whenever citing a reference in the text source, it is made with its author ’ s surname and the year of publication is to be inserted in the text. choose from the listed below to see examples : • citing the author in the • using direct quotes • citing works by more than • citing works by three or more authors • citing a chapter of section • citing an organization • citing works by the same author written in the same year • citing secondary sources citing the author in the text dogs were the first animals to be domesticated ( sheldrake, 1999 ). if the author ’ s name occurs naturally in the sentence the year is given in brackets. sheldrake ( 1999 ) asserted that dogs were the first animals to be domesticated. using direct quotes if you quote directly from a source, you must insert the author ’ s name, date of publication and the page number of the quotation. the domestication of dogs, long predated the domestication of other animals ( sheldrake, 1999 ). citing works by more than one author if your source has two authors, you should include both names in the text. anderson and poole ( 1998 ) note that a “ narrow line often separates plagiarism from good scholarship. ” citing works by three or more authors if there are three or more authors, you should include the first named author and then add ‘ et al. ’ in italics followed by a full stop. this is an abbreviation of ‘ et alia ’ which means ‘ and others ’ in the united states, revenue from computer games now exceeds that of movies ( kline et al., 2003 ). citing chapter or section when referring to a chapter or section which is part of a larger work, you should cite the author of the chapter not the editor of the whole work. the sea level has risen by approximately 10cm in the last 100 years ( mason, citing an organization if an organization or company ( e. g., department of health, arcadia group limited ) is named as the author of a work rather than a person, you should cite their names. make sure that you use the same version of the organizations name in both the text and list of references ( e. g., always use ‘ department of health ’, don ’ t abbreviate to ‘ doh ’ ). spain became a member of the united nations in 1955 ( united nations, 2000 ). citing secondary sources when citing secondary sources ( i. e., an author refers to a work which you have


introduction to how colorblindness works roses are red, violets are blue - - well, bluish. the sky is blue, too. grass is green. these are things that most of us know for a fact and don ' t question. but what if you were colorblind? what would you see? is life one long black - and - white movie? in " the wizard of oz, " dorothy gale steps out of her black - and - white kansas farmhouse and into the color - saturated land of oz. she moves from a humdrum existence of chores and troubles to an intense fantasyland peopled with curious creatures, trading in a clapboard house for yellow brick roads, red ruby slippers and a brilliant green city of emeralds. what would her transformation have been without this rainbow of colors? color isn ' t just a component of vision. we associate color with beauty, like in a gorgeous sunset. some colors have meaning in and of themselves - - purple is for royals, red signifies passion. colors seep into our expressions - - if we ' re depressed, we say we ' re feeling blue. we ' re also " green with envy, " we " see red " and we might go " white with fear. " colors even have practical meaning - - red means stop, green means go. certain colors are said to help you sleep, while others make you hungry. and never underestimate the effect of a bright red dress. color is important. in this article, we ' re going to learn what the world looks like for someone who ' s colorblind.


you have to break a few ( hundred ) eggs to make a good crystal space science news home you have to break a few ( hundred ) eggs to make a good crystal bell curve shape to crystal quality may point to best candidates for flight sept. 20, 1999 : did you ever ask the teacher to grade a tough test " on the curve "? what you were asking was that the grades be adjusted so that a " c " fell under the part of the curve where most of your classmates had scored. a few were to the left and got a d or f ; and few were to the right and got a b or an a. right : to the crystallographer, this may not be a diamond but it ' s just as priceless. a lysozyme crystal grown in orbit looks great under a microscope, but the real test is x - ray crystallography. the colors are caused by polarizing filters. links to 549x379 - pixel, 69kb jpg. credit : nasa / marshall. that ' s basically how the bell curve works. in nature, objects and events quite often can be grouped along a bell curve. in a population of adult animals, most will be around the same size. a few will be larger and a few will be smaller. " if you talk to statisticians, " noted dr. russell judge of the university of alabama in huntsville, " variations within populations in nature can be described in terms of distributions. " december 3 : mars polar lander nears touchdown december 2 : what next, leonids? november 30 : polar lander mission overview november 30 : learning how to make a clean sweep in space the question now is whether scientists can use the microgravity of space to shift the curve to the right to grow the large, nearly perfect crystals they need for molecular lock - picking, the first step in designing drugs that can treat a broad range of diseases and disorders. " we want to determine how the growth of crystals effect their quality, " judge said in may when nasa selected his investigation for development, " and then take that into space to see how microgravity is enhancing the growth characteristics that lead to good crystals. from this we want to develop techniques, so that by observing crystal growth on the ground, we can predict which proteins are likely to benefit the most from microgravity crystallization. " sign up for our express science news delivery these functions are a result not just of a chemical formula, but of structure which can be quite large ( on


, we can predict which proteins are likely to benefit the most from microgravity crystallization. " sign up for our express science news delivery these functions are a result not just of a chemical formula, but of structure which can be quite large ( on the atomic scale ) and fragile. if the shape isn ' t right, the protein cannot match up with other proteins or chemicals to do its job, just as the wrong key won ' t unlock a door. sickle cell anemia, for example, results from structural differences in the hemoglobin that carries oxygen in red blood cells. designing new treatments means designing altered proteins or other chemicals that act as a skeleton key or as a sophisticated lock pick. proteins can form crystals, generated by rows and columns of molecules that form up like soldiers on a parade ground. shining x - rays through a crystal will produce a pattern of dots that can be decoded to reveal the arrangement of the atoms in the molecules making up the crystal. like the troops in formation, uniformity and order are everything in x - ray crystallography. x - rays have much sorter wavelengths than visible light, so the best looking crystals under the microscope won ' t necessarily pass muster under x - rays. left : judge ( left ) and dr. edward snell, a national research council fellow working at nasa / marshall, inspect the sample holder in the x - ray crystallography unit. links to 600x616 - pixel, 188kb jpg, or click here for a 1207x1240 - pixel, 543kb jpg. credit : nasa / marshall. this has become an invaluable tool for understanding the structure and the function of dozens of proteins. but many proteins remain shrouded in mystery because on earth crystal imperfections are introduced by fluid flows and the settling of the crystals to the bottom of the container. this leaves internal defects that distort or blur the view of the structure. " in order to have crystals to use for x - ray diffraction studies, " judge said, " you need them to be fairly large and well ordered. " scientists also need lots of crystals since exposure to air, the process of x - raying them, and other factors destroy the crystals. getting just one perfect specimen isn ' t enough. dozens may be needed, and the quality might not be known until well into the analysis. research has heavy implications. july 1998. crystal - clear view of insulin should lead to improved therapies for diabetics growing


specimen isn ' t enough. dozens may be needed, and the quality might not be known until well into the analysis. research has heavy implications. july 1998. crystal - clear view of insulin should lead to improved therapies for diabetics growing protein crystals in the microgravity of space has yielded striking results, such as determining to a fine resolution how certain molecules of insulin join so scientists can improve injectable insulin needed by diabetics. there have also been disappointments when crystals in other experiments did not grow as expected. since the 1970s, scientists have used a variety of approaches in trying to determine what leads to the growth of a large, perfect crystal. judge tried a different approach that built on results noted by researchers dating as far back as 1946. he and his team looked at the effects of concentration, temperature, and ph ( acid vs. base ) on the growth of lysozyme, a common protein in chicken egg white. lysozyme ' s structure is well known and it has become a standard in many crystallization studies on earth and in space. although lysozyme has an atomic mass of 14, 300 daltons - almost 92 times that of the ordinary sugar that many of us crystallized in elementary school science - it ' s a relative lightweight in the protein world. to exclude impurities often found in commercial lysozyme preparations, judge and his team purified lysozyme extracted from eggs obtained from a local egg farm. while one experiment run required only five dozen eggs, the full series of experiment consumed about 200 eggs. judge and his team grew the crystals in trays with small plastic wells filled with solutions containing a trace of salt to help stimulate crystal growth. temperatures ranged from 4 to 18 deg c ( 39 - 64 deg f ) and ph from 4. 0 to 5. 2 ( slightly acidic ; pure water theoretically has a ph of 7 ). judge also varied the driving force behind the crystal growth process, called supersaturation, by varying the initial concentration of protein. protein concentration must be set above a critical limit, the solubility, in order to form crystals ( below this concentrations the protein stays dissolved and never forms crystals ) left : a bell curve for lysozyme crystals produced in judge ' s experiments, and a possible shift in the curve that microgravity experiments might produce. links to 660x440 - pixel, 39kb jpg. credit : nasa / marshall. the tough part was examining each of the over 2000 wells and


