. Nighttime is dangerous on the reef, since many predators are at large. Parrot fish usually sleep concealed under a ledge, but such a hiding place will not always protect them from a hungry shark.

For additional safety, some parrot fish wrap themselves up for the night. They secrete a protective mucus that envelops them, looking somewhat like a transparent nightgown. Marine scientists believe that this foul-smelling wrapping protects them from predators.

The parrot fish is one of the most visible and attractive fish of the reef. Male and female parrot fish often come in a whole palette of vivid colors, which change as they grow to adulthood. But best of all, parrot fish become quite tame in areas where they are not overfished. So they are some of the easiest fish to observe.

Getting up close to a parrot fish while watching and listening to it munch on coral is something few explorers of a coral reef will ever forget. And as parrot fish parade their finery, they keep their environment healthy for other reef creatures and us humans to enjoy.

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What can fish teach us about how to reduce car crashes?

Car accidents kill more than one million people and injure approximately 50 million each year. Yet, millions of fish can swim together in a school with virtually no collisions. How do fish do it, and what can they teach us about how to reduce car crashes?

Consider: Schooling fish learn about their surroundings through their eyes and a special sense organ called the lateral line. They use these senses to perceive the location of other fish around them, and they then react as follows:

1. Traveling side by side. They match the speed of the fish beside them and maintain their distance from them.
2. Approaching. They draw nearer to fish that are farther away.
3. Collision avoidance. They change direction to avoid contact with other fish.

Based on those three behaviors of schooling fish, a Japanese car manufacturer designed several tiny robot cars that can travel in a group without colliding. Instead of eyes, the robots use communication technologies; instead of a lateral line, they use a laser range finder. The company believes that this technology will help them to create “collision-free” cars and “contribute to an environmentally friendly and traffic-jam-free driving environment.”

“We recreated the behavior of a school of fish [by] making full use of cutting-edge electronic technologies,” says Toshiyuki Andou, the principal engineer of the robot-car project. “We, in a motorized world, have a lot to learn from the behavior of a school of fish.”

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This is What Happens to Your Body When You Eat an Avocado a Day

Your Liver Produces More Glutathione
If you eat an avocado a day, your liver will produce more of the antioxidant Glutathione, which is the number one antioxidant, but how it helps your metabolism is that it also contains magnesium which is a key factor in more than 300 metabolic processes.
You Get Monounsaturated Fats
Avocados are terrific because they provide you with more than 100 calories of monounsaturated oleic acid, and those fats are used as slow burning energy which helps your metabolism. When you take in saturated fat, you don’t get any benefit because they are unlikely to be used to burn for energy and are stored instead.
So, for weight loss, avocados are perfect, because there has been a great deal of research that shows that monounsaturated fats help to improve weight loss, and even helps to treat diabetes, while carbohydrates and polyunsaturated fats are responsible for weight gain and glucose levels spiking.
You Get Omega-9 Fatty Acids
Even though an avocado has about 160 calories, they also contain omega-9 fats. In fact, avocados are one of the best sources on the planet for these fats, and they have been studies extensively over the past decade or so.
These omega-9 fatty acids have been shown in studies to reduce the levels of LDL cholesterol, while raising the levels of HDL, which is the good cholesterol. Also, omega-9 fats are good at absorbing vitamins and antioxidants from the foods that contain them so you get those as well.
You Get Satisfied
Besides the other benefits that have been discussed so far, avocados can also help you with controlling hunger, which obviously affects your metabolism and your weight loss. The way that avocados improve what nutrients you are getting from a meal helps you to control your hunger and lose weight faster. Plus, since they contain so much water they keep you hydrated which is also an important part of the metabolic process.
You Get Better Insulin Control
Another major factor in metabolism is the glucose levels in your body. Insulin is extremely powerful, removing any excess glucose so that you don’t suffer from serious problems.
If there is excess glucose it can be stored in the liver and in your muscle tissue, but after filling those areas up as much as possible, insulin removes the glucose to fat cells. This storage can lead to low blood sugar, which not only can lead to diabetes but also makes you want carbs, which is detrimental to your weight loss.


Sources:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-18602/why-you-should-eat-avocados-every-day-if-you-arent-already.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/041241_avocado_nutritional_health_superfoods.html
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/02/22/avocado-weight-management.aspx

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9 Amazing Ways To Use Orange Peels

How great are oranges? They’re probably one of the best fruits. They basically come pre-sliced, housed in their own container. All you have to do is peel and eat, no cutting involved. They contain a high amount of vitamin C and only about 85 calories per orange, but more importantly they contain no fat, cholesterol or sodium.
Besides their beneficial nutritional makeup, oranges provide many different health benefits ranging from improved immune system to heart health to improved skin health and even anticancer properties. But did you know that the peelings can provide several benefits too? Try hanging onto your orange peels next time and test out some of these hacks for yourself.
While these tricks or hacks have not been scientifically proven, many people will attest to there uses. Below are nine ways you benefit not only from the orange, but the peel too!

1. Help coughs

Orange peel powder can help to reduce coughing and phlegm build up. Simply mix the powder with an 8 ounce glass of water and you have yourself a natural cough medicine!

