What is your Caption!!!!!!!!!

Electric current to the brain 'boosts maths ability

Applying a tiny electrical current to the brain could make you better at learning maths, according to Oxford University scientists.

They found that targeting a part of the brain called the parietal lobe improved the ability of volunteers to solve numerical problems.

They hope the discovery could help people with dyscalculia, who may struggle with numbers.
Another expert said effects on other brain functions would need checking.

The findings are reported in the journal Current Biology.

Some studies have suggested that up to one in five people have trouble with maths, affecting not just their ability to complete problems but also to manage everyday activities such as telling the time and managing money.

Neuroscientists believe that activity within the parietal lobe plays a crucial role in this ability, or the lack of it.
When magnetic fields were used in earlier research to disrupt electrical activity in this part of the brain, previously numerate volunteers temporarily developed discalculia, finding it much harder to solve maths problems.

Persistent benefits


The latest research goes a step further, using a one milliamp current to stimulate the parietal lobe of a small number of students.

The current could not be felt, and had no measurable effect on other brain functions.

As it was turned on, the volunteers tried to learn a puzzle which involved substituting numbers for symbols.

Those given the current from right to left across the parietal lobe did significantly better when given, compared to those who were given no electrical stimulation.

The direction of the current was important - those given stimulation running in the opposite direction, left to right, did markedly worse at these puzzles than those given no current, with their ability matching that of an average six-year-old.

The effects were not short-lived, either. When the volunteers whose performance improved was re-tested six months later, the benefits appear to have persisted.

There was no wider effect on general maths ability in either group, just on the ability to complete the puzzles learned as the current was applied.

Dr Cohen Kadosh, who led the study, said: "We are not advising people to go around giving themselves electric shocks, but we are extremely excited by the potential of our findings and are now looking into the underlying brain changes.

"We've shown before that we can induce dyscalculia, and now it seems we might be able to make someone better at maths, so we really want to see if we can help people with dyscalculia.

"Electrical stimulation is unlikely to turn you into the next Einstein, but if we're lucky it might be able to help some people to cope better with maths."

Dr Christopher Chambers, from the School of Psychology at Cardiff University, said that the results were "intriguing", and offered the prospect not just of improving numerical skills, but having an impact on a wider range of conditions.

He said: "The ability to tweak activity in parts of the brain, turning it slightly 'up' or 'down' at will, opens the door to treating a range of psychiatric and neurological problems, like compulsive gambling or visual impairments following stroke."
However, he said that the study did not prove that the learning of maths skills was improved, just that the volunteers were better at linking arbitrary numbers and symbols, and he warned that researchers needed to make sure other parts of the brain were unaffected.

"This is still an exciting new piece of research, but if we don't know how selective the effects of brain stimulation are then we don't know what other brain systems could also be affected, either positively or negatively."

Sue Flohr, from the British Dyslexia Association, which also provides support for people with dyscalculia, said the research was welcome.

She said: "It's certainly an under-recognised condition, but it can ruin lives.
"It makes it very hard to do everyday things like shopping or budgeting - you can go into a shop and find you've spent your month's money without realising it."

Source:BBC

6 New Stress Management Strategies That Work

Everything You Think You Know About Beating Stress Is Wrong
Read on for six smart new stress relief strategies to start now

If deep breaths, weekly yoga classes, and venting to your friends aren't helping you to stop stressing out and relax, you have plenty of company--and it's not your fault. New studies show that these supposedly tried-and-true anxiety busters are often just... well, a bust. Read on for the surprising truth about what really helps manage stress--and what doesn't--when it comes to relieving chronically fried nerves.

1. Yesterday's wisdom: Never go to bed angry
Today's smart stress strategy: Just get some sleep already

When you're mid-dustup and about to wring your husband's neck, the last thing you feel like doing is curling up in bed beside him. But deep down, many of us worry that going to bed angry just tempts fate. So we bargain, cajole, and then fight some more in an effort to resolve the dispute, thinking all will be well by the morning if we can just reach a resolution.







2. Yesterday's wisdom: Control your temper
Today's smart stress strategy: Throw a tantrum now and then

From the time we're little girls, we're taught to control our tempers, and as adults--especially women--we still believe that venting anger is unhealthy (not to mention unladylike). In fact, the opposite now appears to be true. According to a study published in Biological Psychiatry that looked at the effect of facial expressions of emotions, such as fear and indignation, on our stress responses, displaying your anger may actually cause your brain to release less cortisol, the stress hormone associated with obesity, bone loss, and heart disease.

