Most bats rest, sleep and hibernate in an upside-down position. They hang on to branches or rocks with their feet. To do this they have a locking mechanism on the tendons in their feet which stops them from slipping. The energy they spend hanging on is greatly reduced. The most obvious gain is that they can sleep without falling off. Once the tendons are locked, the muscles in their legs and feet can relax. Even dead bats stay hanging.
In the United Kingdom all bats are protected by law, and even disturbing a bat or its roost can be punished with a heavy fine.
Austin, Texas is the summer home to North America's largest urban bat colony (under the Congress Avenue bridge), an estimated 1,500,000 Mexican free-tailed bats, who eat an estimated 10 to 30 tons of insects each night, and attract 100,000 tourists each year.
In Sarawak, Malaysia bats are protected species, but the large naked bat and greater nectar bat are eaten by the local communities.
In the West, bats are associated with vampires, who are said to be able to change into bats. Bats are also a symbol of ghosts, death and disease. However bats are said to be lucky in some European countries, such as Poland.
The bat is used in fiction by both villains like Dracula and heroes like Batman. Kenneth Oppel wrote a series of novels, beginning with "Silverwing", which feature bats as good characters.
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 – 23 April 1616) was a Spanish writer. His most famous book was "Don Quijote de la Mancha". It is considered the first modern novel, and therefore Cervantes was the first novelist. The book has been published in 65 countries. The work is considered among the most important in all of literature. He is sometimes called "The Prince of Satire".
Nobody knows for sure the reasons that forced Cervantes to leave Castile. Whether he was a "student" of the same name, a "sword-wielding fugitive from justice", or fleeing from a royal warrant of arrest, for having wounded a certain Antonio de Sigura in a duel, is another mystery.
In any event, in going to Italy, Cervantes was doing what many young Spaniards of the time did to further their careers. Rome would reveal to the young artist its ecclesiastic pomp, ritual, and majesty. In a city teeming with ruins Cervantes could focus his attention on Renaissance art, architecture, and poetry (knowledge of Italian literature is readily discernible in his own productions) and on rediscovering antiquity. He could find in the ancients "a powerful impetus to revive the contemporary world in light of its accomplishments". Thus, Cervantes' continuing desire for Italy, as revealed in his later works, was in part a desire for a return to an earlier period of the Renaissance.
By 1570, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a regiment of the Spanish naval elite corps, Infantería de Marina, stationed in Naples, then a possession of the Spanish crown. He was there for about a year before he saw active service. In September 1571 Cervantes sailed on board the "Marquesa", part of the galley fleet of the Holy League, Spain, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Duchy of Savoy, the Knights Hospitaller based in Malta, and others, under the command of King Philip II's illegitimate half brother, John of Austria, that defeated the Ottoman fleet on October 7 in the Gulf of Lepanto near Corinth, at great cost to both sides. Though taken down with fever, Cervantes refused to stay below, and begged to be allowed to take part in the battle, saying that he would rather die for his God and his king than keep under cover. He fought bravely on board a vessel, and received three gunshot wounds – two in the chest, and one which rendered his left arm useless. In "Journey to Parnassus" he was to say that he "had lost the movement of the left hand for the glory of the right" (he was thinking of the success of the first part of "Don Quixote"). Cervantes always looked back on his conduct in the battle with pride; he believed that he had taken part in an event that would shape the course of European history.
Game Boy line
The Game Boys are a group of handheld video game consoles made by Nintendo that ran from 1989-2009.
The first Game Boy was released in 1989. It had a small screen, a D-pad, Start and Select keys, and an A and B button. To play games, there were small objects called cartridges that you put into the Game Boy to play the game in the cartridge. The game that made it popular, and the system's launch title, was Tetris. The Game Boy had a link cable and a link port which let it connect with other Game Boys to play games in multiplayer mode.
After the Game Boy, Nintendo released the Game Boy Pocket, which was a smaller Game Boy more convenient to carry around. It had a better, sharper screen and it only needed two AAA batteries instead of four AA. The link port was smaller than the Game Boy's, so the Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket could not connect with the original connector cable; a newer model cable with double-sided ends was needed to do this.
The Game Boy Light was only released in Japan and had a front-light (the blue light used on old watches) so people could see better. It is very rare - only about 12,000 of them were manufactured. Because it is rare, it sells for more money than other Game Boys.
The Game Boy Color was the first Game Boy in color. It was also able to play Game Boy cartridges, which helped it sell better. This also helped other Game Boy models after the Game Boy Color. It is sometimes called the GBC.
The Game Boy Advance is a handheld that had better color and smaller cartridges. It could play more advanced games than the previous Game Boys. It is sometimes called the "GBA". It came out in March 2001.
The Game Boy Advance SP was an improved version of the original "GBA". It has a clamshell design, which means you can fold it to make it smaller when you're not using it. It has a front-lit screen (better than the one on the Game Boy Light), which the Game Boy Advance did not have. It can play Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, along with the new cartridges introduced with the "GBA". A newer model, labeled the AGS-101, was released which had an even better backlight and very good contrast; some people say it is the best way to play Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games.
The Game Boy Micro is a smaller variation of the "GBA". It has a smaller link port than the Game Boy Advance. Its backlight and contrast are as good as the 101 model of the Game Boy Advance SP. Unlike its predecessors, it cannot play "GB" or "GBC" games.
The Nintendo DS line is the successor to the Game Boy line. It consists of the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS.
When Nintendo released the Nintendo DS handheld in 2004, they said it was a "third pillar" (the other two pillars were the Game Boy and the home console). It has two screens, one of which is a touch screen. "DS" games use cards in Slot 1. Slot 2 can accept Game Boy Advance games. A newer model, called the DS Lite, released in 2006, also plays "GBA" games. But neither of them play older Game Boy or Game Boy Color games. The DSi and DSi XL, released in 2008 and 2009, replaced the "GBA" slot with an SD Card. This makes it impossible to play "GBA" games. Some DS games also included extra features contained in "option paks", which were just like GBA games. So these features could not be used on those DS games if they were played on the DSi or DSi XL.
Like the DSi and DSi XL, the "3DS" line is not backwards compatible with "GBA" games. However, "GBC" games can be downloaded through the Virtual Console.
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI (; ), born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, was an Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church and the 263rd Pope from 1963 until his death in 1978. Paul was a spiritual leader and the head of the church bureaucracy.