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I wanted to know a bit more about the Milky Way so I used his information and the one below to learn about it. 

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I wanted to know a bit more about the Milky Way so I used his information and the one below to learn about it. 

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If you're on a dark countryside hill some night, look up at the sky. Arcing overhead, a faint band of light may appear that looks like milk spilled across the sky. The ancient Romans called the band via lacteal, which means "milky road" or "milky way."

The band of light that you see isn't actually milk, of course-it's a galaxy. A galaxy is a huge bunch of stars clustered together in space. Our solar system-which includes the sun, Earth, and seven other planets-is part of this galaxy, called ... you guessed it ... the Milky Way.

The Milky Way contains hundreds of billions of stars like our sun. (And like our sun, most of these stars have at least one planet orbiting them.) Earth is located about halfway between the center of the Milky Way and its outer edge.

Light at the galaxy's center takes 25,000 light-years to travel from Earth. (A light-year is the distance light travels in one year.) So that means if you could see the core of the Milky Way, you'd be observing light that possibly left Earth before humans first settled in North America.

At the center of the Milky Way is one of the strangest and deadliest things in the universe: a black hole. Black holes are born when a giant star runs out of energy. The star implodes, causing an explosion called a supernova. The star's heart collapses under its own weight. It's squashed into a tiny dot you can't see.

Scientists suspect a black hole lurks at the center of most galaxies. The Milky Way's black hole is called Sagittarius A*. (A* is scientist-code for "A-star.") Its gravity, or attractive force, is so strong that it pulls in anything that gets too close, including stars. So we're lucky that Earth is located far away from the center!

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If you're on a dark countryside hill some night, look up at the sky. Arcing overhead, a faint band of light may appear that looks like milk spilled across the sky. The ancient Romans called the band via lacteal, which means "milky road" or "milky way."

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One of the questions was about deep sea creatures and I only thought of one so this helped me remember other sea creatures. 

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One of the questions was about deep sea creatures and I only thought of one so this helped me remember other sea creatures. 

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The Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Program has played an important role in the continued recovery of the southern sea otter population with our research, rescue, rehabilitation, and surrogacy work.

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9 strange deep sea creatures you want to know | Stories | Monterey Bay Aquarium

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From large spindly crabs to curious-looking sea pigs and adorable octopuses - discover some of the wonderfully weird animals that thrive in the deep sea.

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This helped me understand a bit where the money goes in space exploration. 

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This helped me understand a bit where the money goes in space exploration. 

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I wanted to learn more about ocean and space exploration and this helped me a lot. 

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I wanted to learn more about ocean and space exploration and this helped me a lot. 

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Oceanography is an interdisciplinary science integrating the fields of geology, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering to explore the ocean. Oceanography is a relatively young field of science. The era of formal oceanographic studies began with the H.M.S. Challenger Expedition (1872-1876), the first voyage to comprehensively collect data related to ocean temperatures, chemistry, currents, marine life, and seafloor geology.

Modern oceanography did not begin until World War II, when the U.S. Navy wanted to learn more about the oceans to gain advantages in communicating across the Atlantic and implementing submarine warfare. By the late 1950s and '60s, underwater vehicles, known as submersibles, revolutionized oceanographic exploration. Today, buoys and water column samplers are used to monitor sea surface conditions and water quality factors, coring devices collect sediment samples, sonar helps create maps of the seafloor, and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) allow us to safely and efficiently explore all parts of the ocean. As ocean exploration increases and technology advances, so does our understanding of the way the ocean functions and supports life on Earth.

Astronomy is an interdisciplinary science as well, but it focuses on the study of space beyond Earth's atmosphere. The more recent advancements in space exploration have greatly expanded the field of astronomy.

With safety, cost, and efficiency as top priorities, the manner in which ocean and space exploration have progressed continues to evolve. We have seen a technological transition from manned submersibles and spacecraft to satellites, ROVs, and extraterrestrial probes and rovers. Advances in remote sensing, satellite communication, and data collection, including sampling devices and live video feeds, allow experts from across the globe to connect and share information in real time.

Despite all of these technological advances, there is still so much more to learn and explore. It is difficult to predict what space and ocean exploration will look like in the future. An interesting point to contemplate regarding future exploration comes from Dr. Robert Ballard: "The generation of kids in middle schools right now will explore more of Earth than all previous generations combined. Let that sink in. They're going to explore more of Earth than everyone that's been on this planet before them. That's pretty cool."

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What drives astronomers to ask, "What's out there?" and oceanographers, "What's down there?" Despite covering 71% of the planet, only 5% of the ocean has been explored. Now more than ever in human history, tools and technologies are providing oceanographers and astronomers with increasing opportunities to explore the depths of the ocean and the expanse of space.

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I had trouble thinking of things that could float on water and this page was very helpful 

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I had trouble thinking of things that could float on water and this page was very helpful 

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List allitems known to you that float on water. Check and see if they willfloat on oil or kerosene.

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List allitems known to you that float on water. Check and see if they willfloat on oil or kerosene.

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I couldn't think of an inventor on my own so this page helped me find the perfect inventor for me to talked about. 

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I couldn't think of an inventor on my own so this page helped me find the perfect inventor for me to talked about. 

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Ask kids to name famous inventors, and you might get Thomas Edison or Henry Ford as a response. And while they definitely belong on this list, they're just the start of the innovators and inventors that kids ought to know. Some of these are household names, while others deserve more recognition for inventions that have become essential to daily life.

For each one, you'll find resources for more information and hands-on activities to help kids learn more about their achievements. Perhaps they'll be inspired to become famous inventors themselves!

1. Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1400-1468)

Known for: Gutenberg was the first European to invent the printing press. The movable type he used made mass printing possible and brought books and reading to the masses.

Learn more: Biography of Johannes Gutenberg, German Inventor of the Printing Press (ThoughtCo)

Try this: Visit thrift shops to find an old panini press, then turn it into a printing press.

2. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Known for: Da Vinci was the original Renaissance Man. He was a gifted artist, but he also invented a wide array of technologies. These include the aerial screw, which led to modern helicopters, and an underwater diving suit that was the precursor to today's scuba gear.

Learn more: Leonardo Da Vinci Inventions

Try this: Da Vinci was fascinated by flying machines. Find out how to build your own Da Vinci-style ornithopter with household items.

3. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)

Known for: This Founding Father was an innovator in more ways than one, and he was among history's most famous inventors. His inventions include the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove.

Learn more: Benjamin Franklin's Inventions

Try this: Franklin is famous for experimenting with electricity. Try one of these kid-safe electricity experiments to follow in his footsteps.

4. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

Known for: When he wasn't writing the Declaration of Independence or being president, Jefferson loved to tinker. His swivel chair was an instant hit, and he also created the dumbwaiter system.

Learn more: Thomas Jefferson: Inventions & Accomplishments

Try this: Assemble a homemade pulley system to mimic Jefferson's dumbwaiter.

5. Robert Fulton (1765-1815)

Known for: Fulton got his start as an artist, but it was his interest in steam engines that turned him into one of the most famous inventors. He used and improved on the technology of the time to make the first commercial steamboats.

Learn more: Robert Fulton (Ducksters)

Try this: For a cool science fair project, learn to make a model of a steam-power generator.

6. Louis Daguerre (1787-1851)

Known for: In his work as a professional scene painter for the opera, Daguerre began experimenting with camera obscura for painting large backdrops. Over time, he worked to develop the daguerreotype, the precursor of modern photography.

Learn more: Louis Daguerre, Inventor of Daguerreotype Photography (ThoughtCo)

Try this: Make your own camera obscura with a box and basic household supplies.

7. Thomas Jennings (1791-1856)

Known for: At a time when most Black men in the United States were slaves, Jennings was born free in New York City. He was the first African American to hold a patent for a process known as "dry scouring." Today, we call it dry cleaning.

Learn more: Thomas Jennings, Smithsonian Magazine

Try this: With a few basic supplies, you can experiment with dry cleaning at home.

8. Samuel Morse (1792-1872)

Known for: Yet another artist-turned-inventor, Morse is best known for developing the electric telegraph, which allowed people to communicate over long distances nearly instantly. He also developed Morse code: a system of dots and dashes used to send these messages.

Learn more: Samuel F.B. Morse (Brittanica)

Try this: Learn Morse code and tap out messages to friends and family.

9. Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)

Known for: Edison is one of the most famous inventors of all time. He was prolific, but his best-known inventions include the incandescent light bulb, phonograph, and an early movie camera.

Learn more: Thomas Edison National Historical Park

Try this: Learn how to make your own incandescent light bulb using a glass jar and a battery.

10. Nikola Tesla (1856-1943)

Known for: Edison and Tesla's rivalry is well known. Tesla was the inventor and proponent of alternating current, which was ultimately proven more reliable than Edison's direct current. He also created the Tesla Coil, induction motor, and neon lights, among other inventions.

Learn more: Tesla Science Center

Try this: Wow your science fair judges by building a Tesla coil of your own.

11. Auguste (1862-1954) and Louis Lumière (1864-1948)

Known for: The Lumière brothers gave us one of the most popular inventions of all time: the movies! Their Cinématographe was a three-in-one machine that could record, develop, and project films for an audience.

Learn more: The Lumière Brothers, Pioneers of Cinema

Try this: Screen movies using a homemade projector built with a cardboard box and a magnifying glass.

12. Henry Ford (1863-1947)

Known for: Ford not only invented the automobile, he also brainstormed the assembly line. This allowed mass production of his incredibly popular Model T and other cars.

Learn more: Henry Ford, History.com

Try this: Put your students to work with these fun assembly line classroom activities.

13. George Washington Carver (1864-1943)

Known for: Though he's often said to have invented peanut butter, Carver's many achievements didn't actually include that popular product. Instead, he gave the world the concept of crop rotation. His methods were so successful they led to an abundance of peanuts, soybeans, and sweet potatoes, and he spent much of his life coming up with new uses for them.

Learn more: The Legacy of Dr. George Washington Carver

Try this: Sprout sweet potatoes in water to learn how plants grow.

14. Madam C. J. Walker (1867-1919)

Known for: When a medical condition caused her to lose much of her hair, Madam Walker invented a treatment system that completely revolutionized Black hair care. She went on to become the first Black female millionaire in the United States.

Learn more: Madam C.J. Walker Official Website

Try this: Make your own shampoo and test its performance.

15. Wilbur (1867-1912) and Orville Wright (1871-1947)

Known for: When the Wright Flyer took off from Kitty Hawk and flew for 12 seconds, the Wright brothers made history! Their flight marked the first engine-powered manned aircraft.

Learn more: Taking Flight With the Wright Brothers

Try this: Experiment by building paper airplanes to see which design performs best in flight. Here are a few basic designs to get you started.

16. Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937)

Known for: Marconi changed the way humans communicated by developing the first effective system of radio communication. He sent the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901.

Learn more: Guglielmo Marconi (Brittanica)

Try this: Looking for a cool science fair idea? Make your own crystal radio.

17. Alexander Graham Bell (1877-1922)

Known for: One of the most famous inventors around, Bell gave the world the telephone. Many of his other inventions were focused on helping the deaf, sparked by his desire to help his wife Mabel, who lost her hearing at the age of five.

