Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
The Intelligent Dog
Border Collie is rated as the most intelligent dog. It is a medium-sized very energetic dog and a “workaholic. In fact, it is happy when working because it loves working whether it is herding, agility, dog sports, or even tasks such as search and rescue by the narcotics and bomb detection police. This breed can be easily trained in such activities too. In fact because of its craving for work, sufficient exercise must be provided to them.
Originated in Northumberland in England, this dog was earlier called the “Scotch Sheep Dog”.
Interestingly, its body is a bit longer that its height. While biting, its strong teeth meet in a scissor. Brownish eyes and erect/semi-erect ears, short hairs on the face, ears, and front legs are quite prominent.
Border Collie is bred mainly for its working ability and intelligence and not for its beauty. It very intelligent and is quite aware of its surroundings. This dog exhibits a high degree of skills and obedience; it has high stamina and is therefore energetic. It is an ideal pet in dog sports when provided with sufficient exercises. Interestingly, this breed will get along well with other dogs, children, and other family pets. It is very demanding in matters of attention and recognition from their masters. Its life span is 10 to 15 years.
These dogs are found to be unsuitable for apartment life; and unsuited for being chained.
Poodle, e German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Doberman Pinscher, Shetland Sheepdog, Labrador Retriever, Papillon, Rottweiler, and Australian Cattle Dog are some of the remarkable varieties of dogs.
Source: Google
Images: Google
Monday, July 12, 2010
Flowers Under Threat
“Plants are the basis for much of the life on Earth with virtually all other species depending on them.” But the plants are facing a loss of habitat threat and human activity. A rough estimate forecasts extinction of 25% of the flowers. The Royal Society B in its latest report warns that several flowers that are yet to be classified (around 35,000 to 70,000 plans still to be classified) are likely to be lost even before even before they are discovered.
This is so depressing, but each one of us can arrest this impending catastrophe by planting at least some native plants in our homes. This way, we can hope to live in sustainable atmosphere and leave a healthy Earth to our progeny.
Preservation of global ecosystem and eco-sustainability can well be achieved by educated and organized ecological resistance and protests against its damage by human activity due to unchecked population explosion.
Source: Google
Image: Google
Sunday, July 11, 2010
China’s Supercomputer Power!! A challenge to the US?
Supercomputers are extensively used in complex projects such as weather system modeling, simulation of nuclear explosions, and designs of jetliners. China has now muscled into No. 2 rank among the world’s fastest supercomputer nations overtaking European and Japanese systems. It is just behind US Department of Energy’s Jaguar in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
China’s Dawning Nebulae system at the National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen province reports an astounding computing speed of 1.27 petaflops, which is the equivalent of one thousand trillion mathematical operations per second. Last year, China came out with its supercomputer named Tianhe capable of more than 1 petaflop or 1 quadrillion operations per second. The latest version is a step ahead of this and costs 600 million yuan ($88 million). China-made CPU is expected to be added to the Milki Way supercomputer in the future for boosting its speed further.
The latest Chinese achievement pushes its ranking higher among the world’s fastest 500 competitors. This list was compiled jointly by Germany’s University of Mannheim, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, US and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
This supercomputer was introduced to the world at the International Supercomputer Conference held recently in Hamburg, Germany. The use of the Nividia GPU (graphic processing unit) accelerator enabled this success.
But the US still leads the rest of the nations in the field of supercomputers.
Source: Google
China’s Dawning Nebulae system at the National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen province reports an astounding computing speed of 1.27 petaflops, which is the equivalent of one thousand trillion mathematical operations per second. Last year, China came out with its supercomputer named Tianhe capable of more than 1 petaflop or 1 quadrillion operations per second. The latest version is a step ahead of this and costs 600 million yuan ($88 million). China-made CPU is expected to be added to the Milki Way supercomputer in the future for boosting its speed further.
The latest Chinese achievement pushes its ranking higher among the world’s fastest 500 competitors. This list was compiled jointly by Germany’s University of Mannheim, Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory, US and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
This supercomputer was introduced to the world at the International Supercomputer Conference held recently in Hamburg, Germany. The use of the Nividia GPU (graphic processing unit) accelerator enabled this success.
But the US still leads the rest of the nations in the field of supercomputers.
Source: Google
Image: Google
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Studies on Near-Death Experiences
Recent studies at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington report quite interesting findings. A surge of electrical activity in the brain just moments before death is recorded by the anesthesiologist Dr. Lakhmir Chawla of the team that conducts the study there.
The study also suggests that about 15% of the patients who suffer cardiac arrest and clinical death experienced good thought process, reasoning, and at times recall vivid memories of their encounter with death.