And while experts know that chronic anger contributes to hypertension and coronary disease, they've also found that expressing irritation in response to a short-term and unfair frustration, such as being cut off in traffic, can actually dampen the nasty effects of stress. That's because anger confers feelings of control, counteracting the helplessness and frustration we often feel in response to perceived insults and injustices, says lead study author Jennifer Lerner, PhD.

The fact is, forcing a discussion by bedtime can actually make things worse, says Andrea K. Wittenborn, PhD, an assistant professor in the marriage and family therapy program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. When you're upset, a part of the brain called the amygdala cues the fight-or-flight response, limiting your ability to have a calm, rational discussion. So it's a good idea to hold off on any showdown until you cool off.

"Taking a time-out or even a night off is critical, because once you've activated the fight-or-flight system, you can't simply tell it to turn off," says Ronald Potter-Efron, PhD, author of Rage: A Step-by-Step Guide to Overcoming Explosive Anger. "If you're already angry or frustrated, you become emotionally flooded and unable to think clearly." Plus, sleep is a powerful antidote to stress, says Russell Rosenberg, PhD, director of the Atlanta Sleep Medicine Clinic and vice chairman of the National Sleep Foundation.

Instead, agree to call a truce until morning, and make sure to actually talk things out the next day. "Completely dropping issues that really bug you can be damaging to your relationship and contribute to increased stress," warns Dr. Wittenborn.

3. Yesterday's wisdom: Turn to family and friends for support
Today's smart stress strategy: Cuddle up with your pet

Hanging out with loved ones has long been touted as an instant mood-booster, but according to new scientific evidence, when it comes to managing stress, the calming effects of spending time with a furry friend trump those obtained by hanging out with friends and family. "Having your pet, whether a cat or a dog, with you during a stressful event turns out to be more soothing than a best friend or a spouse," says James J. Blascovich, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Dr. Blascovich and colleagues asked volunteers to perform difficult math problems while in the company of their spouse, a friend, or their pet. Using heart rate and blood pressure as measures of stress, the researchers found that people strained the least and performed the best when in the company of their cat or dog. While spending time with a friend or spouse can be a great way to relax, sidle up to your pet when the pressure's on.


4. Yesterday's wisdom: Express your feelings
Today's smart stress strategy: Keep it to yourself

In our tell-all, Oprah-fied culture, we've come to believe that sharing our feelings is the only way to deal with life's struggles. But just the opposite is often true. "We've long thought that talking about problems is always better, but there's also evidence suggesting that this coping style doesn't work for everybody," explains Karin Coifman, PhD, an assistant professor of clinical psychology at Kent State University.

Dr. Coifman and colleagues looked at how people whose spouse or child had just died coped with their loss. They learned that many of the subjects who avoided thinking or talking about their sadness--a style psychologists call repressive coping--had fewer short-term health problems, such as sore throats, diarrhea, and shortness of breath, as well as a lower incidence of long-term psychological problems. What's more, they returned to their everyday lives more quickly than those who dwelled upon their grief.

"There's a lot to be said for getting on with the business of living," says Dr. Coifman. "People who talk endlessly about their problems are actually the ones at greater risk of depression." In fact, researchers at the University of Missouri, Columbia, found that participants who repeatedly expressed their sadness or disappointment were more likely to develop depression and anxiety.

That doesn't mean you should just suck it up when something bad happens. While you shouldn't deny yourself natural grieving moments, learning to direct your attention away from the stressor is a powerful coping mechanism. So after experiencing that initial burst of tears, turn to something positive--check in on a friend or rearrange your furniture. It's an important skill to look beyond the bad--we wouldn't survive as a species otherwise, Dr. Coifman adds.

5. Yesterday's wisdom: Never soothe yourself with food
Today's smart stress strategy: Treat yourself to chocolate

We've been warned that bingeing on cookies and ice cream is a poor way to ease a worried state of mind and can actually create more anxiety. But here's a sweet exception to the rule: Indulging in a little chocolate can actually help. According to new findings published in the Journal of Proteome Research, eating a few pieces of dark chocolate when you're feeling on edge can help calm your nerves. (Unfortunately for you milk chocolate lovers, the researchers believe the flavonoids in dark chocolate are responsible for this soothing effect.) In the study, stressed-out participants who ate 1½ ounces of dark chocolate a day for 2 weeks had reduced levels of stress hormones. We can't think of a better way to treat yourself to some dessert, guilt- and stress-free!