Learn more: Alexander Graham Bell (Britannica)

Try this: Experiment with the classic tin can telephone to learn more about how sound travels.

18. Charles R. Drew (1904-1950)

Known for: Bloodmobiles are a common sight these days, thanks to Dr. Drew. He invented a way to process and store blood plasma, eventually managing two of the largest blood banks during World War II.

Learn more: The Charles R. Drew Papers

Try this: Put together a blood model using beads or candies to learn about all the components blood contains.

19. Grace Hopper (1906-1992)

Known for: When Hopper first started working with computers, they took up entire rooms. But she believed that one day they'd become more widely used and became one of the earliest computer programmers. She invented the first compiler, a program that translates programming code to machine language.

Learn more: Grace Murray Hopper-A Legacy of Innovation and Service

Try this: Check out the Hour of Code program to learn how kids of all ages can learn computer coding in fun and easy ways.

20. Philo Farnsworth (1906-1971)

Known for: If you love a good Netflix binge, thank Philo Farnsworth. His all-electronic television system made TV one of the world's favorite pastimes.

Learn more: The Farmboy Who Invented Television (Smithsonian Magazine)

Try this: Find an old CRT TV or monitor and learn how cathode ray tubes work using a strong magnet.

21. Marie Van Brittan Brown (1922-1999)

Known for: Do you have a home security system? Well, you can thank Marie Van Brittan Brown for it. She filed her patent in 1966, and it includes innovations still used today. She's also known for the invention of closed-circuit TV.

Learn more: Marie Van Brittan Brown, Black Past

Try this: Protect your stuff by learning how to build your own door alarm.

22. Ralph H. Baer (1922-2014)

Known for: While kids may not know Baer's name, they're sure to love his accomplishments. He's known as the "Father of the Video Game" and helped develop some of the earliest gaming consoles.

Learn more: Ralph H. Baer, National Center for Simulation

Try this: Use an app like Roblox to design and create your own video game experience.

23. Patricia Bath (1942-2019)

Known for: Kids may not give a lot of thought to cataracts, but they should still know about Dr. Bath. She was the first African American female doctor to receive a medical patent. She invented the Laserphaco Pro probe, which revolutionized cataract surgery.

Learn more: Patricia Bath, Biography

Try this: Understand more about the anatomy of the eye by building a 3D human eye model.

24. Lonnie Johnson (born 1949)

Known for: Any kid who's ever played with a Super Soaker or Nerf Blaster has Dr. Johnson to thank! He spent much of his career working for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and his innovations in aerospace technology are legendary.

Learn more: Lonnie Johnson Website

Try this: Put together a basic rubber band shooter, then see if you can tinker around to improve the design's distance or accuracy.

25. Steve Wozniak (born 1950) and Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

Known for: "Woz and Jobs" are two of the most famous inventors of the 20th century. Though Jobs went on to become more well known, he and Wozniak worked together to build the Apple I, the home computer that launched a revolution.

Learn more: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Lemelson-MIT

Try it: If you can get your hands on an old computer that's no longer needed, deconstruct it with your class to learn about the pieces and parts inside.

26. Ann Tsukamoto (born 1952)

Known for: Dr. Tsukamoto is on the cutting edge of one of the most exciting new technologies: stem cells. She holds several patents for the technology to isolate various types of stem cells.

Learn more: Ann Tsukamoto, Necessity Is the Mother of Invention

Try this: Watch this video to learn more about stem cells and their importance in modern medicine.

27. Peter Tsai (born 1952)

Known for: Over the last couple of years or so, Tsai's invention has suddenly become world-famous. He created the N95 respirator mask, which helps keep people safe against airborne viruses.

Learn more: Our Dad Invented the N95 Mask

Try this: Follow Bill Nye's lead and try this candle-extinguishing experiment to learn how effective face masks are.

28. Tim Berners-Lee (born 1952)

Known for: If you're reading this right now, thank Tim Berners-Lee. In 1991, he launched the World Wide Web, and the internet as we know it was born, making him one of the great famous inventors.

Learn more: Tim Berners-Lee (Wired)

Try this: Explore the history of the internet and find out what early web pages looked like. Kids will be astonished!

29. Thomas David Petite (born 1956)

Known for: Petite has made major contributions to wireless technologies, including the components of the Smart Grid. He founded the Native American Intellectual Property Enterprise Council to help fellow Native American inventors.

Learn more: Thomas David Petite, Readworks

Try this: Check out this video to learn more about the Smart Grid and how it's used.

30. Ajay Bhatt (born 1957)

Known for: Every time you plug your phone in to charge or attach a component to your laptop, you can thank Ajay Bhatt for inventing USB technology.

Learn more: Ajay Bhatt-The Inventor of the USB

Try this: Look around your classroom or home and find all the devices that use USB ports and technology.

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30 Famous Inventors Your Students Should Know

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These famous inventors include women and men from diverse backgrounds who gave us everything from the printing press to the internet.

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I choose Madam C.J. Walker as my inventor and this page provided me her personal information. 

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I choose Madam C.J. Walker as my inventor and this page provided me her personal information. 

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See our catalog of published books available for purchase
Learn More

Photos from the Madam Walker Family Archives are available for licensing
Learn More

Stay connected with updates about events and activities
Learn More

"
I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations....I have built my own factory on my own ground."
- Madam C.J. Walker

A'Lelia Walker

See some of the important locations that stand as a testament to Madam Walker's example of economic and political empowerment for African Americans and women

Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

A'Lelia's Non-Fiction Biography On Her Own Ground is the "inspiration" for Self Made, the fictional 4-part Netflix series starring Octavia Spencer.

Want to know what's fact and what's fiction? Click here to learn what A'Lelia thinks about the series.

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Madam C.J. Walker | African-American Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, and Activist

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See our catalog of published books available for purchase Learn More Photos from the Madam Walker Family Archives are available for licensing Learn More Stay connected with updates about events and activities Learn More I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South.

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One of the questions was what are the countries with a population under 10 million and this link helped me answer.  

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One of the questions was what are the countries with a population under 10 million and this link helped me answer.  

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Discover population, economy, health, and more with the most comprehensive global statistics at your fingertips.

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This links talk about animals that like living in the cold. 

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This links talk about animals that like living in the cold. 

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Living in the cold

> Species diversity in the northern and southern polar regions is primarily determined by geographic conditions. While in the Antarctic almost all life is dependent on the ocean, the Arctic also hosts impressive diversity in its terrestrial areas. Life in both regions flourishes first and foremost during the short summers and subsequently defies the ice and cold by means of remarkable survival strategies.

Three commonalities, many differences
The polar regions' special geographic and climatic conditions present the fauna and flora of the Arctic and Antarctic with particular challenges. For millions of years now, organisms in both regions had to:

overcome cold to extremely cold ambient temperatures,

deal with the presence of snow and ice in its various forms, and

endure extreme seasonal fluctuations of sunlight and temperatures.

The alternating conditions of permanent solar radiation during the polar day and permanent darkness during the polar night mean that plant biomass, and thus food for all higher trophic levels, can only be produced during the summer. During the dark and cold part of the year, those animals which do not migrate to warmer regions must therefore live on their food and fat reserves, consume carrion, or graze on animal and plant residues that have sunk to the sea floor.
Nonetheless, both the Arctic and Antarctic environments have given rise to a great diversity of life. In the north polar region more than 21,500 species of fauna and flora have now been identified, all of which have adapted to the extreme conditions - from bacteria and viruses living on glaciers and fish that spend the first years of their lives hidden under the marine ice, to the well-known species such as the Arctic fox or the polar bear. There are approximately 14,000 Arctic terrestrial species; a further 7600 species live in the Arctic Ocean.
In contrast, the terrestrial life of Antarctica is relatively species-poor. A mere 1600 animal and plant species occur in the few ice-free terrestrial areas of the Antarctic. The ocean, however, is teeming with life - some 10,630 species have been identified, with the majority displaying special adaptation mechanisms that can be found nowhere else on Earth.

A matter of geographic location
A comparison of the ecosystems of the two polar regions highlights the significant differences between them. While there are large-scale, glacier-free areas of tundra and extensive river systems in the Arctic, both of which produce sufficient biomass during the summer to feed even large herbivore species such as caribou and musk oxen, 98 per cent of the Antarctic landmass is still covered in ice. This means that lichens, mosses and higher plants can hardly find substrates on which to grow. Therefore, the main food source for all the animals native to the Antarctic is the ocean which completely surrounds the continent.
The resultant isolation of the Antarctic from the rest of the world has had a similarly lasting impact on the development of life in the south polar region as its glacial history. For more than 34 million years now, oceanic basins more than 3000 metres in depth have separated Antarctica from the surrounding land masses of South America, Africa and Australia. Even at its narrowest point, at the Drake Passage, the Southern Ocean is still 810 kilometres wide. Terrestrial species of fauna intent on migrating to Antarctica from temperate latitudes would have had to be capable of long-distance flights or swims even in the past. Once they had overcome that obstacle, the Antarctic immediately presented them with the next challenge - several times over the past millions of years the southern continent became completely covered in ice, sometimes even beyond its coastline. The Antarctic terrestrial species were left with the choice to either migrate or to move out onto the marine ice. Otherwise they faced extinction.

In comparison, settling in the Arctic was much easier as it is directly connected to large continental land masses stretching far south and into warmer climatic zones. Eurasian and North American species of fauna and flora adapted to the cold were therefore able to colonize the north polar region by land. When during the last glacia-tion large ice shields formed in the Arctic, this did not generally spell the end of terrestrial life in the way it did in Antarctica. For one thing, the Arctic species had the opportunity to shift their ranges toward the south and thus to flee from the ice. Moreover, during this glaciation the Arctic was never entirely covered by glaciers and ice shields. Regions such as Beringia and eastern Siberia remained ice-free and served as a refuge for many organisms. As a result, the north-eastern tundra regions of Russia are among the most species-rich terrestrial areas of the Arctic to this day. Given that the Arctic is not separated from more southern climes by oceans or high mountain ranges it is not surprising that the north polar region hosts many terrestrial predators such as polar bears, wolves and Arctic foxes while there is not a single four-legged predator species in mainland Antarctica. Instead, millions of penguins breed in the Antarctic - birds that cannot fly and that know no enemies outside of oceanic waters. If penguins were resettled in the Arctic, they would easily be picked off by polar bears and other predators, given that these large birds have no intuitive sense of danger when on land. The only bird species resembling penguins which ever lived in the Arctic was the flightless great auk (Pinguinus impennis). It lived on remote rocky islands in the North Atlantic were there were no polar bears, wolves or foxes. However, in the early 19th century European seafarers discovered the birds' colonies. They hunted the defenceless auks to extinction in a mere four decades. The last great auks were killed in June 1844 on the Icelandic island of Eldey.

