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Guadalupe fur seal (Arctocephalus townsendi)
|Also known as:
|Lower Californian fur seal
|Arctophoca philippii townsendi
|Arctocéphale De Guadalupe, Otarie À Fourrure D'Amérique
|Oso Marino De Guadalupe
|Arctocephalus (1)
|Male length: 1.8 – 1.9 m (2)
Female length: 1.2 – 1.4 m (2)
Male weight: 160 – 170 kg (2)
Female weight: 45 – 55 kg (2)
Classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List (1), and listed on Appendix I of CITES (3).
The Guadalupe fur seal was once considered extinct, after being decimated by poaching for its dense, luxurious underfur (2). Remarkably, the species was rediscovered in 1954 with just 14 individuals remaining and, despite a tremendous recovery, it still remains the rarest of all fur seal species (2) (4). In males, the thick, dense coat is dark, greyish-brown to greyish-black. Much of the head and back of the neck may appear yellowish, and a silvery to yellowish-grey mane of long, coarse hair exists on the nape of the thick, muscular neck (2) (5). Females are similarly coloured dark, greyish-brown to greyish-black, but often appear paler, creamy-grey on the underside of the neck and chest. Guadalupe fur seals have elongated, pointy snouts with whitish-cream whiskers, and the male has a large and bulbous nose (2).
The Guadalupe fur seal used to have a much wider distribution, but for most of the 20th century breeding was restricted to only one island; Isla de Guadalupe, off the coast of Baja California, Mexico (4). In 1997 a group of Guadalupe fur seals was observed in Islas San Benito, 165 miles south west of Isla Guadalupe (6). In 2006 and 2007 the first pups were seen in San Benito, and the species has spread out all around the San Benito Archipelago. Non-breeding seals range as far north as the Farallon Islands and Sonoma County, California, and south into the Gulf of California (5).
When ashore, Guadalupe fur seals live and breed in rocky habitats, such as volcanic caves and grottos (2).
Like other fur seals, Guadalupe fur seals are territorial, with adult males fighting to form territories, and then endeavouring to accumulate females into their territories (5). Females start arriving at the breeding sites from mid-June to July or August, and give birth to a pup conceived the previous season within days of their arrival (5). About seven to ten days after giving birth the mother mates and then leaves to feed at sea (5). For the next eight to eleven months before the pup is weaned (5), the female will spend alternate periods of nine to thirteen days feeding at sea and nursing periods of five to six days back on land (7). Their search for prey may take them up to 500 kilometres away from their breeding sites and most of their dives are down to a depth of 50 metres (8). The Guadalupe fur seal diet is quite specialized on squid (95 percent) but also includes a few fishes (5) (9).
Prized for their luxurious underfur, Guadalupe seals were hunted to near extinction in the 19th century (2) (10). Following its rediscovery in 1954, when just 14 individuals were found, the species has experienced a remarkable recovery, with population numbers having rebounded to a far healthier 7,348 by the early 1990s (10). Nevertheless, some Guadalupe seals may still be killed through entanglement in drift and set gillnets and individuals, particularly juvenile females, have been found stranded with injuries caused by entanglement in marine debris. In addition, El Niño and Hurricane Darby were responsible for 33 percent pup mortality in 1992, but it is not known how the population was affected by the 1997 to 1998 El Niño event (7).
In 1975, the Isla de Guadalupe was declared a sanctuary by the Mexican government and the Guadalupe fur seal is now fully protected under Mexican law (2). The species is also protected in the U.S. portion of its range by Californian law and is listed on Appendix I of CITES, prohibiting any international trade (3). Thankfully, these measures have produced a dramatic rise in numbers, and the future looks a little brighter for the world's rarest fur seal (10).
For more information on the Guadalupe fur seal, other seal species and their conservation see:
Seal Conservation Society:
International Marine Mammal Association Inc.:
Authenticated (20/11/07) by Dr David Aurioles Gamboa, Laboratorio de Ecologia de Pinnipedos "Burney J. Le Boeuf", Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas,
Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico.
IUCN Red List (November, 2008)
- Jefferson, T.A., Leatherwood, S. and Webber, M.A. (1993) FAO Species Identification Guide. Marine Mammals of the World. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
CITES (November, 2006)
- Arnould, J.P.Y. (2002) Southern Fur Seals. In: Perrin, W.F., Würsig, B. and Thewissen, J.G.M. (Eds) Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press, London.
- Macdonald, D. (2001) The New Encylopedia of Mammals. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
- Maravilla, O. and Lowry, M. (1999) Incipient breeding colony of Guadalupe fur seal at Isla Benito del Este, Baja California, México. Marine Mammal Science, 15(1): 239 - 241.
Seal Conservation Society (November, 2006)
- Gallo, J.P. (1994) Factors affecting the population status of the Guadalupe fur seal, Arctocephalus townsendi (Merriam, 1897), at Isla Guadalupe, Baja California, México. PhD Thesis, University of California, Santa Cruz, U.S.A.
- Aurioles-Gamboa, D. and Camacho-Ríos, F.J. (2007) Diet and feeding overlap of two otariids, Zalophus californianus and Arctocephalus townsendi: Implications to survive environmental uncertainty. Aquatic Mammals, 33(3): 315 - 326.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (November, 2006)


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Teen Series: Something for Everyone
January and February are turning out to be great months for series lovers! Shades of Earth by Beth Revis was just released. This is the third book of the science fiction series Across the Universe, featuring Amy & Elder on their journey to New Earth.
The Blue Bloods series completes with the just released seventh book, Gates of Paradise by Melissa de la Cruz. This vampire love story features Schuyler Van Alen, who is currently separated from her love, Jack.
Coming out today is Boundless by Cynthia Hand, the last book in the Unearthly series. Clara is half angel and only recently discovered her powers. But she is still being followed by the dark angel who almost took her life.
Next week brings the release of Prodigy by Marie Lu. This is the second book in the dystopian Legend series. After being thrown together by chance, June & Day face a difficult task in order to free Day's brother.
February brings Sever by Lauren Destefano, the conclusion to the dystopian Chemical Garden series and Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter, the third in the Heist Society series.
Posted by: Beth


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Chesapeake Energy: S&P Intraday Gainer
TheStreet) -- Chesapeake Energy (CHK - Get Report) was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 on Monday morning. The S&P 500 was falling about 13.5 points to 1,339.NEW YORK (
Shares of Chesapeake rose 8.68% to $16.09. The Oklahoma City-based energy exploration and production company said Friday it received a $3 billion loan from Goldman Sachs (GS) and Jefferies Group (JEF), giving the oil and gas company more time to lower its debt. Chesapeake trades at an estimated price-to-earnings ratio for next year of 8 times; the average for exploration and production companies is 15.6. For comparison, Williams Partners (WPZ) has a higher forward P/E of 16.92. Eighteen of the 37 analysts who cover Chesapeake rated it hold. Sixteen analysts gave the stock a buy rating and three rated it sell. The stock has fallen 27.79% year to date.-- Written by Alexandra Zendrian >To contact the writer of this article, click here: Alexandra Zendrian >To submit a news tip, send an email to: email@example.com. >To follow the writer on Twitter, go to Alexandra Zendrian.
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The lessons are so devised that they will transform a learner into a new driver. Most often those who are in the learning process are so nervous about it that they make mistakes and this can result in losing confidence. At, Andy1st, located in Birmingham, the driving instructors are very friendly and have a very practical approach towards teaching new drivers how to get used to the driving process. They believe in the philosophy that a learner who is relaxed will learn more and quickly. All the instructors here are DSA approved instructors which ensures that learners are getting lessons from thorough and qualified professionals.
In order to make the learning process refined, this school always replaces its instructor cars every six months. They also ensure that nothing goes wrong with the vehicle during the learning process as they do not want their students to miss their classes. Those who have taken up classes at Andy1st find that they get to learn driving quickly but dont spend as much as they would have in other driving schools. The lessons are quite tailored to individual needs. For example, it is not just students, business professionals, who come here to learn, it is also a school that can taxi driver gain the necessary skills to pass their taxi driving test. They also offer course for those aspiring to become driving instructors.
Currently, the driving school has put forth a very interesting Citroen car rental offer. This offer enables driving instructor to rent this amazing car at just 313 and this includes VAT. The advantage to the renter is that they get to drive a car, without spending the kind of money they would normally have to if they have to make an initial lump sum payment at the time of car purchase. Andy1st will take care of all maintenance services which eliminates the need to check up on repairs and assists the instructor to concentrate in taking driving lessons. When a car is caught up in repairs it will not be available to the instructor for taking classes which can damage their reputation, which can be avoided by taking up this low-cost Citroen car rental scheme. You can find out more details at their website Andy1st.co.uk.
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Andy1st is a top driving institute in the U.K, with branch offices located all over the country. They unique teaching style and professional approach ensures that new learners will learn quickly and effortlessly. For more information, please visit http://www.andy1st.co.uk/.
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Unveiling the Mandelbrot setIssue 40
September 2006
Time series plot 4
This plot shows the orbit of zero for iteration of x2 - 1.8. Even though the orbit is close to a 3-cycle for periods of time, it never settles down completely. It is chaotic. This kind of behaviour is known as intermittency.


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Statement Regarding Forward Looking InformationThis release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements that are not historical or current facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond management's control. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, those described under "Risk Factors" in Item 1A of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, filed with the SEC on March 8, 2013. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events.
