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fraudulently using the names and Social Security numbers of deceased individuals in the hopes of fooling the IRS into cutting a check to someone who wasn’t alivet. A man in Florida was ordered to apply for an Electronic Filing Identification |
Number, which was used by others after he received it to find recently deceased people and electronically filing tax returns using their identities. The IRS has recovered more than $800,000 from Bank of America accounts and more than $700,000 in |
Rutabagas are a wonderful addition to the winter diet. They are a member the brassica genus of plants which includes other cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Their sweet, yellow flesh can be mashed, roasted, steamed or sauteed. Rutabagas are rich in vitamin C, dietary fiber, potassi... |
nutrients! - One cup of cubed, boiled rutabaga contains 66 calories’ It has 2.2 grams of protein, 4 percent of the recommended daily amount! - That one cup of rutabagas also offers 12 percent of the recommended daily intake of fiber. One cup provides 3.1 grams. - It also provides 16 percent of the daily potassium requi... |
of magnesium and phosphorus. - Rutabaga is an excellent source of vitamin C. One cup provides 53 percent of the recommended daily value and 4 to 9 percent of the B-vitamins. - Rutabaga contains the phytochemicals called isothiocyanates. These are best obtained from raw cruciferous vegetables because they can’t be absor... |
from these flavorful roots are also impressive! - The phytochemicals remove carcinogens from the body and help the liver process toxins. One phytochemical, glucosinolate, may inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors. - It’s store of antioxidants help prevent free radical damage to our cells and DNA, boosts the immune sys... |
antioxidant activity. - Rutabaga is a good source of fiber which helps support the body’s digestive system, is essential to colon health, digestion and healthy metabolism. The glucosinolates may also help the stomach process bacteria. - The potassium found in rutabaga helps promote bone strength, aids in energy product... |
touch of sea salt, and grape seed oil as part of a winter dinner, add to soups and stews, or get a big dose of phytochemicals with a crunchy salad of walnuts, chopped rutabaga, spinach, and dried cranberries. If you’re not already a rutabaga fan … give it a try, you will be! |
Oct. 13, 2010 -- The idiom “a dog’s life” suggests that pooches have it made when it comes to happiness, but new research indicates that the emotional states of dogs can be as varied as the moods of their owners. Dogs can see their food bowls as half empty rather |
than half full, just as human pessimists see a glass of water as half empty instead of half full. British researchers who tested separation reactions of dogs say they found that some dogs are more likely than others to become depressed and anxious when left alone, causing them to bark, |
scratch at doors, chew on furniture, and generally misbehave. On the other hand, optimistic dogs are more likely to behave better and become more relaxed when left alone. Mike Mendl, PhD, head of animal welfare and behavioral research at the University of Bristol, and colleagues, studied 24 dogs, males and |
females, that had been sent to two animal centers. Each dog was tested beforehand for separation anxiety-related behaviors. A researcher played with each dog in an isolated room for 20 minutes. The next day the dogs were taken back to their rooms and left alone for five minutes while video |
cameras recorded their behavior. Some of the dogs barked, jumped on furniture, and scratched at the door, but the “optimistic” ones did not -- or didn’t do it as much. To study optimistic or pessimistic tendencies, the dogs were trained so that when a bowl was placed at one location |
in a room, it contained food, but when put somewhere else, it didn’t. Then the bowls were placed at ambiguous locations between the positive and negative positions. “Dogs that ran fast to these ambiguous locations as if expecting the positive food reward were classed as making relatively ‘optimistic’ decisions,” Mendl |
says in a news release. "Interestingly, these dogs tended to be the ones who also showed least anxiety-like behavior when left alone for a short time.” He says about half of dogs may at some point engage in behaviors related to separation anxiety, such as barking, scratching, or tearing things |
up when separated from owners. “Our study suggests that dogs showing these types of behavior also appear to make more pessimistic judgments generally,” he says. “We all have a tendency to think that our pets and other animals experience emotions similar to our own, but we have no way of |
knowing directly because emotions are essentially private,” he says. “However, we can use findings from human psychology research to develop new ways of measuring animal emotion.” It’s known that the emotional states of people affect their judgments, and that happy people are more likely to judge an ambiguous situation... |
a positive way. And it’s apparently the same with dogs. “What our study has shown is that this applies similarly to dogs -- that a ‘glass-half-full’ dog is less likely to be anxious when left alone than one with a more pessimistic nature,” Mendl says. |
European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection Green Park, LondonMade in London, England, Europe 1870 or 1871 Claude Monet, French, 1840 - 1926 Oil on canvas W1921-1-7Purchased with the W. P. Wilstach Fund, 1921 LabelIn the autumn of 1870, in the midst of the Franco-Prussian War, Monet and his wife left France for e... |