2. Clean stainless steel

Rub the outside of the orange peel against your stainless steel sink after you’ve rinsed it. It’ll not only help the stainless steel to shine, but it’ll work to deodorize the sink as well. The citric acid in the orange peel helps add the shine to your stainless steel and it can even be used on stone, like granite, counter tops!

3. Make a DIY cleaner

Simply add a few orange peels and vinegar to a glass jar. Leave it to sit in the fridge for a few weeks, shaking the mixture every few days. Then, strain the liquid into a spray bottle and add water. You can use this just like any other cleaner. Vinegar acts as a very good disinfectant and the orange peels give the cleaner a pleasant scent!

4. Soften brown sugar

If you’ve got clumpy, hard brown sugar, a great way to soften it is by adding an orange peel.

5. Repel mosquitoes

Apparently mosquitoes don’t like limonene, which is what makes up 95% of an orange peel. By grating the peel around the areas you like to sit outside, you might be able to keep mosquitoes at bay.

6. Start a fire

You need to dry out the orange zest part of the peel, ensuring that no fruit is left. You can leave them out in the sun, or place them near a heater. Once they’re dry and brittle, they’re ready for use. Arrange the dried peels in a pyramid shape along with any other twigs or paper you might have and then light them.

7. Deodorize your shoes

Smelly feet? Don’t worry about it. You can try adding some orange peels to a satchel and leaving them overnight in your shoes. It should help to absorb the odor and kill the bacteria causing it.

8. Add to your bath

Since vitamin C can be absorbed by the skin, some people choose to add orange peels to their baths to get it that way. Make sure you really clean the peel first if you opt for this route. Alternatively, you can grind up a dried orange peel and add the powder to your bath.

9. Deodorize your fridge

An orange peel can be used to keep your fridge fresh. Simply cut an orange in half and remove the fruit from the peel. Fill that half of the peel with salt and place it in the refrigerator. It will help keep things smelling fresh for about two weeks.

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Fun and Easy Ways To Sync Your Android To Windows 10

Continually plugging in your phone to your computer in order to move files can be daunting and time-consuming, to say the least.
However, if you use an Android device (as well as Windows 10), I’ve got good news for you.
You can easily connect your Android devices to your Windows 10 computer without having to physically plug it in!
How? By syncing.
Here is a simple guide to setting it up:

1. Cortana

Cortana is an intelligent personal digital assistant for Windows 10 that uses voice command to perform basic tasks such as getting information, saving things and a lot more.

Windows 10 comes with Cortana by default. At the time of writing, Cortana is only available to Android users as a beta product.
The Cortana app on Android extends Cortana’s functionality across Android devices. It operates with the same data sources as Windows Cortana which means it can do most of the things Cortana does on Windows PC and phones.
Cortana has a “Notebook” feature where personal information such as reminders, location data, contacts and interests are stored. This feature makes syncing between your phone and your PC a breeze!
All the things you put into your Cortana Notebook on Windows 10 will be available for use in the Android version of the app.
For instance, if you have Cortana set up to monitor the web for available job postings in your industry or to deliver flight information, those options will be immediately available to you use across all your devices!

2. File Explorer

If you want to transfer files (photos, documents, videos, songs etc.) between your Android and Windows 10, syncing your mobile device and the Windows 10 File Explorer will help you do this easily.
To do this though, you’d need a USB cable.
Here’s how to go about it:
Get a micro-USB cable or a USB Type C cable. Once plugged in, open the File Explorer in your computer.
Have in mind that you may have to change the USB connection on your phone to allow Windows to access it.
To do that, simply look for “MTP” or “Computer transfer” in your phone. The name may vary here based on the type of phone you’re using, but it’s always obvious.
After activating your phone to allow Windows to access its storage and after you’ve opened File Explorer, go over to “This PC” and open it. In the “This PC” section, you’ll find your phone there.

By syncing your Android device and Windows 10 this way, you’d be able to easily access the files stored in your phone and move things around as you want.

3. DropBox

DropBox is a cloud storage service for your photos, videos, docs, and files.
The service starts with 2GB of free storage space. If you want more space, you can always get 1TB for $9.99 a month; or if you want more free extra space, there are couple of opportunities for that.

Windows 10 comes with a useful DropBox app that allows you to save, access, view, and move files around in the storage space.
The Windows 10 version of the app also has an auto camera-upload which can be very useful on the mobile front (and yeah, it works pretty well with Android).
Anything you add to DropBox will automatically show up on all your computers and phones, including your Windows 10 and Android devices. This allows anywhere-anytime accessibility.

4. Google Drive

Over the past few years, Microsoft has integrated some of their apps and services with Android.
For instance, you can find app and services such as Office, OneNote and OneDrive in the Android system. Cortana has also been made available on Android.
The integration has given Microsoft the opportunity to expand their reach and horizon.

On Windows 10, there’s integrated Google Drive functionality which allows syncing once you download and add Google Drive into your file structure.
The syncing works much like OneDrive with folders and files in it.

