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Village calls off marriages after cow's death
2008-03-11 14:44:00
It can only happen in incredible India. All marriages have been put on the hold in a Madhya Pradesh ( a province) village after a cow died. Local custom and belief decree that till such time there's a marriage in the family that owned the cow, no marriage can take place in the community. There's a problem though: There is nobody of marriageable age in the household.The story begins four months ago when a villager, Chandan Dhanak, while coaxing his cow, Sona (gold), to get inside the cowshed, hit her with a cane. Sona dropped dead, leaving Dhanak, his family and the entire village stupefied. Convinced that Sona died because of a curse, Dhanak and his son have gone on pilgrimage and done Gangasnan (holy dip in river Ganges - a sacred river for Hindus), not once but thrice.Despite his act of penitence, people in Chhapara village, 82 km from Vidisha district town and 40 km from capital city Bhopal, are not convinced. They insist that the curse can be shaken off only after a marriage i...
More About: Society , Calls , Death , Village , Marriages

The array of senses that make owls supreme night hunters
2008-03-09 04:24:00
The circles of feathers around an owl's eyes do not, as you might expect, help it to see; they help it to hear. Known as facial discs, the circles have tightly packed feathers around their rims. The feathers channel high-frequency sounds, such as the squeak of a mouse, into the owl's ears, which lie behind the discs. They perform essentially the same function as they fleshy external ears of mammals such as rabbits and cats.With their enormous eyes, owls are particularly well-equipped for hunting in dim light. But their remarkable vision cannot help them in the complete darkness they encounter under trees at night. They then have to rely on their extremely acute hearing.Owls locate sounds much as we do; a sound from the right reaches the right ear fractionally before it reaches the left, and their brains analyse this tiny difference to give the direction of the sound. In the same way, some species of owl can sense the exact height a sound is coming from, as one of their ears is hig...
More About: Nature , Animals , Night , Make , Hunters

Nut hazards
2008-03-08 14:25:00
Avoid eating almonds which have not fully matured as they can contain compounds which produce hydrogen cyanide, a poisonous gas which has a distinctive aroma of bitter almonds. The shells of immature nuts may be slightly softer and are sometimes tinged with green, rather than the normal light brown.Nuts should be stored in cool, dry conditions because they are prone to contamination with moulds. Some of these produce poisonous substances called mycotoxins, so never eat nuts with any trace of mould on the shell or kernel. In tropical countries, mouldy nuts may contain more dangerous mycotoxins - called aflatoxins - which cause liver cancer. These were identified in England in the 1960s when there was a large outbreak of liver disease in turkeys which had been fed on peanut meal. Peanuts are particularly prone to this form of contamination and, even though those imported into Britain are routinely checked for these moulds, it is safest to eat only peanuts that are sold in packets. Chi...
More About: Health

An electrode for your thoughts!
2008-03-07 15:31:00
With a sheet of electrodes placed over the brain, people can quickly learn to move a cursor around a computer screen using their thoughts. Early trials suggest that this new procedure could overtake more established brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).The two established techniques involve inserting electrodes into the brain or attaching them onto the scalp. These approaches have let people control robotic limbs, steer wheelchairs, type messages and walk in virtual worlds using thought alone. BCIs will one day transform the lives of people with disabilities and neurological disorders affecting their ability to move or communicate, says neuroscientist Gerwin Schalk at the Wadsworth Centre, New York State Department of Health, US.But which method will be best at doing that is still an open question, he says. "The two established sensor methods have fundamental problems that I think will be difficult to overcome."Electrodes on the scalp can only detect electrical waves that have passed th...
More About: Science , Technology , Thoughts

Herbal migraine relief
2008-03-05 12:07:00
Feverfew is a herbal remedy for migraine; it cannot stop an attack which has already started but can help to reduce frequency, and in some cases prevent migraines occurring in the first place. Although feverfew is available in tablet form, alternative practitioners find the fresh leaves most effective: you can grow the plant on a window sill. A couple of leaves each day is the recommended dose, but eat them in a sandwich because nibbling on the raw leaves can cause mouth ulcers. Pregnant women should refrain from taking feverfew.Soaking a towel or flannel in a cool infusion of feverfew, squeezing it out, and laying it across the forehead, may also be soothing.
More About: Health , Migraine , Relief , Herbal

The 'Accident' of sourdough
2008-03-05 04:45:00
The first raised or leavened bread seems to have been accidental - when airborne wild yeasts found their way into plain wheat dough, expanding it and giving a lighter-textured bread. The Egyptians kept this process going by using a piece of uncooked dough from one batch to start another. Spread by the Romans, this technique led to what is today called sourdough.
More About: Accident