6. Yesterday's wisdom: "Om" your way to calmness
Today's smart stress strategy: Do something you love

For some people, meditation is the secret to serenity, but for others, it's a fast track to frayed nerves. In fact, in a study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54% of participants reported feeling anxious while meditating! "There is no evidence that meditation 'cools off' the body's stress response better than any other type of stress reduction technique, so you have to find what works for you," insists Jonathan C. Smith, PhD, director of the Stress Institute at Roosevelt University.

Anything that allows you to disengage from your thoughts can help you relax. One way meditation works is by breaking the chain of everyday thoughts, which are often tied to our to-do lists and other stressors, according to Herb Benson, MD, director emeritus of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and author of Relaxation Revolution. While chanting a mantra certainly helps to quiet your mind, if meditating is not your thing, any repetitive activity that keeps your attention in the present moment, including jogging, swimming, painting, walking, knitting, or praying, will work just as well, he says.

Source:Prevention Magazine 

Quotations!!!!

When I was young, I believed that life might unfold in an orderly way, according to my hopes and expectations. But now I understand that the Way winds like a river, always changing, ever onward…
My journeys revealed that the Way itself creates the warrior; that every path leads to peace, every choice ...to wisdom. And that life has always been, and will always be, arising in Mystery.


Socrates 

Kitten Gets Really Wild Purr-tection

Recently the extraordinary scene appeared in a zoo of the Indonesia. A wild monkey has stunned animal fans after becoming very purr-tective of his new furry friend.

Sources:http://www.atautocar.com

Did you know!

 Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously

Hazards: Work Stress Raises Women’s Heart Risk, Study Says

Women who are stressed at work are more likely than other working women to have a heart attack or other forms of heart disease, a new study suggests.

The findings, presented Nov. 15 at anAmerican Heart Association meeting in Chicago, were based on data from 17,415 otherwise healthy middle-aged women who took part in the Women’s Health Study, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

The researchers found that women who reported high job strain faced a 40 percent increase in cardiovascular disease over all, and an 88 percent increase in risk for heart attacks alone. (“Strain” was defined as demanding work with little decision-making authority or ability to use one’s creativity and skills.)

Women who worried about losing a job did not experience an increase in heart ailments, but they were more likely than women with high job security to be overweight or to havehigh blood pressure or high cholesterol, risk factors for heart disease.

Earlier studies on chronic job stress and heart disease in women have had mixed results, though studies of mostly male subjects have found a clear association between the two, said the study’s senior author, Dr. Michelle A. Albert, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.

“You can’t get rid of stress, but you can manage it,” she said

Source :The New York Times

Flamingos Apply "Makeup" to Impress Mates

Birds daub pink-producing oil onto feathers during mating season.

There's a reason why flamingos are so pretty in pink: The birds apply "makeup" to impress mates, a new study says.

Scientists had long assumed that flamingo feathers change color only when the plumage becomes faded by the sun or unintentionally stained by organic materials.

But while studying greater flamingos at the Doñana Biological Research Stationin Spain, ornithologist Juan Amat realized that something else was going on.

"We noticed that immediately after chicks were hatching, [adult] flamingos lost their pink color," he said.

Adults later regained their famous pink plumage, "yet they were not moulting, so we wondered if there was something cosmetic to consider."

Flamingos: Beyond the Pale

To examine this hypothesis, the researchers studied seasonal variations in flamingo color at three wetlands in Spain. The team also monitored the birds' breeding, feather maintenance, and courtship activities.

Using telescopes, the scientists assigned each flamingo a color value based on a scale of one to three, ranging from very pale to vibrant pink.

The team found that the color values dropped from an average of 1.7 in February—the height of the mating season—to an average of 1.0 in May, June, July, August, and September, when the birds were looking after hatchlings. In October the values leapt up again, to 1.6.

Flamingos, like all birds, produce oil in glands near their tails. Birds daub this oil onto their feathers with their beaks.

The oil is well known to improve the longevity of feathers and keep them waterproof. But Amat suspected that the flamingos might also be using the substance for coloration.

