anaphylaxis is an acute, life - threatening hypersensitivity reaction, involving the whole body, which is usually brought on by something eaten or injected. the term anaphylaxis is often used only for a severe allergic reaction affecting the whole body. a second term, non - allergic anaphylaxis, may be used to describe identical reactions that are not caused by allergy, but involve other mechanisms in the body. the clinical diagnosis and management are identical, whatever the cause of the anaphylaxis. anaphylaxis is a medical emergency that develops rapidly and can be fatal. a few or all of the following symptoms, often developing in this order, may be experienced : - itching of the lips, tongue and palate, swelling of the lips, tongue and throat - swelling of the eyelids, itchy, watery eyes - generalized itching, flushing, swelling of the skin, and hives ( urticaria ) - increased heart rate - abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea - difficulty in breathing due to throat swelling, wheezing and asthma - a sense of impending doom - collapse, loss of consciousness, weakness and faintness caused by a drop in blood pressure. severe initial symptoms can develop within minutes following an encounter with an allergen, and usually reach peak severity within 3 - 30 minutes. sometimes there can be a second phase reaction, 1 – 8 hours after the initial anaphylaxis. 1. anaphylaxis caused by an allergen after a first encounter with an allergen, for example a bee sting, the allergic person can develop a particular type of antibody known as immunoglobulin e ( ige ). this antibody is unique in that it attaches to cells in the body called mast cells and cells in the bloodstream known as basophils. the next time the individual is stung by a bee, the allergy antibodies attached to the cells react to the bee venom. this binding of the antibodies to cells and basophils with the bee venom allergen causes the release of chemicals, including histamine, into the bloodstream. the systemic allergic reaction that follows is called anaphylaxis. the whole body is involved. the reactions can be mild, and only involve the skin ( hives or welts, redness of the skin and generalized itching ), to severe ( severe shortness of breath and / or unconsciousness with loss of blood pressure )


service learning, a form of civic engagement, is defined as a credit - bearing educational experience that involves students participating in organized service activities that meet identified community needs, then reflecting on the service to gain further understanding of course content, a broader appreciation of the discipline, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility. y. it is experiential education. learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection. service learning improves students ' depth in a field of knowledge, and improves self - directed lifelong learning. it is faith and mission in action. participants in service learning make connections to the mission of the university as it seeks to promote justice in the world. they care for the common good, promote spiritual growth, find common humanity in diversity through personal connections, promote the preferential option for the poor, live catholic social teaching, and develop values. it is citizenship development. ● requires reflection on issues that concern the community ● promotes a commitment to improve conditions in the world ● seeks to increase community / political engagement ● desires reciprocity ● develops leadership it promotes ethical and moral development. “ judging the quality of a college education by asking if students see the connection between what they learn and how they live, looking for the deeper significance, for the moral dilemmas of and the ethical responses. the college succeeds if it ’ s graduates are inspired by a larger vision, using the knowledge that have acquired to form values and advance the common good. ” ( boyer, page 296 )


emphasize that we are talking about the " acquired immune response " antigen - - any agent ( molecule ) that binds to components of the immune response - - lymphocytes and their receptors - - antibodies and the immunogen - - any agent capable of inducing an immune response. this distinction is probably most clear when discussing the situation of a hapten and its carrier. hapten - - is antigenic but not immunogenic unless it is attached to a carrier molecule of some sort which supplies the immunogenicity. requirements for immunogenicity : foreignness - - note the example of the rabbit immunized with its own serum albumin vs. the rabbit immunized with guinea pig serum albumin. how do you prove that the rabbit unable to respond to its own albumin is still immunocompetent? note also that it is possible for self " antigens " to be immunogenic. thus the foreignness requirement can be overcome. when this happens it results in autoimmunity. high molecular weight - - note that these are general categories and that there are some exceptions. how could you make a small " non - immunogenic " molecule " immunogenic "? chemical complexity - - what is meant by the term " homopolymer "? how can you make a non - complex molecule more complex? note the discussion about the immunogenicity of the different levels of protein complexity and its discussion in fig. 3. 1. degradability - - most protein antigens need to be processed and presented by antigen presenting cells. the digested fragments become bonded to " mhc " proteins ( or mhc antigens ) on the surface of the apc and this whole complex then binds to t - cells. carbohydrate antigens are not processed or presented. they can bind to b - cells directly and activate them to produce antibody. other requirements for immunogenicity : - - the number and quality of the genes for the mhc proteins vary in a population of animals and this will affect the ability of the individual animal to develop an immune response. individual animals can also vary with regard to their repertoire of t and b cell antigen receptors. dose and route of the antigen - - too low or too high a dose of antigen can actually induce a state of tolerance or non - responsiveness in the animal. the route of immunization can cause very different responses - - for instance antigens that come in contact with mucous membranes generally induce iga antibodies


a dose of antigen can actually induce a state of tolerance or non - responsiveness in the animal. the route of immunization can cause very different responses - - for instance antigens that come in contact with mucous membranes generally induce iga antibodies, whereas intramuscular and intravenous immunization often induces igg and igm responses. please study fig. 4. 12 on page 51 which describes the kinetics of an antibody response to an one antigen. pay particular attention to the terms which are either in the figure, in the text or which are described in lecture : this figure is intimately related to the clonal selection theory described in figure 1. 1 on page 4. review the structure of the antibody molecule ( fig. 4. 3, pg. 42 ). particularly note where variable regions of both the light chain and the heavy chains come together. the antigen binding site is formed by the association of the vheavy and the vlight domains. since these are protein domains it would follow that the conformation of these domains determines this antigen binding function. thus we should expect that particular amino acids in certain areas of the domain would play a large role in binding to antigen. ( see if you can figure out what they are trying to show you in figures 4. 4, 4. 5 and 4. 6. in these figures they are trying to diagram which amino positions actually bind to the antigen epitope in the binding site ). the section of the antigen which actually binds to the the antibody binding site is called the epitope of the antigen. this is also called the antigenic determinant of the antigen. the antibody binding site is sometimes called the paratope or the idiotope or the idiotype. t - cells and b - cells can recognize and react to different epitopes even if they are on the same study table 3. 1 on page 31. much of this table can be summarize by these simple statements : b - cells recognize and bind to free antigen in solution. b - cell epitopes are exposed and easily accessible. t - cells recognize and bind to antigen that has been processed and presented in the context of mhc on antigen presenting cells. please read this over. note that an immune response can be mounted to just about any kind of molecule. this has important implications for autoimmunity and tolerance. note also that the binding of epitopes to their paratopes is non - covalent. this section starts off with a discussion about toxin and tox


about any kind of molecule. this has important implications for autoimmunity and tolerance. note also that the binding of epitopes to their paratopes is non - covalent. this section starts off with a discussion about toxin and toxoid. what is the difference? then they go on to describe what is meant by cross - reacting antigens. essentially what they are saying here is that there are many examples of totally unrelated antigens that have small parts or epitopes ( or antigenic determinants ) in common. thus an immune response to one such antigen can cause the production of antibodies that react with the second antigen. such antigens can be call heterophile antigens. likewise, the antibodies made to such antigens are often called heterophile antibodies. please note the examples given with regard to : human blood group a antigen and pneumococcal capsule polysaccharide human blood group b antigen and e. coli polysaccharide antigens i ' d also like to mention the relationship between streptococcus pygenes m - protein and human heart muscle antigenic similarity between horse - red - blood cell antigens and epstein - barr virus we ' ll have a short discussion about adjuvants.


examining the relationship between cholesterol and cancer does hdl - c have a protective role? by genna rollins an inverse relationship between cholesterol levels and cancer mortality and incidence has been noted in many studies. however, there has been conflicting evidence and few large, long - term prospective trials to clarify whether the association is causal or due to reverse causality. now, new research that addresses this question has been published and is described in this issue of strategies. a series of studies dating back to the 1980s found an association between low circulating levels of total cholesterol and increased cancer incidence and mortality. this inverse relationship largely had been attributed to reverse causality, meaning that undiagnosed cancer triggered lower serum cholesterol levels. however, there was conflicting evidence, so researchers had not been able to entirely exclude the possibility that low total cholesterol levels in some way led to cancer. for instance, one study found an association between low cholesterol levels and elevated cancer incidence even after excluding the first 6 years of follow - up, while another found a small but persistent association between low cholesterol levels and modestly increased cancer mortality after excluding the first 5 years of follow - up. in addition to the questions about total cholesterol, little was known about any association between high - density lipoprotein cholesterol ( hdl - c ) and cancer risk. however understanding these relationships is important in the context of current cardiovascular disease ( cvd ) prevention strategies, according to demetrius albanes, md, senior investigator at the national cancer institute. “ these findings about total cholesterol from well - conducted studies were troubling in that public health recommendations related to cardiovascular disease have lowering serum cholesterol as a key component, ” he explained. albanes was the senior investigator of a recent study that prospectively examined the cholesterol - cancer association ( cancer epidemiol biomarkers prev 2009 ; 18 : 2814 - 21 ). albanes and his colleagues evaluated the relationship between serum total cholesterol and hdl - c and risk of overall and site - specific cancer among more than 29, 000 participants in the alpha - tocopherol, beta - carotene cancer prevention ( atbc ) study. atbc tested whether α - tocopherol or β - carotene supplementation would reduce the incidence of lung or other cancers in a population of middle - aged male smokers in finland. baseline fasting serum cholesterol levels were available from virtually all participants ( 99.