experiments, and a possible shift in the curve that microgravity experiments might produce. links to 660x440 - pixel, 39kb jpg. credit : nasa / marshall. the tough part was examining each of the over 2000 wells and counting the crystals. it turned out that the solution ph had the largest effect on the growth of the crystals, possibly due to changes in charges on the surface of the molecules. when solution conditions had been optimized to give a small number of large crystals, a sample of 50 crystals was withdrawn for x - ray diffraction analysis. judge hoped that when the ideal conditions were found and then applied to subsequent batches, he would be able to grow consistently large, high quality crystals of lysozyme. the expectation was that with ideal conditions, quality crystals could be cranked out as if in a factory. instead, nature put him on the curve. " some variation is occurring there, " judge said, " but we haven ' t quite pinpointed the cause. " judge got a bell curve when he measured the x - ray clarity, properly called the signal - to - noise ratio ( a radio with static has a low signal - to - noise ratio ). a graph of the number of crystals versus the signal - to - noise ratio forms a bell curve, albeit slightly skewed to one side. right : distribution of diffraction characteristics - essentially a measure of quality - for a batch of crystals approximates a bell curve. links to 875x637 - pixel, 66kb jpg. credit : nasa / marshall. " the distribution is saying a very few crystals form perfectly in solution, " he continued, " and a small number are really poor. the majority of crystals are in - between. " it ' s doubly puzzling because the crystals were grown from the same batch of lysozyme that was poured into 120 wells in the experiment tray and crystallized under the same conditions. " we have some ideas, " judge said, " but we haven ' t tested them yet, so we ' re hesitant to say it might be this or that. " the research will continue with insulin, the crucial protein that conveys sugar from the blood stream into a body ' s cells, and with glucose isomerase, a larger ( 46, 000 daltons ) protein used in industrial processes to convert glucose to a sweeter sugar called fructose. left : crystals of insulin grown in space let scientists determine the vital enzyme ' s structure and


glucose isomerase, a larger ( 46, 000 daltons ) protein used in industrial processes to convert glucose to a sweeter sugar called fructose. left : crystals of insulin grown in space let scientists determine the vital enzyme ' s structure and linkages with much higher resolution that earth - grown crystals had allowed. links to 640x448 - pixel, 104kb jpg. larger format versions of these and related images are available from the nasa image exchange and using the keyword " insulin. " credit : nasa / marshall. " in all of the proteins we ' re using the structure is pretty well known, " judge added. in addition to ground - based experiments, judge hopes to conduct flight experiments in the next year or so. he would use the vapor diffusion apparatus, a device developed by the university of alabama in birmingham and well - proven in a number of space shuttle flights. " most researchers say that crystals grown in microgravity will be better than those on the ground, " judge said. and a number of experiments bear out that belief. " somehow, microgravity pushes up the end of the distribution curve. " right : crystals of glucose isomerase, a larger molecular weight protein, will be grown to see if they, too, are graded " on the curve. " links to 1018x749 - pixel, 365kb jpg. credit : nasa / marshall. with expected flight experiments on lysozyme, insulin and glucose isomerase, judge will have crystals grown in conditions as close as possible to the ideal conditions he had determined so far. at the same time, he will grow crystals on earth from the same mix as the flight batch and using identical hardware and conditions so that microgravity is the only variable. eventually, he hopes that his studies will lead to a tool for screening candidate proteins for flight. the effect of temperature and solution ph on the nucleation of tetragonal lysozyme crystals. biophysics journal, september 1999, p. 1585 - 1593, vol. 77, no. 3 russell a. judge, * randolph s. jacobs, # tyralynn frazier, § edward h. snell, and ¶ marc l. pusey * alliance for microgravity material science and applications, nasa / marshall space flight center, huntsville, alabama 35812 ; # department of chemical engineering, university of alabama in huntsville, huntsville, alabama 35899 ; § biochemistry department, michigan state university, east lansing, michigan 48


and applications, nasa / marshall space flight center, huntsville, alabama 35812 ; # department of chemical engineering, university of alabama in huntsville, huntsville, alabama 35899 ; § biochemistry department, michigan state university, east lansing, michigan 48825 ; and ¶ biophysics sd48, nasa / marshall space flight center, huntsville, alabama 35812 usa part of the challenge of macromolecular crystal growth for structure determination is obtaining crystals with a volume suitable for x - ray analysis. in this respect an understanding of the effect of solution conditions on macromolecule nucleation rates is advantageous. this study investigated the effects of supersaturation, temperature, and ph on the nucleation rate of tetragonal lysozyme crystals. batch crystallization plates were prepared at given solution concentrations and incubated at set temperatures over 1 week. the number of crystals per well with their size and axial ratios were recorded and correlated with solution conditions. crystal numbers were found to increase with increasing supersaturation and temperature. the most significant variable, however, was ph ; crystal numbers changed by two orders of magnitude over the ph range 4. 0 - 5. 2. crystal size also varied with solution conditions, with the largest crystals obtained at ph 5. 2. having optimized the crystallization conditions, we prepared a batch of crystals under the same initial conditions, and 50 of these crystals were analyzed by x - ray diffraction techniques. the results indicate that even under the same crystallization conditions, a marked variation in crystal properties exists. more space science headlines - nasa research on the web life and microgravity sciences and applications information from nasa hq on science in space microgravity research programs office headquartered at marshall space flight center microgravity news online version of nasa ' s latest in microgravity advancements, published quarterly. join our growing list of subscribers - sign up for our express news delivery and you will receive a mail message every time we post a new story!!! for more information, please contact : | dr. john m. horack, director of science communications curator : linda porter nasa official : m. frank rose


freshwater drum - ( aplodinotus grunniens ) length : up to about 14 inches, although it may become quite large in rivers weight : 5 - 15 pounds, world record is 54 1 / 2 pounds coloring : gray or silvery in turbid waters, bronze - colored in clearer waters. the head is somewhat darker than the rest of the body ; the ventral portion of the fish is white. the pectoral and pelvic fins are white, but the rest of the fins are dusky. common names : sheepshead, croaker, thunder pumper, lake drum, grunt, bubbler, grinder found in lakes : all great lakes the freshwater drum is the only member of its family that lives entirely in freshwater habitats, and it has the largest native range of any sport fish in the region. drum are an important commercial crop on the mississippi river but constitute only a small portion of the commercial perch catch in lake michigan. the drum earned part of its latin name, " grunniens " ( meaning " grunting " ), by its odd grunting noises, which are produced by a special set of muscles located in the body cavity that vibrates against the swim bladder. the purpose of the noise is unknown, but only mature males develop the structure ( by the time they reach three years of age ), suggesting that it is most likely related to spawning. drums also may croak like bullfrogs when removed from the water, and scientists still don ' t know if the croaking noise is generated in the same way. identification of this fish is fairly easy. drum have two dorsal fins that are joined by a narrow membrane. the anterior fin is spiny, and the posterior fin has soft rays. the are the only fish found in wisconsin with a lateral line that extends through the caudal fin. the drum ' s otoliths are exceptionally large and look a great deal like ivory. in times past they have been worn as protective amulets, made into jewelry, and traded into areas far from the fish ' s native range ( such as utah and california ). drum are a bottom - dwelling species found in lakes and rivers ; they tolerate both clear and turbid conditions. their diet consists mainly of immature insects, crayfish, and minnows, although they may also feed on mollusks. the white, flaky flesh of the drum is tasty and has a low oil content. ( nutritional information ) when cooking, be sure that the


assessing students ' understanding of complex systems assessing student understanding of complex thinking is quite challenging. as with assessing student learning on any topic, the first step is to identify your learning goals for your students. once you have identified learning goals, it becomes easier to choose one or more assessment tools appropriate to the task. here is a list of possible learning objectives related to students ' thinking about complex systems ( i. e., skills expected from students who exhibit complex systems thinking ). while this is in no way intended to be a comprehensive list of possible learning goals, it may help you to articulate your own list. a student who demonstrates complex systems thinking can : - identify and explain the characteristics of a complex system - describe and / or model a process where there is a feedback mechanism at work - build a model that mimics the expected behavior of the target system - identify stocks / reservoirs and flows - correctly identify positive / negative feedbacks - test a model through trial and error and comparison to real - world data - explore the possible outcomes of a system under different parameters - bridge across scales : student explanations of processes show fidelity across scales ( e. g., a student applies the concept of homeostasis at multiple levels ) - create and interpret graphical information - predict attributes of system behavior based on specific inputs or components of the system - understand that a complex system is irreducible, unpredictable, historical, nonlinear, and has emergent properties, and be able to describe what these terms mean a number of assessment tools can be used to assess students ' understanding ( or progress toward understanding ) of complex systems. a few of these tools are listed below. a concept map is a diagram with hierarchical nodes, labeled with concepts. the nodes are linked together with directional lines and are arranged from general to specific. by developing concept maps, students literally illustrate their understanding of a complex system. this method can be used for summative or formative assessment, and has the benefit of highlighting any misconceptions. students can develop and run physical or computer models to gain an understanding of how a system works. the choices a student makes in developing a model ( what components of the system to include, how they are linked, and so on ), along with how the student explains his or her choices, illustrate that student ' s understanding of the system in question. their ability to explain the behavior of the model ( describe the outcomes given different inputs, find patterns in the output, etc. ) offers further opportunity for assessment. this method can be employed for summative or


s understanding of the system in question. their ability to explain the behavior of the model ( describe the outcomes given different inputs, find patterns in the output, etc. ) offers further opportunity for assessment. this method can be employed for summative or formative assessment ( or both ). an understanding of graphical representations of data is an essential component of data analysis. students can demonstrate their understanding of complex systems by interpreting graphical data illustrating the relationships between system variables. this method can be employed for summative or formative assessment ( or both ). for more information about using graphs in the classroom, see the starting point web pages on describing and analyzing graphs. assessing students ' thinking processes much frustration can be avoided by engaging in formative assessment : assessing student learning during the learning process. one way to do this is to incorporate several " checkpoints " in each teaching activity or assignment where you ask students to articulate what the results are and how they got there. this serves two functions : 1 ) it exposes misconceptions or misapplications at an early stage, and 2 ) it requires students to think about what they are doing and why - - and whether their progress makes sense in the context of what they know or expect. this opens up the realm of metacognition, wherein students think specifically about their own learning and engage in self - monitoring and self - regulatory behavior. research demonstrates that metacognition improves learning ( lovett, 2008 ).