Flamingos get their color from compounds called carotenoids, which the birds absorb from their diets of algae and small crustaceans.

Flamingo feathers already contain some carotenoids. But, based on samples collected from captive flamingos, Amat and colleagues found that the oil is especially rich in the compounds.

Flamingos In Fine Feather

Both male and female birds increased their oil-daubing behavior during the mating season, the team noted.
In general, the deeper the pink, the more attractive the bird—so the flamingos were likely applying the oil like makeup to make themselves more desirable, he said.

"We were so excited to discover this," Amat said.

"Other birds, like the bearded vulture, are known to take mud baths that leave their feathers tinged with color. We now need to go and look at these species to see if they are applying cosmetics just like the flamingos do."

The flamingo-makeup study appeared online October 23 in the journalBehavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

Source: National Geographic News

Night owls vs. morning people: Who's smarter?

New York – Recent evidence shows that people who thrive at night have higher IQs. Early risers beg to differ
Are you the type who stays up late to finish your work, or do you get up early to make a fresh start on the day? If it's the former, you may be pleased to learn new research has found that those with higher IQs tend to be nocturnal night-owls. But if it's the latter, you might have good reason to distrust the claim. Here's an instant guide:

Is there solid science behind this finding?

Sleep researchers tend to divide people into two groups, explains zoologist Robert Alison in the Winnipeg Free Press, based on whether they exhibit "morningness" or "eveningness." A recent study claims that eveningness is an evolutionary advancement that marks out "more intelligent individuals," while "those with lower IQs tend to restrict their activities primarily to daytime."

How can that be?

Researchers from the London School of Economics say that human beings used to all be day-oriented, and that eveningness is an "evolutionarily novel preference" made by people with "a higher level of cognitive complexity." Basically, smart people evolve to stay up later.

I want to get more intelligent. Can I just start staying up late?

It isn't that simple. Several studies have shown that your sleep preferences are at least 50 percent genetic, and that your chronotype — that is, the time of day you are at your physical and mental peak — changes with your age. Generally speaking, "eveningness" peaks in the late teens and early 20s.

Are there any downsides to "eveningness"?

Night owls tend to be less reliable, more emotionally unstable, and more likely to have problems with addictions and eating disorders, according to a 2008 study by psychologist Marina Giamnietro. They are also more likely to drink alcohol and smoke, says Dutch psychiatrist Walter van den Broek at his Dr. Shock blog. Another study found that undergrad "evening types" had lower GPAs than those who awake early in the morning.

Is there any advantage to being a morning person?

Early risers tend to be more conscientious, persistent, and apt to cooperate, says van den Broek, a self-described morning person. They also "cope better with academic requirements and receive better grades." And when you think about it, adds Ace Burpee in the Winnipeg Free Press, "there are no sayings about late birds getting some sort of way better tasting worm."

Which am I?

If you're unsure, this test will tell you where you fit on the morningness-eveningness spectrum.

Sources: Winnipeg Free Press (2), Disinformation, Dr. Shock, ScienceDaily
View this article on TheWeek.com

Stunning facts about Horses!

1- Emerging 60 million years ago, the first horse was called Eohippus (The Dawn Horse) and was tiny, weighing only 12 pounds and standing just 14 inches high. In contrast to the modern one-toed horse, the Eohippus had four toes on its front feet and three on its hind feet.


2-The term “horse” is derived from the Old English hors, which is related to the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) kurs, which is the source of the Latin currere, “to run.” This replaced the original PIE root ekwo from which the Greek hippos and Latin equus derived, both meaning “horse.” This dual etymology is perhaps due to the reluctance of ancient cultures to utter the actual root or name of an animal held sacred for the Indo-European religion.

3-Horses that seem wild today (such as Mustangs) are actually feral horses, usually descendants of horses that were imported to America from Spain in the sixteenth century. The only true wild horse is the Asian Wild Horse.

4-No horses existed in Australia until settlers brought them during the eighteenth century, and no early horse fossils have ever been found in Australia.

5-After horses became domesticated around 4000 B.C., many Indo-European cultures regarded horses as a supreme sacrifice to their gods and often ritually entombed horses. People in the Caucasus practiced horse sacrifice as late as the 1800s.