The great Trojan war
2008-03-04 13:35:00
The Austrian Police has become the latest European agency to express its intention to use specially-crafted Trojan s to remotely monitor criminal suspects. DIRT (Data Interception by Remote Transmission) Trojan, with which law-enforcement agents can secretly monitor a suspect's computer, is the latest on police's cards.According to reports in Austrian media, the Minister of Justice Maria Berger and Interior Minister Gunther Plater, have drafted a proposal that will be amended by legal experts and the cabinet with the intention of allowing police to carry out such surveillance legally with a judge's warrant.There doesn't appear to be a defined timescale for such a law and it is not clear whether the move would face the legal challenges encountered by the German authorities in the last year as they attempted to get a similar law off the ground. According to Berger, Trojans would only be used in cases of serious crime, such as terrorism and organised racketeering. The Swiss authorit...
More About: Crime , Great

...so that Taj Mahal get its gleam back
2008-03-03 04:02:00
Archaeologists have started giving a facelift to the centuries-old Taj Mahal by applying a mud pack to the marble exteriors of the country's most famous monument. The procedure, expected to cost Rs 28 lacs (70,000 USD), will restore the gleam to the 17th-century architectural wonder, says Vijay UpadhyayKnown as poetry in white marble, the Taj Mahal has been the centre of environmental debates for decades, which have been focused on the apparent 'yellowing' of the monument's white surface. This is due to the reaction of pollutants with marble that have caused a yellow tinge on the monument.Though the Archaeological Survey of India has refuted the claims of a 'Yellowing Taj', the effect of the polluted air combined with dust-laden winds from Rajasthan blowing over the monument, has actually drilled microscopic 'pits' in the smooth marble surface, which renders a yellow tinge to the Taj Mahal apparent from a distance.But this yellow tinge is about to get washed away, as for the...
More About: History , Back

Ancient man more mobile than believed
2008-03-01 13:10:00
Analysis of a 40,000-year-old tooth found in southern Greece suggests Neanderthals were more mobile than once believed, paleontologists and the Greek Culture Ministry said.A part of the first and only Neanderthal remains found in Greece -- showed the ancient human to whom it belonged had spent at least part of its life away from the area where it died.Paleoanthropologist Katerina Harvati at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany said that Neanderthal mobility is highly controversial. Some experts believe Neanderthals roamed over very limited areas, but others say they must have been more mobile, particularly when hunting, Harvati explained.Ian Tattersall, curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, said the tooth analysis provided a rare piece of hard evidence. The findings were published in the journal of Archaeological Science .The tooth was found in a seaside excavation in Greece's southern Peloponnese region ...
More About: Mobile , Ancient

Mysterious monolith - grows and shrinks with the moon
2008-02-29 15:38:00
Ranchi, Jharkhand, India - It is a treasure of the bygone era. The capital's heart was named after it. Shady trees stood by it to protect its sheen. Tribals worshipped it, foreigners used to see with astonishment and locals used to measure it on every full moon and no-moon nights.The thar pakhna (thar: stone, pakhna: living) might have gone into oblivion, but not its characteristic. Considered as a blessing to the tribal people, the living stone, now sandwiched between the hostel of the Government Girls' Polytechnic and its boundary wall, once enjoyed pride of place at Charan Pahan's garden.Charan, the Munda headman of the locality in 1860, did not know how the stone increased and decreased every fortnight, but took the trouble to get the fact entered in the District Gazetteer, lest people forget it.Documentary evidences support the fact that the monolith increased by a foot or so on every full-moon night and again shrunk within the next fortnight. A few books and souvenirs publi...
More About: Moon , Mystery , Mysterious , The Moon

Ensure disks are formatted with NTFS
2008-02-28 05:23:00
NTFS is the recommended file system for Windows XP. It gives better access control protection for files and folders as compared to the FAT family of file systems. NTFS enables you to specify which users or user groups have access to which files and folders on your computer. You can also determine what the permission level for each user and user group should be. User permissions can be set to full control, change (cannot delete) or read only. It also gives better performance on hard disks that are larger than 32 GB in size.To get a quick overview of the file systems on your computer, right-click My Computer and select Manage. Click on Disk Management in the left pane under the Storage section of the tree. The graphical view will show you all your hard disks and partitions, along with the file system they?re currently formatted with.If you have any FAT or FAT32 partitions, these can be converted to NTFS using the Convert.exe command line utility. To convert a partition to NTFS, open a...