many people think that a robot : - is not ' natural ' / was made by man. - can see, hear or feel. - can do a job / useful work. - is intelligent, or can make choices. - can be programmed to do different things. - can move. - seems to have a life of its own, like an animate object. - is roughly the same shape as a human. people have been interested in building machines to do work for us for a long time. but it takes time and money to build just one machine, so early ideas stayed ideas, or were built to make rich people laugh. leonardo da vinci designed a man - shaped machine to look like a knight in 1464. it would be controlled with ropes and wheels. other engineers and dreamers drew mechanical men. so in 1920, karel capek wrote a novel about them, and he used a word from czech that is connected with ' work ' : robot. but the most successful robot designs in the 1900 ' s were not made to look like people. they were designed for their use. george devol made the first of these, the unimate, in 1954, and general motors bought it in 1960. the next year, it started work in a factory in new jersey. the engineers could program it, and reprogram it if they had to. modern robots [ change ] robots now have many uses. many factories use robots to do lots of hard work quickly and without many mistakes. these are ' industrial ' robots. the military uses robots to find and get rid of bombs. if someone makes a mistake, the robot is damaged or destroyed, which is better than a person being killed. there are also robots that help at home, to vacuum or cut grass, for example. such robots must learn about the area of work. there are two robots on mars. because it takes a long time to send a signal from earth to mars, the robots do much of their work alone, without commands from earth. people still think of robots as having a shape like a person — two legs, two arms, and a head. asimo is one robot that is helping scientists learn how to design and program robots. it can walk, which is not easy to program. eastern and western views [ change ] eastern thoughts on robots [ change ] roughly half of all the robots in the world are in asia, 32 % in europe, and 16 % in north america, 1 % in australasia and 1 % in africa. 30 % of all


change ] eastern thoughts on robots [ change ] roughly half of all the robots in the world are in asia, 32 % in europe, and 16 % in north america, 1 % in australasia and 1 % in africa. 30 % of all the robots in the world are in japan. japan has the most robots of any country in the world, and is the leader in the world robotics industry. japan is actually said to be the robotic capital of the world. in japan and south korea, ideas of future robots have been mainly positive. the positive reception of robots there may be partly because of the famous cartoon robot, ' astroboy '. china expressed views on robotics that are similar to those of japan and south korea, but china is behind both america and europe in robotic development. the east asian view is that robots should be roughly equal to humans. they feel robots could care for old people, teach children, or serve as assistants. the popular opinion of east asia is that it would be good for robots to become more popular and more advanced. this view is opposite to the popular western view. " this is the opening of an era in which human beings and robots can co - exist, " says japanese firm mitsubishi about one of the many human - like robots in japan. the south korean ministry of information and communication has predicted that every south korean household will have a robot by between 2015 and 2020. in this sense, people in japan are much more likely to be affected by technosexuality, as they are much more exposed to robots in their society. south korea aims to put a robot in every house there by 2015 - 2020 in order to help catch up technologically with japan. this will obviously have an impact on the technosexuality of south korea. china, like south korea, wishes to catch up with japan, and has been developing robots very quickly. after china becomes more developed, and each person has more money to view the media, where robots could be seen, or to buy robots, as is happening in japan and south korea, technosexuality will probably rise there too, when considering the current opinions of the people of robots. with a limited number of robots in the rest of the world away from japan, and even in japan too, movies and literature are the where most of the technosexuality will be towards. futuristic images / descriptions or robots may encourage technosexuality. at the moment, there are not that many real human - like robots in the world. the most


literature are the where most of the technosexuality will be towards. futuristic images / descriptions or robots may encourage technosexuality. at the moment, there are not that many real human - like robots in the world. the most human - like robot in the world, ' actroid ', made by japanese company ' kokoro ' a division of ' sanrio ', is a good example of the target for technosexuality. western thoughts on robots [ change ] western societies are more likely to be against, or even fear the development of robotics, through much media output in movies and literature that they will replace humans. the west regards robots as a ' threat ' to the future of humans, which is also muchly due to religious influence of the abrahamic religions, in which creating machines that can think for themselves would almost be playing god. obviously, these boundaries are not clear, but there is a significant difference between the two ideologies. robot laws [ change ] the writer isaac asimov told many stories about robots who had three robot laws to keep them safe, as well as to keep humans safe from them. - a robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. - a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law. - a robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law. these were not used in real life when he invented them. however, in today ' s world robots are more complicated, and one day real laws may be needed, much like isaac asimov ' s original three laws. these laws are talked about in the megaman video games. other pages [ change ] other websites [ change ] | wikimedia commons has media related to : robots | - research societies - ieee robotics and automation society ( ras ) and its wiki. - international foundation of robotics research ( ifrr ) - robotics at the open directory project - http : / / robots. net – daily news about robots, robotics, and ai - a brief history of robotics - a giant list of known robots - nasa and robots - nasa robotics division - international federation of robotics - should we be worried by the rise of robots? - podcast ' talking robots ' - interviews with high - profile professionals in robotics and artificial intelligence - french collection of toy robot - introduction to robotics - robot world news - robot news, robot tutorials


- should we be worried by the rise of robots? - podcast ' talking robots ' - interviews with high - profile professionals in robotics and artificial intelligence - french collection of toy robot - introduction to robotics - robot world news - robot news, robot tutorials, robot videos and robot chatbox - robot news, theory of robotics - list of robots - brandweek : even robot suicide is no laughing matter - robots today and tomorrow : ifr presents the 2007 world robotics statistics survey ; world robotics ; 2007 - 10 - 29 ; retrieved on 2007 - 12 - 14 - reporting by watanabe, hiroaki ; writing and additional reporting by negishi, mayumi ; editing by norton, jerry ; japan ' s robots slug it out to be world champ ; reuters ; 2007 - 12 - 02 ; retrieved on 2007 - 01 - 01 - lewis, leo ; the robots are running riot! quick, bring out the red tape ; timesonline ; 2007 - 04 - 06 ; retrieved on 2007 - 01 - 02 - biglione, kirk ; the secret to japan ' s robot dominance ; planet tokyo ; 2006 - 01 - 24 ; retrieved on 2007 - 01 - 02 - domestic robot to debut in japan ; bbc news ; 2005 - 08 - 30 ; retrieved on 2007 - 01 - 02 - robotic age poses ethical dilemma ; bbc news ; 2007 - 03 - 07 ; retrieved on 2007 - 01 - 02 ; - chamberlain, ted ; photo in the news : ultra - lifelike robot debuts in japan ; national geographic news ; 2005 - 06 - 10 ; retrieved on 2008 - 01 - 02 - yang, jeff ; asian pop robot nation why japan, and not america, is likely to be the world ' s first cyborg society ; sfgate ; 2005 - 08 - 25 ; retrieved on 2007 - 01 - 02 - spencer, richard ( 2007 - 03 - 08 ). " s korea devises ' robot ethics charter ' ". the telegraph. http : / / www. telegraph. co. uk / news / worldnews / 1544936 / s - korea - devises - robot - ethics - charter. html. retrieved 2013 - 03 - 27.


the modern olympics 1932 - - los angeles, the united states of america 1, 408 athletes, 37 nations despite the stock market crash of 1929, los angeles put on a impressive show for 1932 games and still ended up with a million - dollar surplus. attendance was low because many other countries did not even have the money to participate in the games. the american team dominated the competition. for olympic posters many new innovations were showcased at the games. the first olympic village was built and every athlete was housed, fed and transported for less than $ 2 a day. the village included a hospital, library, post office, barber shop, cinema, and dining rooms. since los angeles athlete villages have been the norm at the olympic games. electric - photo timing, the victory stand, and the playing of the national anthems were also introduced in los angeles. duncan mcnaughton won a gold medal in the high jump and horace " lefty " gwynne placed first in bantamweight boxing. canada ' s other medals came from track and field, wrestling, rowing and yachting events. canadians were disappointed when their female athletes were outclassed and did not repeat the success they had in amsterdam. hilda strike of montreal won two silver medals in track after coming second to stella walsh from poland. when walsh was shot and killed years later an autopsy showed " she " was actually a man. if a sex - test had been used in 1932 strike would have won gold. a sex - test was not introduced at the olympics until 1968. before the 1968 games several world - class athletes suddenly retired indicating that walsh was probably not the only man who ever tried to pass as a female athlete. gold 2, silver 5, bronze 8 previous olympics - 1908 - 1952 photos