Southward migration
Geologically speaking the Arctic Ocean is younger than the Southern Ocean which means that species of high northern latitudes had less time to adapt to polar conditions than the southern fauna. But they, too, had to survive periods of large-scale ice formation, for example some 140,000 years ago when major ice shields covered North America and northern Europe and pushed their up to 1000 metres thick shelf ice onto the entire Arctic Ocean, which presumably became completely frozen over.
At that time, the biocoenoses of the Arctic Ocean either withdrew to greater depths or they migrated to more southern latitudes along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines. When the ice masses slowly disappeared it took some time for the marine organisms to recolonize the Arctic ecosystems. Biologists therefore consider the diverse biocoenoses of the Arctic marginal seas to be not much older than 125,000 years. Moreover, in the Arctic Ocean scientists distinguish between the Atlantic and the Pacific sector respectively. Their inhabitants migrated from the respective neighbouring ocean and separately adapted to the polar conditions. It is for this reason that to this day different species play the exact same role in the two sectors' ecosystems.

In the Arctic, furthermore, it has been and still is much easier than in the Antarctic for inhabitants of the continental shelf seas to migrate from one continent to the next, given that the northern coastal areas of Europe, Asia and North America share contiguous offshore shelf areas. Antarctica, in contrast, lacks such a shallow water connection to neighbouring continents. In the Antarctic, therefore, the pressure to adapt has always been much higher than in the Arctic. During cold periods, marine organisms of the Southern Ocean had significantly fewer refuges at their disposal than species of the far north. The organisms of the Southern Ocean had only two options - they either adapted or they became extinct. It is for this reason that Antarctic marine life developed significantly more sophisticated adaptation mechanisms than the inhabitants of the Arctic Ocean.

4.4 > In order to escape the Arctic winter cold, the Arctic tern (Sterna paradisaea) leaves its Arctic breeding areas in August and flies to the edge of the Antarctic pack ice zone. In the course of this migration the birds cover a distance of some 35,000 kilometres - the greatest distance covered by any migratory bird species.

Survival tactics of terrestrial animals in the polar regions
Conditions in the Arctic and Antarctic are characterized by extreme fluctuations over the seasons. In summer there is sunlight, warmth, ice-free terrestrial and water surfaces and an overabundance of food resources; in winter, however, conditions are the exact opposite. In the Arctic, for example, winter surface temperatures drop to around minus 40 degrees Celsius for weeks, and minimum temperatures of minus 50 to minus 60 degrees Celsius are not uncommon. There are also major temperature differences between north and south as well as between coastal regions and more inland areas respectively. Such contrasts can only be survived by species that adopt one or more of the following survival tactics:

fleeing the cold by migrating to warmer areas (migration),

surviving the winter in a protected location (dormancy or hibernation),

optimizing body heat regulation, and

provisioning by means of accumulating large body fat reserves.

Fleeing from hunger and cold
The flight from low temperatures and food scarcity is a tactic used primarily by the many seabirds occurring in the polar regions. The Arctic hosts a total of 200 bird species, the majority of which are geese, ducks, shorebirds and seabirds. Compared to temperate regions there are few songbirds. Most of the Arctic bird species spend only a few summer months in the far north. As winter approaches, 93 per cent of the species migrate to warmer regions. Their migration routes lead to regions all around the world. While many of the geese, passerines, owls, birds of prey, auks and gulls overwinter in adjacent temperate latitudes, some of the shorebirds, phalaropes, and the Sabine's gull (Xema sabini) migrate as far as to the tropics and Australia. The bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica), for example, flies 12,000 kilometres from its breeding area in Alaska over the Pacific to New Zealand. Long-distance migrants such as the Arctic tern and skuas even target Antarctica where they overwinter on the edge of the Antarctic pack ice zone. This means that on their way from the Arctic breeding areas to the Antarctic overwintering areas and back the birds cover a distance of up to 80,000 kilometres per year. But this effort is worth it as both polar regions provide the birds with an abundance of food during the summer. And as the Arctic terns rely primarily on their eyesight for hunting they benefit significantly from the fact that in their chosen habitats the sun does not set for a total of eight months, enabling them to theoretically hunt for prey around-the-clock.

Extra Info Homoeothermic or poikilothermic

Thermoregulation
Just like all other homoeothermic animals in the polar regions, these caribou face the challenge of maintaining their body core temperature at a level of between 37 and 41 degrees Celsius despite the air around them being up to 100 degrees Celsius colder. The only way to achieve this is to prevent the loss of body heat to the environment. This is a difficult task as body heat can be lost in three different ways:

by heat conduction,

by heat radiation and

by evaporation.

The animals must control all three processes to conserve body heat. Homoeothermic species have developed a range of remarkable behaviours in order to minimize heat loss. Among others, these include:

curling up into a ball (reducing the body surface to volume ratio),

huddling together in a group for mutual warmth,

withdrawing to a protected location,

accumulating a warming layer of fat or a double layer winter coat or plumage, and

cooling down their breath and extremities.

To curl up means to make yourself as small as possible. Many species, from polar bears to Arctic redpoll, curl up into a ball in winter or draw in their head and limbs so as to minimize their body surface. The more spherical the body, the smaller is its surface to volume ratio and the less heat is lost by the animal by way of conduction or radiation. Polar bears often cross their paws over their muzzle as they lose most body heat from their nose and face which is covered in only sparse hair.

Extra Info The queen of the tundra

The fur's insulating characteristics differ significantly between species, with the ability to retain heat generally increasing with the thickness of the layer of fur. The insulating effect of the fur or plumage can be further increased by fluffing up the plumage or erecting the hairs, thus trapping a greater amount of insulating air near to the body. Small furry mammals such as lemmings or stoats are clearly at a disadvantage when it comes to keeping themselves warm by means of their body hair. They need a short-haired coat that still allows them to move.
But the large mammals with rather thick coats must also pay attention to a number of factors so as to avoid dying of hypothermia. The polar bears' long guard hair for example provides superb insulation as long as the coat is dry. However, when the bear jumps into the sea, for example in order to swim from one ice floe to the next, water reaches the skin, and water conducts heat away from the body 25 times faster than air. At moments like that fully grown bears trust the insulation provided by their thick blubber which reaches a thickness of up to 11.4 centimetres. For bear cubs, however, a swim like that can be very dangerous as they lose heat very rapidly. They are similarly at risk when it rains as both rain and sleet considerably impair the functional characteristics of fur or plumage.
Icy winds can also result in significant heat loss. When wind passes through fur or plumage it swirls the layer of air close to the body, thus reducing its insulating function. Snowy owls, for example, that are exposed to 27 kilometre per hour winds at an ambient temperature of minus 30 degrees Celsius lose heat so quickly that in order to not freeze to death they need to generate twice as much heat as would be required if the air was still. In contrast, the guard hair and underfur of reindeer and musk oxen provides such complete insulation that the animals loose little or no heat even during winter storms.
Whales, polar bears and seals protect themselves from the cold by means of thick blubber. While the insulating capacity of this layer of fat is not as great as that of fur, it is also functional in the water where fur generally fails as a means of protection. This layer of fat can be impressively thick. In bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) it can reach a thickness of up to 30 centimetres. And just like the coats of reindeer and musk oxen, blubber also changes with the seasons, at least in seals. Their blubber is at its thinnest in summer when the animals' moult forces them to stay on land and fast. In the run-up to winter they fatten up again and blubber thickness increases.
Penguins such as Adélie and emperor penguins protect themselves from the icy cold by means of a plumage that offers superb insulation. However, when they are diving in the sea the feathers are compressed and the trapped air is expelled which means that the plumage loses its insulating properties. The birds' blubber then protects them to some extent from heat loss.

Physiological protective mechanisms against heat loss
Animals can also prevent the loss of body heat by conduction if they cool down external body parts or their limbs while maintaining a constant body core temperature. This type of behaviour is displayed by, for example, reindeer, emperor penguins and gulls. Under certain circumstances they are able to lower the temperature of their feet to close to freezing while their body core temperature remains at a normal level.
The often badly insulated extremities can be cooled down to this extent as the blood vessels in legs, wings or flippers are located so closely together that heat can be exchanged between arteries and veins. Warm arterial blood originating in the centre of the body passes on its heat to venous blood which had previously cooled down in feet or fins and is being transported back towards the body core.
In this way, only blood already cooled down reaches the extremities, thus greatly reducing heat loss from feet, flippers or wings.
Reindeer have such long legs that the close proximity of veins and arteries alone is sufficient for heat exchange. In the seals' short flippers, however, the heat exchange is amplified by the veins branching into blood vessels surrounding the centrally located artery which conducts heat to the veins. Moreover, the animals can regulate their blood flow and thus also the heat supply to their extremities - they may want to reduce heat loss in a cold environment, or they may want to quickly cool down, for example following major exertion or when they are at risk of overheating.

In polar bears, only pregnant females spend the winter in a snow den where they also give birth to their cubs. Juvenile bears and adult males are more or less active throughout the winter; after all they need to accumulate a great deal of body fat as long as the sea ice allows them access to the seal territories.
Since seals moult once a year they too face a regular period of fasting. During this time the animals stop searching for food and reduce their metabolism by half. They generate body heat and kinetic energy solely by drawing on their fat reserves. In contrast, Arctic foxes and stoats do not solely rely on their accumulated body fat. They also hoard food, a task that keeps them busy from September to November. Some animals hide their kills in many different places while others store them all in one place. The biggest known hoard of an Arctic fox contained 136 seabirds which the predator had apparently taken at a breeding colony. For stoats there are reports of individual animals accumulating as many as 150 killed lemmings in winter stores.

Changing colour at the start of winter
The changing light conditions also signal the start of the typical moult which gives Arctic foxes, Arctic hares, stoats and other animals their mostly grey or brown summer coat and their white winter coat. In the temperate and polar latitudes of the northern hemisphere there are 21 species of mammals and birds at present that change colour with the seasons. This means that the animals have to grow an entirely new coat or plumage twice a year. While the evolution of seasonal colour changes is not yet fully understood, presumably the species developed this ability independently of each other. Interestingly, however, different species in a region change their colour almost at the same time and hold onto their winter plumage or winter coat for a similar period, in alignment with the general local timing of the first snowfalls and the length of time the snow cover tends to persist. Species living in areas with highly variable or patchy snow cover have also adapted their coat colour to these conditions. Their winter coat or plumage contains a number of pigmented hairs or feathers and generally appears speckled whitish-brown or whitish-grey.
Scientific research has been conducted into the purpose of the colour change. The results indicate that it primarily serves camouflage and thermoregulation. A white coat or plumage in winter is highly advantageous for both predators and prey. If the landscape is covered in snow, both groups are harder to be spotted by their respective adversaries. The former has greater prospects of catching food while the latter has a greater chance of survival. For this reason, scientists consider a species' ability to camouflage themselves as being one of the primary drivers in the evolution of mammalian coat colour.

Vascular plants
The term vascular plants is applied to all ferns and seed-producing plants, as these have internal vascular tissues which distribute resources through the plant.

