The World’s Most Expensive Egg

Gladly, this is not something you can cook and eat – something this expensive is better off displayed and admired by many.

Faberge eggs are considered the world's most costly and luxurious eggs.

It was the Easter of 1885, and Russia was having the most wonderful festivity of the Orthodox faith. In this same year, Czar Alexander III and Czarina Maria Fedorovna will be celebrating the arrival of their 20^th anniversary.

Eager to give his wife the most exceptional gift for their anniversary, Czar Alexander III made an appointment with a young jeweler, Peter Carl Fabergé. Faberge, known to have impressed Maria’s eye for his beautiful creations of jewelries, was ordered to present a special gift for the Czarina. He arrived at the palace on Easter morning carrying what seemed to be a plain, enameled egg. However, to the surprise of the Empress, the egg revealed a golden yolk. And inside of that is a golden hen; and veiled within is a diamond miniature of the Imperial crown holding a tiny ruby pendant.

Empress Maria was so charmed by the Czar’s gift, and so Fabergé was given a special order to create another Easter egg for the following year. The following year marked another impression to the royal palace, thus giving freedom to Fabergé to create more Imperial eggs in the future. Czar Alexander presented his requirement to Fabergé that each egg must be unique, and each must hold a surprise inside for the Empress Maria.

When Alexander III died in 1894, his son Nicholas continued the royal tradition and presented an Imperial egg both to his mother, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna, and his wife Empress Alexandra Fedorovna.

The Imperial eggs became famous and Fabergé made other models for a few selected clients, though his first priority will always be to the Czar. 

Due to its popularity, the royal eggs were later called Faberge eggs. In the James Bond film, Octopussy, a Faberge egg was used by Bond. He took the original egg and replaced it with a replica egg with a recording tool.

As each egg were made of expensive metals and gemstones, only 57, out of 65 known Faberge eggs survived to the current day. The last auction sale in 2002 sold the famous 1913 Faberge Winter egg for $9.58 million.

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The World’s Longest Lizard

The longest known lizard is Varanus salvadorii. 

It is a monitor lizard that can be found in Papua New Guinea. With this given, Varanus salvadorii is known to exhibit the same behavior of rising up on its hind legs to check its surroundings. Similar to other monitors, V. salvadorii possesses an impressive anatomical attribute that facilitates easier breathing when running. However, it is thought to have better stamina than other monitors found on the island of New Guinea.

Crocodile Monitor: jdmpics.com

Physical Characteristics:

• It has a blunt, peglike, bulbous snout 
• It’s body is dark green with yellow spots 
• It’s tail is covered with bands of yellow and black
• It has long, fanglike, straight teeth adapted to hook into fast-moving preys,  such as carrion in the wild, rodents, and bats

 (image taken from jdmpics.com, visit the site for more interesting stuff)

This reptile likes to hang itself onto branches using its rear legs and occasionally uses its tail for grasping or holding. According to Herpetologist Robert Sprackland, the tail of the V. salvadorii is 210% of its body length. Not only does it serve as a perfect counterbalance when leaping from one tree branch to another, its tail is also used to whip attackers as part of its defense mechanism.

It is said that this reptile evades human contact, which is good, since its bite can be fatal due to infection. 

Other common names for Varanus salvadorii are the following:

• Crocodile Monitor 
• Papua(n) Monitor 
• Tree Crocodile 
• Salvadori’s Monitor, and 
• Artellia

The full length of Varanus salvadorii can reach up to 244 cm (8.01 ft), though it has been speculated that it may still increase its length.

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Why Do Certain Animals Glow?

 

By the time it gets dark, or say, deep under the ocean where there is no sunlight, certain animals glow naturally.

This ability to naturally glow in the dark is defined as bioluminescence. This happens when a creature capable of producing and emitting light as a result of a chemical reaction converts chemical energy to light energy. 

Bioluminescence can occur in two ways:

•  when a creature has a light-emitting organ called “photophore,” which can be simple or complex, capable of producing light after the digestion of a prey (example: cephalopods like the Sparkling Enope Squid)
• as a product of symbiosis with bacteria after it enters the animal’s body. These bacteria will reside and multiply, which will later result in a collection of very bright lights.

Normal luminescent reaction involves the oxidation of a pigment called “luciferin” to produce light:

luciferin + O₂ → oxyluciferin + light

Now, this process is extremely slow, until an enzyme called “luciferase” acts as a catalyst to the reaction, presenting cofactors such as ATP or calcium ions. Thus giving this much faster process reaction:

luciferin + ATP → luciferyl adenylate + PP_i

luciferyl adenylate + O₂ → oxyluciferin + AMP + light

Examples of bioluminescent creatures:

Angler Fish

Angler fishes are bony fishes that have at least one long fleshy filament growing from the middle of its head, used for predation. Most anglerfishes live in the deepest, darkest part of the ocean. The filament in the middle of its head is bioluminescent, and acts as a lure. When it glows, smaller fishes and other deep-sea creatures get attracted to the light. As soon as they swim towards it, the angler fish will strike and eat them up.

philpage3d.com

Flashlight Fish

The flashlight fish has a large bioluminescent organ beneath its eyes containing bright red bacteria. This fish uses its light to attract prey, find food, and communicate with other flashlight fishes. (image from philpage3d.com, visit the site for more interesting stuff)

Firefly

Fireflies belong in the beetle family of insects in the order Coleoptera. They are sometimes called lightning bugs because they produce light from the lower abdomen, varying from yellow, red, and green, with no ultraviolet or infrared frequencies.

Their bioluminescence is for attracting mate at night. Currently, there are 2,000 known species of fireflies living in the tropical environment. Their larvae also glow and are often called “glow worms.”

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Fun Ways to Open a Pickle Jar

I’m a real fan of pickles, but opening a pickle jar has given me nothing but frustration. Recently, I’ve been surfing the net for tried and tested methods for opening glass jars and lids, and here are the ones that enjoy the top positions in user rankings:

• You can easily open a pickle jar by running the top of the lid under hot water for a minute or so. As to avoid burning your palms or hands, use a towel to twist the cap off. (CAUTION: Make sure that the jar is not COLD. A sudden change in temperature will result the jar to break) 

• Using a sharp knife, very carefully pierce a hole on the pickle jar’s lid to release the contained pressure, and then slowly twist the cap off. (CAUTION: Be careful when using sharp objects such as knives or forks. For kids, always ask for an ADULT's assistance when opening a pickle jar)

• Use the palm of your hand to “gently” tap the bottom of the pickle jar. This will help release the “air pocket” at the top part of the jar, around the lid.

• Use a spoon or any hard object to tap the edge of the lid to help loosen it up. You may also “gently” bump the jar lid on a kitchen counter, around approximately half the lid. And then try to twist the cap off.

• Visit the nearest local store and look for a sheet of rubber. It’s thin, and can be easily applied around the lid to give you a firmer grip, without slipping your fingers, when twisting the metal cap.

image source: watch.discoverychannel.ca

OR, you may also watch this cool video and open the pickle jar with a dash of Physics!

(image taken from a clip in The Daily Planet, visit the site for more interesting stuff)

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