digitalization of creative content and pervasiveness of internet as a medium for content distribution has an unwelcome spinoff in the form of online piracy where copyrighted content is indiscriminately distributed over the internet leading to immense loses to stakeholders ( movies, brands, musics, publishing, etc. ) online piracy in a nutshell means illegal uploading and / or downloading and misrepresentation of copyrighted material ; movies, brands, music, etc. any form of piracy ( online or street piracy ) of copyrighted material cheats the copyright holders of their rightful and fair compensation for their efforts. films are illegally recorded by camcorder in theaters. the recorded content is replicated and burned into cds and distributed worldwide in a matter of days. alternatively the illegally recorded movies are distributed via internet as downloadable files using streaming sites, p2p services, and cyberlockers or third party file - sharing services. these are offered to be downloaded free and result in immense losses to movie production fraternity. the exclusive legal right to reproduce, publish, sell, or distribute the matter and form of something ( as a literary, musical, or artistic work ) is called copyright. copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. the effects of counterfeiting and piracy on india ’ s entertainment industry published in march 2009 by united states - india business council ( usibc ) and prepared by ernst and young india, claims that as much as rs. 16, 000 crores are lost due to piracy. alongside, as many as 80, 000 jobs are lost directly as a result of theft and piracy, afflicting india ’ s entertainment industry. the president of usibc, ron summers used the opportunity to suggest stronger legal means to tackle piracy. he said, “ we strongly support passage by india of optical disc legislation that will thwart piracy in this important industry. we are pleased to stand shoulder to shoulder with counterparts in india to help protect jobs and revenues that are now being needlessly lost to piracy. ” an effective strategy to combat online piracy should identify and target the following components of online piracy : enforcement efforts together with speedy resolution of copyright infringement cases in the court system to penalise and curtail online piracy. customer awareness programs - it requires a very delicate balance of education, coercion and awareness to bring down piracy. the more popular faci


page element undergoes a value change or some other significant event, dynamically manipulate its brightness for a second or so. responded - one - second mutation when a page element undergoes a value change or some other significant event, dynamically mutate its shape for a second or so. - one - second motion incrementally move an element from point - to - point, or temporarily displace it, to communicate an event has occurred. - blinkieblinkpattern when an element is blinking - highlight highlight elements by rendering them in a consistent, attention - grabbing, format. - lazy registration accumulate bits of information about the user as they interact, with formal registration occurring later on. - direct login authenticate the user with an xmlhttprequest call instead of form - based submission, hashing in the browser for improved security. - host - proof hosting server - side data is stored in encrypted form for increased security, with the browser decrypting it on the fly. - timeout implement a timeout mechanism to track which clients are currently active. - heartbeat have the browser periodically upload heartbeat messages to indicate the application is still loaded in the browser and the user is still active. - autosave autosave un - validated forms to a staging table on the server to avoid users losing their work when their session expires if they get called away from their desk while filling out a long form. - unique urls use a url - based scheme or write distinct urls whenever the input will cause a fresh new browser state, one that does not depend on previous interaction. development practices ( 8 ) - dom inspection use a dom inspection tool to explore the dynamic dom state. - traffic sniffing diagnose problems by sniffing web remoting traffic. - data dictionary visualize dom tags in a table format, with a row for each attribute. ( contributed pattern ) - simulation service develop the browser application against " fake " web services that simulate the actual services used in production. - service test build up automated tests of web services, using http clients to interact with the server as the browser normally would. - system test build automated tests to simulate user behaviour and verify the results.


science fair project encyclopedia a just war describes a war that satisfies a set of moral or legal rules. though in origin a catholic doctrine, francisco de vitoria based his arguments on reason and so put the tradition on a more universal basis. the rules applied may be ethical, religious, or formal ( such as international law ). the rules classically cover the justification for the war ( jus ad bellum ) and the conduct of the participants in the war ( jus in bello ). just war theory has ancient roots. cicero discussed this idea and its applications. augustine of hippo and thomas aquinas later codified a set of rules for a just war, which today still encompass the points commonly debated, with some modifications. in modern language, these rules hold that to be just, a war must meet the following criteria before the use of force : ( jus ad bellum ) - war can only be waged for a just cause, such as self - defense against an armed attack. - war can only be waged under legitimate authority. usually the constitution and the laws of a nation state specify the institutions and personnel authorized to make war decisions. the u. n charter authorizes the security council to make the international community ' s war decisions. citizens at their own will cannot attack another country without the permission of the legitimate authority. conversely, in a democratic nation state, statesmen with legitimate authority will need to convince citizens that their course of action is legal and proper. - war can only be waged with the right intention. correcting a suffered wrong is considered a right intention, while material gain is not. thus a war that would normally be just for all other reasons would be made unjust by a bad intention. right intention requires that democratic statesmen accept the decision of their nations ' courts and electorates on the legitimacy and the justice of their action. - war can only be waged with a reasonable chance of success. it is considered unjust to meaninglessly waste human life and economic resources if defeat is unavoidable. - war must be waged with proportionality in mind. the suffering which existed pre - war should not be overshadowed by the suffering the war may cause. - war can only be waged as a last resort. war is not just until all realistic options which were likely to right the wrong have been pursued. - just war conduct should be governed by the principle of discrimination. the acts of war should be directed towards the inflictors of the wrong, and not towards civilians caught


just until all realistic options which were likely to right the wrong have been pursued. - just war conduct should be governed by the principle of discrimination. the acts of war should be directed towards the inflictors of the wrong, and not towards civilians caught in circumstances they did not create. the prohibited acts include bombing civilian residential areas that include no military target and committing acts of terrorism or reprisal against ordinary civilians. some theologians believe that this rule forbids weapons of mass destruction of any kind, for any reason ( such as the use of an atomic bomb ). - just war conduct should be governed by the principle of proportionality. the force used must be proportional to the wrong endured, and to the possible good that may come. the more disproportional the number of collateral civilian deaths, the more suspect will be the sincerity of a belligerent nation ' s claim to justness of a war it initiated. - torture, of combatants or of non - combatants, is forbidden. - prisoners of war must be treated respectfully. - many throughout history have considered conscription an unjust means, e. g. the condition of proportionality is often misunderstood. a quote from ambrosius may well clarify it. taking an example of a traveler coming to the aid of a fellow traveler who has been attacked by a robber he says " at the same time, the christian should use no more force than necessary to subdue the attacker, for that person too is someone for whom christ died. charity thus justifies the resort to force in defense, not in self but of the other ; yet at the same time it limits the force that can be used against the evildoer to what is necessary to end the evil. " hence minimum force is used here in the ethical sense of minimum harm. it is not in conflict with the powell doctrine of overwhelming force. if overwhelming force in the military sense produces less harm then it can be seen as minimum force in the ethical sense used by just war theorists. just war theorists - cicero ( 106 bc – 43 bc ) - augustine of hippo ( 354 - 430 ) - st. thomas aquinas ( 1225 - 1274 ) - stanislaw of skarbimierz ( 1360 - 1431 ) - francisco de vitoria ( 1492 - 1546 ) - francisco suarez ( 1548 - 1617 ) - hugo grotius ( 1583 - 1645 ) - baron von pufendorf ( 1632 – 1694 ) - emerich de vattel ( 1714 -


welcome to http : / www. handsonuniverse. org / activities / explorations / tactile - moonphases / try this instead : link to alternate page with thumbnails linked to larger images. see project. http : / / analyzer. depaul. edu / see _ project / these images are set for high contrast that suits the needs of individuals who are blind and visually impaired. print then copy the images onto swellform paper, then process through a swellform graphics machine ( http : / / analyzer. depaul. edu / see _ project / bm030507. htm ). the result will be tactile images to sense by touch rather than through sight. see project is funded by nasa ideas. you may notice that some images appear larger or smaller than others. the moon ' s orbit brings it sometimes as close as 55 earth radii, and other times as far as 65 earth radii. what difference does distance make in the apparent size of our moon? take a look at two full moon pictures taken on different dates. these pictures are mosaics constructed from images taken with univ. of chicago yerkes observatory rooftop telescope - south ( meade 8 inch, f / 6. 3, sbig st8 ccd ). number of moon refers to day in cycle. moon images were taken during a variety of cycles. questions or comments? mailto : email @ example. com? subject = project see : moon phases links to jpg files, png files, link to fts files for display / manipulation with hands - on universe image processing software. explorations * hands - on universe * see project


museum in a box - minibeast boxes are currently available each school term for set loan periods of three weeks. museum in a box can be sent to and collected from any educational institution within new south wales. the minibeasts box is a resource designed specifically for early childhood. the topic was chosen to complement children ' s fascination with creatures that they find in their environment. it includes a great variety of ' treasures ' - real insects and spiders embedded in resin, a large model ant, insect finger puppets, handmade silk butterfly wings, a specially created wooden ladybug puzzle, posters and books. - 8 real insects and spiders embedded in clear plastic - a large ant model, great for investigating body parts and as a drawing stimulus ' magnetic minibeasts ', 3 sets of magnetic minibeasts with a magnet board - the ' food game ' ; designed as a simple introduction to food webs - the ' what am i? ' game ; a simple classification activity - 2 silk butterfly wing dress - ups, made especially for the box - a handmade original wooden ladybird puzzle, a sensory delight! - a shiny green dung beetle hand puppet - 12 finger puppets just for fun! - minibeast posters and reference books - teachers notes and a box journal karen player, manager museum outreach


