Hevea brasiliensis, the Pará rubber tree, often simply called rubber tree, is a tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae, and the most economically important member of the genus Hevea. It is of major economic importance because its sap-like extract (known as latex) is the primary source of natural rubber.  The Pará rubber tree initially grew only in the Amazon Rainforest. Increasing demand and the discovery of the vulcanization procedure in 1839 led to the rubber boom in that region, enriching the cities of Belém and Manaus.  The name of the tree derives from Pará, the second largest Brazilian state, the capital of which is Belém.  See history and beautiful pictures at:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hevea_brasiliensis

 

Nearly 300 tiger shrimp were collected off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida in the three months after the August, 1988 accidental release of roughly 2,000 animals from an aquaculture facility in South Carolina.  The species has now been found from North Carolina to Texas.  Penaeus monodon was one of six species of penaeid shrimp transported to Hawaii for aquaculture and research between 1978-1991.  Some individuals escaped from culture ponds during flooding, but no populations are thought to be established (Eldredge 1994).  Although production has declined over the past decade, during the 1970s and 80s global production of farmed Penaeus monodon exceeded all other shrimp species. Tiger shrimp were widely farmed outside of their native range where conditions were suitable, including West Africa and various locations throughout the Caribbean.  In the US, the last attempt to culture tiger shrimp occurred in Florida in 2004 (Salisbury 2004); however, a successful harvest was not achieved there (Knott pers. comm.).  Introductions of tiger shrimp into the southeastern US are most likely explained by escapement from aquaculture facilities following flooding by storms and hurricanes, or through migration from areas where tiger shrimp have previously become established in the wild.  Currently, the impacts of this invasive shrimp on the native fauna in areas where it has been introduced are uncertain.  The black tiger shrimp, however, is a more aggressive predator on soft-bodied invertebrate benthic organisms than native shrimp, feeding primarily on small crabs, shrimp, bivalves and gastropods (Marte 1980).  In addition to potential predation of P. monodon on native shrimp species, this non-native shrimp may also have an advantage over them in competing for food resources.  Tiger shrimp are also susceptible to a variety of viral diseases and are capable of transmitting them to native shrimp and other crustaceans.  See list of references and maps at: 

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=1209

 

EPONMYMS

mentor  noun:  A wise and trusted adviser or teacher.  verb tr., intr.: To serve as an adviser or teacher.   After Mentor, the name of young Telemachus's adviser in Homer's Odyssey.  Earliest documented use:  1750.
nestor  noun:  A wise old man.  From Nestor, king of Pylos, who was the oldest and wisest of the Greeks and served as a counselor in the Trojan War.  Earliest documented use:  around 1510.
hector  noun:  A bully or a blusterer.  verb tr., intr.: To bully or to bluster.  After Hector, a Trojan hero in Greek mythology.  The name is derived from Greek hektor (holding fast).  In the mid-1600s the term was applied to hoodlums on London streets.  Earliest documented use:  before 1387. A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

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From:  Alan H. Schulman  Subject:  Tartar
Def:  1.  A fierce, uncontrollable person.  2.  One who proves to be unexpectedly formidable. Usually used in the idiom "to catch a tartar".  3.  A hard yellowish deposit that forms on the teeth. 4.  A reddish deposit on the sides of wine casks.  The Tatars (Tartars) haven't disappeared.  They are a minority in Finland, to which they came as part of the Czar's army during the years (1809-1917) when Finland was a Grand Duchy of Russia.  They came from Tatarstan, where they still live.  Our son's nanny as an infant was a member of the Tatar community in Finland.

From:  Rod Shepherd  Subject:  Nestor  In the Washington DC area a nestor is a slow driver purposely taking up a position in the left lane of a highway -- usually driving a few miles below the speed limit.  Heard the term in the mid-1970s.  Coined after John Nestor.  John Nestor was a U.S. Food and Drug Administration medical officer.  In 1972 he had been transferred out of FDA’s cardio-renal-pulmonary unit because that division “had approved no new chemical entities … from 1968 to 1972, an experience that contrasted with the experience of every other medical modern nation and with the experience of other divisions of the FDA.”  He also achieved fame in the Washington, D.C. area in 1984 after The Washington Post published his letter describing his favored driving method:  On highways Nestor would settle his vehicle in the far left lane and set the cruise control at the speed limit, at the time 55 mph.  He would not move to the right for drivers behind him.  "Why," he asked, "should I inconvenience myself for someone who wants to speed?"  Nestor's letter enraged many motorists and led Paul J. Leonard to coin the term 'Nestoring' to describe the practice in another letter to the editor.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nestor
 

Two things were supposed to happen when the Nasher Sculpture Center opened in Dallas in 2003.  Famous works like Rodin’s “Age of Bronze” and Matisse’s “Madeleine I” were to be bathed in copious sunlight streaming through a glass roof.  And new vigor was to come to the surrounding neighborhood.  The center, designed by Renzo Piano and Peter Walker, was considered so appealing that a 42-story condominium called Museum Tower sprouted across the street.  But the glass skin of the condo tower, still under construction, now reflects so much light that it is threatening artworks in the galleries, burning the plants in the center’s garden and blinding visitors with its glare.  Glare problems, of course, can cut both ways.  In Los Angeles a few years ago, the architect Frank Gehry had to sandblast portions of his stainless-steel-clad Disney Concert Hall because the reflected sunlight was creating problems for residents in a nearby apartment building.   Architecture experts say the owners of Museum Tower could cover its glass facade with a solar shading system that cuts the glare, at potentially considerable expense.  A regulation that set a strict limit on the reflectivity of buildings on the site expired in 2008 and was revised with more lenient restrictions, though the tower’s opponents say the building still exceeds them.  Complicating matters is that the $200 million Museum Tower is owned by the Dallas Police & Fire Pension System, on whose board sit four members of the City Council.  Construction of the tower continues.  And the Nasher had to remove Picasso’s “Nude Man and Woman,” an oil on canvas, to get it out of dangerous direct sunlight.  (The artist James Turrell also insisted that the Nasher shut down his installation “Tending, (Blue)” because its roof aperture was meant to reveal open sky, not a skyscraper.)   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/arts/design/renzo-pianos-nasher-museum-in-dallas-has-sunburn-problem.html

Fish have gills that they use to breathe air.  They have a streamlined body and fins suitable for

swimming.  They are vertebrates - animals with a backbone.  Lastly, most of them have scales for protection.  Sharks, salmons, stingrays, and sailfish are all examples of fish.  Then, why are whales, jellyfish, and starfish not in the fish family?  Whales are not fish, because they are
mammals - mother whales produce milk to feed their baby.  Jellyfish and starfish are not fish, because they do not have a backbone.  http://klingbeil.weebly.com/uploads/8/5/1/3/8513246/pdfrcomp1328291693_5123813.pdf

ANNAPOLIS - Gov. Martin O'Malley signed legislation May 2 that makes Maryland the first state to ban employers from asking job applicants or workers to hand over log-in information for Facebook and other social media sites.  Congress and California lawmakers have followed suit since the General Assembly passed the measure--the Social Networking Online Privacy Act was recently introduced in the House, and a similar bill was introduced before the California state legislature. Virginia and D.C. lawmakers have not taken up the issue.  The bill signing comes just over a year after the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services suspended its own practice of asking officers to provide login information for Facebook or other social media websites they may have used.  http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/maryland-news/2012/05/maryland-bans-employers-asking-facebook-passwords/564481