A bad boy who was left with half a head following a dramatic accident has spoken out for the first time - blaming his astonishing appearance on a drink and drugs binge.
Carlos 'Halfy' Rodriguez, who also goes by the name Sosa, lost a large portion of his brain and skull in a crash after flying through his car's windscreen and landing head-first on the road.
In a new video he has used his appearance and story to warn others not to drink and take drugs.
Doctors were forced to cut away large amounts of flesh and bone to help him survive and he has since been able to continue his life in Miami, Florida.
WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
Incredible: From side on the damage caused by his crash is obvious
Both sides: 'Halfy' as he is now known, shows his skull to camera in this new video
Warning: Carlos admits that he was on drink and drugs while driving and warns others not to do the same
From the front: Carlos speaks to camera for the first time and from this angle the damage to his head is not clear
'I was barred out on drugs. I was driving and I hit a pole and flew out the front window and landed on my head,' he said in a new warning message on You Tube.
Showing his head to camera he added: 'And this is how the old boy has come out. That is why it is not good drinking and driving or drugness (sic) and driving. It is no good kids.'
According to the German tabloid Bild he had the accident aged 14.
'I was with a cousin and a friend stole the car, there was a near-fatal car accident. As the speed was too fast we lost control of the car and crashed,' he said.
Mr Rodriguez shot to fame two years ago after he was was arrested for allegedly soliciting prostitution.
Miami Police had problems with their paperwork and his forms contained no name and simply the description 'half a head'.
Infamous: Police released these mind-bending mugshots 18 months ago, and many believed them fake
His mugshots, showing his missing forehead and battered skull, spread across the world online but many thought that it was a hoax.
However this new video has proved that he and his extreme injuries exist.
Bad boy: 'Halfy' still smokes drugs, despite his warning to others
But despite his serious message to stay away from narcotics, it appears that he is yet to change his ways after admitting he still smokes a lot of drugs.
Survivor: British teenager Ben Maycock was lucky to be alive after a brutal hammer attack left him a huge dent in his skull
In a bizarre tirade he also accuses American President Barrack Obama of doing the same.
'This is what I do daily: burn a stake,' which is slang for a joint.
'Obama is the President of ya'll United States and he smokes. (Expletive) has the whole White House growing.
'Then why can't I smoke me a blunt?'.
'Halfy' is not the only person to survive with half a head, as several other Britons have done the same.
Teenager Ben Maycock was lucky to be alive after a brutal hammer attack left him a huge dent in his skull in 2010.
The vicious assault left Ben's head shattered - and doctors had to hack away huge chunks in a battle to save his life.
Medics at Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, doubted Ben would survive his horrific injuries, and told his grief-stricken mum to prepare for the worst, but incredibly, he survived.
பெரியப்பாவிற்கு முன்பு நாங்கள் வைத்த பட்டப் பெயர் ''பாஸிடிவ்''. ''எதையும்''பாஸிடிவா'' பாருடா எத்தனை மோசமான சூழ்நிலையிலும் ஒரு ''பாஸிடிவ்'' அம்சம்இருக்கும். அதிலே கவனம் வை நீ ஜெயிச்சிடலாம்'' என்று அடிக்கடி சொல்வார். ''அரண்மனை மாதிரி வீடு, ஆறு காரு, ஏக்கர் கணக்கில் பூமி, ஏகப்பட்ட காசு, இதெல்லாம் இருக்கும்போது அவர் வேணும்னா இப்படிப் பேசலாம். நம்மள மாதிரி அடிமட்டத்தில் இருந்துகிட்டுத் தினசரி வாழ்க்கையில போராடிட்டு இருக்கிறவனுக்குத் தான்கஷ்டம்னா என்னான்னு தெரியும். ஜெயிக்க வேண்டாம், சமாளிக்கறதே பெரிய விஷயம்'' என்றுஅண்ணன் அவர் போனவுடன் கிண்டலடிப்பான். அவன் சொன்னதிலும் யதார்த்தம் இருந்தது. எது எப்படியோ? எனக்குச் சிறுவயதிலிருந்தே பெரியப்பா ஹீரோ போலவே தெரிந்தார்.
தோற்றத்தில் ஒரு கம்பீரம், நடையில்ஒரு வேகம், எப்போதும் எதிலும் நல்லதையே பார்க்கும் ஒரு தனிப்பெரும் குணம் என எல்லாமாய்ச் சேர்ந்து அவரை ஒரு ஆதர்ஷ மனிதராக என் மனதில் ஆக்கியிருந்தன. வியாபாரத்தில் கொடி கட்டிப் பறந்த பெரியப்பாவிற்குக் கடந்த ஐந்துவருடங்களாக இறங்கு முகம். வீடு, கார், பூமி, சேர்த்த பணம் எல்லாம் போய் அண்ணன்சொன்ன அடிமட்டத்திற்கு அவரும் வந்துவிட்டார். திருமணமாகிப் பலவருடங்கள் கழித்துப்பிறந்ததால் அவரது ஒரே மகனும் தற்போது இன்ஜினியரிங் மூன்றாம் ஆண்டில்படிக்கிறான். அறுபது வயதில் அவர் மும்பையில் இருக்கும் தன் நண்பர் ஒருவர் ஹோட்டலில்மானேஜராக வேலை பார்த்து வருகிறார் என்றும் அவர் மிகச் சிறிய வாடகை வீட்டில் வசித்துவருகிறார் என்றும் கேள்விப்பட்டபோது எனக்கு மிகவும் வேதனையாக இருந்தது. அவர் மும்பைசென்ற பின் அவரை நேரில் பார்க்கச் சந்தர்ப்பம் கிடைக்கவில்லை. இப்போது ஆபீஸ் வேலைவிஷயமாக மும்பை வந்த எனக்கு அவரைப் பார்க்கவும், இப்போதும் அந்த ''பாசிடிவ்'' அணுகுமுறை அவரிடம் இருக்குமா என்று தெரிந்து கொள்ளவும் ஆர்வமாக இருந்தது.
