4 Popular Camel Spider Myths and the Truth Behind Them

4 Popular Camel Spider Myths and the Truth Behind Them SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You’ve no doubt seen pictures of camel spiders before, usually accompanied by a story about deadly bites, camel eating, or chasing people across the desert. Thanks to chain letters, camel spiders have a reputation as being fearsome, terrifying predators- but is that warranted? In this article, we’ll be covering the facts and fictions of camel spiders, including where they’re found and what they eat, as well as some biological information about how camel spiders fit into their environment. Read on to learn more about camel spiders! JonRichfield/Wikimedia Commons What’s a Camel Spider? Whether you love the Arachnida class or you’d prefer to never see them again, camel spiders, or Solifugae, are pretty intimidating. Part of that comes from their many names- they’re commonly called camel spiders, but also wind scorpions or sun spiders. Anything that can be called either a spider or a scorpion is bound to look a little off-putting, and Solifugae’s long body, many legs, and large fangs certainly don’t help its reputation. In fact, Solifugae are neither true spiders nor true scorpions. Unlike scorpions, they have no tails, and unlike spiders, they do not belong to the order Araneae and lack spinnerets and silk, though they are arachnids. They vary in size, with body lengths usually falling between 2 inches and 3 inches, though their legs can be several inches long, making them look even larger. They also have what appears to be a fifth set of legs, called pedipalps, that work something like antennae. Pedipalps aren’t used for walking, but do aid in locomotion as they help detect obstacles and food. Camel spiders are often associated with Middle Eastern deserts thanks to popular chain letters that began circulating during the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War. However, that’s not quite accurate- camel spiders have a much wider habitat than most people would care to think about! Where Do Camel Spiders Live? Camel Spiders do live in the deserts of the Middle East, but they also live in a whole lot of other deserts, as well. In fact, they can be found everywhere on earth except Australia and Antarctica. It’s not a surprise that camel spiders can’t be found in Antarctica, but why not Australia? Unfortunately, it’s hard to say- observing solifugids in the wild is quite difficult, and they don’t survive well in captivity. This makes them exceedingly difficult to study. Camel spiders prefer desert biomes, but can also be found in everything from scrub to forests. Because there are some 1,100 subspecies of Solifugae, there’s quite a lot of variance in where they appear and what they eat. JonRichfield/Wikimedia Commons What Do Camel Spiders Eat? So what do camel spiders eat? Is it camels? Humans? Well, it’s a little bit of everything. Camel spiders are carnivorous or omnivorous, so pretty much anything is on the table. This is especially true because camel spiders, unlike many similar creatures, don’t just spin a web and wait for prey to come to them. Solifugids are hunters. They run, and they run fast- about 10 miles per hour. Their speed means they can eat everything from small insects to lizards, birds, and rodents depending on availability. Camel spiders use their chelicerae, a scientific name for the jaws of the arthropod group Chelicerata, to cut into prey. Their chelicerae function similar to a crab’s pincers, allowing camel spiders to do everything from shearing feathers to cutting through bone. However, it’s important to note that, while fast and strong, camel spiders primarily hunt for food that is only a bit bigger than they are. They don’t have venom of any kind, and though their bites can be painful (their chelicerae are no joke), they are simply not equipped for consuming large, strong prey, including camels and humans. Braboowi/Wikimedia Commons Common Myths About Camel Spiders One of the primary sources for interest in camel spiders comes from a chain letter circulated in the early 90s and again toward the beginning of the Iraq War, which reads: From someone stationed in Baghdad. He was recently bitten by a camel spider which was hiding in his sleeping bag. I thought you’d like to see what a camel spider looks like. It’ll give you a better idea of what our troops are dealing with. Enclosed is a picture of his friend holding up two spiders. Warning: not for the squeamish! This picture is a perfect example of why you don’t want to go to the desert. These are 2 of the biggest I’ve ever seen. With a vertical leap that would make a pro basketball player weep with envy (they have to be able to jump up on to a camels stomach after all), they latch on and inject you with a local anesthesia so you can’t feel it feeding on you. They eat flesh, not just suck out your juices like a normal spider. I’m gonna be having nightmares after seeing this photo! Is any of this true? Should we really be fearing that camel spiders are going to creep up on people while they’re sleeping, numb them, and eat their flesh? Let’s take a look at some of the most prominent things people believe about camel spiders and whether or not they’re accurate. Myth 1: Camel Spiders Are Huge Camel spiders aren’t small- they range in size from two to three inches in the body, plus several inches of legs- but many famous photos of the creatures often make them look as if they’re more like a foot or so in length. This kind of trickery can be accomplished with careful positioning, making it look as though a camel spider is the same size as a human leg when in fact it is just a few inches long. Myth 2: Camel Spiders Are So Named Because They Eat Camels According to urban legend, camel spiders are particularly frightening spiders that jump up, grab a camel’s belly, inject them with a numbing venom, and eat chunks from their bodies. Naturally, this horrific story could also happen to people. However, almost none of this is true. Camel spiders don’t jump, as they have no need to- their pedipalps seek out prey in front of them, which is more than sufficient in keeping them fed. Since they don’t jump, they definitely don’t cling to a camel’s body. But could one inject venom into a sleeping camel? Nope, because camel spiders don’t have any venom. Their jaws do more than enough to keep them fed. Though they are hunters, they primarily hunt things that are around their size or slightly smaller, and their chelicerae are quite capable of killing and cutting prey on their own. Once food has been chopped up, it’s liquified and eaten. So in a sense, that last part of the myth- that camel spiders eat chunks of flesh- is sort of true, but there’s no jumping, no venom, and no camels involved. Myth 3: Camel Spiders Chase People As previously mentioned, camel spiders are fast. But as we know, camel spiders don’t eat people and therefore have no real reason to chase them. So why might a camel spider be seen to chase a human anyway? Camel spiders are nocturnal. Desert nights are cooler, and camel spiders do their hunting at night. If you see a camel spider out in the day, it’s probably looking for shade- something a human can offer through its shadow. That’s why it may look as though a camel spider is chasing a person. It might run after a human, pausing when the human pauses, in search of cool shade. Myth 4: Camel Spiders Scream as They Chase People We’ve already established that camel spiders might follow people to stay in the shade of their shadow, but â€Å"chasing† isn’t quite accurate. It should be no surprise that the claim that they scream as they’re chasing people is also false. Camel spiders may stridulate- rubbing together two body parts to produce a sound- but do not actually scream. Stridulation may produce a buzzing or hissing sound, but not a scream. It’s all an urban legend! What’s Next? If you find camel spider biology interesting, AP biology may be the class for you! Take a look through the AP biology syllabus to see if it interests you. Does your spider interest extend beyond camel spiders? Learn about garden spiders and why most people don't need to worry about them here. Need some help studying for AP biology? These AP biology notes can help you out! Whether you just like to gross people out a little bit or you need to calm down after looking at all those camel spider facts, this slime recipe might be exactly what you need.