12 feb 13 biodiversity is a recent word. it was used for the first time in washington in 1986 by an entomologist ( edward o. wilson ) and can be a misunderstood topic. in actual fact it should be a simple concept, because at its essence, it signifies nature, life itself, and the diversity of life on many levels - from the smallest and most basic ( genes - the building blocks of life ) to animal and plant species, up to the most complex levels ( ecosystems ). all these levels intersect and influence each other and each other ’ s evolution. studies from the university of stanford have compared the species and varieties of an ecosystem to rivets that hold an airplane together. if we remove the rivets, for a while nothing will happen and the airplane will continue to operate. but little by little the structure will weaken and, at a certain point, just removing one rivet will cause the plane to crash. in the history of the planet, everything has a beginning and an end, and in every era, many species have become extinct. but never at the horrifying rate of recent years, one that is a thousand times greater than previous eras. this summer after a thorough study of many years, the prestigious university of exeter in england declared that the earth is undergoing its sixth mass extinction ( with the fifth, 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs disappeared ). yet there is a substantial difference between this and the extinctions of the past : the cause. for the first time man is responsible. man continues to destroy rainforests, cement the land, pollute waters and grounds with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and accumulate plastic in the oceans. and he insists on excluding the earth ’ s last custodians : those small - scale farmers, shepherds and fishers that know and respect the fragile equilibrium of nature. slow food started its work with biodiversity in 1997 and our foot in the door - that since the beginning has given us a unique perspective - was food. if biodiversity disappears what will happen to our food? together with the plants and wild animals, the plants domesticated by man, breeds selected ( for milk or meat ) will also disappear. according to the fao, 75 % of plant varieties have been irreversibly lost. in the usa the figure is 95 %. today 60 % of the world ’ s food is based on three cereals : wheat, rice and corn. not on the thousands of rice varieties selected by farmers that once were cultivated in india and china,


in the usa the figure is 95 %. today 60 % of the world ’ s food is based on three cereals : wheat, rice and corn. not on the thousands of rice varieties selected by farmers that once were cultivated in india and china, or on the thousands of varieties of corn that were grown in mexico, but on the few hybrid varieties selected and sold to farmers by a handful of multinationals. slow food ’ s first intuition was this : look after domestic biodiversity. meaning not just the panda or the seal, but also the gascon chicken and the alpago lamb ; not just the edelweiss, but also the violet asparagus from albenga. but not just this. we became interested in taste and the knowledge connected to it, and traditional techniques of breeding, growing, and processing. and this led us to our second intuition : on our ark of taste – a catalogue of products to save – we have also included transformed foods : breads, cheese, cured meats, sweets. because this is also biodiversity. once we had identified our field of action, how did we work? we linked diverse worlds that normally didn ’ t interact : farmers, cooks, veterinarians, journalists … in order to achieve two objectives : 1 – help small - scale farmers : to save a breed, we didn ’ t start from genetic selection ; to save an apple variety, we didn ’ t start from a collection of varieties. instead, we began by seeking out the shepherds that bred that certain breed, the farmers that still cultivated that apple, and we went and spoke to them. with this crucial step, the presidia project was launched, that today is supporting producers in every corner of the world. 2 – raise awareness about biodiversity : we need to work with producers and experts, but also with schools, journalists, restaurant and so on. we need to write and tell these stories of producers with every tool at our disposal, because these themes transcend university lecture halls and scientific institutions, and become the heritage of us all. biodiversity can ’ t be saved by scientists alone, nor by the powerful of the world, because it is of no interest to the market. and it ’ s probable that noah won ’ t be arriving with his ark. this battle, therefore, is one that needs to be taken up by us, together with all the people we manage to involve, on our lands, every day - with our ark of taste, presidia, earth markets, community and school gardens, and the


therefore, is one that needs to be taken up by us, together with all the people we manage to involve, on our lands, every day - with our ark of taste, presidia, earth markets, community and school gardens, and the thousands of other ideas still to come. because the battle to save biodiversity isn ’ t like any other battle. it ’ s the battle for the life of our planet. slow food foundation for biodiversity general secretary search the slow stories archive latest slow stories italy | 20 / 05 / 2013 | buzzword, fad or innovative philosophy? a unisg master ’ s student sheds some light on the natural wine... mexico | 17 / 05 / 2013 | a massive wind farm development threatens the environment and livelihood of indigenous fishers and farmers in... united states | 16 / 05 / 2013 | slow food usa reconnects around local food at their 2013 national leadership conference from today in new... italy | 15 / 05 / 2013 | fao and slow food agree today to a three - year plan to develop joint actions to improve biodiversity and the... italy | 14 / 05 / 2013 | the problems and possible solutions to the massive overfishing of small fish for use as animal feed around...


giant chipmaker intel has a new baby born from the one laptop per child project called the studybook, a rugged tablet pc meant for use by students of all ages in developing countries in the middle east, asia and africa. scientific american wednesday reported that computer makers in participating countries will make the intel studybook, and students at the nearest schools will use the tablets, a manufacturing system that will dramatically reduce the cost per unit. the studybook will have a 17. 8 - centimeter multi - touch lcd screen about the size of an amazon kindle fire. it has basic front and rear cameras with 0. 3 - and 2 - megapixel capacities, a microphone, one gigabyte of memory, and 22 gigabytes of storage. the intel tablet — its low cost notwithstanding — will also be equipped with an accelerometer and light sensor. and since the studybook is primarily meant for use by students in all conceivable environments, one of its best features is its sturdiness. made from a single piece of plastic, the studybook frame contains a rubber gasket seat for its screen, making the tablet waterproof. the sturdy plastic construction allows the studybook to absorb a 70 - centimeter or 2 - foot drop without breaking. intel ’ s wayne grant, director for research and planning for the chipmaker ’ s education market platforms group, said the tablet can also connect to networks via wi - fi, 3g or bluetooth, and current models now run on windows 7 os. grant said in a few months, versions that run on google ’ s android operating system would be available, depending on schedules announced by the various participating manufacturers. the tablet will likely cost around $ 200 – $ 300 each, a clear third of the price of other tablets in the market today.


the potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial solanum tuberosum of the solanaceae family ( also known as the nightshades ). the word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. in the region of the andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. potatoes were first introduced outside the andes region four centuries ago, and have become an integral part of much of the world ’ s cuisine. it is the world ’ s fourth - largest food crop, following rice, wheat, and maize. long - term storage of potatoes requires specialised care in cold warehouses. wild potato species occur throughout the americas, from the united states to uruguay. the potato was originally believed to have been domesticated independently in multiple locations, but later genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species proved a single origin for potatoes in the area of present - day southern peru ( from a species in the solanum brevicaule complex ), where they were domesticated 7, 000 – 10, 000 years ago. following centuries of selective breeding, there are now over a thousand different types of potatoes. of these subspecies, a variety that at one point grew in thechiloe archipelago ( the potato ’ s south - central chilean sub - center of origin ) left its germplasm on over 99 % of the cultivated potatoes worldwide. following the spanish conquest of the inca empire, the spanish introduced the potato to europe in the second half of the 16th century. the staple was subsequently conveyed by european mariners to territories and ports throughout the world. the potato was slow to be adopted by distrustful european farmers, but soon enough it became an important food staple and field crop that played a major role in the european 19th century population boom. however, lack of genetic diversity, due to the very limited number of varieties initially introduced, left the crop vulnerable to disease. in 1845, a plant disease known as late blight, caused by the fungus - like oomycete phytophthora infestans, spread rapidly through the poorer communities of western ireland, resulting in the crop failures that led to the great irish famine. nonetheless, thousands of varieties persist in the andes, where over 100 cultivars might be found in a single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household. the annual diet of an average global citizen in the first decade of the 21st century included about 33 kg ( 73 lb ) of potato. however, the local importance of


single valley, and a dozen or more might be maintained by a single agricultural household. the annual diet of an average global citizen in the first decade of the 21st century included about 33 kg ( 73 lb ) of potato. however, the local importance of potato is extremely variable and rapidly changing. it remains an essential crop in europe ( especially eastern and central europe ), where per capita production is still the highest in the world, but the most rapid expansion over the past few decades has occurred in southern and eastern asia. china is now the world ’ s largest potato - producing country, and nearly a third of the world ’ s potatoes are harvested in china and india. the english word potato comes from spanish patata ( the name used in spain ). the spanish royal academy says the spanish word is a compound of the taino batata ( sweet potato ) and the quechua papa ( potato ). the name potato originally referred to a type of sweet potato rather than the other way around, although there is actually no close relationship between the two plants. the english confused the two plants one for the other. in many of the chronicles detailing agriculture and plants, no distinction is made between the two. the 16th - century english herbalist john gerard used the terms “ bastard potatoes ” and “ virginia potatoes ” for this species, and referred to sweet potatoes as “ common potatoes ”. potatoes are occasionally referred to as “ irish potatoes ” or “ white potatoes ” in the united states, to distinguish them from sweet potatoes. the name spud for a small potato comes from the digging of soil ( or a hole ) prior to the planting of potatoes. the word has an unknown origin and was originally ( c. 1440 ) used as a term for a short knife or dagger, probably related to dutch spyd and / or the latin “ spad - ” root meaning “ sword ” ; cf. spanish “ espada ”, english “ spade ” and “ spadroon ”. the word spud traces back to the 16th century. it subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools. around 1845 it transferred over to the tuber itself. the origin of “ spud ” has erroneously been attributed to a 19th century activist group dedicated to keeping the potato out of britain, calling itself the society for the prevention of an unwholesome diet. it was mario pei ’ s 1949 the story of language that can be blamed for the false origin. pei writes, “ the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago. some