The Dolan Company Adopts A Rights Agreement To Protect Its Net Operating Losses
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1 month old with reflux, wanting to do OTC prevacid with apple juice?
I have a 1 month old with silent reflux. He has been prescribed prilosec in a compounded form, but he hates it. Spits it back out and won't take it. I am thinking of switching to OTC prevacid. His pediatrician said this was fine, just to break the pill up and administer with water. However, everywhere I read says water would render the pill useless. Has anyone given their 1 month old prevacid like this and with a little bit of apple juice? If so, did you use any type of apple juice? What was your 1 month old's dosage? Please help. I have researched this quite a bit and have not found much information on administering this properly to a baby so young!
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April 15 - 19, 2013
March 15, 2013
This seminar is designed primarily for economists, statisticians, researchers, analysts, and managers working with price and labor statistics in national statistical programs. Participants should have an elementary knowledge of statistics.
To strengthen participants' skills in effectively presenting and communicating economic data and information by:
This seminar will draw on the experience of BLS staff and others in displaying and reporting statistical data. Effective tools and approaches to clearly and objectively presenting data to a variety of audiences and users will be discussed. BLS staff will share widely accepted best practices for creating data tables and graphs. Writing press releases, reports, and analytic articles will be discussed. Participants will apply the skills learned during the seminar to critique and improve existing data products published by their organization. Throughout the seminar, participants will be exposed to varied presentation vehicles and tips on how to create them. A discussion is included on the users of statistical data and the ways in which they use them, to highlight the benefits of clear and effective presentation of data. Workshops are included to put the skills learned into practice.
The seminar includes discussions on the following topics:
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Last Activity: Jun 8 '13 2:27am
About Me
- About BardicKitty
- Occupation
- Bookseller
- Interests
- Tabletop RPGs are a must. Board and card games are also things I greatly enjoy. My free time is filled with anything from writing, drawing, painting, to any number of other creative/crafty endeavors. I greatly enjoy manga and anime, prefer fantasy over science fiction, and play the occasional video game.
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Medellin is the birthplace of the artist Botero. His sculptures decorate a park in the city center.
One of them, the 'bird of peace', was destroyed by a bomb blast, which killed many people. Botero made a new copy and placed it besides the destroyed sculpture.
The 'Metrocable', an extension of the metro train, provides transport into the slums at the edge of the city.
Parque Berrio
Parque Bolivar
View of Medellin
In the slums
In the slums
In the slums
In the slums
Fruit vendor
Bandeja Paisa
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Articles from DECEMBER 2010
February 9, 2011 - February 11, 2011
The Visual Thesaurus will have an exhibit at the 2011 Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) at the Austin Convention Center. Visit us at Booth #1944! Click here for conference details.
Word Count
Writers Talk About Writing
Grammar Bite: Making Subjects and Verbs Agree
December 15, 2010By Erin Brenner
Subject-verb agreement sounds easy, doesn't it? A singular subject takes singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb. Yet The Copyeditor's Handbook lists no fewer than 25 cases that aren't so clear-cut, and Garner's Modern American Usage devotes nearly 5 columns to the topic. Even the comparatively diminutive Grammar Smart devotes five pages (including quizzes) to the topic. What makes subject-verb agreement so hard? Continue reading...
Word Count
Writers Talk About Writing
A Few Words with the Unclutterer
December 14, 2010By Daphne Gray-Grant
If I'm feeling "down" or overwhelmed, nothing improves my mood faster than cleaning a desk, a drawer or a closet. Call me deranged, but I adore organizing. Perhaps that's why I was so happy a few years ago to stumble across the marvelous website Unclutterer hosted by Erin Doland. I skim through it every day.Now, after interviewing her for this article I am, frankly, gobsmacked. Continue reading...
Article Topics:
Behind the Dictionary
Lexicographers Talk About Language
President Sends Americans to the Dictionary
December 13, 2010By Dennis Baron
Last week, President Barack Obama sent Americans running to the dictionary when he called Democrats opposing his compromise on tax cuts "sanctimonious." Continue reading...
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Blog Excerpts
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wordbook
December 10, 2010
The latest movie installment of C.S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia" is in the theaters, and Jeremy Marshall, a researcher for the Oxford English Dictionary, celebrates by digging into Narnia's fantastic world of dryads, boggles, and orknies. Read Marshall's post on OUPblog here.
Article Topics:
Word Routes
Exploring the pathways of our lexicon
How the King Overcame His Stutter
December 10, 2010By Ben Zimmer
This weekend, the movie "The King's Speech" gets its nationwide release in the United States, and it's already getting talked about as a front-runner for the Oscars. It has also received a great deal of buzz in the speech therapy community for its sensitive and credible depiction of King George VI's speech impediment and the methods that his therapist Lionel Logue used to overcome it. I take a look at the movie and the real-life story in my latest On Language column, appearing in the Oscars issue of the New York Times Magazine. Continue reading...
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Writers Talk About Writing
Translation: Opening Worlds of Writing
December 9, 2010By Michael Lydon
Writing offers many advantages as a medium for thought. Writing can be accurate: true in detail to fact and nuance; versatile: no subject is beyond its grasp; imperishable: first editions return in time to dust, but texts can be reprinted; economical: a slim volume can hold a treasury of ideas. Continue reading...


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Soccer Saturday LIVE in Tenerife - Gentlemen's Evening
Soccer Saturday LIVE in Tenerife!
For two days Tenerife turned into the home of Sky's Soccer Saturday when Chris Kamara, Phil Thompson, Charlie Nicholas, Paul Merson, Ian Dowie, and Max Rushden came to help raise money for Marie Curie with a charity golf tournament and gentlemens evening.
(click here to track donation>>)
Merson and Co dazzle at Showtime's grand charity event!
The evening after the successful golf event at Amarilla Golf saw the charity focus switch to the Showtime venue at Karting Las Americas.
Tickets had sold out months ago, and over 225 people attended Soccer Saturday Live!
It was the first time the guys from the popular Sky Sports show had done an evening event as a "team", and their infectious camaraderie set the tone for a fabulous evening.
Pictures were taken with the celebrities at the start of the evening, before they were introduced to the crowd. They all received a warm ovation, and none more so than Arsenal legend Paul Merson, who tripped and fell on to the stage head first!
A film of some of the funniest Soccer Saturday moments, including the famous Chris Kamara "Beavers" section, brought the house down, before the main part of the evening got underway.
Liverpool legend Phil Thompson was the opening speaker, and he put himself in the frame for a spot at the Tenerife Comedy Club. Thommo's polished after-dinner speaking delivery won over even the staunchest Man United fan.
After his standing ovation, it was the turn of Paul Merson. Former midfielder Merse had obviously gotten over his earlier fall (Dorada works wonders it seems), as he stormed the show with his hilarious tales of life as a trainee footballer.
Dolphin waxing, bets with Gazza, trips to William Hill and run-ins with Graham Taylor will be retold in Tenerife bars for years to come.
After the main course, it was the turn of Ricky Hatton. Along with Soccer Am host Max Rushden and former West Ham player Iain Dowie, Ricky had flown in at short notice to replace Jeff Stelling and Alan McInally.
The Hitman didn't disappoint and even managed to slay Oasis Fm's Roscoe, who was hosting the evening, with a quip about his suit.
Chris Kamara rounded off the after-dinner speeches with a spectacular set that lampooned the missing Jeff Stelling.
Soccer Saturday Live followed the deserts and liquors as the celebrity panel took a question-and-answer session.
Celtic legend Charlie Nicholas fielded a few questions on the club's demise, while musing on the joys of the return of Kirsty Gallagher to Sky Sports News.
Ricky Hatton picked David Haye to see off Wladimir Klitschko in their forthcoming fight, while Paul Merson tried to get the bookies' table to take a 5,000-euro wager on Harry Redknapp being the next Chelsea manager.
Max Rushden had some interesting views on his show and the Soccerettes, and Iain Dowie made his case for being the next West Ham manager.
Phil Thompson revealed that he wouldn't swop his European Cup-winners medals for a World Cup success, and Chris Kamara explained how Manchester United could beat Barcelona in the Champions League final.
The rest of the banter stays in the room!
A round of heads-or-tails raised nearly 900 euros, and there was even more collected for the Marie Curie Cancer Care charity through a raffle and auction.
The final total was just a couple of euros shy of 20,000 euros, but the celebrities put their hands in the pockets to boost the total up to £20,000!
It was a remarkable evening and a fantastic few days.
So many people helped in so many ways to make the week a roaring success. Special thanks must go to Greg, from Hole In The Wall, all the staff at Showtime, Club La Costa and Venture Restaurants.And yes, plans are already being drawn up for next year's extravaganza!
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May 3, 2016
A nurse is recovering after she was severely beaten by a patient this week at a state mental hospital where regulators had said there was a problem with violence.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday that 38-year-old nurse Lisa McClure was beaten about 2 a.m. Monday at John Umstead Hospital in Butner. The patient broke bones in her face and pulled out clumps of hair.
The newspaper reported that an investigative report said police were seeking a felony assault charge against the 33-year-old patient on the all-male ward, where the staff was all female.
The nurse's husband, Bobby McClure, told the newspaper his wife had been concerned that she might be attacked and repeatedly expressed concerns about staffing on the night shift.