Just like many other processes, the moult is triggered by changes in melatonin concentrations. When melatonin increases in the autumn, signals are transmitted to the pituitary gland which produces the growth hormone prolactin, among others. This hormone in turn regulates hair growth and other functions. When the prolactin concentration rises in the spring, collared lemmings and Arctic hares lose their winter coat and commence their search for partners. However, if the production of this hormone is suppressed, Arctic foxes, lemmings and other animals produce their light-coloured winter coat. In experimental studies, mammals whose prolactin production was suppressed kept their winter coat throughout the entire year, independent of day-length.
But melatonin also inhibits the production of the pigment melanin which gives skin, feathers and eyes their colour. In animals with seasonal coat colours, a high melatonin concentration thus directly results in the growth of a white winter coat. There is less of an understanding as to how day-length and hormones regulate the moult and change of plumage in birds. In part this is due to the fact that birds have at least three "internal clocks". Information regarding changing day-length is processed not only in the pineal gland, but also in the hypothalamus and in the eyes themselves. Moult and reproduction are coordinated such that the change in plumage does not commence before the breeding period has finished.
In contrast to day-length, environmental factors such as temperature and snowfall only have a limited impact on the change in coat or plumage. Studies have shown that low autumn temperatures accelerate the growth of winter coats or plumage in mammals and birds respectively. Moreover, ptarmigans were shown in experiments to produce a darker winter plumage if they were kept at higher temperatures. In contrast, a cold spring with plenty of snow slowed down the change from winter to summer colour. The moult, however, is solely triggered by day-length.

4.13 > Blueberries in the Arctic ripen only towards the end of summer. The Inuit say it is incredibly laborious to gather them as the plants grow so closely to the ground that one has to crawl through the tundra on all fours in order to pick them.

Angiosperms and gymnosperms
Angiosperms are flowering plants and are characterized by the enclosed ovary, which contains and protects the developing seeds. In contrast, gymnosperms are characterized by the unenclosed condition of their seeds. Gymnosperm seeds develop lying unattached on the surface of individual carpels. European larch and Scots pine are well-known gymnosperms.

Vascular plant species diversity in the polar regions declines with increasing proximity to the poles. In the Arctic, the current vegetation of which has only developed over the past three million years, an estimated 900 species of mosses and 2218 species of vascular plants have been identified. Almost all of the vascular plants are flowering plants (angiosperms). Gymnosperms, in contrast, are rare in the Arctic and where they occur their species diversity tends to be low.
The majority of Arctic plants are considered to have a circumpolar distribution. Nonetheless there are major differences between different regions in terms of their species diversity and composition. While a mere 102 species occur in the northernmost part, the High Arctic, the southern tundra regions host more than 20 times that number of species. Approximately five per cent of Arctic vascular plants are endemic species, which means that they occur nowhere else but in the Arctic. Those species are mainly forbes and grasses.
The diversity of the Arctic flora is also supported by herbivores. When researchers excluded grazing animals such as geese, lemmings, musk oxen and reindeer from certain areas as part of a study, large amounts of plant litter accumulated, insulated the soil and led to the soil not thawing to a sufficient depth in the summer. Vascular plants could no longer develop a sufficient root network and disappeared. Mosses now grew in their place. Moreover, the herbivores' faeces provide badly needed nutrients, as nitrogen and phosphates are scarce in Arctic soils.

Compared to the Arctic, the Antarctic flora is truly species-poor. In its continental zone, defined by biologists to include the few ice-free areas of continental Antarctica and the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula, only a small number of 40 to 50 different species of lichens and mosses thrive. These generally grow in rock crevices or depressions between stones and mainly on dark rocky ground which absorbs most of the incoming solar energy and radiates heat. Most of these lichens are truly extreme survivalists. Even at a temperature of minus ten degrees Celsius they can still photosynthesise and survive even under conditions of strong and persistent desiccation and extreme cold. Some of the species occur even in the ice-free Antarctic dry valleys of Victoria Land.
The western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and the nearby islands offer a warmer and moister climate and thus more favourable conditions for plants. In this zone, termed the maritime Antarctic, two vascular plant species can be found - Antarctic hair grass (Deschampsia antarctica) and Antarctic pearlwort (Colobanthus quitensis). The bulk of the Antarctic vegetation, however, is composed of cryptogams. Some 100 species of mosses have been recorded as well as 750 species of lichens and an estimated 700 species of terrestrial and oceanic algae. The number of fungus species has not been determined.

Fighting the cold
With increasing proximity to the poles, conditions for plants deteriorate, or to put it differently, physical and chemical factors which limit plant dispersal have increasingly greater impact. These factors include, for example, the length of the growing season, the duration and intensity of frost periods, and the degree to which the plants are exposed to wind. However, the plants' chances of survival are also linked to available resources. Whether they are in the tropics or in the polar regions, plants can only exist if their carbon budget is positive, which means they must be able to sufficiently photosynthesise in order to grow and store energy reserves in the form of glucose or starch. To this end the plants require sufficient amounts of heat, water, light, carbon dioxide and nutrients as well as oxygen. The latter is required in particular by plants growing in wetlands or swamps.
The polar regions rarely offer ideal conditions for plant growth. The Arctic flora has therefore developed a range of adaptation mechanisms that allow them to tolerate conditions of nutrient deficiency, cold and darkness and to survive with little or no harm extreme events such as prolonged snowfall or spring floods. These adaptations include the following:

slow, resource-conserving growth,

a more brown than green coloration,

a squat stature,

heat-optimizing characteristics such as fine hairs or special flower shapes,

mechanisms to protect cells from frost damage,

a large number of important enzymes enabling photosynthesis even in adverse light conditions,

nutrient recycling,

major energy reserves in the root system, and

the opportunity of asexual reproduction at locations where conditions are such that sexual reproduction does not work.

Small is beautiful Polar plants particularly like to settle in sheltered locations where they are not exposed to the full forces of the wind, ice and cold. A second important survival strategy is to grow slowly and reduce energy consumption especially at times of low resource availability. This approach is known as the Montgomery effect, named after Edward Gerrard Montgomery, a scientist at the University of Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station (USA). When conducting experiments involving a variety of cereal cultivars he found that in locations offering low environmental resources slow growth does indeed confer ecological benefits onto plants. In the Arctic, for example, the summer and therefore the growth phase is so short that plants such as the Arctic wintergreen (Pyrola grandiflora) growing in Iceland and Greenland take several years to grow from the initial sprout to a mature plant capable of seed production. This also explains the longevity of many plants in the polar regions.

Moreover, plants like the glacier buttercup (Ranunculus glacialis) are able to align their leaves and flowers at an optimum angle to the sun. Its initially white flowers then function like little parabolic dishes which direct the incoming sunlight directly to the reproductive organs at the centre of the flower. This increases the air temperature inside the flower which in turn results in the reproductive organs developing at a faster rate and in the flowers attracting a greater number of insects. Following pollination the glacial buttercup closes its flowers and the petals turn red, allowing the flower to absorb a greater amount of solar radiation, the heat content of which in turn protects the seeds developing inside the flower.
Other Arctic plants create their own "greenhouse". Female polar willows (Salix arctica), for example, grow fine downy hairs on their leaves and along their inflorescences. This downy cover traps an insulating layer of air close to the leaf surface. The hairs also reduce the leaf surface area which normally would be subject to heat loss as a result of evaporative cooling. The downy hairs so efficiently protect the little willows that the temperature of the leaves may be up to eleven degrees Celsius higher than the ambient temperature.

4.20 > The white cotton-like plumes of cottongrass are a familiar sight in Arctic wetlands. However, these are not the flowers but only develop along with the seeds. The long perianth bristles form white tufts which also protect the seeds from the cold.

Northern plants also avoid growing their roots deep into soils where much of the ground stays frozen throughout the year and where meltwater accumulates. Instead they take root in the shallow layer of topsoil which is the first to melt in springtime and generally tends to be waterlogged only for short periods. At the end of the summer, trees and shrubs drop their needles and leaves and overwinter in a dormant bud stage. Before they go dormant, however, they cover their buds in a wool-like substance in order to protect them from the frost.
Many Arctic plant species defy the freezing cold winter temperatures by moving water, among other substances, from their cells into intercellular spaces. In this manner the plants reduce the risk of ice crystals forming inside of cells and damaging these. The plants simultaneously strengthen the cell membranes with certain types of sugars and proteins; the membrane's lipid composition also changes. Special enzymes prevent the cells from suffering damage due to dehydration. However, these cellular frost protection mechanisms are not activated year-round. They only play a role when temperatures drop at the end of summer and the plants are acclimatizing. At the height of winter most plants are so well protected from frost damage that some even survived laboratory trials as part of which they were briefly dipped into liquid nitrogen at a temperature of minus 196 degrees Celsius.
However, problems arise when unusually warm periods and severe frost alternate during the winter or when normally snow-covered areas suddenly become free of snow. These kinds of conditions can damage even the hardiest of Arctic plants. Nonetheless, in most cases the plants will be able to compensate for such damage by growing new leaves and shoots in the spring.

Making the most of the short summer
Plants need active enzymes in order to take up carbon dioxide, to photosynthesise and to generate energy reserves in the form of glucose and starch. Cold-adapted plants of the polar regions contain a particularly high level of active enzymes. Large quantities of the enzyme RuBisCO (Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) allow the Arctic flora to uphold metabolic activity even at lower temperatures. But even polar vascular plants cannot grow at subzero temperatures. The plants must wait for the short summer in order to develop leaves and flowers and they must be able to make optimum use of this short period. The cells of cold-adapted plants contain particularly high numbers of mitochondria which, as the cells' "power plants", are responsible for energy generation. With their help the plants increase their metabolism to maximum levels during the summer. Not only do they make optimum use of the 24 hours of daylight but they are also able to photosynthesise in unfavourable light conditions.
This strength, however, makes the cold-adapted plants susceptible to heat stress. If the ambient temperature rises to greater than average levels, both metabolism and cellular respiration increase well beyond healthy levels. The plants then swiftly use up all their energy reserves and suffer damage. This explains why polar plants of the Arctic do not spread further south. It also highlights one of the mechanisms by which climate change poses a risk to polar plants. Rising temperatures increase the probability of cold-adapted plants succumbing to exhaustion.

Searching for nutrients
Some plants actively seek out resources so as to have sufficient amounts of nutrients and light at their disposal during the short growing period. They develop small shoots or runners above or below ground which they use to tap into light and nutrient sources away from their original location that are crucial to their survival. This strategy can offer the plants clear locational advantages, as a comparison between two closely related cottongrass species has shown, both of which grow in Arctic wetlands.
Common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium) develops runners and actively searches for minerals, an ability that allows the plants to survive in the very wet parts of the marshes. Their runners tolerate stagnant water and allow the species to spread into flooded areas. In contrast, the hare's-tail cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum) does not send out shoots into its nearby environment. It grows instead as tussocky grasses and thrives in particular in the drier locations where there might be significant water level fluctuations.
The energy reserves produced by the plants by means of photosynthesis during the short summers tend not to be invested into the development of new leaves but are mostly put into subterranean storage in the form of starches in the plants' roots. Therefore the root systems of Arctic plants are generally larger than those of plants of temperate or tropical latitudes. It makes sense for the plants to accumulate significant reserves in the north polar region with its highly variable weather conditions; there is always a possibility that they might miss out on one or even two growing periods while buried under snow, a time during which they must live on their reserves. It is for this reason that plants of the tundra such as bog-rosemary (Andromeda polifolia) store up to 75 per cent of their energy reserves in their roots.
Nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are also particularly valuable to polar plants. Plants such as the dwarf birch (Bitula nana) have therefore found ways to recycle them once they have taken up and processed such elements. Shortly before the birch drops its leaves at the end of summer the plant withdraws a major proportion of the nutrients stored in these leaves back into the more permanent plant body. Hare's-tail cottongrass employs the same mechanism; it can recycle 90 per cent of the phosphorus contained in its leaves, which means that in the springtime the plant only needs to newly take up ten per cent of its phosphorus requirements from the soil.

