map - making has often adapted technologies designed for purposes other than making maps. i recall scitex hardware as the state - of - the - art in large format color computer mapping in the early 1980s when i was first learning cartography. cartography applications were developed when scitex, its origins in designing and printing textiles, noticed “ the similarity between printing large fabric surfaces and coloring topographic surfaces. ” ( pdf source ). step back a few generations and we find the then ubiquitous typewriter adapted to making maps by diy cartographers. it is not difficult to find old diy maps that used a typewriter to create type, like this 1950s map ( below ) of camp tonkawa in east texas ( source ). this is a sketch map that was run through a typewriter for typographic annotations : a more sophisticated diy approach to typing maps was detailed by r. a. daly in the march 1905 issue of the american journal of science. daly describes a typewriter with special characters – examples shown in the graphic which heads this posting – for creating area patterns on maps : it is safe to say that the majority of persons are seriously hampered in the preparation of text illustrations by the difficulty and expense entailed in the tedious drawing of map, section or diagram. yet the desirability of greatly increasing the proportion of such illustrations in the thousands of scientific articles published each year is manifest. that clearness, precision and conciseness in the exposition of a theme are generally enhanced by the use of abundant, appropriate diagrams and maps is as evident as that the blackboard is the constant friend of the teacher. ideally, the author should himself be able to make the original drawing quickly, neatly and artistically. the usual execution of drawing with the pen is, to the average author, discouragingly slow and expensive, not always neat, and still less often artistic. the following note relates to some experiments made to increase rapidity and neatness in the production of line drawings by the use of a machine. enough success has been attained to warrant the recommendation of the machine method to geologists, geographers, and others. recently the hammond typewriter company of new york has constructed, for the geological survey department of canada, a typewriter provided with a carbon ribbon and with ninety special characters designed for the preparation of line drawings to accompany geological and geographical papers. it is to be understood, of course, in the preparation of a diagram that an outline drawing is first prepared, and that the spaces thus formed are filled


and with ninety special characters designed for the preparation of line drawings to accompany geological and geographical papers. it is to be understood, of course, in the preparation of a diagram that an outline drawing is first prepared, and that the spaces thus formed are filled with the symbols shown in the legends, by means of the machine. the earliest printed computer maps, such as the map below created with symap software in the mid - 1960s, used a line printer. line printers were, more or less, a typewriter adapted to printing from a computer. computer output, on monitors and printers, was limited to typical typewriter characters – letters, numbers, and symbols such as + or = or %. these limited symbols could be used to create area patterns on maps. a modification of the line printer hardware allowed the overprinting of characters, the darkest being overprinted oxav ranging down to a “ - ” for the lightest area pattern. the table below provides the overprint line printer symbols for a nine step range of grey tones : the output was actually less sophisticated than the output from the 1905 map typewriter given the limited symbology of the line printer : a recent book by nick chrisman called charting the unknown ( esri press, 2006 ) documents the early history of computer mapping and gis at harvard university ’ s laboratory for computer graphics and spatial analysis, including the symap software which produced the above map. • • • source of above quotes : “ machine - made line drawings for the illustration of scientific papers ” by r. a. daly. american journal of science, march 1905. source of line printer symbols table : r. mould and c. wyld, “ a comparison between line printer and conventional polaroid gamma camera displays using a liver phantom. off - line computer and contour mapping package. ” physics in medicine and biology, 18 : 1, january 1973, p. 88 - 99.


if you ’ re in the market for some new threads, consider buying old ones. thrift store shopping can be a great way to save money and reduce your impact on the environment, if you can stand to wear gently - used garments — ones that have seen a wash cycle, of course. also, donating your old clothes to a second - hand store in marina del rey instead of throwing them in the trash will keep your contribution from ending up in a landfill. some thrift shops will even buy your old digs, cha - ching. like any other industrialized nation, the united states produces a lot. we are a nation of producers and consumers. we buy new things, then we throw away the packaging. in some cases, we trash the actual things we buy when they become damaged or obsolete, then we buy more new things. this makes for a lot of waste, most of which — 56 percent, according to the environmental protection agency — will end up in a landfill though clothing and other textiles made up less than 10 percent of municipal solid waste — things we use and throw away each day, like product packaging, food scraps, grass clippings, sofas, computers, tires and refrigerators — produced in 2010, it ’ s still about 13 million tons of the stuff, according to the epa. only 15 percent of the textiles thrown away in 2010 were recovered for recycling. we are getting better at recycling, but we ’ re also producing more waste. the epa estimates that the rate at which we recycle municipal solid waste has increased from less than 10 percent in 1980 to approximately 34 percent in 2010. however, during that time, the amount of waste produced per person per day has increased from 3. 66 - 4. 43 pounds, according to the agency. are you a thrift shopper or donator? have you sold your threads to a second - hand store? let us know in the comments section.


see also the browse high school calculus stars indicate particularly interesting answers or good places to begin browsing. selected answers to common questions : maximizing the volume of a box. maximizing the volume of a cylinder. volume of a tank. what is a derivative? - modelling discrete data with exponential functions [ 5 / 14 / 1996 ] how can i fit an exponential function to a set of three discrete data - monkey climbing a chain [ 09 / 22 / 1999 ] a 20 - lb. monkey is attached to a 50 - ft. chain that weighs 0. 5 lb. per - the monotone convergence theorem [ 10 / 02 / 1998 ] could you please explain the meaning and purpose of the monotone - moving a circle on a polar graph [ 05 / 04 / 2001 ] how do you move a circle so the center is not ( 0, 0 ), but to where the center can be ( r, [ theta ] )? - moving particle [ 07 / 14 / 1999 ] assume a particle moves on the x - axis according to the formula x = t ^ 3 - 6t ^ 2 + 9t + 5. find : the velocity when t = 3... - the moving shadow [ 03 / 24 / 1999 ] a man walks toward a light... at what rate does the tip of his shadow move and at what rate does its length change? - multidimensional calculus and vector geometry [ 02 / 09 / 1999 ] the depth of iron ore can be approximated by a plane... - navigation formula [ 10 / 14 / 1996 ] given the starting latitude, longitude, distance, and course of a plane, what formula gives its destination latitude and longitude? - newton - raphson method [ 02 / 28 / 2000 ] how can i find the 1st, 2nd, 3rd iterations and the parameters of x ^ 3 - 13. 1x ^ 2 + 48. 48x - 46. 62 using the newton - raphson method? - newton - raphson method [ 06 / 24 / 2009 ] are there any equations that cannot be solved using the newton - raphson method, regardless of the initial estimate? - newton ' s method and square roots [ 12 / 04 / 1998 ] can you explain how finding square roots by hand relates to newton ' s method for approximating the zero of a function? - non - constant functions [ 02 / 12 / 2001 ] are there any non - constant functions f and g such that ( f * g ) ' = f ' * g '


to newton ' s method for approximating the zero of a function? - non - constant functions [ 02 / 12 / 2001 ] are there any non - constant functions f and g such that ( f * g ) ' = f ' * g '? - nondifferentiable functions [ 11 / 6 / 1994 ] in my calculus book, it mentions a function that is not differentiable at any point due to the fact that it is not smooth at any point. it does not go any farther, and i was interested in hearing more. - non - linear equation [ 2 / 13 / 1996 ] solve 5x ^ 2 + log ( x ) = 0 for x... - nonvertical asymptotes [ 10 / 16 / 2001 ] does this problem have slant asymptotes? f ( x ) = ( x ^ ( 4 / 3 ) + x ^ ( 1 / 3 ) - 2 ) / ( x ^ ( 4 / 3 ) - 16 ). i ' m also having trouble taking the derivative of this problem : - a norman window [ 1 / 16 / 1995 ] a norman window is a window in the shape of a rectangle with a semicircle attached to the top. assuming that the perimeter of the window is 12 feet, find the dimensions that allow the maximum amount of light to - the n targets problem [ 11 / 15 / 2001 ] given n targets with equal probability of being hit by a cannon, that is, 1 / n. let x be the number of firings required to hit all the targets. what is the expectation e ( x ) of x? - numeric derivatives using ti - 83, ti - 92 [ 10 / 17 / 2003 ] my calculator says that the numeric derivative of sin ( x ) is sin ( 2x ) / ( 2x ). shouldn ' t it be cos ( x )? - oblique asymptotes [ 04 / 03 / 2002 ] i ' m stuck on how to calculate oblique limits, for example, x ^ 2 / ( x - 3 ). - odd bernoulli numbers must be 0 [ 02 / 16 / 2003 ] take the second derivative of t / exp ( t ) - 1 and find that it is an even function ; show that an even function, when expressed as a taylor series, has only even powers of t ; draw the conclusion that the odd bernoulli numbers have to be 0. - odes and integration with the chain rule [ 05 / 30


function ; show that an even function, when expressed as a taylor series, has only even powers of t ; draw the conclusion that the odd bernoulli numbers have to be 0. - odes and integration with the chain rule [ 05 / 30 / 1998 ] what is an ordinary differential equation? how do you integrate f ' ( x ) = - oil can dimensions [ 12 / 11 / 2001 ] what are the dimensions of an oil can with a one - liter capacity that uses the least amount of tin? - operating a tour service [ 5 / 21 / 1996 ] how many people does it take to maximize your profit? - optimization [ 12 / 13 / 1995 ] an ap calculus student asks questions about his chapter test. - optimization [ 11 / 26 / 1996 ] to make a funnel, we take a circular piece of metal, cut out a sector, and connect the two radial edges together to make an open cone. what should the angle of the sector be to maximize the volume of the cone? - optimization : minimum area [ 11 / 07 / 1997 ] how do you fold a piece of paper ( rect. with width a and unlimited length ) so one corner just reaches the righthand side for minimum area? - optimization ( min - max ) [ 01 / 21 / 2001 ] if a piece of string of fixed length is made to enclose a rectangle, show that the enclosed area is greatest when the rectangle is a square. - optimizing advertising [ 10 / 15 / 2003 ] doubling the amount spent on advertising increases total income by 20 percent. what is the optimum level of advertising? - ordinary differential equation, second order [ 10 / 26 / 2002 ] i ' ve been looking for solutions to the differential equation y ' ' = x ^ 2 - parametric equations [ 07 / 21 / 1998 ] a curve is given parametrically by the equations : x = ( 3 - 2k ) ^ 2 and y = ( 2 + k ) ^ 2. find dy / dx, the x - intercept, the cartesian equation... - partial derivatives [ 03 / 24 / 2001 ] what sense do partial derivatives make in the case where u is given as a function of two variables, say x and y...? - partial fractions [ 06 / 08 / 1997 ] how do you break 1 / x ^ 2 * ( x + 2 ) into partial fractions? - partial fractions [ 11 / 23 / 2003 ] i need to put this fraction into power series formation :