this advice changed my view of the world. not only did i realize that being a teenager with a y - chromosome can ' t be easy either, it also explained why my male classmates were suddenly developing interests in things like special relativity or scanning tunnel microscopes ( nobel prize ' 86 ). it made also sense they were usually very irritated if a girl attempted to join them : all that was just suppressed hormones, the poor guys *. it further revealed a deep connection between general relativity and potatoes that hadn ' t previously occurred to me. most disturbingly however, it labeled general relativity as unsexy, a fact that has bothered me ever since. over the course of years i moreover had to notice that general relativity is a subject of great mystery to many, it ' s a word that has entered the colloquial language as the incomprehensible and ununderstandably complicated result of a genius ' brain. my physics teacher notably told me when getting tired of my questions that there are maybe three people in the world who understand general relativity, thereby repeating ( as i found out later ) a rumor that was more than half a century old ( see wikipedia on the history of general relativity ). special and general relativity is also the topic i receive the most questions about. the twin paradox for example still seems to confuse many people, and only a couple of days ago i was again confronted with a misunderstanding that i ' ve encountered repeatedly, though its origin is unclear to me. the twin paradox is not a paradox, so the explanation seems to go, because it doesn ' t take into account general relativity. that ' s plain wrong. the twin paradox is not a paradox because it doesn ' t take into account acceleration ( unless your spacetime allows closed timelike loops you will have to accelerate one of the twins to get them to meet again which breaks the symmetry ). the problem is that for reasons i don ' t know many people seem to believe special relativity is about constant velocities only, possibly a consequence of bad introductionary textbook. that is not the case. heck, you can describe acceleration even in newtonian mechanics! to make that very clear : - the difference between special and general relativity is that the former is in flat space, whereas the latter is in a ' general ', curved space. - flat space does not mean the metric tensor is diagonal with the entries ( - 1, 1, 1, 1 ), this is just the case in a very specific coordinate system. flat space means the curvature tensor identically


', curved space. - flat space does not mean the metric tensor is diagonal with the entries ( - 1, 1, 1, 1 ), this is just the case in a very specific coordinate system. flat space means the curvature tensor identically vanishes ( which is independent of the coordinate system ). - of course one can describe accelerated observers in special relativity. that leads me now directly to the equivalence principle, the cornerstone of general relativity. googling ' equivalence principle ' it is somehow depressing. wikipedia isn ' t wrong, but too specific ( the equivalence principle doesn ' t have anything to do with standing on the surface of the earth ). the second hit is a nasa website which i find mostly confusing ( saying all objects react equally to gravity doesn ' t tell you anything about the relation of gravitational to inertial mass ). the third and fourth hits get it right, the fifth is wrong ( the locality is a crucial ingredient ). so here it is : - the equivalence principle : locally, the effects of gravitation ( motion in a curved space ) are the same as that of an accelerated observer in flat space. that is what einstein explains in his thought experiment with the elevator. if you are standing in the elevator ( that is just a local patch, theoretically infinitesimally small ) you can ' t tell whether you are pulled down because there is a planet underneath your feet, or because there is a flying pig pulling up the elevator. this website has two very nice mini - movies depicting the situation. if you could make your elevator larger you could however eventually distinguish between flat and curved space because you could measure geodesic deviation, i. e. the curvature. if you think of particles, the equivalence principle means that the inertial mass is equal to the gravitational mass, which has been measured with impressive precision. but the above formulation makes the mathematical consequences much clearer. to formulate your theory, you will have to introduce a tangential bundle on your curved manifold where you can deal with the ' local ' quantities, and you will have to figure out how the cuts in this bundle ( tensors ) will transform under change of coordinates. if you want your theory to be independent of that choice of coordinates it will have to be formulated in tensor equations. next thing to ask is then how to transport tensors from one point to the other, which leads you to a ' covariant ' derivative. the equivalence principle is thus a very central ingredient of general relativity and despite its simplicity the base of a


thing to ask is then how to transport tensors from one point to the other, which leads you to a ' covariant ' derivative. the equivalence principle is thus a very central ingredient of general relativity and despite its simplicity the base of a large mathematical apparatus, it ' s the kind of insight every theoretical physicist dreams of. it gives you a notion of a ' straightest line ' in curved space ( a geodesic ) on which a testparticle moves. this curve most notably is independent of the mass of that particle : heavy and light things fall alike even in general relativity ( well, we already knew this to be the case in the newtonian limit ). for a very nice demonstration see the video on the nasa website. please note that this holds for pointlike testparticles only, it is no loger true for extended or spinning objects, or for objects that significantly disturb the background. the equivalence principle however is not sufficient to give you einstein ' s field equations that describe how space is curved by its matter content. but that ' s a different story. it remains to be said all this is standard textbook knowledge and general relativity is today not usually considered a large mystery. there are definitely more than 3 people who understand it. we have moved on quite a bit since 1905. general relativity is sexy. though i doubt there ' s more than three people in the world who really understand potatoes. * in the more advanced stages of confusion they start referring to physical theories as women. josh, this one ' s for you.


savingseveryone ' s better off when savings are made simple search alphabetically for the term you are looking for. - account balance - this is the amount of money in an account. this could be a credit balance ( money you own ) in a savings account or a debit balance ( money you owe ) in a current account. - aer stands for the annual equivalent rate and shows what the interest rate would be if interest was paid and added to the capital balance each year. the higher the aer, the better the return you will receive. - assets are things that a person or company owns, such as a house or money. - atm stands for automated teller machine. they are known as cash machines and can be found in many public places. they allow you to check your balance and take out money from your current account by using your cash or debit card and entering your pin ( personal identification number ). - this means bankers ’ automated clearing services and it ’ s simply a way to electronically process financial transactions. it is a uk scheme and there are also bacs direct debits and bacs direct credits. - this is the amount of money in an account. a positive balance refers to the amount you have in your savings account. a negative balance refers to the amount you owe, for example an overdraft on a current account. - bank of england base rate - by bank of england base rate we mean the bank of england ’ s official dealing rate ( the official bank rate ) as set by the monetary policy committee. - a beneficiary is an individual that has the right of enjoyment from the funds in the account and this remains with them throughout the period the money is deposited. - a bond is a savings account which will earn interest over a specified period of time. bonds have a defined term ( usually between one to five years ), after which the bond will mature and you can access your money. learn about fixed term bonds - a budget is a financial plan drawn up for an individual or family to work out how much money is coming in and going out each month. a budget would usually cover a period of one month, although it can be longer. you can use our budget planner to work out what you can afford. - this is the amount of money saved or invested in your savings account. - capital balance - this is the amount of money saved or invested in your savings account. - cash isa - an individual savings account ( isa ) is a savings account where you don ’ t pay tax on


upon the ground floor. what he calls the first floor ( or, more commonly, first storey, not forgetting the penultimate e! ) is what we call the second floor, and so on up to the roofwhich is covered not with tin, but with slate, tiles or leads. he does not take a paper ; he takes in a paper. he does not ask his servant, is there any mail for me? but are there any letters for me? for mail, in the american sense, is a word that he seldom uses, save in such compounds as mail - van, mail - train and mail - order. he alwaus speaks of it as the post. the man who brings it is not a letter - carrier but a postman. it is posted, not mailed, at a pillar - box, not at a mail - box. it never includes postal - orders but only post - cards, never money - orders, but only postal - orders or postoffice - orders. 2 the englishman dictates his answers, not to a typewriter, but to a typist ; a typewriter is merely the machine. if he desires the recipient to call him by telephone he doesnt say, phone me at a quarter of eight, but ring me up at a quarter to eight. and when the call comes he says are you there? when he gets home, he doesnt find his wife waiting for him in the parlor or living - room, 3 but in the drawing - room or in her sitting - room, and the tale of domestic disaster that she has to tell does not concern the hired - girl but the scullery - maid. he doesnt bring her a box of candy, but a box of sweets. he doesnt leave a derby hat in the hall, but a bowler. his wife doesnt wear shirtwaists, but blouses. when she buys one she doesnt say charge it, but put it down. when she orders a tailor - made suit, she calls it a costume or a coat - and - skirt. when she wants a spool of thread she asks for a reel of cotton. 4 such things are bought, not in the department - stores, but at the stores, which are substantially the same thing. in these stores calico means a plain cotton cloth ; in the united states it means a printed cotton cloth. things bought on the instalment plan in england are said to be bought on the hire - purchase plan or system ; the instal