The many flowering plant species of the Arctic are primarily pollinated by flies, which is not very surprising as there are hardly any bees north of the polar circle. When scientists in Greenland took a closer look at the insects responsible for pollinating mountain avens (Dryas octopetala), a characteristic plant of the Arctic, they counted a total of 117 different insect species which visited the plant. However, pollination was primarily performed by a single species, a small relative of the housefly called Spilogona sanctipauli.
To spend the winter in the form of a seed in the soil is a globally widespread and highly successful survival strategy of plants - this is no different in the polar regions. When scientists studied the flora of Spitsbergen they found that 71 of the 161 native plant species produced seeds in order to ensure the survival of the species. The same strategy is employed by the only two Antarctic flowering plant species. Plant seed longevity varies around the globe. While the seeds of some species persist in the soil for less than a year, some Arctic plant seeds display surprising levels of resilience. As part of scientific studies, seeds of the sedge species Carex bigelowii which were approximately 200 years old were still able to germinate; and in Alaska seeds of the small-flowered woodrush (Luzula parviflora) germinated after an estimated 175 years in the ground. If one day environmental conditions were to rapidly deteriorate, these species would therefore be in a position to persist as seeds in the soil for several decades or even centuries, and to germinate once conditions have become more favourable.
Over the past two to three million years, the flora of the polar regions has displayed a remarkable capacity to survive and adapt, and especially in the Arctic a rich diversity of species has emerged. Global warming will now pose new challenges for the cold-adapted flora, and the degree to which the polar biodiversity will be able to persist is uncertain.

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Species diversity in the northern and southern polar regions is primarily determined by geographic conditions. While in the Antarctic almost all life is dependent on the ocean, the Arctic also hosts impressive diversity in its terrestrial areas. Life in both regions flourishes first and foremost during the short summers and subsequently defies the ice and cold by means of remarkable survival strategies.

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Didn't know what animals are completely extinct and this page help me see this reality. 

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Didn't know what animals are completely extinct and this page help me see this reality. 

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Animal extinctions may be caused by natural occurrences such as climatic heating or cooling or changes in sea levels. In more modern times, however, human activity has been to blame. Habitat destruction as farming land expands and forests are cut-down is the main cause of modern extinctions, along with pollution, the introduction of alien species, and over fishing or hunting. Increasingly, however, climate change is thought to be driving extinctions.

Here are 10 incredible animals that are now extinct. Read on to find out what happened.

10. West African Black Rhinoceros

The West African Black Rhinoceros was found in several countries towards the southeast region of Africa. Measuring 3-3.8 metres long and 1.4-1.7 metres in height, this rhino would have weighed 800-1,300 kg. It had two horns, one measuring 0.5-1.3 metres and the other between 2-55cm. Their diet included leafy plants and shoots. Some believe their horns had medicinal properties - though this had no grounding in scientific fact - which lead to heavy poaching. In the 1930's preservation action was taken to protect the species, but the numbers continued to decline. The last West African Black Rhino was seen in Cameroon in 2006. It was declared officially extinct in 2011.
Read More

Picture credit: Africa Review

3. Dodo

An extinct flightless bird that inhabited Mauritius, the Dodo was about one metre tall and may have weighed 10-18 kg. The only account we have of the Dodo's appearance is through varied illustrations and written accounts from the 17 th century so its exact appearance remains unresolved. It is presumed the bird became flightless due to the availability of abundant food sources (seeds, roots and fallen fruits) and a relative absence of predators. Dutch sailors first recorded a mention of the dodo in 1598. The bird was hunted to extinction by sailors and their domesticated animals, and invasive species. The last widely accepted sighting of a Dodo was in 1662.

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10 Animals That Are Now Extinct | OneKindPlanet

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Animal extinctions may be caused by natural occurrences such as climatic heating or cooling or changes in sea levels. In more modern times, however, human activity has been to blame. Habitat destruction as farming land expands and forests are cut-down is the main cause of modern extinctions, along with pollution, the introduction of alien species, and over fishing or hunting.

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Elkhorn Corals are one of the endangered species in Puerto Rico that caught my attention, and this linked help me learn of them. 

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Elkhorn Corals are one of the endangered species in Puerto Rico that caught my attention, and this linked help me learn of them. 

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What We Do

Conservation & Management

We are committed to the protection and recovery of elkhorn coral through implementation of various conservation, regulatory, and restoration measures. Our work includes:

Protecting habitat and designating critical habitat

Breeding elkhorn corals in nurseries and planting them into the wild

Increasing elkhorn coral resilience to climate change

Rescuing injured elkhorn corals after ship groundings or major storm events

Learn more about our conservation efforts

Science

We conduct various research activities on the biology, behavior, and ecology of elkhorn coral. The results of this research are used to inform management decisions and enhance recovery efforts for this threatened species. Our work includes:

Tracking individuals over time to understand population trends and causes of death

Conducting spawning observations and collection of eggs and sperm for culturing elkhorn coral larvae

Conducting temperature and acidification experiments on eggs, sperm, larvae, and newly settled colonies

Conducting experiments to enhance the success of elkhorn coral propagation efforts

Learn more about our research

Tracks the implementation of recovery actions from Endangered Species Act (ESA) recovery plans.

Map and GIS data representing critical habitat for the conservation of threatened Acropora species in the Southeast U.S.

Documents

A recovery plan to identify a strategy for rebuilding and assuring the long-term viability of...

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Elkhorn coral is one of the most important corals in the Caribbean. It, along with staghorn coral and star corals (boulder, lobed, and mountainous), built Caribbean coral reefs over the last 5,000 years. Elkhorn coral can form dense groups called "thickets" in very shallow water.

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Wanted to learn about lemurs a bit more and this page was very helpful. 

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Wanted to learn about lemurs a bit more and this page was very helpful. 

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The IUCN Red List has today surpassed 120,000 species, with 120,372 species now assessed. Of these, 32,441 are threatened with extinction.

"This IUCN Red List update exposes the true scale of threats faced by primates across Africa. It also shows that Homo sapiens needs to drastically change its relationship to other primates, and to nature as a whole," said Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN Acting Director General. "At the heart of this crisis is a dire need for alternative, sustainable livelihoods to replace the current reliance on deforestation and unsustainable use of wildlife. These findings really bring home the urgent need for an ambitious post-2020 biodiversity framework that drives effective conservation action."

"The dramatic declines of species such as the North Atlantic Right Whale included in today's IUCN Red List update highlight the gravity of the extinction crisis," said Dr Jane Smart, Global Director of the IUCN Biodiversity Conservation Group. "Saving the fast-growing number of threatened species from extinction requires transformational change, supported by action to implement national and international agreements. The world needs to act fast to halt species' population declines and prevent human-driven extinctions, with an ambitious post-2020 biodiversity framework which the upcoming IUCN Congress will help define."

Almost a third of lemur species on the brink of extinction

Today's update shows that 33 lemur species are Critically Endangered, with 103 of the 107 surviving species threatened with extinction, mainly due to deforestation and hunting in Madagascar. Thirteen lemur species have been pushed to higher threat categories as a result of intensifying human pressures. Among those newly listed as Critically Endangered are Verreaux's Sifaka ( Propithecus verreauxi) and Madame Berthe's Mouse Lemur ( Microcebus berthae), the smallest primate in the world, both of which were previously listed as Endangered. These species are undergoing substantial declines as their forest habitats continue to be destroyed through slash and burn agriculture, as well as by logging for charcoal and fuel wood. Hunting further threatens Verreaux's Sifaka, despite being illegal and regarded as taboo or 'fady' in many parts of its range.

Elsewhere in Africa, an estimated 53% of primate species (54 of 103) are now under threat of extinction. This includes all 17 species of Red Colobus, making it the continent's most threatened genus of monkeys. Among the primates changing to a higher threat status today is the King Colobus ( Colobus polykomos), a monkey living on Africa's west coast, which has gone from Vulnerable to Endangered. Hunting for bushmeat - much of it illegal - and habitat loss continue to pose the most urgent threats to primates across the continent.

"Thanks to a very successful IUCN Lemur Conservation Strategy developed by our IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, we were able to raise over 7.5 million USD for the IUCN Save Our Species Lemur Initiative. With those funds, local organisations now work relentlessly to further ecotourism, to create new community-based protected areas, and to patrol, re-forest, and raise awareness in schools and local communities on the need to protect lemurs, Madagascar's treasure. Although the situation remains very serious for the majority of lemur species, it is fair to say that some, such as the severely depleted Northern Sportive Lemur ( Lepilemur septentrionalis), might already be extinct had it not been for this investment," said Russ Mittermeier, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Primate Specialist Group.

North Atlantic Right Whale one step from extinction

The North Atlantic Right Whale ( Eubalaena glacialis) has been moved from Endangered to Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Fewer than 250 mature individuals were estimated to be alive at the end of 2018, the total population having declined by approximately 15% since 2011. This decline is being driven by a combination of increased mortality due to entanglement in fishing gear and vessel strikes, and a lower reproduction rate compared to previous years. Of 30 confirmed human-caused deaths or serious injuries of North Atlantic Right Whales between 2012 and 2016, 26 were due to entanglement.

Climate change appears to be exacerbating the threats to North Atlantic Right Whales. Warmer sea temperatures have likely pushed their main prey species further north during summer, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where the whales are more exposed to accidental encounters with ships and also at high risk of entanglement in crab-pot ropes.

European Hamster now Critically Endangered

The European Hamster ( Cricetus cricetus), once abundant across Europe and Russia, has suffered severe populations declines across its entire range and is now listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Research has shown that the population declines are likely due to lowered reproduction rates. While a female hamster had an average of over 20 offspring a year during most of the 20 th century, females today have been found to give birth to only 5 to 6 pups annually. The reasons for the reduced reproduction rates are not yet fully understood, but the expansion of monoculture plantations, industrial development, global warming and light pollution are being investigated as possible causes.

As a result, the rodent has vanished from three quarters of its original habitat in the French region of Alsace, from at least a third of its range in Germany, and from more than 75% of its range in Eastern Europe. If nothing changes, the species is expected to go extinct within the next 30 years.

World's most expensive fungus threatened

The world's most expensive fungus, Caterpillar Fungus ( Ophiocordyceps sinensis), has entered the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable. This fungus is highly valued in Traditional Chinese Medicine, where it has been used for over 2,000 years to treat many diseases including those related to the kidneys and lungs. Demand for the fungus has risen sharply since the 1990s.

Caterpillar Fungus, which only grows on the Tibetan Plateau, parasitises the larvae of ghost moths while they are buried underground. It then grows through their bodies and emerges through the larvae's heads to the surface, where it is harvested.