Why Wharton School of Business and How to Get In

Why Wharton School of Business and How to Get In Established in 1881 as the first business school in the United States, the  University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business is consistently recognized as one of the  best business schools in the world. It is renowned for innovative teaching methods and a wide range of academic programs and resources and boasts the worlds largest and most cited faculty.   WhartonPrograms Wharton School offers a wide range of business programs for students at every education level. Program offerings include   Pre-College Programs, Undergraduate Program,   MBA Program,   Executive MBA Program,   Doctoral Programs,   Executive Education,   Global Programs, and Interdisciplinary Programs.   Undergraduate Program The four-year  undergraduate program leads to a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree for every student. However, undergraduate students can choose from 20 concentration options to broaden their education. Concentration examples include finance, accounting, marketing, information management, real estate, global analysis, actuarial science, and more. MBA Program The MBA curriculum offers a wide range of classes that give students the power to create their own individualized major. After completing the first year of the core curriculum, students have the opportunity to concentrate on their individual interests and goals. Wharton offers 200 electives in 15 interdisciplinary programs so that students can fully customize their educational experience.   Doctoral Program The Doctoral Program is a full-time program offering 10 specialized fields, including accounting, business and public policy, ethics and legal study, finance, healthcare systems, Insurance and risk management, marketing, operations and information management, real estate, and statistics. WhartonAdmissions Applications are accepted online or in the classic paper format. Admission requirements vary by program.