Toothbrush old as pyramids
2008-02-27 14:52:00
How far back in history does the toothbrush appear?Did you ever notice the cavemen on those Geico commercials have all their teeth? It is not because they had toothbrushes; it is due to the fact processed sugar was not invented yet. (They were too busy figuring out why square wheels just can't plow through mammoth dung as easily as they thought).Hippocrates, the ancient Greek MD and "stand-up philosopher," used a toothpaste made of lizard head and rat parts, rich in tri-calcium phosphate. Yum. Some folks think the Chinese brought the toothbrush to us; wrong again. Egyptians used a tree bark called "Arak" that was rich in sodium bicarbonate to scrub their teeth. In the 17th century, a prisoner in London named William Addis drilled small holes in leftover chicken bones from dinner and glued in pieces of string the guards brought him. Upon his release, he entered the retail oral health care business. Plyni the Great dipped his wild boar hair toothbrush into a mix of burnt eggshells a...
More About: Health , Pyramids

Can psychiatric problems cause heart disease and vice versa?
2008-02-26 12:55:00
According to some estimates, 10 to 20 per cent of patients consulting cardiologists have a psychiatric basis for their symptoms. This means they have chest pains, breathlessness, palpitations and tachycardia (fast heartbeat) precipitated by psychiatric problems such as anxiety, panic disorders and depression. This does not mean their symptoms are insignificant; sometimes they are severe enough to mimic angina or a heart attack. In addition some of the antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs taken by psychiatric patients can cause irregular heartbeat.Victims of heart attacks are usually both anxious and terrified at the time of the attack, and often depressed afterwards, as they wonder whether they will ever be able to resume a normal life. It is also common for open-heart surgery patients to experience disorientation, confusion, hallucinations and delusions for a few days after their operation.
More About: Health , Heart , Problems , Disease , Heart Disease

Gripping stuff
2008-02-26 04:23:00
While hunting, Georges de Mestral, a Swiss aristocrat, was inspired to create an alternative to the zip by the burs that attached themselves to his clothes and to his dog. Examining the burs under a microscope, he realised they were covered in thousands of hooks and tried to reproduce the effect. The result, patented in 1956, was two strips, one with tiny loops to which the little hooks on the other clung. Although his fastener was made from nylon, de Mestral named it Velcro, from the French velours, 'velvet', and croche, 'hooked'.
More About: Stuff , Invention

Predictions and dreams
2008-02-25 15:22:00
Before amniocentesis - the scientific analysis of fluid from a pregnant woman's uterus - was developed in the 1930s, superstitions offered the sole means of predicting the sex of an unborn child. Around 4000BC in Egypt, two types of wheat were watered with the woman's urine. The child's sex was determined by which sprouted first.The Egyptians devised guidelines for interpreting the images seen in dreams around 2000BC. A papyrus states: 'If a man sees himself in a dream looking at a snake - good, it signifies [many] provisions,' and 'If a man sees in a dream his bed on fire - bad, it signifies the rape of his wife.'
More About: Society , Dreams , Predictions

How cholesterol levels are measured
2008-02-23 10:35:00
Lay testing of cholesterol levels in the blood is an increasingly popular practice, but to be certain of reliable results, testing is best done under medical supervision.Levels of blood cholesterol are measured in millimoles/litre, or (mmol/l), against which the risks of heart disease are calculated............................... ......................................... ...........................Cholesterol - Risk factor................................... ......................................... ......................Less than 5.2mmol/l - Low5.2 - 6.5mmol/l - Average6.5 - 7.8mmol/l - ModerateGreater than 7.8mmol/l - High..................................... ......................................... ....................However, when assessing the risk other factors also need to be considered. Account should be taken of any family history of heart disease as well a...
More About: Health

Rice - A white truth
2008-02-22 14:57:00
Rice is believed to have originated in southern Asia - it is known to have been cultivated in India and China for more than 6500 years. Yet it did not make an appearance in Europe until around AD 1000. It reached England's shores during Elizabethan times, when it was imported from Spain.Rice cannot be grown in the cold British climate and a large proportion of the rice now eaten in Britain comes from Carolina in North America. On a world scale, however, 90 per cent of all rice is still grown and consumed in Asia.In some oriental cultures, rice is the symbol of life and fertility. Perhaps that is the origin of the widespread custom of throwing rice at newly married couples.
More About: Society , Truth , White , Rice

Nail - A diagnostic tool
2008-02-20 14:27:00
Before surgery women are asked to remove their nail polish because when a patient's lips are covered by an anaesthesia mask, it is the nails that the anaesthetist will examine to ascertain whether the patient is getting enough oxygen. Pink nail beds indicate enough oxygen in the blood, but pale or blue ones show that the patient is not receiving enough oxygen.A skilled diagnostician can also read the nails for signs of certain ailments. Pale, upward curving nails may indicate anaemia or zinc deficiency. Blue-ginged nails show that blood is not reaching the extremities - possibly a sign of circulatory disease and ridged nails show that the growth was interrupted, possibly by illness.
More About: Health , Tool , Nail , Diagnostic