In the last two decades, the fungus has become the main source of livelihoods for thousands of people where it occurs. Caterpillar Fungus' populations have declined by at least 30% over the past 15 years as a result of overharvesting.
Download photos and summary statistics here.
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Supporting quotes:

"While conservation measures including hamster-friendly field management and reintroductions have slowed down the population decline in some areas, they have failed to reverse the trend," said Dr Mikhail Rusin, an author of the new Red List assessment, member of the IUCN SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group and Head of the hamster restoration project in Kiev Zoo, Ukraine. "In addition to these measures, more research into the various possible drivers of the European hamster's disappearance is urgently needed to save it from extinction."

"This is one of the few documented cases of a fungus being threatened by overharvesting," said Prof Gregory Mueller, Chair of the IUCN SSC Fungal Conservation Committee. "Implementing a sustainable harvest program is needed both for the Chinese Caterpillar Fungus and for the long-term economic health of the communities that depend on it for income."

"Lemurs are firmly on the radar screen of conservationists, but further investment in their conservation will be required to reverse their decline," said Prof Jon Paul Rodríguez, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission. "The drivers of species loss are complex and powerful, so our response must be of a comparable intensity. In some cases, such as lemurs and Caterpillar Fungus, their threats are known and understood. In others, such as European Hamster, the picture is more uncertain. What is clear is that IUCN is ideally positioned to convene the experience and knowledge needed to bring species back from the brink. Inclusion in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is the first step of a process that systematically plans the best interventions linked to achieving successful conservation action. We know how to do it, we just need to do more of it."

"Through IUCN Save Our Species projects we are addressing the main threats to the survival of lemurs such as slash and burn agriculture, illegal logging, as well as hunting and keeping lemurs as pets. We also work to support local communities to develop livelihoods that make sustainable use of natural resources," said Ana Nieto, Head of IUCN Save Our Species. "With about 40% of Madagascar's original forest cover lost between the 1950s and 2000, reforestation is crucial to protecting all species of lemurs. Since 2017, our projects have planted more than 2.7 million trees to improve lemur habitat across the island."

"As the IUCN Red List surpasses 120,000 species, it becomes an even stronger Barometer of Life. The 4,260 animal, fungus and plant species assessments added to the Red List in this update, and the complete reassessment of all African primates, are essential to catalyse conservation action. Furthermore, this information will be important to inform the post-2020 Biodiversity Framework, guiding progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals," said Masako Yamato, General Manager, Environmental Affairs Division of Toyota Motor Corporation.

For more information or interviews please contact:

Harriet Brooker, IUCN Media Relations, +44 7960241862, press@iucn.org
Matthias Fiechter, IUCN Media Relations, +41 795360117, press@iucn.org

###

Editors' Notes

The IUCN Red List: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ contributes to the achievement of Target 12 of the 2011- 2020 Strategic Plan for Biodiversity. Target 12: By 2020 the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained.

IUCN-Toyota Partnership: The five-year partnership between IUCN and Toyota Motor Corporation announced in May 2016 has been significantly increasing knowledge on the extinction risk of more than 28,000 species, including many that are key food sources for a significant portion of the global population. This partnership is driven by the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, which aims to reduce the negative impacts associated with automobiles to zero, whilst simultaneously making positive impacts on society.

Quotes from Red List Partners

"The decline in Madagascar's lemurs is directly linked to loss of habitat and native plant diversity. Recent red listing work carried out by the Global Trees Assessment shows that the dry forests of Madagascar are home to 982 species of trees, 90% of which are showing declining population trends, and 59% of which are threatened with extinction. These tree species are not only essential to wildlife, they also provide food, medicines, shelter and fuel to local communities," said Paul Smith, Secretary General of BGCI.

"Included in this release are assessments from another megadiverse island, the island of New Guinea. Some of the same processes threatening lemur habitats in Madagascar: conversion to agricultural land, increasing fires and logging, are all drivers for the extinction of forest species on the other side of the world," said Helen Chadburn, Species Conservation Assessor at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. " Schefflera from the forests of New Guinea, relatives of the well-known household umbrella plant, have been assessed for their extinction risk. In New Guinea these species can form important components of the forest, and a third of these iconic plants are threatened or near threatened with extinction."

"Today's IUCN Red List update demonstrates the importance of protecting the diversity of life across the planet, especially groups like lemurs, which are extremely limited geographically making these species less resilient to habitat destruction," said Sean T. O'Brien, President and CEO of NatureServe. "We need to protect our planet's unique biodiversity and must seek out opportunities to utilise data, science, and technology to prevent the mass extinction event underway globally."

"What an amazing global achievement to have over 120,000 species assessed, including many lesser known and overlooked species that provide critical ecosystem services underpinning human wellbeing. Although only assessing a fraction of the species that make up our natural world, the IUCN Red List acts as a barometer for life on earth. We must heed its warnings and take the bold steps needed to deliver a future where wildlife and humanity thrives," said Dr Andrew Terry, Director of Conservation, ZSL.

Global figures for the 2020-2 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:

TOTAL SPECIES ASSESSED = 120,372

(Total threatened species = 32,441)

Extinct = 882

Extinct in the Wild = 77

Critically Endangered = 6,811

Endangered = 11,732

Vulnerable = 13,898

Near Threatened = 7,211

Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 189 (this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of The IUCN Red List)

Least Concern = 62,033

Data Deficient = 17,539

The figures presented above are only for those species that have been assessed for The IUCN Red List to date. Although not all of the world's species have been assessed, The IUCN Red List provides a useful snapshot of what is happening to species today and highlights the urgent need for conservation action. Relative percentages for threatened species cannot be provided for many taxonomic groups on The IUCN Red List because they have not been comprehensively assessed. For many of these groups, assessment efforts have focused on threatened species; therefore, the percentage of threatened species for these groups would be heavily biased.

For those groups that have been comprehensively assessed, the percentage of threatened species can be calculated, but the actual number of threatened species is often uncertain because it is not known whether Data Deficient (DD) species are actually threatened or not. Therefore, the percentages presented above provide the best estimate of extinction risk for those groups that have been comprehensively assessed (excluding Extinct species), based on the assumption that Data Deficient species are equally threatened as data sufficient species. In other words, this is a mid-point figure within a range from x% threatened species (if all DD species are not threatened) to y% threatened species (if all DD species are threatened). Available evidence indicates that this is a best estimate.

The IUCN Red List threat categories are as follows, in descending order of threat:

Extinct or Extinct in the Wild

Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable: species threatened with global extinction.

Near Threatened: species close to the threatened thresholds or that would be threatened without ongoing conservation measures.

Least Concern: species evaluated with a lower risk of extinction.

Data Deficient: no assessment because of insufficient data.

Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct) or Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct in the Wild): these are not new IUCN Red List Categories, but are flags developed to identify those Critically Endangered species that are in all probability already extinct but for which confirmation is required; for example, through more extensive surveys being carried out and failing to find any individuals

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Almost a third of lemurs and North Atlantic Right Whale now Critically Endangered - IUCN Red List

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Gland, Switzerland, 9 July 2020 (IUCN) - Almost a third (31%) of all lemur species in Madagascar are now Critically Endangered - just one step away from extinction - with 98% of them threatened, according to today's update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM.

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possibility of loss or injury : peril; someone or something that creates or suggests a hazard; the chance of loss or the perils to the subject matter of an insurance contract; also : the degree of probability of such loss… See the full definition

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Just recently, one of my students asked me how he should go about improving his speaking. In typical blunt fashion, I responded: "You need to take risks to become more fluent in English".

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO take RISKS TO BECOME MORE FLUENT IN ENGLISH?

As American linguist, H. Douglas Brown, put it in his book, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (2006:160):

Risk-taking is an important characteristic of successful learning of a second language. Learners have to be able to gamble a bit, to be willing to try out hunches about the language and take the risk of being wrong .

Learners should not view conversation classes as a means to just react to the content of an article. In fact, they should see each conversation class as an opportunity to experiment and take chances. For instance, learners should attempt to incorporate recently learned words, collocations and grammar points into speech.

It's extremely self-motivating to take risks when speaking English, regardless of whether one is accurate or inaccurate in their execution. It's better to be wrong than it is to be always right using the same basic structures and intermediate level vocabulary.

Just yesterday, one of my Polish students attempted to use the future perfect aspect, thus:

"in next month, we won't have been gone to the cinema for a year"

I told him that it's unnecessary to use the future perfect because it sounds unnatural in this context. The future perfect is usually used to describe an event that's expected or planned to occur before a point of time in the future. Therefore, it would be better to use the present perfect, thus:
It's been almost a year since we last went to the cinema I haven't been to the cinema for almost a year
Overall, it's irrelevant that his risk-taking didn't quite pay off. He was not afraid to take on a very challenging aspect of the English grammar system. Therefore, I had to praise him for his efforts.

HOW CAN STUDENTS TAKE RISKS TO BECOME MORE FLUENT IN E NGLISH?

When it comes to individual online discussion classes, I believe that most teachers share articles and materials with students before each class. Hence, students should have time to study an article and anticipate which discussion points might come up.

I tell my students to try to predict the questions I might ask them based on the content of the article. If they're at least well-prepared in terms of their arguments, students could shift the focus of their attention from content to the exploitation of key features found in natural fluent speech. I outlined many of these features in one of my recent posts outlining the areas of English learners should focus on to attain fluency.

Language learners should focus on incorporating just one or two of these "features of fluency" into their speech per lesson. For instance, let's assume that student Dawid keeps using pronouns with auxiliary verbs (full forms, e.g. he is) instead of the recommended contracted forms (he's). This student uses full forms because that's what his teacher told him to do at school. In other words, he's the victim of that typical "formal English is correct English" attitude which infiltrates the minds of many state school English language teachers and syllabus designers.

What would I recommend this student to do?

I would tell him to write the word CONTRACTIONS! on a sticky note. He should then stick the note onto his laptop to remind himself of his "risk of the day". There's absolutely nothing wrong with referring to reminders when it comes to experimenting, and attempting to "defossilize" faulty habits.

PERSONALISED SENTENCES

In the same post, I wrote about the importance of creating personalised sentences with the gerund after verbs, adjectives and nouns and a preposition.

Let's return to our sticky notes again. Write three or four examples with a verb, noun or adjective + preposition + gerund structure on a sticky note. Try to create sentences using this target structure when speaking in real-life conversation. Here are three typical examples with this structure:

1. LOOK FORWARD + TO + GOING

2. PREVENT ME + FROM + DOING (STH)

3. GET USED + TO + ING

If it's easier, you can write full sentences related to the content of an article, thus:

The type of anxiety that's mentioned in the article certainly prevents me from getting out and meeting new people .

prevent = verb

from = preposition

getting / meeting = gerunds

Naturally, these sentences should express genuine opinions. Personalisation is central to the language learning process.

CONCLusion

Now, you should be fully acquainted with the need to take risks to become more fluent in English.

Language lessons provide the perfect opportunity for experimentation and risk-taking.

I believe that 95% of the progress language learners make is purely down to their own efforts. The English teacher's job should be to facilitate learning. Hence, I try to get my students to go beyond the English grammar/tense system, and explore the lexical and idiomatic side of the language by themselves.