##s [ 06 / 08 / 1997 ] how do you break 1 / x ^ 2 * ( x + 2 ) into partial fractions? - partial fractions [ 11 / 23 / 2003 ] i need to put this fraction into power series formation : ( 3x ^ 2 - x ) / ( x ^ 3 - x ^ 2 - x + 1 ). i ' ve tried to use partial fractions but keep getting stuck. - percentage of numbers divisible by 6, 8 [ 03 / 18 / 2003 ] what percentage of numbers is divisible by 6? by 8? - permutation and combination equality [ 07 / 18 / 1999 ] prove that ( nc0 ) ^ 2 + ( nc1 ) ^ 2 + ( nc2 ) ^ 2 +... + ( ncn ) ^ 2 = ( 2ncn ), where nci = n! / ( ( n - i )! * i! ). - picard ' s method [ 08 / 10 / 1997 ] can you tell me about picard ' s iteration method of solving differential - plane flying parametrically [ 06 / 28 / 1999 ] how can i find out when a plane, whose position approaching an airport is described parametrically by p _ t = ( 1000, 500, 900 ) + t [ - 100, - 50, - 90 ], will be closest to the traffic control center, located at ( 24, 11, 13 )? - point of inflection [ 05 / 17 / 1997 ] the cubic polynomial h ( x ) = x ^ 3 - 3bx ^ 2 + 3cx + d has a local maximum and a local minimum... - point on a parabola [ 1 / 9 / 1995 ] how do you find the point on the parabola y = x ^ 2 nearest the point ( - - points of intersection [ 08 / 31 / 1997 ] estimate all points of intersection of the graphs f ( x ) = x + sin x and g ( x ) = x ^ 3 by using a calculator or computer. how do you know you have found them all?


see also the dr. math faq : order of operations 3d and higher browse middle school algebra stars indicate particularly interesting answers or good places to begin browsing. selected answers to common questions : direct and indirect variation. inequalities and negative numbers. positive / negative integer rules. solving simple linear equations. - formulas for the equation of a line [ 09 / 28 / 1998 ] can you explain the meaning behind the point - slope formula? what about other formulas for the equation of a line? - four methods of solving classic chicken and egg problems [ 02 / 24 / 2009 ] if 6 cats can kill 6 rats in 6 minutes, how many cats will it take to kill 100 rats in 50 minutes? a look at four different solution methods for this sort of problem. - the fourth dimension [ 8 / 24 / 1995 ] what is the fourth dimension mathematically? - fraction : algebra without the equations [ 8 / 23 / 1996 ] i have come up with a way to solve fraction problems like " 2 / 3 of? = 66 ", but i have no idea why it works. - fraction equation problem [ 5 / 10 / 1995 ] let 1 / a = a + 1 / b = b + 1 / c = c + 1 / d = 2. what is the value of abcd? - fraction equivalents of decimals that repeat... mostly [ 05 / 04 / 2010 ] how do you find the fraction equivalent of a repeating decimals that also includes digits that do not repeat? doctor greenie tweaks a student ' s formal algebraic approach, introduces another wrinkle grounded in the base ten number system, then shares two algorithms based on his work with high school students who take part in - fraction or decimal form? [ 07 / 30 / 2002 ] is it better to write 1 / 2 ( 6x - 3 ( 2x - 1 ) ) or 0. 5 ( 6x - 3 ( 2x - 1 ) ), and why? - fractions and cross multiplication [ 07 / 14 / 1998 ] when do you cross - multiply in solving fractions? - fractions and lowest terms [ 07 / 19 / 2001 ] simplifying expressions : how do you finish cancelling fractions, and then what do you multiply? what is the lowest term? - from word problems to equations [ 01 / 28 / 1999 ] if the sides of a square are lengthened by 3m, the area becomes 81m squared. find the length of a side of the original square. -


is the lowest term? - from word problems to equations [ 01 / 28 / 1999 ] if the sides of a square are lengthened by 3m, the area becomes 81m squared. find the length of a side of the original square. - functions and equations [ 02 / 10 / 2001 ] when is an equation also a function? how do you recognize a function? - a game in three rounds [ 04 / 19 / 1999 ] after three rounds each of the girls has 8 chips. how many chips did they have at the start? - geometrically completing the square [ 08 / 07 / 1997 ] what are the steps for geometrically completing the square? - getting the job done [ 12 / 17 / 1996 ] two typists share a job and each does half of the work. the second typist begins working one hour after the first... - given perimeters, find sides [ 8 / 5 / 1996 ] a triangle and a rectangle have equal perimeters... find the sides. - grade averages [ 11 / 16 / 1995 ] if johnny has an 82 % average for the 1st 9wks and a 75 % average for the 2nd 9wks, what grade would he have to get on the final to receive an 80 % semester grade? the grades are weighted as follows : each 9wks 40 % and the semester test 20 %. - graphing intercepts [ 11 / 06 / 1997 ] how would i find the intercept for a problem such as 3x - 2y = 12? - graphing slope intercept [ 02 / 13 / 1999 ] when given the slope intercept form, how do you know whether you rise or drop when looking at the slope? - grid patterns [ 09 / 10 / 99 ] finding a formula for the difference between the diagonal products of the numbers in a 2x2 square within a 3x5 rectangle of numbers, and generalizing it for any rectangle of numbers. - guess and check tables, algebra [ 10 / 12 / 2002 ] find the mass of hector ' s math, science, and spanish textbooks. - hands of a clock [ 10 / 10 / 1997 ] how many times do the hour and minute hands cross in a 12 - hour period of - heads and legs [ 07 / 25 / 2001 ] joe counts 48 heads and 134 legs among the chickens and dogs on his farm. how many dogs and how many chickens does he have? - a hen and a half [ 09 / 23 / 1998 ] if a hen and a half lays an egg


] joe counts 48 heads and 134 legs among the chickens and dogs on his farm. how many dogs and how many chickens does he have? - a hen and a half [ 09 / 23 / 1998 ] if a hen and a half lays an egg and a half in a day and a half, how many eggs will five hens lay in 6 days? - hot air balloons [ 12 / 25 / 1996 ] a hot air balloon covered 2100 miles in 7 days. if it covered 50 miles more each day than the day before, how many miles did it cover each day? - how does the trick work? [ 06 / 20 / 2003 ] from time to time i ' ve run across math tricks that ask me to give a number, then take me through a series of other questions and by the time i work my way to the end, the trick tells me my original number. - how does the volume change? [ 03 / 04 / 1999 ] we have been doing a project where we change one side of an object and see how it affects the volume... - how long is duke the dog? [ 09 / 04 / 2001 ] duke the dog ' s head is 6 inches long, his tail is as long as his head plus half the length of his body, and his body is as long as the head and the tail combined. - how long is the train? [ 05 / 21 / 1999 ] two trains are traveling in opposite directions along parallel tracks, train a at 72kph and train b at 54kph... - how many apples? [ 09 / 19 / 2002 ] how many apples did john get from his boss? - how many coins did each originally have? [ 10 / 22 / 2001 ] natalie has some nickels, dirk has some dimes, and quincy has some quarters. dirk has five more dimes than quincy has quarters... how many coins did each originally have? - how many factor pairs does a given number have? [ 03 / 19 / 2004 ] i ' m wondering if there is a formula or algorithm that will tell me exactly how many pairs of factors a number has? - how many games were tied? [ 06 / 07 / 1999 ] how many games are tied if each team receives 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and no points for a loss, and after 4 rounds the accumulated points are : lions 22, tigers 19, mounties 14, royals 12? - how many mice, cats, and dogs? [ 01 / 13