. in these stores calico means a plain cotton cloth ; in the united states it means a printed cotton cloth. things bought on the instalment plan in england are said to be bought on the hire - purchase plan or system ; the instalment business itself is the credit - trade. goods ordered by post ( not mail ) on which the dealer pays the cost of transportation are said to be sent, not postpaid or prepaid, but postfree or carriage - paid. an englishman does not wear suspenders, but braces. suspenders are his wifes garters ; his own are sock - suspenders. the family does not seek sustenance in a rare tenderloin but in an underdone undercut or fillet. it does not eat beets, but beet - roots. the wine on the table, if white and german, is not rhine wine, but hock. yellow turnips, in england, are called swedes, and are regarded as fit food for cattle only ; when rations were short there, in 1916, the saturday review made a solemn effort to convince its readers that they were good enough to go upon the table. the english, of late, have learned to eat another vegetable formerly resigned to the lower fauna, to wit, american sweet corn. but they are still having some difficulty about its name, for plain corn in england, as we have seen, means all the grains used by man. some time ago, in the sketch, one c. j. clive, a gentleman farmer of worcestershire, was advertising sweet corn - cobs as the most delicious of all vegetables, and offering to sell them at 6s. 6d. a dozen, carriage - paid. chicory is something else that the english are unfamiliar with ; they always call it endive. by chicken they mean any fowl, however ancient. broilers and friers are never heard of over there. neither are crawfish, which are always crayfish. 5 the classes which, in america, eat breakfast, dinner and supper, have breakfast, dinner and tea in england ; supper always means a meal eaten late in the evening. no englishman ever wears a frock - coat or prince - albert, or lives in a bungalow ; he wears a morning - coat and lives in a villa or cottage. his wifes maid, if she has one, is not ethel, or maggie but robinson, and the nurse - maid who looks after his children is not lizzie but nurse


bungalow ; he wears a morning - coat and lives in a villa or cottage. his wifes maid, if she has one, is not ethel, or maggie but robinson, and the nurse - maid who looks after his children is not lizzie but nurse. 6 so, by the way, is a trained nurse in a hospital, whose full style is not miss jones, but nurse jones or sister. and the hospital itself, if private, is not a hospital at all, but a nursing - home, and its trained nurses are plain nurses, or hospital nurses, or maybe nursing sisters. and the white - clad young gentlemen who make love to them are not studying medicine but walking the hospitals. similarly, an english law student does not study law, but reads the law. if an english boy goes to a public school, it is not a sign that he is getting his education free, but that his father is paying a good round sum for it and is accepted as a gentleman. a public school over there corresponds to our prep school ; it is a place maintained chiefly by endowments, wherein boys of the upper classes are prepared for the universities. what we know as a public school is called a board school or council school in england, not because the pupils are boarded but because it is managed by a school board or county council. the boys in a public ( i. e., private ) school are divided, not into classes, or grades, but into forms, which are numbered, the lowest being the first form. the benches they sit on are also called forms. an english boy whose father is unable to pay for his education goes first into a babies class ( a kindergarten is always a private school ) in a primary or infants school. he moves thence to class one, class two, class three and class four, and then into the junior school or public elementary school, where he enters the first standard. until now boys and girls have sat together in class, but hereafter they are separated, the boy going to a boys school and the girl to a girls. he goes up a standard a year. at the third or fourth standard, for the first time, he is put under a male teacher. he reaches the seventh standard, if he is bright, at the age of 12, and then goes into what is known as the ex - seventh. if he stays at school after this he goes into the ex - ex - seventh. but many leave the public elementary school at the ex - seventh and go into the secondary school, which


london corporation. an englishman writes ltd. after the name of a limited liability ( what we would call incorporated ) bank or trading company, as we write inc. he calls its president its chairman or managing director. its stockholders are its shareholders, and hold shares instead of stock in it. the place wherein such companies are floated and lootedthe wall street of londonis called the city, with a capital c. bankers, stock - jobbers, promoters, directors and other such leaders of its business are called city men. the financial editor of a newspaper is its city editor. government bonds are consols, or stocks, or the funds. 9 to have money in the stocks is to own such bonds. as englishman hasnt a bank - account, but a banking - account. he draws cheques ( not checks ), not on his bank but on the bankers. 10 in england there is a rigid distinction between a broker and a stock - broker. a broker means, not a dealer in securities, as in our wall street broker, but a dealer in second - hand furniture. to have the brokers11 in the house means to be bankrupt, with ones very household goods in the hands of ones creditors. for a city man to swindle a competitor in england is not to do him up or to do him, but to do him in. when any english business man retires he does not actually retire ; he declines business. 12 tariff reform, in england, does not mean a movement toward free trade, but one toward protection. the word government, meaning what we call the administration, is always capitalized and plural, e. g., the government are considering the advisability, etc. vestry, committee, council, ministry and even company are also plural, though sometimes not capitalized. a member of parliament does not run for re - election ; he stands. he does not make a campaign, but a canvass. 13 he does not represent a district, but a division or constituency. he never makes a stumping trip, but always a speaking tour. when he looks after his fences he calls it nursing the constituency. at a political meeting ( they are often rough in england ) the bouncers are called stewards ; the suffragettes used to delight in stabbing them with hatpins. a member of parliament is not afflicted by the numerous bugaboos that menace an american congressman. he knows nothing of lame ducks, pork barrels, gag - rule, junkets, pulls, gerrymanders,


them with hatpins. a member of parliament is not afflicted by the numerous bugaboos that menace an american congressman. he knows nothing of lame ducks, pork barrels, gag - rule, junkets, pulls, gerrymanders, omnibus - bills, snakes, niggers in the woodpile, salt river, crow, bosses, ward heelers, men higher up, silk - stockings, repeaters, steam - rollers, ballot - box stuffers and straight and split tickets ( he always calls them ballots or voting papers ). he has never heard, save as a report of far - off heresies, of direct primaries, the recall, or the initiative and referendum. a roll - call in parliament is a division. a member speaking is said to be up or on his legs. when the house adjourns it is said to rise. a member referring to another in the course of a debate does not say the gentleman from manchester, but the honorable gentleman ( written hon. gentleman ) or, if he happens to be a privy councillor, the right honorable gentleman, or, if he is a member of one of the universities, or a member of one of the learned professions, the honorable and learned gentleman. if the speaker refers to a member of his own party he may say my honorable friend. in the united states a pressman is a man who runs a printing press ; in england he is a newspaper reporter, or, as the english usually say, a journalist. 14 this journalist works, not at space rates, but at lineage rates. a printing press is a machine. an editorial in a newspaper is a leading article or leader. an editorial paragraph is a leaderette, or par. a newspaper clipping is a cutting. a pass to the theatre is an order. the room - clerk of a hotel is the secretary. a real - estate agent or dealer is an estate - agent. the english keep up most of the old distinctions between physicians and surgeons, barristers and solicitors. a barrister is greatly superior to a solicitor. he alone can address the higher courts and the parliamentary committees ; a solicitor must keep to office work and the inferior courts. a man with a grievance goes first to his solicitor, who then instructs or briefs a barrister for him. if that barrister, in the course of the trial, wants certain evidence removed from the record, he moves that it be struck out, not stricken out, as an american lawyer would say. only barristers may become judges


and in general the englishman has a much less keen sense of the points of the compass than the american. he knows the east end and the west end, but he never speaks of the north - east corner of two streets. when an englishman boards a bus, in fact, it is not at a corner at all, but at a crossing, though he is familiar with such forms as hyde park corner. the place he is bound for is not three squares or blocks away, but three turnings. square, in england, always means a small park. a backyard is a garden. a subway is always a tube, or the underground. but an underground passage for pedestrians is a subway. english streets have no sidewalks ; they always call them pavements or foot - paths or simply paths. an automobile is always a motor - car or motor. auto is almost unknown, and with it to auto. so is machine. an englishman always calls russet, yellow or tan shoes brown shoes ( or, if they cover the ankle, boots ). he calls a pocketbook a purse, and gives the name of pocketbook to what we call a memorandum - book. his walking stick is always a stick, never a cane. by cord he means something strong, almost what we call twine ; a thin cord he always calls a string ; his twine is the lightest sort of string. when he applies the adjective homely to a woman he means that she is simple and home - loving, not necessarily that she is plain. he uses dessert, not to indicate the whole last course at dinner, but to designate the fruit only ; the rest is ices or sweets. he uses vest, not in place of waistcoat, but in place of undershirt. similarly, he applies pants, not to his trousers, but to his drawers. an englishman who inhabits bachelor quarters is said to live in chambers ; if he has a flat he calls it a flat, and not an apartment, which term he reserves for a single room. 18flat - houses are often mansions. the janitor or superintendent thereof is a care - taker or porter. the scoundrels who snoop around in search of divorce evidence are not private detectives, but private enquiry agents. the englishman is naturally unfamiliar with baseball, and in consequence his language is bare of the countless phrases and metaphors that it has supplied to american. many of these phrases and metaphors are in daily use among us, for example, fan, rooter, blea


naturally unfamiliar with baseball, and in consequence his language is bare of the countless phrases and metaphors that it has supplied to american. many of these phrases and metaphors are in daily use among us, for example, fan, rooter, bleachers, batting - average, double - header, grand - stand - play, charley - horse, pennant - winner, gate - money, busher, minor - leaguer, glass - arm, to strike out, to foul, to be shut out, to play ball, on the bench, on to his curves and three strikes and out. the national game of draw - poker has also greatly enriched american with terms that are either quite unknown to the englishman, or known to him only as somewhat dubious americanisms, among them, cold - deck, kitty, full - house, jack - pot, four - flusher, ace - high, pot, penny - ante, divvy, a card up his sleeve, three - of - a - kind, to ante up, to stand pat, to call ( a bluff ), to pony up, to hold out, to cash in, to go it one better, to chip in and for keeps. but the englishman uses many more racing terms and metaphors than we do and he has got a good many phrases from other games, particularly cricket. the word cricket itself has a definite figurative meaning. it indicates, in general, good sports - manship. to take unfair advantage of an opponent is not cricket. the sport of boating, so popular on the thames, has also given colloquial english some familiar terms, almost unknown in the united states, e. g., punt and weir. contrariwise, pungy, batteau and scow are unheard of in england, and canoe is not long emerged from the estate of an americanism. 19 the game known as ten - pins in america is called nine - pins in england, and once had that name over here. the puritans forbade it, and its devotees changed its name in order to evade the prohibition. 20 finally, there is soccer, a form of football that is still relatively little known in the united states. what we call simply football is rugby or rugger to the englishman. the word soccer is derived from association ; the rules of the game were established by the london football association. soccer is one of the relatively few english experiments in portmanteau words. another is to be found in bakerloo, the name