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Jenna is part Elvish
We always suspected Jenna was part elvish, from the time she was small. Here is proof! When she graduated high school, the only places she wanted to visit were Wales & Scotland. We had been saving up for a long time for this trip and it was a WONDER!!!
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Brynn Cameron won a thriller in the play-in game against Danica Patrick. Now she'll have the extremely difficult task of facing the Thigh Goddess, #1 overall seeded Maria Sharapova. Good luck Brynn, you're going to need plenty of it.
Maria Sharapova
Yeah, so you can probably figure out why she's in the Sharapova's Thigh Hot Ladies Tournament. I could go on and on for hours, but I'll just make it quick... Maria is a tennis superstar, and REALLY hot. We worship her thigh.
Brynn CameronYou might not have a clue who Brynn Cameron is. It's okay, you're definitely not alone. There's not many pictures available of her online. Previously we had a picture of her standing around at basketball practice, but I think this picture is the best we could do to demonstrate her hotness.
What's her story? She's a basketball player at USC, NFL quarterback Matt Leinart's ex-girlfriend at USC, and just so happens to be the mama of Leinart's baby. That tells you a lot about this girl. Leinart could have gotten any lady on campus at USC, and he chose her for his "business time".


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BUFFALO BILLS at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Thad Lewis is starting at quarterback for the Buffalo Bills with EJ Manuel inactive against the New England Patriots with a small tear in a left knee ligament.
Manuel and Bills leading receiver Stevie Johnson are out for the second consecutive game. Johnson has been excused after the death of his mother.
The Bills' inactive players also include wide receiver Cordell Roberson. He was added from the practice squad last week.
The Patriots are without two starting defensive backs. Safety Devin McCourty has a concussion and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard has knee and shoulder problems.
Also inactive for the Patriots are wide receiver Josh Boyce, linebacker Steve Beauharnais, defensive linemen Isaac Sopoaga and Jake Bequette and offensive lineman Chris Barker.
9:46 - Stephen Gostkowski 43-yard field goal on the Patriots opening drive to take a 3-0 lead.
6:19 - Dan Carpenter with a 51-yard field goal to tie the game 3-3.
2:45 - Patriots re-take lead on a 35-yard field goal by Gostkowski 6-3.
12:22 - The Patriots exploit the Bills run defense by driving 94-yards capped by Legarrette Blount's 36-yard TD run that gave them a 13-3 lead.
0:04 The Patriots extend the lead with Stephen Gostkowski's 29 yard field goal. 16-3
1:35 - Bills cap a 7-play 80-yard drive with Thad Lewis connecting with TJ Graham for a 12-yard touchdown. Bills trail 16-10.
15:00 - Tom Brady connects with Shane Vereen on a 5-yard touchdown pass. The Patriots convert the two to take a 24-10 lead.
10:24 - Fred Jackson scores on a 5-yard touchdown run to cap an 80-yard drive and cut the Pats lead to 24-17.
8:02 - Stephen Gostkowski kicks a 35-yard field goal to extend New England's lead back to 27-17.
3:30 - Dan Carpenter kicks a 37-yard field goal to cut the Patriots lead to 27-20.
2:40 - Legarrette Blount seals the game with a 35 yard TD run to make it 34-20.


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Health Symptoms Men Should Not Ignore
It is common knowledge that bleeding, chest pain, and high fever warrant emergency medical care. But what about less known symptoms, such as the need to urinate more, or having to strain to use the toilet? Are they serious? Here are nine symptoms that deserve your attention.
Weight and Fitness
Shortness of Breath
Chest pain is not the only telltale sign of a heart attack. Everyone's symptoms are unique. For example, having a hard time catching your breath after an easy walk may be an early sign of coronary ischemia, a partial or complete blockage of an artery that carries blood to the heart. (A complete arterial blockage can cause a heart attack.) Make an appointment to see your doctor if you experience chest pain or shortness of breath. Other symptoms, such as pressure or tightness in your chest, extreme shortness of breath, or dizziness, warrant a visit to the emergency department.
Unintended Weight Loss
Unless you are actively trying to slim down, unexplained weight loss is a cause for concern. Such weight loss is one of the first signs of many diseases, including cancer. It is important to see your doctor and let them know if you are losing weight unintentionally.
Bathroom Symptoms
Bloody or Black Stools
Stool color can change from day to day based on the foods you are eating and the medicines you are taking. For example, eating beets can cause your stool to be alarmingly red. Likewise, iron supplements and diarrhea medicines such as Pepto-Bismol may temporarily turn your stool black or tarry. Anything in the brown or green spectrum is normal, but black, bloody, or lightly colored stool,can be a potential indicator of a significant underlying problem and deserves prompt medical evaluation..
Black stool may suggest you are bleeding somewhere in your upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Maroon-colored or bloody stool may suggest bleeding lower in the GI tract. See your doctor to check for bleeding, hemorrhoids, or ulcers. Lightly colored stools may signal a problem in the liver or bile ducts. If you notice unusual changes not explained by medication use, see your doctor immediately for help.
Frequent Urination
Frequent urination can be a sign of diabetes or prostate enlargement. People with diabetes urinate frequently because the kidneys are working overtime to eliminate excess sugar from the bloodstream. Potential symptoms of prostate problems include decreased flow when urinating, pelvic-area discomfort, and blood in your urine or semen. Talk with your doctor if you are experiencing any of these symptoms. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is common among older men, but symptoms should never be ignored because they can be identical to those of other, more serious conditions..
This symptom can be troubling for two reasons. First, constipation can lead to excessive pushing and straining when trying to have a bowel movement. This increases your chance of developing hemorrhoids, which can cause bleeding around the rectum. Second, constipation may signal that something is blocking stool from exiting properly. Although occasional constipation is normal, and can be more common after age 50, it could also indicate a tumor, a polyp, or some other condition involving either obstruction or abnormal colon motility. Early diagnosis of colon problems is important, given the risks of colon cancer.
Other Symptoms
Erectile Dysfunction
Other than the obvious concerns regarding sexual performance, erectile dysfunction (ED) can be a sign of an even more serious problem, such as cardiovascular disease. ED may also be caused by increased stress or depression, which can be resolved with therapy or medicine. Men sometimes have a hard time talking to their doctors about this kind of problem, but in most cases, there is a solution. Do not be shy about mentioning erectile dysfunction to your physician. It is a condition that doctors treat often; there is no need for embarrassment.
Frequent Heartburn
Many men experience occasional heartburn after a greasy burger or a big pile of spaghetti, but if it happens after every meal, it might be gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). In people who have GERD (commonly known as acid reflux), stomach acid flows backward, up the esophagus. If left untreated, stomach acid can erode the tissues of the esophagus and cause irritation or ulcers. In a small subset of patients, chronic GERD can lead to cancer of the esophagus.
Symptoms of GERD may also mimic other rare but treatable problems of the esophagus, including sphincter dysfunction. Occasionally, a man may think he has heartburn but is actually experiencing heart problems. See your doctor if you have a long-standing complaint of heartburn.
Excessive Snoring
Chronic, loud snoring may be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea—a condition in which the muscles in your throat relax and temporarily block your airway while you are sleeping. This can cause breathing problems and disrupt sleep patterns. These constant interruptions may leave you feeling sleepy or fatigued, even after getting adequate hours of sleep for several nights. If left untreated, sleep disorders such as sleep apnea can lead to pulmonary hypertension, a serious lung disease that can lead to heart failure or abnormal heart rhythms. Not surprisingly, snoring, and obstructive sleep apnea are linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Breast Mass
Most men think breast cancer is a women's disease, but that is not the case. In fact, each year more than 1,000 men — mostly older men between 60 and 70 years of age — are diagnosed with breast cancer. If you feel a lump or thickening of tissue in the breast, or if your nipple darkens, turns red, or begins to have discharge, see your doctor. Early diagnosis and treatment are just as important for men with breast cancer as they are for women with the disease.


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Original Link: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6360/asus-f2a85v-pro-review-a-look-at-fm2-with-a85x
ASUS F2A85-V Pro Review: A Look at FM2 with A85Xby Ian Cutress on October 10, 2012 11:20 AM EST
- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Asus
- Trinity
The new release of Trinity processors on the desktop opens up a cascade of issues when it comes to choosing a new motherboard for your Trinity system. The main point of confusion comes in the face of chipsets, whereby multiple sockets and processor families can use the same chipsets and each motherboard manufacturer has a different naming scheme in order to differentiate the two. Both Intel and AMD have been guilty of this in the past, but in the past 18 months we had no real cause for concern - until now.
The Confusion
From the beginning, let us lay down a few facts on PC components. When a user buys a processor, the design of that processor and the pin layout determines the socket for that processor. Thus if I purchase an i7-3960X today, I know that it will fit into Socket 2011 based motherboards - similarly with the i5-2500K, it will fit into Socket 1155 motherboards. Out of the motherboards that have this socket, two main avenues are available to decide which model is suitable - the chipset, and the additional functionality.
With AMD and socket AM3+, we had choices of the 990FX, 990X and 970 chipsets. With Sandy Bridge there was P67, H67 and Z68 with some extra business level chipsets, and Ivy Bridge gets Z77, H77, B75 and others. The beauty of Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge is that all the consumer level chipsets are interchangeable and with BIOS updates, all motherboards in that space will work with both processors. I know that if I buy any Z68 motherboard I can fit either my Sandy Bridge processors or Ivy Bridge processors in them.