of an unwholesome diet. it was mario pei ’ s 1949 the story of language that can be blamed for the false origin. pei writes, “ the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago. some englishmen who did not fancy potatoes formed a society for the prevention of unwholesome diet. the initials of the main words in this title gave rise to spud. ” like most other pre - 20th century acronymic origins, this one is false. there are about five thousand potato varieties worldwide. three thousand of them are found in the andes alone, mainly in peru, bolivia, ecuador, chile, and colombia. they belong to eight or nine species, depending on the taxonomic school. apart from the five thousand cultivated varieties, there are about 200 wild species and subspecies, many of which can be cross - bred with cultivated varieties, which has been done repeatedly to transfer resistances to certain pests and diseases from the gene pool of wild species to the gene pool of cultivated potato species. genetically modified varieties have met public resistance in the united states and in the european union. the major species grown worldwide is solanum tuberosum ( a tetraploid with 48 chromosomes ), and modern varieties of this species are the most widely cultivated. there are also four diploid species ( with 24 chromosomes ) : s. stenotomum, s. phureja, s. goniocalyx, and s. ajanhuiri. there are two triploid species ( with 36 chromosomes ) : s. chaucha and s. juzepczukii. there is one pentaploid cultivated species ( with 60 chromosomes ) : s. curtilobum. there are two major subspecies of solanum tuberosum : andigena, or andean ; and tuberosum, or chilean. the andean potato is adapted to the short - day conditions prevalent in the mountainous equatorial and tropical regions where it originated. the chilean potato, native to the chiloe archipelago, is adapted to the long - day conditions prevalent in the higher latitude region of southern chile. the international potato center, based in lima, peru, holds an iso - accredited collection of potato germplasm. the international potato genome sequencing consortium announced in 2009 that they had achieved a draft sequence of the potato genome. the potato genome contains 12 chromosomes and 860 million base pairs making it a medium - sized plant genome. above 99 percent of all current varietiesof potatoes currently grown are direct descendants of


in 2009 that they had achieved a draft sequence of the potato genome. the potato genome contains 12 chromosomes and 860 million base pairs making it a medium - sized plant genome. above 99 percent of all current varietiesof potatoes currently grown are direct descendants of a subspecies that once grew in the lowlands of south - central chile. nonetheless, genetic testing of the wide variety of cultivars and wild species affirms that all potato subspecies derive from a single origin in the area of present - day southern peru ( from a species in the solanum brevicaule complex ) most modern potatoes grown in north america arrived through european settlement and not independently from the south american sources. however, at least one wild potato species, solanum fendleri, is found as far north as texas and used in breeding for resistance to a nematode species that attacks cultivated potatoes. a secondary center of genetic variability of the potato is mexico, where important wild species that have been used extensively in modern breeding are found, such as the hexaploid solanum demissum, as a source of resistance to the devastating late blight disease. another relative native to this region, solanum bulbocastanum, has been used to genetically engineer the potato to resist potato blight. potatoes yield abundantly with little effort, and adapt readily to diverse climates as long as the climate is cool and moist enough for the plants to gather sufficient water from the soil to form the starchy tubers. potatoes do not keep very well in storage and are vulnerable to molds that feed on the stored tubers, quickly turning them rotten. by contrast, grain can be stored for several years without much risk of rotting. if you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’ share and enjoy ’, and we will do the rest. this site is hosted by ( click on the graphic for more information ) return from potato to home page if you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors – check out these sites they are free. spanishchef more than doubled its ‘ new visitors ’ last month simply by signing up to these sites :


according to news reports, the recent heat wave in california resulted in about 150 deaths. the united nations ’ intergovernmental panel on climate change predicts that global warming will exacerbate the problem dramatically, doubling or tripling the number of heat - related fatalities in north american cities in the next decade. the un is dead wrong, because it assumes what climate researchers call the “ stupid people hypothesis ” : that people will simply sit around and fry to death without doing anything to beat the heat. global warming or not, our cities are warming, and will continue to do so. sprawling masonry and blacktop retain heat, and the density of urban construction prevents wind from cooling it off. ( here in d. c., there ’ s an additional warming effect : waste heat from all the money changing hands. ) but heat and heat - related deaths are not synonymous. in fact, in several refereed papers published in recent years, my virginia colleague robert davis and i demonstrated that heat - related deaths have, in aggregate, declined significantly as our cities have warmed. in fact, in a statistical sense, we have completely engineered heat - related mortality out of several of our urban cores, particularly in eastern cities like philadelphia. considering every decade of mortality data at once is misleading ; examining it decade - by - decade is more informative. when looked at sequentially, the data reveals a remarkable adaptation : as cities have warmed, the “ threshold ” temperatures at which mortality begins to increase have also risen — more than the temperatures of the cities. for example, in philadelphia in the 1960s, mortality began to increase once the high temperature exceeded 83 degrees. in the 1970s, the mortality threshold rose to the low 90s. in the last decade, there has been little evidence for any threshold at which mortality increases. in other words, people have adapted to their changing climate. how? instead of simmering, people buy air conditioning. every level of government warns of the danger of excessive exposure to heat, and people seek out cooler places. social adaptation can take place very quickly. in mid - july 1995, over 500 people died from an intense weekend heat wave in chicago. research by university of illinois climatologist michael palecki, published in the bulletin of the american meteorological society in 2001, shows that a 1999 chicago heat wave of comparable intensity resulted in only 15 percent as many deaths. this summer ’ s heat is a bit unusual. usually, when it ’ s very hot in the eastern u. s., temperatures are normal or below average in the


1999 chicago heat wave of comparable intensity resulted in only 15 percent as many deaths. this summer ’ s heat is a bit unusual. usually, when it ’ s very hot in the eastern u. s., temperatures are normal or below average in the west, or vice - versa. this year it ’ s hot everywhere. is history repeating itself, or is global warming at work? it ’ s hard to say. several summers in the 1930s were known for intense heat across the nation. nineteen - thirty was a scorcher : in rural virginia, far from washington ’ s sprawl, people suffered a total of 21 triple - digit days. even with the excess heat contributed by the growth of the city, washington currently averages only one 100 degree day per year. the fact is that we cannot completely discriminate between repetitive history and prospective warming when it comes to a single summer. the better place to look for warming is in the winter. greenhouse - effect theory predicts that the coldest temperatures of winter will rise much more sharply than the hottest ones of summer. and indeed, for the last several decades, winter ’ s lows have warmed out of proportion to summer ’ s highs. all of which illustrates the complexity of global warming. would people accept — even welcome? — climate change that greatly alleviated winter discomfort at the cost of slightly higher summer temperatures? clearly, people have adapted to the heat. the evidence shows that, the warmer the city, the more quickly its residents adapt. heat - related deaths are increasing in only one major american city : chilly seattle. san francisco and los angeles, two other cities that are relatively cool in the summer compared to those to their east, show no change in mortality. as the un ’ s climatologists should recognize, heat waves are dangerous when they are rare and unexpected, because people are unfamiliar with them and slow to take appropriate actions to minimize their exposure. as heat waves become more common, we will simply be better prepared for them and incorporate them into our daily lives and routines — just as the people of phoenix and dallas and houston and new orleans do, every summer day. because they ’ re not stupid.


britain has, at least going by ministerial statements, apparently grasped the difference between arranged marriages, which are part of the indian cultural tradition, and forced marriages, unjustifiable from any standpoint. yet it is a challenging task to tackle the problem of forced marriages. according to the british reckoning, the figures for this sordid practice are around 3, 000 per year. unofficial estimates suggest that the tally may be even higher. most victims are known to be women aged between 15 and 24. another 15 - 20 per cent of cases involve young men. about 65 per cent of known cases involve those of pakistani origin, another 25 per cent are of bangladeshi origin, and the rest are of indian or various african and eastern european origins. individual stories are heart - rending, with many of the ‘ husbands ’ extraordinarily violent and abusive to the victims. the british government and parliament have now begun taking this issue seriously. the foreign and commonwealth office ( fco ) has put up a website on this problem of forced marriages, giving links to groups and helplines run by people, including former victims, who have specific experience in the field. annually, the fco ’ s forced marriage unit website receives about 5, 000 inquiries and currently helps about 400 victims ; some british diplomatic missions abroad have taken victims into safe custody for repatriation to the united kingdom. legislation raises awkward issues. although forced marriage itself is not a british criminal offence, the violent actions that often ensue are criminal offences, and any non - consensual sex is of course rape. many victims have pointed out that they would not have been forced into marriage by their parents had forcible marriage been made a criminal offence. yet there is the concern that if the practice is made a criminal offence, it would not be eliminated but only go underground, preventing legal action against this abhorrent trend. hence the british government has proceeded cautiously in this regard. the english forced marriages ( civil protection ) act 2007 is only a civil measure. but the pressure to take firm action is building. visa regulations for young married people from abroad joining british spouses have been tightened. the british parliament ’ s home affairs select committee has suggested that the subjects of forced marriages and honour killings be made a compulsory part of the sex and relationships curriculum in schools. other agencies in the u. k. are now becoming aware of this problem. but this awareness must translate into concerted efforts to stop forced marriages, which are nothing but the criminal abuse of hapless women. 6