Reference :

Brown, Douglas. 2006. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. Fifth Edition. Pearson Education, NY: White Plains

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Take risks to become more fluent in English - English Coach Online

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Just recently, one of my students asked me how he should go about improving his speaking. In typical blunt fashion, I responded: "You need to take risks to become more fluent in English". As American linguist, H. Douglas Brown, put it in his book, Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (2006:160): Risk-taking is an important characteristic of successful learning of a second language.

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Common Name:

Nile Crocodile

Scientific Name:

Crocodylus niloticus

Group Name:

Bask (on land), float (in water)

Average Life Span In The Wild:

45 years

Size relative to a 6-ft man:

The Nile crocodile has a somewhat deserved reputation as a vicious man-eater.

Attacks on Humans

The proximity of much of its habitat to people means run-ins are frequent. And its virtually indiscriminate diet means a villager washing clothes by a riverbank might look just as tasty as a migrating wildebeest. Firm numbers are sketchy, but estimates are that up to 200 people may die each year in the jaws of a Nile croc.

Size and Habitat

Africa's largest crocodilian can reach a maximum size of about 20 feet and can weigh up to 1,650 pounds. Average sizes, though, are more in the range of 16 feet and 500 pounds. They live throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the Nile Basin, and Madagascar in rivers, freshwater marshes, and mangrove swamps.

Diet

The diet of the Nile crocodile is mainly fish, but it will attack almost anything unfortunate enough to cross its path, including zebras, small hippos, porcupines, birds, and other crocodiles. It will also scavenge carrion, and can eat up to half its body weight at a feeding.

Reproduction

One unusual characteristic of this fearsome predator is its caring nature as a parent. Where most reptiles lay their eggs and move on, mother and father Nile crocs ferociously guard their nests until the eggs hatch, and they will often roll the eggs gently in their mouths to help hatching babies emerge.

Threats to Survival

Hunted close to extinction in the 1940s through the 1960s, local and international protections have helped them rebound in most areas. In some regions, though, pollution, hunting, and habitat loss have severely depleted their numbers.

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Does the Nile crocodile deserve its reputation as a vicious man-eater? Get up close and personal with Africa's largest crocodilian and find out.

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What's one risk that you've taken that looking back, was kinda worth taking in life?

To help you become more comfortable taking risks in your life, we asked HR experts and business leaders this question for their best advice. From leaving a comfortable job to follow an entrepreneurial passion to investing until it hurts, there are several risks on this list that you may be interested in taking in the future!

Here are fourteen risks, worth taking:

Leaving A Six-Figure Job For Entrepreneurship

Follow Your Passion

Short-Term Financial Success Or Long Term Fulfillment

Hiring Your First Employee

Moving Away From My Hometown

Spend Money I Couldn't Afford

Moving To A New Country

Don't Be Afraid To Be The Young One

Pushing Past Societal Norms

Quitting My Job Without A Backup Plan

Risk The Office

Invest Until It Hurts

Taking An Initial Pay Cut To Gain Experience

Career Transformation

Leaving A Six-Figure Job For Entrepreneurship

Just over two years ago, I left a six-figure job with the intention of joining an early-stage start-up. But, unfortunately, that business failed before I could even join the team. Now left having no job or steady income but some savings, I decided to try and build my own business. Thinking about it rationally, I realized that there was no better time to give this a shot but now. I wasn't married, and I didn't have much going on in terms of responsibilities. It was clear that unless I tried this now, I'd likely find an excuse not to do it later. While it's been super tough, and there's been a fair share of pivots, I'm happy to look back and enjoy the flexibility I now have in my life as a remote company business owner. All I know is If you don't take calculated risks, you're never going to move mountains. Maybe you won't even move an inch, so keep pushing!

Ahmed Mir, Sip Coffee House

Follow Your Passion

Too often we follow our mind and weigh the cost and benefits of a decision. I have found that following my heart, even though the mind's cost/benefit sheet was heavy on the cost side, always brought me the most life benefits. I once left a job environment I loved for a start-up company that was unpredictable. It took a couple of years, however, in the end, my new job and environment far outweighed the benefits of my old job.

Sonja Talley, CORE HR Solutions, LLC

Short-Term Financial Success Or Long Term Fulfillment

I spent the first 5 years of my career in the financial services field. I was climbing the corporate ladder and making a very respectable amount of money. However, I would come home night after night and feel an overwhelming sense of dissatisfaction with how I was spending my days. While I wasn't able to put it into words at that time, the gift of hindsight has led me to the conclusion that I wasn't living my purpose. So, with the support of my wife, I decided to re-boot my career and start over in a new field. It's been 21 years since that decision and it was the single best career decision I've made. I feel like I am in constant alignment with who I am and what I do and that is worth its weight in gold over the long-term.

Brian Mohr, anthym

Hiring Your First Employee

Going from freelancer to business owner is quite a transition, and mustering up the courage to send your first offer letter to your first employee feels like a huge leap. It's scary to change your lifestyle, pursue a vision of success, and have someone else financially dependent on the success of your business. But like any carefully calculated risk, hiring people is often a risk worth taking. Great employees help you do more than you could ever do on your own. Looking back, I'm happy that I decided to get out of my comfort zone as a freelance and start building a team that could make a positive impact on small businesses.

Brett Farmiloe, Markitors

Moving Away From My Hometown

After growing up in Pittsburgh, PA, I left on January 20, 2002, to venture out west. I wanted to challenge my comfort zone and take on a new adventure. I loved my family and friends and left the known for the unknown. Moving from the East coast to the West coast mentally, I found it took me about 6 months to hit my stride at business, with friends and the new experiences in my new hometown. As a car guy, I enjoyed seeing all the modified cars and enjoyed waking up to the sun, virtually every day; a big change from the 300 days of clouds I was used to. The easy path, or the more challenging path...it's our choice. While the easy path is much more comfortable, the challenging path is filled with adventure and amazing insights about ourselves.

Mark Jamnik, Enjoy Life Daily

Spend Money I Couldn't Afford

I started AtticSalt seven years ago with barely any money. What I lacked in budget, tried to make up in work ethic, and marketing. We invested more into the quality of our work than the client was willing to pay for at the time. We underpromised and over delivered every single time. The payoff was extraordinary. Our clients were so satisfied that they referred their friends and family to us. Our portfolio also looked like it was from a much bigger firm, and that attracted bigger clients. Once I saw that our work was converting for us, I decided to spend money I couldn't really afford to drive more traffic to it. I was so confident that if more prospective clients saw what we were doing they would want to work with us. I was right. Even though our clients are spending far more these days, we still strive to overdeliver on everything. We also still spend more money on marketing than agencies double our size.

Rani Sweis, AtticSalt

Moving To A New Country

I took the risk to leave my home country and embark on a new adventure where I had better opportunities to grow. It's very easy to get stuck in your comfort zone, a place where you are not happy, where you feel stuck, you don't see many opportunities to grow, and you're only surviving at this point. Getting out of our comfort zone is scary, and many people talk themselves out of it because we are afraid of the uncertainty. Though it was hard for me to leave my country and family, I learned a lot from moving to a new country and challenging myself to make it on my own. This experience not only helped me personally, but it made a huge difference in my professional life as I learned to push myself to give my very best. It also made me a quick learner and a lot more responsible. I learned to believe in myself and my abilities and to embrace change.

Jessica Ulloa, MyPerfectResume

Don't Be Afraid To Be The Young One

Don't be afraid to be the young one. This was something when I was 21, I remember being an intern in a meeting and I spoke up and was nervous because I was in a room of people that have been working 5, 10, 15 or even 20 years. They ended up listening to what I had to say and actually implemented a new initiative within the organization. I was worried they would think, "Who is this college girl like offering her two cents?", but age doesn't necessarily mean wisdom in the sense that you can't feel slighted or that can't contribute just because you lack years under your belt from a career perspective. I think everybody always has good advice and insight to offer. So never hold back, especially when you're in the infancy of your career. When you speak up and you have your voice heard, you put yourself in a better position and it leads to a greater sense of respect and self-confidence for yourself.

Stephanie Hayman, Global Payments Integrated

Pushing Past Societal Norms

There is always some risk when setting out to create a product and kickstart a business venture. The risk, however, varies upon your industry. For me, I set out to create a delicious and diverse chili sauce to represent my Sichuanese background and bring recognition to my culture's delicacies. In this, there was a good amount of risk. Food from my home is not widely accepted as high-end. People expect cheap. So, getting notoriety was initially a challenge. I had many critics of my business telling me that people would not pay the price for my sauces. Despite this, my company has prevailed. I would encourage all women, especially minorities setting out to create something they love, to take the risk.

Jing Gao, Fly by Jing

Quitting My Job Without A Backup Plan

Although I would never recommend this normally, I chose to resign from a position in an incredibly toxic work environment without having another job lined up. I was lucky enough that I had established a strong network and built relationships personally and professionally to immediately pivot into HR Consulting. But, the most valuable lesson was that it's important to know your value, go where you're valued, and take control of your professional future. No one should allow their mental health to suffer to the extent that they dread going to work every day. I wouldn't change a thing about that choice in retrospect, as scary as it was.

Eric Mochnacz, Red Clover

Risk The Office

The one risk I took that was worth taking in life was getting an office back when we scaled the business. We had no profit - but I needed a place to work outside of my home where I could focus. I looked at a co-working space that was about $450 a month and it changed our business. It allowed me to focus, appear bigger than what I was to consumers and have a place to network.

Trevor Rappleye, CorporateFilming.com

Invest Until It Hurts

I was investing in a new business venture that I was going to be a part of running. A mentor told me to "invest until it hurts." I cashed in everything I had to invest in the company. We sold the company three years later, and I quadrupled my investment. The risk of investing everything in myself and my business partners set me up financially to pursue other opportunities.

Kimberly Bogues, Flourish Business Services, LLC

Taking An Initial Pay Cut To Gain Experience

Taking an initial pay cut to gain new experience as an agency marketer was absolutely a risk worth taking. At the time, I was an in-house marketer at a finance firm. Internal marketing positions are known for paying very well and having other "cushy" perks when compared to agency marketing, such as being less stressful. That said, I had hit a wall with what I was going to learn, and frankly, I was bored. To widen my knowledge and work with other industries and their unique challenges, I needed to be in the fast-paced, "sink or swim" environment of an agency. Looking back, it was hands down the best career move I could have made. I ultimately surpassed my income, working now as both an agency marketer at an incredible agency, as well as a freelancing. I have zero boring days (seriously!) and learn more new and exciting things about marketing every single day.

Jessica Mason, Digital Marketing Strategist

Career Transformation

Career transitions are one risk that pays off - as long as you are moving toward a goal, rather than merely trying to escape where you are now. As a resume writer, I facilitate hundreds of transitions per year, from bank branch manager to corporate trainer, from accountant to marketing director, from retail manager to HR exec. Since I transformed from HR exec/recruiter to professional resume writer and small business owner 12 years ago, I can confidently report that it's worthwhile!

Joni Holderman, Thrive! Resumes
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What's one risk that you've taken that looking back, was kinda worth taking in life? To help you become more comfortable taking risks in your life, we asked HR experts and business leaders this question for their best advice.