, 1 point for a tie, and no points for a loss, and after 4 rounds the accumulated points are : lions 22, tigers 19, mounties 14, royals 12? - how many mice, cats, and dogs? [ 01 / 13 / 2003 ] you must spend $ 100 to buy 100 pets, choosing at least one of each pet. the pets and their prices are : mice @ $ 0. 25 each, cats @ $ 1. 00 each, and dogs @ $ 15. 00 each. how many mice, cats, and dogs must you - how many of each ticket were sold? [ 09 / 06 / 2001 ] five hundred tickets were sold for a play, for $ 8 at the lower level and $ 6 at the upper level, totaling $ 3600. - how many stools? how many tables? [ 12 / 13 / 2002 ] in their spare time, the buffalo bills operations staff members build 3 - legged stools and 4 - legged tables. last month they used 72 legs to build 3 more stools than tables. - how many trains meet? [ 09 / 17 / 2001 ] every hour, on the hour, a train leaves tallahassee for jacksonville, while another train leaves jacksonville for tallahassee. the trip between the two cities takes exactly two hours. how many trains going in the opposite direction will a tallahassee train to jacksonville meet? - how many valentines? [ 02 / 10 / 2003 ] if everyone in your class gave a valentine to everyone else in your class, how many valentines would be exchanged? - how much does the youngest boy get? [ 05 / 25 / 2000 ] five brothers, each born in a different year, share a gift of $ 100... - how much money entering the first store? [ 09 / 26 / 2002 ] timothy spent all of his money at five stores. at each store, he spent $ 1 more than half of the amount he had when entering the store. how much money did he have when he entered the first store? - how much popcorn did paul sell? [ 01 / 28 / 2002 ] paul made $ 44. 14 selling 27 items ( beer and popcorn ). if he made $ 1. 22 selling popcorn and $ 2. 62 selling beer, how many boxes of popcorn were


hepatitis a is an infection of the liver. it can be passed easily from contaminated food, water, or close contact with an infected person.. hepatitis a is caused by a specific virus. it may be spread by : - drinking water contaminated by raw sewage - eating food contaminated by the hepatitis a virus, especially if it has not been properly cooked - eating raw or partially cooked shellfish contaminated by raw sewage - sexual contact with a partner infected with the hepatitis a virus, especially as oral - anal contact hepatitis a is present in stool of people with the infection. they can spread the infection if they do not wash their hands after using the bathroom and touch other objects or food. factors that increase your chance of a hepatitis a infection include : - having close contact with an infected person — although the virus is generally not spread by casual contact - using household items that were used by an infected person and not properly cleaned - having oral - anal sexual contact with an infected person - traveling to or spending long periods of time in a country where hepatitis a is common or where sanitation is poor - working as a childcare worker, changing diapers or toilet training children - being in daycare centers - being institutionalized - injecting drugs — especially if you share needles - receiving plasma products, common in conditions like hemophilia hepatitis a does not always cause symptoms. adults are more likely to have them than children. - loss of appetite - nausea and vomiting - abdominal pain or discomfort - yellowing of the eyes and skin - darker colored urine - light or chalky colored stools the doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. a physical exam will be done. tests may include : - blood test — to look for signs of hepatitis a - liver function studies hepatitis a usually goes away on its own within two months. there are no lasting effects in most once the infection passes. the goals of hepatitis a treatments are to : - help you stay as comfortable as possible - prevent the infection from being passed to others - prevent stress on the liver while it ' s healing. mainly done by avoiding certain substances like specific medications or alcohol you will be immune to the virus once you are well. in rare cases, the infection is very severe. a liver transplant may be needed in these cases if the liver is severely damaged. to decrease your chance of hepatitis a : - wash your hands often with soap and water. - wash your hands before eating or preparing food. - avoid using household utensils that a person with hepatitis a may touch. make sure all household utens


to decrease your chance of hepatitis a : - wash your hands often with soap and water. - wash your hands before eating or preparing food. - avoid using household utensils that a person with hepatitis a may touch. make sure all household utensils are carefully cleaned. - avoid sexual contact with a person with hepatitis a. - avoid injected drug use. if you do, do not share needles. if you travel to a high risk region, take the following precautions : - drink bottled water - avoid ice chips - wash fruits well - eat well - cooked food medical treatments that may help prevent infection include : - immune ( gamma ) globulin — temporary protection from hepatitis a. it can last about 3 - 6 months. it must be given before exposure to the virus or within two weeks after exposure. hepatitis a vaccine — highly effective in preventing infection. it provides full protection four weeks after the first injection. a second injection provides long - term protection. the vaccine should be considered for : - all children aged 12 - 23 months - children aged 24 months or older who are at high risk and have not been previously vaccinated - people traveling to areas where hepatitis a is prevalent ( the centers for disease control and prevention ' s traveler ' s health website shows which areas have a high prevalence of hepatitis a. ) - men who have sex with men - injection drug users - people who are at risk because of their job, such as lab workers - people with chronic liver disease - people with blood - clotting disorders, such as hemophilia - people who will have close contact with an adopted child from a medium - or high - risk area - people who desire immunity to hepatitis a check with your doctor to see if you should receive the vaccine. - reviewer : brian randall, md - review date : 02 / 2013 - - update date : 02 / 20 / 2013 -


mainstream groups such as the american heart association and the american dietetic association endorse a unified set of dietary guidelines for people who wish to lose weight — eat a low - fat diet and cut calories. however, many popular diet books take a very different approach. the atkins diet, the zone diet,, and numerous other dietary approaches turn thumbs down on low - fat. instead, these methods recommend cutting down on carbohydrates. according to proponents of these theories, when you reduce the carbohydrates in your diet ( and, correspondingly, increase protein and / or fat ), you will find it much easier to reduce your calorie intake, and you may even lose weight without cutting calories. the controversy over these contradictions has been heated. proponents of the low - fat diet claim that low - carbohydrate diets are ineffective and even dangerous, while low - carb proponents say much the same about the low - fat approach. however, an article published in the journal of the american medical association suggests that neither side has a strong case. researchers concluded, essentially, that a calorie is a calorie, regardless of whether it comes from a low - carbohydrate or a low - fat diet. they did not find any consistent evidence that the low - carb diet makes it easier to lose weight than the low - fat diet, but neither did they find any consistent evidence for the reverse. furthermore, the authors of the review did not find any compelling reason to conclude that low - carb diets are unsafe, although they did point out that the long - term safety of such diets remains unknown. subsequent studies confirmed these findings for a variety of low - carb diets. in some studies, one particular diet method may do better than others. but, in other studies, a different diet stands out. for example, researchers reviewing 13 studies comparing low - carb against low - fat / low - calorie diets in overweight subjects for at least 6 months concluded that the low - carb diets tended to perform better at reducing weight and cardiovascular disease factors for up to 1 year. but, in a subsequent trial involving 144 obese subjects with diabetes, researchers found that a low - carb diet did not result in greater weight loss when compared to a low - fat diet over a 2 - year period, nor did it perform any better at improving blood cholesterol or glucose levels. as research continues, a consensus has yet to emerge


once every few generations, there is a technological development that historians later realize actually amounted to a rapid transformational change for an entire profession. the job of architects, for example, was transformed with the advent of safe elevators, which allowed buildings to be significantly taller and still usable. meeting professionals are about to face a similar change. audience response systems, often called clickers or keypads, allow each person at a gathering to have a voice in the meeting. essentially, ars devices transform audiences from observers into participants. in a few years, attendees will expect meeting professionals to be not just familiar with the technology, but also able to deploy it skillfully. what do meeting professional need to know to adapt to the coming clicker revolution? ars systems are combinations of handheld devices, receivers, computers, and display and / or projection systems. together, these devices allow a meeting facilitator to ask an audience a question ( almost always multiple choice ) and instantly record and, if desired, display the answers. how widespread is the use of these devices? the current estimate is that about 1 million clickers are in use nationwide. the vast majority are used in k - 12 and college classrooms to test factual knowledge. but increasingly, the meeting industry is recognizing that they are useful for other purposes. what kinds of questions can be asked? typically, ars systems are used to ask participants multiple - choice questions. question types can be placed in four categories : fact questions explore what people know. ( which christian denomination has the most members in the united states? ) demographic questions reveal the diversity of the people in the room. ( what size church do you attend? ) experience questions explore what people have done. ( how many local church mergers have you been involved in? ) perspective questions reveal people ' s opinions. ( how successful have we been in improving our ministry to youth? ) any or all of these can be used for advancing the meeting ' s agenda, because data generated can be instantly or subsequently analyzed. questions also can be used to generate laughter, create fun competitions, and build a sense of connection among participants. how convenient are the systems? the decreasing physical size of the systems, increasing ease of use, and declining prices are causing the clicker revolution to accelerate. some clickers have footprints the size of a business card, which means that not only can hundreds be carried easily, but they can be shared with colleagues across distances. many systems are designed to work with microsoft office. an emerging trend involves the use of text - messaging technology, with attendees '


a business card, which means that not only can hundreds be carried easily, but they can be shared with colleagues across distances. many systems are designed to work with microsoft office. an emerging trend involves the use of text - messaging technology, with attendees ' mobile devices used as the clickers. what is the key to using these systems well? three elements must be woven together to create an experience that will leave participants buzzing. - clicker questions must be designed to connect to the stated meeting purposes the questions should embody an intersection of meeting objectives, elegant meeting design, and participant expectations. ministers figuring out how to turn a congregation around need something different from what is needed by attendees at a youth gathering, and both need something different from what would be suitable for delegates at a governance meeting. - clicker questions and answers must be designed to anticipate relevant issues and possible responses. a good set of clicker questions takes participants on a stimulating journey based on the question content. you want your questions and answer choices constructed so people are thinking about the meaning of the answers, not how you might have constructed the questions better. - the facilitator must help the participants to link the results to the purposes of the meeting. a savvy facilitator can interpret question results skillfully, whether the results are expected or surprising. this adds to the dynamism and usefulness of keypad sessions. internet experiences and television shows are creating the expectation that people will be co - creators rather than mere passive vessels. meeting professionals who want to stay current would do themselves a favor by becoming familiar with audience response systems or forming partnerships with meeting strategists who know how to use them. dr. david campt ( david @ thedwcgroup ) and matthew freeman ( email @ example. com ) are affiliated with the dwc group ( www. thedwcgroup. com ), which has worked with faith communities and seminaries to develop meeting and conference strategy, facilitate results - focused dialogues, and create interactive audience experiences.