Trinity and the FM2 socket turn the above situation on its head, so to speak. If I went out and bought a Llano processor on an FM1 socket, I have a choice of either A55 or A75 chipsets. However, for FM2, I have a choice also of A55 or A75, alongside the newer A85X chipset. This means I cannot blindly look at the chipset just for a particular processor socket - it also means that motherboard manufacturers have to be static and clear with their naming structure to avoid confusion. But then again, each manufacturer has a different naming structure, which serves to confuse even more.
In terms of naming strategies, the major motherboard manufacturers have the following scheme:
ASUS: F2A85-V Pro - the initial F2 is for Trinity
Gigabyte: F2A85X-UP4 - the initial F2 is for Trinity
ASRock: FM2A75 Pro4 - the initial FM2 is for Trinity
MSI: FM2-A85XA-G65 - the initial FM2 is for Trinity
ECS: A85F2-A Deluxe - First chipset, then FM2 socket
Zotac: A75-ITX WiFi - No mention of FM2 (as per what was shown at Computex)
Biostar: A75MH2 - No direct mention of FM2 (again, from Computex)
So the key is to look for F2 or FM2 on most of the motherboard manufacturers. Failing this, look for the A85X chipset (such as the Biostar HiFi A85X) which should be specifically for FM2 and Trinity processors.
With the naming side of things out of the way, it is important we know how each chipset differs in its functionality. This is primarily summed up in the image above - the newer A85X chipset boasts eight SATA 6 Gbps ports native to the chipset. This is a key differentiator in the AMD vs. Intel battle over chipsets, with Intel only supporting two SATA 6 Gbps (and four SATA 3 Gbps) as native. Complimentary to this change, A85X also supports RAID 5, whereas A75 does not. This opens up low powered Trinity units, with onboard graphics, for use in what I would call 'typical SOHO' NAS environments - no discrete GPU with RAID 5 for redundant storage capabilities.
Also worthy of note is the graphics side of the motherboards we will be testing as part of our Trinity coverage. On A55 and A75, we are limited to a single x16 PCIe 2.0 according to the official documentation - this is despite that A75 on Llano allowed x8/x8 functionality as shown by our review of the ASRock A75 Extreme6 at launch. Whether this is a minor change for FM2 to drive users to Trinity or something else, I am not sure. However, moving to A85X does allow for a rated discrete dual x8/x8 lane allocation.
The board we are looking at today has come with a very handy chipset diagram to show exactly what is going on:
Normally on the Intel side of things, we see four lanes of PCIe 2.0 being exposed by the chipset, which would lead to x16/x4 or x8/x8/x4 lane allocations, with that final x4 lane being crippled both by the chipset routing and the bandwidth. However when it comes to Trinity, we actually have 20 PCIe 2.0 lanes coming from the APU to power PCIe devices. This gives each board using an FM2 APU the ability to do at least x16/x4 or x8/x8/x4 (with A85X) without the cripple we see with Intel. In Intel's variation, we saw Crossfire work but SLI not, due to the odd combination of SLI certification required. Chances are that if we do see SLI certification on an FM2/A85X product, then this x4 should be included, though it will be crippled if bandwidth is an issue.
One thing also to note is the lack of PCIe 3.0 functionality. AMD have had PCIe 3.0 enabled video cards for a while now, and the specification has been done and dusted for even longer. Given that the move from Llano to Trinity was an architecture jump (Stars to Piledriver modules), one would expect the shift to have occurred at this point. But for now we are still 'limited' to PCIe 2.0. I use quotation marks on the basis that for most users the jump from PCIe 2.0 to PCIe 3.0 has no influence on normal settings, but for some extreme and limited cases, PCIe 3.0 can help. There is a chance that PCIe 3.0 could be part of the new architecture, but disabled until the next family of processors are launched on FM2. Failing that, FM3 will be a more likely stomping ground for PCIe 3.0. We may have to wait until the APUs use GCN rather than VLIW-4 for their graphics cores.
With all this being said, let us move on to the first of our FM2 and Trinity reviews, with a look at the A85X chipset in the form of the ASUS F2A85-V Pro.
ASUS F2A85-V Pro Overview
The first review using a new processor family and a new chipset family is often difficult. The problem is multi-faceted in the sense that knowledge of a platform is often less than ideal, and the final outcome and conclusion of the board could be tainted by the processor or APU performance in comparison to previous chipsets. This is doubly compounded for this review, whereby for the first time in a long time we are dealing with a middling performance processor (in the absolute sense) in comparison to anything previous over the past 12 months. Since our last foray into this space with Llano and Zacate, our benchmark suite has changed for the most part (such as GPU testing at 2560x1440), but there are some common tests from which we can draw conclusions. Also worth noting is that the first review of a new chipset often leaves few comparison points to be made to the rest of the motherboards in that chipset, given no testing has been performed on the others.
Nevertheless, ASUS did send us the F2A85-V Pro and overall impressions with the motherboard itself are positive. Power delivery heatsinks are sufficient for the Trinity platform, but bolstered by heatpipe connections to the chipset heatsink. Despite the numerous SATA and USB ports offered by the chipset, the board offers an additional ASMedia USB 3.0 controller with the board to take advantage of UASP protocols in USB 3.0 throughput. The board also comes with ASUS Digital Power Delivery options (DIGI+) for CPU and memory, should that be of use to the user for pushing the limits of the board or keeping power consumption down.
Connectivity on the board gives us access to PS/2, USB 2.0, all four common video outputs (VGA, DVI-D, HDMI, Displayport), eSATA, USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet and PCI connectors on board. Memory is connected via T-Topology rather than Daisy Chain, which in principle should aid in four DIMM memory overclocking. The main areas ASUS like to push with their products is the software, such as Network iControl for program priority of networking traffic, and Fan Xpert 2 which gives the user complete control of all the fan headers (five) on board through the OS including auto tuning. We also get three-way PCIe device functionality onboard, and access to ASUS' USB BIOS Flashback, which allows updating the BIOS via USB without a CPU, memory or video card connected.
Downsides are few, though I would like to know why the single sided latch system ASUS put on their Intel boards for memory is not present here. In the box I would have liked to have seen a front facing USB panel, though as time goes on we only seem to find this in products with two USB 3.0 headers on board. From a personal perspective, I enjoy having a two-digit debug in order to diagnose motherboard issues but ASUS have instead put onboard their Q-LED system which indicates where in the POST process there are issues (while nice, I do not find it fine-grained enough). In a similar ilk, there are no power/reset buttons on board, but like the two-digit debug, these have very few roles when the system is in a case and working smoothly.
Performance wise, it is hard to get past the performance of the Trinity when compared to Ivy Bridge and the like. From a practical standpoint, the lack of floating point units in the CPU gives cause for concern as not everyone codes in hex or integer style (my own personal software all uses FP – INT would be confusing to code for me for negligible gain on most architectures). As this is the first FM2 board we are testing, there are very few comparative conclusions we can draw of the board compared to the competition. We can say that ASUS are still pushing their USB 3.0 boost which gives some distinct read/write improvement numbers, but the copy times for both chipset based and controller based USB 3.0 ports are not as good as Intel offerings. One point of concern is the DPC latency, which for this product jumped around from ~100 microseconds to 600+ microseconds. Usually these jumps are attributed to monitoring software, however there was none loaded into the system. The DPC test should ideally score less than 200 microseconds, but under 500 microseconds is still a pass – for the F2A85-V Pro to score worse than 500 is a little disappointing if audio processing is the main reason to purchase this product. I suspect this could be fixed with a minor BIOS update.
Visual Inspection
I will be blunt as well as fair - in my opinion, mid range boards seem to lack a level of aesthetic finesse that we get with higher end products. Case in point, I recently fitted a new $100 micro ATX board into my brothers new machine and it was not as pretty as the equivalent high end model I had in my machine. We see something of this mid-range aesthetics on the ASUS F2A85-V Pro. This is by no means negative, but on the higher end niche products, the handling and feel of the PCB just seems cleaner and more efficient, presumably due to consolidation of some of the onboard chips through a higher budget. It is an interesting point to consider. Despite this, everything that can be brought down gratis from the higher end models will end up in the mid range (routing, BIOS, efficiency).
With the F2A85-V Pro we have a standard AMD sized socket for the processor, which in comparison to the competition is a large area to set aside for the processor and a hangover from AM2 requirements. As processors become more efficient, I would like to see AMD redesign the socket area for efficiency and size, which will allow motherboard manufacturers more real estate and room to innovate in the area. Nevertheless, due to the size of the power delivery heatsinks there is plenty of room for even the beefiest air coolers on this motherboard - at a stretch (without directly testing due to lack of equipment), it could be possible that Noctua NH-D14 users may be limited in memory module space with the first slot being covered.
The socket area has four fan headers within easy reach - two 4-pin headers above the socket (one CPU, one chassis), a 4-pin chassis header underneath the power delivery to the bottom left, and another 4-pin chassis header below the USB 3.0 header to the right of the board. The final 4-pin chassis header is found at the bottom of the board next to the onboard audio.
Along the right hand side, the first feature of note is the MemOK! Button - a handy device useful if you set the memory too high. I use it quite regularly when pushing the memory in conjunction with a CPU overclock. Underneath we get the 24-pin ATX power connector, a USB 3.0 header (from the chipset), a fan header, then our SATA ports. As the AMD A85X chipset allows up to eight SATA 6 Gbps ports, chances are we will only see extra SATA controllers on a motherboard if the controller affords special functionality. ASUS have decided to directly use seven ports on this side of the board, with the eighth port being the eSATA port on the IO panel. These SATA ports are capable of RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. Following this is the BIOS Flashback button on board (rather than an IO panel button as seen on previous iterations).
