Sand rat

Psammomys obesus, known as the sand rat or fat sand rat, is a terrestrial mammal from the gerbil subfamily that is mostly found in North Africa and the Middle East, ranging from Mauritania to the Arabian Peninsula.

Ecology

This species usually lives in sandy deserts, but may also be found in rocky terrain or saline marsh areas. It lives in burrows, which are often located under the bushes in which the rats forage, such as salt bushes of the family Chenopodiaceae. The sand rat is diurnal, but its activity on the surface depends on the ambient temperature. The sand rat normally has two litters every year; each litter usually comprises three to seven pups.

Medical significance

Although they remain lean when fed their natural, vegetable-based diet, sand rats can easily become obese and acquire type 2 diabetes mellitus when they are fed a normal rodent diet of grains. Therefore, they have been used as an animal model for studies on diabetes and obesity.

Because they are diurnal, sand rats are also used as models for human seasonal affective disorder.

Sand!

Sand! is a 1920 American silent Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Lambert Hillyer based upon the Russell A. Boggs short story "Dan Kurrie’s Inning." The film stars William S. Hart, Mary Thurman, G. Raymond Nye, Patricia Palmer, Bill Patton, and S.J. Bingham. The film was released on June 20, 1920, by Paramount Pictures.

Cast

Survival status

Copies of the film are in the Library of Congress and George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection.

References

External links

Sand (Herrndorf novel)

Sand is a 2011 novel by the German writer Wolfgang Herrndorf. It won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2012.

See also

References

External links

List of Charlie Jade episodes

This is a list of episodes for Charlie Jade, a science fiction television program filmed mainly in Cape Town, South Africa. It stars Jeffrey Pierce in the title role, as a detective from a parallel universe who finds himself trapped in our universe. This is a Canadian and South African co-production filmed in conjunction with CHUM Television and the South African Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The special effects were produced by the Montreal-based company Cinegroupe led by Michel Lemire.

The show started production in 2004 and was first aired on the Canadian Space Channel. It premiered on the Space Channel April 16, 2005 and was also shown in Eastern Europe, France, Italy, on SABC 3 in South Africa, on Fox Japan (since November 30, 2006), and on AXN in Hong Kong. The show began airing in The United Kingdom in October 2007, on FX. The Sci Fi Channel in the United States premiered the show on June 6, 2008, but after 2 episodes on Friday prime-time, has moved it to overnight Mon/Tue.

Rat (zodiac)

The Rat (子) is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. The Year of the Rat is associated with the Earthly Branch symbol 子.

Years and the Five Elements

People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the "Year of the Rat", while also bearing the following elemental sign:

Basic astrology elements

Description

See also

References

Rat (film)

Rat is a 2000 Irish/British/American comedy film directed by Steve Barron. The film focuses on the transformation of a working-class man into a rat and how his family copes with the startling change.

Synopsis

After his usual night of drinking at the local pub, Hubert Flynn (Pete Postlethwaite) returns home and transforms into a rat. Hubert's family each have different views on him now that he became a rodent. His wife Conchita (Imelda Staunton) thinks that this change is supposed to be a lesson to Hubert and that the reason he transformed is his own fault. Their son Pius (Andrew Lovern), destined for a religious life, feels that because his father is now an animal, his family should kill him. Their daughter Marietta (Kerry Condon) feels that the rat is still her father and that they should treat him with love and respect.

After hearing the news of a man changing into a rat on the local radio, ghostwriter Phelim Spratt (David Wilmot) convinces Conchita to write a book of the story. Because Phelim wants to write about Conchita's bravery and the family's loyalty to Hubert in the face of adversity, he suggests that they take Hubert out to the pub and bookie to see his friends and to show the public that they are proud of him.

Rat (short story)

"Rat" is a science fiction short story by James Patrick Kelly. It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story 1987, and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1986. Also nominated for Lucas Poll Award category for best short story and also nominated for SF Chronicle Award for the same category. In 1986 "Rat" was published in Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

Plot summary

In this cyberpunk story the protagonist is literally a rat, though clearly not an ordinary one. Rat has been given the mission to smuggle a large amount of drugs, but decides that he wants to cut out the middle the man and keep the entire haul for himself. Rat tries to sneak out of sight from the spook that was hired to watch him and the fed who also put onto his tail. After Rat is able to finally get away from the two he makes it to his safe house. Only there to have to fight and claw to be able to move the drug haul and save his life as well.

Cyberpunk