price fixing in the massachusetts theocracy [ this article is excerpted from conceived in liberty ( 1975 ), volume 1, chapter 31 : " economics begins to dissolve the theocracy : the failure of wage and price controls. " an mp3 audio file of this article, narrated by floy lilley, is available for download. ] from the first, the massachusetts oligarchy, seeing that in the new world land was peculiarly abundant in relation to labor, tried by law to push down the wage rates that they had to pay as merchants or landowners. maximum - wage controls were persistently imposed. john winthrop set the tone in 1633, complaining that " the scarcity of workmen had caused them to raise their wages to an excessive rate. " what else was supposed to happen with a scarce product? as in the south, there were at the base of new england ' s economic structure indentured servants and negro slaves, who sometimes were farm labor but mostly were artisans, helpers, and domestic servants. after the servants ' terms expired, they received small grants of land and became farmer - settlers. the massachusetts gentry also supplemented this system of labor with general compulsory service in harvesting neighboring farms — a neat way of exploiting the local citizenry at wage rates far below the market. maximum - wage control always aggravates a shortage of labor, as employers will not be able to obtain needed workers at the statutory price. in trying to force labor to be cheaper than its price on the free market, the gentry only made it more difficult for employers to obtain that labor. by 1640 winthrop was admitting that massachusetts had found by experience that it would not avail by any law to redress the excessive rates of laborers ' and workmen ' s wages, etc. ( for being restrained, they would either remove to other places where they might have more or else being able to live by planting or other employments of their own, they would not be hired at all ). of course, one method of alleviating this induced shortage was by using the forced labor of slavery, servitude, and compulsory harvest service. thus, one intervention by violence in the market created conditions impelling a further and stronger intervention. but apart from forced labor, the massachusetts authorities, as we have noted, found it extremely difficult to enforce maximum - wage control. the first maximum - wage law was enacted by massachusetts as early as 1630. due to the high wages commanded by the scarcity of construction craftsmen, the law concentrated on maximum - wage rates


noted, found it extremely difficult to enforce maximum - wage control. the first maximum - wage law was enacted by massachusetts as early as 1630. due to the high wages commanded by the scarcity of construction craftsmen, the law concentrated on maximum - wage rates in the building trades. carpenters, bricklayers, etc., were limited to two shillings a day and any payment above this rate would subject both the employer and the worker to punishment ( for instance, a buying - cartel of employers established by the law punished the recalcitrant employer who decided to break ranks ). almost immediately, the magistrates decided to imbibe more of the magic medicine, and legal wage rates were pushed down to 16 pence a day for master carpenters and bricklayers, and correspondingly lower for other laborers. but the economic laws of the market made enforcement hopeless, and after only six months, the general court repealed the laws, and ordered all wages to be " left free and at liberty as men shall reasonably agree. " but massachusetts bay was not to remain wise for long. by 1633 the general court became horrified again at higher wage rates in construction and other trades and at the propensity of the working classes to rise above their supposedly appointed station in life by relaxing more and by spending their wages on luxuries. denouncing " the great extortion … by divers persons of little conscience " and the " vain and idle waste of precious time, " the court enacted a comprehensive and detailed wage - control program. the law of 1633 decreed a maximum of two shillings a day without board and 14 pence with board, for the wages of sawyers, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, etc. top - rate laborers were limited to 18 pence without. these rates were approximately double those of england for skilled craftsmen and treble for unskilled laborers. constables were to set the wages of lesser laborers. penalties were levied on the employers and the wage earners who violated the law. sensing that maximum controls below the market wage led to a shortage of labor, the general court decreed that no idleness was to be permitted. in effect, minimum hours were decreed in order to bolster the maximum - wage law — another form of compulsory labor. workmen were ordered to work " the whole day, allowing convenient time for food and rest. " interestingly, the general court soon decided to make an exception for the government itself, which was naturally having difficulty finding men willing to work on its public - works


were ordered to work " the whole day, allowing convenient time for food and rest. " interestingly, the general court soon decided to make an exception for the government itself, which was naturally having difficulty finding men willing to work on its public - works projects. a combination of the carrot and the stick was used : government officials were allowed to award " such extraordinary wages as they shall judge the work to deserve. " on the other hand, they were empowered to send town constables to conscript laborers as the need arose. although merchants were happy to join the landed oligarchy and the puritan zealots in forcing down the wage rates of laborers, they were scarcely as happy about maximum controls on selling prices. the gentry were eager, however, to force downward the prices of products they needed to buy. a blend of mercantilist fallacies and puritan suspicion of commerce, the result was persistent attempts to force commodities below their market prices. having little conception of the function of the price system on the free market, the massachusetts authorities also felt that maximum - price control would bolster the maximum - wage - rate program. there was no understanding that general movements in prices and wages are governed by the supply of and demand for money, and that this too can best work itself out on the free market. corn was the major monetary medium of the north, and in 1630 massachusetts set the sterling price of corn at six shillings per bushel. failing to work, this control was repealed along with the wage laws of 1631, and corn was " left at liberty to be sold as men can agree. " in 1633, however, maximum - price controls were reimposed as an auxiliary to the wage controls. the massive wage laws of 1633 were quickly discovered to be a failure ; once again the quiet but powerful economic laws of the market had triumphed over the dramatic decrees of the coercive state. after one year the actual wage rates were 50 percent higher than the statutory levels. at that point, the general court repealed the penalties against paying, but retained those against receiving, wages above the fixed legal rate. while, in fact, no employer had ever been tried or penalized under the old act, the wage law was now an open and flagrant piece of class legislation. this was nothing new, however, as there were ample precedents in english maximum - wage laws since the early 15th century. another change made in 1634 allowed a little flexibility in decreed prices and wages by permitting each town to alter the legal rate in case


this was nothing new, however, as there were ample precedents in english maximum - wage laws since the early 15th century. another change made in 1634 allowed a little flexibility in decreed prices and wages by permitting each town to alter the legal rate in case of disputes. only a year later the general court, despairing of the continued failure of the law to take hold, repealed the comprehensive wage controls and the auxiliary price controls. just before this comprehensive repeal, the courts had apparently been driven by the failure to inflict ever harsher penalties ; fines had been so heavy that two workers were imprisoned for failure to pay. the authorities were at the crossroads : should they begin to impose on workers violating clearly unworkable economic decrees the sort of punishment meted out to heretics or to critics of the government? happily, common sense, in this case, finally prevailed. made wary by its thundering failure, the theocracy no longer attempted a comprehensive planned economy in massachusetts bay. from then on, it was content to engage in annoying, but not fatal, hit - and - run harassments of the market. penalties were made discretionary, and in 1636 wage and price regulations were transferred by the provincial government to the individual towns, as suggested by the leading puritan divine, rev. john cotton. the general court was supposed to exercise overall supervision, but exerted no systematic control. control by each town, as had been anticipated, was even more ineffective than an overall plan, because each town, bidding against the others for laborers, competitively bid wages up to their market levels. the general court wailed that all this was " to get the great dishonor of god, the scandal of the gospel, and the grief of divers of god ' s people. " a committee of the most eminent oligarchs of the bay colony was appointed to suggest remedies, but could think of no solution. of the towns, dorchester was perhaps the most eager to impose wage controls. during the pequot war, and again in 1642, it combined maximum wages with conscription of any laborer unwilling to work and to work long enough at the low rates. hingham also enacted a maximum - wage program in 1641, and salem was active in prosecuting wage offenders. in 1635, the year of the repeal of the wage and price plan, the massachusetts authorities tried a new angle : under the cloak of a desire to " combat monopolizing, " the massachusetts government created a legal monopoly of nine men — one from each of the


the year of the repeal of the wage and price plan, the massachusetts authorities tried a new angle : under the cloak of a desire to " combat monopolizing, " the massachusetts government created a legal monopoly of nine men — one from each of the existing towns — for purchasing any goods from incoming ships. this import monopoly was to board all the ships before anyone else, decide on the prices it would pay, and then buy the goods and limit itself to resale at a fixed 5 percent profit. but this attempt to combine monopoly with maximum - price control failed also. the outlawing of competing buyers could not be enforced and the import monopoly had to be repealed within four months. what ensued was far better but was still not pure freedom of entry. instead, licensing was required of all importers, with preference usually given to friends of the government. generally, the merchants were the most progressive, worldly, and cosmopolitan element in massachusetts life. the merchants were able to gain political control of the growing commercial hub of boston by the mid - 1630s. but the rest of massachusetts remained in the hands of a right alliance of puritan zealots and landed gentry who dominated the magistrates ' council and the governorship. during the decade of the 1630s only 2 out of 22 magistrates were merchants, 1 of these being the hutchinsonian leader william coddington. this reflected the occupational differences of their native england. the gentry had, by and large, been minor gentry in rural england, while the merchants usually hailed from london or other urban centers. in contrast to the authoritarian and theocratic gentry, the merchants had a far more individualist and independent spirit and often opposed the massachusetts oligarchy. it was no accident that almost all the merchants championed the hutchinsonian movement — including coddington, john coggeshall, and the hutchinson family itself. in spite of the earlier failures, massachusetts tried to resume its harassment and regulation of the merchants, but even more sporadically than in the case of wages. millers were fined for charging what were arbitrarily termed " excessive " prices for their flour. a woodmaker was fined in 1639 for charging the boston government " excessive " prices for making boston ' s stocks, and, as professor richard morris notes in government and labor in early america, the general court " with great puritan humor sentenced him, in addition, to sit in the stocks he himself had made. " heavy fines and puritan denunciations were also the lot of merchants supposedly overcharging for nails, gold buttons,


general court " with great puritan humor sentenced him, in addition, to sit in the stocks he himself had made. " heavy fines and puritan denunciations were also the lot of merchants supposedly overcharging for nails, gold buttons, and other commodities. the puritan church was quick to condemn these merchants, and insisted on penitence for this " dishonor of god ' s name " in order to regain membership in the church. the most notable case of persecution of a merchant occurred in 1639. robert keayne, a leading boston importer and large investor in the massachusetts bay company, and the devout brother - in - law of rev. john wilson, was found guilty in general court of gaining " excess " profit, including a markup of over 150 percent on some items. the authorities displayed once more their profound ignorance of the functions of profit and loss in the market economy. keayne was especially aggrieved because there was no law on the books regulating profits. in contrast, the maine court, in the case of cleve v. winter ( 1640 ), dismissed charges against a merchant for setting excessive prices, on the grounds that it was not legitimate to regulate a man ' s profit in trade. so a sounder strain of thought did exist despite the official view. massachusetts ' sister colonies also tried to impose a theocratic planned economy. as we might have expected, the effort of new haven colony, founded in distaste for the alleged laxity of massachusetts puritanism, was the most comprehensive. new haven ' s act of 1640 established fixed profit markups of varying grades for different types of trade : 3 pence in the shilling, for example, for retail of english imports, and less for wholesale. prices were supposed to be proportionate to risk for colonial products. above all, a highly detailed list of maximum - wage rates for each occupation was issued. a year later, an ambitious new schedule was decreed, pushing down wage rates even further. but even fanatical new haven could not conquer economic law, and only nine months later the authorities were forced to admit defeat, and the entire program was repealed. after that resounding failure, no further comprehensive controls were attempted at new haven, although there were a few sporadic attempts to regulate specific occupations. comprehensive wage control was also attempted in connecticut. an abortive regulation of wages was imposed in early 1640, but repealed later the same year. the following year connecticut, again alarmed about " excessive " and rising wages (


