Today’s Links

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Today’s Links

  • Mural found on walls a first for a Maya dwelling; Painted numbers reflect calendar reaching well beyond 2012
    A vast city built by the ancient Maya and discovered nearly a century ago is finally starting to yield its secrets. Excavating for the first time in the sprawling complex of Xultún in Guatemala’s Petén region, archaeologists have uncovered a structure that contains what appears to be a work space for the town’s scribe, its walls adorned with unique paintings — one depicting a lineup of men in black uniforms — and hundreds of scrawled numbers. Many are calculations relating to the Maya calendar.
  • Gut-throat competition: Native bacteria fend off invaders, suggesting new way to stop dangerous forms of E. coli
    From tiny villages in developing nations to suburban kitchens in the U.S., dangerous strains of E. coli bacteria sicken millions of people each year – and kill untold numbers of children. Now, new research gives scientists a better understanding of what is going on in the diarrhea-wracked guts of its victims, and what might be done to prevent or treat it.
  • New twist on ancient math problem could improve medicine, microelectronics
    A hidden facet of a math problem that goes back to Sanskrit scrolls has just been exposed by nanotechnology researchers.
  • Chimpanzee cultures differ between neighbors: Neighboring chimpanzee groups use different hammers to crack nuts
    Culture has long been proposed to be a distinguishing feature of the human species. However, an increasing amount of evidence from the field has shown that in several animals, differences in behaviors between populations actually reflect the presence of culture in these species. These studies have mainly come from populations that live far apart from each other which make it difficult to exclude ecological or genetic differences as being the underlying reasons for the observed behavioral differences.
  • Smart phones are changing real world privacy settings
    Smartphone users have a radically different conception of behavior in public spaces than their conventional phone counterparts. They are more likely to reveal private information in public spaces, and less likely to believe that their digital conversations are irritating to those around them.
  • Regenerative medicine: Could the ways animals regenerate hair and feathers help restore human fingers and toes?
    A review article that examines what’s known about regenerative biology and applies it to regenerative medicine. Perhaps this knowledge could one day be used to regrow lost body parts.
  • Five-limbed brittle stars move bilaterally, like people
    Brittle stars and people have something in common: They move in fundamentally similar ways. Though not bilaterally symmetrical like humans and many other animals, brittle stars have come up with a mechanism to choose any of its five limbs to direct its movement on the seabed. It’s as if each arm can be the creature’s front, capable of locomotion and charting direction.
  • Chimpanzee uses innovative foresighted methods to fool humans
    Chimpanzee Santino achieved international fame in 2009 for his habit of gathering stones and manufacturing concrete projectiles to throw at zoo visitors. A new study shows that Santino’s innovativeness when he plans his stone-throwing is greater than researchers have previously observed. He not only gathers stones and manufactures projectiles in advance; he also finds innovative ways of fooling the visitors.
  • Mini-projector for smartphones
    Their very small displays sometimes make smartphones diffi cult to operate. In the future, a projector will help: if the cell phone is standing on a table, for instance, it can project a large-format display onto the table surface. The user will have the option of operating the smartphone via the projection function or from the display screen itself.

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Today’s Links

  • Early spring means more bat girls
    A study on bats suggests that bats produce twice as many female babies as male ones in years when spring comes early.
  • Largest known crocodile could swallow a human
    A crocodile large enough to swallow humans once lived in East Africa, according to new research. It may have exceeded 27 feet in length. By comparison, the largest recorded Nile crocodile was less than 21 feet, and most are much smaller.
  • Why Saturday’s ‘supermoon’ will be beautiful, but not super
    Yes, it will be marginally brighter and larger, but Saturday’s so-called “supermoon” is not going to be noticeably different from the full moon of the month before or after. An astronomer explains that a “supermoon” typically happens once a year, when the moon’s elliptical orbit comes closest to Earth during a full moon. But the nickname makes it sound like a much bigger deal than it actually is.
  • What is your dog thinking? Brain scans unleash canine secrets
    Researchers have developed a new methodology to scan the brains of alert dogs and explore the minds of the oldest domesticated species. The technique uses harmless functional magnetic resonance imaging, the same tool that is unlocking secrets of the human brain. The brain images of a fully awake, unrestrained dog, thought to be the first, opens up a door for understanding canine cognition and inter-species communication.
  • Less is more, for female cowbirds: Findings contradict sexual selection theory
    More modest male displays attract the females when it comes to brown-headed cowbirds, contrary to sexual selection theory, according to new research. While sexual selection theory predicts that females should find more flamboyant displays the most sexually attractive, the opposite holds true for brown-headed cowbirds, a small songbird common in North America.
  • ‘Smart doorknobs’ and gesture-controlled smartphones: Revolutionary technology enables objects to know your touch
    A doorknob that knows whether to lock or unlock based on how it is grasped, a smartphone that silences itself if the user holds a finger to her lips and a chair that adjusts room lighting based on recognizing if a user is reclining or leaning forward are among the many possible applications of Touché, a new sensing technique.
  • Flying 3-D eye-bots
    They can be deployed as additional surveillance resources during major events, or as high-resolution 3-D street imaging systems. Intelligent swarms of aerial drones are a universally useful tool for police, crisis managers and urban planners. Special 3-D sensors ensure flawless aerobatics and prevent collisions.
  • Life-size 3-D hologram-like telepods may revolutionize videoconferencing in the future
    Imagine a Star Trek-like human-scale 3-D videoconferencing pod that allows people in different locations to video conference as if they are standing in front of each other. “Why Skype when you can talk to a life-size 3-D holographic image of another person?” says one of the inventors.
  • Evolution of sex differences: Battles of sexes shown to spur adaptive sex differences
    Male water striders benefit by mating frequently, females by mating infrequently: both have developed traits to give them the upper hand. The researchers modified a gene involved in the development of antennae in male water striders and found that as the antennae became more elaborate, mating success increased. The study is unusual in that it describes a direct linkage between known forces of selection, evolutionary change morphology, and its underlying genetic basis.