The chipset heatsink covers the A85X chip, which according to specifications can consume up to 7.8 watts. With this heatsink being connected via heatpipe, the main function is to aid in the power delivery cooling, even if the heatsink design does not seem to maximize surface area.
On the bottom of the board are various ports available from use. From left to right we get the front panel audio, a 4-pin fan header, a COM header, four USB 2.0 headers, the TPU switch and then the front panel header. The PCIe layout is reasonable for a two way GPU setup with room for either a PCIe x1, PCI or PCIe x4 card. From top to bottom we get a PCIe x1, PCIe x16 (x8 in dual), x1, PCI, x8, PCI, x4.
One extra switch on the board is related a lot to the first Intel X79 board I reviewed. On that board we were given a switch on the IO panel that when activated would send the user to the BIOS on the next boot. We have a similar technology here on the F2A85-V Pro in the form of a DirectKey button above the TPU switch along the bottom. When pressed in the OS, it will shut down the system and on the next boot go straight into BIOS. When pressed if the system is off, it will start up the system and boot into the BIOS. This is highly useful for overclockers and reviewers such that we do not have to hold down the Del button on boot to access the BIOS. This is not an ASUS specific feature for FM2 and A85X as I have seen it on other products, but I reckon it is a good feature to have nonetheless, even if it seems odd to include it without having power/reset buttons or a Debug LED.
The rear IO panel gives us PS/2 functionality in a combination port, two USB 2.0 in black, optical S/PDIF output, all four VGA outputs (HDMI, DP, D-Sub, DVI-D), eSATA 6 Gbps (in red), four USB 3.0 (in blue, two from an ASMedia controller, two from chipset), gigabit Ethernet (Realtek 8111F) and audio jacks (Realtek ALC892).
Board Features
|ASUS F2A85-V Pro
|CPU Interface
|Memory Slots
Four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 64 GB
Dual Channel, 1066-1866MHz
|Video Outputs
|Onboard LAN
|Realtek 8111F
|Onboard Audio
|Realtek ALC892
|Expansion Slots
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x8 in dual)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x8
1 x PCIe 2.0 x4
2 x PCIe 2.0 x1
2 x PCI
|Onboard SATA/RAID
7 x SATA 6 Gbps (FCH), RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
1 x eSATA 6 Gbps (FCH)
4 x USB 3.0 (FCH) [2 back panel, 2 onboard]
2 x USB 3.0 (ASMedia) [2 back panel]
10 x USB 2.0 (FCH) [2 back panel, 8 onboard]
7 x SATA 6 Gbps
1 x USB 3.0 Header
4 x USB 2.0 Headers
1 x COM Header
1 x Front Panel Audio
5 x Fan Headers
1 x MemOK! Button
1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button
1 x DirectKey Button
TPU/EPU Switches
|Power Connectors
1 x 24-pin ATX Power Connector
1 x 8-pin CPU Power Connector
|Fan Headers
1 x CPU (4-pin)
4 x CHA (4-pin)
|IO Panel
1 x PS/2 Combination Port
1 x VGA
1 x DVI-D
1 x HDMI
1 x DP
2 x USB 2.0
2 x USB 3.0 (Chipset)
2 x USB 3.0 (ASMedia)
1 x GbE (Realtek 8111F)
1 x Optical S/PDIF Output
Audio Jacks (Realtek ALC892) `
|Warranty Period
|3 Years
|Product Page
The F2A85-V Pro currently retails at launch for $140, which is around $20 more expensive than the most powerful FM2 processor. This price comparison usually means that the board should provide all the functionality a user would need. So our limitations to Realtek audio and NIC is more due to the fact this is AMD rather than Intel (Gigabyte could call on Atheros for their products), though the decision to use an ALC892 rather than the ALC898 is a little odd. Perhaps dual NIC would have been nice, or the fact that the Pro board in Z77 has the combination WiFi/Bluetooth module on board makes me wonder how much of a price increase that would have caused for a product like this.
ASUS F2A85-V Pro BIOS
The ASUS BIOS is one that we have come to know and enjoy using, given its simplicity and ease-of-use. Over my tenure at AnandTech I must have covered at least ten different Intel based ASUS BIOSes, but only one ever AMD ASUS BIOS. Today we raise that figure to two with the F2A85-V Pro. Despite this, users of Intel based ASUS graphical BIOSes will not see much difference visually to the Intel counterparts.
In terms of performance, the only issues I really had with the BIOS were temperature readings and memory settings. The former is due to this weird thing that AMD processors seem to do – only show temperature values between 25C and 60C. In the operating system this means that even if you ramp up the voltage, all of the temperature reading software sees values in this range. Normally while overclocking I like to keep an eye on temperatures, in case they start hitting a limit. 60C is still fairly cool in overclocking scenarios, so I was surprised when I could keep ramping up the voltage with no discernable affect. It could be a case of other software needing to hook better into the temperature sensors, but even ASUS' own temperature control was showing this. I personally found it a bit odd. Regarding memory settings, we have options to set from default all the way up to DDR3-2400 MHz, and the processor is rated up to DDR3-1866 by AMD specifications – the system would randomly decide if DDR3-2400 was stable during testing, and as a result some of the initial tests were at 2400, and the rest are at 2133. This is either indicative of the motherboard, or indicative of the memory controller in these processors not being geared to 2400 MHz (or I have a dud of a sample). The last thing about performance I would like to mention is our voltage readings in OCCT, which were fairly erratic. However I will cover that later in the review.
For the BIOS itself, our first screen presented is our easy mode:
This screen has the majority of what we want when a user opens a BIOS – the name of the motherboard being used, the BIOS version, the CPU installed (with speed), memory installed (with speed), voltage readings, temperature readings, fan speed readings and a boot priority order. I am very glad I have all of this to hand and it is easy to see. The additions I would suggest are by having some of the objects clickable to various advanced options located deeper in the BIOS – such as clicking on the 'Fan Speed' heading takes us to the fan speed selection. Now clearly ASUS' way of showing a BIOS is different to that of other manufacturers that use an image of the motherboard as their front end BIOS screen and ask users to click on various parts to access settings. The main difference between the two is essentially whether the companies want to decide if the user is interfacing with a product or a system, and whether that company wants the user to recognize this fact or not. For an average user, obviously interfacing with the system as a whole makes much more sense – they are not too concerned if they are speaking with the motherboard, the CPU, the fan controllers or anything like that. Some enthusiasts however would prefer the acknowledgement that they are talking or manipulating component A or component B within a system. ASUS take this knowledge on board, and let the user interact with the whole of the product from the get-go without confusing users about where the SATA ports actually are.
The main screen in the BIOS is the AI Tweaker section, designed to help users overclock the processor. Our overclocking results are shown in our typical overclocking section, but it is important to note that for most overclocking scenarios for the user, all we need to do is adjust voltage and CPU frequency. In the F2A85-V Pro, our first option is to select what type of overclocking we want – Auto (none), Manual, or D.O.C.P. We have encountered D.O.C.P. before on AMD boards, and the quick explanation is 'a BIOS hack to get XMP to work'. Remember that XMP is an Intel standard, so these motherboard manufacturers have worked out a way to parse that information in an AMD system. By selecting DOCP, the system will adjust the memory ratio, the APU frequency (if required) and the memory sub-timings/voltages to the XMP profile of the kit. In some circumstances this may produce a CPU overclock, so ensure that that CPU frequency is where you would want it as well.
Selecting Manual for our overclock gives us options to adjust the APU Frequency (i.e. the BUS speed / BCLK), the memory frequency, the APU multiplier, the NB Frequency, EPU Power saving modes, and the GPU frequency. Each option has an associated explanation on the right hand side telling the user of what the option does and what values are applicable. Underneath these settings are the ASUS OC Tuner (which applies a fast overclock), our DRAM timing screens, DIGI+ Power control and voltages.
The main voltages for the APU can be adjusted either by an offset or as an absolute value – the rest are changed via absolute values.
Shots of the Memory and DIGI+ sections:
Also in the BIOS are our advanced options which give access to the CPU, SATA, USB, NB and onboard devices. By default our SATA ports are on AHCI which is good, but it is also important to note that each USB port on board can be enabled and disabled through these options:
Fan controls are situated in the Monitor section of the BIOS, where this area also shows the important temperatures, fan speeds and voltages. Each of the fan headers on the F2A85-V Pro can be controlled independently, and ASUS give us the option of a low speed limit and a profile to select aggressiveness in the ramping of the fans. The OS software is a lot better to use for fan control than the OS options in this regard.
Also in the BIOS we have the EZ-Flash utility for updating the BIOS, SPD information to confirm the memory is the memory purchased, and an option to save up to eight OC profiles.
ASUS F2A85-V Pro Software
The software package provided by ASUS is often cited by us as one of the best software packages with a motherboard, and this is still true on the FM2 socket and Trinity processors. The install CD is the same platform used by ASUS on their Intel products, with one menu for software and another for utilities. Each of these menus allows for a one-click 'Install-All' option, and clicking through allows users to deselect certain options that may not be relevant to them.