6-A horse’s teeth are a good indicator of its age. Hence, St. Jerome (A.D. 400), who never accepted payment for his writings, penned the famous adage “Never inspect the teeth of a gift horse,” which became the more familiar “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.”

7-Though most horses live for 25-30 years, the oldest horse on record is “Old Billy,” who was a barge horse born in England and lived to the age of 62. The first year of a horse’s life is roughly comparable to 12 human years, the second year is comparable to 7 human years, the next 3 years are comparable to 4 human years a piece, and subsequent years are comparable 2.5 human years. That means Old Billy was roughly 173.5 horse years.

8-Horses have five highly developed senses: taste, touch, hearing, smell, and sight. They also have an enigmatic sixth sense, heightened perception, which is very rare in humans.

11-The eyes of a horse are larger than most other animals', and they can move independently, giving the horse a shallow panoramic vision. Because its lenses are inflexible, a horse will focus on an image by moving its head to direct light rays to the central part of the retina. Horses can also see in color.

12-A horse has an acute sense of smell that allows it to detect nervousness in a handler, and old-time horsemen would smear aromatic fluid on their hands when dealing with a difficult horse. Horses also become nervous around the smell of blood.

13-There are nearly 160 distinctive breeds and types of horses around the world, but the Arabian horse is unique in that it is the purest of all of the breeds.

14-Persians were excellent horsemen and their dominance in the east was largely due to the Nisean horse, the “superhorse” of antiquity. The horse was a status symbol in the Persian Empire, and only aristocrats could own them. Horses were also used to play early forms of polo.

15-Islam is said to have been “founded on the hoof prints of the Arabian horse,” and horse care was even incorporated into the sacred Hadith. The Prophet Mohammed is reportedly to have ascended to heaven in a halo of fire on a horse-like creature.

16-White horses were sometimes drowned in honor of Poseidon, the god of the sea and creator of horses.

17-The Hindus associate the horse with the cosmos, and a white horse was considered the last incarnation of Vishnu.

18-In literature, art, and dream theory, the horse is often a symbol imbued with various meanings, ranging from power to beauty and even sexual prowess. The coloring of a horse is also often symbolic (black: mystery, danger; white: messenger of birth), and the Bible specifically lists the colors of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (White, Red, Black, and Pale).

19-Horses can differentiate between emotions in the human voice.

Horses experience two kinds of sleep, SWS (short wave sleep) and REM (rapid eye movement), and they most likely dream. They need about four hours of sleep out of every 24 and can sleep standing up by a special arrangement of locking joints.

20-In a herd, one gender is not always dominant of another; for example, a female may rank higher than a male in some cases, and a male may rank higher than a female in other cases.

21-Horses have a strong band of muscles around their esophagus. This band is so strong that a horse’s stomach would typically burst before it would vomit.


Sources:http://facts.randomhistory.com/

Is time running out for the wristwatch?

One in seven people in the UK have no need for a watch, a survey suggests. Are mobile phone time displays killing off the wristwatch?

For decades, people have sworn they would be lost without one.

A faulty movement or dead battery sent them scurrying to the watch repairers, desperate to restore to their lives the order of a regular tick.

And in today's time-poor society, the need to keep tabs on the passing minutes is greater than ever.
But according to market analyst Mintel, the growth of portable digital products - phones, laptops, MP3 players - with time displays represents a gathering cloud over the watch industry.

In its survey of more than 1,500 people in the UK, 14% said they had no need for a watch. Mirrored across the country, that would amount to 7.2 million people, while the percentage doubled among 15 to 24-year-old.

Mintel's analysts believe this will continue, with market figures showing a 9% increase in mobile phone ownership since 2005. The number of watch owners remained static.

"It's a growing trend that... is a potential threat to demand for standard wristwatches," says Mintel's Tamara Sender. "Young people who have grown up with technology are just as likely to check the time with a mobile phone."

Watches remain popular - 86% of people still own one, even if many of those last saw their timepiece buried somewhere in their sock drawer. Sales are expected to hold up - if not grow - as people replace broken ones.

But the concept of the watch could change, says Ms Sender.

Mintel cites as an example the new iPod nano, a miniaturised version of Apple's popular digital music player, which features a watch face and a clip on the back allowing it to be worn with a wrist-strap.

Such convergence of technology - as with phones, cameras, MP3 players and internet applications - is inevitable, according to Dr Ben Highmore.