. the word soccer is derived from association ; the rules of the game were established by the london football association. soccer is one of the relatively few english experiments in portmanteau words. another is to be found in bakerloo, the name of one of the london underground lines, from baker - street and waterloo, its termini. but though the english talk of racing, football, cricket and golf a great deal, they have developed nothing comparable to the sporting argot used by all american sporting reporters. when, during the war, various american soldier nines played baseball in england, some of the english newspapers employed visiting american reporters to report the games, and the resultant emission of wild and woolly technicalities interested english readers much more than the games themselves. an english correspondent, greatly excited, sent me the following report from the times of may 26, 1919 : the pastime was featured by the heavy stick work of wallace, former harvard university man, who slammed out a three - bagger and a clean home - run in three trys with the willow. the brand of twirling for both teams was exceptionally good, and the fielding not at all bad considering the chances the a. e. f. boys have had to practise since crossing the deep to join the bigger game over here. for the first three frames both teams hung tough and allowed no scoring, and both shawenecy and thomas appeared to have everything necessary, with shawenecy holding the edge. fourth innings netted a brace for the home lads. ives clouted one to centre and richards let the sphere slip ; eagle watched four bad ones go by, and, after ives was tagged trying to steal home, was pushed over for the first tally when williams leaned against one for two sacks. shawenecy went bad here and gave storey a free ticket, and wallace came through with a three station bingle that shoved williams and storey across. brown ended the agony by missing three. in the sixth, cambridge made an effort to close the gap when shawenecy kissed the leather for a bingle. richards picked a double, and myers followed up with a safe swat which brought the count within one. looked good for another after myers swiped the second stop, but thorngate and hart both carved the breeze. oxford wasnt going to let them feel too good about it though, so they slipped up a few more to convince the crowd it wasnt visitors day. eagle went to first on myers error. gammell took a stroll, and both were


such american fer natur and are born, live, die and go to heaven without the aid of either the uplift or the chautauqua. in music the english cling to an archaic and unintelligible nomenclature, long since abandoned in america. thus they call a double whole note a breve, a whole note a semibreve, a half note a minim, a quarter note a crotchet, an eighth note a quaver, a sixteenth note a semi - quaver, a thirty - second note a demisemiquaver, and a sixty - fourth note a hemidemisemiquaver, or semidemisemiquaver. if, by any chance, an english musician should write a one - hundred - and - twenty - eighth note he probably wouldnt know what to call it. this clumsy terminology goes back to the days of plain chant, with its longa, brevis, semi - brevis, minima and semiminima. the french and italians cling to a system almost as confusing, but the germans use ganze, halbe, viertel, achtel, etc. i have been unable to discover the beginning of the american system, but it would seem to be borrowed from the german. since the earliest times a great many of the music teachers in the united states have been germans, and some of the rest have had german training. in the same way the english hold fast ( though with a gradual slacking of the grip of late ) to a clumsy and inaccurate method of designating the sizes of printers types. in america the simple point system makes the business easy ; a line of 14 - point type occupies exactly the vertical space of two lines of 7 - point. but the english still indicate differences in size by such arbitrary and confusing names as brilliant, diamond, small pearl, pearl, ruby, ruby - nonpareil, nonpareil, minion - nonpareil, emerald, minion, brevier, bourgeois, long primer, small pica, pica, english, great primer and double pica. they also cling to a fossil system of numerals in stating ages. thus, an englishman will say that he is seven - and - forty, not that he is forty - seven. this is probably a direct survival, preserved by more than a thousand years of english conservatism, of the anglo - saxon seofan - and - feowertig. he will also say that he weighs


that he is forty - seven. this is probably a direct survival, preserved by more than a thousand years of english conservatism, of the anglo - saxon seofan - and - feowertig. he will also say that he weighs eleven stone instead of 154 pounds. a stone is 14 pounds, and it is always used in stating the heft of a man. he employs such designations of time as fortnight and twelve - month a great deal more than we do, and has certain special terms of which we know nothing, for example, quarter - day, bank - holiday, long - vacation, lady day and michaelmas. per contra, he knows nothing whatever of our thanksgiving, arbor, labor and decoration days or of legal holidays, or of yom kippur. finally, he always says a quarter to nine, not a quarter of nine. if it is 8. 35 he usually says that it is five - and - twenty minutes to nine. but he never inverts any other number ; it is twenty - three minutes to and twenty - seven minutes past. he rarely says fifteen minutes to ; nearly always he uses quarter to. he never says a quarter hour or a half hour ; he says a quarter of an hour and half an hour. in english usage, to proceed, the word directly is always used to signify immediately ; in american a contingency gets into it, and it may mean no more than soon. in england quite means completely, wholly, entirely, altogether, to the utmost extent, nothing short of, in the fullest sense, positively, absolutely ; in america it is conditional, and means only nearly, approximately, substantially, as in he sings quite well. an englishman does not say i will pay you up for an injury, but i will pay you back. he doesnt look up a definition in a dictionary ; he looks it out. he doesnt say, being ill, i am getting on well, but i am going on well. he doesnt use the american different from or different than ; he uses different to. he never adds the pronoun in such locutions as it hurts me, but says simply, it hurts. he never catches up with you on the street ; he catches you up. he never says are you through? but have you finished? he never uses to notify as a transitive verb ; an official act may be notified, but not a person. he never uses gotten as the perfect participle of get ; he


, told me that the two things which most impeded her first communications with untraveled americans, even above the gross differences between english and american pronunciation and intonation, were the complete absence of the general utility adjective jolly from the american vocabulary, and the puzzling omnipresence and versatility of the verb to fix. in english colloquial usage jolly means almost anything ; it intensifies all other adjectives, even including miserable and homesick. an englishman is jolly bored, jolly hungry or jolly well tired ; his wife is jolly sensible ; his dog is jolly keen ; the prices he pays for things are jolly dear ( never steep or stiff or high : all americanisms ). but he has no noun to match the american proposition, meaning proposal, business, affair, case, consideration, plan, theory, solution and what not : only the german zug can be ranged beside it. 26 and he has no verb in such wide practise as to fix. in his speech it means only to make fast or to determine. in american it may mean to repair, as in the plumber fixed the pipe ; to dress, as in mary fixed her hair ; to prepare, as in the cook is fixing the gravy ; to bribe, as in the judge was fixed ; to settle, as in the quarrel was fixed up ; to heal, as in the doctor fixed his boil ; to finish, as in murphy fixed sweeney in the third round ; to be well - to - do, as in john is well - fixed ; to arrange, as in i fixed up the quarrel ; to be drunk, as in the whiskey fixed him ; to punish, as in ill fix him ; and to correct, as in he fixed my bad latin. moreover, it is used in all its english senses. an englishman never goes to a dentist to have his teeth fixed. he does not fix the fire ; he makes it up, or mends it. he is never well - fixed, either in money or by liquor. 27 the american use of to run is also unfamiliar to englishmen. they never run can hotel, or a railroad ; they always keep it or manage it. the english use quite a great deal more than we do, and, as we have seen, in a different sense. quite rich, in american, means tolerably rich, richer than most ; quite so, in english, is identical in meaning with exactly so. in american just is almost equivalent to the english quite, as in


as in to feel good, to be treated good, to sleep good, but also as a reinforcement to other adjectives and adverbs as in i hit him good and hard and i am good and tired. of late some has come into wide use as an adjective - adverb of all work, indicating special excellence or high degree, as in some girl, some sick, going some, etc. it is still below the salt, but threatens to reach a more respectable position. one encounters it in the newspapers constantly and in the congressional record, and not long ago a writer in the atlantic monthly29 hymned it ecstatically as some worda true super - word, in fact and argued that it could be used in a sense for which there is absolutely no synonym in the dictionary. it was used by the prim emily dickinson forty or more years ago. 30 it will concern us again in chapter ix. it would be easy to pile up words and phrases that are used in both america and england, but with different meanings. i have already alluded to tariff - reform. open - shop is another. it means, in england, what an american union man ( english : trades - unionist ) calls a closed - shop. and closed - shop, in england, means what an american calls an open - shop! finally, there is the verb - phrase, to carry on. in the united states it means to make a great pother ; in england it means to persevere. but the record must have an end. note 5. the verb to crawfish, of course, is also unknown in england. [ back ] note 6. the differences between the nursery vocabulary in english and american deserve investigation, but are beyond the jurisdiction of a celibate inquirer. i have been told by an englishman that english babies do not say choo - choo to designate a railroad train, but puff - puff. [ back ] note 7. this title has been borrowed by some of the american universities, e. g., chancellor day of syracuse. but the usual title remains president. on the continent it is rector. [ back ] note 8. however, the street - cleaner is beginning to appear in some of the english cities. he is commonly employed by the urban sanitary authority, and so the letters u. s. a. appear upon his carta shock to visiting americans. the old - time crossing - sweeper was a free lance. he had his pitch at a crossing, and kept it clean ;


