Unique floating lab showcases aliens of the sea

 In this handout photo taken March 30, 2014, provided by University of Florida neurobiologist Leonid Moroz, a species of comb jelly called a Beroe has swallowed another comb jelly, called a Bolinopsis. Moroz is on a quest to decode the genomic blueprints of fragile marine life, including these mysterious comb jellies, in real time - on board the ship where they were caught.

 This March 30, 2014, photo shows a sea salp and some mysterious creatures named comb jellies, caught by University of Florida neurobiologist Leonid Moroz while diving in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida.

 In this March 29, 2014, photo, University of Florida neurobiologist Leonid Moroz and graduate students Emily Dabe, center, and Gabrielle Winters examine an invertebrate species they caught by net in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida.

 This March 30, 2014, photo shows a mysterious comb jelly, called a Beroe, caught in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida. It is being studied in a unique University of Florida shipboard laboratory.

 This image from video, taken March 29, 2014, shows University of Florida molecular biologist Andrea Kohn in front of a genomic sequencing machine attached to a special tilting tabletop that bobs with rough waves in this shipboard laboratory during a sail in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida

 This March 30, 2014, photo shows a collection of mysterious sea creatures named comb jellies, caught in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida and about to be studied in a unique shipboard laboratory. The sack-shaped light pink one on top, called a Beroe, later will swallow its larger cousin.

 In this March 30, 2014, photo, University of Florida neurobiologist Leonid Moroz looks through a microscope to dissect nerve cells from a mysterious marine creature called a comb jelly, while on board a ship off the coast of Florida.

 This March 30, 2014, photo, University of Florida graduate student Rachel Sanford works with samples of mysterious sea creatures called comb jellies in a unique floating laboratory, sailing off the coast of Florida.

 In this March 30, 2014, photo, University of Florida neurobiologist Leonid Moroz works with mysterious sea creatures called comb jellies outside his unique floating laboratory, aboard a ship off the coast of Florida

This March 30, 2014, photo shows University of Florida researchers working with invertebrate species caught in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Florida and headed for a unique shipboard laboratory where the scientists are studying the animals' genetics in real time.

Taloqan - City of Afghanistan

Tāloqān (Persian/Pashto: تالقان, also transcribed Tāleqān or Tāluqān) is the capital of Takhar Province, in northeastern Afghanistan. It is located in the Taluqan District. The population was estimated as 196,400 in 2006.

History

The old city to the west on the riverside was described by Marco Polo in 1275 CE as:
 "a castle called Taikhan, where there is a great corn-market, and the country round is fine and fruitful. The hills that lie to the south of it are large and lofty. They all consist of white salt, extremely hard, with which the people for a distance of thirty days' journey round, come to provide themselves, for it is esteemed the purest that is found in the world. It is so hard, that it can be broken only with great iron hammers. The quantity is so great that all the countries of the earth might be supplied from thence."
In 1603, Taloqan ("Talhan") was visited by another European explorer, Bento de Góis, who was traveling with a caravan from Kabul to Yarkand (then the capital of Kashgaria).

 A coin minted in Taloqan during the reign of ’Ala ed-Din Mohammed ibn Tekesh (1200-1220), the ruler who suffered Genghis Khan's invasion.

Recent history

Taloqan was the last major city to fall to the Taliban, in January 2001, after a siege which claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians. Its capture by the Taliban also triggered a mass exodus in the population, with civilians fleeing towards Imam Sahib and the Panjshir Valley. Irregular Northern Alliance brute soldiers managed to stop the Taliban advance to the north and to the east of the city, but weren't able to retake it. Taloqan was besieged again in a bloody siege in November 2001 by Northern Alliance soldiers, a mass grave containing the bodies of 70 women and children was found, they had been brutally murdered for no reason other than possibly being the families of captured fighters and were ethnic Pashtuns. 

