


The exterior styling is representative of the jaw and eye socket bone structure of large oceanic fish and mammals. Featuring a dramatic reverse bow configuration, the yacht’s armature balances an elegant expression of symmetry and structure. In addition to the bow, Oculus also features a “low rider profile”. This slightly lowered surface allows for new side recreational areas, alternate dockage access and light cruising openness. Lateral retractable side panels close this area when heavier wave action is indicated.
The interior features of Oculus focus on a 12 foot high ceiling in the main salon, a cylindrical double height dining room, central stair and elevator tube, and seemingly anatomical ceiling and floor lighting extensions giving definition to the seating areas. The second level is the dedicated Owner’s suite. Living areas and bedchambers are divided by a series of four freestanding tubes, which house bath and storage necessities.
The Flavius amphitheatre is the biggest and most imposing in the Roman world, but is also the most famous monument in Rome and is known as the "Colosseum" or "Coliseum". Started by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavia family, it was opened by his son Titus in 80 A.D.
The highly ostentatious opening ceremony, lasted one hundred days during which people saw great fights, shows and hunts involving the killing of thousands of animals (5000 according to the historian Suetonius). For the opening, the arena space was filled with water for one of the most fantastic events held in Roman times, naumachias – real sea battles reproducing great battles of the past.
The Coliseum is one of the most imposing ancient structures. Imagine it all white, completely covered in splendid travertine stone slabs. It is elliptic in shape in order to hold more spectators. It had four floors; the first three had eighty arches each; the arches on the second and third floors were decorated with huge statues.
What we see nowadays is just the skeleton of what was the greatest arena in the ancient world. Three-fifths of the outer surrounding brick wall are missing. In the Middle Ages, when no longer in use, the Colosseum was transformed into an enormous marble, lead and iron quarry used by Popes to build Barberini Palace, Piazza Venezia and even St. Peter's.
The holes still seen in many columns are just the holes made to extract the lead and iron used by the Romans for the nails inside the marble blocks.
The amphitheatre could hold up to seventy thousand spectators. The tiers of seats were inclined in such a way as to enable people to get a perfect view from wherever they sat. Entry was free for all Roman citizens, but places were divided according to social status, the seats at the top were for the people, the nearer you got to the arena the higher your social status.
After the VI century, with the Empire's decline, the Coliseum fell into disuse and its walls housed confraternities, hospitals, hermits and even a cemetery. From the Middle Ages onwards, the Coliseum has been one of Rome's and the world's greatest marvels, attracting hoards of visitors.
Threatened with demolition by Sixtus V for town-planning reasons, it was declared a sacred monument dedicated to the Passion of Christ by Benedict XIV, placing a cross on a pedestal, as a symbol of the sufferings of all Christian martyrs. This cross is still the starting point for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. Since then, it has become an object of worship for Christians and was protected from further destruction and ruin; in fact, Popes after that restored and consolidated it.
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Scientists have discovered a sequence of canine DNA key to the great diversity in the body size of dogs, from Chihuahuas to Grant Danes, according to research in the 6 April issue of Science.
In their research, Nathan B. Sutter, a geneticist at the National Human Genome Research Institute, and colleagues found that all small dogs share a specific sequence of DNA that affects insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), a gene that has been implicated in body size in other organisms including mice and humans.
Through their DNA analysis of more than 3,000 domesticated dogs, which exhibit the greatest diversity in body size of any terrestrial vertebrate, the authors found the size-regulating DNA sequence present in all small breeds and nearly absent in all large breeds.
"The [sequence] is common to all small breeds and nearly absent from giant breeds, suggesting [it] is a major contributor to body size in all small dogs," wrote Sutter.
The authors' initial research focused on Portuguese water dogs—a breed that has an unusually wide range of skeletal size—but eventually involved DNA analysis of more than 143 breeds.
While the genetic origin of dog size diversity is vague, the authors hypothesize that humans may have bred dogs to meet physical limitations of their surroundings.
Previous archaeological studies have found 15,000 year-old Great Dane-sized remains in Eastern Russia and 12,000 year-old small terrier-sized remains in the Middle East, suggesting that the diversity may have been caused by "early humans or as an adaptive trait for coexistence with humans in the more crowded confines of developing villages and cities."