அந்தேரியில் அவர் வீட்டைக் கண்டுபிடிக்கச் சிறிது சிரமப்பட்டேன். கதவைத்திறந்து பெரியம்மா ''வாப்பா'' என்று ஆச்சரியத்துடன் வரவேற்றாள். பெரியம்மா கறுத்து, இளைத்திருந்தாள். பார்க்கப் பாவமாய் இருந்தது. ''பெரியப்பா இல்லையா?'' நான் கேட்டது உள்ளே பெரியப்பாவிற்குக் கேட்டிருக்க வேண்டும். ''வாடா.. உட்கார்'' என்றபடி உள்ளே இருந்து வந்தார். அன்று போலவே இன்றும் அவர் உற்சாகமாத்தான் தென்பட்டார். ஆனால், பெரியம்மா அப்படிச் சந்தோஷப்படும் மனநிலையில் இல்லை. பேசாமல் உள்ளேபோனாள். அவர்கள் மகன் எங்கோ வெளியே போயிருந்தான். பெரியப்பா வீட்டில் எல்லோரையும்விசாரித்தார். பொதுவாகச் சிறிது நேரம் பேசிக் கொண்டிருந்தோம். அரண்மனை போன்ற வீட்டில் அரசரைப் போல இருந்த பெரியப்பாவை இப்படியொருசூழ்நிலையில் பார்க்க எனக்கு மிகவும் கஷ்டமாகவும், ஜீரணிக்க முடியாமலும் இருந்தது.அதைக் குரல் கம்ம அவரிடம் சொல்லியே விட்டேன்.
பெரியப்பா அமைதியாகச் சொன்னார். ''கையை விட்டுப் போனதைப் பற்றியேநினைச்சுட்டிருந்தா இருக்கிறதோட அருமையை உணராமல் போயிடுவோம்டா. இப்பவும் நல்லாப்படிக்கிற மகன் இருக்கான். எனக்கு உழைக்கிற ஆரோக்கியம் இன்னமும் இருக்கு.அந்தேரியில் குறைஞ்ச வாடகையில் ஒரு வீடு கிடைச்சிருக்கு. சேர்த்து வைக்கக் காசுஇல்லாட்டியும் வாழ்க்கையை ஓட்டற அளவு வருமானம் இருக்கு. இப்படி ''இருக்கிற'' விஷயங்கள் இன்னமும் நிறைய இருக்கு'' பெரியம்மா காபியுடன் வந்தாள். ''உங்க தத்துவமெல்லாம் கொஞ்சம் நிறுத்துங்களேன். ஆரம்பத்தில் இருந்தே இல்லாமல் போறது வேறே... அனுபவிச்சு இழந்துட்டுக் கஷ்டப்படறது வேறே.. ஊம்.... எதுவும் நிரந்தரமில்லை!'' ''எதுவுமே நிரந்தரமில்லைன்னா நீ கஷ்டம்னு நினைக்கிற இது மாத்திரம்நிரந்தரமா என்ன? இதுவும் ஒரு நாள் மாறும். நீ என்னடா சொல்றே!'' என்றுபுன்சிரிப்புடன் என்னைக் கேட்டார். பிரமிப்புடன் தலையாட்டினேன் வெற்றியின் உச்சாணிக் கொம்பிலிருந்த போதுஇருந்த இடத்தைவிடப் பெரியப்பா என் மனதில் இன்னும் பல மடங்கு உயர்ந்தே போனார்.நிஜமாகவே பெரியப்பா ''பாசிடிவ்'' தான். ''ஆதலின் நிச்சயமாகத் துன்பத்துடன் இன்பம்இருக்கிறது. நிச்சயமாக துன்பத்துடன் இன்பம் இருக்கிறது. ஒவ்வொருவருடைய வாழ்க்கையிலும்இன்பமும் துன்பமும் மாறி மாறித்தான் வரும் என்பதை பெரியப்பா நன்கு உணர்ந்தவராகஇருந்தார் என்பதை அனுபவசாலியான அவரது பதில் உணர்த்தியது.
Prati- shirdi (Shirgav) is around 30-35 km from pune city, it is situated at Old Pune-mumbai Highway. it is known by Prati shirdi. this is a very Huge & beautiful Temple. huge private parking is available there there is very beautiful entrance is there. this temple built in only nine months, during this period people experience sai babas Chamtkar for several times.it is replika of Sai Baba Mandir Shirdi. Saibaba Mandir is built by Mr. Prakash K. Deole in 2003.Sai baba was very fames & gretest Saint in India, Sai means Sakshat Parmeshwar.people from all the comunity respect sai Baba. "Sabka Malik Ek" is the Favorite qoute of sai baba. they took there Samadhi in 1918.
Mandir time-table of Daily Programs
Kakad Arti 5:15 am Maha Abhishek 7:00am Dopar Arti 12:00 Noon Dhup Arti 6:15pm Shej Arti 10:00 pm
This falls on the 13th (or 14th) day of the dark half of Phalgun (February-March). The name means "the night of Shiva". The ceremonies take place chiefly at night. This is a festival observed in honour of Lord Shiva. Shiva was married to Parvati on this day.
People observe a strict fast on this day. Some devotees do not even take a drop of water. They keep vigil all night. The Shiva Lingam is worshipped throughout the night by washing it every three hours with milk, curd, honey, rose water, etc., whilst the chanting of the Mantra Om Namah Shivaya continues. Offerings of bael leaves are made to the Lingam. Bael leaves are very sacred as, it is said, Lakshmi resides in them.
Hymns in praise of Lord Shiva, such as the Shiva Mahimna Stotra of Pushpadanta or Ravana's Shiva Tandava Stotra are sung with great fervour and devotion. People repeat the Panchakshara Mantra, Om Namah Shivaya. He who utters the Names of Shiva during Shivaratri, with perfect devotion and concentration, is freed from all sins. He reaches the abode of Shiva and lives there happily. He is liberated from the wheel of births and deaths. Many pilgrims flock to the places where there are Shiva temples.
The Story of King Chitrabhanu
In the Shanti Parva of the Mahabharata, Bhishma, whilst resting on the bed of arrows and discoursing on Dharma, refers to the observance of Maha Shivaratri by King Chitrabhanu. The story goes as follows.
Once upon a time King Chitrabhanu of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who ruled over the whole of Jambudvipa, was observing a fast with his wife, it being the day of Maha Shivaratri. The sage Ashtavakra came on a visit to the court of the king.
