Nepenthes Rajah: The Plant with an Appetite

Nepenthes rajah is a carnivorous pitcher plant species endemic to Borneo. Its most distinctive features—giant urn-shaped traps, called pitchers, containing water and digestive fluid—allow it to catch and digest insects and even small vertebrates and mammals. These pitchers also host a number of organisms with which it is thought to form symbiotic relationships. Called nepenthebionts, many of these organisms are so specialized that they cannot survive anywhere else. What are some examples? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Zebroids: Zorses, Zonies, and Zedonks

Bred since the 19th century, zebroids are zebra hybrids—crosses between zebras and any other equid, or horse-like animal. Zebroids physically resemble their non-zebra parent but are striped like a zebra, though typically only on a portion of their body. Hybrids are generally named using a combination of the parent animals’ names. Thus, a zebra hybrid may be known as a zorse, zebrule, zony, zetland, zebrass, zeedonk, zonkey, zebronkey, zebadonk, zebret, or zebrinny, among others. What is a hebra? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Terror Bombing

Terror bombing is a military strategy that involves deliberately bombing civilian targets in order to damage enemy morale and elicit panic. During World War II, the legality of area bombardment—the bombing of general regions rather than specific targets—rested on the language of treaties drafted in a time before aerial mass bombardment was possible. Despite diplomatic attempts, such language was not updated until after the war. How have treaties since 1945 treated the targeting of noncombatants? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Right of Return

The right of return is a principle in international law which asserts that members of an ethnic or national group have a right to immigrate to and become naturalized citizens of a country that they, the destination country, or both consider to be that group’s homeland, independent of prior personal citizenship there. This belief is sometimes reflected in immigration laws that facilitate or encourage the reunion of a dispersed ethnic population. Why is the concept controversial in some countries? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Glyptodon

An ancient relative of the armadillo, the Glyptodon was a large, armored, herbivorous mammal that that lived during the Pleistocene epoch and became extinct just 10,000 years ago. Covered by a protective shell composed of more than 1,000 one-inch-thick bony plates, the Glyptodon also possessed a bony cap on its skull and a ring of bones on its tail for protection. Slow moving, it was approximately the same size and weight as what kind of car? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Year and a Day Rule

The year and a day rule was an English legal principle holding that a death could not be deemed murder—or any other form of homicide—if it occurred more than a year and one day after the act that was allegedly its cause. Though it became enshrined in common law, the rule was finally abolished in 1996. Now, if an act can be proved to have caused a death, it can constitute murder regardless of how much time has passed. In what other ways has the specific time limit of a year and a day been used? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Great Smog of 1952

Early in December 1952, a cold fog caused Londoners to burn more coal than usual. When the resulting pollution was trapped by the dense mass of cold air, concentrations of pollutants built up dramatically. By the time it lifted, the smog had caused or advanced the deaths of thousands of people—most of whom were very young or elderly or had pre-existing respiratory problems—leading to a new focus on the dangers of air pollution. Even indoor events were cancelled during the Great Smog; why? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

The Legend of El Dorado

El Dorado is the legendary golden city sought by 16th- and 17th-century explorers in the New World. The legend is said to derive from a custom of the Chibcha people of Colombia who each year anointed a chieftain and rolled him in gold, which he ceremonially washed off in a sacred lake while casting offerings of emeralds and gold into the waters. The supposed location of the fabled city shifted as new regions were explored and ruled out. In what places did the conquistadors search for El Dorado? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Cymothoa Exigua

Cymothoa exigua is a parasitic crustacean that attaches itself to the tongue of the spotted rose snapper and feeds on its blood. Eventually, the organ atrophies, and then something remarkable happens: C. exigua replaces the fish’s tongue with its own body by attaching to the muscles of the tongue stub. The fish is able to use the parasite just like a normal tongue, apparently without any further damage. Are there any other cases of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Cité Soleil

One of the largest slums in the Northern Hemisphere, Cité-Soleil is a very densely populated shantytown located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that is generally regarded as one of the nation’s poorest and most dangerous areas. There are no police, no sewers, no stores, and little to no electricity. Its population, composed mostly of children and young adults, is beset by extreme poverty, violence, disease, and the presence of armed gangs. Approximately how many people live in Cité-Soleil? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary