A friendly reminder about tomorrow’s annual Voice OUT art festival organised by YouthPREP Centre Alamesra, LEAP (Land Empowerment Animals People) and SAWO (Sabah Women’s Action-Resource Group).
WHERE: 5th Floor, Suria Sabah
WHEN: 19th May 2012
TIME: 10am onwards
On the program::
a) Lawyers vs. Students debate
b) Reclaiming Unduk Ngadau
c) Biggest Flashmob in Malaysia
d) Traditional performances
e) Bands
f) Performances
And more. See you there!
PETRONAS Kaamatan & Gawai MV: Kembali by Mia Palencia (by PETRONASOfficial)
Yesterday the DSN crew first saw the video above. What is this large floating sheet of goo? Is it alive? Was it once alive?
The two leading contenders seems to be that it is A) an old whale placenta or B) a rare and enigmatic deep-sea jellyfish. And the answer is…. B)
A) So why is not an old whale placenta? The video is from approximately 5000 feet (1500 m). A placenta would need to sink to this depth without any other organism consuming it. Unlikely given that its rate of decent would have been slow and any organic food source in the deep sea is unlikely to last long.
B) So why is it a jellyfish?* In 1967, F.S. Russell described a very enigmatic deep-sea jellyfish, Deepstaria enigmatica.
During Dive 159 of the U.S. research submersible Deepstar 400 on 22 October 1966 Dr. Eric G. Barham, Dr. George Pickwell, and Mr. Ronald Church collected a remarkable scyphomedusan at a depth of about 723 m in the San Diego Trough…when first noted, the jellyfish’s margin was collapsed and the [outer, convex surface of the umbrella] indented.
In other words it didn’t look like much of a jellyfish. Sound familiar?
On opposite sides of the umbrella are two large tubular shaped processes…It has a yellowish brown tinge…The radial canal system is most striking. It consists of a meshwork, likened by Dr. Barham to wire-netting.
The meshwork, wire-netting like, radial canal system of Deepstaria enigmatica
The gonads are situated along the margins of fan-shape mesenteries, and tend to be broken up into several isolated processes with incurved edges.
Gonads on a fan shaped protrusion
Figure from Russell 1967
Specimen of Deepstaria enigmatica described by Russell 1967
In 1988 Larson and colleagues published further work describing this rare group of jellyfish. They too noted the unique canal system. But it is these researcher’s behavioral notes that I find most interesting.
These two species of Deepstaria display some unique behaviour; peristaltic locomotion and pursing of the bell margin are unknown in other medusae. Probably the peristaltic locomotion is necessary because the umbrella is too thin and the subumbrella musculature too diffuse to support more rapid pulsation. Our observations of both species of Deepstaria suggest that they usually hang motionless with the umbrella open…It seems probable to us that medusae in this genus are large ambush predators in the meso- and bathypelagic environment…we speculate that the feeding behaviour might be as follows. The medusae usually hang vertically and motionless with the bell open; occasional peristaltic contractions probably enable them to swim slowly, at least enough to retard sinking. Because the area of the subumbrella is so large, upward-swimming prey occasionally would swim into it. Once prey enter the large subumbrellar chamber, the contact stimulates rapid contraction of the coronal muscle, pursing the umbrella shut and trapping the prey. As the prey attempts to escape, it contacts nematocysts on the subumbrella, being repeatedly stung until weakened. It may additionally become covered with mucus and further immobilized. Then peristalsis and ciliary movement could transport the prey towards the mouth where the oral arms could grasp and engulf it…’Bagging’ prey in this way is not known in other medusae.
Plate 4 One of the large gelatinous organisms, Deepstaria enigmatica, that have been recently found to be very abundant in mesopelagic waters of the world ocean. This medusa was photographed in Monterey Bay by Kevin Raskoff © MBARI, 1998.
Russell, F. S. (1967). “On a remarkable new scyphomedusan Deepstaria enigmatica”. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 47: 469-473.
Larson, R.; Madin L., Harbison, G. (1988). “In situ observations of deep water medusae of the genus Deepstaria, with a description of D. reticulum sp. nov.”. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 68: 689-699.
*UPDATE: This has now also been confirmed by Dr. Steven Haddock of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Center, an expert on deep-sea and pelagic creatures.
UPDATE2: Steven Haddock provides some much better photos of Deepstaria engimatica on the Jellyfish Watch Facebook page.
UPDATE3: Several comments below suggest the species is Deepstaria reticulum. Important thing is that it is still a jellyfish and already known.
We’re a little late but happy 4/20!
Wind down with the Harry Nilsson classic - The Point (1971) Part 1 (by thehobbitmov)
Tonight! #OccupyKotaKinabalu where you can also buy your official Bersih Sabah t-shirts
WHERE: Lintasan Deasoka, Gaya Street
WHEN: 20th April 2012 (tonight)
TIME: 7 - 9pm
Check out :: Dari Meja Lukisan Mandating S.K.T :: on Facebook
“Saya Bukan Orang Politik atau Aktivis serta tidak memihak sesiapa..Saya adalah Kartunis Bebas…INK saya akan ceritakan tentang ISU dan Realiti di Sabah…”
KOTA KINABALU: With the slogan of ‘No RCI, No Election’, Bersih Sabah committee is targeting 100,000 supporters statewide for its planned peaceful two-hour sit-in protest on April 28.