The sage asked, "O king! why are you observing a fast today?"
King Chitrabhanu explained why. He had the gift of remembering the incidents of his previous birth.
The king said to the sage: "In my past birth I was a hunter in Varanasi. My name was Suswara. My livelihood was to kill and sell birds and animals. One day I was roaming the forests in search of animals. I was overtaken by the darkness of night. Unable to return home, I climbed a tree for shelter. It happened to be a bael tree. I had shot a deer that day but I had no time to take it home. I bundled it up and tied it to a branch on the tree. As I was tormented by hunger and thirst, I kept awake throughout the night. I shed profuse tears when I thought of my poor wife and children who were starving and anxiously awaiting my return. To pass away the time that night I engaged myself in plucking the bael leaves and dropping them down onto the ground.
"The day dawned. I returned home and sold the deer. I bought some food for myself and for my family. I was about to break my fast when a stranger came to me, begging for food. I served him first and then took my food.
"At the time of death, I saw two messengers of Lord Shiva. They were sent down to conduct my soul to the abode of Lord Shiva. I learnt then for the first time of the great merit I had earned by the unconscious worship of Lord Shiva during the night of Shivaratri. They told me that there was a Lingam at the bottom of the tree. The leaves I dropped fell on the Lingam. My tears which I had shed out of pure sorrow for my family fell onto the Lingam and washed it. And I had fasted all day and all night. Thus did I unconsciously worship the Lord.
"I lived in the abode of the Lord and enjoyed divine bliss for long ages. I am now reborn as Chitrabhanu."
Spiritual Significance of the Ritual
The Scriptures record the following dialogue between Sastri and Atmanathan, giving the inner meaning of the above story.
Sastri: It is an allegory. The wild animals that the hunter fought with are lust, anger, greed, infatuation, jealousy and hatred. The jungle is the fourfold mind, consisting of the subconscious mind, the intellect, the ego and the conscious mind. It is in the mind that these "wild animals" roam about freely. They must be killed. Our hunter was pursuing them because he was a Yogi. If you want to be a real Yogi you have to conquer these evil tendencies. Do you remember the name of the hunter in the story?
Atmanathan: Yes, he was called Suswara.
Sastri: That's right. It means "melodious". The hunter had a pleasant melodious voice. If a person practices Yama and Niyama and is ever conquering his evil tendencies, he will develop certain external marks of a Yogi. The first marks are lightness of the body, health, steadiness, clearness of countenance and a pleasant voice. This stage has been spoken of in detail in the Swetaswatara Upanishad. The hunter or the Yogi had for many years practised Yoga and had reached the first stage. So he is given the name Suswara. Do you remember where he was born?
Atmanathan: Yes, his birthplace is Varanasi.
Sastri: Now, the Yogis call the Ajna Chakra by the name Varanasi. This is the point midway between the eyebrows. It is regarded as the meeting place of the three nerve currents (Nadis), namely, the Ida, Pingala and the Sushumna. An aspirant is instructed to concentrate on that point. That helps him to conquer his desires and evil qualities like anger and so on. It is there that he gets a vision of the Divine Light within.
Atmanathan: Very interesting! But how do you explain his climbing up the bael tree and all the other details of the worship?
Sastri: Have you ever seen a bael leaf?
Atmanathan: It has three leaves on one stalk.
Sastri: True. The tree represents the spinal column. The leaves are threefold. They represent the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna Nadis, which are the regions for the activity of the moon, the sun and fire respectively, or which may be thought of as the three eyes of Shiva. The climbing of the tree is meant to represent the ascension of the Kundalini Shakti, the serpentine power, from the lowest nerve centre called the Muladhara to the Ajna Chakra. That is the work of the Yogi.
Atmanathan: Yes, I have heard of the Kundalini and the various psychic centres in the body. Please go on further; I am very interested to know more.
Sastri: Good. The Yogi was in the waking state when he began his meditation. He bundled up the birds and the animals he had slain and, tying them on a branch of the tree, he rested there. That means he had fully conquered his thoughts and rendered them inactive. He had gone through the steps of Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, etc. On the tree he was practising concentration and meditation. When he felt sleepy, it means that he was about to lose consciousness and go into deep sleep. So he determined to keep awake.
Atmanathan: That is now clear to me; you certainly do explain it very well. But why did he weep for his wife and children?
Sastri: His wife and children are none other than the world. One who seeks the Grace of God must become an embodiment of love. He must have an all-embracing sympathy. His shedding of tears is symbolical of his universal love. In Yoga also, one cannot have illumination without Divine Grace. Without practising universal love, one cannot win that Grace. One must perceive one's own Self everywhere. The preliminary stage is to identify one's own mind with the minds of all created beings. That is fellow-feeling or sympathy. Then one must rise above the limitations of the mind and merge it in the Self. That happens only in the stage of Samadhi, not earlier.
Atmanathan: Why did he pluck and drop the bael leaves?
Sastri: That is mentioned in the story only to show that he had no extraneous thoughts. He was not even conscious of what he was doing. All his activity was confined to the three Nadis. The leaves, I have said before, represent the three Nadis. He was in fact in the second state, namely, the dream state, before he passed into the deep sleep state.
Atmanathan: He kept vigil the whole night, it is said.
Sastri: Yes, that means that he passed through the deep sleep state successfully. The dawning of day symbolises the entrance into the Fourth state called Turiya or superconsciousness.
Atmanathan: It is said that he came down and saw the Lingam. What does that mean?
Sastri: That means that in the Turiya state he saw the Shiva Lingam or the mark of Shiva in the form of the inner lights. In other words, he had the vision of the Lord. That was an indication to him that he would realise the supreme, eternal abode of Lord Shiva in course of time.
Atmanathan: So it appears from what you say that the sight of the lights is not the final stage?
Sastri: Oh no! That is only one step, albeit a difficult one. Now think of how the story continues. He goes home and feeds a stranger. A stranger is one whom you have not seen before. The stranger is no other than the hunter himself, transformed into a new person. The food was the likes and dislikes which he had killed the previous night. But he did not consume the whole of it. A little still remained. That was why he had to be reborn as King Chitrabhanu. Going to the world of Shiva (Salokya) is not enough to prevent this. There are other stages besides Salokya. These are Samipya, Sarupya and finally Sayujya. Have you not heard of Jaya and Vijaya returning from Vaikunta?
Atmanathan: Yes, I have understood now.
Lord Shiva's Assuarance
When creation had been completed, Shiva and Parvati went out to live on the top of Mount Kailas. Parvati asked, "O venerable Lord! which of the many rituals observed in Thy honour doth please Thee most?"
The Lord replied, "The 14th night of the new moon, in the dark fortnight during the month of Phalgun, is my most favourite day. It is known as Shivaratri. My devotees give me greater happiness by mere fasting than by ceremonial baths and offerings of flowers, sweets and incense.
"The devotee observes strict spiritual discipline in the day and worships Me in four different forms during each of the four successive three-hour periods of the night. The offering of a few bael leaves is more precious to Me than the precious jewels and flowers. My devotee should bathe Me in milk at the first period, in curd at the second, in clarified butter at the third, and in honey at the fourth and last. Next morning, he should feed the Brahmins first and, after performing the prescribed ceremonies, he can break his fast. O Parvati! there is no ritual which can compare with this simple routine in sanctity."
Parvati was deeply impressed by the speech of Loid Shiva. She repeated it to Her friends who in their turn passed it on to the ruling princes on earth. Thus was the sanctity of Shivaratri broadcast all over the world.
The two great natural forces that afflict man are Rajas (the quality of passionate activity) and Tamas (that of inertia). The Shivaratri Vrata aims at the perfect control of these two. The entire day is spent at the Feet of the Lord. Continuous worship of the Lord necessitates the devotee's constant presence in the place of worship. Motion is controlled. Evils like lust, anger, and jealousy, born of Rajas are ignored and subdued. The devotee observes vigil throughout the night and thus conquers Tamas also. Constant vigilance is imposed on the mind. Every three hours a round of worship of the Shiva Lingam is conducted. Shivaratri is a perfect Vrata.
The formal worship consists of bathing the Lord. Lord Shiva is considered to be the Form of Light (which the Shiva Lingam represents). He is burning with the fire of austerity. He is therefore best propitiated with cool bathing. While bathing the Lingam the devotee prays: "O Lord! I will bathe Thee with water, milk, etc. Do Thou kindly bathe me with the milk of wisdom. Do Thou kindly wash me of all my sins, so that the fire of worldliness which is scorching me may be put out once for all, so that I may be one with Thee-the One alone without a second."
At the Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, the Shivaratri festival is celebrated in the following manner.
All spiritual aspirants fast the whole day, many of them without taking even a single drop of water.
A grand havan is performed for the peace and welfare of all.
The whole day is spent in doing the Japa of Om Namah Shivaya and in meditation upon the Lord.
At night all assemble in the temple and chant Om Namah Shivaya the whole night.
During the four quarters of the night the Shiva Lingam is worshipped with intense devotion.
Sannyas Diksha is also given on this day to sincere seekers on the path.
Legends of Mahashivratri
There are various interesting legends related to the festival of Maha Shivaratri. According to one of the most popular legends, Shivaratri marks the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Some believe that it was on the auspicious night of Shivaratri that Lord Shiva performed the 'Tandava', the dance of the primal creation, preservation and destruction. Another popular Shivratri legend stated in Linga Purana states that it was on Shivaratri that Lord Shiva manifested himself in the form of a Linga. Hence the day is considered to be extremely auspicious by Shiva devotees and they celebrate it as Mahashivaratri - the grand night of Shiva.
Traditions and Customs of Shivaratri
Various traditions and customs related to Shivaratri Festival are dutifully followed by the worshippers of Lord Shiva. Devotees observe strict fast in honor of Shiva, though many go on a diet of fruits and milk some do not consume even a drop of water. Devotees strongly believe that sincere worship of Lord Shiva on the auspicious day of Shivaratri, absolves a person of sins and liberates him from the cycle of birth and death. Shivaratri is considered especially auspicious for women. While married women pray for the well being of their husbands unmarried women pray for a husband like Lord Shiva, who is regarded as the ideal husband.
To mark the Shivratri festival, devotees wake up early and take a ritual bath, preferably in river Ganga. After wearing fresh new clothes devotees visit the nearest Shiva temple to give ritual bath to the Shiva Lingum with milk, honey, water etc.
On Shivaratri, worship of Lord Shiva continues all through the day and night. Every three hours priests perform ritual pooja of Shivalingam by bathing it with milk, yoghurt, honey, ghee, sugar and water amidst the chanting of “Om Namah Shivaya’ and ringing of temple bells. Nightlong vigil or jaagran is also observed in Shiva temples where large number of devotees spend the night singing hymns and devotional songs in praise of Lord Shiva. It is only on the following morning that devotee break their fast by partaking prasad offered to the deity.
When do we celebrate Mahashivaratri
Auspicious festival of Mahashivaratri falls on the 13th or the 14th night of the new moon during Krishna Paksha in the Hindu month of Phalgun. The Sanskrit term, Krishna Paksha means the period of waning moon or the dark fortnight and Phalguna corresponds to the month of February - March in English Calendar. Shivaratri Festival is celebrated on a moonless night.
According to Hindu mythology, Shivaratri or 'Shiva's Great Night' symbolizes the wedding day of Lord Shiva and Parvati. Many however, believe, Shivaratri is the night when Lord Shiva performed the Tandava Nritya - the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction. Celebrating the festival in a customary manner, devotees give a ritual bath to the Lingam with the panchagavya - milk, sour milk, urine, butter and dung. Celebrations of Shivaratri Festival mainly take place at night. Devotees of Lord Shiva throng Shiva temples across the country and spend ‘the Night of Lord Shiva’ by chanting verses and hymns in praise of the Lord. The festival holds special meaning for the ladies. They pray to Goddess Parvati also called 'Gaura', the giver of 'suhag' for good husbands, marital bliss and a long and prosperous married life.
Shivaratri Rituals
Devotees of Lord Shiva observe the Shivaratri Festival by following the prescribed rituals with sincerity and devotion. All through the day, devotees abstain from eating food and break their fast only the next morning, after the nightlong worship. Ritual baths of Shivalinga in the numerous Shiva temples by Shiva worshiper, mainly women, is another significant feature of Shivratri customs and traditions. Devotees strongly believe that ritual worship of Lord Shiva on the auspicious day of Shivaratri absolves them of past sins and they are blessed with Moksha.
Rituals Observed on a Shivaratri Morning
As a tradition devotees wake up early in the morning of the Mahashivratri day and take a ritual sunrise bath, preferably in the holy waters of river Ganga. They also offer prayers to the Sun God, Vishnu and Shiva as a part of a purification rite observed on all-important Hindu festivals. After wearing fresh new clothes devotees visit the nearest Shiva Temple to give the customary bath to the Shivalinga.
On a Shivratri day, Shiva temples are thronged by devotees, mainly women, who come to perform the traditional Shivalinga pooja and seek blessings from the god. At times there is so much rush in the temples that devotees have to wait for their turn to observe pooja. At their turn for worship, devotees circumambulate the Shivalinga, three or seven times, and then pour water over it. Some also pour milk. Sounds of bell and shouts of ‘Shankarji ki Jai’ or (Hail Shiva) reverberate in the temple premises.
Ritual Bath of Shivalinga
Following the rituals prescribed in the Shiva Purana, every three hours, Shivalingam is given a special bath with milk, yoghurt, honey, sandalwood paste and rose water. Puja, meditation and chanting of ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ accompany the ritual bath. Following the bath, vermilion paste is applied on the linga. Traditionally, leaves of a forest tree Aegle marmelos (bilwa, maredu, wood apple) are used for Shiva puja. Thereafter, Bilwa leaves, which have to be a stalk with three leaves, is kept on top of the Shivalinga. Ber or jujube fruit is a special offering to the god on this day. Beetle leaves are also offered by some. Some also offer bilwa leaves in the belief that the Goddess Lakshmi resides in them. Others believe it is offered for its cooling effects on the hot-tempered deity. Many devotees also decorate the linga with flowers and garlands and offer incense sticks and fruit.
Significance of Puja Items
According to the Shiva Purana, there is a special significance of the six essential puja items used in the Shiva worship.
Bathing of Shivalinga with water, milk and honey and wood apple or bel leaves added to it, represents purification of the soul.
The vermilion paste applied on the linga after the ritual bath represents virtue.
Offering of fruits symbolizes longevity and gratification of desires.
Burning of incense sticks yields wealth.
The lighting of the lamp symbolizes attainment of knowledge.
Offering of betel leaves marks satisfaction with worldly pleasures.
All-Night Shiva Worship
Shivaratri Foods and Recipes
Mahashivaratri is celebrated on Chaturdashi of Falgun Krishna Paksha. Shivaratri is a day of joy and celebration for the devotees of lord Shiva. It is said that once goddess Parvati worshipped lord Shiva with full devotion. Pleased by this lord Shiva said that whoever will observe the fast of Mahashivarati and perform his Puja with full faith, all wishes of that person will get fulfilled. From that day the Mahatmya of Shivaratri fasting was spread in the world.
Lord Shiva was married to Devi Parvati on the day of Mahashivaratri. Hence the significance of Shivaratri increases. A person who worship God Shiva and Mata Parvati, on this day, gets the blessing and grace of lord. Jagaran is performed in the night. Shiva Katha and Bhajans are organised.
Shivarati Fast
People observe the fast of Shivaratri according to their faith and capability. Some do fasting without having food and water on the day and night of Shivaratri. Whereas, some people observe fast for the full day and have fruits at night. And, some have sweet food at night. Similar to the fasting manner, the food eaten on this day also varies from person to person.
Mahashivarati in Punjab and Sindh Provinces
In Punjab and Sindh, lord Shiva is made to have a make up on the night of Shivaratri. He is offered Halwa of Kuttu, gram and fruits. People observing fast, eat this Prasaad together with their family members. Worshippers perform Jagran at night by signing Bhajans and Kirtin of lord Shiva. On this night, fruit chat is also eaten.
Shivaratri in Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal
Kashi Vishwanath Mahadev temple is situated in Varanasi of Uttar Pradesh. After the partition of Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal came into existence. Before this, Kedarnath Mahadev was also located in Uttar Pradesh. On the occasion of Shivaratri, worshippers perform Jalabhishek and Dugdhabhishek in Shiva temple of Uttar Pradesh and Uttranchal. Lord Shiva is offered Dhatura and its fruits. Many people who observe this fast, they eat fruits. Kheer of Sabudana, bannana and apples are eaten. Even Ramdana and Halwa of Kattu is also taken.
Shivarati in Jharkhand and Bihar
People of Bihar and Jharkhand are the followers of Baba Bholenath. They are truly devoted for Baba Baidyanth. With full faith and devotion, people observe the fast of lord Shiva. Some people keep the Akhand fast (24 hours fasting) without having water or food, on the occasion of Mahashivaratri. Mamy worshipers, perform Shiva Puja at night and eat fruits. They also have Kheer made of Makhane and Sabudana. There are some people, who fast for the whole day and eat sweet food at night which include Chuda and curd. Even, Malpua and Kheer is eaten on this day.
In the new study by Rice University and MD Anderson, mice with dual subcutaneous tumors – the left one EGFR-negative, the right one EGFR-positive – were treated with the new Cet/PTX/PEG-HCC mixture, a carbon nanoparticle-based chemotherapeutic drug tuned to target EGFR-positive tumors. Treatment over 30 days proved highly effective in killing the right-side tumors, underscoring the efficacy of the targeted approach. (Credit: E. Loïc Samuel/Rice University) ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2012) — A mixture of current drugs and carbon nanoparticles shows potential to enhance treatment for head-and-neck cancers, especially when combined with radiation therapy, according to new research by Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
A paper on the research was published this month in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano.The work blazes a path for further research into therapy customized to the needs of individual patients. The therapy uses carbon nanoparticles to encapsulate chemotherapeutic drugs and sequester them until they are delivered to the cancer cells they are meant to kill.
The new strategy by Rice chemist James Tour and Jeffrey Myers, a professor of head-and-neck surgery at MD Anderson, combines paclitaxel (PTX) and Cetuximab (Cet) with hydrophilic carbon clusters functionalized with polyethylene glycol, known as PEG-HCC.