tooth decay prevalent among alaska native children sep 23, 2011, 7 : 36 a. m. by yereth rosen anchorage, alaska ( reuters ) - native alaskan children living in remote villages have rates of tooth decay about four times the national average, a government study showed. lack of fluoridated water and an abundance of sugary, carbonated soda pop were the major reasons cited in the research that tracked dental health of children in the mostly yupik eskimo region of southwestern alaska. dr. brad whistler, alaska state oral health director and a co - author of the study, said children need major dental work. " when they smile, you see a lot of silver teeth, " he said. such severe decay sets up children to have serious dental problems as adults, whistler said. one reason for the high level of tooth decay is poor water - system infrastructure in many alaska native villages, which prevents the fluoridation of drinking water that has helped lower rates of tooth decay. in some villages that were part of the study, residents must haul water home from central pumps, he said. even those places with more sophisticated systems are likely to lack fluoride in drinking water, because few qualified technicians are available to work in such far - flung locations and install the necessary equipment. the other major problem is the erosion of the traditional native diet with the introduction of food laden with sugar, whistler said. the study, by the federal centers for disease control and the alaska department of health and social services, analyzed 2008 dental records and habits of 348 children between the ages of four and 15. ( editing by alex dobuzinskis and cynthia johnston )


how to do just that particularly in the virgin islands was on display tuesday at good hope school as the st. croix environmental association sponsored its second environmental science career expo in partnership with the v. i. network of environmental educators. the goal of the event was to enable middle school and high school students to learn about the career path choices, work experience and skills required to attain jobs in science and technological fields with representatives from private enterprises, government and nonprofit agencies participated. “ we want to get kids excited about science. we live on a small piece of land and are surrounded by the ocean and we have to take care of it, ” said st. croix environmental association spokeswoman lynnea roberts. “ beyond that, we want kids to be excited about college and going to study science, ” she said. “ there is a lot of science going on around the island that is sort of undercover and a lot of people don ’ t know about it. ” roberts said she hopes to put on two more of these career fairs later this year at both central and complex high schools. marcia taylor of the university of the virgin islands ’ center for marine and environmental studies said she was there to recruit the future. “ we want more young people going into careers related to the marine environment, ” taylor said. “ we want to get more local students trained so they can take the jobs here in their home. ” “ there are a lot of opportunities down here and it would be great if people that lived here could benefit from that, ” taylor said. she said graduates of the program, if they ’ ve wanted to stay and work in the territory, have had success in finding careers here. she also noted the same marine issues roberts mentioned — overfishing and ocean acidification. she said future job prospects in these fields would be plentiful for those interested in learning how to manage those problems and mitigate the effects of them, especially as they pertain to the v. i. coral reef systems. “ there are more federal dollars being spent down here because we realize we ’ re on the brink of losing an incredible resource. there ’ s more grants related to that, more people studying it and that ’ s an area where there ’ s more money being pumped in all the time. ” as students wandered from booth to booth learning about the work of those participating organizations, some teachers were even collaborating with agency representatives in the hopes of doing hands on work inside the classroom at a later date. leila muller of the v. i. energy office and teacher sarah


booth to booth learning about the work of those participating organizations, some teachers were even collaborating with agency representatives in the hopes of doing hands on work inside the classroom at a later date. leila muller of the v. i. energy office and teacher sarah christiansen of az academy were just one example as they were planning renewable energy demonstrations for christiansen ’ s fifth - and eighth - grade science students. “ this is the future, right here, ” christiansen said, pointing at some solar energy demonstrations. “ kids need to know what the future is going to be like and need to prepare for the future and what types of jobs and careers will be available. ” muller said, “ we ’ re also going to be doing more sustainable buildings and green buildings, ” adding that ’ s where the future is. “ and we want the young minds to know what opportunities there are in the field of energy. ” az academy sophomores conrad yanez and rick beggs said they came away from the event with more environmental knowledge of how to protect st. croix and with a possible goal to attain in the future. “ i might be interested in the science part of it, ” beggs said. “ maybe one day i ’ ll come up with a new way to protect corals. ” “ i think i might be a marine biologist, maybe mangroves or something like that, ” yanez added. “ i like working in places like salt river. it ’ s pretty interesting. ”


elements | blogs wednesday, september 7, 2011 is there oxygen in space? yes, this summer astronomers using the herschel telescope identified oxygen molecules in space. they found these molecules in the orion nebula, 1, 344 light years away. oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe. until now, scientists have only seen individual oxygen atoms in space. we do not breathe individual oxygen atoms, but rather oxygen molecules. ( a molecule is a group of atoms banded together and it is the smallest unit of chemical compound that can take part in a chemical reaction. ) oxygen molecules make up 20 % of the air we breathe. scientists theorize that the oxygen molecules were locked up in water ice that... thursday, march 10, 2011 i ' m atoms ( scientific cover of jason mraz ' s i ' m yours ) here in chicago it has been gray for the last three weeks – no sun, just melting snow and rain. this song made our day. it has sunshine, great music and atoms! the lyrics include fabulous lines such as : “ atoms bond together to form molecules most of what ’ s surrounding me and you … ” this science verse has been set to the music of jason mraz ’ s “ i ’ m yours ”. this is a must watch! saturday, february 26, 2011 the deep carbon observatory here at supersmart carbon, we love learning about carbon. apparently, we are not alone. there is a project being launched called the deep carbon observatory that is being funded by the alfred p. sloan foundation. the purpose of this group is to study carbon deep inside the earth. carbon makes up somewhere from 0. 7 % to 3. 2 % of the earth ’ s elements. we know that there is carbon trapped under the earth ’ s crust, but we don ’ t know how much. the deep carbon observatory is going to study how much carbon there is in the earth and what happens to it. another question is what form is the... friday, february 25, 2011 where does gas come from? carbon! ( we always love it when the answer is carbon. ) the gas we use to power our cars comes from decomposing organic matter. what does that mean? all life has carbon in it - - this includes everything living from you and me to zebras, tapeworms, tulips and seaweed. since all living things have carbon in them, they are referred to as organic matter. non - organic matter includes things like rocks, water and metals. when something organic dies


tutorials - grants workshop resources for history & social studies teachers resources and links compiled and annotated by salem in history staff. franklin and eleanor roosevelt institution grants franklin d. roosevelt presidential library and museum the roosevelt presidential library provides grants of up to $ 2500 for research in their archives on the roosevelt era. see website for application and deadlines. this page of the h - net website includes a listing of upcoming grant deadlines. grants for individuals michigan state university the msu library website has a large list of grants available to individuals in a number of areas, including history and education. kennedy library research grants john f. kennedy presidential library the jfk library offers several grants for researchers utilizing the collections of the library. although preference is given for phd candidates, all proposals are welcome. stipends range from $ 500 to $ 2500. see website for details. local cultural council program massachusetts cultural council through the mcc local cultural council program, cities and towns make grant money available for arts and education programs in their communities. the website has a list of contacts for local cultural councils. the millipore foundation funds programs including educational institutions and programs with an emphasis on grades k through 12 and culture. presidential libraries grants national archives & records administration funding is available from private foundations for research in several presidential libraries, including the john f. kennedy library in boston, the franklin d. roosevelt library in new york and the herbert hoover library in iowa. grants range from $ 500 to $ 2500. rogers family foundation the rogers family foundation was funded by the owners of eagle - tribune publishing company. they fund programs in the area of historical preservation, education and youth development, among others. save our history grants the history channel offers grants up to $ 10, 000 for schools to partner with local history organizations on projects that work to preserve local history. see website for application details and deadlines. associated grant makers associated grant makers is an organization connecting non - profit and philanthropic organizations. their boston office has a library of grant resources and offers classes on grant research and writing ( some are free ). there is also free public access to many of agm ’ s resources at the lowell telecommunications corporation at 246 market street, lowell ( http : / / www. ltc. org ). boston public library the boston public library social sciences department in copley square has a collection of material for grant researchers and writers, including grant directories and guides to proposal writing. the foundation center website has information on grant seeking and grant writing, and much of the material is free. provides a free database of


copley square has a collection of material for grant researchers and writers, including grant directories and guides to proposal writing. the foundation center website has information on grant seeking and grant writing, and much of the material is free. provides a free database of grants that can be searched by keyword and funding agency. salem state college the salem state college grants office provides grant research and writing support to ssc faculty, staff and students. the grants office website has a list of resources, grants databases, proposal writing guides and a glossary of grants terminology. the website also has a list of upcoming grants deadlines. “ a teacher ’ s guide to fellowships and awards ” massachusetts department of education this is an online guide to fellowships and awards available to teachers in massachusetts. included is a section on history / social studies. of particular interest : - ellender fellowships, for high school teachers to travel to washington, d. c. with their students. - fasse general grant, for innovative projects in social studies education. - geraldine r. dodge curriculum design award in history, for grade 7 - 12 innovative history curriculum design. - outstanding social studies teacher of the year awards. - taft seminars for teachers, advanced courses in american constitutional government for teachers. - torch programs, one week summer institutes for middle and high school teachers. also on the doe website is information on the following educator recognition programs ( http : / / www. doe. mass. edu / eq / recognition ) : - george washington teachers ’ institute, a one - week study program held at mount vernon. - preserve american history teacher of the year. christa mcauliffe reach for the stars award national council for the social studies grants of up to $ 1, 500 to assist social studies classroom teachers in developing and implementing imaginative, innovative, and illustrative social studies teaching strategies ; and supporting student implementation of innovative social studies, citizenship projects, field experiences, and community connections. c - span teacher fellowships the c - span teacher fellowships bring middle and high school teachers who use material from the c - span online archives in their classroom to washington, d. c. to share their lessons with other educators. national endowment for the humanities the neh offers fellowships for primary and secondary school teachers to conduct full - time advanced research in the humanities. see the website for instructions and deadlines. james madison memorial foundation fellowships james madison fellowships are granted to a select group of individuals desiring to become outstanding teachers of the american constitution. the boston athenaeum offers up to eight month - long fellowships to conduct research