, 2nd ed. ( art. apartment house ), the term flat is usually in the united states restricted to apartments in houses having no elevator or hall service. in new york such apartments are commonly called walk - up - apartments or walk - ups. even with the qualification, apartment is felt to be better than flat. [ back ] note 19. canoeing was introduced into england by john macgregor in 1866, and there is now a royal canoe club. in america the canoe has been familiar from the earliest times, and in mme. sarah kemble knights diary ( 1704 ) there is much mention of cannoos. the word itself is from an indian dialect, probably the haitian, and came into american through the spanish, in which it survives as canoa. [ back ] note 20. an act was passed to prohibit playing nine - pins ; as soon as the law was put in force, it was notified everywhere, ten - pins played here. capt. marryat : diary in america, vol. iii, p. 195. [ back ] note 21. i am informed by the rev. w. g. polack, of evansville, ind., that certain lutherans in the united states, following german usage, employ vicar to designate a theological student, not yet ordained, who is doing temporary supply - work in a mission congregation. the verb, to vicar, means to occupy such a pulpit. mr. polack is occupied with an interesting inquiry into the american ecclesiastical vocabulary. he believes that mission - festival, common in the middle west, comes from the german missionsfest. so with agenda, used by some of the lutheran churches to designate their book of common prayer. he says that it is not the english term, but the german agende. he notes the use of services to indicate a single service ( this is common throughout the united states ) ; the decay of reverend to revernor, reverner, revenor or revener ; the use of confirmand to designate a candidate for confirmation ; the use of to announce to indicate notifying a pastor of an intention to partake of communion ( ger. sich anmelden ) ; and the use of confessional - address ( beichtrede. ) all these terms are used by english - speaking lutherans. [ back ] note 22. the term chapel, says joyce, in english as we speak it in ireland, has so ingrained itself in my mind that to this hour the word instinctively springs to my lips when i


i think a good way to start this blog post series will be to explain some appliance terminology and what it all means. a short encyclopedia, if you will. this is not necessarily all in alphabetical order. i might get a little technical, but i ’ ll try to apply the k. i. s. s. rule ( keep it simple, stupid ) wherever i can. compressor - based system : an appliance that uses a compressor, or pump, with a closed refrigeration system, and uses a refrigerant to cool a particular space. this could be a refrigerator, wine cooler ( some ), kegerator or deep freezer. common refrigerants include r134a and r410a, among others. thermoelectric / te : an appliance that uses electronics / electricity to cool a small space without the use of refrigerants. these typically consist of a cooling node ( peltier effect ) and fans to distribute the air inside the cabinet and dissipate the heat to the outside. they are, for the most part, efficient, although there are a few drawbacks, especially if you are trying to build it into a cabinet. i ’ ll delve into that in a later post, along with what exactly a peltier unit is in simple terms. led : refers to a light emitting diode, which is a commonly used electronic component. all diodes allow electricity to flow in one direction only. think of it as a one way street, except this one glows when the electric flows. they are used for operation and mode indicators, and also for general lighting purposes. sometimes they use different colors and are commonly used to highlight and display wines in wine coolers. cooling fans : this will mostly apply to thermoelectric, or te, wine coolers. they do different jobs : some distribute the cooled air inside the cabinet or at the evaporator coil on compressor - based units, and others get rid of the hot air at the back of the cabinet or from the condenser coils on compressor - based units. most of them consist of the same small dc - powered fans you find in your desktop computer. portable dishwasher : this isn ’ t the one your mom used to roll around the kitchen and store in a corner. these actually are small enough to sit on a countertop. these are really simple to install. most come with two hoses, a drain and supply, and


after more than four years in space, restlessly searching for planets orbiting other stars, nasa ’ s kepler space telescope may have met its demise. the kepler project is typically described in terms of raw numbers. as of the last official announcement, it had found 2, 740 likely new planets – including 1, 200 neptune - size planets, 350 earth - size planets, and at least 4 planets that orbit within the “ habitable zone ” where liquid water can exist. all of those numbers are sure to increase, as more observations are confirmed and as mission scientists continue to dig through a trove of archived data. but spirit, not statistics, is what really defines kepler. it is a modern version of the expedition of lewis and clark, or the great voyages of vasco da gama and ferdinand magellan. it is a headlong plunge into the unknown cosmic territory around us. extrapolating from kepler ’ s results, astronomers now estimate there are at least 17 billion earth - size planets in our galaxy. that is another number, yes, but one with a powerful message : another age of exploration awaits, one that may very well lead to the discovery that humanity is not alone in the universe. read more dark energy is the single most important element in the universe. it influenced how the cosmos was born, how it is evolving today, and how it all will end trillions of years in the future. right now, this energy is causing the universe to expand faster and faster ; in the far future, the expansion may become so rapid that space itself will be torn apart. and yet we know next to nothing about what dark energy is. we don ’ t even have a proper name for it — the very term “ dark energy ” is little more than a scientific shrug. small wonder, then, that our recent discover magazine cover story about the mystery of dark energy ( confronting the dark by zeeya merali ) produced such an outpouring of curious reader mail. in a previous post, i addressed some of the key cosmological questions submitted by our readers. but really, that first set of responses only scratched the surface. for every letter writer who asked broadly about the nature of the big bang, someone else who wanted to know more about dark energy itself. so as promised, here is a second installment addressing how scientists came to realize that energy, not matter, rules the universe. read more fifteen years ago, a small cabal of researchers took some of the most firmly held notions about how the universe works and turned them on their head


a second installment addressing how scientists came to realize that energy, not matter, rules the universe. read more fifteen years ago, a small cabal of researchers took some of the most firmly held notions about how the universe works and turned them on their head. until then, everyone was sure that the expanding universe was born in an explosive big bang and had been slowing down ever since, dragged by the gravitational pull of untold billions of galaxies. but in fact the expansion is speeding up. everyone was sure that matter was what dominated the overall behavior of the universe. but in fact it seems that “ dark energy, ” not matter, is running the show. whoops. the may cover story in discover magazine ( confronting the dark by zeeya merali ) chronicles that game - changing discovery, and lays out the latest thinking about what dark energy is and how it affects the fate of the universe. as soon as the article was published, discover ’ s inbox began to fill with letters from curious readers wanting to know more. here i will address sweeping, big - picture questions about cosmology. i ’ ll consider more specific queries about dark energy and dark matter in a following post. read more last thursday, a team of scientists working with nasa ’ s kepler space telescope described three intriguing new planets circling distant stars. they are just slightly larger than earth and orbit in the “ habitable zone ” where temperatures could be right for liquid water and for life. the names of these amazing worlds? kepler 62f, kepler 62e, and kepler 69c. not to be confused with other much - celebrated recent discoveries like kepler 64b, kepler 22b, or gliese 581g. alan stern, a former nasa associate administrator and founder of a startup called uwingu, thinks these newfound worlds should have real names, and that the general public should be able to have a say. the international astronomical union – the organization the organization that officially validates astronomical nomenclature – strongly objects to uwingu ’ s approach, and has effectively thwarted it. after the iau ’ s blistering april 12 press release attacking uwingu, submissions to uwingu ’ s fee - based online planetary naming database plummeted. stern calls it a “ torpedo attack. ” read more or perhaps you would like to name it “ tatooine ” or “ wrigley ’ s pleasure planet ”? if so, you are in luck – all you need to pay a small fee and keep voting. a startup company called uwingu


template for a symposium on how to help scientists do a better job communicating with the public. or maybe i just thought it would be a lot of fun. read more five - sixths of the universe is missing. that statement feels strange to write, and i ’ m sure it feels pretty strange to read as well. given the vastness of the cosmos – and given how little of it humans have explored – how can we know for sure that anything is out of place? the claim sounds positively arrogant, if not delusional. and yet scientists have assembled a nearly airtight case that the majority of the matter in the universe consists dark matter, a substance which is both intrinsically invisible and fundamentally different in composition than the familiar atoms that make up stars and planets. in the face of staggering difficulties, researchers like samuel ting of mit are even making progress in figuring out what dark matter is, as evidence by teasing headlines from last week. time to come to terms, then, with the new reality about our place in the universe. here are seven key things every informed citizen of the cosmos should know. read more what are those strange particles raining down on our planet from the depths of outer space? physicists have been wrestling with that question for a century now, but the past couple months have seen remarkable progress toward a meaningful answer. it ’ s taken so long because researchers have had to overcome a lot of obstacles along the way. even the name of the thing they are studying is confusing. the particles are formally known as cosmic rays even though they are not rays at all, but fragments of atoms that are moving at extremely high velocities. and those fragments are extremely difficult to study, because cosmic rays do not move in straight lines. they are electrically charged, so they bend to the will of the magnetic fields that snake almost everywhere through deep space. by the time a particular cosmic ray reaches earth, its path may have nothing to do with the place where it started out. looking at cosmic rays is like pointing a telescope into a set of funhouse mirrors. read more by now you ’ ve probably heard about the amazing new cosmic snapshot from the european space agency ’ s planck spacecraft. it is one of those scientific achievements so mind - boggling that you have to spend a bit of time with it to truly appreciate what you are seeing. this is relic radiation from when the universe was 370, 000 years old, still all aglow from the big bang. the radiation has been traveling 13. 8 billion years since then, across ever -


with it to truly appreciate what you are seeing. this is relic radiation from when the universe was 370, 000 years old, still all aglow from the big bang. the radiation has been traveling 13. 8 billion years since then, across ever - expanding stretches of space, before landing in planck ’ s detectors. then it took a tremendous feat of imagination and insight to translate that noisy signal into a comprehensible map of what the universe looked like in its infancy. so let ’ s step back for a moment, look at how this image came to be, and consider some of the more surprising details hidden within it. read more sounds like a trick question, doesn ’ t it? sort of like “ who is buried in grant ’ s tomb? ” and yet the answer keeps confounding a lot of smart people. ( discover even published a whole feature on the question. ) now the issue keeps coming up again in the latest images from the curiosity rover. blue skies on mars? can that be right? which of these images shows what mars really looks like? the very first viking images from the surface of mars in july, 1976 showed blue skies, largely because that ’ s what people were expecting and so that is how the imaging experts initially set the color balance. they quickly realized their error and reissued the image with tangerine skies.