Wristwatches are becoming "redundant" and will probably disappear in the coming decades, believes the cultural trends lecturer at the University of Sussex. "If you're in the habit of wearing a watch, you'll continue."

Digital natives

"But if you're growing up as a 'digital native' with a mobile phone and you don't get into that habit, then it's a leap to buy one.

Even so, he admits: "Buying a Rolex isn't about knowing the time." It's bound up with one of the historical reasons for carrying a watch - status.

At the beginning of the 20th Century the fashion was for pocket watches, says Jonathan Scatchard, author of Miller's guide to wristwatches.

"It was a bit of a rite of passage; a real man had a chain with a watch hanging from it," he says. During World War I, the practicalities of trench warfare led soldiers to attach them to the wrist with leather straps.

But it was not until improved technology, such as the self-winding mechanism, allowed for smaller, more convenient pieces, that they became the norm.

"Even in the late 1920s it could be thought of as a little bit effeminate if a man wore a wristwatch," says Mr Scatchard, who runs a website dedicated to another vintage status brand, Heuer.

Traditional wristwatches have seen off the threat of technology before - when consumers in the 1980s enjoyed an intense if short interest in the Japanese-pioneered digital watches - and will do again, he says.
"The fascination is with something made by hand that has a tick; almost like a heartbeat," he says.

"We all have mobile phones but they are out of date in two years and you never get attached to them."

Designer pull


But are pricey, carefully-crafted timepieces really likely to win over the emerging generation of wristwatch refuseniks?

While acknowledging this is the preserve of wealthy adults, Mr Scatchard says: "As younger people get older and start to have a bit more money, their attitudes will change."

It's a sentiment echoed by veteran watch repairer Robin Martin, who has experienced the industry's ups and downs from his Portsmouth repair shop since 1959.

"Absolute rubbish" is his response to the question of whether watch-wearing is in decline. "We're busier today than ever before. I haven't found any drop-off in use, even at the younger end," he says.

If young people are to be won over it will be through designer brands according to Mintel.
A quarter of those aged 15 to 24 preferred designer labels, although prices would likely put off young teenage buyers like the readers of Sugar magazine.

"Girls just want something bright and fancy, maybe with a bit of 'bling'," says Jo Sawkins, fashion editor at Sugar, adding that many girls choose cheap imitations of designer watches worn by celebrities.

Casio is tapping in to that youth market by using young stars such as singers Ke$ha and Pixie Lott to promote its Baby-G range of durable, brightly-coloured watches. But while some are available under £50, many cost more.

"Unless it's a birthday or Christmas gift, when it's something parents would spend money on, I don't know that a watch is something they would buy," says Ms Sawkins.

"It gets more to do with status the older they get."

Whether they come to view watches as essential in the way their parents did, however, only time will tell.

Source"BBC"

Did you know!

12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.

Quotations!!!!

Nobody is superior, nobody is inferior, but nobody is equal either. People are simply unique, incomparable. You are you, I am I. I have to contribute my potential to life; you have to contribute your potential to life. I have to discover my own being; you have to discover your own being.
-- OSHO

Sea Angel

Photograph courtesy Kevin Raskoff, Monterey Peninsula College

A 2005 Census of Marine Life expedition to the Arctic Ocean captured a so-called sea angel, Clione limacina, at about 1,148 feet (350 meters) underwater. Despite its nickname, this little angel apparently doesn't mind showing a little skin: It's actually a naked snail without a shell, scientists said in December 2009.

Such marine snails—most of them the size of a lentil—are widely eaten by many species, making them the "potato chip" of the oceans, biologist Gretchen Hofmann, of the University of California, said in a 2008 statement.

Clione limacina was also among the hundreds of species found living at both Poles during the Census of Marine Life, startling scientists.

Amazing Chocolate Pictures

1-Chocolate Keyboard
Sweet design. Chocolate keyboard by Michael Sholk.

2-Chocolate Mail Stamps
A set of 24 first class stamps that are designed to look like a bar of chocolate, packaged as an envelope.

3-Chocolate Nike Sneakers
Delicious miniature milk and chocolate shoes were created for the 25th anniversary of Nike’s Air Force

4-Chocolate Nail
One of the projects made during a workshop with Florence Doléac, Olivier Sidet and Ronan Bouroulle

5-Chocolate Shoe
Renowned British chocolatier Gerard Coleman created this gorgeous chocolate shoe for a department store show in Tokyo.