Foot Mouse
2008-02-19 15:34:00
No, this isn't a racing game controller or one of those funky looking foot massagers. The Foot Mouse is aimed at those of you who have started develoing aches and pains in your fingers, or are just too busy eating to be able to use hand-mouse and get some work done. The mouse comes in the shape of two pads that rest on the floor - one controls movement and the other the clicking function. The manufacturer claims that the Foot Mouse increases productivity by up to 30 per cent and even has a page of annonymous testimonials from users. At $316 (Rs 14000), the Foot Mouse is not cheap, but then again if you want one, you're probably eccentric enough to afford one.
More About: Technology

Keyless Keyboard
2008-02-18 14:05:00
We all know this guy; he sits around looking busy, pounding his keyboard all day, but we know he's just using GTalk to woo women. We all hate that guy.Here's how you can exact your revenge. Just replace the offender's keyboard with the orbiTouch Keyless Keyboard . This "keyboard" is two domes that slide into one of eight preconfigured positions each. Instead of typing normally, you have to move the domes - individually or simultaneously - to type. For example, moving both domes to the right simultaneously will type the letter Y.A user would basically have to learn to type all over again, and you can have fun watching the serial chatter struggle with this. If you're willing to shell out close to Rs 16,000 ($399) for this weird gadget, you are certainly disabled, but not physically - perhaps a trip to a shrink is in order.Visit www.keybowl.com if you wish to know more about this crazy gadget.
More About: Gadgets

Cabbage poultice
2008-02-17 14:29:00
Although there is no scientific evidence to support the claim, traditional medicine has long held that fresh green cabbage leaves (especially Savoy cabbage) can help to relieve eczema. Wash, pound and warm the leaves, then use a bandage to hold several layers of them in place on the affected areas every morning and night.
More About: Health , Cabbage

DIABETES - Who is at risk?
2008-02-17 14:09:00
One person in every 50 in Britain and one in every 20 in the United States suffers from diabetes, but fewer than half of these cases are diagnosed. In Britain, diabetes is most common among the elderly, particularly people who are overweight, and those of Asian origin. Diabetes is not caused by eating too much sugar or the wrong kind of food, nor can it be 'caught'.
More About: Health , Risk

Why are the right body moves more mental than physical?
2008-02-16 10:31:00
Whether you're a batter who has solved the mystery of how to hit a dipping, darting ball or a marathon runner struggling toward the finish line, much of the training that has brought you to your level of achievement has conditioned your mind, not your body. Your performance is really a reflection of how your training has fine-tuned the way your brain regulates the movements of your body.Date from receptors surges along your nerves into the brain in a continuous stream. Only a fraction of this data is selected for retention (by some as yet unknown process, whose selectivity may difer from person to person) ; the rest fades within a second. Then, according to one theory, the retained bits of information are sent to short-term memory, where they are compared to experiences drawn from long-term memory. Your brain then decides upon a reaction, consults long-term memory again to call up the patterns of learned motor skills that are stored there, and finally issues the commands that get y...
More About: Science , Mental , Body , Physical , Moves

Do men go through their own form of pregnancy?
2008-02-12 14:07:00
Some men go through a range of sympathetic physical changes during their wives' pregnancies known as couvade, from the French word for hatching, fatigue, backache, weight gain, and persistent toothaches apparently stem from the emotional conflicts of impending fatherhood.Some cultures, recognizing this phenomenon, developed elaborate rituals to help men through the difficult times. Only recently have Western cultures given men a formal role in pregnancy. Fathers-to-be are now encouraged to participate in prenatal care and delivery.
More About: Society , Pregnancy , Form

What's the difference between sexual attraction and love?
2008-02-11 13:10:00
Almost everybody, scientist and nonscientist alike, agrees that sexual attraction is different from true love; but it is also apparent that love, even after decades with the same partner, need not exclude sexual attraction. Love itself, if it is considered a desire for more than sexual intimacy, seems to be not one state but several. For example, the feeling of a young couple that they can do nothing alone can mature into a relationship in which each is relatively independent.Yale psychologist Robert Sternberg suggests that love has three basic elements: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Typically, says Sternberg, passion is the key ingredient in the early stages of courting, but as the relationship matures, intimacy and commitment grow in importance.The French writer Madame de Stael's definition of love is far more peotic. "Love is a symbol of eternity," she wrote almost two centuries ago. " It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an e...
More About: Society , Attraction , Sexual , Difference