Within the software package, Daemon Tools Pro was installed by default. I have used Daemon Tools for years – it is a great piece of software for mounting disk images.
The main software package revolves around ASUS' AI Suite. This software acts as an interface for the smaller additional programs that ASUS create for use on the motherboard.
ASUS AI Suite
The main bar of AI Suite splits the sub-programs up into groups, with two of the major utilities having their own buttons. In the case with the F2A85-V Pro this is the Auto Tuning option for overclocking and the Remote Go utility for media and file organization over network connections to tablets and smartphones. We will go through these in turn.
TurboV Evo
TurboV Evo is the operating system based overclocking tool provided. It allows for changes of all the important voltages and frequencies onboard, as well as providing the Auto Tuning options for 'Fast' and 'Extreme' overclock settings. I usually find TurboV Evo a good bit of kit when overclock testing, though I would like to put in some values by numbers rather than having to fiddle with sliders all the time.
DIGI+ Power Control
In order to give users better control over the power delivery, ASUS implements their DIGI+ Power Control on the FM2 boards as well. There are fewer options here than on some of their higher end Intel board offerings, but if a user wants to give more current capabilities or adjust load line calibrations through the OS for overclocks, the options are here for both the CPU/APU and the DRAM.
In a similar vein, we also have the EPU (Energy Processing Unit) menu and settings, designed to adjust and power gate different parts of the motherboard to save energy.
Fan Xpert 2
ASUS are well known in the motherboard space for using better fan controllers that the rest of the motherboard industry – typically one per fan header which is configurable within the BIOS and in software. The beauty of these fan headers lie in their independent control – the system has access to the RPM output and can adjust the speed on the fly. Pair that up with some software that actually can manipulate such a system and we have a nice fan configuration. The software behind this is Fan Xpert 2 – bundled as part of AI Suite, it will test all the fans in the system and provide RPM vs. Power applied graphs (as this relationship is rarely linear). This allows users to adjust the temperature/RPM curves as required – the only thing missing is the ability to apply hysteresis.
USB 3.0 Boost
As part of the ASUS methodology, we have onboard an ASMedia controller which can take advantage of the most up to date USB 3.0 transfer protocols. By attaching a compatible USB 3.0 device, and a click of the USB 3.0 Boost interface, the software will apply a driver over the standard ASMedia driver in order to enforce these under the hood commands. As we have shown in previous reviews, this affords a nice bump in the speeds provided at low transfer size workloads, making a USB device more tenable for everyday random access use rather than just storage. USB 3.0 Boost can also apply a modified driver to the chipset USB 3.0 ports for a similar boost using BOT protocols rather than UASP. (Note, this should become moot for Windows 8, where UASP will be a part of the standard driver package.)
Network iControl
For the past couple of years it has been clear that users in the motherboard industry would prefer the ability to manipulate the network ports onboard their system. While doing some epic downloading while playing a twitch FPS online is a little bit of an odd combination, using software tools in the OS to manage the priority of these programs is never a bad thing. On the ASUS side this comes in the form of Network iControl, and within this software the user can adjust the software that uses the Ethernet connections and rank them in order of priority. Alternatively the system can be left on automatic, and the program will use a series of pre-defined rules to prioritize a lot of the well known programs that typically rely on low-latency throughput.
Elsewhere in AI Suite we have advanced charging software in the form of AI Charger+ and USB Charger which will manipulate the current output of specific USB ports if the appropriate device is connected. This will help greatly with charging devices, using up to 1.5A rather than 300mA. I have been asked to test this feature in future reviews, and when I have an accurate setup I will start to test these charging features. Specifically AI Charger+ is for Apple products, and USB Charger is for other devices (Kindles, smartphones et al.).
ASUS also use their USB BIOS Flashback software here, allowing users to update the BIOS without having a CPU, Memory or VGA connected. This is a feature that helps protect the product in case new CPUs are released and microcode updates are needed. If a user buys a board that is not compatible with their processor, in the past an older processor had to be found in order to update the BIOS. This is no longer the case with USB BIOS Flashback.
ASUS F2A85-V Pro In The Box
What we get in the box usually is the cream of the package - something that little bit extra that makes the whole product a more enjoyable experience. Despite this, the price of the board usually indicates what level of goodies we get in the box, even if we have had a few surprises in the past. With this product selling for $140 at launch, more expensive than the high end Trinity processors, we should feel that there's something in the box to make it worth while. What we actually get in the box is:
Driver CD
IO Shield
User Manual
Four SATA Cables
The box could be a little more filled with joy - either a USB 3.0 panel or something similar. As mentioned before, I would have liked to see the ASUS WiFi/Bluetooth module on the 'Pro' board, which would have included antenna and the module in the box.
Voltage Readings
Unfortunately we are unable to bring you the results of our OCCT test, due to a level of incompatibility between OCCT and current FM2 boards we have discovered that was not correctly reading the voltage. This test in the future will require an OCCT update.
ASUS F2A85-V Pro Overclocking
Experience with ASUS F2A85-V Pro
Overclocking on a new platform is always a little frustrating – even if the principles of overclocking have not changed, or the architecture has not changed, a manufacturer may slightly confuse with different names for voltages, and there is no experience guiding how these processors may interact under voltage.
As such we have to take a methodical view to overclocking. For almost all 24/7 CPU overclocks all we ever need to adjust is the CPU multiplier and the CPU voltage, so starting with the load multiplier and voltage that comes with the processors is never a bad thing. In the case of our test bed we had an A10-5800K which has a maximum turbo multiplier of 42x and a load voltage of around 1.40 volts according to OCCT. Using this information I performed overclock testing starting at an underclock of 35x and attempted to find the minimum voltage needed to be set in the BIOS to make this stable. The system was then raised slowly with the multiplier, each time finding the minimum voltage required to be stable.
The third option that an overclocker may play with is Load Line Calibration. This adjusts the voltage drop across the processor when under load (as causing the processor to do work causes a droop in the voltage reading) – a low LLC uses less energy overall in the system and is often dictated in part by the processor manufacturer. However a high LLC often has the benefit of making an overclock stable. In the case of ASUS motherboards we get a variety of options for LLC, but for the purposes of testing here it was left on automatic.
The experience of overclocking on the F2A85-V Pro was fairly standard for a top tier motherboard – we get two automatic overclock options in the OS in the form of 'Fast' and 'Extreme', as well as one in the BIOS and the TPU switch on board which both perform the 'Fast' overclock. Manual overclock involves either playing with the AI Suite software until the system is unstable, then making permanent adjustments in the BIOS as required. Without comparing against other motherboards yet I cannot say how well this board performs relative to others, but having the temperature reading issue does not help much.
Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with PovRay and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.
For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+).
Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air. We are using a beQuiet Dark Pro CPU cooler with its stock fan. This is a high-end air cooler, designed to tackle up to 150W of CPU power without issue.
Automatic Overclock:
Using the AI Suite software, we navigated to the TurboV Evo Automatic Tuning menu. It offers two options – 'Fast' and 'Extreme'. Here are our results with these options.
With the 'Fast' option, the system rebooted indicating the CPU had been boosted to 43x and 100 MHz (4300 MHz total), with the IGP also boosted to 950 MHz. This overclock passed both OCCT and PovRay.
With the 'Extreme' option the system rebooted and initialized stress testing with the processor. The software started adjusting the CPU multiplier in the OS, rebooted then adjusted the APU frequency. When all was said and done, the final result was a CPU overclock to 44x and 100 MHz (4400 MHz total), with the IGP also boosted to 1013 MHz. This overclock passed PovRay but led to CPU errors in OCCT.
Manual Overclock:
With the manual overclock we left LLC on automatic, started at a CPU voltage of 1.1 volts and multiplier of 35x. On a failed boot or unstable system, the voltage was raised by +0.025 and retested. If a settings passed both PovRay and OCCT then the multiplier was raised. To show the tests going into this, here is a direct screenshot from my results file:
The best way to represent these results is with the following graph:
At 4.5 GHz I was unwilling to go much further without any clear indication of the temperature of the processor. Every setting would give a max reading of ~62C. Judging by the results of overclockers online, these processors on air could potentially go up to 5.1 GHz with the correct settings or a better processor – I have seen 4.8 GHz on 1.50 volts stable enough to run simple benchmarks. Overclocking a processor is like opening a packet of chocolate chip cookies – some cookies have a lot of chocolate chips and some have none. You hope the cookie you get is full of chocolate chips. In this case, I may have one without any. If I took this result in isolation, I would say that AMD are really pushing these chips to the limit on clock speed – getting 300 MHz more than stock is not representative of recent processor releases.
Many thanks to...