Takhar Provincial Governor Office in Taloqan

Taloqan in Islamic sources

The testament of the Islamic prophet, Mohammad, indicates that the first Mahdi is called “Ahmad”, and then we look into the narrations that refer to Al-Yamani, such as the narrations of the black standards, the treasures of Taloqan, the standards of Khurasan and the standards of the east, because there are no narrations that describe them as being disobedient or insubordinate to the standard of Al-Yamani, for he who revolts against him (Al-Yamani) will be cast into the Fire, and all the narrations confirm that those standards will fight to pave the way for the advent of Imam Al-Mahdi.
Following the same narrative chain, Al-Baqir narrated the following on the authority of Jabir: [Allah Almighty has a treasure in Taloqan; it is of neither gold nor silver but consists of twelve thousand (men) in Khurasan, having “Ahmad Ahmad” for emblem. They will be led by a Hashemite young man riding a gray mule and wearing a red headband. I can almost see him crossing the Euphrates; should you hear of his coming, rush to him even if you have to crawl over the snow.].
Taloqan (a region in Afghanistan) that at that place are treasures of Allah, but these are not of gold and silver but consist of people who have recognised Allah as they should have. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 59)
 

Demography
Taloqan is dominated by Tajiks (60%). The second largest group are the Uzbeks (32%), followed by Pashtuns and Kyrgyz people.

Six states that do not have an airport

In an era where technology knows no bounds; can you believe these six countries have no airports at all?
Check them out

Monaco
Monaco does not have an airport, but there is a heliport in the Monégasque district of Fontvieille. The nearest airport to Monaco is Côte d'Azur Airport in Nice, France.

Andorra

There is no airport in Andorra. The nearest airports are in Lérida, Barcelona, Toulouse and Gerona. By both population and by land area, Andorra is the largest country not to have an airport. However, there are three heliports.

San Marino

There are no airports in San Marino. There is a single heliport, and also a small airfield with a 680m grass runway. The nearest airport to San Marino is Rimini's Federico Fellini Airport in Italy.

Vatican City

The nearest airport to the Vatican City is Rome Ciampino Airport. It would be physically impossible to fit a whole airport into the 0.44 km2 land area of the Holy See, but there is a heliport in the western corner, which is used for visiting heads and officials of the city-state.

Liechtenstein

Currently, Liechtenstein only has a heliport in the southern town of Balzers. The nearest international airports are St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport in Switzerland and Friedrichshafen Airport in Germany, which have few scheduled flights. The nearest major airport is Zurich Airport in Switzerland, which has rail services to Buchs and Sargans. From these towns, it is possible to catch a Postal Bus or a train to Liechtenstein.

Palestine

The Yasser Arafat Internation Airport was opened in  Gaza, Palistine in 1998. The airport, however ceased to exist in 2001 after being severly damaged by Israeli military forces. Its destruction left Gaza Airstrip as the only serviceable runway in Gaza. The closest public airport in the area is El Arish International Airport in Egypt.

Kunduz - City of Afghanistan_Part_3_Last

Demography

Ethnolinguistic groups of Afghanistan

The city of Kunduz has a population of about 304,600. Ethnic Pashtun people make up the largest percent followed by Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Arabs and a few others.
The Kunduz "Arabs" are Persian-speaking and have been so since time immemorial. However, they claim an Arab identity. There are other such Persian-speaking "Arabs" to the north and west, between Kholm, Mazar-e Sharif and Shibarghan. Their self-identification as Arabs is largely based on their tribal identity and may in fact point to the 7th and 8th centuries migration to this and other Central Asian locales of many Arab tribes from Arabia in the wake of the Islamic conquests of the region.

 

Administration
The city of Kunduz is divided into 6 districts: Khan Abad, Ali Abad, Char Dara, Dashti Archi, Qala -e-Zal and Imam Sahib. Kunduz has 9 representatives in the lower house and 2 in the upper house and has a provincial council. The most influential leader of Kunduz was Arif Khan, who was a governor of Kunduz Province and was shot dead in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan in the year 2000. Soon after the incident his brother Haji Omar Khan took his responsibility and was appointed as the Governor of Kunduz (2000-2001). In the Karzai administration, Haji Omar Khan was elected to be a representative of Kunduz Province in the Lower House (Wolasi Jirga) and at a time serve as an Advisor Minister to the President Hamid Karzai.
The famous figure from the Kunduz area was Haji Nazikmir Khan. He was the leader and the Grand Malik of the Zakheil tribe. Haji Nazkmir was the wealthiest person in the province. He owned thousands of acres of farmland, apartment buildings, commercial buildings, Russian car agency, and many hotels. He and his family were also known for having a close relationship with the royal family of Afghanistan.
 