Cetuximab, the targeting agent, is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds exclusively to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a cell-surface receptor overexpressed by 90 percent of head-and-neck squamous cell cancers. Paclitaxel, an active agent in chemotherapy, is used to treat lung, ovarian, breast and head-and-neck cancers. In combination, they have the ability to target and attack cancerous cells.
Because paclitaxel is hydrophobic -- it won't mix with water -- the substances are generally combined with Cremophor EL, a castor oil-based carrier that allows the compound marketed as Taxol to be delivered intravenously to patients.
Tour, Myers and their associates have found a simple way to mix PTX and Cetuximab with carbon clusters that adsorb the active ingredients. The new compound is water-soluble and is more effective at targeting tumors than Taxol while avoiding the toxic effects of paclitaxel and Cremophor on adjacent healthy cells, they wrote.
"It's very common to administer cortical steroids to limit the allergic response to Cremophor EL," said Tour, Rice's T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and of computer science.
Tour said the Cet/PTX/PEG-HCC elements combine easily. "We show in the paper that when we take paclitaxel up in our hydrophilic carbon clusters, we can deliver these just as well as commercial Taxol.
"But you can never break into a market with something that's just as good as what's already out there. You have to be substantially better. The beauty of what we're doing is that we can potentially use a much smaller amount of the drug for chemotherapy. Just eliminating the Cremophor is a real advantage," he said.
Tour noted a recently approved chemotherapy drug that combines paclitaxel with albumin nanoparticles, Abraxane, also shows promise. "That works well, but it still only has about 10 percent of the market after six or seven years of use," he said.
Myers, the Hubert L. and Olive Stringer Distinguished Professor in Cancer Research at MD Anderson, said combining Cet/PTX/PEG-HCC and radiation therapy in tests on mice showed a significant boost in killing tumors. "Our hypothesis is that PTX, the chemotherapy drug, sensitizes the cancer cells to the effects of radiation and the Cetuximab/PEG-HCC increases the delivery of PTX to the cancer cells," he said.
Unlike Cremophor, Tour said, the enhanced carbon clusters are nontoxic. Biodistribution and toxicity studies showed the "large majority" of PEG-HCCs are excreted through the kidneys, while trace amounts in the livers and spleens of mice tested showed no damage to the organs.
The strategy sprang from conversations between Tour and Rice chemist and Nobel laureate Richard Smalley, who died of leukemia in 2005. "I was sitting with Rick at MD Anderson while he was being treated, and we got to talking about using carbon particles for delivery as carbon-based carriers.
"But we had nothing specific," Tour said. "I started to work on this without funding, and shortly after Rick's passing in October 2005, I met with Jeff Myers."
"I wanted to establish a multidisciplinary program to study nanoparticle-based therapeutics for cancer in general, and more specifically, head-and-neck cancer," Myers said. "At the time, Dr. Garth Powis (professor and chair of the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at MD Anderson) directed me to Dr. Mauro Ferrari (now president of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute and an adjunct professor of bioengineering at Rice), who ultimately put me in touch with Dr. Tour.
"His enthusiasm for science and willingness to further explore the potential of carbon nanoparticles to treat cancer patients was apparent right away, and we launched a collaborative effort that has been quite productive," he said.
Myers is pleased with what the team has accomplished so far. "This collaborative work has 'proved the principle' that carbon nanoparticles can be used to non-covalently link a chemotherapeutic drug with a targeting antibody that can deliver the drug specifically to a cancer cell," he said. "This principle could be used to deliver other drugs to other types of cells through specific targeting of cell surface receptors as a method of increasing the therapeutic ratio.
"Though I am not an expert in these other areas, this could potentially have applications in infectious diseases, neurologic disorders and cardiovascular illnesses," he said.
Tour sees potential for clinical uses of PEG-HCCs for brain cancer and traumatic brain injuries as well as chemotherapy, but acknowledged the introduction of such drugs for human use is a long way off. "To get a drug through all the different phases, including trials, typically takes 12 to 14 years and about $1.25 billion," he said. "That can sometimes be expedited through experimental trials with patients who have no other options, but it's still a long and expensive haul."
Still, he said the new work is a strong step in the right direction. "This paper is the highlight of six years of research," he said. "It all came together. This is the crescendo, right here."
The paper's lead authors are Daisuke Sano, a former postdoctoral fellow at MD Anderson, now at Yokohama City University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, and Jacob Berlin, a researcher in Tour's Rice lab and now a professor at City of Hope Hospital, Duarte, Calif. Co-authors are Rice alumnus Tam Pham and graduate student Daniela Marcano; and Ge Zhou, an assistant professor in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery, David Valdecanas, laboratory coordinator in experimental radiation oncology, and Luka Milas, a professor of experimental radiation oncology, all at MD Anderson.
The research was supported by The Alliance for NanoHealth through a Department of Defense subcontract from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; the Mission Connect Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Consortium, also funded by the Department of Defense; the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Initiative of the National Science Foundation; the MD Anderson Cancer Center PANTHEON Program; a National Institutes of Health Cancer Center Support Grant; and an MD Anderson Cancer Center Support Grant.
Computer science and physics professor Samuel Cho (center) works with his students, graduate student Tyson Lipscomb (left) and senior Anqi Zou ('12). (Credit: Image courtesy of Wake Forest University) Science Daily — The cure for cancer comes down to this: video games.
"If it wasn't for gamers who kept buying these GPUs, the prices wouldn't have dropped, and we couldn't have used them for science," Cho says.In a research lab at Wake Forest University, biophysicist and computer scientist Samuel Cho uses graphics processing units (GPUs), the technology that makes videogame images so realistic, to simulate the inner workings of human cells.
Now he can see exactly how the cells live, divide and die.
And that, Cho says, opens up possibilities for new targets for tumor-killing drugs.
Cho's most recent computer simulation, of a critical RNA molecule that is a component of the human telomerase enzyme, for the first time shows hidden states in the folding and unfolding of this molecule, giving scientists a far more accurate view of how it functions. The results of his research appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Cho worked with colleagues from the University of Maryland and Zhejiang University in China for this study.
The human telomerase enzyme is found only in cancerous cells. It adds tiny molecules called telomeres to the ends of DNA strands when cells divide -- essentially preventing cells from dying.