by creating a mathematical model of the way overconfident individuals compete against ordinary individuals, they show that there is a clear advantage in overconfidence. in fact, if the potential reward is at least twice as great as the cost of competing, then overconfidence is the best strategy. in fact, overconfidence is actually advantageous on average, because it boosts ambition, resolve, morale, and persistence. in other words, overconfidence is the best way to maximize benefits over costs when risks are uncertain. but it is johnson and fowler ' s predictions that are most worrying. their model implies that optimal overconfidence increases with the magnitude of uncertainty. so the greater the risk, the more overconfident individuals should become. wednesday, september 30, 2009 tuesday, september 29, 2009 monday, september 28, 2009 elsewhere, jonah lehrer profiles clay in outside magazine, discussing the advantages asperger ' s gives clay, including the ability to focus on surfing for 8 - 9 hours at a time. saturday, september 26, 2009 friday, september 25, 2009 the assumptions that underpin these theories are largely inscrutable to those without a ph. d. in economics. indeed, the debate is full of terms that mean one thing to the uninitiated and quite another to economists. consider “ rationality. ” webster ’ s dictionary defines it as “ reasonableness. ” by contrast, for economists, a “ rational individual ” is not merely reasonable ; he or she is someone who behaves in accordance with a mathematical model of individual decision - making that economists have agreed to call “ rational. ” the centrepiece of this standard of rationality, the so - called “ rational expectations hypothesis ”, presumes that economists can model exactly how rational individuals comprehend the future. in a bit of magical thinking, it supposes that each of the many models devised by economists provides the “ true ” account of how market outcomes, such as asset prices, will unfold over time. the economics literature is full of different models, each one assuming that it adequately captures how all rational market participants make decisions. although the free - market chicago school, neo - keynesianism, and behavioural finance are quite different in other respects, each assumes the same reh - based standard of rationality. in other words, reh - based models ignore markets ’ very raison d ’ etre : no one, as friedrich hayek pointed out, can have access to the “ totality ” of


same reh - based standard of rationality. in other words, reh - based models ignore markets ’ very raison d ’ etre : no one, as friedrich hayek pointed out, can have access to the “ totality ” of knowledge and information dispersed throughout the economy. similarly, as john maynard keynes and karl popper showed, we cannot rationally predict the future course of our knowledge. today ’ s models of rational decision - making ignore these well - known arguments. thursday, september 24, 2009 wednesday, september 23, 2009 people who succumb to short - term impulses often do awful things, such as driving drunk or beating up their children. they would better off if their long - term selves had control, and could block and distract these short - term choices. but often the situation is flipped, and it ’ s the long - term self that ’ s misguided. it can become committed to belief systems that have immoral consequences. terrorism and genocide, for instance, are typically deliberate choices, not acts of passion ; it ’ s the long - term self that ’ s the guilty one. indeed, people often have to force themselves to commit terrible acts ; they have to work to defy the natural and legitimate moral impulses of their short - term selves. tuesday, september 22, 2009 monday, september 21, 2009 sunday, september 20, 2009 friday, september 18, 2009 animals share functional parallels with human conscious metacognition - - that is, they may share humans ' ability to reflect upon, monitor or regulate their states of mind. smith explains that metacognition is a sophisticated human capacity linked to hierarchical structure in the mind ( because the metacognitive executive control processes oversee lower - level cognition ), to self - awareness ( because uncertainty and doubt feel so personal and subjective ) and to declarative consciousness ( because humans are conscious of their states of knowing and can declare them to others ). therefore, smith says, " it is a crucial goal of comparative psychology to establish firmly whether animals share humans ' metacognitive capacity. if they do, it could bear on their consciousness and self - awareness, too. " in fact, he concludes, " metacognition rivals language and tool use in its potential to establish important continuities or discontinuities between human and animal minds. " related : temple grandin on similarities between animals and austistic savants with regard to " priviledged " access to low level sensory information.


to establish important continuities or discontinuities between human and animal minds. " related : temple grandin on similarities between animals and austistic savants with regard to " priviledged " access to low level sensory information. thursday, september 17, 2009 " the politically charged texas board of education has kicked off hearings today on whether school textbooks should have a more conservative slant. things began auspiciously when one member of the public got up to announce that she is a - - david kurtz, talking points memo wednesday, september 16, 2009 from the nyt : “ it is the nuclear reactor for all his works, ” shamdasani said, noting that jung ’ s more well - known concepts — including his belief that humanity shares a pool of ancient wisdom that he called the collective unconscious and the thought that personalities have both male and female components ( animus and anima ) — have their roots in the red book. creating the book also led jung to reformulate how he worked with clients, as evidenced by an entry shamdasani found in a self - published book written by a former client, in which she recalls jung ’ s advice for processing what went on in the deeper and sometimes frightening parts of her mind. read the rest of the article. it is fascinating reading all the way through. “ i should advise you to put it all down as beautifully as you can — in some beautifully bound book, ” jung instructed. “ it will seem as if you were making the visions banal — but then you need to do that — then you are freed from the power of them.... then when these things are in some precious book you can go to the book & turn over the pages & for you it will be your church — your cathedral — the silent places of your spirit where you will find renewal. if anyone tells you that it is morbid or neurotic and you listen to them — then you will lose your soul — for in that book is your soul. ” the book itself looks absolutely gorgeous. tuesday, september 15, 2009 in the case of time - space synaesthesia, a very visual experience can be triggered by thinking about time. " i thought everyone thought like i did, says holly branigan, also a scientist at edinburgh university, and someone with time - space synaesthesia. " i found out when i attended a talk in the department that julia was giving. she said that some synaesthetes can see time. and i thought,


at edinburgh university, and someone with time - space synaesthesia. " i found out when i attended a talk in the department that julia was giving. she said that some synaesthetes can see time. and i thought, ' oh my god, that means i ' ve got synaesthesia '. " so what exactly does she see? " for me it ' s a bit like a running track, " she says. " the track is organised around the academic year. the short ends are the summer and christmas holidays - the summer holiday is slightly longer. " it ' s as if i ' m in the centre and i ' m turning around slowly as the year goes by. if i think ahead to the future, my perspective will shift. " monday, september 14, 2009 friday, september 11, 2009 i ' m reading several books simultaneously these days, including prep work for the cfa exam this december, rereading neal stephenson ' s baroque cycle for fun, working my way through everything don norman has published on design theory, and now, tyler cowen ' s book, create your own economy, which contains more about autism and web 2. 0 material than one might expect from the title. nonetheless, it ' s packed with engaging tidbits : i ' d love to have a collapsible caravaggio to carry around to parties, for instance. he also points the reader toward a really good 2007 blog post by media lab professor and technology review blogger ed boyden, who heavily annotates and organizes his life. boyden ' s post details 10 + 2 recommendations for effectively organizing your life : - synthesize new ideas constantly - learn how to learn ( rapidly ) - work backward from your goal. or else you may never get there - always have a long - term plan. even if you change it every day - make contingency maps - make your mistakes quickly - as you develop skills, write up best - practices protocols - document everything obsessively - keep it simple - use logarithmic time planning. use greater detail for the near future - compose conversation summaries. photograph and store for easy retrieval wednesday, september 09, 2009 listen carefully, my son : bombs were falling over mexico city but no one even noticed. the air carried poison through the streets and open windows. you ' d just finished eating and were watching cartoons on tv. i was reading in the bedroom next door when i realized we were going to die. despite the dizziness


no one even noticed. the air carried poison through the streets and open windows. you ' d just finished eating and were watching cartoons on tv. i was reading in the bedroom next door when i realized we were going to die. despite the dizziness and nausea i dragged myself to the kitchen and found you on the floor. we hugged. you asked what was happening and i didn ’ t tell you we were on death ’ s program but instead that we were going on a journey, one more, together, and that you shouldn ’ t be afraid. when it left, death didn ’ t even close our eyes. what are we? you asked a week or year later, ants, bees, wrong numbers in the big rotten soup of chance? we ’ re human beings, my son, almost birds, public heroes and secrets. tuesday, september 08, 2009 eric heller at harvard university and various pals have studied rogue waves for some time. today they show how microwaves propagating through a forest of scatterers which the team call a " quasi - two - dimensional resonator with randomly distributed scatterers, each mimicking an r ^ −2 repulsive potential ". the results are fascinating because they clearly show the rogue waves ( or hot spots in microwave terms ) appearing more often than conventional thinking ( rayleigh ' s law for the wave height distribution ) allows. in fact the team says the probability in their set up of a rogue wave appearing is 15 orders of magnitude greater than rayleigh statistics predict. they attribute the difference to ray refraction rather than to resonance effects as conventional thinking might suppose. mouse retinas contain cells that detect approaching objects, possibly providing an advance warning system. while investigating mouse eye cells, botond roska at the friedrich miescher institute for biomedical research in basel, switzerland, and colleagues noticed that one type behaved unusually in response to movement. further analysis of this one kind of retinal cell revealed that it fired only when an object approached. the researchers suspect that people have similar cells, which alert us to approaching objects faster than our brain cells can. " it ' s an alarm system that ' s as close to the front end of the organism as possible, " says roska. " if you left it to the brain to respond, it might be too late. " it could also be that these cells form part of the signal processing apparatus that enhances visual acuity. monday, september 07, 2009 sharing the top floor with oliver and his sister were two different lunatics :