5. OneDrive

For those who don’t know, OneDrive is a Microsoft owned cloud storage service. OneDrive works much like DropBox and Google Drive and also allow anywhere-anytime accessibility.

OneDrive offers users free storage space of about 15GB. What’s more, users can get more space as follow:

• 500MB for referring a friend
• 100GB for a mere $1.99 per month
• 1TB (plus Office 365) for $6.99 per month

Good thing is, some new Android devices now come with OneDrive by default as some Android manufacturers have began to include the service in their phones.

The Bottom Line

If you use Android and Windows 10, life can become easier, faster and more enjoyable if you sync things up versus physically plugging them in every now and then.
So, go ahead, apply the information shared above and create an awesome user experience for yourself.
Happy syncing!

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Even Steve Jobs Didn’t Let His Kids Use iPads: Why You Should Limit Technology Use for Your Kids

There’s no denying we live in a digital age. With a click of a button, we can access any bit of information ever known to humanity. With another click, we can end up wasting an hour of our day watching cats play piano. What I’m trying to say is that the prevalence of technology today is a double-edged sword.
While it’s easy enough for adults to become consumed by their iPads and smartphones, the real danger is raising children who are downright addicted to electronic screens. Even Steve Jobs, who invented all the best gadgets currently in your home, didn’t allow his children to use the iPad.
Others in the tech industry follow that same idea, sending their children to schools that strictly forbid the use of technology, instead encouraging face-to-face interaction and creative problem solving.
Though it might seem hypocritical for parents who utilize technology on a daily basis at their jobs to put a limit on their children’s use of the same technology, it’s hard to argue with the fact that using technology too much results in:

1. A lack of creativity

When a young child plugs into the World Wide Web, everything is done for him. He can watch a cartoon, play a game, or get answers to his homework questions. If children are taught they can simply go to Google and get an answer to a question, they’ll more than likely stop trying to figure things out on their own. Especially if getting done quicker means they can go back to watching cartoons even sooner.
While it’s important to teach children how to use the Internet as a learning tool, it shouldn’t be the only method they use to solve problems. If they learn to rely too much on technology for answers, they’ll be completely lost when the technology is unavailable to them.

2. A lack of curiosity and passion

Along with a lack of curiosity, children who rely too much on technology will lose their passion for learning.
Remember before the Internet, when you wanted to know something, you actually had to spend a decent amount of time looking it up? You had to go to the library, find the right section, then the right book, then the right page…it took time! But when you finally got your answer, the entire experience left you feeling fulfilled. And that knowledge became part of your long-term memory.
Now, if you need to know something, you can look it up immediately; and you’ll most likely forget it by the end of the day. Children need to understand that learning is a process. If we don’t limit their access to technology, they’ll never truly love to learn.

3. A lack of patience

Since information, communication, and entertainment are now available at the push of a button, we’re becoming less and less patient when we have to spend time waiting. I know I’m guilty of closing a webpage because it didn’t load within ten seconds. But I’m not the same way with most other aspects of life, because I know certain things take time (like cooking a good meal, or driving to the beach).
However, our children are growing up in a world filled with instant gratification. If they get too used to things being automated and happening “on demand,” they’ll have a hard time adjusting to the real world as they grow into young adults.
On the other hand, if parents limit their children’s use of technology and place ground rules around when and where they can use their iPad or laptop, they’ll learn much more than they would given free reign of the electronics in the household.

4. Lack of exercise

It doesn’t take much to prove that sitting in front of a screen all day results in a sedentary lifestyle. And it will eventually become a vicious cycle that will be incredibly hard to break the older your child gets.
Children need to exercise every day. If parents don’t limit their children’s technology usage, they’ll spend all day sitting around the house, making up excuse after excuse as to why they can’t go outside and run around for a bit. Unfortunately, a lack of exercise at a young age could lead to exacerbated health problems as they grow.

5. Decreased test scores

The London School of Economics conducted a study of 130,000 school children, and found that test scores increase when schools put a limit on technology. Across the board, scores rose 6.4% when phones were banned in high schools.
Underachieving students actually faced a 14% increase in scores when their phones were disallowed in school. One of the main contributing factors to such a drastic increase is that students were no longer distracted on a minute-by-minute basis by their phone vibrating with constant Facebook updates and incoming text messages.
Again, while electronics can serve a purpose in the classroom as a learning tool, if used incorrectly, they can be a huge disruption to the learning process.

6. Lack of human connection

Another study was recently conducted by researchers at UCLA  which focused on the use of technology and its effects on children’s ability to socialize face-to-face. Two groups of children were studied: one was a group of sixth grade students who were enrolled in a week-long educational camp which did not have any access to electronic devices, and the other group of sixth graders were kids who were left to their own devices, as it were.
After the week had ended, each group was shown pictures of people’s faces as they exhibited different emotions. The children who attended the technology-free camp performed significantly better at identifying the correct emotion shown. They were much more adept at picking out facial and non-verbal cues than their cohort who had spent the week using technology as they pleased.
If we want our children to understand the importance of communicating with each other in a personable manner, we need to begin by limiting their access to technology.

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