"The cell keeps reproducing over and over, and that's the very definition of cancer," Cho says. "By knowing how telomerase folds and functions, we provide a new area for researching cancer treatments."
A new drug would stop the human telomerase enzyme from adding onto the DNA, so the tumor cell dies.
Cho, an assistant professor of physics and computer science, has turned his attention to videogaming technology and the bacterial ribosome -- a molecular system 200 times larger than the human telomerase enzyme RNA molecule. His research group has begun to use graphics cards called GPUs to perform these cell simulations, which is much faster than using standard computing.
"We have hijacked this technology to perform simulations very, very quickly on much larger biomolecular systems," Cho says.
Without the GPUs, Cho estimated it would have taken him more than 40 years to program that simulation.
These images show the development of cancer (dark purple) in the mouse lung, initiated by lentiviral vector. A few cancerous cells (top image) proliferate over time into a full-blown tumor (bottom image). (Credit: Image courtesy Yifeng Xia, Salk Institute for Biological Studies)
Science Daily — Drugs targeting an enzyme involved in inflammation might offer a new avenue for treating certain lung cancers, according to a new study by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
The scientists discovered that blocking the activity of the enzyme IKK2, which helps activate the body's inflammation response, slowed the growth of tumors in mice with lung cancer and increased their lifespan.
The findings, reported February 12 inNature Cell Biology, suggest that drugs that hinder the ability of the enzyme to command cellular activity might prove effective as lung cancer therapies.
"Lung cancer is one of most lethal cancers and prognosis for patients is often poor, with only about 15 percent surviving more than 5 years," says Inder Verma, Salk's American Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology and lead author of the paper. "We developed a new method of initiating lung cancer in mice, which has properties associated with human lung cancer, and used this model to identify the role of this enzyme in cancer proliferation. We believe that this research could one day lead to therapies that improve the outlook for lung cancer patients."
Scientists have long known that there is a link between cancer and inflammation, the body's first line of defense against infection. Some of the same biochemical players that protect the body by controlling the inflammation response of cells can also be hijacked by genetic mutations involved in the development of cancer.
To better understand how these normally helpful components of the immune system are put to nefarious tasks in cancer cells, Verma and his colleagues developed a new method of inducing non-small-cell lung cancer in mice. This type accounts for as much as 80 percent of all lung cancer cases.
The researchers used a modified virus to insert genetic mutations into cells lining the mice's lungs, causing the animals to develop tumors. This laid the groundwork for studies on the molecular causes of this specific cancer type that would be impossible in humans.
They then turned their attention to a protein complex, NF-KB, that initiates the inflammation response to infection by orchestrating a cell's genetic activity. Malfunctioning regulation of NF-KB has been linked to various types of cancer, including lung cancer, but due to its many functions in the cell, drugs that directly target NF-KB would likely cause severe side effects.
To get around this limitation, the Salk researchers focused on IKK2, an enzyme that spurs NF-KB's activity in response to stress. When they blocked IKK2 activity in the mice with lung cancer, the mice had smaller tumors and lived longer, suggesting that the enzyme is necessary for NF-KB to stimulate tumor growth.
"Now that we understand IKK2 is required for NF-KB to promote tumor growth, we hope to find ways to target its activity with drugs," says Yifeng Xia, a postdoctoral researcher in Verma's lab and first author on the paper. "Systemically and chronically blocking IKK2 activity is too toxic to be used in chemotherapy, but we might be able to target another molecule in the signaling pathway by which IKK2 regulates tumor growth."
The researchers also showed that Timp-1, a gene involved in regulating cell growth, carries orders from NF-KB to tell lung cancer cells to proliferate. When they suppressed the expression of the gene, the mice with lung cancer had smaller tumors and survived longer.
"The next step is to develop antibodies or other types of drugs that can neutralize Timp-1 to abolish its pro-proliferation role in lung cancer," says Xia.
The Salk scientists now hope to develop a mouse model of small cell lung cancer, a more aggressive form of the disease that's been linked to smoking. They will then test whether the potential drug targets they discovered in this study would be relevant for this more deadly cancer.
The other authors on the paper were Reuben J. Shaw, a professor in Salk's Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory; Salk postdoctoral researcher, Narayana Yeddula, and pathologist, Mathias Leblanc; Eugene Ke, of University of California, San Diego; and Yonghui Zhang and Eric Oldfield, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The study was funded by the Ellison Medical Foundation, H.N. and Frances C. Berger Foundation, Ipsen/Biomeasure, Sanofi Aventis, Leducq Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Merieux Foundation, Prostate Cancer Foundation and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Hindlimb ischemia was created in rats and treatments were delivered over seven days with an osmotic pump. The laser doppler imaging above shows the rat's hind limb prior to treatment (on the left) and with increased blood flow (image on the right) just seven days after treatment. (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Texas at Austin)
Science Daily — University of Texas at Austin researchers have demonstrated a new and more effective method for regrowing blood vessels in the heart and limbs -- a research advancement that could have major implications for how we treat heart disease, the leading cause of death in the Western world.
The treatment method developed by Cockrell School of Engineering Assistant Professor Aaron Baker could allow doctors to bypass surgery and instead repair damaged blood vessels simply by injecting a lipid-incased substance into a patient. Once inside the body, the substance stimulates cell growth and spurs the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones.
Aaron Baker is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
The method has been tested successfully on rats, and findings of the study were published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Others have tried using growth factors to stimulate vessel growth in clinical trials and have not been successful," said Baker, a faculty member in the school's Department of Biomedical Engineering. "We think that a major reason for this is that previous methods assumed that the diseased tissues retained the ability to respond to a growth stimulus. Our method basically delivers extra components that can restore growth factor responsiveness to the tissue of patients with long-standing clinical disease."
The ability to regrow blood vessels could prove crucial to treating chronic myocardial ischemia disease, which affects up to 27 million patients in the U.S. and leads to a reduction of blood flow in the heart and lower limbs -- ultimately causing organ dysfunction and failure.
Central ischemia, which affects the heart, occurs when the coronary vessels that feed blood to the heart become blocked or narrow because of a buildup of fatty deposits called plaques. Such plaques are typically the result of a prolonged unhealthy diet or smoking, and factors such as age, high blood pressure and diabetes increase the risks of the disease, Baker said.