the website for instructions and deadlines. james madison memorial foundation fellowships james madison fellowships are granted to a select group of individuals desiring to become outstanding teachers of the american constitution. the boston athenaeum offers up to eight month - long fellowships to conduct research in their collections. research may be used to develop curriculum and programs, and secondary school teachers are invited to apply. stipends of up to $ 1, 500 are provided for selected applicants. see the website for details and restrictions. massachusetts historical society the massachusetts historical society offers two summer fellowships for k - 12 teachers. they each provide a $ 4000 stipend for one month of research to prepare primary source - based curricula based on material in the mhs collections. the adams teacher fellowship requires the use of the adams family papers ( http : / / www. masshist. org / adams ). the swensrud teacher fellowship is available for projects using any primary sources in the mhs collections. professional development seminars & institutes civil war teachers institute the civil war preservation trust runs a free civic war teachers institute for grade 4 - 12 teachers. landmarks of american history and culture workshops national endowment for the humanities landmarks of american history summer workshops for teachers are offered across the country during the summer. they are designed to facilitate learning about particular aspects of american history through the study of primary sources and the interpretation of historical sites. k - 12 teachers are eligible to apply for workshops. if selected, applicants receive a stipend of $ 500 to help cover travel, living expenses and books. see the website for an updated list of summer workshops and application details. summer seminars for teachers gilder lehrman institute the gilder lehrman institute ( in nyc ) runs week - long summer seminars for teachers of history. seminars are taught by scholars from universities across the country. tuition is free and accepted teachers receive books, housing and a $ 500 stipend. see website for upcoming topics, applications and deadlines. supreme court institutes and seminars supreme court historical society & street laws, inc. “ the institutes and seminars are designed to help teachers grow professionally by deepening their knowledge about the supreme court and learning innovative teaching methods to help students master standards - based content related to the court and its cases. ” teacher resource center organization of american historians this website provides information about publications, resources and activities for history teachers. includes links to the oah magazine of history, recommended reading, conferences and professional development opportunities.


painting, artists and art ( technique, of all times ) painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface. in art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete. paintings may be decorated with gold leaf, and some modern paintings incorporate other materials including sand, clay, and scraps of paper. what is painting? is the fourth in a series of installations drawn from the museum ' s collection of contemporary art. it presents a selection of artworks made since approximately 1965, including a number of recent acquisitions and many works displayed for the first time since the museum ' s reopening. a variety of responses to the question " what is painting? " are proposed in loose chronological sequence, ranging from ironic to sincere ; from figurative to abstract ; and from an embrace and creative reimagining of painting ' s possibilities to a critical engagement with its limits. the installation ' s title derives from john baldessari ' s eponymous painting of 1966 – 68 ( with the addition of a question mark ), acknowledging the ongoing debates over the practice of painting and its place within contemporary art. painting is a mode of expression, and the forms are numerous. drawing, composition or abstraction and other aesthetics may serve to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner. paintings can be naturalistic and representational ( as in a still life or landscape painting ), photographic, abstract, be loaded with narrative content, symbolism, emotion or be political in nature... wikipedia


september 3rd, 2012 03 : 56 pm et the empowered patient is a regular feature from cnn senior medical news correspondent elizabeth cohen that helps put you in the driver ' s seat when it comes to health care. while there ' s no ironclad way to keep hantavirus away, there are steps you can take to minimize the chances that it will hurt you or your family. the virus is relatively rare : only 602 cases have been reported in the united states since 1993, according to the centers for disease control and prevention. recently, six cases of hantavirus were reported among people who visited yosemite national park in california. two of those infected people died. however, it ' s very deadly : about half of all people who get hantavirus die of it, according to the national institutes of health. though some people do get it from camping, such as the recent yosemite cases, many more people contract hantavirus in their own homes, according to the cdc. the virus is spread by rodent droppings and urine. here are some tips from the cdc and nih for keeping hantavirus at bay : 1. seal holes inside and outside your home to keep rodents out. 2. trap rodents around your home. 3. while camping, sleep on ground cover and a pad. 4. when opening an unused cabin, open all doors and windows. leave for 30 minutes, and when you return, spray disinfectant and then leave for another 30 minutes. 5. know the signs : early symptoms include chills, fever and muscle aches. within one or two days, it becomes hard to breathe. september 3rd, 2012 03 : 00 pm et we all know stress is bad for you, but just how bad? it would be unethical to intentionally subject people to extreme psychological duress in the name of science. but ongoing military operations offer opportunities to see what happens to people exposed to stressful situations. researchers in the netherlands found the brains of soldiers who go into combat show impairment in function and structure upon returning, but that these effects largely go away over time. about this blog get a behind - the - scenes look at the latest stories from cnn chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen and the cnn medical unit producers. they ' ll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.


turning of the tide at tonle sap tonle sap is an interesting body of fresh water. certain times of the year, it is a lake and other times of the year it is a river. during the dry season ( november - may ) the water drains into the mekong in phnom penh creating a river and when the monsoon season hits ( june - october ), the flow of water reverses back and forms a lake. the lake / river hybrid is also an important element of cambodia because of the area ’ s rich diversity of ecological life and the water ’ s importance to the villagers in the area. bon om thong or the khmer water festival is celebrated during late october or early november ’ s full moon when the water reverses its flow. for three days, the towns and villages along the river, including phnom penh bursts into life with fleets of luminously decorated boats filling tonle sap. celebrations also happen in angkor wat, although smaller in scale it is still impressive, with the temple serving as a scenic backdrop. the highlights of the festival are the boat races that draw huge crowds from all over and are contested by hundreds of boats comprising thousands of paddlers. the festival itself has ancient roots. angkorian kings would hold competitions and see who the greatest warriors were. you can compare this competition to a joust in europe as a means of training and a contest under the king ’ s watchful eye. bon om thong also has spiritual significance. people would pray and thank the river for providing water, fertile land, and fish. being around tonle sap around this time is an excellent time to discover cambodia and join the locals in the biggest celebration of the year. * * * * * published on 11 / 12 / 09


gallup has conducted an expansive survey in an attempt to determine how many people openly identify as a member of the lgbt community across the united states. while the difference between specific states was not particularly significant, research gary gates points out that the findings do show that states with more protections for lgbt people tend to have more out lgbt people : in general, states where residents express more liberal views are more accepting of lgbt individuals, while socially conservative areas are less accepting. of the 10 states and d. c. where at least 4 % of respondents identified as lgbt, seven are among the most liberal states in the country. conversely, six of 10 states with the lowest percentage of lgbt - identified adults are among the top 10 conservative states in the country. the states with proportionally larger lgbt populations generally have supportive lgbt legal climates. with the exception of south dakota, all of the states that have lgbt populations of at least 4 % have laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and allow same - sex couples to marry, enter into a civil union, or register as domestic partners. of the 10 states with the lowest percentage of lgbt adults, only iowa has such laws. with demographics, it ’ s always important to keep in mind that the number represents something very specific : the number of people who are willing to disclose their identity to an anonymous pollster. it doesn ’ t represent the number of people who are actually gay but don ’ t want to tell a pollster, who don ’ t yet know that they ’ re gay, who deny that they ’ re gay, or who don ’ t identify as gay but do engage in same - sex behavior. still, these numbers are telling. the health benefits of coming out are well documented, so in an indirect way, these results show that having laws that protect lgbt people not only protect them from discrimination, but support their mental health and well - being. indeed, the value of such positive climates is arguably a more compelling conclusion from this study than the demographics themselves. here ’ s how the states ranked in terms of how many people identified as lgbt :


| 12 / 7 / 1941 - world war ii : attack on pearl harbor - the imperial japanese navy attacks the us pacific fleet and its defending army air forces and marine air forces at pearl harbor, hawaii. pearl harbor was one of those watershed events in history that would make an impression on everyone whether they were there or not. the link is a page about pearl harbor presented by the eye witness to history site, where historical events are explored using interviews and reporting of statements from eyewitnesses. this site is always a good place to go to get a little more personal with your history. attack at pearl harbor, 1941 world war cycle - depression / world war ii era - fourth turning, crisis ( 1930 - 1944 ) b. 12 / 7 / 1873 - willa cather, american novelist ( d. april 24, 1947 ) last year ( 12 / 7 / 2005 ) : nobel prize in literature winner harold pinter accuses britain and the united states of engaging in state terrorism in iraq and demands the prosecution of george w. bush and tony blair. this week ' s news / tomorrow ' s history ( 12 / 6 / 2006 ) : the iraq study group, a bipartisan group chartered by the united states congress, states that the situation in iraq is " grave and deteriorating " and calls for a change in strategy including the removal of most united states troops by early 2008. view prior history today posts.