We must thank the following companies for kindly donating hardware for our test bed:
OCZ for donating the Power Supply and USB testing SSD
Micron for donating our SATA testing SSD
G.Skill for donating our memory kits
ASUS for donating AMD GPUs and some IO testing kit
ECS for donating NVIDIA GPUs
Gigabyte for donating the i3-3225 used for comparison
Comparison of AMD Processors
On the following benchmarks, we will use results from comparible tests with previous processor families over the past 18 months. For AMD, this means we can compare the new Piledriver modules to Llano with its Stars cores, Phenom II and Thuban, and Zambezi with Bulldozer. The following processors are ones we have a variety of results for:
A6-3650 (32nm, 2.6 GHz) – Llano, 4 Stars cores
A8-3850 (32nm, 2.9 GHz) – Llano, 4 Stars cores
X6 1100T (45nm, 3.7 GHz Turbo) – Phenom II, 6 Thuban cores
FX-8150 (32nm, 4.2 GHz Turbo) – Zambezi, 4 Bulldozer modules
A10-5800K (32nm, 4.2GHz) – Trinity, 2 Piledriver modules
On the Intel side, we have the following:
Core i7-3960X (32nm, 3.9 GHz Turbo) – Sandy Bridge-E, 6 cores / 12 threads
Core i7-3770K (22nm, 3.9 GHz Turbo) – Ivy Bridge, 4 cores / 8 threads
Core i5-2500K (32nm, 3.7 GHz Turbo) – Sandy bridge, 4 cores / 4 threads
Core i3-3225 (22nm, 3.3 GHz) – Ivy Bridge, 2 cores / 4 threads
The aim of AMD is to put the A10 square on the bow of the Core i3-3225. For comparison, the A10-5800K release price is $122, whereas the boxed version of the i3-3225 should be ~$144.
Test Setup
AMD Trinity A10-4800K APU
2 Modules, 4 Threads, 3.8 GHz (4.2 GHz Turbo)
|ASUS F2A85-V Pro
|beQuiet DarkPro CPU Cooler
|Power Supply
OCZ 1250W Gold ZX Series
Rosewill SilentNight 500W Platinum PSU
|G.Skill TridentX 4x4 GB DDR3-2400 10-12-12 Kit
|Memory Settings
|Video Cards
|Video Drivers
Catalyst 12.3
NVIDIA Drivers 296.10 WHQL
|Hard Drive
|Corsair Force GT 60 GB (CSSD-F60GBGT-BK)
|Optical Drive
|Open Test Bed - DimasTech V2.5 Easy
|Operating System
|Windows 7 64-bit
|SATA Testing
|Micron RealSSD C300 256GB
|USB 2/3 Testing
|OCZ Vertex 3 240GB with SATA->USB Adaptor
Our main Intel comparison system is a to-be-reviewed Gigabyte H77N-WiFi with a 65W dual core i3-3225 processor against the 100W A10-5800K.
Power Consumption
Power consumption was tested on the system as a whole with a wall meter connected to a Rosewill 500W 80PLUS Platinum SilentNight power supply. As I am in the UK on a 230-240 V supply this leads to ~75% efficiency at low loads, and 90%+ efficiency between 20% and 100% loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.
From our internal results, testing with 1 GPU on the 500W Platinum and 1250W Gold gave similar power readouts (Idle/OCCT/Metro on 500W gave 54/142/275, on 1250W gave 59/148/280), which means the 1250W is still good for comparison on the system. However for IGP testing, it was important to use the 500W. Our main comparison is the i3-3225 dual core Intel system on the to-be-reviewed Gigabyte H77N-WiFi, though the wattage between the processors accounts for large differences under load. At idle the larger ATX F2A85-V Pro does consume more power – if we get an ITX FM2 system, this will be a better comparison to test.
POST Time
Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we are now going to look at the POST Boot Time - this is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.) These results are subject to human error, so please allow +/- 1 second in these results.
The F2A85-V Pro uses ASUS' new CAP BIOS system, designed to aid in POST times across their motherboard range. It helps a little here, as normally for ATX boards POST times are in the 16+ second region – the CAP BIOS reduces this to just under 15 seconds.
USB Speed
For this benchmark, we run CrystalDiskMark to determine the ideal sequential read and write speeds for the USB port using our 240 GB OCZ Vertex3 SSD with a SATA 6 Gbps to USB 3.0 converter. Then we transfer a set size of files from the SSD to the USB drive using DiskBench, which monitors the time taken to transfer. The files transferred are a 1.52 GB set of 2867 files across 320 folders – 95% of these files are small typical website files, and the rest (90% of the size) are the videos used in the Sorenson Squeeze test.
For whatever reason, our standard USB testing regimen on AMD systems shows a slight speed deficiency compared to the Intel systems. In USB 3.0 our copy tests are more than 10% slower on an AMD system.
SATA Testing
We also use CrystalDiskMark for SATA port testing on a C300 drive. The sequential test (incompressible data) is run at the 5 x 1000 MB level. This test probes the efficiency of the data delivery system between the chipset and the drive, or in the case of additional SATA ports provided by a third party controller, the efficiency between the controller, the chipset and the drive.
I really like the fact that the AMD chipset is SATA 6 Gbps only, although we see that SATA peak write speeds on this board are slightly lower than that of most Intel boards. Previously this is normally attributed to BIOS settings at default.
DPC Latency
Deferred Procedure Call latency is a way in which Windows handles interrupt servicing. In order to wait for a processor to acknowledge the request, the system will queue all interrupt requests by priority. Critical interrupts will be handled as soon as possible, whereas lesser priority requests, such as audio, will be further down the line. So if the audio device requires data, it will have to wait until the request is processed before the buffer is filled. If the device drivers of higher priority components in a system are poorly implemented, this can cause delays in request scheduling and process time, resulting in an empty audio buffer – this leads to characteristic audible pauses, pops and clicks. Having a bigger buffer and correctly implemented system drivers obviously helps in this regard. The DPC latency checker measures how much time is processing DPCs from driver invocation – the lower the value will result in better audio transfer at smaller buffer sizes. Results are measured in microseconds and taken as the peak latency while cycling through a series of short HD videos - under 500 microseconds usually gets the green light, but the lower the better.
Normally our DPC Latency tests can be affected by monitoring software, producing a value north of 1000 microseconds. Anything under 500 is acceptable, and under 200 is great. However the F2A85-V Pro gets a value in the 600s. During the test, the DPC would hover between 100 and 200 most of the time, but every now and again would peak in the 600 region for whatever reason. The system was rebooted a couple of times but this behavior was persistent across boots. As of the 5104 BIOS this would be slightly worrying for audio work.
3D Movement Algorithm Test
The algorithms in 3DPM employ both uniform random number generation or normal distribution random number generation, and vary in various amounts of trigonometric operations, conditional statements, generation and rejection, fused operations, etc. The benchmark runs through six algorithms for a specified number of particles and steps, and calculates the speed of each algorithm, then sums them all for a final score. This is an example of a real world situation that a computational scientist may find themselves in, rather than a pure synthetic benchmark. The benchmark is also parallel between particles simulated, and we test the single thread performance as well as the multi-threaded performance.
It should be noted that this benchmark is a purely floating point benchmark, indicative of a lot of research written code where several months of optimization is not possible or not common knowledge within the research group. The compiler is not clever enough to convert what is expected into appropriate integer conversions, so Bulldozer and Piledriver based processors will only perform as well as their singular FPU units per module will allow. The benchmark is unaffected by memory speed as thread creation is created on the CPU and all data created fits well within the L2 cache per core.
In the single threaded test, a lot of conclusions can be drawn from the comparison of AMD architectures. Direct comparison of Piledriver to Bulldozer (A10-5800K to FX-8150) gives a boost in single core performance of 7%, however comparing the old Stars cores of the A8-3850 at 2.9 GHz is roughly the same as the new Piledriver core at 4.2 GHz. So even with a 1.3 GHz advantage, Piledriver is only as good as Stars and less efficient in floating point results. If we compare Piledriver to Thuban, i.e. A10-5800K to X6 1100T, the Piledriver core gets stomped on by a good 25% performance. I find this quite staggering – most of the code I ever encountered as a computational chemist was floating point based, dealing with single and double precision on a regular basis. On this result, I would steer clear of Piledriver.
The multithreaded version of 3DPM is slightly tougher to analyze. Due to the FP nature of the program, the A10-5800K is essentially a 2 core FPU processor, whereas all the other comparative AMD processors have either 4 or 6 FPUs to play with. What is perhaps worth considering is that the Bulldozer processor with 4 modules scores 326.32, whereas the Piledriver processor with only 2 modules scores 203.06, which is more than half. This would mean that the Piledriver core actually achieves 20% better performance at the same frequency, despite our ST test giving Piledriver only a 7% increase. Part of this could be put down to the architecture improvements – improved scheduling for heavily threaded loads, one of the downfalls of Bulldozer but was improved in Piledriver could be the reason here.
WinRAR x64 3.93 - link
With 64-bit WinRAR, we compress the set of files used in the USB speed tests. WinRAR x64 3.93 attempts to use multithreading when possible, and provides as a good test for when a system has variable threaded load. If a system has multiple speeds to invoke at different loading, the switching between those speeds will determine how well the system will do. WinRAR is also very sensitive to memory speeds and subtimings.
Analyzing the WinRAR results can be a little confusing, given that at different points of our previous testing the memory settings have been different (should point out that they have been consistent when comparing against like-for-like). When the A10-5800K was playing ball with DDR3-2400 10-12-12 memory, the WinRAR copy test pulled out miles ahead of the Thuban and Llano processors by a good margin. However the Sandy Bridge i5-2500K, with 4 INT and 4 FPU units gave the Trinity processor a proverbial thrashing despite being limited to DDR3-1333 at the time of testing.
FastStone Image Viewer 4.2 - link
FastStone Image Viewer is a free piece of software I have been using for quite a few years now. It allows quick viewing of flat images, as well as resizing, changing color depth, adding simple text or simple filters. It also has a bulk image conversion tool, which we use here. The software currently operates only in single-thread mode, which should change in later versions of the software. For this test, we convert a series of 170 files, of various resolutions, dimensions and types (of a total size of 163MB), all to the .gif format of 640x480 dimensions.