some basic tips for drawing railroad layouts are offered in this article. these guidelines can be used for any scale layout, i ’ ve used ho because it ’ s very popular, and the scale i am most familiar with myself. if you are modeling at a different scale, i have several articles outlined the exact details them, in my tips for model railroaders. the first step in planning your model train layout is to know what scale you are going to work at, and what the overall dimensions of your layout will be. sketch some rough ideas on paper to get a feel for what you want and how it will work in the amount of space you have. for more great tips on setting up your model railroad, just fill in your name and email and i ’ ll send them to you. as an added bonus, you get my detailed report on using dcc to control your trains. a good idea is to establish minimum dimensions for your layout such as the minimum curve radii, switch turnout angles and maximum grades. the rolling stock you want to use, and methods of operation, help determine these design elements of your layout. if you are running short trains with just a few cars and engines, then 18 ″ minimum radius curves will work fine. on the other hand, for larger and longer, you may need curves of 30 ″ radius or larger ( ho scale ). what is the maximum grade you can use? a 4 or 5 percent grade is rare in prototype railroads but you may need it in your model due to the amount of space you have. if you are planning for one track to cross over another, you must have enough length of track to rise 3 ″ to 4 ″ ( ho scale ) without getting too steep for your models. ( note – prototype railroads rarely go above a 3 percent grade. if you want your model to be completely accurate, then you will also be limited to this amount of grade. ) model railroad clearances take extra care when one track comes close to another. ensure that there is enough clearance for two trains to pass, otherwise the cars will collide and derail. this is especially critical at curves. when the railroad car is on a curve, the ends go over the track width. and, the middle of the car is forced to the inside of the track. the longer your rolling stock, the more offset you need between curves. you can check this visually by placing your longest and shortest rolling stock on a section of curved track to see the overlap. set two sections side by side, place your longest


track. the longer your rolling stock, the more offset you need between curves. you can check this visually by placing your longest and shortest rolling stock on a section of curved track to see the overlap. set two sections side by side, place your longest locomotive or rolling stock in them, and see for yourself. layout drawing techniques a simple way to draw your ideas of a railroad layout is to begin by drawing all the outside dimensions or fixed objects ( such as the outline of the room, posts, etc. ). once these fixed objects are located on the drawing, then fill in around them with the track. draw in the important scenery, buildings, roads, etc. if you are replicating some real place, work from maps, or perhaps even measurements you took on a scouting visit! many modelers fine they have to “ compress ” space, leaving out some of the longer distances, so they can get it all in. that ’ s fine. locate the major curves of your layout next. you know which corners will have a 90 degree turn on the layout. place a circle in this corner drawn to the radius that you think you need. place circular arcs in all the corners of the main line. you will connect the circles with your main lines later. then select where any switching yards and sidings will be. using your plan you can try different locations, unless your plan is replicating some real place. once the important curves, yards and other objects have been drawn in, begin connecting curves with straight lines. you may want to use broad curves to connect different areas on the layout ( instead of straight lines ). you can always make adjustments later. then draw in any sidings, off the straight track. just “ rough in ” the switch at first, until you know exactly where you want it. make a simple three dimension drawing ( x, y, z ) to ensure that grades and crossovers are adequate. begin by locating the portion of your plan which will be the minimum elevation. this can be the lowest part of the table top, the floor or any other arbitrary point you like. the main thing is to make it easy to measure from. use your three dimensional drawing to check the clearance at bridges for the train to pass under. make sure that the grade produced by creating a rise at a bridge is not too steep for your train. a 4 percent grade is about the steepest most models can climb. leave enough clearance at the bridge for the thickness of the bridge, the height of the cars and the height of the


a rise at a bridge is not too steep for your train. a 4 percent grade is about the steepest most models can climb. leave enough clearance at the bridge for the thickness of the bridge, the height of the cars and the height of the rails and ballasting. in ho scale this requires from 3 to 4 inches of clearance. building your layout once you have drawn a perfect layout, you will still have to build it. during construction, you may adjust for errors in the drawing when you build the layout. you want your drawing to be accurate, but sometime close is good enough! some modelers make a full size drawing and trace through the paper or lay the track on top of the paper. this could be impractical for you, if it ’ s a large layout. you must be careful if you are printing out many pieces of small paper to draw a full size layout. ensure you are taping them together “ to scale. ” when taping paper sections together, you can measure across several pieces of paper to check the overlap at the edges. in other words, if the distance of that yard ladder is 2. 52 feet on your layout, measure across all the papers taped together to make sure it ’ s 2. 52 feet in real life while you are taping it all together. set up your drawing coordinate system on your bench work. simply make an x and y axis baseline on the bench work. use one of your main bench edges ( or the walls of the room ) as the baseline. draw this in your drawing ( if its not there already ). now whenever you use a printout or coordinates to locate something on the bench work, keep “ checking in ” to the baseline to make sure you haven ’ t slipped something by a small amount. like this article? i ’ ve also written a two part article about model train benchwork and scenery. did you find this article useful or informative? tell the world! it ’ s easy, using the “ tell a friend ” service below – hover your mouse over it and go from there! you can also tweet this article using the green “ tweet ” button to the right. thanks!


the diagram below shows the path of the sun across the sky in melbourne for four important dates : the outer circle on the diagram represents the horizon and the inner circles are lines of constant elevation, drawn at 15° intervals. the radial lines are lines of constant azimuth drawn at 15° intervals also. the position of the sun at each hour of the day is marked and the time indicated. all times are australian eastern standard time. add one hour for daylight savings. hi, fernando. the " time and date " website gives information about the length of days for several locations in regional victoria, including ballarat. hope this helps! hi there john. as in the northern hemisphere the sun rises in the east and sets in west ( due to earth ’ s rotation from west to east ), but its path as seen from the southern hemisphere is across the northern sky. you might find this link and this one useful. hi steve - the sun is at the centre of our solar system, and all planets revolve about the sun. the sun at the centre of our solar system, is in our galaxy called the milky way galaxy amongst about 400 billion other stars. all the stars that can be seen with the naked eye are in our galaxy. it ' s important to remember at this point that our sun is not at the centre of the galaxy. because we revolve about the sun, which is very close to us, all the other stars which are much further away, do not appear to move as we move around the sun. so the constellations, such as the southern cross, look the same wherever we are. as the axis of the earth is tilted, the south pole axis points towards the southern cross, so that constellation is always visible in the lower latitudes such as victoria. hope that helps we love receiving comments, but can ’ t always respond. hi there suradi - thanks for your question. according to the museum ' s planetarium presenters, these days a sun path can be got using any good astronomy program or planetarium software such as starry night or stellarium. please note, if you would like to use our diagram for anything other than private use then mv copyright acknowledgement would be expected. the link to this section of the nasa website gives a brief insight to the history of the evolution of the theory of the planets movement around the sun. hi casper, the sun ’ s path is at its lowest in the sky on the winter solstice – 21st june, see here for more information. hi john,


the history of the evolution of the theory of the planets movement around the sun. hi casper, the sun ’ s path is at its lowest in the sky on the winter solstice – 21st june, see here for more information. hi john, there are two websites that may help you determine the angle of the sun at your house on a particular date. the rise and set times on the planetarium website provides a calendar for the visibility of the sun in melbourne. there is also an online resource about how to make your own sun angle calculator. hi jim, if you were at one of the poles during a summer equinox the sun continues to make a circle in the sky, but now it would dip below the horizon for a while. it may appear to be an ellipse, but in actual fact it is still a circle. this youtube clip, http : / / www. youtube. com / watch? v = zzcafg - meja shows what it would look like a little further away from the pole. this web link may also be helpful. try to think of it this way - if you were “ on ” the southern cross and looked towards earth with a theoretical, highly powerful telescope, then melbourne would always be visible, because the bottom of the earth is pointing towards the southern cross. as the earth spins on its axis, melbourne would appear to rotate around the globe. as go further north from melbourne, say to sydney, then as the earth spins, an observer on the southern cross would see sydney disappear briefly on each rotation. the further you travel north the less time you will be able to see the southern cross, until you can never see the southern cross. it is like that the sun is at the centre of a globe of stars, and the earth always points to one spot in the sky which is close to the southern cross. in reality this is not so, but the concept is true. i hope this may clarify it a bit more for you. hi mel, the tropic of capricorn is technically an infinitesimally thin line, although the uncertainty in the measurement of the earth ' s obliquity corresponds to an error in positioning of the tropic of about 3cm. we can ' t locate the tropic any better than this, so this is a kind of width. at the moment the tropic is at 23°26 ' 16. 7 " s. but the obliquity of the earth varies and is decreasing around