Notable people

•  Javed Ahmadi (1992-), player in the current Afghanistan national cricket team


•  Suleyman Al-Qunduzi (1297-1374), Islamic scholar and theologian


•  Nazik Mir Sarfraz, Afghan Parliament member killed in a suicide bomb in Baghlan province

20 Mega-Tall Buildings By 2020

 This week, we covered news that Hitachi was building a superfast elevator to zip passengers from the first floor of the CTF building in Guangzhou, China, to the 95th in 43 seconds. That kind of speed, 20 meters per second, is almost a requirement if a person is going to reach their destination in the kind of super tall buildings popping up around the world.
The story inspired us to look at the growth of extreme skyscrapers and devote this week's Tasty Tech slideshow to the 20 buildings expected to reach "mega tall" status by 2020, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
In 2000, the average height of the tallest buildings was 1,230 feet. By 2010, that average rose to 1,440 feet and by 2020, the average height is expected to reach 1,962.
CTBUH predicts that within this decade, we will see a kilometer-tall building. That's 3,280 feet!
Here are 20 buildings -- from the tallest to the "shortest" -- that the council expects to see piercing skylines by 2020, if they aren't already.

Kingdom Tower, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Height to tip: 3,281
Number of elevators: 59
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2019

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE

Height to tip: 2,723
Number of elevators: 58
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completed 2010

Ping An Finance Center, Shenzen, China

Height to tip: 2,165
Number of elevators: 76
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2016

Seoul Light DMC Tower, Seoul, South Korea

Height to tip: 2,101
Number of elevators: 43
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion date not scheduled

Signature Tower, Jakarta, Indonesia

Height to tip: 2,093
Number of elevators: unknown
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion scheduled for 2020

Shanghai Tower, Shanghai, China

Height to tip: 2,073
Number of elevators: 106
Top elevator speed: 18 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2015

Wuhan Greenland Center, Wuhan, China

Height to tip: 2,087
Number of elevators: 84
Top elevator speed: 12.5 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2017

Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Height to tip: 1,972
Number of elevators: 96
Top elevator speed: 6 meters/sec
Completed 2012

Goldin Finance 117, Tianjin, China

Height to tip: 1,957
Number of elevators: unlisted
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion scheduled for 2016

Lotte World Tower, Seoul, South Korea

Height to tip: 1,824
Number of elevators: 58
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2016

Doha Convention Center Tower, Doha, Qatar

Height to tip: 1,808
Number of elevators: unknown
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion date not scheduled

One World Trade Center, New York, United States

Height to tip: 1,792
Number of elevators: 71
Top elevator speed: 10.16 meters/sec
Completed 2014

The CTF Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China

Height to tip: 1,739
Number of elevators: 86
Top elevator speed: 20 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2016

Tiajin CTF Binhai Center

Height to tip: 1,739
Number of elevators: 59
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completion scheduled for 2017

Dalian Greenland Center, Dalian, China

Height to tip: 1,699
Number of elevators: 37
Top elevator speed: 9 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2017

Pentominium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Height to tip: 1,693
Number of elevators: 23
Top elevator speed: 8 meters/sec
Completion date not scheduled

Busan Lotte Town Tower, Seoul, South Korea

Height to tip: 1,674
Number of elevators: 45
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completion scheduled for 2020

Taipei 101, Taipei, Taiwan, China

Height to tip: 1,667
Number of elevators: 61
Top elevator speed: 16.8 meters/sec
Completed 2004

Kaisa Feng Long Center, Shenzhen, China

Height to tip: 1,640
Number of elevators: 61
Top elevator speed: unknown
Completed 2011

Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai, China

Height to tip: 1,622
Number of elevators: 91
Top elevator speed: 10 meters/sec
Completed 2008

Kunduz - City of Afghanistan_Part_2

Climate

 Kunduz has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk) with hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is generally low except from January to April, with summers almost always rainless

History

Kunduz is the site of the ancient city of Drapsaka. It was a great center of Buddhist learning and very prosperous during the 3rd century AD.
The city used to be called Walwalij and the name Kuhandiz began to be used from the Timurid time.
In the 18-19th centuries it was the capital of a rather large eponymous sometimes independent, sometimes autonomous Uzbek-Tajik khanate that in 1820s encompassed land from Khulm to Pamir[disambiguation needed]. This khanate was finally destroyed by Afghanistan in 1859. Between one hundred and two-hundred thousand Tajiks and Uzbeks fled the conquest of their homeland by Russian Red Army and settled in northern Afghanistan. In the early 20th century, under the governance of Sher Khan Nasher, Kunduz became one of the wealthiest Afghan provinces. This was mainly due to Nasher's founding of the Spinzar Cotton Company, which continues to exist in post-war Afghanistan.
Kunduz is the most important agricultural province which produces wheat, rice, millet, and other products and obtained the nickname of "the hive of the country."
Kunduz is the centre for the north east provinces, and was the stronghold of the Taliban during its regime. It was the last major city held by the Taliban before its fall to US-backed Afghan Northern Alliance forces on November 26, 2001. The city is strategically important because it is the only way connecting Takhar province and Badakhshan provinces, which play a critical role in the existing government.

 

 

11 stunning American college chapels

College chapels are often central places of worship for students, providing a space for solitude separate from the day to day stresses of student life.
Many of the chapels are massive structures meant to replicate the marvels of European architecture, while others are more intimate spaces for worship. The majority of college chapels seem to be non-denominational and are open to all religious beliefs.
We've compiled a list of some of the most beautiful chapels on American college campuses below:

 Bowdoin College — Bowdoin College Chapel

    Completed in 1857, the chapel's has undergone several renovations recently, with the building's towers being rebuilt stone by stone over the past decade.

    Stanford University — Memorial Church

    A part of Stanford's central quad, MemChu was one of the earliest non-denominational churches in the American West, reflecting the university founders' religious views.

  University of Notre Dame — Basilica of the Sacred Heart

    The mother church of the Congregation of Holy Cross in the United States, Notre Dame's basilica has the world's largest collection of 19th Century French stained glass.

 Duke University — Duke University Chapel

    One of the tallest buildings on Duke's campus, the chapel's entrance features 10 figures important to Methodism, Protestantism, and the American South — including John Wesley and Robert E. Lee.

 University of Pittsburgh — Heinz Memorial Chapel

    The chapel's 73-foot high stained glass windows are among the tallest in the world and are designed to represent tolerance, courage, temperance, and truth.

 Loyola University Chicago — Madonna della Strada Chapel

    Loyola University's chapel is built on the edge of Lake Michigan and recently recieved a new 70 rank and three manual pipe organ.

 Massachusetts Institute of Technology — MIT Chapel

    The Eero Saarinen designed MIT Chapel is notable for its inclusion of natural light and has been non-denominational since it was dedicated in 1955.

 United States Naval Academy — Naval Academy Chapel

    The remains of American Revolution naval hero John Paul Jones are held in a bronze and marble sarcophagus in a crypt beneath the chapel.

  Princeton University — University Chapel

    One of the largest university chapels in the world, Princeton's University Chapel was designed in the early 20th Century to evoke the Gothic style of the English Middle Ages.

 Columbia University — St. Paul's Chapel

    Although part of the university's original master design plan, St. Paul's Italian Renaissance style is markedly different than the other neoclassical buildings that define Columbia.

 Vassar College — Vassar Chapel

    The majority of the Vassar Chapel windows were designed in the beginning of 20th Century as memorials to the college's alumnae and were meant to reveal the school's early history.