Its chief Andrew Ambrose, who is better known as Atama, told a press conference yesterday that those who are concerned with the nation’s election system and related Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) issues are invited to gather at Padang Merdeka on April 28 from 2pm to 4pm.
[…]
Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/04/13/bersih-sabah-targets-100000-in-sit-in-protest/
——-
WHAT :: BERSIH 3.0 Kota Kinabalu ::
WHEN: 28 April 2012 // 2pm
WHERE: Padang Merdeka
Follow Twitter: @BERSIHSabah
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bersih-30-Sabah/218741901499558
According toBernama Online, the PKR de facto leader said this was to ensure straight fights in all Sabah seats and give the opposition greater opportunity to break into the Barisan Nasional’s (BN) east Malaysian fortress.
PKR and Sabah’s key opposition party SAPP (Sabah Progressive Party), which is led by former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee, went on a collision course during the Batu Sapi by-election 2010, turning the fight into a three-way contest against BN.
This resulted in the opposition vote splitting between the two parties, launching BN’s PBS (Parti Bersatu Sabah) candidate Datin Linda Tsen Thau Lin to the winning spot with a large vote margin.
But this time, it appears apparent that the Peninsula-based PKR does not want to repeat its mistake in Batu Sapi.
“We (PKR) agree to surrender some of the seats we contested in the previous polls to make way for Sabah’s opposition parties, especially SAPP.
“We are also in negotiation with several local political leaders for the same purpose of ensuring one-to-one fights,” Bernama Online quoted Anwar as telling reporters today after an economic forum in Tanjung Aru near Kota Kinabalu.
The Opposition Leader also expressed hope that other parties in the PR pact would follow in PKR’s lead and stay open to negotiating with Sabah’s opposition parties.
He urged all PR parties against issuing statements that would make the federal pact look “too conceited”, adding that they all shared similar goals.
“However, we do hope that Sabah’s opposition would also support PR’s struggle and not practice state-level politics.
“I myself have observed that the political trend here is more towards Sabah-based politics.
“To PR, what is important is the struggle for the people regardless of race, religion and background,” the news agency quoted him as saying.
Anwar however kept mum on the opposition’s candidate for the position of Chief Minister in Sabah, only saying that the matter would be discussed between PR and Sabah’s local parties “when the time arrives”
The Malaysian Insider reported last month that seat negotiations on the opposition front in Sabah was likely to break down with PR and Sabah-based parties heading on a collision course with one another ahead of an election expected by June.
Separate interviews conducted with each contender for the coming polls indicate that neither side is willing to back down from their demands, although all parties have insisted that their “doors are always open”.
For the local opposition parties, namely SAPP and State Reform Party (STAR), led by political bigwigs Yong and Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan respectively, consensus is only possible if they are allowed to contest the lion’s share of the 60 state seats up for grabs in Sabah.
This, party leaders told The Malaysian Insider recently, is to enable them to push through their “Sabah for Sabahans” agenda, which would see the state reclaim its autonomy.
But for the Peninsula-based PR, largely DAP, all parties should first commit to the federal opposition pact before facing the Barisan Nasional (BN) giants in the polls.
They believe this would strengthen the opposition front in Sabah and on the federal level, as well as help topple the ruling pact from Putrajaya.
For SAPP, the formula is simple — PR contests two-thirds of Sabah’s 25 parliamentary seats while SAPP snaps up two-thirds of the state seats. This, they said, is a win-win formula that would enable all parties to achieve their goals in addition to toppling BN.
Federal seats in east Malaysia’s Sabah and Sarawak are expected to be BN’s focal point come the elections as both states, including the federal territory of Labuan, make up a whopping 57 seats, or 25 per cent of the 222 Parliamentary seats available.
In Election 2008, BN lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority largely due to significant losses in the peninsula, where it won just 85 seats while the opposition swept 80 seats.
BN’s saving grace was in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan where the pact trounced the opposition and made a near-clean sweep, winning 55 parliamentary seats to the opposition’s two.
Today, following numerous MP deaths and defections, BN holds 138 parliamentary seats while opposition parties, including PR’s PKR, PAS and DAP, PSM, SAPP and independents, hold 84 seats in the House.
Laura Loe, the Kota Kinabalu borne babe with the big voice makes us proud at Australia’s Got Talent!
Also check out her YouTube Channel here! - http://bit.ly/Ik98VF
AUSTRALIA’S GOT TALENT 2012 - Laura Loe Sneak Peek - SOON ON SEVEN (by mikeyzl)
verb
Boō-boō-t
A Borneo-Malaysian word that means to pursue or to give chase to some thing or someone.
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