Organs in the Human Body: The Heaviest, The Smallest, The Most Complex

June 8, 2008-June 14, 2008

The liver is the heaviest organ in the human body. Its average weight is between 1.4 to 1.6 kilograms or 3.1 to 3.5 pounds. It is also the largest internal organ and the largest gland in the human body.

The smallest organ in the human body is believed to be the pineal gland. It is an endocrine gland found within the brain. Its normal size is comparable to the size of a pea (about 8 millimeters only) The pineal gland is also known as epiphysis cerebri, epiphysis or pineal body.

The most complex organ in the human body is obviously, the brain. The brain is the control system of the central nervous system (CNS) which is responsible for behavior. It produces our every thought, action, feeling, memory and experience of the world. Approximately one hundred billion nerve cells or neurons with complex patterns of connectivity compose the brain.

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Snakes: The Longest, The Most Venomous, The Smallest

June 1, 2008-June 7, 2008

The reticulated python (Python reticulatus) is the world’s longest snake. It is a non-venomous python species native to Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. It can grow up to about 30 feet (9.1 meters) in length. The longest reticulated python ever recorded reaches a maximum length of 32 feet and 9 inches, somewhat longer than the largest anaconda.

The most venomous snake in the world is the inland taipan or the fierce snake (Oxyuranus microlepidotus). Its venom is 50 times more toxic than that of the Indian cobra and 650 to 850 times more toxic than that of the western or eastern diamondback. It can kill as many as 250,000 mice or 100 human adults in just about 45 minutes. Though known as the most venomous snake, the inland taipan’s bites may somehow be treated with antivenin.

The thread snake (Leptotyphlops bilineatus) is known as the smallest snake in the world. It is a blind non-toxic snake species found in the Lesser Antilles, particularly in Martinique, Barbados and Saint Lucia. Its average length is only 11 centimeters or 4.5 inches. As small as it is, it can be slithered through a pencil if the lead is removed.

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Cities: The Most Polluted, The Cleanest, The Greenest

May 25, 2008-May 31, 2008

This post is 2 days delayed...:)

Linfen (临汾), a prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, China is asserted as the most polluted city in the world. This assertion was based on a study conducted by the Blacksmith Institute, an NYC based organization supporting pollution-related environmental projects. The said study states that Linfen’s atmosphere contains very large accumulations of coal dust and other particulates coming from automobile and industrial emissions. About 3,000,000 people are potentially affected by this pollution.

The world’s cleanest city, according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, is Calgary. Found in the province of Alberta in Canada, Calgary was ranked #1 (among the other 215 candidate cities) based on the following criteria:

• Quality and availability of hospital and medical supplies
• Levels of air pollution and infectious diseases
• Efficiency of waste removal and sewage systems
• Water potability
• Presence of harmful animals and insects

Reykjavík, the capital and largest city in Iceland is deemed as the world’s greenest city. It was chosen as such based on the impressive strides it has undertaken towards eco-friendliness and the aid it extended to millions of its residents to live better and have greener lives. Reykjavík was followed by the city of Portland in Oregon and the Brazilian city of Curitiba.

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Trees: The Tallest, The Shortest, The Oldest

May 18, 2008-May 24, 2008

The world’s tallest existing tree species is the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) found within the Redwood National Park in California, United States. According to modern verified instruments, it soars up to a height of 115.55 meters or 379.1 feet, comparable to five times the height of the Statue of Liberty. It is about 16 meters taller than Coast Douglas-fir, the second tallest tree.

The dwarf willow (Salix herbacea) is pronounced as the shortest and smallest living tree species in the world. It thrives in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions including the Pyrenees, Alps, Rila and Appalachian Mountains. Its height ranges from 1 to 6 centimeters only. It’s hard to find dwarf willows with a height that exceeds up to more than 2.5 inches.

With an oldest measured age of 9,550 years old, the oldest tree species in the world is the Norway spruce (Picea abies). It is native not only to Norway but also to various countries in the European continent. In fact, the oldest known Norway spruce (image on top) was discovered in Sweden in 2008. The determining of its age was done through carbon dating.

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Islands: The Largest, The Smallest, The Most Remote

May 11, 2008-May 17, 2008

Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat) is the largest island in the world. It covers an area of 2,166,086 square kilometers or 836,109 square miles. It is nearly thrice as large as New Guinea, the world’s second largest island. Greenland is found between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. It is a self-governing province of the Kingdom of Denmark.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world’s smallest island is none other than the Bishop Rock. Bishop Rock is literally a small rock with an uninhabited 45-meter tall lighthouse on it. It lies at the westernmost portion of the Isles of Scilly in the United Kingdom along with the other 1,040 islands. It has an area of only about 2 acres, a size comparable to the summer’s pasturage of at least one sheep.

Bouvet Island is the most remote or most isolated island in the world. It is an uninhabited sub-Antarctic volcanic island found in the South Atlantic Ocean which is a dependency of Norway. The nearest land from it is the uninhabited Queen Maud Land in Antarctica, over 1,600 kilometers (994 miles) away to the south. On the other hand, the nearest populated land from Bouvet Island is Tristan da Cunha (a dependency of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena), 2,260 kilometers (1,404 miles) away and South Africa, 2,580 km (1,603 miles) away.

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Whales: The Smallest, The Biggest, The Deadliest

May 4, 2008-May 10, 2008

The dwarf sperm whale, scientifically known as Kogia sima, is the world’s smallest whale. It has a length that exceeds up to 2.7 meters only and a weight that reaches about 250 kilograms. It is occasionally even smaller than bigger dolphins.

The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is hailed as the biggest of all whales. It is also deemed to be the most enormous animal to ever have existed on Earth. It reaches up to an extreme length of 33 meters and weighs about 181 metric tons or even heavier than that.

The deadliest whale is believed to be the killer whale or the orca (short for its scientific name, Orcinus orca). It is a versatile and very opportunistic predator, hunting in packs for fishes, seals, sea lions and even large whales and sea birds. Additionally, it usually swallows its prey whole.

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