European Decorative Arts and Sculpture Cloister with Elements from the Abbey of Saint-Genis-des-FontainesMade in Roussillon, France, Europe 1270-80s, with medieval elements from southwestern France and modern additions Artist/maker unknown, French 1928-57-1bPurchased with funds contributed by Elizabeth Malcolm Bowman i... |
courtyard. The Museum’s cloister is modeled after a thirteenth-century example at the Abbey of Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines in the Roussillon region of southwestern France, and includes sculpture originally from the abbey, contemporary elements from the province, and early-twentieth-century reproduction carvings. Medieval... |
drawing known as the Plan of Saint Gall, which is considered a blueprint of the ideal monastic compound, features a large, centrally located cloister that would have been reserved for the monks. At Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines, the outer walkway held doors that opened into the dining hall, the chapter house (where the abb... |
moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit. |
Thursday, September 1st, 1859, 11:18am: Thirty three year-old Richard Carringto, widely acknowledged to be one of England's foremost solar astronomer, was in his well-appointed private observatory. Just as usual on |
every sunny day, his telescope was projecting an 11-inch-wide image of the sun on a screen, and Carrington skillfully drew the sunspots he saw. On that morning, he was capturing |
the likeness of an enormous group of sunspots. Suddenly, before his eyes, two brilliant beads of blinding white light appeared over the sunspots, intensified rapidly, and became kidney-shaped. Realizing that |
he was witnessing something unprecedented and "being somewhat flurried by the surprise," Carrington later wrote, "I hastily ran to call someone to witness the exhibition with me. On returning within |
60 seconds, I was mortified to find that it was already much changed and enfeebled." He and his witness watched the white spots contract to mere pinpoints and disappear. Friday, |
September 2nd, 1859: Just before dawn the next day, skies all over planet Earth erupted in red, green, and purple auroras so brilliant that newspapers could be read as easily |
as in daylight. Indeed, stunning auroras pulsated even at near tropical latitudes over Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, El Salvador, and Hawaii. Even more disconcerting, telegraph systems worldwide went haywire. Spark |
discharges shocked telegraph operators and set the telegraph paper on fire. Even when telegraphers disconnected the batteries powering the lines, aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to |
be transmitted. [Click the following images for better reading.] Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Forecasting the Impact of an 1859-calibre Superstorm on Satellite Resources THE 1859 SOLAR–TERRESTRIAL DISTURBANCE |
Acrophobia is defined as a fear of heights. Unlike a specific phobia like aerophobia -- fear of flying -- and other specific phobias, acrophobia can cause a person to fear a variety of things related to being far from the |
ground. Depending on the phobia's severity, an acrophobic person may equally fear being on a high floor of a building or simply climbing a ladder. Acrophobia and Related Conditions True vertigo is a medical condition that causes a sensation of |
spinning and dizziness. Illyngophobia is a phobia in which the fear of developing vertigo can actually lead to vertigo-like symptoms. Acrophobia can induce similar feelings, but the three conditions are not the same. See a doctor for tests if you |
experience vertigo symptoms. Medical tests may include bloodwork, CT scans and MRIs, which can rule out a variety of neurological conditions. Bathmophobia, or the fear of slopes and stairs, is sometimes related to acrophobia. In bathmophobia, you may panic when |
viewing a steep slope, even if you have no need to climb the slope. Although many people with bathmophobia have acrophobia, most acrophobia sufferers do not also experience bathmophobia. Climacophobia is related to bathmophobia, except that the fear generally occurs |
only when contemplating making a climb. If you suffer from climacophobia, you are probably not afraid to see a steep set of stairs as long as you can remain safely at the bottom. However, climacophobia may occur in tandem with |
acrophobia. Aerophobia is the specific fear of flying. Depending on the severity of your fear, you may be afraid of airports and airplanes, or may only feel the fear when in the air. Aerophobia may occasionally occur alongside acrophobia. Symptoms |
of Acrophobia If you experience acrophobia, you may never experience vertigo symptoms. Instead, you may feel a sense of panic when at height. You may instinctively begin to search for something to cling to. You may find that you are |
unable to trust your own sense of balance. Common reactions include descending immediately, crawling on all fours and kneeling or otherwise lowering the body. Emotionally and physically, the response to acrophobia is similar to the response to any other phobia. |
You may begin to shake, sweat, experience heart palpitations and even cry or yell out. You may feel terrified and paralyzed. It might become difficult to think. If you have acrophobia, it is likely that you will begin to dread |
situations that may cause you to spend time at height. For example, you may worry that an upcoming vacation will put you into a hotel room on a high floor. You may put off home repairs for fear of using |
a ladder. You might avoid visiting friends' homes if they have balconies or upstairs picture windows. Danger of Acrophobia The biggest danger that most phobias present is the risk of limiting one's life and activities to avoid the feared situation. |
Acrophobia is unusual, however, in that having a panic attack while high in the air could actually lead to the imagined danger. The situation may be safe as long as normal precautions are taken, but panicking could lead you to |
make unsafe moves. Therefore, it is extremely important that acrophobia be professionally treated as quickly as possible, particularly if heights are a regular part of your life. Causes of Acrophobia Research shows that a certain amount of reluctance around heights |
is normal, not only for humans but for all visual animals. In 1960, famed research psychologists Gibson and Walk did a "Visual Cliff" experiment which showed crawling infants, along with babies of numerous species, who refused to cross a thick |
glass panel that covered an apparently sharp drop-off. The presence of the infant's mother, encouragingly calling him, did not convince the babies that it was safe. Therefore, acrophobia seems to be at least partially ingrained, possibly as an evolutionary survival |
mechanism. Nonetheless, most children and adults use caution but are not inordinately afraid of heights. Acrophobia, like all phobias, appears to be a hyper-reaction of the normal fear response. Many experts believe that this may be a learned response to |
either a previous fall or a parent's nervous reaction to heights. Cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a main treatment of choice for specific phobias. Behavioral techniques that expose the sufferer to the feared situation either gradually (systematic desensitization) or rapidly |
(flooding) are frequently used. In addition, the client is taught ways of stopping the panic reaction and regaining emotional control. Traditionally, actual exposure to heights is the most common solution. However, several research studies performed since 2001 have shown that |
virtual reality may be just as effective. A major advantage of virtual reality treatment is the savings in both cost and time, as there is no need for "on-location" therapist accompaniment. This method is not yet readily available, but may |
be worth trying to find if you can. The drug D-Cycloserine has been in clinical trials for anxiety disorder treatment since 2008. It appears that using the medication in tandem with cognitive-behavioral therapy may improve results, but the research remains |
preliminary at this time. Acrophobia appears to be rooted in an evolutionary safety mechanism. Nonetheless, it represents an extreme variation on a normal caution, and can become quite life-limiting for sufferers. It can also be dangerous for those who experience |
a full panic reaction while at a significant height. Acrophobia can share certain symptoms with vertigo, a medical disorder with a variety of possible causes, as well as with other specific phobias. For these reasons, if you experience the signs |
With the worlds energy needs growing rapidly, can zero-carbon energy options be scaled up enough to make a significant difference? How much of a dent can these alternatives make in |
the worlds total energy usage over the next half-century? As the MIT Energy Initiative approaches its fifth anniversary next month, this five-part series takes a broad view of the likely |
scalable energy candidates. Of all the zero-carbon energy sources available, wind power is the only one thats truly cost-competitive today: A 2006 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration put |
the total cost for wind-produced electricity at an average of $55.80 per megawatt-hour, compared to $53.10 for coal, $52.50 for natural gas and $59.30 for nuclear power. As a result, |
wind turbines are being deployed rapidly in many parts of the United States and around the world. And because of winds proven record and its immediate and widespread availability, its |
an energy source thats seen as having the potential to grow very rapidly. Wind is probably one of the most significant renewable energy sources, simply because the technology is mature, |
says Paul Sclavounos, an MIT professor of mechanical engineering and naval architecture. There is no technological risk. Globally, 2 percent of electricity now comes from wind, and in some places |
the rate is much higher: Denmark, the present world leader, gets more than 19 percent of its electricity from wind, and is aiming to boost that number to 50 percent. |
Some experts estimate wind power could account for 10 to 20 percent of world electricity generation over the next few decades. Taking a longer-term view, a widely cited 2005 study |
by researchers at Stanford University projected that wind, if fully harnessed worldwide, could theoretically meet the worlds present energy needs five times over. And a 2010 study by the National |
Renewable Energy Laboratory found that the United States could get more than 12 times its current electricity consumption from wind alone. But impressive as these figures may sound, wind power |
still has a long way to go before it becomes a significant factor in reducing carbon emissions. The potential is there with abundant wind available for harvesting both on land |
and, especially, over the oceans but harnessing that power efficiently will require enormous investments in manufacturing and installation. So far, installed wind power has the capacity to generate only about |
0.2 terawatts (trillions of watts) of energy worldwide a number that pales in comparison to an average world demand of 14 terawatts, expected to double by 2050. The World Wind |
Energy Association now projects global wind-power capacity of 1.9 terawatts by 2020. But thats peak capacity, and even in the best locations the wind doesnt blow all the time. In |
fact, the worlds wind farms operate at an average capacity factor (the percentage of their maximum power that is actually delivered) somewhere between 20 and 40 percent, depending on their |