Operationalisation of management and leadership development into Essay

Operationalisation of management and leadership development into practice - Essay Example Leadership and management are the two most confused terms in the corporate world, with both used interchangeably in the corporate parlance. One is thought to be the replacement of the other. Although, management or managers and leaders are two different spheres in an organisational environment, at many places both of them overlap each other. So, we will look at the various aspects of leadership and management with respect to the company GE (General Electric) and see how the two integrate while maintaining the disparity to make this organisation number one enterprise and importantly the best training or developmental ‘school’ for future leaders and managers. To discuss, the management and leadership development, the paper will first critically discuss the current literature on leadership development, focusing on the two leadership developmental processes, leadership training (Flowers 2004) and leadership development programs. Then the paper will delve into pros and cons o f each process to judge whether both the leadership development processes can work effectively with specific emphasis on GE. In recent years the importance of leadership in the organisation has become an area of principle interest. Leadership has been noted to impact corporate culture (Ruchlin 2004), employee commitment and response (Chiok 2001) and the overall performance of the organisation (Peterson, Smith, and Martorana 2003). A precursory overview of the current literature on leadership in the organisation suggests that there are currently two different programs that are utilized for improving the outcomes of leadership: leadership training (Flowers 2004) and leadership development programs (Pernick 2001). While each type of program appears to have the same intent in terms of optimizing leader efficiency, both types of programs are different with each having pros and cons. With the realization that optimizing leadership in the organisation is such an important, there is a

Intellectual property protection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Intellectual property protection - Essay Example The scope of the work will cover the conventions in design management and intellectual property rules and processes. In addition to this, relevant elements of international intellectual property law as regulated by the key stakeholders like the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) will be integrated into the study to form the parameters of the discussion Patents are rights to new or useful ideas (Motro, 2012). Thus, if a designer creates a new idea and a new concept, that individual can seek to register it as a patent. A patent is used for inventions and there is the individual who registers a patent has the general authority or license to confer rights for replication of the design or concept (Cannady, 2010). The fundamental requirement for a patent registration is that the idea being patented by a designer is new and useful (Dworkin and Taylor, 2011). Thus, in the world of design, as long as a design is useful and new, a designer can register it. The idea must be one that does not exist and it can be attained if a design can be applied in a scientific way or manner. The advantage of patents over other forms of registration of intellectual property is that it excludes others (Waller, 2011). This protects the legal rights and limits replications through licensing opportunity which brings the inventor royalties (Yu, 2007). This can be easily extended to different nations around the world (Yu, 2007). The disadvantage of patents on the other hand is that it lasts for only 20 y ears (Waller, 2011). It is expensive to register a patent and the requirements are extremely complicated. There is also a long time requirement for people registering patents. Another approach to the registration of a design is to use trademarks. Trademarks are however different from patents and might not be applicable to some forms of designs (Bowen, 1994). The essential role of trademarks is that it gives a commercial

Cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology Information processing systems in the brain are studied under Cognitive psychology (Sternberg, 2008). Cognitive psychology is a broad range of study, which includes the study of internal mental conditions, thinking, and language, solving problems, processing information, artificial intelligence, development of infants, feelings and how the mind performs these functions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Development of Cognitive psychology has provided many significant points in research and has turned out to be a most important discipline in psychology that looks inside the mental processes, for example, solving problems, language, and memory, the study of how an individual thinks, perceives, remembers, learns, and then behaves. In the later part of the 19th century several psychologists became increasingly interested in the field of cognition. Considering theories of earlier behaviorists, for example Jean Piaget in the early part of the 19th century with his attention on the thoughts of children, B.F. Skinner in the mid-19th century with his operant conditioning, or Noam Chomsky who challenged B.F. Skinners idea some years later. After many doubts and uncertainties of the ability of the research attained from the behaviorists, currently what is known as cognitive psychology replaced these theories. Therefore, the interest with the study of cognition starts to increase and cognition turns out to be an enormous concept in psychology, which has been known as the cognitive revolution, and then became to be known as cognitive psychology. A significant point in the advancement of cognitive psychology begins with a psychologist named Wilhelm Wundt, who was the first individual to identify the subject of psychology, in the last part of the 18th century (Taylor, 2005). Wundt thought that psychology dealt with the examination of experience (structuralism), which he described in a table of the brain that was similar to the periodic table. Another psychologist, whos name was William James, challenged Wundts findings. The research that James conducted, allowed James to recognize that, Mental processes must have a purpose; they must be for something (Willingham, 2007, p. 15). In other words, the experience of an individual was not what was important but the meaning of the experience to the individual (functionalism). Additionally, William James took part in the James-Lange Theory. This theory indicates that an individuals emotion that is experienced is based upon the decided action in which the individual engaged in. After st ructuralism (Wundt) and functionalism (James), a theorist emerged to challenge the theories of James and Wundt, this theorist was named John Watson. Watsons theory is known as behaviorism and was based upon his own beliefs. After Wundts structuralism and James functionalism, a theorist named John Watson emerged and challenged both Wundts and James theories by his own beliefs, which is known as behaviorism. Behaviorism can be described as what an individual is doing or is observed to be doing by another individual. Watsons theory indicated, first study the individuals behavior and make an assumption, then determine the basic relations between the stimuli and the response. Watson believed that a stimuli and a response can be interchangeable. After Watsons theories of behaviorism, the decline of behaviorism began and another theory was started to study the mind, this other theory compared the mind to a computer. This theory turned into the bond connecting behaviorism and cognitive psychology. As technology advanced, this comparison of the mind to a computer allowed psychologists to understand more of the internal human, which became a major part in how theorists studied human thought processes and behaviors. Behavioral observation of psychologists transformed curiosity of the mental process was brought about by the development of the computer (Rosenzweig, Breedlove, Watson, 2005). This development offered a fascinating image of the human mind, which associated the computer to the brain. The computer codes used, offered a step-by-step model of how information obtained from the environment each day is recorded, stored, and recovered to provide a response. The formation of computer comparison gave psychologists the idea to begin a plan for information processing models of the human thought process and behavior. The goal of a cognitive psychologist is to understand the action of humans performing intellectual tasks and to form assumptions of the summary of the methods motivating the behavior. Cognitive psychologists offer theories about what is occurring inside an individuals mind on the basis of that individuals external behaviors. Without a doubt, there is no way to recognize for sure what is happening inside the brain of a human being. What is important is that the theory be accurate in determining an individuals action in a challenging situation. Cognitive Psychology is an extensive subject that deals with the different functions taking place inside the mind of an individual. Through the growth of this subject, psychologists are at this time able to understand humans behaviors and thought processes. Reference Rosenzweig, M.R., Breedlove, S.M., Watson, N.V. (2005). Biological Psychology: An Introduction to Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience (4th ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc. Sternberg, J. R. (2008). Cognitive Psychology (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Publishing. Taylor, L. (2005). Introducing Cognitive Development. New York, NY: Psychology Press Inc. Willingham, D.T. (2007). Cognition, The Thinking Animal (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Their Eyes Were Watching God Critical Essay