an economist who put a premium on truth : obituary of leonid hurwicz financial times comment, 19 july 2008 leonid hurwicz, the economist who last year became the oldest person ever to win a nobel prize, helped transform economic thinking in the second half of the 20th century. for years economists had been passionately debating the rival merits of state planning versus free markets. in both systems, people had incentives to lie to bureaucratic planners or to employers about their interests, their skills or their circumstances. “ leo ”, who has died at the age of 90, founded the field of “ mechanism design ”, a new way of thinking which focused on giving people incentives to tell the truth and to do so in a way that would benefit society as a whole. his mechanism design idea has applications in a range of practical areas, from the design of computer networks and voting systems to arbitration rules. the debate between state planning and free markets must have seemed far from academic to hurwicz. his parents were polish jews who fled the kaiser ’ s invading army, going to moscow, where hurwicz was born in 1917. they returned to poland in a horse - drawn wagon to escape the bolsheviks when he was two. he went to the university of warsaw and took a degree in law, though he also studied piano at the conservatory. throughout his life hurwicz was a renaissance man whose interests included music, linguistics, maths, physics and meteorology. yet as a student his interest was kindled in economics. he went to london to study and then, via geneva, to the us, where he arrived in 1940. his parents and his brother joined him but only after fleeing another invading german army – this time the nazis – and then spending time in soviet labour camps. on his travels, hurwicz had studied under both ludwig von mises and friedrich hayek, who was at the london school of economics as hurwicz began his phd studies there in 1938. von mises and hayek argued that a centrally planned economy was doomed to collapse : because every individual knew his own needs and capabilities best, government planners could never hope to piece it all together and make sensible decisions. other economists, such as oskar lange, disagreed. a burgeoning economic theory of competitive markets, and bitter experience of the failings of socialist economies, led many to conclude that von mises and hayek were right. hurwicz was more interested in advancing the debate than declaring victory. “ panaceas are not to be found at either end of the spectrum


the failings of socialist economies, led many to conclude that von mises and hayek were right. hurwicz was more interested in advancing the debate than declaring victory. “ panaceas are not to be found at either end of the spectrum, ” he wrote in 1984. he agreed with hayek and von mises that a bureaucrat who simply demanded results would be met with slacking, budgetpadding and lies. but rather than giving up, hurwicz attacked the problem directly. he asked what “ mechanisms ” an intelligent but ill - informed planner might use to extract information from others and then allocate resources fairly, efficiently or profitably. such mechanisms are as old as trade itself, most obviously the auction, in which even an ignorant seller can expect a good price. but hurwicz laid the foundations for thinking systematically about designing mechanisms, defining all the terms rigorously and showing what might be possible. hurwicz described a mechanism as a kind of “ message centre ”, where market participants would submit information, true or false, and a pre - specified set of rules would adjudicate the result. that abstract description is a perfect account of an ebay auction : a seller sets a minimum bid, a time limit and perhaps a reserve price, while bidders submit bids that may bear no resemblance to the true value they place on the prize. ebay is just one example of a message centre ; hurwicz showed that it was useful to think about many economic institutions in this way. participants in a mechanism can always lie. a keen buyer can pretend to be an indifferent one ; a brilliant worker can conceal his laziness. hurwicz realised that in order to get a better bid from the keenest buyer, for example, the seller must give that buyer a reason to tell the truth. similarly, an employer cannot persuade the ablest worker to work just as hard as the rest unless the extra effort brings extra rewards. the general problem of persuading the “ best ” agents to act differently from the rest is called the “ incentive compatibility constraint ”. one example would be an auction where the highest bidder wins but only has to pay the second highest bid. this strange - sounding rule is all it takes to persuade the keenest bidder to tell the truth about the real value he places on the prize. ebay uses a similar rule. although hurwicz studied with the greats of the field – including nicholas kaldor at the lse, and paul samuelson – he never had


the truth about the real value he places on the prize. ebay uses a similar rule. although hurwicz studied with the greats of the field – including nicholas kaldor at the lse, and paul samuelson – he never had an economics degree. “ whatever economics i learned, i learned by listening and learning, ” he said, after winning the nobel prize. a warm and charming man, he had an impish wit. once, a seminar speaker wrote an equation on the board, declared that the proof was “ obvious ” and stared around, daring anyone to challenge him. “ is that proof by intimidation? ” hurwicz quipped. he joined the faculty of the university of minnesota in 1951 and stayed there all his working life, even as his reputation outstripped the department ’ s. “ self - promotion was completely alien to him, ” said john roberts, a professor at stanford. “ he could have moved and he chose not to. ” he travelled widely, spending time as a visiting professor at many universities, including stints in bangalore, tokyo and beijing. a long - time member of the minnesota democrats, he supported the anti - vietnam war candidacy of eugene mccarthy and sat as a delegate at the party ’ s national convention in 1968. he remained involved in the party up until his death. some felt he should have won the nobel prize sooner. he was not outwardly perturbed. “ i never had the impression that the wait bothered him, ” said eric maskin, who shared the prize with hurwicz and roger myerson. he is survived by his wife, evelyn jensen – they married in 1944 – and their two sons and two daughters.


it ' s easy at first glance to envision the caribbean islands as all being the same sunny, sandy vacation destinations, but they are different in as many ways as they are similar. just as political and economic factors determine the personality of the islands, so do various landforms that may, or may not, be shared from island to island. the islands of the caribbean, like all other islands, have water that surrounds them on every side. individual islands and groups of islands belong to various nations. puerto rico and the american virgin islands belong to the united states. among the territories of britain are bermuda and the british virgin islands. the islands range widely in size, with cuba being the largest, followed by hispaniola and jamaica. many of the smaller islands are uninhabited. some of the uninhabited islands, such as the isla de ratones just off the shore of puerto rico, are available for day trips and are reached by ferries, boats or kayaks. the larger islands of the caribbean have enough land space to support rivers. hispaniola has four primary rivers : yaque del norte, yuna river, yaque del sur and the artibonite river. cuba ' s important rivers are the rio cauto, which is the longest, rio almendares and rio yurimi. smaller rivers contribute to these three main rivers. the grande de arecibo is puerto rico ' s longest river. this river, along with several others such as the cibuco, loiza and la plata, run north. one river runs westward : the grande de anasco. the bahamas have no rivers. many of the caribbean islands have mountainous areas. most of puerto rico ' s mountains are located on the island ' s interior. jamaica has mountains that cover almost all of its surface. the dry harbour mountains run east - west along the northern part of the island, with the blue mountains on the east. cuba is not a very mountainous country, but it has a few mountain ranges. the sierra maestra in cuba are on the easternmost diagonal coastline, and the cordillera de guaniguanico is on the west coast. the grupo guamuhaya are in the center and south - center of the island. because the caribbean consists of islands, one of the prevalent landforms is the beach. temperate weather and access to sand and surf have helped the caribbean islands thrive as tourist destinations. the sand on the beaches of the caribbean come in many different colors. beaches in bermuda and the bahamas are known for their pink sands, formed by


the beach. temperate weather and access to sand and surf have helped the caribbean islands thrive as tourist destinations. the sand on the beaches of the caribbean come in many different colors. beaches in bermuda and the bahamas are known for their pink sands, formed by the shells of certain tiny sea creatures. some caribbean beaches are the result of volcanic matter breaking down. black sand is not as smooth as typical white, tan or pink sand, and many black sand beaches are pebble beaches. these beaches are found on montserrat, st. kitts and granada, among others. salt flats form when salt water evaporates, leaving the salt behind on large, flat areas of land. the salt flats of puerto rico, located in the cabo rojo region in the southwest part of the island, are protected as a part of the u. s. fish and wildlife service ' s cabo rojo national wildlife refuge. another place in the caribbean that has salt flats is the small island of bonaire. the salt is harvested from the flats that lie on the southern tip of the island, but a portion of the salt flats of bonaire is set aside as a sanctuary for flamingos. the central coastline is the tourist area of bonaire which is a frequent port of call for caribbean cruise ships. - world atlas : caribbean landforms - cabo rojo puerto rico : isla de ratones - hispaniola. com : geography of the dominican republic - havana - guide. com : major rivers in cuba - welcome to puerto rico : geography of puerto rico - the bahamas guide : bahamas geography and geology - sol boricua : geography of puerto rico - geography and history of jamaica : physical features - hicuba. com : geography of cuba - caribbean magazine : types of caribbean beaches - - white, pink and black - dc productions / photodisc / getty images


teaching strategies : effective discussion leading while lecturing is a fast and direct way to communicate a body of knowledge, discussion encourages students to discover solutions for themselves and to develop their critical thinking abilities. they learn how to generate ideas, consider relevant issues, evaluate solutions, and consider the implications of these solutions. thus, although discussion is not as efficient as lecture in conveying facts, it helps students learn how to think better and more clearly about the facts that they should learn from their reading and their lectures. leading a discussion, however, offers its own set of challenges : participants can spend too much time exploring small, sometimes irrelevant issues, forget that they are progressing toward an identifiable goal, and become bored. the leader must guide the conversation carefully without stifling creativity and students ' initiative and without surrendering to some students ' desire for answers that they can write down and memorize. here are four strategies that can help faculty and tas encourage students explore issues themselves : we all know that creating a fine lecture requires research and planning ; we sometimes forget that leading a good discussion requires the same research and planning and demands spontaneous responses in the classroom. the beauty of the extra demand is that developing the skills for intervening and directing discussions leads to exciting, productive exchanges that help students learn to think clearly and creatively, while simultaneously inspiring you to teach more thoroughly and carefully. " discussions : leading and guiding, but not controlling, " the teaching professor vi, 8 [ october 1992 ]. )