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Today’s Links

  • Orientation of ants: Every cue counts
    Foraging desert ants always find their way back to the nest, even when it is only marked by a magnetic cue, vibration, or carbon dioxide.
  • Tracking pedestrians indoors using their smart phones
    The next generation of smart phone could combine the data from its gyroscopes with a built-in compass to allow you to track your movements when indoors even without GPS. Such a system could be useful for shopping mall managers, factory bosses for worker safety and security and office workers hoping to manage the flow of people through buildings. It could also be used to enable location based services and to help users navigate to specific meeting points or shops.
  • Revisiting LSD as a treatment for alcoholism
    Several decades ago, a number of clinics used LSD to treat alcoholism with some success. But until now, no research has pulled together the results of these trials to document exactly how effective LSD was. Now a new meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of the drug provides evidence for a clear and consistent beneficial effect of LSD for treating alcohol dependency.
  • Insects have ‘personalities’ too, research on novelty-seeking honey bees indicates
    Thrill-seeking is not limited to humans and other vertebrates, new research suggests. Some honey bees, too, are more likely than others to seek adventure. The brains of these novelty-seeking bees exhibit distinct patterns of gene activity in molecular pathways known to be associated with thrill-seeking in humans, researchers report.
  • Iridescent, feathered dinosaur offers fresh evidence that feathers evolved to attract mates
    Researchers have revealed that the small, feathered dinosaur Microraptor had a glossy iridescent sheen like a modern crow and that its tail was narrow and adorned with a pair of streamer feathers, suggesting feathers originally evolved for display, rather than flight. The new fossil is the earliest record of iridescent color in feathers.
  • Origami-inspired paper sensor could test for malaria and HIV for less than 10 cents, report chemists
    Inspired by the paper-folding art of origami, chemists have developed a 3-D paper sensor that may be able to test for diseases such as malaria and HIV for less than 10 cents a pop. The sensors can be printed out on an office printer, and take less than a minute to assemble.
  • Chimpanzees have police officers, too
    Chimpanzees are interested in social cohesion and have various strategies to guarantee the stability of their group. Anthropologists now reveal that chimpanzees mediate conflicts between other group members, not for their own direct benefit, but rather to preserve the peace within the group. Their impartial intervention in a conflict — so-called “policing” — can be regarded as an early evolutionary form of moral behavior.
  • Teaching fat cells to burn calories: New target against obesity involves brown fat
    In the war against obesity, one’s own fat cells may seem an unlikely ally, but new research suggests ordinary fat cells can be reengineered to burn calories.
  • First spectroscopic measurement of an anti-atom
    Scientists have captured and held atoms of antihydrogen, a single antiproton orbited by a single positron. Now, by measuring antihydrogen’s hyperfine structure, they have achieved another first in antimatter science with the very first measurements of the energy spectrum of an anti-atom.

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Devil Next Door, The politicians!

Political campaign rhetoric is always sweet and delicious but, more often than not, the campaigners are not forthcoming.  This is could be true for state legislators as well as the congressmen.

Let me illustrate this point by using our own state: South Carolina, which is clearly one of the poorest and most educationally backward in these 50 states. Our legislators sometimes leave us no choice but to think they forgot about us.

Sales Tax: Example: If one buys a motor-cycle for $ 4,285.72 one would pay $300. If you bought a Jet Plane for $ 1,200,000, you’d also pay $300!


” Sales taxes in South Carolina is 6%, and 7% specifically for lodging. Many localities also add 1 to 2% extra sales tax and many restaurants also charge and additional 1 to 2% sales tax.

A maximum sales tax of $300 is imposed on the purchase of motor vehicles, including recreational vehicles, boats, motorcycles and even airplanes too.  Why the planes  ?$$$?

Also get this. The state has been broke (also meaning penniless) for years and civil servants have been subjected to furloughs and pay cuts. Our scholastic performance in terms of SAT and other standard measures leaves something to be desired.