6-Chocolate Laptop
Laptop made from sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder and cocoa mass

7-Chocolate Pie Chart
5.5 oz chart made of 70% milk, 20% dark and 10% white chocolate.

8-Chocolate Scrabble
The dark chocolate, spell-worthy snack designed by Mary & Mat

9-Chocolate Calculator
Choc-U-Lator - creative chocolate bar that looks like a calculator.

Source: www.toxel.com

Best Gifts to Give

The best gifts to give :
To your friend - loyalty
To your enemy - forgiveness
To your boss - service
To a child - a good example
To your parents - gratitude and devotion
To your mate - love and faithfulness.

http://www.facebook.com/Najam4u

Driverless van crosses Europe to Asia

A driverless van has completed the longest-ever trip by an unmanned vehicle, beginning in Italy and arriving in China, covering 13,000 kilometers (8,077 miles), researchers said.

The van arrived at the Shanghai World Expo on Thursday, after leaving Italy on July 20.

The three-month trip took the van through Eastern Europe, Russia and Kazakhstan; across China through the Gobi Desert; and finally along the Great Wall, before arriving for a celebration at the expo. The driverless van relied solely on electricity.

The vehicle weathered three months of rain, blizzards and sun, and arrived in Shanghai with no major problems, according to researchers tracking its progress. The van even stopped to pick up hitchhikers outside of Moscow.

"We are really happy. It's a real milestone in our field of vehicular robotics," said lead researcher Alberto Broggi.

The van, designed by Italian tech company Vislab, featured 12 refined sensors, including cameras, a carbon dioxide sensor, a GPS device and an off-road laser scanner.

"This driverless trip to China shows how science can capture people's imagination through achievements that would recently have been unthinkable ... [and] provide major environmental and economic benefits," said Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, head of research, innovation and science for the European Commission.

The record-setting journey comes in amid of major developments in driverless vehicle technology.
Earlier this month, Google announced that its self-driving vehicle had successfully traveled about 350 miles [563 kilometers] from its headquarters in Mountain View, California, to Santa Monica, California. Google, which engages in energy-related businesses along with its core Internet search-engine service, says its self-driving cars have logged more than 140,000 miles. General Motors, Volkswagen and Stanford University are also developing driverless vehicles.

No maps were used as Vislab's van traveled from Italy, then off-road through much of Siberia and China. The van topped out at 37 miles per hour and traveled about four hours a day to allow for adequate battery recharging.

As for human intervention during the van's three-month journey, "We had to intervene manually only on limited occasions, such as in the Moscow traffic jams and when passing toll stations," said lead researcher Broggi, who also is a professor at Italy's University of Parma.
Two engineers rode in the van to prevent dangerous situations. The vehicle was part of a four-vehicle caravan, which included a leading van that was occasionally driven by two engineers, but mostly operated without human guidance.

From Italy to Russia to China, the driverless van baffled onlookers. During a special demonstration on the outskirts of Moscow on September 10, a police officer approached the vehicle as it maneuvered in a pedestrian zone, only to find a driver missing.

"He realized there was no driver!" engineers wrote on the van's official trip blog. "He then looked around and tried to find a clue of what was happening. He really seemed puzzled!"

"We talked to him ... explained this is a big test," Broggi said. "It was extremely difficult, but in the end we avoided getting the first ticket to an autonomous vehicle."

Other challenges along the way included replacing a 430-kilogram battery in Moscow, lengthy and complicated border crossings due to customs clearances, and several frigid nights camping along the van's route in Siberia.

"We weren't worried about not making it," though, Broggi said. "This big trip was an intermediary step in a longer process. We have something new planned for 2012."

The European Research Council primarily funded the expedition, to develop technology to increase road safety and fuel efficiency by supplementing driver decisions at the wheel. The project used low-cost technologies that could be integrated in most current vehicles' chassis, researchers said.

More than 1.2 million people die annually in auto crashes, according to the World Health Organization.

Source:CNN,http://branham.org

Could you stay silent for eight days?

By Alex Hudson
BBC News


Turn off your mobile phone.

Switch off the television, forget about checking your computer (after reading this article of course), turn off the hi-fi, shut the windows and stop the dishwasher and the washing machine for a moment.

What do you hear?

