Wonder Land: กันยายน 2010

Asia's smallest frog found in Borneo

By Manager Online

26 August 2010 16:55

KUCHING, MALAYSIA : An undated handout picture released by the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak's Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation (IBEC) on August 26, 2010 shows the frog Microhyla nepenthicola, Asia's smallest frog, sitting on the tip of a pencil in Kuching, Sarawak state. The creature the size of a pea, has been discovered in a national park in Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island, researchers said on August 26. The frog, originally discovered in 2004 but not described and announced until now, measures just 3.0 millimetres when it metamorphoses from a tadpole, and grows to about 9.0 to 11.0 millimetres as an adult. It belongs to the Microhylid family of frogs which are all under 15.0 millimetres in length. AFP PHOTO / INDRANEIL DAS / IBEC

August 26, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Asia's tiniest frog, a creature the size of a pea, has been discovered in a national park in Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo island, researchers said Thursday.

Herpetologist Indraneil Das said he and Hamburg University colleague Alexander Haas discovered the orange-and-red frog when returning from a field trip at the Kubah National Park in 2004.

They finally announced their discovery after taxonomic journal Zootaxa published their findings.

"We heard the calls of this frog and we knew the calls of all frogs in the area and this was different," Das told AFP.

"At first we couldn't see it but eventually we found it and I had to trap the frog in one of my baby son's clean white diapers in order to really see what it looked like, it was so tiny."

The frog measures just 3.0 millimetres when it metamorphoses from a tadpole, and grows to about 9.0 to 11.0 millimetres as an adult. It belongs to the Microhylid family of frogs, which are all under 15.0 millimetres in length.

"The frog is as small as the South American species (of miniature frogs) and is definitely the tiniest in Asia, Africa and Europe," Das said.

It was named Microhyla nepenthicola after the Nepenthes ampullaria, a miniature pitcher plant in which it lives.

Das said the plant lives off decomposing organic matter that collects within it and the frog uses this as a habitat, laying its eggs in the pitcher. When the tadpoles hatch, they live in the gathered liquid until they mature.

"This just shows how much more there is left to discover in the jungles of Borneo, it's just the tip of the iceberg," said the scientist, head of the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.

Sarawak and neighbouring Sabah states make up Malaysia's half of Borneo island, which is shared with Indonesia.

Das said he will be leading a team into the jungles of Indonesia and Malaysia next month to search for a supposedly extinct toad last seen in 1922, as part of a global project to rediscover 100 species of "lost" amphibians.

S.Korean golf club's tattoo ban upheld

By Manager Online

26 August 2010 11:18

This photo retrieved August 25, 2010 is from www.google.co.th. The unidentified man filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission in February, accusing the golf club of refusing to sell him membership due to tattoos on his shoulder, chest, arms and back.

August 26, 2010
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) - South Korea's state human rights watchdog said Wednesday that it had upheld a decision by a private golf club not to sell its membership to a man bearing excessive tatoos.

The unidentified man filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission in February, accusing the golf club of refusing to sell him membership due to tattoos on his shoulder, chest, arms and back.

He insisted the golf club should be punished for violating a human rights law banning discrimination on appearance.

The commission, however, ruled that the decision by the club, which was also unidentified, should not be classified as "unfair discrimination."

Under its by-law, the club can reject membership for "those who create a sense of incompatibility or give inconvenience to others," the commission said.

"The skin of players may be exposed while changing (clothes) and showering at the club, and there is a chance that people may feel uncomfortable with such tattoos," it concluded.

Thailand raises interest rates for second straight month

By Manager Online

25 August 2010 16:49

This photo was taken in May 2010. The Bank of Thailand increased its main lending rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent, following a quarter-point hike in July. AFP Photo.

August 25, 2010
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand raised its benchmark interest rate Wednesday for a second consecutive month after an unexpectedly strong performance by its economy in the face of deadly political unrest.

The Bank of Thailand increased its main lending rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent, following a quarter-point hike in July -- the first in almost two years.

"The Thai economy expanded faster than expected in the second quarter, despite decelerating somewhat from the first quarter due to (the) domestic political situation," said BoT assistant governor Paiboon Kittisrikangwan.

"Exports have been growing in tandem with global economic recovery, although the pace of growth is expected to slow down in the second half of the year," he said in a statement.

Official figures released on Monday showed that the Thai economy expanded by 9.1 percent in the second quarter of 2010 from a year earlier. For the six months through June, gross domestic product grew 10.6 percent.

The Thai economy has remained relatively resilient following two months of mass opposition protests, which paralysed parts of Bangkok and sparked violence that left 91 people dead, ending in a bloody army crackdown in May.

The better-than-expected second-quarter result was largely thanks to robust overseas demand for Thai-made goods, such as cars.

In July the Bank of Thailand upgraded its economic growth projection for 2010 to between 6.5 and 7.5 percent.

Before last month, the Bank of Thailand had held its benchmark rate steady for more than a year, after a series of cuts to shield the economy from the fallout of the global financial crisis. It last raised rates in August 2008.

Wonder Land

วันอาทิตย์ที่ 5 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2553

Asia's smallest frog found in Borneo

S.Korean golf club's tattoo ban upheld

Thailand raises interest rates for second straight month

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