the tropic any better than this, so this is a kind of width. at the moment the tropic is at 23°26 ' 16. 7 " s. but the obliquity of the earth varies and is decreasing around a half a second of arc per year, so the tropic is moving slowly northwards at the same rate. this corresponds to something like 13m per year. so depending on what kind a timeframe you want to look at this also puts limits on how precisely you can locate the tropic. within a decade, for example, we can ' t locate the tropic more precisely than a 133m band. hi georgina - several factors effect sunrise and set times, such as surrounding buildings or mountains, elevation above sea level, etc ; however the main reason in this case is because sydney is much further east than melbourne, by approximately 700 km. for advice about seating, you would probably be best to check with mcg staff directly - mcg contact details can be found here. the only time that the sun rises due east and sets due west is at the spring and autumn equinoxes, 21st march and 21st september. after the spring equinox the sun gradually rises and sets further south until the solstice on 21st december, then starts moving northwards. so for your house to have the sun shining on the south facing side, it needs to be between these two equinoxes. after the autumn equinox the sun rises and sets northwards of east and west, so no sun on your south wall. for more information, please see the following link : http : / / museumvictoria. com. au / discoverycentre / infosheets / planets / the - path - of - the - sun / hi again steve - the sun is not at any point directly ' between ' earth and the southern cross. an important point to consider here is that unlike earth, the sothern cross does not revolve around our sun. if you look at the diagram at the top of this page, you can see the path of the sun as it appears to us here in melbourne throughout the year. if we were to factor into this diagram the relatively static position of the southern cross, it would be close to the southern horizon. notice that the southern most path of the sun ( in the summer solstice ) does not intersect with the position of the southern cross. this means the sun does not obstruct our view of the southern cross


close to the southern horizon. notice that the southern most path of the sun ( in the summer solstice ) does not intersect with the position of the southern cross. this means the sun does not obstruct our view of the southern cross - so, we are never on ' the other side of the sun ' to the southern cross. as we ' ve explained previously, the sothern cross may not be visible during the day due to brightness of the sun, but it is still there. hello cool - we ran this past our experts in the planetarium, and their response is as follows : in australia, seasons begin on the first day of a particular calendar month – march for autumn, june for winter, september for spring and december for summer. this is also the convention followed internationally by meteorologists. one idea for australia following this rule, is that during the early years of australia ’ s white settlement soldiers would change from their summer to winter uniforms on the first of the month. indigenous australians have a more tactile view of the seasons. they link the seasons to the local conditions and environment, and also to the activities of the birds, plants and animals around them. with such a diverse climate across australia, it ’ s no surprise that the seasons vary greatly across indigenous groups. some regions have five seasons and others only three as the bureau of meteorology explains. in other countries, such as britain and the usa, the seasons are said to begin on the equinoxes and solstices – spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice. these are the times when earth reaches a particular point along its orbit around the sun. i hope this helps great photo images! i would love to obtain a specimen of the jack jumper to photograph for my biology website waynesword. palomar. edu. although i am primarily... to read the latest tweets from @ museumvictoria follow museum victoria on hi i have my mum ' s passport and ticket on the orontes dated 22nd april 1940 arriving melbourne sometime may 1940 from the uk - i would like to find more inf...


the edx examination is a test that measures the electrical activity in your nerves and muscles. it consists of two parts : - nerve conduction studies that measure the ability of specific nerves to transmit electrical impulses, or messages, to muscles. - needle electrode examinations that measure the electrical activity in muscles along nerves.. measuring the electrical activity in nerves and muscles helps detect the presence, location and extent of nerve and muscle disorders. muscle weakness, nerve pains, and numbness may be due to a problem in the brain, spinal cord, the nerve supplying the muscle, the junction between the nerve and muscle ( called the neuromuscular junction ) and muscle. the edx examination can help physicians distinguish where the problem lies. you will be asked to lie on an examination table. the technician will tape several small, flat metal discs, called electrodes, on your skin. repeated brief electrical stimuli are administered to the nerve. electrical waveforms are recorded from muscles or from nerves and measured. you will feel a tingling sensation and twitching in your muscle each time the electrical stimulus is applied. once the testing has been completed, the skin electrodes are removed. the nerve conduction studies are then followed by the needle examination by the physician. a small thin needle ( about the size of a straight pin ) attached by wires to a recording machine will be inserted in the specific muscles being examined. no electrical stimuli or injections are passed through this needle ; they simply record your muscle activity. you will be asked to relax and contract the muscles that are being examined. the electrical activity of the muscle will be displayed as electrical waves on a screen that the physician will view. the more relaxed you are, the easier the tests will be. the physician and technician will try to make you as comfortable as possible. before the edx examination this test should not be performed until at least three weeks ( 21 days ) have passed since the onset of your symptoms. if it has been less than that, please notify the emg lab at 216. 444. 5544, or toll free 1. 800. ccf. care ext. 45544. you may be asked to reschedule at a later date. - take medications as prescribed, including any for pain. - if you are taking anticoagulant medications ( coumadin, heparin, lovenox, or crystalline warfarin ) or medication for myasthenia gravis ( mestinon or pyridostigmine bromide ) and have not received


##ulant medications ( coumadin, heparin, lovenox, or crystalline warfarin ) or medication for myasthenia gravis ( mestinon or pyridostigmine bromide ) and have not received instructions from your physician to discontinue your medications for the edx examination, please call 216. 444. 5544 or toll free 1. 800. 223. 2273 ext. 45544. you may be asked to discontinue these medications for several days before the test. however, do not discontinue medications without first consulting your physician. - the edx examination cannot be performed on patients with a bleeding disorder or lymphedema. - nerve conduction studies cannot be performed on patients with internal defibrillators. if you have an internal defibrillator and have been scheduled for this test, please call 216. 444. 5544 or toll free 1. 800. 223. 2273 ext. 45544. it will be necessary to assess whether the device can be turned off prior to undergoing this test. - patients with internal nerve stimulators must be able to turn them off before nerve conduction studies can be performed if you have an internal nerve stimulator and have been scheduled for this test, please call 216. 444. 5544. on the day of the test eat a normal breakfast and / or lunch. do not apply any lotions or oils to the skin ; it could hinder the electrode connection to the skin. after the test the neuromuscular staff evaluates the data collected and the final report is sent to the doctor who referred you for the test ( usually between 1 - 2 working days ). your doctor will provide you with the results. neurology appointment office 216. 636. 5860, or toll free 1. 800. ccf. care ext. 65860. desk s90, ninth floor of the “ s ” building. please call the edx laboratory if you have any concerns or questions or wish to speak to a technician : 216. 444. 5544, or toll free 1. 800. ccf. care ext. 45544.


no doubt native americans took advantage of the natural bounty of the suwannee and the neighboring forest. by around 7500 bc the native american population increased, and people began to settle, at least for a time, along rivers and lakes. they fished, gathered freshwater snails, and hunted deer. within andrews on the bluff above the suwannee are the remains of an ancient hunting and fishing camp. when spanish explorer narvarez crossed the suwannee thousands of years later, his men called it " river of the deer. " later, indians escaping to florida from other parts of the southeast named it " suwani, " meaning " echo river " in creek. sound echoes from the river ' s limestone bluffs, especially when the water is low. postcard, 1936 - florida photo archives ferry on the suwannee ca 1882 - florida photo archives by the 1830s the tranquil, tree - lined suwannee became an important navigation route. steamboats carried lumber to cedar key for transport by steamship to europe and the northeast. much of the virgin cypress in the suwannee floodplain was harvested in the early 1900s. furrows created by " snaking " huge cypress logs are still visible along the banks of the suwannee. in the early part of the 1900s what was later to become andrews was subject to a wide range of uncontrolled uses, including open range livestock grazing. range hogs readily adapted to the habitat and are still present on andrews today as hunters rediscover each fall. in 1945 the andrews family purchased the area. they managed the land for outdoor recreation and were careful to protect natural resources. limited weekend hunts were held for deer, turkey, and squirrel, and no mining or significant timber harvest occurred. the andrews family created four, five - acre clearings in the upland hardwoods and scattered roadside openings. in the late 1970s the deer density approached one deer per ten acres, which resulted in severe over - browsing of understory vegetation and a decline in the physical condition of the deer. doe harvest was initiated in the early 1980s to reduce the population and to achieve a more balanced sex ratio. the state purchased the land in 1985 through the save our rivers and conservation and recreation lands programs.


talking points on the environment # 15 a species protection plan that works for both wildlife and humans although most americans oppose the excesses of the endangered species act, many also favor some form of species protection for the most valued species. the best way to protect these species while protecting individual liberty is through a voluntary, incentive - based system. elements of such a system might include : - tax for nature swaps : incentives could be offered to private property owners to create rather than destroy wildlife habitat by making changes to the tax code. losses in federal tax receipts resulting from such tax breaks would be made up from profits generated from publicly - held natural resources. - advice and information : the federal government ' s role in species protection could be changed from a coercive role to an advisory one, thereby fostering cooperation rather than confrontation. government could offer information resources to encourage and assist landowners with their own - cash for species protection : cash payments could be provided to landowners for their conservation efforts, ending the unfunded federal mandate for species protection and strengthening private property rights in the process. the large increases in federal esa funding needed to make these payments could be paid for with profits generated from publicly - held natural resources. - privatization : greater " pride of ownership " - - and thus environmental stewardship - - could be fostered by giving individuals greater control over their own land and greater ownership of all lands ( by selling off some surplus federal land ). - rewards for responsibility and innovation on public lands : efforts to preserve species on public lands could be enhanced by rewarding those who improve habitat with such incentives as favorable lease terms. - conservation through commerce : private breeding of endangered and threatened species could be encouraged by reducing government interference. the development of private, for - profit wildlife and hunting reserves and captive breeding programs in recent decades has led to the recovery of such species as alligators in florida, bighorn sheep in wyoming and elephants in five african countries. recommendations developed based on information from david ridenour of the national center for public policy research ; myron ebell, formerly of the american land rights association ; john shanahan of the heritage foundation ; and ecosanity by joseph l. bast, peter j. hill and richard c. rue ( madison books, issue date : april 12, 1995. talking points on the economy : environment # 15, published by the national center for public policy research, 501 capitol ct ne, washington, d. c. 20002 tel. ( 202 ) 543 - 4110, fax ( 202 ) 543 -