location and the technology. Some analysts are also concerned that widespread deployment of wind power, with its inherently unpredictable swings in output, could stress power grids, forcing the repeated startup |
and shutdown of other generators to compensate for winds variability. Many of the best wind-harvesting sites are far from the areas that most need the power, necessitating significant investment in |
delivery infrastructure but building wind farms closer to population centers is controversial because many people object to their appearance and their sounds. One potential solution to these problems lies offshore. |
While many wind installations in Europe have been built within a few miles of shore, in shallow water, there is much greater potential more than 20 miles offshore, where winds |
blow faster and more reliably. Such sites, while still relatively close to consumers, are generally far enough away to be out of sight. MITs Sclavounos has been working on the |
design of wind turbines for installation far offshore, using floating platforms based on technology used in offshore oilrigs. Such installations along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States could theoretically |
provide most of the electricity needed for the eastern half of the country. And a study in California showed that platforms off the coast there could provide more than two-thirds |
of the states electricity. Such floating platforms will be essential if wind is to become a major contributor to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, says research engineer Stephen Connors, director |
of the Analysis Group for Regional Energy Alternatives (AGREA) at the MIT Energy Initiative. Wind energy is never going to get big if youre limited to relatively shallow, relatively close |
[offshore] sites, he says. If youre going to have a large impact, you really need floating structures. All of the technology needed to install hundreds of floating wind turbines is |
well established, both from existing near-shore wind farms and from offshore drilling installations. All thats needed is to put the pieces together in a way that works economically. But deciding |
just how to do so is no trivial matter. Sclavounos and his students have been working to optimize designs, using computer simulations to test different combinations of platforms and mooring |
systems to see how they stand up to wind and waves as well as how efficiently they can be assembled, transported and installed. One thing is clear: It wont be |
one design for all sites, Sclavounos says. In principle, floating structures should be much more economical than wind farms mounted on the seafloor, as in Europe, which require costly construction |
and assembly. By contrast, the floating platforms could be fully assembled at an onshore facility, then towed into position and anchored. Whats more, the wind is much steadier far offshore: |
Whereas a really good land-based site can provide a 35 percent capacity factor, an offshore site can yield 45 percent greatly improving the cost-effectiveness per unit. There are also concerns |
about the effects of adding a large amount of intermittent energy production to the national supply. Ron Prinn, director of MITs Joint Center for the Science and Policy of Global |
Change, says, At large scale, there are issues regarding reliability of renewable but intermittent energy sources like wind that will require adding the costs of backup generation or energy storage. |
Exactly how big is offshore wind powers potential? Nobody really knows for sure, since theres insufficient data on the strength and variability of offshore winds. You need to know where |
and when its windy hour to hour, day to day, season to season and year to year, Connors says. While such data has been collected on land, there is much |
less information for points offshore. Its a wholly answerable question, but you cant do it by just brainstorming. And the answers might not be what wind powers advocates want to |
hear. Some analysts raise questions about how much difference wind power can make. MIT physicist Robert Jaffe says that wind is excellent in certain niche locations, but overall its too |
diffuse that is, too thinly spread out over the planet to be the major greenhouse gas-curbing technology. In the long term, solar is the best option to be sufficiently scaled |
up to make a big difference, says Jaffe, the Otto (1939) and Jane Morningstar Professor of Physics. Connors is confident that wind also has a role to play. This planet |
is mostly ocean, he says, and its pretty windy out there. This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation |
and teaching. Explore further: Study IDs two compressed air energy storage methods, sites for the Northwest More information: Tomorrow: Vast amounts of solar energy radiate to the Earth constantly, but |
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft is expected to discover its 1,000TH comet this summer. The SOHO spacecraft is a joint effort between NASA and the European Space Agency. It has accounted for approximately one-half of all comet discoveries with computed orbits in the history of astronomy. "Before... |
was launched, only 16 sun grazing comets had been discovered by space observatories. Based on that experience, who could have predicted SOHO would discover more than 60 times that number, and in only nine years," said Dr. Chris St. Cyr. He is senior project scientist for NASA's Living With a |
Star program at the agency's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "This is truly a remarkable achievement!" About 85 percent of the comets SOHO discovered belongs to the Kreutz group of sun grazing comets, so named because their orbits take them very close to Earth's star. The Kreutz sun grazers |
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