In 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God writes about an African American woman named Janie Crawford who is in search of her inner self. While maturing, she develops more sexual desires which led to her three marriages. In The Kiss of Memory, Tracy L. Bealer talks about how love can be so many things and can be a struggle for Janie from her three very different marriages. Developing sexual desires made Nanny realize that a new life should be put ahead of Janie. Nanny then forces Janie into her first marriage with a man named Logan Killicks. Nanny chooses Logan because she feels marriage to a rich man will shield Janie from both sexual availability and thankless labor. † (Bealer) But Janie thinks different, while she is with Logan, she doesn’t feel loved or comfortable with him. Always having the responsibility to farm and work, she just felt used. After meeting Joe Starks one day, she finds herself thinking that â€Å"he spoke for change and c hance† (28). She thinks that being with Joe will get her out of her unhealthy marriage with Logan, and so she left.Having the mayor of Eatonville being her husband, she feels as if she is on top of the world. But all that changes over time when he gets abusive verbally and physically which made her feel as if she’s an object rather than a person. This all led to the end of her second marriage. After her two marriages had failed, she met Tea Cake who made her feel special and happy again. He’s supportive and respectful of Janie’s beliefs unlike Killicks and Starks. â€Å"Naw, it ain't alright wid you. If it was you wouldn't be sayin' dat.Have de nerve tuh say whut you mean† (104). He wants to show her how to speak her mind and be happy and not afraid to say what she wants to say. Although she has had some fights with Tea Cake, she finds someone whom she trusts and loves. In the end, â€Å"Tea Cake's rabies-included madness and the fact that Janie sh oots her husband in self-defense† (Bealer) is the end of their relationship. With every action comes a consequence, in this case it was when Janie, when she started developing sexual desires.Because of her kiss with Johnny, she is forced to get married. With her first husband, she found her second, and with her second, she found her true love, Tea Cake. He loved and respected her like no other and allowed her to speak her mind. Killicks and Starks were both too demanding which led to the fall of their marriage. These memories all came from a single kiss as a 15 year old girl. She is taught to be strong throughout her whole life, but she never really found her true self, just a bunch of memories within her.

A Christian Reading of Hamlet Essay - 1379 Words

A Christian Reading of Hamlet In a famous article, The Christian Tragic Hero, Poet W. H. Auden defines a Christian tragic hero according to the Judeo-Christian view that all people are moral agents and own responsibility for their actions. One of his examples is Macbeth, who listens to the witches and is tempted to commit a crime that he knows is wrong. Auden says that the audiences response to Macbeths fall is, What a pity it was this way when it might have been otherwise. This contrasts with the pagan tragic hero, like Oedipus, who is bound by fate. Because Oedipus can do nothing about his ancestry, the audiences response is, What a pity it had to happen this way. 1 Just as Macbeths tragedy begins when he†¦show more content†¦Indeed, he is echoing the well-known Bible warning: For Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of light. Therefore it is not great thing though his ministers transform themselves, as though they were the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. (II Corinthians 11:14,15)4 Hamlet expresses a moral awareness here, just as Macbeth did when admitted to himself and his wife that murder was wrong. Hamlet is admitting that he could be deceived. He goes on in the above soliloquy, though, to justify himself saying he will use The Murder of Gonzago play to see whether or not the ghost is lying. The Geneva Bible on Ghosts Shakespeares England was patriotically Protestant. From a Protestant perspective there is even more than just the possibility of deception. The Bible prohibits any consultation with the dead. Let none be found among you that...asketh counsel of the dead...because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth cast them out before thee. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) Just as Hamlet acknowledges in the above quotation, the result of consulting the dead is being cast out--being damned. The tragedy of King Saul in the Bible illustrates this. Saul, the first King of Israel, has turned his back on God, but he is still looking for advice before going to battle against the Philistines. He goes a medium andShow MoreRelatedChristianity in Shakespears Hamlet1148 Words   |  5 Pageslives their life. Christianity plays a strong role throughout Hamlet by William Shakespeare. When reading the play one must think of the controversies of the time when Shakespeare writes the play. Reformation and Renaissance opinions are reflected throughout. Shakespeare deals with very controversial attitudes and religious questions dealing with death, the existence of purgatory, morality, murder, suicide and marriage in his play Hamlet. 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