, it might be too late. " it could also be that these cells form part of the signal processing apparatus that enhances visual acuity. monday, september 07, 2009 sharing the top floor with oliver and his sister were two different lunatics : a rotund, elderly german, edward lindner – " helen and i were convinced he was a nazi in hiding, " reveals oliver who never went to the bathroom – and in the back room was freddie feldman, midget cabalist. " freddie tried to kill us on a daily basis, he would steal our empty wine bottles from the trash – of which there were many as we liked to entertain – and he would plant them one by one, lying on their sides on various steps, hoping that helen and i on our many trips to the bathroom would step on an empty bottle and it would roll out from under our feet, causing us to plunge down the stairs and break our necks, " oliver explains. " it was quite amazing that freddie was able to plant his booby traps without making a sound, because the stairs creaked horribly. " so how did he do it? " first, he would remove his clothes. then he would walk up the stairs very carefully on tiptoe, balancing on the very outer edge of each step with his whole body pressed against the wall, then he ' d walk up the wall like a fly would. to see freddie – naked, walking up the wall – was truly to witness the most dread and awe - inspiring of acts, " replies oliver. i wonder what it would take to bring this show to chicago. i ' d buy box seats. saturday, september 05, 2009 friday, september 04, 2009 thursday, september 03, 2009 this is the second time america has been up against the zero lower bound, the previous occasion being the great depression. and it was precisely the observation that there ’ s a lower bound to interest rates that led keynes to advocate higher government spending : when monetary policy is ineffective and the private sector can ’ t be persuaded to spend more, the public sector must take its place in supporting the economy. fiscal stimulus is the keynesian answer to the kind of depression - type economic situation we ’ re currently in. brad delong comments : such keynesian thinking underlies the obama administration ’ s economic policies — and the freshwater economists are furious. for 25 or so years they tolerated the fed ’ s efforts to manage the economy, but a full - blown keynesian resurgence was something entirely different. back in 1980, lucas, of the


’ s economic policies — and the freshwater economists are furious. for 25 or so years they tolerated the fed ’ s efforts to manage the economy, but a full - blown keynesian resurgence was something entirely different. back in 1980, lucas, of the university of chicago, wrote that keynesian economics was so ludicrous that “ at research seminars, people don ’ t take keynesian theorizing seriously anymore ; the audience starts to whisper and giggle to one another. ” admitting that keynes was largely right, after all, would be too humiliating a comedown. and so chicago ’ s cochrane, outraged at the idea that government spending could mitigate the latest recession, declared : “ it ’ s not part of what anybody has taught graduate students since the 1960s. they [ keynesian ideas ] are fairy tales that have been proved false. it is very comforting in times of stress to go back to the fairy tales we heard as children, but it doesn ’ t make them less false. ” ( it ’ s a mark of how deep the division between saltwater and freshwater runs that cochrane doesn ’ t believe that “ anybody ” teaches ideas that are, in fact, taught in places like princeton, m. i. t. and harvard. ) meanwhile, saltwater economists... were shocked to realize that freshwater economists hadn ’ t been listening.... freshwater economists [ like lucas, prescott, fama, cochrane, mulligan, zingales, boldrin, etc. ] who inveighed against the stimulus didn ’ t sound like scholars who had weighed keynesian arguments and found them wanting. rather, they sounded like people who... were resurrecting pre - 1930 fallacies in the belief that they were saying something new and profound. and it wasn ’ t just keynes whose ideas seemed to have been forgotten. as brad delong of the university of california, berkeley, has pointed out in his laments about the chicago school ’ s “ intellectual collapse, ” the school ’ s current stance amounts to a wholesale rejection of milton friedman ’ s ideas as well. friedman believed that fed policy rather than changes in government spending should be used to stabilize the economy, but he never asserted that an increase in government spending cannot, under any circumstances, increase employment. in fact, rereading friedman ’ s 1970 summary of his ideas, “ a theoretical framework for monetary analysis, ” what ’ s striking is how keynesian it seems. i remember october of 1987. we - - that is me, andrei shlei


fact, rereading friedman ’ s 1970 summary of his ideas, “ a theoretical framework for monetary analysis, ” what ’ s striking is how keynesian it seems. i remember october of 1987. we - - that is me, andrei shleifer, larry summers, and robert waldmann - - had what we regarded as a very nice paper about the instability of irrational agents ' beliefs as itself a powerful barrier to arbitrage. we then watched the stock market crash by 25 % in one day. and we thought that we had won the argument : that the efficient market hypothesis couldn ' t come back from a 25 % market collapse on a day when absolutely nothing fundamental happened. but then we were told that something fundamental had happened : there had been a sudden shock to the required expected rate of return on equities and the market had reacted efficiently to that shock. however, when i tried to process this, i could not understand it other than as an assertion that the market had gone down for no reason and would eventually recover - - but that this was not a problem because it was consistent with the efficient market hypothesis... when we could endure no more upon the water ; we to a little ale - house on the bankside, over against the ‘ three cranes, and there staid till it was dark almost, and saw the fire grow ; and, as it grew darker, appeared more and more, and in corners and upon steeples, and between churches and houses, as far as we could see up the hill of the city, in a most horrid malicious bloody flame, not like the fine flame of an ordinary fire. barbary and her husband away before us. we staid till, it being darkish, we saw the fire as only one entire arch of fire from this to the other side the bridge, and in a bow up the hill for an arch of above a mile long : it made me weep to see it. the churches, houses, and all on fire and flaming at once ; and a horrid noise the flames made, and the cracking of houses at their ruins. here ' s what the area looks like now, as viewed from the fire monument, which was built by christopher wren and robert hooke, as part of their reconstruction of london after the fire. tuesday, september 01, 2009 to bed at 2 or 3 in the morning and up again at 6 to go by appointment to my lord bellasses, but he out of town, which vexed me. so


british go journal no. 41. may 1978. page 21. continuing our series on the most significant japanese go terms. kake, pronounces approximately, kah - keh, is one of the few important japanese terms which is always used in its english form, the english being so perfectly descriptive. diagram 1 | bgj had this diagram and that for page 20 swapped. black 1 in dia 1 is the pressing move, hitting the white stone on the shoulder. whites first option is to resist being pushed down by pushing between the two black stones to separate them. this leads to tactical fighting which we will not study here. however, it is important to remember that pressing moves can often be resisted in this way. the second option is to crawl along the third line as in the diagram. black keeps pressing with 3 and this time white jumps with 4. this jump ahead is very important. with every move that black presses white down, white gets territory against the edge and black gets influence facing the centre. if white is pressed further than necessary along the third line, his territory will be worth less than blacks influence. diagram 2 | dia 2 shows what we mean. the moves to 11 are a well - known joseki. black has territory against the edge and 11 is the essential jump which takes him ahead of white. 12 - 22 shows just one possibility if white decides to press black further. black cannot play 13 on the fourth line because white will push between 1 and 11, but 15 is a safe move and after white protects his cutting point with 22, both whites central influence and blacks territory have increased dramatically. diagram 3 | in dia 3 white jumps ahead of black immediately. this immediate jump allows black to push through and sacrifice one stone, but whether the sacrifice is effective or not depends of course on the overall position. here black sacrifices with 5, white correctly captures the cutting stone, rather than protecting on the outside, and though black can capture 2 in a ladder, white is more than happy. not only can he live in the corner with one more move, but he can push at a and break through into the centre. black cannot stop him without spoiling his ladder. diagram 4 | finally, pressing does not have to be against the edge. in dia 4 white 1 hits black on the shoulder and this time white wants to get out into the centre as quickly as he can. ( though if black does not resist white would be delighted to continue at 2 and press black in that direction. ) as soon as black leaps ahead


you and to have negative changes in heart rate, blood pressure, labwork, energy levels, reproductive functioning, and athletic performance. if underuse or overuse of food is an issue for you, check out our section on eating concerns. brown students can consider calling 401. 863 - 2794 to make an appointment with the health education nutritionist, who can help you develop a more balanced lifestyle pattern. there ' s no question about it : when you significantly change energy balance in the body, by repeatedly affecting either intake or expenditure, you ' re likely to see at least short - term changes in weight as muscle, adipose, and fluid status are impacted. but wait : the body is built to react strongly to systemic changes like this - - particularly if the changes are drastic. the rate at which the body burns calories ( metabolism ) slows down every time you diet, in part because of the inevitable loss of muscle mass, our most " metabolically - active " tissue. less muscle means the body doesn ' t need to spend as many calories in order to maintain itself. when you begin to eat normally again, your body is still functioning at the lower rate. so every time you diet, weight comes off more slowly and goes back on more quickly because your metabolism gets lower. and it isn ' t just muscle that determines how your body will respond to changes in energy balance. we are also programmed for a certain level of adiposity ( body fat ) - - a level that is monitored very closely by the survival mechanisms of the body. researchers are finding that adipose can be just as metabolically - active when the body perceives that survival and reproduction are being endangered, and that there are many chemical messengers whose function is to influence appetite, metabolism, and mobilization of fat stores in order to preserve or restore the status - quo. so under - nutrition and rapid weight loss can eventually result in preferential fat storage. once normal eating is resumed and maintained, the metabolism generally returns to normal. but the early stage of this metabolic adjustment can be scary for some people because they may put on a few pounds as the body attempts to reestablish equilibrium. fearing that the weight gain will be too significant, or that it will last forever, they may go back on a diet - causing their body to downshift metabolically again, and promote fat storage. studies show that people who repeatedly go on and off crash diets actually gain weight over time. the sad fact is that the only thing crash dieters ever learn is