Doctors have typically treated ischemia by physically opening the closed artery with a stent or surgically rerouting blood flow to the poorly perfused tissue. Both methods have limitations, however, and are not effective long-term.
The new method introduced by Baker and his research team builds on a promising revascularization approach that, up until now, has shown limited efficacy in clinical trials for treating human disease.
The method combines a growth factor -- a substance capable of stimulating cellular growth, proliferation and cellular differentiation, as well as healing wounds -- known as fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) with a lipid-embedded receptor to enhance its activity.
A challenge for scientists and engineers, however, has been getting FGF-2 to bind with cell receptors -- the very molecules often found on the surface of the cell that receive chemical signals and direct activity in the cell from outside sources.
To overcome this, Baker's method embeds the growth factors in synthetic lipid-based nanoparticles containing a coreceptor known as syndecan-4. The nanoparticles containing co-receptors that, when delivered with the growth factor, enable improved cell binding so that the growth factor can direct the targeted cell to divide, proliferate and form new cells for tissue regrowth.
The incased substance was injected into rats with hindlimb ischemia and stimulated a complete recovery from the ischemia in just seven days.
"We hope this research will increase our understanding of how tissues become resistant to revascularization therapies and may lead to more effective treatments for this widespread and debilitating disease," said Baker, who was recognized last year with the National Institutes of Health Director's New Innovator Award.
Science Daily—New research suggests that a drastic switch to low-carbon-emitting technologies, such as wind and hydroelectric power, may not reduce global warming until the latter part of this century.
The study, published February 16, in IOP Publishing's journalEnvironmental Research Letters, claims that the rapid deployment of low-greenhouse-gas-emitting technologies (LGEs) will initially increase emissions as they will require a large amount of energy to construct and install. Furthermore, it states that technologies that offer only modest reductions in greenhouse gases, such as using natural gas and perhaps carbon capture and storage, cannot substantially reduce climate risk in the next 100 years.
These cumulative emissions will remain in the atmosphere for extended periods due to the long lifetime of CO2, meaning that global mean surface temperatures will increase to a level greater than if we continued to use conventional coal-fired plants.
Delaying the rollout of the technologies is not an option however; the risks of environmental harm will be much greater in the second half of the century and beyond if we continue to rely on coal-based technologies.
The researchers, from Intellectual Ventures and the Carnegie Institution, Stanford, arrived at their conclusions through a set of simple mathematical models that calculated the effect of switching energy technologies on the concentration of greenhouse gases, radiative forcing ( the balance between absorbed and radiated energy from the sun) and global mean temperature.
Coal-based power plants were used as the basis for comparison because they generate the most greenhouse gases per unit of electricity produced -- replacing plants of this kind will have the greatest benefits on the climate.
These power plants were compared to wind power, nuclear power, hydroelectric power, carbon capture and storage, and natural gas. Solar photovoltaics (harnessing the sun for electricity) and solar thermal (harnessing the sun for heat) were also compared.
"Achieving substantial reductions in temperatures relative to the coal-based system will take the better part of a century, and will depend on rapid and massive deployment of some mix of conservation, wind, solar, and nuclear, and possibly carbon capture and storage," the researchers write.
Science Daily — For years, biologists have been amazed by the power of gecko feet, which let these 5-ounce lizards produce an adhesive force roughly equivalent to carrying nine pounds up a wall without slipping. Now, a team of polymer scientists and a biologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have discovered exactly how the gecko does it, leading them to invent "Geckskin," a device that can hold 700 pounds on a smooth wall.
Doctoral candidate Michael Bartlett in Alfred Crosby's polymer science and engineering lab at UMass Amherst is the lead author of their article describing the discovery in the current online issue of Advanced Materials. The group includes biologist Duncan Irschick, a functional morphologist who has studied the gecko's climbing and clinging abilities for over 20 years. Geckos are equally at home on vertical, slanted, even backward-tilting surfaces.
"Amazingly, gecko feet can be applied and disengaged with ease, and with no sticky residue remaining on the surface," Irschick says. These properties, high-capacity, reversibility and dry adhesion offer a tantalizing possibility for synthetic materials that can easily attach and detach heavy everyday objects such as televisions or computers to walls, as well as medical and industrial applications, among others, he and Crosby say.
This combination of properties at these scales has never been achieved before, the authors point out. Crosby says, "Our Geckskin device is about 16 inches square, about the size of an index card, and can hold a maximum force of about 700 pounds while adhering to a smooth surface such as glass."
Beyond its impressive sticking ability, the device can be released with negligible effort and reused many times with no loss of effectiveness. For example, it can be used to stick a 42-inch television to a wall, released with a gentle tug and restuck to another surface as many times as needed, leaving no residue.
Previous efforts to synthesize the tremendous adhesive power of gecko feet and pads were based on the qualities of microscopic hairs on their toes called setae, but efforts to translate them to larger scales were unsuccessful, in part because the complexity of the entire gecko foot was not taken into account. As Irschick explains, a gecko's foot has several interacting elements, including tendons, bones and skin, that work together to produce easily reversible adhesion.
Now he, Bartlett, Crosby and the rest of the UMass Amherst team have unlocked the simple yet elegant secret of how it's done, to create a device that can handle excessively large weights. Geckskin and its supporting theory demonstrate that setae are not required for gecko-like performance, Crosby points out. "It's a concept that has not been considered in other design strategies and one that may open up new research avenues in gecko-like adhesion in the future."
The key innovation by Bartlett and colleagues was to create an integrated adhesive with a soft pad woven into a stiff fabric, which allows the pad to "drape" over a surface to maximize contact. Further, as in natural gecko feet, the skin is woven into a synthetic "tendon," yielding a design that plays a key role in maintaining stiffness and rotational freedom, the researchers explain.
Importantly, the Geckskin's adhesive pad uses simple everyday materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), which holds promise for developing an inexpensive, strong and durable dry adhesive.
The UMass Amherst researchers are continuing to improve their Geckskin design by drawing on lessons from the evolution of gecko feet, which show remarkable variation in anatomy. "Our design for Geckskin shows the true integrative power of evolution for inspiring synthetic design that can ultimately aid humans in many ways," says Irschick.
The work was supported by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through a subcontract to Draper Laboratories, plus UMass Amherst research funds.