a major depressive episode ( mde ) is defined as a period of at least 2 weeks when a person experiences a depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities, plus at least four additional symptoms of depression ( such as problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration, and feelings of self - worth ) ( american psychiatric association 1994 ). in 2009, about 14 percent of 14 - to 25 - year - olds reported having had an mde in their lifetime, which was not measurably different from the percentage in 2006. from 2006 to 2009, the percentages of males and females who had experienced an mde did not measurably change ; nor were there differences from 2006 to 2009 among 14 - to 17 - year - olds and 18 - to 20 - year - olds. however, among all 21 - to 25 - year - olds, the percentage who reported having an mde in their lifetime decreased from 16 to 14 percent, and the percentage among females in this age group decreased from 20 to 18 percent. in contrast, the percentage of male 14 - to 17 - year - olds reporting an mde increased from 8 percent in 2006 to 10 percent in 2009. among 14 - to 25 - year - olds, higher percentages of females than males reported having experienced an mde in their lifetime in each year from 2006 through 2009 ; in 2009, the reported incidence of lifetime mdes was about twice as high for females as for males ( 19 vs. 10 percent ). differences also emerged when examining reports of lifetime mdes by age group. the percentage of reported lifetime mdes in 2009 for 14 - to 17 - year - olds ( 15 percent ) was higher than the percentage for 18 - to 20 - year - olds ( 13 percent ). in 2009, higher percentages of 14 - to 17 - year - olds ( 10 percent ) reported having an mde in the past year than did 18 - to 20 - year - olds and 21 - to 25 - year - olds ( 8 percent each ). across all three age groups, higher percentages of females than males reported having an mde in the past year. for example, 11 percent of female 18 - to 20 - year - olds reported having an mde in the past year, compared with 5 percent of male 18 - to 20 - year - olds.


| who, unicef tackle critical lack of ' child size ' medicines | geneva - 21 january 2009 - - the world health organization ( who ) has received a us $ 9. 7 million grant from the bill & melinda gates foundation to work with unicef to conduct crucial research in children ’ s medicines, with the aim of increasing the number of ' child size ' medicines designed and formulated specifically for children. currently, many medicines are only designed for adults. more than 50 percent of medicines prescribed for children have either not been developed specifically for children or have not been proven to be effective and safe for their use. therefore many children lack access to essential treatment because no suitable paediatric dosage or formulation of the necessary medicine exists, or those that do exist are not available or are too expensive. " we must take the guess work out of medicines for children, " said carissa etienne, assistant director - general, who. " children are suffering and dying from diseases we can treat, and yet we lack the critical evidence needed to deliver appropriate, effective, affordable medicines that might save them. ” as an unsafe alternative to missing paediatric medicines, healthcare workers and parents often use fractions of adult dosage forms or prepare makeshift prescriptions of medicines by crushing tablets or dissolving portions of capsules in water. other challenges include the need for more clinical trials and research to be carried out on paediatric medicines. " some progress has been made on children ' s medicines but too many medicines are still given to children that have never been properly tested for them, " said dr hans hogerzeil, director of essential medicines and pharmaceutical policies, who. " this work is an excellent example of coordination of united nations agencies and key experts in the world to address this urgent problem. " the grant provides support for essential research to : determine the optimum dosage forms for paediatric medicines ( e. g. small tablets, dispersible tablets, powders ) ; develop dosing guides ( e. g. a review of existing priority medicines and the identification of the appropriate doses for new medicines for children ) ; and develop guidelines for testing, treatment and use of medicines in children, including guidelines on conducting clinical trials in children. globally, 1000 children under the age of five die every hour. diarrhoeal diseases account for 17 percent of these deaths. the optimal treatment for diarrhoea is zinc with oral rehydration salts. yet, in a recent study of health facilities zinc was the least available of all pa


hour. diarrhoeal diseases account for 17 percent of these deaths. the optimal treatment for diarrhoea is zinc with oral rehydration salts. yet, in a recent study of health facilities zinc was the least available of all paediatric medicines. and when zinc is available, it is not licensed as a treatment to reduce diarrhoea - - leaving pharmacists to concoct doses - - and it is both unpleasant tasting and difficult to administer. to reduce child mortality in this area, easy to use, palatable and appropriate dosages are needed. " the bill & melinda gates foundation grant will contribute to accelerating work on investigating, clarifying and communicating to partners, including industry, what the needs of children are in terms of medicines and dosages to more effectively fight child morbidity and mortality ”, hanne bak pedersen, deputy - director unicef supply division, said. “ unicef is very pleased to be working with who on this project and appreciates the support from the gates foundation. ” another major cause of under - five mortality is pneumonia, leading to 17 percent of deaths each year. effective treatment of pneumonia requires 50mg of amoxicillin per kilogram of child ' s weight per day for three to five days. an easy to use package of oral amoxicillin providing the appropriate dose would ensure the right course of medicine is taken, and thus help reduce child mortality. " improving essential medicines for children is a critical global health issue, ” added jaime sepulveda, director of integrated health solutions development, bill & melinda gates foundation. " this program will help provide effective health interventions to children and improve child survival, particularly in the world ’ s poorest countries. this work follows the who - led " make medicines child size " initiative launched in december 2007, which focuses on improving access to better medicines for children. the topic of children ’ s medicines will be discussed at the who executive board meeting in january 2009. for more information : backgrounder - ' make medicines child size ' - http : / / www. who. int / childmedicines / en all press releases, fact sheets and other who media material may be found at www. who. int grosvenor medical centre, off shirley street, nassau, bahamas


there is no safe amount of alcohol that mothers - to - be can drink, experts believe. abstinence is best, say experts even the small amount advised by the government can harm the unborn child, a uk conference on foetal alcohol syndrome heard this week. dr raja mukherjee of st george ' s medical school believes many more babies - up to one in every 100 - are affected than currently recognised. many are incorrectly labelled with ' behavioural ' problems, he said. heavy alcohol consumption during pregnancy is known to be damaging to the unborn child, which is why the government sets a limit of one to two units of alcohol per week for mothers - to - be. but dr mukherjee told delegates at an foetal alcohol syndrome aware uk conference in wigan that studies show any amount of alcohol can be damaging. he said one in every 100 babies born is damaged by their mother drinking while pregnant, but many cases are going unrecognised. no safe level according to dr mukherjee, obvious cases of foetal alcohol syndrome - a group of problems in children born to mothers who drank alcohol during their pregnancy, which includes abnormal facial features and nervous system problems - are recognised and detected. but many children who develop behavioural problems as a result of exposure to alcohol in the womb are incorrectly diagnosed as having conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. the real culprit, alcohol consumption, goes unnoticed in these milder forms, collectively called foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, he said. he blamed binge drinking for the high rates of damage. " the brain develops throughout pregnancy and the most vulnerable period is the first three months - the first trimester - when people may not even know they are pregnant. " he said the government should warn women that any amount of alcohol could damage their unborn child. " the current recommendation of one to two units is ambiguous. " the only guaranteed safe way is not to drink at all when you are pregnant, " he said. a spokeswoman from the national organisation on foetal alcohol syndrome said : " we do not want to panic any woman who is pregnant and may have had a couple of drinks. the chances are their child will be fine. " but there is a risk if you drink alcohol during pregnancy. the only way you can be certain is to abstain from alcohol, " she said. a spokeswoman from the department of health said : " we would be interested to see any further research in to this area but current evidence does not justify changing our advice. " in may, lord


the research, which is featured on the cover of the july 17, 2005 issue of the journal of experimental medicine, focused on the major human pathogen staphylococcus aureus and the characteristic yellow - orange color for which it is named ( " aureus " is latin for " golden " ). among the deadliest of all disease - causing organisms, " staph " is the leading cause of human infections in the skin and soft tissues, bones and joints, abscesses and normal heart valves. staph especially flourishes in the hospital setting, producing bloodstream and surgical wound infections. the spread of antibiotic resistant strains of staph, referred to as methicillin - resistant staphylococcus aureus or mrsa, has reached epidemic proportions and poses a major threat to the public health. the ucsd team proved for the first time that the golden pigment that coats the surface of staph is not just for decoration ; rather, the molecules that give the bacteria its golden hue also help it resist killing by neutrophils, white blood cells with a front line role in immune defense against invading microbes. staph ' s coloration reflects the production of molecules called carotenoids, similar to those present in carrots and other colorful vegetables and fruits. dietary carotenoids have long been touted for their antioxidant properties with hope that they could slow aging or fight off cancer. the scientists found that pathogenic staph took advantage of the antioxidant effects of its carotenoid pigment to extend its own life, by inactivating chemicals deployed by neutrophils that are lethal to most bacteria. the ucsd team u contact : leslie franz university of california - san diego


photograph by taylor s. kennedy, national geographic updated march 16, 2011 on st. patrick ' s day — thursday, march 17 — millions of people will don green and celebrate the irish with parades, good cheer, and perhaps a pint of beer. but few st. patrick ' s day revelers have a clue about st. patrick, the historical figure, according to the author of st. patrick of ireland : a biography. who was the man behind st. patrick ' s day? for starters, the real st. patrick wasn ' t even irish. he was born in britain around a. d. 390 to an aristocratic christian family with a townhouse, a country villa, and plenty of slaves. what ' s more, patrick professed no interest in christianity as a young boy, freeman noted. at 16, patrick ' s world turned : he was kidnapped and sent overseas to tend sheep as a slave in the chilly, mountainous countryside of ireland for seven years. ( see ireland pictures. ) " it was just horrible for him, " freeman said. " but he got a religious conversion while he was there and became a very deeply believing christian. " st. patrick ' s disembodied voices according to folklore, a voice came to patrick in his dreams, telling him to escape. he found passage on a pirate ship back to britain, where he was reunited with his family. the voice then told him to go back to ireland. " he gets ordained as a priest from a bishop, and goes back and spends the rest of his life trying to convert the irish to christianity, " freeman said. patrick ' s work in ireland was tough — he was constantly beaten by thugs, harassed by the irish royalty, and admonished by his british superiors. after he died on march 17, 461, patrick was largely forgotten. but slowly, mythology grew around patrick, and centuries later he was honored as the patron saint of ireland, freeman noted. st. patrick ' s day shamrock shortage according to st. patrick ' s day lore, patrick used the three leaves of a shamrock to explain the christian holy trinity : the father, the son, and the holy spirit. today, st. patrick ' s day revelers wear a shamrock out of tradition. but people in ireland hoping to wear an authentic shamrock are running low on luck. trifolium dubium, the wild - growing, three - leaf clover that some botanists consider the official shamrock, is an annual plant that germinates in the spring. recently