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Life is a series of calculated risks - nothing more. Everything that you decide to do has a margin of risk. No outcome is ever 100 percent certain and, therefore, any attempt at anything has a chance of complete failure. We risk everything, every day of our lives without knowing it. There is always a chance that walking outside will kill us.

There's a chance that we'll never make it to our destination, a chance we won't get to see our loved ones again, a chance that tomorrow will never come. Life is all about risks - you take some and you avoid others.

The life you live depends on the choices you make, the risks you take, and how lucky or unlucky you've been. Depending on how lucky you feel you'll most certainly want to avoid certain risks - like walking across a highway with a blindfold.

There are, likewise, risks that everyone should take in life. Why? Because they are almost always necessary ingredients in the recipe that is happiness. Here are 15:

1. Risk taking the road less traveled.

The road less traveled is a scary road to take. It hasn't been worn in by previous footsteps, so getting lost is a cinch. The brush has never been trimmed or tended to, so you're likely to get caught on a branch and stuck in places for a while.

The roads less traveled haven't yet been mapped out and, therefore, the only thing you really have to go on in hopes of reaching your destination is your intelligence, your logic, perseverance, and a bit of luck.

However, the road less traveled has much richer plunders. You risk never getting there, but once you do, it's well worth your trouble.

2. Risk getting turned down.

That girl at the bar, any girl at the bar, might turn you down. The same goes for whenever you are asking anything of anyone. More often than not, we get turned down not because of us, but because of the individual that is rejecting our request.

It doesn't matter whether you are trying to get someone's number or asking them to pass you a napkin - you'll always meet that jerk who will refuse to even pay you any attention. Because we hate being rejected - our damn egos at it again - we often fail to even ask.

If you don't ask then you won't be answered. If you don't ask then you're basically still getting answered no, but you yourself are moving any chance of receiving a yes.

3. Risk not getting the job.

We won't always be the best qualified. We won't always be the smartest, brightest or best fit for the job. And there will also be times when we are best suited for the position and we still get turned down.

That's simply the way life is, but you still need to put yourself on the line and risk being turned down for your dream position. Often times, people get hired simply because they seem hungry and seem like they'll get along very well with the rest of the team. Experience isn't always the determining factor. Risking not getting the job is the same as risking actually landing it.

4. Risk failing.

Failing is both the worst and best thing that can happen to you. When you don't fail, you succeed. When you do fail, you succeed at figuring out another way of not doing it - it just doesn't feel quite as good.

We too often allow our emotions to get in the way of logic. If you don't risk failing, then you can't succeed. Success requires risking failure - that is true 100 percent of the time.

5. Risk putting it all on the line.

If we do things right, there will be a time in our lives that we will have to decide whether or not we want to put it all on the line and roll the dice. My suggestion is to do so and to do so earlier on in life.

The later you risk losing everything, the more difficult it will be to bounce back. The biggest rewards often require the largest risks. Just be smart about it and make sure you know exactly what you are risking and exactly what you would be getting as a reward.

6. Risk missing out in order to achieve something greater.

FOMO among Generation-Yers is real. We don't want to miss out on parties, get-togethers, chill sessions, festivals, concerts, nights out on the town.

We're afraid that staying in and getting some rest will make us miss out on something huge - life changing. Think about this: You've been making sure that you haven't missed out on anything for years, how many of those experiences actually made a positive change in your life?

7. Risk that person not saying "I love you too."

No one wants to be the first one to say "I love you." I get it - not hearing "I love you" back can suck. But imagine how great it will feel if that person does love you back.

He or she is most likely worrying about the same thing waiting for you to make a move. And if that person doesn't love you back, then at least you know where things really stand and can disillusion yourself.

8. Risk making a mistake.

Mistakes need to be made if you want to succeed in life - it's how we learn. If you're not making mistakes then you're not trying enough things. In other words, you're not living enough. Risk making those mistakes because they are the things that make our lives interesting enough to read about.

9. Risk losing friendships.

Friendships can be great, but they can also be very restrictive. Following our dreams usually involves quite a bit of solitude. Friendships make it very difficult to take the time that you need to get the work done that needs to get done. In my opinion, true friends should support you and your dreams no matter what.

They should understand that you may have to distance yourself a bit more and then work together to keep the friendship alive - even if you don't see each other half as much.

10. Risk not being good enough.

There's always a chance that you won't be good enough. But again, isn't that something that you'd like to know? The fact is that you're either good enough or not good enough. Often, when we think we are good enough, we actually aren't.

This is important information to have because it informs you how much more work you need to put in before you can succeed. But you will never know if you're good enough if you don't risk not being good enough.

11. Risk launching too early.

We too often wait until we perfect our product - regardless of whether it's a physical device or service or our very selves - before we put it on the market. The truth is that no one comes out with the perfect product or service the first time around.

In fact, the perfect anything depends on the feedback that you receive from others. This feedback only comes after several iterations of testing. If you wait too long to launch then you are missing out on critical learning.

12. Risk putting yourself out there and being judged.

We hate being judged regardless of the fact that we do it all the time and that we are being judged all the time. Everyone always judges - it's what we humans do. Put yourself out there and be judged. Since you're not selling yourself to everyone - most people won't be a significant part of your life - most of their opinions don't really matter anyway.

13. Risk admitting that you don't know.

Not knowing is not something to be embarrassed about. There is a very fine line between knowing and not knowing. For example, one second I will know absolutely nothing about a topic and then two minutes later, after someone explains something to me, I instantly know something new.

It's crazy. And it only took a few minutes and not seconds. Knowledge is the easiest thing to accumulate, but only if you ask questions and risk admitting your lack of knowledge.

14. Risk opening up and being vulnerable.

When it comes to relationships, opening up and revealing your full, true self is necessary. It's a requirement of love I'm afraid. If you don't open yourself up and make yourself vulnerable then your partner will never see the real you and therefore will never be able to love you for the real you.

You have to risk it all to have it all. You have to risk giving yourself fully to the person whom you love if you want to experience the deepest level of love possible.
Photo via We Heart It
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The Biggest Risk Is Not Taking One: 14 Risks Everyone Needs To Take In Life

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Life is a series of calculated risks - nothing more. Everything that you decide to do has a margin of risk. No outcome is ever 100 percent certain and, therefore, any attempt at anything has a chance of complete failure. We risk everything, every day...

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The 8 Parts of Speech: Examples and Rules | Grammarly Blog

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​​Every word is a part of speech. The term " part of speech " refers to the role a word plays in a sentence. And like any workplace or TV show with an ensemble cast, these roles were designed to work together.

Read on to learn about the different parts of speech that the words we use every day fall into, and how we use them together to communicate ideas clearly.

The 8 parts of speech

A noun is a word that names person, place, concept, or object. Basically, anything that names a "thing" is a noun, whether you're talking about a basketball court, San Francisco, Cleopatra, or self-preservation.

Nouns fall into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are general names for things, like planet and game show. Proper nouns are specific names for individual things, like Jupiter and Jeopardy!

Pronouns are the words you substitute for specific nouns when the reader or listener knows which specific noun you're referring to.

Adjectives are the words that describe nouns. Think about your favorite movie. How would you describe it to a friend who's never seen it?

You might say the movie was funny, engaging, well-written, or suspenseful. When you're describing the movie with these words, you're using adjectives. An adjective can go right before the noun it's describing (I have a black dog), but it doesn't have to. Sometimes, adjectives are at the end of a sentence (my dog is black).

These bolded words are verbs. Verbs are words that describe specific actions, like running, winning, and being amazing.

Not all verbs refer to literal actions, though. Verbs that refer to feelings or states of being, like to love and to be, are known as nonaction verbs. Conversely, the verbs that refer to literal actions are known as action verbs.

An adverb is a word that describes an adjective, a verb, or another adverb. Take a look at these examples:

Here's an example: I entered the room quietly. Quietly is describing how you (verb) the room.

Here's another example: A cheetah is always faster than a lion. Always is describing how frequently a cheetah is (adjective) than a lion.

Prepositions tell you the relationship between the other words in a sentence.

Here's an example: I left my bike leaning against the garage. In this sentence, against is the preposition because it tells us I left my bike.

Conjunctions make it possible to build complex sentences that express multiple ideas.

I like marinara sauce. I like alfredo sauce. I don't like puttanesca sauce. Each of these three sentences expresses a clear idea. There's nothing wrong with listing your preferences like this, but it's not the most efficient way to do it.

A pear. The brick house. An exciting experience. These bolded words are known as articles.

Like nouns, articles come in two flavors: definite articles and indefinite articles. And just like the two types of nouns, the type of article you use depends on how specific you need to be about the thing you're discussing.

A definite article describes one specific noun, like the and this. Example: Did you buy the car?

Now swap in an indefinite article: Did you buy a car?

See how the implication is gone and you're asking a much more general question?

Figuring out parts of speech

Sometimes, it's not easy to tell which part of speech a word is. Here are a few easy "hacks" to quickly figure out what part of speech you're dealing with:

If it's an adjective plus the ending "-ly," it's an adverb. Examples: commonly, quickly.

If you can swap it out for a noun and the sentence still makes sense, it's a pronoun. Example: We played basketball. / Steve and I played basketball.

If it's something you , and you can modify the sentence to include the word , it's a verb. Examples: I have an umbrella. / I do have an umbrella.

If you can remove the word and the sentence still makes sense, but you lose a detail, the word is most likely an adjective. Example: She drives a red van. / She drives a van.

If you can remove the word and the sentence doesn't make sense, it's likely a preposition. Example: I left my notebook on the desk. / I left my notebook the desk.

And if you're ever really stumped, just look the word up. Dictionaries typically list the part of speech a word fits in its entry, and if it fits more than one part of speech, both are listed with examples.

That brings us to another common issue that can confuse writers and language learners:

When a word is two different kinds of speech

Just like is sometimes a vowel but sometimes a consonant, there are words that are one part of speech and other times another. Here are a few examples:

And sometimes, words evolve to fit into new parts of speech. One recent example is the word "adult." Before the 2010s, adult was primarily a noun that referred to a fully grown person. It could also be used as an adjective to refer to specific types of media, like adult contemporary music. But then, at right about the turn of the 2010s, the word adulting, a brand-new verb, appeared in the internet lexicon. As a verb, adulting is the act of doing tasks like paying bills and grocery shopping.

Open and closed word classes

The parts of speech fall into two word classes: open and closed.

Open word classes are parts of speech that regularly acquire new words. Language evolves, and usually, evolution happens in these parts of speech: nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and verbs. In 2020, new words added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary included deepfake, truthiness , and contactless.

Closed word classes are the parts of speech that regularly add new words. These parts of speech are more "set in stone" and include pronouns, conjunctions, articles, and prepositions.

Are you using the parts of speech correctly? Check your grammar and find out!

You don't have to guess whether you're using certain words correctly or breaking grammar rules in your writing. Just copy and paste your writing and get instant feedback on whether your sentences have misspellings, punctuation errors, or any structural mistakes.

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The 8 Parts of Speech: Examples and Rules

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​​Every word is a part of speech. The term " part of speech " refers to the role a word plays in a sentence. And like any workplace or TV show with an ensemble cast, these roles were designed to work together.