Once in a while we do wonders and became number 49 or 48 when states like Maine offer to take the bottom spot to our temporary relief.  Instead of tweaking their decrees to ensure taxes are collected more equitably, education funding is made a priority, good state employees are identified, retained, equipped and held to high standards, they squander these opportunities!

Other state employees’ pay and retirement benefits are fair game in times of crisis but not so for the legislators!  Are they not temporary hires? Should they be collecting such benefits in the first place?

A dose of self-introspection with critical reflection is in order.

 

Posted in USA | 3 Comments

What is in a name?

In 1600, William Shakespeare, writing in his “Romeo and Juliet”, posed a question this way.

What is in a name?  … A rose by any other name would smell as sweet!

In looking at political diversity, one can pose the same question about the name:

The Peoples’ Republic of China 

The name taken literally strongly implies that China is a country that stands behind its people and does things in the interest of the people.  Evidence is abundant not just to suggest but to show that China has installed laws that support foreign investors but ignore its own people.

In 2006 China promulgated the law of the People’s Republic of China on Enterprise Bankruptcy.

In accordance with this “people’s law”,  only enterprises could file.  Bankruptcies for private  and foreign companies were to be governed by separate laws.

Individuals were left out because there are too many insolvent people in China; more so than in most countries.

The People’s Legislature said that there was no legal or social infrastructure to cope with a possible avalanche of individuals filing for bankruptcy.  Suicide rates of broke chinese citizens have increased even as foreign enterprises continue to freely exercise their option to file for bankruptcy.  China is a signatory to UN backed law on Cross-border bankruptcy and has signed on World Trade Organization’s (WTO) guidelines. All these measures used to be considered the evil of capitalism!

So, in a nutshell, whose republic is it? Is it the State’s Republic of China, maybe…? So, indeed, what is in a name?

Posted in EurAsia | Leave a comment

How to : Add Adsense in WordPress blogs

Step 1. Go to your dash board and click on Editor as shown below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2. Click on the Header template on the right

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3 : Locate the following lines of code near the end of the header file

 

 

 


and place your cursor in between these lines as in picture above (Click on picture to expand).

 

Step 4: paste your adsense code for the 728×90 Leaderboard :

Do not forget to sandwitch your code with the <div> </div>

You can try pasting the code between the lines below for testing purposes,

=============================================

<div align=”center”>

<script type=”text/javascript”><!–

google_ad_client = “xxxxxxxxxxxxx″;

/* 728x90Leaderboard */

google_ad_slot = “xxxxxxxxxxx″;

google_ad_width = 728;

google_ad_height = 90;

//–>

</script>

<script type=”text/javascript”

src=”http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js“>

</script>

</div>

=============================================

when done with that , Click ,

Then load your page to see if it worked.

If it works well you’ll see the 728×90 Leaderboard advert centered nicely just below your header image.

Do not forget to replace the  ” xxxxxxxx”   above in the [ 1-google_ad_client and 2-google_ad_slot lines] with the your own specific data.

 

 

Posted in Quantum entanglement | 2 Comments

South America

South America is the 4th largest continent in the world. Most people in South America live in rural areas. The Equator runs through the top of South America. People in South America feed on fish like the deadly piranha. The largest country in South America is Brazil.

Soccer is a popular sport in Brazil. Lots of people in Brazil hunt for animals, kill the them with darts or arrows, and then eat them. Most people in Brazil are poor and only 5% are rich. The poor people in Brazil don’t have plumbing so they make their bathroom by themselves.

The Anaconda is the one of the largest and thickest snakes in the world. Instead of just gobbling up their prey, they squeeze them until they suffocate, then swallow them. Anacondas are found in the Amazon River which runs through Brazil.

Many people in Peru live without telephones because they are very poor. Peru is in the west coast of South America. Asparagus in Peru grows 1/2 an inch an hour. Isn’t that amazing?

Chile is another country in South America. It became a country in 1818 and is it the longest and narrowest country in the world. Some people in Chile like to play chess.

South America is a interesting continent to see. I would love to visit South America someday.

Essay by: SKB, Bryson Elementary School, 2nd Grade

Posted in Kid's Corner | 3 Comments

Jumping Rope

I like to jump rope.

It helps your heart.

You have to be careful so you won’t trip over your rope.

I do it a lot in the gym.

You have to keep trying and trying until you get it right.

I am not ready for double dutch yet.

I have to learn first before I double dutch.

Jumping over the rope with my feet is my favorite sport!

 

Poem by: ANB, Bryson Elementary School, 1st Grade,

Winner of Authors Tea

 

Posted in Kid's Corner | 1 Comment

Cutie Kitty

A kitten is cute.

Really cute!

Kittens are really playful sometimes.

I wish I had a kitten.

We would train her to chase mice, play frisbie and play with yarn.

She would be playful.

I bet she won’t jump that high.

She must have soft fur.

I will share her with my siblings.

I will let them pet her and get close to her.

She’d purr, she’d meow and she’d curl her tail too.

Even though I’ve never had one, I KNOW, i’ll love my kitten.

Poem by: ANB, Bryson Elementary School,  K5

 

Posted in Kid's Corner | 1 Comment