In Britain too, similar ongoing studies are reported. The Science Daily reported in September 2008 a similar study titled The AWARE (Awareness During Resuscitation) by the Southampton Hampton University under the guidance of the visiting fellow Dr. Sam Parnia and his teammates Dr. Peter Fenwick and Professors Stephen Holgate and Robert Pevler. Dr. Parnia is an expert in the field of consciousness during death.
There are numerous teams like Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF), International Association for Near-Death Studies doing research on the near-death experiences.
However, these conclusions do require further exhaustive studies before they are accpted by the competent experts and the society. for arriving at any scientific conclusions. Also these studies do not suggest or deny any afterlife. But these do seem to indicate that there could still be God!!!
Source: Times London
Source: Google
The study also suggests that about 15% of the patients who suffer cardiac arrest and clinical death experienced good thought process, reasoning, and at times recall vivid memories of their encounter with death.
In Britain too, similar ongoing studies are reported. The Science Daily reported in September 2008 a similar study titled The AWARE (Awareness During Resuscitation) by the Southampton Hampton University under the guidance of the visiting fellow Dr. Sam Parnia and his teammates Dr. Peter Fenwick and Professors Stephen Holgate and Robert Pevler. Dr. Parnia is an expert in the field of consciousness during death.
There are numerous teams like Near-Death Experience Research Foundation (NDERF), International Association for Near-Death Studies doing research on the near-death experiences.
However, these conclusions do require further exhaustive studies before they are accpted by the competent experts and the society. for arriving at any scientific conclusions. Also these studies do not suggest or deny any afterlife. But these do seem to indicate that there could still be God!!!
Source: Times London
Source: Google
Dophin Therapy For Autism In Children
Dolphins as therapeutic healers to treat autism in children
Autism as we all know is a neural disorder with impaired social interaction, repetitive behavior, and communication deficiencies.. Chinese attempt to treat autism with dolphins is proving effective as per initial experiments.
An ocean amusement park, the Royal Ocean World (ROW) in the Northeast China bought four dolphins at a cost of $738,000 (five million yuan) for this therapy. After initial adaptation of the dolphins in their new home, the Dolphin therapy for a month to young patients aged between 2 and 10 years showed remarkable improvement in their reactions and behaviors. It is reported by the ROW that each child-patient undergoes 12 sessions of treatment for one month.
Many children would enjoy playful interaction with a dolphin because the dolphins are of their friendly appearance and loveable attitude. But no scientific proof is available to justify the efficacy of this dolphin therapy for autism.
The treatment which used to be free now costs 2000 yuan per month and less for patients from poor families. Many kinds of illness and disability are being treated with this therapy now. In addition to this Chinese attempt, a Florida-based program involves dolphins, sea turtles, otters, and fish to help treat the disabled children.
Source: Google
Autism as we all know is a neural disorder with impaired social interaction, repetitive behavior, and communication deficiencies.. Chinese attempt to treat autism with dolphins is proving effective as per initial experiments.
An ocean amusement park, the Royal Ocean World (ROW) in the Northeast China bought four dolphins at a cost of $738,000 (five million yuan) for this therapy. After initial adaptation of the dolphins in their new home, the Dolphin therapy for a month to young patients aged between 2 and 10 years showed remarkable improvement in their reactions and behaviors. It is reported by the ROW that each child-patient undergoes 12 sessions of treatment for one month.
Many children would enjoy playful interaction with a dolphin because the dolphins are of their friendly appearance and loveable attitude. But no scientific proof is available to justify the efficacy of this dolphin therapy for autism.
The treatment which used to be free now costs 2000 yuan per month and less for patients from poor families. Many kinds of illness and disability are being treated with this therapy now. In addition to this Chinese attempt, a Florida-based program involves dolphins, sea turtles, otters, and fish to help treat the disabled children.
Source: Google
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Simulated Mars Mission For 520 Days
“See you in 520 days!”, “Happy New Year 2011”. These are some of the pleasantries exchanged between the six men and a scientist who sealed the iron door of a mock spacecraft at a Moscow research center on June 3, 2010. These six men will be locked up in a simulated Mars cruise for 520 days. A Mars mission takes 250 for the onward flight, 30days on the Mars surface, and 240 days for the return flight.
Yes, six men from Europe, Russia and China were locked away for the next 520 days in a simulation of a manned mission to Mars. To be exact, one Frenchman, one Italian, one Chinese, and three Russians will spend the next one-and-a-half years in the mock spacecraft. They swill live on food rations like real astronauts. Their only source of contact with the outside world will be via the email but with a delay of about 40 minutes. The hatch will open only when the mission ends or when one member of the team dies in which case the body will be pushed out to the space.
The mission captain Alexie Sitev is newly married. Imagine the agony of his separation from his newly wed wife. All the members of this team are between ages 27 and 38. Their job will be divided into eight hours of work, sleep, and leisure.
LET US ALL WISH THEM GRAND SUCCESS.
Source: Google
Images: Google
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