ireland hoping to wear an authentic shamrock are running low on luck. trifolium dubium, the wild - growing, three - leaf clover that some botanists consider the official shamrock, is an annual plant that germinates in the spring. recently, ireland has had two harsh winters, affecting the plant ' s growth. " the growing season this year is at least as delayed as it was last year, and therefore there is the potential for shortage of home - grown material, " john parnell, a botanist at trinity college dublin, said in an email. " we have had frost and snow showers in parts of ireland within the past week, " he added. other experts pin the shortage of the traditional plant as much on modern farming methods and loss of traditional hay meadows. " the cold winters we are having here lately are just another nail in the coffin, " carsten krieger, a landscape and nature photographer whose books include the wildflowers of ireland, said via email. to make up for the shortfall, many sellers are resorting to other three - leaf clovers, such as the perennials trifolium repens and medicago lupulina. according to the irish times, these plants are " bogus shamrocks. " trinity college ' s parnell agreed that trifolium dubium is the most commonly used shamrock today, which lends credence to the claims of authenticity. however, he added, the custom of wearing a shamrock dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries, and " i know of no evidence to say what people then used. i think the argument on authenticity is purely academic — basically i ' d guess they used anything cloverlike then. " what ' s more, botanists say there ' s nothing uniquely irish about shamrocks. most clover species can be found throughout europe. no snakes in ireland another st. patrick myth is the claim that he banished snakes from ireland. it ' s true no snakes exist on the island today, freeman said — but they never did. ireland, after all, is surrounded by icy ocean waters — much too cold to allow snakes to migrate from britain or anywhere else. since snakes often represent evil in literature, " when patrick drives the snakes out of ireland, it is symbolically saying he drove the old, evil, pagan ways out of ireland [ and ] brought in a new age, " freeman said. the snake myth, the shamrock story, and other tales were likely spread by well - meaning monks centuries after st. patrick ' s death,


old, evil, pagan ways out of ireland [ and ] brought in a new age, " freeman said. the snake myth, the shamrock story, and other tales were likely spread by well - meaning monks centuries after st. patrick ' s death, freeman said. st. patrick ' s day : made in america? until the 1970s, st. patrick ' s day in ireland was a minor religious holiday. a priest would acknowledge the feast day, and families would celebrate with a big meal, but that was about it. " st. patrick ' s day was basically invented in america by irish - americans, " freeman said. irish - american history expert timothy meagher said irish charitable organizations originally celebrated st. patrick ' s day with banquets in places such as boston, massachusetts ; savannah, georgia ; and charleston, south carolina. eighteenth - century irish soldiers fighting with the british in the u. s. revolutionary war held the first st. patrick ' s day parades. some soldiers, for example, marched through new york city in 1762 to reconnect with their irish roots. other parades followed in the years and decades after, including well - known celebrations in boston, philadelphia, and chicago, primarily in flourishing irish immigrant communities. " it becomes a way to honor the saint but also to confirm ethnic identity and to create bonds of solidarity, " said meagher, of catholic university in washington, d. c.. dyeing the river green for st. patrick ' s day sometime in the 19th century, as st. patrick ' s day parades were flourishing, wearing the color green became a show of commitment to ireland, meagher said. in 1962 the show of solidarity took a spectacular turn in chicago when the city decided to dye a portion of the chicago river green. the tradition started when parade organizer steve bailey, head of a plumbers ' union, noticed how a dye used to trace possible sources of river pollution had stained a colleague ' s overalls a brilliant green, according to greenchicagoriver. com. why not use the dye to turn the whole river green on st. patrick ' s day, bailey thought. so began the tradition. the environmental impact of the dye is minimal compared with pollution such as bacteria from sewage - treatment plants, said margaret frisbie, the executive director of the advocacy group friends of the chicago river. rather than advising against the dye, her group focuses on turning the chicago river into a welcoming habitat full of fish, herons, turtles, and beavers. if the river becomes


, the executive director of the advocacy group friends of the chicago river. rather than advising against the dye, her group focuses on turning the chicago river into a welcoming habitat full of fish, herons, turtles, and beavers. if the river becomes a wildlife haven, the thinking goes, chicagoans won ' t want to dye their river green. " our hope is that, as the river continues to improve, ultimately people can get excited about celebrating st. patrick ' s day different ways, " she said. pint of guinness on st. patrick ' s day on any given day 5. 5 million pints of guinness, the famous irish stout brand, are consumed around the world. but on st. patrick ' s day, that number more than doubles to 13 million pints, said beth davies ryan, global corporate - relations director of guinness. " historically speaking, a lot of irish immigrants came to the united states and brought with them lots of customs and traditions, one of them being guinness, " she said. today, the u. s. tradition of st. patrick ' s day parades, packed pubs, and green silliness has invaded ireland with full force, said freeman, the classics professor. the country, he noted, figured out that the popularity of st. patrick ' s day was a good way to boost spring tourism. ( get national geographic traveler magazine ' s list of the best hotels in ireland. ) " like anybody else, " he said, " they can take advantage of a good opportunity. " the ring nebula shines, a volcano erupts, and germans see the bat signal in this week ' s best new space pictures. as extreme weather seems to accelerate globally, scientists believe events down under can help explain what to look for - and guard against. cicadas bugging you? see our recipe ideas for the low - fat critters, including the new candied cicada cocktail.


all tea comes from a single plant, the camellia sinensis. an evergreen bush, tea is grown predominantly in southeastern asia. harvesting, picking and processing the camellia sinensis bush yields 5 classes of tea : white, green, oolong, black, and pu · erh. although scientists believe yunnan province in china to be the birthplace of the tea plant, both indian and chinese mythology stake legendary claims to its discovery. known as the divine healer, second emperor shen nung is credited with identifying the medicinal properties of hundreds of ingredients that later became the foundation of chinese medicine. it is said that he possessed the magical property of a transparent stomach with which he could gauge the effects of medicine on the body. one fateful afternoon in the year 2737 b. c., shen nung was boiling water and resting upon a wild tree when a slight breeze stirred the branches above and caused a few leaves to drift into the simmering cauldron. intrigued by the tempting aroma, shen nung drank the liquid and felt revitalized and invigorated. as chance would have it, he was resting under a tea tree. according to another legend, an indian bodhisattva by the name of bodhidharma went to china to teach buddhism in the 6th century b. c.. one version of the story tells of his students becoming impatient and falling asleep during lengthy meditation. leading by example, bodhidharma began a nine year meditation near the entrance of a cave. after seven years he accidentally fell asleep. when he awoke he became angry with himself and sliced the eyelids from his face, throwing them upon the ground. legend has it, that a tea plant grew where his eyelids fell. the monks of zen buddhism would come to incorporate the use of tea into their rituals to attain a calm awakeness and focus during their meditations. “ monkey - picked ” is a term used today to denote high - quality tea, but like the origin of tea ' s use, the history of the term is shrouded in mystery. one story tells of buddhist monks training monkeys to fetch precious leaves from tea trees growing from the sides of treacherously steep cliffs. another version portrays the monks throwing stones at monkeys perched high in tea trees, so that they would fall to the ground, breaking the branches and bringing the prized, top - most leaves down with them. today, most tea plants are pruned to waist high bushes and monkeys aren ' t used to pick the leaves. when someone refers to “ monkey - picked


ground, breaking the branches and bringing the prized, top - most leaves down with them. today, most tea plants are pruned to waist high bushes and monkeys aren ' t used to pick the leaves. when someone refers to “ monkey - picked ” tea, they are simply referring to premium quality tea leaves. before the advent of tea cultivation, two genera of camellia sinensis thrived in the wild. camellia sinensis var. sinensis ( china bush ) is at home on the foggy mountainsides of southwestern china and produce a small, tender leaf during a short growing period. separated from china by the himalayan mountains, camellia sinensis var. assamica ( assam bush ) prefers the jungle - like conditions of northeastern india and yields a large, broad leaf that can be picked year - round. since the discovery of tea by the western world in the 1600 ’ s, tea has been transplanted and cultivated all over the world. although still predominantly grown in china and india, tea gardens thrive in sri lanka, vietnam, kenya, uganda, argentina and brazil. experimental and small - production gardens are even being grown in hawaii, washington, and south carolina. the top leaves and bud of the camellia sinensis bush yield thousands of varieties of tea. like different vines for different wines, tea farmers harvest different bushes for specific varieties of tea. for example, one cultivar may yield a lung jing green tea while another bush is best used for a ti kuan yin oolong. teas are generally named after the region they are from : darjeeling from darjeeling india, yunnan from yunnan province in china ; or named after the physical attributes of processed tea : jasmine pearls from the scenting and rolling of green tea, silver needles from the color and shape of budset white tea. white tea ( in one form or another ) has been treasured for over 1, 000 years as the finest of all teas and for a time, was reserved solely for chinese royalty. true to its history, white tea remains a delicacy to this day, albeit, one we can all enjoy. harvested in early spring, tender young buds are carefully plucked the day before they unfurl into leaves. the downy buds are briefly withered and then quickly air driedsteamed to prevent oxidation. as a result of minimal processing, white tea is valued for its high concentration of polyphenols. the flavor of white tea can be described as delicate, smooth, sweet, velvety, and reminiscent of fresh apr