Heart attack and drinking warm water
2008-02-09 14:18:00
Heart Attack and drinking warm water....Not only about the warm water after your meal, but about heart attacks. This makes sense.. the Chinese and Japanese drink hot tea with their meals...not cold water...maybe it is time we adopt their drinking habit while eating!!!Nothing to lose, everything to gain... For those who like to drink cold water, this article is applicable to you. It is nice to have a cup of cold drink after a meal. However, the cold water will solidify the oily stuff that you have just consumed. It will slow down the digestion.Once this "sludge" reacts with the acid, it will break down and be absorbed by the intestine faster than the solid food. It will line the intestine. Very soon, this will turn in to fats and lead to cancer. It is best to drink hot soup or warm water after a meal!.A serious note about heart attacks: You should know that not every heart attack symp to m is going to be the left arm hurting. Be aware of intense pain in the jaw line.You may never hav...
More About: Health , Heart , Water , Drinking , Heart Attack

Using a mobile phone before going to bed is bad for your health
2008-02-07 12:55:00
Using a mobile phone before going to bed can damage your health, according to a major study.It claims that radiation from the handset can cause insomnia and headaches as well as cutting the time spent in deep sleep.Failing to get enough sleep can lead to depression, lack of concentration and personality changes.In teenagers and young children, lack of sleep can result in attention disorders and poor academic performance.The research, carried out by scientists funded by handset manufacturers, will add to the health fears surrounding radiation emitted by the devices.The results showed that using the handsets before bed causes people to take longer to reach the deeper stages of sleep and to spend less time in them.Deep sleep is essential as it is the time when the body rejuvenates cells and repairs damage suffered during the day.Dr Chris Idzikowski, director of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, said: "There is now more than sufficient evidence from a large number of reputable investigators w...
More About: Health , Mobile , Phone , Mobile Phone

Study clears mobile phones of brain cancer risk
2008-02-06 13:55:00
Using a mobile phone does not increase your risk of brain cancer, according to a new Japanese study that is the first to consider the effects of radiation on different parts of the brain.The finding adds to the growing body of evidence that mobile phones are safe.Scientists at Tokyo Women's Medical University compared phone use in 322 brain cancer patients with 683 healthy people and found that regularly using a mobile did not significantly affect the likelihood of getting brain cancer.They also studied the radiation emitted from different types of phones to assess the affect on different areas of the brain.?Using our newly developed and more accurate techniques, we found no association between mobile phone use and cancer, providing more evidence to suggest they don't cause brain cancer,? Naohito Yamaguchi, who led the research, said.His team's findings were published in the British Journal of Cancer .Scientists around the world have been monitoring the effects of radio-frequency ...
More About: Health , Mobile , Study , Mobile Phones

Why does your cat bite your hand when you stroke her?
2008-02-05 03:29:00
You have settled into your favorite armchair, perhaps reading the final chapters of a gripping novel. Suddenly you are aware of the imploring stare of your cat sitting at your feet. You invite her onto your lap. Gently you begin to stroke her and your cat signals her appreciation with an audible purr.One hand holding your book the other hand continuing to pet your mouser, you again get lost in your novel. All is well in the world with you and with your cat.Suddenly your cat bites your hand!Why did kitty do that? Why did she bite the hand that strokes her? The experts don't agree on exactly why it is that some cats enjoy being petted, but end up biting. One thing that they do agree on is that when kitty bites at you, it's a sure sign that she has decided that she's had enough stroking.Cats differ in the amount of petting they will accept, and not all cats respond by biting when they have had enough. Some cats simply jump from your lap and saunter off to investigate interests anew...
More About: Animals , Hand , Stroke , Bite

Computer hackers wanted for organized cyber crime
2008-02-03 10:39:00
Low Risk ? High Return ? Work Your Own Hours The Ultimate Get Rich Quick Scheme Wow! Can you imagine a help wanted ad like that in your local newspaper or pay-per-click ad in your favorite search engine?Yet, organized cyber crime has become the most profitable ? low risk ? high return crime of our age. Hundreds of thousands of hackers are quietly using the Internet , hiding behind thousands of captured computers, stealing identities and money from innocent people like you and me. Sadly, there is little chance the hacker will ever get caught.Organized cyber crime has become a big-time profession. Professional hackers make it their daily job to take advantage of current computer security trends and send out threats like Spam, phishing e-mails, Trojan horses containing key loggers, hijackers and more, all targeted to steal your identity and ultimately your money.These cyber criminals can work alone or in groups. Either way, their first goal is to capture computers and turn them into zo...
More About: Crime , Computer , Hackers , Cyber