Nothing? How uncomfortable has that made you feel?

From the noise of the text message alert to the Skype conversation, modern communication tools have made switching off nearly impossible. It seems as though every minute of every day is spent catching up with what other people are doing.

As an example, there are 130 working mobiles for every 100 people in the UK.

And the world seems to just be getting louder. Research done by Sheffield Hallam University showed that Sheffield City Centre was twice as loud in 2001 as it was in 1991.

When outside, the roads are getting busier - 3.5m more people are expected to own driving licences by 2020 according to the Department for Transport - and for those using public transport each evening, the rail traveller is told exactly where the train is destined for at each station, while the sound of someone else's music player invades the quiet of the carriage between stops.

There seems to be no escape.

Maybe then, it is no surprise that some people want to get away. Five people volunteered to be sent to a Jesuit retreat for eight days where they agreed to remain entirely silent except for a meeting lasting one hour each day.

"If you go back 200 years into a rural society, people would see being quiet as normal. Now, it's as if people have acquired an aversion to silence," says Father Christopher Jamison, who organises retreats at Worth Abbey in West Sussex.

"There's an element of fear about missing something if we're not plugged in."

And Father Christopher says it is a different world from the days before television and radio news when people had to wait for the morning paper to find out the news.

The volunteers were taken first to Worth Abbey for a weekend of reflection before being taken to the St Beuno's Jesuit Spirituality Centre in north Wales.

So who would choose to cut themselves off from the world?

"I worked in the media for 15 years, and was this television junkie," says Jon Treanor, one of the people taking part.
Twice-divorced Jon is 55 years old and runs his own business consultancy company. He rarely spent time on his own and was, in his own words, "anti-religious" when he started the project.

"The whole thing is frightening to start with, daunting and sometimes boring but it's like coming off a drug, coming down from something and you have to get used to it."

Noisy neighbours


Silence has for so long been linked to some form of spirituality - space which allows deeper thinking and reflection. Certain orders of monks show dedication to their faith by taking vows of silence. Other orders, such as Trappist monks, are discouraged from "idle chatter" and will only speak when it is deemed necessary.
At the retreat, absolutely no talking is allowed except for a one-hour counselling session a day, and recording a short diary on tape.

Perhaps understandably, with the increase in noise, more and more people are finding themselves on the receiving end of noise pollution.

According to a recent study by Electrolux, 10 million people in Europe move home each year because of problems with noise.

"I worked in the media for 15 years, and was this television junkie," says Jon Treanor, one of the people taking part.

Twice-divorced Jon is 55 years old and runs his own business consultancy company. He rarely spent time on his own and was, in his own words, "anti-religious" when he started the project.

"The whole thing is frightening to start with, daunting and sometimes boring but it's like coming off a drug, coming down from something and you have to get used to it."

cut ourselves off from," he says,

"When we go into silence, it can be very frightening because we find the darker side of ourselves."
But recent studies suggest that noise could even be dangerous, increasing stress levels and risk of illness - the word "noise" does derive from the Latin "nausea" after all.

German research from the Federal Environmental Agency indicates that traffic noise alone is responsible for 3% of all heart attacks each year.

Brian Kristensen, of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency, estimates that between 200 and 500 premature deaths each year in Denmark are due to noise.

This has led to the EU Environmental Noise Directive and the World Health Organisation developing guidelines for night noise. It is serious stuff.

Even in the music charts, a push for silence is gathering pace. The annual race for the Christmas number one could this year have John Cage's silent composition 4'33" among the running, with the help of a Facebook campaign.

But away from the musical politics, and the fiscal and health benefits, the volunteers went through a rather different transformation.

"From my point of view, stepping out of noise is just the most amazing experience you could possibly have," says Jon.

"I think, never mind the money it costs to the economy, it's what it does to you personally in your growth. It's about what happens to you as an individual that's absolutely huge.
"You grow spiritually, you have to face yourself. You have to face who you really are and that can be quite a shock."

And while Father Christopher believes it is difficult to maintain the same level of tranquillity in everyday life - he feels he's "cheating somewhat" by living in a monastery - the volunteers have been changed by the experience.

"I was left with this overwhelming feeling of strength," says Carrie.
"I felt absolutely fearless and by the end of it, none of us wanted to leave. I wanted to keep it and didn't want noise to destroy things all over again."

You can turn your phone on again now.