In the FastStone results, we see the Piledriver processor beat the Bulldozer and Stars cores by a considerable margin, and nudge the Thuban as well.
Xilisoft Video Converter
With XVC, users can convert any type of normal video to any compatible format for smartphones, tablets and other devices. By default, it uses all available threads on the system, and in the presence of appropriate graphics cards, can utilize CUDA for NVIDIA GPUs as well as AMD APP for AMD GPUs. For this test, we use a set of 32 HD videos, each lasting 30 seconds, and convert them from 1080p to an iPod H.264 video format using just the CPU. The time taken to convert these videos gives us our result.
Unfortunately our Xilisoft benchmark is rather new, and thus we do not have results for all the AMD cores we have used in the past. However if we compare the A10-5800K directly with the i3-3225, we unfortunately have a memory difference to contend with (DDR3-2133 vs. DDR3-1600). With that being said, it is clear that video conversion is an INT process and all four of the A10-5800K INT units are being used.
x264 HD 4.0.1 Benchmark
The x264 HD Benchmark uses a common HD encoding tool to process an HD MPEG2 source at 1280x720 at 3963 Kbps. This test represents a standardized result which can be compared across other reviews, and is dependant on both CPU power and memory speed. The benchmark performs a 2-pass encode, and the results shown are the average of each pass performed four times.
As part of the ever evolving motherboard benchmark suite, it has been suggested that we add in a few new benchmarks. In this case, we have added Portal 2 using the same timedemo from our GPU and Notebook reviews, and Batman: Arkham Asylum using the in game benchmark.
Portal 2
A stalwart of the Source engine, Portal 2 is the big hit of 2011 following on from the original award-winning Portal. In our testing suite, Portal 2 performance should be indicative of CS:GO performance to a certain extent. Here we test Portal 2 at 2560x1440 with maximum graphical setting using the same timedemo used in our GPU and notebook reviews.
Portal 2 seems to enjoy the GPU power, and CPU power does not matter as much. Scaling beyond 2 AMD GPUs on Trinity seems non-existant.
Dirt 3
Dirt 3 is a rallying video game and the third in the Dirt series of the Colin McRae Rally series, developed and published by Codemasters. Using the in game benchmark, Dirt 3 is run at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are reported as the average frame rate across four runs.
As seen in the past, Dirt3 on AMD loves CPU MHz, GPU horsepower, everything. In the case of Trinity, the lack of grunt by the CPU does give it a lower result than the rest of our testing. Three-way GPU is crippled by that 4x PCIe 2.0 port at the bottom of the board.
In contrast, using an NVIDIA GPU means that the GPU becomes the limiting factor rather than the CPU.
Metro2033 is a DX11 benchmark that challenges every system that tries to run it at any high-end settings. Developed by 4A Games and released in March 2010, we use the inbuilt DirectX 11 Frontline benchmark to test the hardware at 2560x1440 with full graphical settings. Results are given as the average frame rate from 4 runs.
With Metro2033 we see similar results to Dirt3 - on AMD scaling is not that great and the GPU needs some CPU power to keep being fed. On AMD the results are better, making the GPU the limiting factor.
Batman Arkham Asylum
Made in 2009, Batman:AA uses the Unreal Engine 3 to create what was called "the Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever", awarded in the Guinness World Record books with an average score of 91.67 from reviewers. The game boasts several awards including a BAFTA. Here we use the in-game benchmark while at the highest specification settings without PhysX at 2560x1440. Results are reported to the nearest FPS, and as such we take 4 runs and take the average value of the final three, as the first result is sometimes +33% more than normal.
Our Batman results are highly odd. On one card it seems that the CPU holds the frame rate back, but in a three-way GPU setup the frame rate decreases - this may due to the 4x PCIe 2.0 port is restricting data flow needed by other GPUs.
Final Words
Concluding a review of the first motherboard of a new chipset is difficult. New chipset usually means new processors, so a lot of what a reviewer has to say ends up being more about the processors in question. As a performance enthusiast that means I am not that happy with Trinity as a performance product – the Piledriver cores leave a lot to be desired. The processor trades a lot of blows with the i3-3225 results we included in the testing, but the big 'stick out like a sore thumb' point of contention for me was the single thread performance in 3DPM – 106.52 scored by the i3-3225 at 3.3 GHz against 74.36 scored by the A10-5800K at 4.2 GHz. This obviously has a knock on effect in gaming, whereby a lot of modern games still require a decent single core speed to deliver the best performance, and AMD knew this so the increase in the IGP was expected. As mentioned in Anand's Trinity article, as a result the Trinity IGP outperforms the HD4000 by a good margin, making small screen gaming enjoyable.
But this is a motherboard review, the first of the new chipset. The F2A85-V Pro retails for $140, more than the high end Trinity processor. That is a tough pill to swallow on any platform, regardless of processor, so there has to be functionality to match. The main message ASUS likes to give is the wealth of experience and R&D that underpin every product – additional controllers on board that help with power management, control over the power delivery, control over the fans and control over the network ports. ASUS boards are easy to use, and for a large part deliver what a user should want or need in the experience of a motherboard product.
With FM2 giving eight SATA 6 Gbps ports, there is no real reason to add extra SATA controllers, so none are added here. We get an extra ASMedia USB 3.0 controller though to take the USB 3.0 ports to six in total – the ASMedia controller can take advantage of the UASP protocol through ASUS' software. We have the full gamut of video outputs, and I was surprised to learn that the DVI-D output took like a duck to water when plugged in to my Korean 27" – flawless in applying BIOS and OS visuals to which Ivy Bridge does not.
Performance wise there was only one obvious point of concern - the DPC Latency which spiked to 600 microseconds under normal usage. This should be fixed with a BIOS update.
Overclocking seemed like a never ending process, but we ended up with 4.5 GHz on our review sample. Again there is not much we can draw from this result, except the fact that 300 MHz is not a large overclock on a chip that has a turbo mode of 4.2 GHz. This is shown clearly by ASUS' auto overclocking software, which only achieves 4.3 GHz and 4.4 GHz on 'Fast' and 'Extreme' settings respectively.
As much as Trinity is cementing the base for AMD's future growth in terms of architecture, Ivy Bridge has such a lead on the CPU space that there are few reasons to jump on board to Trinity. As part of an IGP based system, such as a HTPC, there are many merits to Trinity as Ganesh has found out. From my perspective, a storage system the RAID 5 that the A85X chipset supports across the eight SATA 6 Gbps ports is golden where Trinity is concerned.
Addendum 10/17: When this review was first published, I showed some incorrect results from monitoring voltages. Unfortunately I attributed this to the potential behavior of the motherboard, but further tests have indicated that the third-party software was at fault. We have pulled the results to remove confusion and would like to apologize to ASUS for this error.


text:
From fish brains to bat embryos — 20 incredible, award-winning micro-photos
Here are the winners of the annual Small World Photomicrography Competition…
1. Zebra Fish Brain, by Jennifer Peters and Michael Taylor
2. Newborn Lynx Spiders, by Walter Piorkowski
3. Bone Cancer, by Dylan Burnette
4. Fruit Fly Eye, by W. Ryan Williamson
5. Cacoxenite, by Honorio Cocera-LaParra
6. Cosmarium Algae, by Marek Mis
7. Fruit Fly Eye, by John Bridge
8. Sea Gooseberry Larva, by Gerd Guenther
9. Ant Carrying Its Larva, by Geir Drange
10. Brittle Star, by Alvaro Migotto
11. Fruit Fly Larva Guts, by Jessica Von Stetina
12. Lymphatic Endothelial Cells and Fibroblasts, by Esra Guc
13. Sonderia Protozoa, by Diana Lipscomb
14. Desert Rose Pistil, by Jose Rivera
15. Ladybug Leg, by Andrea Genra
16. Fossilized Agate with Snails and Ostracods, by Douglas Moore
17. Stinging Nettle, by Charles Krebs
18. Coral Sand, by David Maitland
19. Garlic, by Somayeh Naghiloo
20. Black Mastiff Bat Embryos, by Dorit Hockman
(via NBC)
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Jennifer Weston says:
I had to 'steal' the coral sand photo for my desk top.
Caleb says:
And all this evolved – that is SO cool!
Evolution just amazes me more everyday!
Thank you Evolution for doing these wonderful things!
Three cheers for Evolution everybody!
Nathan says:
Yes I will root for some impersonnal formula.
That kind of cold process really gets me excited, and causes me to think that this came out of random chance events…
So from now on, thanks to your insight, I will cheer for the machine rather than the engineer ; for the paintbrush rather than the artist. Makes sense!
peabody3000 says:
don't forget to root for santy claus too ;-)
Richard says:
Why do so many comments threads on this site have to turn into battle between believers in creation and evolution? It's extremely boring and predictable, and in many cases is almost irrevelant to the post being commented on.
PS Cool photos! :-)
Haley says:
For real.
J says:
Caleb, it was so cool– I gathered some bricks, 2x4s, siding, shingles, window panes– then I put a stick of dynamite in it and, KABOOM, there was a house! All by chance!
Nicole says:
Beautiful. Now if only someone had gotten a good photo of diatoms (those critters are so cool-looking!)
Savannah says:
Most of these were beautiful. But the ant might give me nightmares.
Tiffany says:
If only the first little bat embryo had been covering his ears. . .


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